April in Paris, Chestnuts in Blossom

Spring break ended with Cait's lovely visit to Rennes, in which we had picnics in the park, went to the market, visited the fine arts museum, met friends out and about, ate traditional Bretagne galettes and cider (and of course crepes) and slept in. It was very relaxing and the weather held-off somewhat. On Saturday morning, we went to Paris! Though the weather was nasty, it was so cool to show Cait Paris for her first time. We were so lucky because we met/stayed with my Grandma Fern and her husband Alfred, which was such a treat. We walked along the Champs D'Elysees, saw Arc de Triomphe, grabbed lunch, went to an African Arts museum that was having an exhibit on women, and finally ended with the most spectactular dinner... ever. After dinner we stood outside for a minute to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle. Cait and I had so so much fun, essentially we laughed and ate for about 10 days, it was perfect, and really nice to see a familiar face. Cait left somewhat early Sunday morning to fly back to Rome, and I went to meet my friend Julia (again!) for another wonderful Sunday in Paris. We grabbed lunch and decided to go to an area I had not yet explored. We found beautiful gardens (it is most definitely spring here, the flowers are out in full bloom) and also checked out the Evolution Museum, which was very cool and kind of like a Natural History Museum. The sun came out so we walked along the river to get the BEST ice cream in Paris, right by the Notre Dame where Lindsay and I had gone in January. We sat in a park in the sun, with the rest of Paris, and enjoyed our last time in Paris together.

I am now back in Rennes and it is great to take a break from traveling for just a little bit. We have had some serious strikes since we've been back, including having to be evacuaded from the building twice (leading to class outside ... no to shabby), but our program leaders are moving all of our classes from the University for the rest of the semester because this is getting so ridiculous. I am off to the Loire Valley with my program for the weekend so I will be sure to send another update when I get back!