What?! Today is the last day of Grammar??? Dang it.

Salut!

Terribly sorry for the negative blogging over the past few weeks. Here's a recap.... homework, papers, homework, sleeping, eating....

After vacation I came back to a bunch of due dates, and granted I worked SO hard over vacation of course it was a breeze jumping back into everything....ha.

However, the weather has been wonderful, so that's provided for some lovely distractions and outside fun. The last weekend of April I found one of the huge outside markets here in Nantes. Fresh fish, vegetables, red meat, bread, cheese, fruit - basically any food item you could ever want. There were also vendors selling clothes, furniture and other odds and ends. Overall - very cool. I know we have markets back home, but they just don't compare to here. Everything just looks soooo good. I managed to decide on a few things for a picnic lunch in the Park Proce, which is absolutely gorgeous now, as every single flower in the park is in full bloom. There are tulips and lilacs and just so much green. Very relaxing.

This same weekend I also discovered a restaurant called "The Burger House," a tiny hole in the wall, run by an American. All i can say is YUM. I didn't realize how much I missed hamburgers. And having one made by an American, who knows what a good burger is supposed to taste like, it was great. He's from Seattle, but his wife is French. Apparently they just moved back to France a little over a year ago, and decided to open up the restaurant at that point. It was strange having so much America in the middle of this town. Completely out of place, but it felt good to have some familiarity :)

As summer gets closer, my family is also super busy getting wedding stuff together for Segolene's wedding in August. The last couple of weeks have consisted of making table clothes, sending out invitations, making gifts for the guests and starting to sew dresses. I got to help somewhat with the gifts. Each guest is going to get a small jar with a prune soaking in a special type of alcohol. By soaking in the alcohol for a couple of months, the prune will taste absolutely delicious by the time the wedding comes around. It's a specialty of the region where she's getting married, at their country home south of Bordeaux. Here's a look at the process...

Nicolas and Segolene

Then this past weekend, we all had a long weekend, as May 1st is Labor Day here in France, so no one has school. I went to Bordeaux (southwestern France) with some friends for the weekend. The weather was beauutiful. I officially got my first sun burn of the year :) We stayed with some relatives of my host family, but we basically just got to stay in their house all by ourselves. Juliette, the daughter in the family, was there to let us in, but she was in and out all weekend. It was nice to have a kitchen to cook in and a place to just hang out after sight-seeing and walking around all day.

Highlights of Bordeaux: Getting stuck on a sketchy train on the way to Bordeaux, wandering a giant antique market, the reflection pool, wine tasting in St. Emillion (a small village about 30 min. out of Bordeaux), and hanging out with good friends :)

Roman Ruins

My travel buddies for the weekend - Cindy and Lisa

The reflection pool in front of la Place de Bourse

The pool shot up fog...

St. Emilion Vineyards

Well tomorrow is my last day of classes at IES. Then Friday, May 8th is another national holiday - the liberation of France in 1944. IES is taking us to a Nantes vineyard to learn about how wine is made and do some wine tasting! This weekend will then be filled to the brim with studying for finals which are Monday-Wednesday. Then i'm DONE! I'll leave Nantes the morning of the 16th, head to Paris for the day, and will then fly home on the 17th. 10 days. I can barely believe how fast time has gone by here. I'm super excited to get home, but it will be sad to leave.

Here's a little list of what I'll miss...
-my host family
-crepes/galettes
-fresh bread
-people calling me Kesley
-the beautiful parks full of flowers
-all of my IES friends, who live in just about every corner of the U.S.
-wearing the same thing 2 days in a row and having it be ok
-cafes
-the lack of work ethic
-the ease of public transportation
-speaking French
-speaking franglais (French/English combination..)
-being able to communicate with French people
-being able to knock down culturel barriers by talking about Obama
-slow dinners

So I guess that isn't really a short list...but there you go. Right now I'm in the midst of making a batch of cookies for my grammar class. It's our last class today! Dang it... :)

I hope you all are having a good week and that the month of May has started off well for you! I can't wait to see you all!

Love, Kelsey