Back in Rennes..

Finally, Sarah and I managed to make it back to Rennes safely.
After many adventures in Limerick after we left Shannon, we hopped on a bus Saturday morning to Rosslare Harbour, where we waited for a few hours with our respective reading books until we could board the ferry.

We boarded the ferry around 5 PM Saturday and set sail around 6:30. We arrived in Cherbourg, France around 12:00 PM the next day after sleeping in the chairs that were our reserved seats.
Uncomfortable? Yes. Unbearable? Not really.
We made a French friend, Thomas, on the boat who hung out with us while we passed our time on the ferry eating, reading, and later on in the evening, watching a man play guitar and sing amid a large group of truckers. Sarah and I were two of the five ladies in the bar area while watching the musician and it was pretty hilarious to watch all the older men progressively getting more and more drunk and singing Irish tunes.
The icing on the cake was that for the last song played, one man grabbed Sarah and made her dance with him in front of everyone, making up the steps as he went along. I just about died laughing.

Once we were off the boat and went through "customs" which consisted of the three of us simply walking through an empty building with no one to even show our passport to, we took a shuttle to the city center (AKA the train station) and got on the very next train that would take us to Rennes. 
After parting ways with our friend when we had to switch trains at Lison, we fell asleep for the last leg of the journey. 

Once we arrived in Rennes, we hopped on the metro and practically collapsed.

The most brilliant thing, however, was climbing the escalator out of the metro into the 70 degree and sunny weather. The trees were green, everything was blooming, and it actually felt a little bit like home to walk into my little single room that I never imagined would feel like home.
This is the view of spring outside my window! 

It really did though and it does even more now that I got a wonderful package from my dear mum with some arty things that I hung up.


This wall has certainly been spruced up :) The string of felted hearts is my favorite :)

Now that I'm back, however, I'm completely not in work mode, which isn't good, but it's to be expected after two weeks of vacation. I'm already thinking about my next vacation, which will be at the end of May and I'm hoping to get to Germany to visit the grandparents and maybe Angie too :)

And now, I have to get to class on this exceptionally gorgeous day. Schade.

More pictures from Ireland.....

There is not much to do in Shannon, that's for sure.
Last night we went to a medieval dinner at Bunratty Castle because it was half off due to no one being able to go because of all the delays from the volcanic ash mess... Which I have to admit, I'm a little more than frustrated with. Also, my stomach is having severe pains and I'm not too happy about that either.
*sigh*
Really I'm just super frustrated in general...
So here are some more pictures in any case.

 Horse and buggy ride on one of the Aran Islands!

 dandelions in doolin

dinner!

A week in Ireland... that is being extended.

This past week in Ireland has been amazing- beautiful weather, great food, spending all day outside, the Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands, Doolin, and traditional Irish dancing!!!!

Due to the volcanic ash issue, Sarah and I are staying close by the airport in Shannon now, waiting for Tuesday when our flight has been rescheduled.
Who even knows if THAT will even happen though- with all the glass and ash in the air, there's no telling when we're actually getting back home to France.

For now, I'm just enjoying it. Tonight we're going to a medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle! It should be a blast...

And here are some of my photos from this past week! :) More to come when my computer is recharged!! :)

This blog is WAY overdue for an update.  Last week, my camera finally bit the dust and so I was unable to upload new photos.
Luckily, I now am in possession of a new one that is very pretty and works beautifully.

Last week was lovely because our Etude de la Langue professor was in Morocco for the week and thus there was no class! Of course we had to make up the hours the week before AS WELL AS do the regular hours for the course for the week. It was a looooong week, but it was very nice to have last week off.

This week is already flying because the Easter weekend was a long one and we had Monday off. Friday morning, Sarah and I will be leaving for Ireland for the week and then we will be on our separate ways for the second week of vacation.

I am most likely going to be visiting a good family friend, Angela in Baden Baden, Germany which is very close to Strasbourg. And I CAN'T wait! Lots of pictures to come from this vacation, I assure you.

This was dinner last week- fajitas!!! As messy as they were, they were deliciousssssss. Now it's back to good old pasta and sauce to save on cash for vacation.....
À plus!

Giant parties and sunglasses and kebabs

So on Thursday night the ENTIRE town of Rennes decided to try to one-up Nantes and have an even BIGGER party. Which means there were about 4,000 people in the area in front of Gaumont, a big movie theater. (YouTube has videos! Look for them because my pictures can only show so much)
We went with some friends from our class, too, which was great!


Okay- now on the subject of kebabs. They are little pieces of heaven that are so delicious (and super fattening I'm sure) but so SO good. I usually get this one (shown below) that is called Kebab Salade Frites. Basically it means that I get this scrumptious sandwich made from the meat that turns and is sliced off with a knife and then is drizzled with sauce blanche (AKA tzatziki sauce!) And also it comes with fries which go wonderfully with mayo and ketchup.
Yes, it's true- I have converted. Mayonnaise with fries = excellent!!!!



In other news, I have decided to start a photo album of everyone and anyone that wears my sunglasses. I hope it gets to be extensive. I've started it on facebook, but I'm going to put it up on my Picasa web albums and also on Flickr, too. I'm going to try to get as many people as possible before I come home to the states... And even then, maybe I will continue it. :-)
Probably I should start a website about it.. hmmm....


Bon weekend a vous!

Dunkin' Donuts, please step aside. Your croissants are terrible.

When it's gray outside, but strangely warm, and there is absolutely nothing to do because it is Saturday and you can't sleep anymore, this is what happens. You make food.
But not just any food because the food here is, of course, exceptional. Especially the croissants.

So after a quick trip to Carrefour and the Boulangerie, I made my own croissant egg sandwich that Dunkin' Donuts lovers would drool over. It was lightly toasted and super buttery and the eggs were all fresh and "Bio" which is organic

It's also pretty nice that it's so easy to make.
Perfect, Relaxing Afternoon Recipe


1) Crack eggs into pan, greased with some beurre
2) Listen to "Please Be With Me" by Eric Clapton
3) Flip les oeufs
4) Sprinkle some Emmental fromage on top of that, comme ça.



5) Listen to "Germ-Free Adolescents" by X-Ray Spex.
6) Toast the sliced croissant face-down in the pan for a few minutes
7) While this is going on you may listen to "Come a Little Bit Closer" by Jay and the Americans because it's hilarious and it goes well whilst cooking afternoon breakfast.
8) Place les oeufs into the lightly toasted croissant and squish (if you want the egg guts to spill out, which is kind of enjoyable if you ask me)
9) Et voila! Enjoy with some OJ whilst watching Gilmore Girls. (If you like witty banter courtesy of Amy Sherman-Palladino)

And from here your Saturday should be pretty enjoyable. :-)

When it rains...

The sad thing about Rennes is that the weather gets to be absolutely beautiful and then all of a sudden it will just get gray and rainy. Like today. It really brings down the mood, I have to admit- especially after a gorgeous St. Patrick's Day. It was one of the most relaxing days in a long time- I even got a sunburn.
Sarah and I relaxed on the fire escape and drank Heineken and did absolutely nothing, but sun ourselves until we finally decided we should go out somewhere.
After some tasty kebabs, we made it over to O'Connell's (same place where the Irish dancing took place) and had a Bulmer's just to make the day official.

Other than that, this week has been full of mid-terms, which haven't been too bad at all.
The worst part about these two weeks is that my Etude de la Langue professor will be missing some classes because she has to travel. Thus, WE have to make up the hours. At ungodly hours in the morning. AKA Monday's schedule: 8:30 - 12:30. Break for one hour. 1:30 -3:30.
I mean, really. Is that healthy? *sigh* Je ne pense pas.

On a happier note, I made an onion lady which can be seen to the left here. More vegetable people to come with photos, I promise.