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| Les Remparts de St. Malo |
Hey all – long time no see!
Well, I’ve finally settled into my French
life here, and I find it becomes a little challenging to communicate exactly
what things are like here to everyone not in France. The culture is one of the
most fascinating and enchanting in the world, and I think I’m actually
beginning to feel like a part of it.
Some history: Bretagne (Brittany) was its own independent region for millennia,
and only joined the rest of France in 1532. It has its own langue, and an incredibly strong cultural identity that makes it
unique from the rest of France. And Rennes, yes, is the capital. It’s a funny
thing – I’ve only been here for a couple of weeks, but if I were to identify
myself in terms of being French (like how I identify as Coloradan, as an
American), I would certainly identify myself as Breton and Rennais (and I might
have maybe just bought a Breton flag…),
so I think being in Paris for the fall will be sort of an interesting challenge
to that identity. But I’m coming back here to visit and to be back “home” in
Rennes. It has this incredible small-village feel, and it’s so alive, all the
time. I’m going to miss it a ton, but it’s only two hours by train from Paris,
so score!
We’ve had two excursions for the program,
the second of which was today. The first was to Caen last week to see the
Normandy beaches (very beautiful, and a pretty intense experience), and then
the second to Mont-Saint-Michel (a spectacular thousand-year-old island
fortress/abbey) and St. Malo (a coast Brittany town, incredibly gorgeous).
This will be my last weekend in Rennes,
and then I’m traveling around Spain next week, and then around the East Coast
the week after, all before leaving for London on July 2nd. The
American sequence will be because I need to pick up a French visa in New York
City, which is a process I will rant about probably on the bus ride to Providence,
so get ready for that.
Anyway – to communicate what life here is
like, I’m gonna give a run-down of my basic daily life here in this marvelous French
city (shoutout to Lauren Testa whose idea I pirated!)
-
Wake
up at 11:00 AM because class isn’t until 3:00 PM (score!)
-
Breakfast
is usually fresh bread with confiture
(preserves) from the local market, sometimes with French cheeses or with
granola and coffee or hot chocolate
-
All
of the errands are around midday – I opened a French bank account since I’ll be
in the country for so long, so it’s been a lot of work retrieving the (highly
numerous) documents they require. All of this in French (a challenging
experience to say the least). BUT, I always make sure to get a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant)
from my favorite boulangerie on Rue d’Orléans.
-
If
I have time, 1:30 – 2:30 is at a café where I would order un déca or if I’m with people for lunch
-
Between
2:30 and 3:00 – rapidly do all of the homework due today that I’ve neglected
for the last 23.5 hours.
-
Class
from 3:00-5:00, split between grammar and literature. We’re now onto Sartre,
continuing the existentialist streak into Les
Mouches (The Flies) and Huis Clos
(No Exit).
-
5:00
– 7:30 is either the group going to a café or Salon au Thé (teahouse) and hanging out. If it’s not happening,
then I go home and chill with my host fam, paint, or practice piano.
-
8:00
– 9:30: The family dinner, beginning with wine or an apératif (cocktail), followed by salad, followed by the main
course, followed by the assiette de
fromage (cheese plate), completed by dessert (often fruit). This is the
most challenging time for me, French-wise, because it’s continuous rapid-fire
French, but I’ve actually done a pretty good job lately of following what’s
going on and even contributing to the convo. And it honestly the most rewarding
part of the day, usually.
-
10:00
onward: if it’s a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night, we often go out to the
city center and walk around, go to bars or cafés, but I suppose my nightclub game
isn’t the strongest. I tried it a couple of times, but I haven’t really found
it rewarding or particularly fun.
-
And
on weekends, throw in a trip to the (enormous) street market, or a family
excursion to a village in Brittany, or (hopefully this weekend) a trip to
Nantes with friends for a day. The evenings are often big extended family
dinners, so I meet lots of people, and it’s a great time!
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