Hogwarts in France

Things are starting to get back into a rhythm after vacation and I have been trying to get back into exploring Rennes. Last week my friend Lindsay and I went shopping and she discovered the most amazing pastry shop on a tiny street by the major’s building in Rennes, it was unreal. I also went tried a new bar on Friday night, it was a tapas bar! But the tapas didn’t even compare to what we had in Seville. The most exciting thing was that on Saturday, our program (CIEE) took us on a trip to St. Malo, Cancale, and Mont Saint Michel, very close to one another on the ocean about an hour north. One of our monitors (university students who led us during orientation) lives in St. Malo, and was very excited to show us around. There was a huge wall that went all around the small city, which was rich with history from WWII and battles between the French and the English. Next we went to Cancale, which I had already visited with Lindsay and her host family. We were there for just about an hour to have a small picnic and look around. I tried oysters for the first time!! If you are going to eat oysters in France, you are supposed to eat them in Cancale, as that is pretty much all it is known for. When you are at a fancy restaurant in Paris, sometimes you will see signs that say “Cancale Oysters” but eating them there was much more of an experience. Then, we went to Mont Saint Michel. It is literally a island with a HUGE abbey on top, and very small shops, hotels and restaurants all around it. It was build in the 7^th century, and still houses monks and nuns. They are famous for a restaurant called “la Mere Poulard”, which serves fancy foods, but notably known for their omelets. The omelets go for 30 euro! It is very expensive and touristy, but apparently the best. When we pulled up I literally felt like I was Harry Potter coming back to Hogwarts, it’s beautiful. Because it was an island, and then they built a road for people to visit, everything is crammed onto one piece of land, and it is very steep with lots of stairs. I only got to go about a quarter of the way up, but one of our directors stayed with me and we walked along the beach and he told me a lot about Mont Saint Michel. It was a really long day, and I slept on the bus every time (surprise, surprise), but it was beautiful. I also talked to my friend Caitlin today, from home, and we just planned our spring break! So I will be off to Venice, Rome, and somewhere in the south of Italy in April – very excited. My fam comes in 10 days!