Wednesday, May 13
Blog site was down yesterday, plus I don't think I'm going to write something every day (it's hard to be witty that often...)
After finally going to see a doctor yesterday AM, he told me that after the first few days of something like this, you pretty much have to just try and keep comfy while it runs its course. He prescribed me a throat spray and some aspirin/ibuprofen (for a non existent fever). The 2 prescriptions and the doctors appt - without insurance - was less than 30 Euros! The French pay a big chunk of their salary to taxes, but they have the healthcare thing down.
We had home-made "creme chocolat" (chocolate pudding) and Croque Monsieur (a sort of a grilled ham and cheese) for lunch. It was delicious! Monday night's dinner was a zucchini/tuna quiche and it looked easy to do but I can assure you, I don't make it chez moi. I'm actually kind of inspired to do some cooking when I get back home... this stuff has basic ingredients and is not complicated to do (Elodie insists). And it is friggin' delicious!
It rained most of yesterday, so in order to further recoop, I stayed in and read my Kindle up until about 2p. Elodie had an appt in the Centre Ville ("downtown") and offered to take me over to walk around on my own some. So I did. Poked my head in the shops and took some sort of gray looking pics of the standard photo ops.
I found that a lot had changed or else I didn't remember as much as I should have... In particular, across from Place St. Anne where I caught the bus back to my host home every day, there used to be this crumbly half torn down building that looked like it had been bombed in "the war" and never repaired. I never once saw someone working on it while I studied here, it was just "in the works." Now, it's a full on mall! An H&M and everything... crazy.
There are more foreign cuisine options than there used to be... maybe more "homeless" people. I use quotes because they are really a group of people that all have sort of mangy dogs and dreadlocks and have chosen (actually chosen, I'm not being politically snotty here) a life on the streets rather than paying for a house and getting a job. It's a whole clique of people. Anyway, I think they've been recruiting or something...
But the old underground dance club (La Place) is there. Amour Pommes de Terre - a restaurant built entirely on food made from potatoes (I'm in love) - is still there. As is the latin bar next door. Wow, it's amazing the memories that will jump back at you when you see a place again!
Last night, Elodie's dad had us over for crepes, made by a true Breton. We had crepes with everything in them. Nutella (my fave), a chesnut butter (think applebutter with a nutty flavor), salted caramel (Erwan's fave), butter & sugar, confiture (jam)... Plus nibbles beforehand to go with our apperatifs. We had real Breton cidre from Bretagne (yum!). Woodchuck ain't got nothin' on this stuff.
Today at lunch Guillaume and Anne's mom, Christiane, had me over for lunch (porkchops, ratatouille made fresh and jarred last summer, plus Roquefort and a creamy light cheese for dessert) and we caught up a bit. Being at her home reminded me of a lot more memories of my semester here: Guillaume's birthday party and the afternoons I spent there with him, watching Friends in French and trying to perfect my French.
Christiane asked me if I'd gotten skinnier since we last saw each other and I said, well yes... after 4 months in France, I'd put on about 20 pounds. I only have a month this time, but I'm hoping to at least take 5 pounds more Jess home with me. (all cheese and bread and chocolate and a splash of wine)
The sun came out today!! I walked and sat and soaked it up. Took some more pictures (better). Then headed down into the Republique metro station to see Erwan's mom's group do country line dancing as part of a campaign to "move more" that's going on in the region. It's a group of 50+ ladies (and one man) who do country dancing in order to stay active in their post retirement years. They were pretty good! And anyway, it was a sight to see them doing 8 counts in their colorful cowboy hats with their "Love that Country Dance" shirts on. I uploaded a video: cause you can't hear the Village People song in the still shots...
Tonight, Elodie's friends are coming over and we're using it as an excuse to break out the chocolate fountain Elodie got for her last birthday. I'm not gonna tell her I wouldn't have needed an excuse. It's stopped raining, though, so in anticipation of what is sure to be another huge meal, I may take a brisk walk...
I bought my ticket from Rennes to Mulhouse for this Sunday and will be train-ing it in 4 days!
Check out Rennes pics on my Flickr, which I've now conveniently named "bestofjess" so the URL isn't so terribly long: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestofjess
After finally going to see a doctor yesterday AM, he told me that after the first few days of something like this, you pretty much have to just try and keep comfy while it runs its course. He prescribed me a throat spray and some aspirin/ibuprofen (for a non existent fever). The 2 prescriptions and the doctors appt - without insurance - was less than 30 Euros! The French pay a big chunk of their salary to taxes, but they have the healthcare thing down.
We had home-made "creme chocolat" (chocolate pudding) and Croque Monsieur (a sort of a grilled ham and cheese) for lunch. It was delicious! Monday night's dinner was a zucchini/tuna quiche and it looked easy to do but I can assure you, I don't make it chez moi. I'm actually kind of inspired to do some cooking when I get back home... this stuff has basic ingredients and is not complicated to do (Elodie insists). And it is friggin' delicious!
It rained most of yesterday, so in order to further recoop, I stayed in and read my Kindle up until about 2p. Elodie had an appt in the Centre Ville ("downtown") and offered to take me over to walk around on my own some. So I did. Poked my head in the shops and took some sort of gray looking pics of the standard photo ops.
I found that a lot had changed or else I didn't remember as much as I should have... In particular, across from Place St. Anne where I caught the bus back to my host home every day, there used to be this crumbly half torn down building that looked like it had been bombed in "the war" and never repaired. I never once saw someone working on it while I studied here, it was just "in the works." Now, it's a full on mall! An H&M and everything... crazy.
There are more foreign cuisine options than there used to be... maybe more "homeless" people. I use quotes because they are really a group of people that all have sort of mangy dogs and dreadlocks and have chosen (actually chosen, I'm not being politically snotty here) a life on the streets rather than paying for a house and getting a job. It's a whole clique of people. Anyway, I think they've been recruiting or something...
But the old underground dance club (La Place) is there. Amour Pommes de Terre - a restaurant built entirely on food made from potatoes (I'm in love) - is still there. As is the latin bar next door. Wow, it's amazing the memories that will jump back at you when you see a place again!
Last night, Elodie's dad had us over for crepes, made by a true Breton. We had crepes with everything in them. Nutella (my fave), a chesnut butter (think applebutter with a nutty flavor), salted caramel (Erwan's fave), butter & sugar, confiture (jam)... Plus nibbles beforehand to go with our apperatifs. We had real Breton cidre from Bretagne (yum!). Woodchuck ain't got nothin' on this stuff.
Today at lunch Guillaume and Anne's mom, Christiane, had me over for lunch (porkchops, ratatouille made fresh and jarred last summer, plus Roquefort and a creamy light cheese for dessert) and we caught up a bit. Being at her home reminded me of a lot more memories of my semester here: Guillaume's birthday party and the afternoons I spent there with him, watching Friends in French and trying to perfect my French.
Christiane asked me if I'd gotten skinnier since we last saw each other and I said, well yes... after 4 months in France, I'd put on about 20 pounds. I only have a month this time, but I'm hoping to at least take 5 pounds more Jess home with me. (all cheese and bread and chocolate and a splash of wine)
The sun came out today!! I walked and sat and soaked it up. Took some more pictures (better). Then headed down into the Republique metro station to see Erwan's mom's group do country line dancing as part of a campaign to "move more" that's going on in the region. It's a group of 50+ ladies (and one man) who do country dancing in order to stay active in their post retirement years. They were pretty good! And anyway, it was a sight to see them doing 8 counts in their colorful cowboy hats with their "Love that Country Dance" shirts on. I uploaded a video: cause you can't hear the Village People song in the still shots...
Tonight, Elodie's friends are coming over and we're using it as an excuse to break out the chocolate fountain Elodie got for her last birthday. I'm not gonna tell her I wouldn't have needed an excuse. It's stopped raining, though, so in anticipation of what is sure to be another huge meal, I may take a brisk walk...
I bought my ticket from Rennes to Mulhouse for this Sunday and will be train-ing it in 4 days!
Check out Rennes pics on my Flickr, which I've now conveniently named "bestofjess" so the URL isn't so terribly long: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestofjess
posted by Jess at 9:03 AM
2 Comments:
YAY! i'm all caught up with your travels now (you know, bc i've been without internet and such) and i'm super happy excited you're with friends and feeling well again. lub you bear!
<3
I am really excited while reading whole post, and that pictures are also really nice....
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