C’est ce qu’elle a dit…Des vacances en Vannes et des autres petits villages.

C’est ce qu’elle a dit…Des vacances en Vannes et des autres petits villages. I have just returned from my first French voyage. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a cheap flight or the train. I traveled in style in a bus. The IES program took all of the ninety-one American students to Vannes for four days. Vannes is small port city on the Golfe du Morhiban, which is gulf on the West coast of France that connects to the Atlantic Ocean. All of the 91 students took a bus, which in French is called “un car.” Needless to say, all of the French words for transportation get a bit confusing. On our way to Vannes, we stopped at a Chateau called Suscinio. It was absolutely gorgeous, and we were super lucky that the weather was good. On the bus, I was my friendly self, and I met a lot of kids from other universities. Mind you, all of the communication we are having is in French! There are four other students in Nantes who are students at Denison. I know all four of them, but I am better friends with the two guys who are in Nantes. Their names are Ryan and Sean. All of the students are very nice, although there are some who think it is super cool to be rebellious and not speak French. For me, speaking English is not the point of me being here, so I am lucky that I have found some friends who desire to speak solely French. We stayed in a hotel called Le Mercure, which is a type of hotel chain in France that is a bit like a Holiday Inn. We all had one roommate, and it was really nice that we were not all squished into rooms with lots of roommates. Our first night in Vannes, we were allowed to go into the heart of the city. Vannes is not really a city, but it is more like a small port village with pubs, restaurants, and shops. It was a long walk (about 3km) to the heart of the city, but we all followed one another. Once in the city, all of us American students split up a bit, and we all found our own pubs to go to. I ordered my first beer (a Stella) at a French pub in Vannes. I went back for seconds, so it is safe to say I enjoyed it! Our next day “en vacances” we went to l’Ile aux Moines, which is an island in the Golfe du Morhiban. After taking a ten minute ferry ride to the island, we all rented bikes, and we had the entire day to ride around and discover different things. I rode around with three other students, and I had the most amazing time. The only downside was there were tons of hills, and when you go down a hill, you must come back up. Je n’aime pas remonter les collines. Our third day in Vannes, we had multiple things to do. We went to an old French fortress that had a dungeon and all kinds of different things. I almost broke my neck going up and down stairs with my friend Ryan. I love traveling around with Ryan, because he is super curious, and he likes to see it all. We took different hiking routes (wearing flipflops) that surrounded the fortress, and we found a lot of cool views of the castle. After the fortress, we went to a creperie, which had the most amazing view of the Brittany countryside. Full on crepes, the group then went to see les Alignements de Carnacs which are des dolmens et des menhirs (in French). You may be asking what these are, and it is really hard to explain. France is a bit like Stonehenge because she has these stone creations that have remained for thousands of years. Approximately 2,000 to 4,000 years before Jesus Christ, the earth’s first inhabitants but huge rocks all in a row to signify different things. It was amazing to look at a sight so incredibly ancient. After les Alignments, we went to an oyster festival in a port city called Saint Goustan d’Auray. There were little local choirs, doggy lifeguards, tons of boats, and tons of amazing cookies and other chocolate and pastries. I tasted my first oyster, and it is sad to say, but I am definitely not a fan. It kind of tasted a bit like snot due to the texture of it, and it was so incredibly salty. I had to buy myself a beer after I tasted the oysters to get the flavor out of my mouth, but at least I knew they were fresh after eating them! Our last day, we took a bunch of placement tests in the morning to help the IES professors figure out all of the different levels of French throughout the 91 students. I think I did well on the little tests, and I feel that through talking with other students I will be placed in suitable level. Hopefully I did well! My French has improved so much since I have been in France, and it has only been one week. Throughout writing this whole post, it has been hard for me to retrieve the words that I want to write in English, because I can only think of them in French. Ca marche pour moi!