Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo
So today was pretty sweet because we had an excursion to Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo. We took our double decker bus again to the north. Most of us just slept on the way up because we left at 7:45 this morning. On the way there I saw my first McDo's in France (a little bit depressing). I think the ride there is a little over 2 1/2 hours, so not bad at all. Mont Saint Michel was soooo pretty. We were able to see it from the distance, and drove right up to it. As soon as we entered the town it reminded so much of Disney World an Main Street or Epcot, just because it seemed so unrealistic. Mont Saint Michel is defitinitely really touristy though, there were a few large groups of Asian tourists also. It was pretty cool, because the weather forcoast was it was supposed to be really cold and be windy and raining, but it turned out to be cool and sunny most of the day! The weather was so pretty. Anyways though Mont Saint Michel has so many freakin' steps, for the first time since being in Europe I am sore from the walking and stairs. I think probably the highlight of Mont Saint Michel though was the fact that I got to talk to monks. As we were walking up to the top two monks were beside me and they asked me where we were from. They were a little bit disappointed though when I said the US, because they had thought we were a British group, because they were British monks. It was so crazy because they were wearing robes and socks and sandles and living where there does not seem to be central heat. They had gone to the top to get wood apparently, because they retrieved a large bucket of lumber and went back down the stairs. I cannot even begin to imagine what their life is like. They were incredibly nice though :) We also had fun playing on the beaches, because there was quick sand, unfortunately my brand new boots are now a bit muddy, but I figure mud comes off...
Saint Malo was pretty cool too, when we first arrived we walked the perimeter of the city on top of the stone walls that enclose the city, and then went down to the beach where we climbed rocks and explored. It was pretty funny b/c there was a carnival going on and they wer playing all of these ridiculous American songs and the DJ talked a lot while playing the songs so you would hear the English with the DJ's french over it. San Malo was so pretty, the water was a blue green color and the beaches were clean. After exploring for quite a while we decided to go get Irish Coffee, its difficult though because in France a lot of the cafes seem really nice, so we feel underdressed or such, but after a while of scoping out cafes we just went into one. The Irish Coffee was pretty good granted it was REALLY strong, like a little bit of expresso and a lot of Irish Cream. Afterwards we headed back to the buses and had a 2 1/2 bus ride back.
When we got back we decided to have a mini-potlock type of thing, because one of my friend's parents are out of town and gave her permission to have some friends over so we had dinner there. But first we went to the grocery store and it was so funny b/c first off it was after 21h00 and you can actually buy liquor at the grocery store so there were so many college aged kids there buying alcohol. We were also being watched by everyone, b/c we were speaking English and everytime we came within earshot of people heads would snap. At one point my friend and I were scoping out the wines and a french girl made a recommendation for a good wine, so we ended up choosing that one. It was funny though b/c she told us it was really good, but a little bit expensive, meaning 3E95, which is so ridiculous b/c that is nothing for decent wine in the US and it turned out to be really good!
On a side note yesterday was cool because I went to the school where I am going to do my teaching internship to meet the teachers, and they were all so nice. The kids were so cute too because they are 5 and 6 yearolds and I have 5 classes that I am going to be teaching a week. When I walked into the classroom the teacher would have the class guess who I was and they all immediately knew I would be their English teacher. They were also funny because one teacher asked them what they would say to me in English to greet me and the entire class says "Allo" with their French accents. I am so excited, though I think it is going to be tough, b/c my French is not very good, and neither is their English, but I think it will be an awesome experience. I really also wanted to take a course at the university, but talking to other IES students who are taking a class there it doesn't sound like I am missing out on much b/c not many of them are very good, and no one really knows what exactly is going on in their classes. This semester will be really nice (I hope) because I am only taking 16 hours including my teaching internship.
I think tomorrow I am just going to explore, b/c the more I see of Nantes the more and more I like it!!!
Saint Malo was pretty cool too, when we first arrived we walked the perimeter of the city on top of the stone walls that enclose the city, and then went down to the beach where we climbed rocks and explored. It was pretty funny b/c there was a carnival going on and they wer playing all of these ridiculous American songs and the DJ talked a lot while playing the songs so you would hear the English with the DJ's french over it. San Malo was so pretty, the water was a blue green color and the beaches were clean. After exploring for quite a while we decided to go get Irish Coffee, its difficult though because in France a lot of the cafes seem really nice, so we feel underdressed or such, but after a while of scoping out cafes we just went into one. The Irish Coffee was pretty good granted it was REALLY strong, like a little bit of expresso and a lot of Irish Cream. Afterwards we headed back to the buses and had a 2 1/2 bus ride back.
When we got back we decided to have a mini-potlock type of thing, because one of my friend's parents are out of town and gave her permission to have some friends over so we had dinner there. But first we went to the grocery store and it was so funny b/c first off it was after 21h00 and you can actually buy liquor at the grocery store so there were so many college aged kids there buying alcohol. We were also being watched by everyone, b/c we were speaking English and everytime we came within earshot of people heads would snap. At one point my friend and I were scoping out the wines and a french girl made a recommendation for a good wine, so we ended up choosing that one. It was funny though b/c she told us it was really good, but a little bit expensive, meaning 3E95, which is so ridiculous b/c that is nothing for decent wine in the US and it turned out to be really good!
On a side note yesterday was cool because I went to the school where I am going to do my teaching internship to meet the teachers, and they were all so nice. The kids were so cute too because they are 5 and 6 yearolds and I have 5 classes that I am going to be teaching a week. When I walked into the classroom the teacher would have the class guess who I was and they all immediately knew I would be their English teacher. They were also funny because one teacher asked them what they would say to me in English to greet me and the entire class says "Allo" with their French accents. I am so excited, though I think it is going to be tough, b/c my French is not very good, and neither is their English, but I think it will be an awesome experience. I really also wanted to take a course at the university, but talking to other IES students who are taking a class there it doesn't sound like I am missing out on much b/c not many of them are very good, and no one really knows what exactly is going on in their classes. This semester will be really nice (I hope) because I am only taking 16 hours including my teaching internship.
I think tomorrow I am just going to explore, b/c the more I see of Nantes the more and more I like it!!!
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