Saying goodbye to Rennes ... again

My last couple weeks in Rennes were fantastic and I can't believe everything came to an end so quickly. After I got back from Lisbon and Lyon, my cousin Gordon came to visit me. He is currently living in Madrid so he came up to Rennes for three days and then headed to explore Paris with friends for the weekend. He was such an easy guest as we had a very similar itinerary in mind: sleep, take advantage of the sun, and eat good food. I introduced him to camembert cheese, paté, duck, and galettes so I think he was a happy camper. As soon as Gordon left I suddenly realized I had one week left. Time absolutely flew. My last week consisted of packing and attempting to cancel internet, move out of my apartment, and pawn all of my extra 'stuff' off on my host family and my friend Caely who is staying. It is incredible how much stuff you can acquire in such a small period of time. I also had my birthday which was so nice and a really wonderful thing to have in my last week. I celebrated by going to Apple Pie for lunch (pictures to come of course) and then having a small dinner party with friends. It was the nicest party and I got great gifts from friends, including a Stade Rennais scarf and Caely-knit socks ... which I refused to take off and ended up wearing home on the bus. The cake was delicious - absolutely one of the best I have ever had. I had sent Caely a recipe months and months ago, and somehow she remembered and surprised me with it: sweet potato pie with coconut and almonds and a speculoos cookie crust ... like really? 

absolutely. delicious.

Georgia and Kelsey

Berit and Margaret

Getting some help from Caely: at first I thought I was having a hard time blowing
out the candles, until we all realized they were trick candles ...
which took us a little too long to figure out ...

I am officially home and not ready to admit that I am no longer living in France. I'm not sure what is next, but I know for sure this is not the end of traveling and I will be back to at least visit Rennes in the very near future. Stay tuned for more travels ... even if they are stateside travels!