With a new year inevitably comes my resolution to write more blog posts....I can't quite believe it only took 2 months for me to stop posting regularly on my blog, but there we go. In truth, there are a couple of reasons I didn't post last half term: one, I just got out of the habit and kept forgetting, and two, I had quite a few weeks when I felt really homesick, and although I said I wanted to be as honest as possible here I found it really hard to admit I was struggling when I was still actually
in it, as opposed to in retrospect. To compensate though, here is a quick summary (with photos!) of a few of the fun things I did last half term:
went to
Paris for a weekend to visit some fellow YAers, which happened to coincide with the November shootings...scary stuff. So the weekend was really one of two parts: the first day was full of exploring, catching up with the lovely Sarah who is doing her YA in Spain, and soaking up the beauty of Paris, whereas Day 2 was more about news reports, reassuring people back at home that I was OK, indoor picnics and then wandering round a very sombre yet determined Paris. It was a surreal thing to experience, being so close to something so huge that so many people were talking about around the world, but we didn't hear or see anything which was something of a miracle, and all got back safely, for which I am very grateful!!
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| The stunning Musée d'Orsay |
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| Ah, belle Paris |
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| Me and Sarah at the end of a wonderful day |
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| These were all over the city the day after the attacks |
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| Love beautiful Parisian streets like this one! |
Christmas market shopping in
Nantes. There was a lovely little Christmas market in Rennes throughout December, but Nantes definitely outdid us with all their markets! Dani, Ellie and I had a very festive day wandering around the various stalls, buying lots of Christmas presents, and then dinner at a really cute restaurant in the city.
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| The château nantaise |
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| Dani and Ellie in the main Christmas market |
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| There were so many, that this one was simply called 'the other market' |
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| Tough decisions at the tea stand |
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| Well earned rest at the end of a long day of...ahem...shopping |
had my friend
Ruth to stay, who is currently doing her YA in Metz in Eastern France. It was lovely to be able to show her round and do all the typical
rennais things, such as eating crêpes (of course), going to the science museum in
Les Champs Libres, looking round the Christmas market, visiting
parc du Thabor (one of my favourite places in Rennes)
, and generally wandering around République and Sainte Anne so she could get a feel for the city.
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| Showing Ruth round and discovering a cool metalworks market |
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| This bit of the park really reminds me of Narnia |
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| Ruth enjoying exploring! |
And then a few miscellaneous adventures:
Mum and Dad came to visit, so obviously another trip to the Christmas market was needed
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| My parents at the Christmas market |
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| Mum and I enjoying some cheeky churros |
shopping in Grand Quartier with Ellie, and getting very excited about Christmas due to these extravagantly festive furry friends
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| Are these really necessary...? |
a thoroughly British Christmas with Dani and Ellie in our last week
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| Two very full and happy people |
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| Celebrating Christmas in style |
I hope these photos make up for my complete lack of any updates recently, and give you a little taste of the highlights of my Frenchy life!!
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