Nantes (pronounced like haunt with an 'n')

so I don't really post during the week because the only "exciting" things happening to me are getting lost on runs in the city when it's about to down pour. luckily i found my way back into the park that i was originally in and ran my short little legs as fast as I could back to the grocery since I was already out and of course I was dripping sweat and the employees are just wondering who the sweaty blonde is. now you see why i don't post often during the week, hm?   

just the view from one of the tram stops on the way to school in the morning. its rare the sun shines in angers

on saturday last weekend we visited nantes, a city about 45 minutes away by train from angers. it's a really neat place, with some rich history and fun patisserie shops. another castle too - they really love their castles around here. suitable real estate for myself i'd say.. LOL. it was not however the prettiest day.. the wind was blowing hard, rain sideways, and it was quite cold. when we booked our train tickets earlier in the week, it was in fact supposed to be 55 and sunny. sounds a lot like the midwest, huh? saw some neat sites, peed my pants because we laughed so hard when all of our umbrellas flipped inside out when we suddenly entered a wind tunnel, and had a beer at 11am because our jeans were soaking wet and we had enough already that morning. holly and i found our way to ikea with public transit (BIG win - public transit and i aren't familiar pals yet) and it was Holl's first time so that was great. it was a bit insane because it was a saturday, so Holl would weave in and out of the displays, "i am deviating from the the central route!" and i am behind her laughing my butt off at the proclamation. needless to say, heading back home and taking a warm shower was heavenly. wouldn't mind venturing back when it warms up a bit..

a lot was accomplished this week. took my first exam (it was french. it was pretty tough as to be expected) i also paid my rent in full for the semester, cleaned, mailed a few things etc. your average daily tasks are not quite so easy around here.. they make you jump through a lot of hoops for basic things like renters insurance and banking. this leads into my post office story - i wanted to mail a post card, and i needed to purchase a stamp. don't know the french words for mail or stamp, but the lady was all over it when i showed her the postcard and asked where i wanted to send it to (i know Etats-Unis, french for USA) and so she handed me a stamp. i'm standing there trying to peel off the back of it to stick it on the post card. she looked at me funny while i struggled and then i pseudo-licked the stamp and said, "comme ca?" (like this?) and she said oui and proceeded to crack up. look out world, #eurojules is learning a new thing every day. like stamps aren't automatic stickers everywhere like they are in the US. 

Holly's Corner:

• beached as, meaning: tired, toast, just done
• mish, meaning: mission, task
• choca-block, meaning: packed, or busy. the grocery was a choca-block!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaskDVTa_m0 (check out Holl's video of our adventures so far in month #1! it's fun for a different perspective on the same adventures)

one of our fav pastries at our fav patisserie  

mom sent me a package of goodies which included a dress "for Valentine's Day" THANKS MA😍 

go to pose - next to one of the wine tanks  

for my wine marketing class, we had a double block class period (6 hours. yes, i repeat 6 hours of the SAME class in the SAME day) but thankfully we took a field trip for this one. don't worry, those double blocks of hell are common. it's a horrendous way to schedule classes, but ESSCA could give a rats patootie about whats logical in class scheduling. had a professor bail on class 15 minutes before this week, sent an email like whoops sorry won't be there ( i was definitely already at school) and they reschedule canceled classes here, so that's another chunk of an evening i am sacrificing for a this dang class. #eurojules was less than thrilled if you can imagine.

anyway, the field trip. we ventured out to saumur to the ackerman wine caves, which they don't actually produce wine in anymore, rather it's for showy purposes and events (what a fun job that would be.. planning bashes in wine caves for companies. pick me!) and we learned a lot about the sparkling wine process. it's not called champagne, as it legally cannot be called champagne unless made in CHAMPAGNE, so it is called sparkling wine. one of their sparkling whites is actually a best seller in the US, i believe it's called marquis de la tour if you felt like giving it a try my fellow american peoples. 

we had a tasting early on in the day, and our wine making professor stressed the importance of the "tasting" not the "drinking." you're supposed to swish it around in your mouth, and spit it in buckets set upon a pretty granite counter. i was appalled by this idea for a few reasons that i will explain. one, spitting liquid from your mouth in front of a bunch of people is down right disgusting. i don't want to see or hear any part of that - gross. second, it's wasteful! perfectly good wine being spit out to be dumped down the drain. sorry, but i just learned about how long this delicate liquid has to sit around to have "the perfect aromas" and the right kind of bubbles to even make it to the shelves, and you want me to disrespect it by spitting it into a bacteria bowl because it's a tasting? well you can forget it. i hovered in the back of the group and tossed back each glass of the bubbly and thoroughly enjoyed myself. i was on a bus at 9am on a friday morning, i was going to make it totally worth it.

after a long day and a long week, holl and i decided to venture out, order some pizza, snuggle up and watch the LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE because we are almost finished planning our spring break adventures in italy, rome being one of our stops. we laughed our butts off, ate way too many "sweet treats" as holly calls them post pizza and got school girl giddy over the sites in the movie that we will be visiting in a few short weeks. who said two gals in their twenties can't stay in, eat a crazy amount of junk food and sing every word to every song in an '03 disney movie? tonight my friends, it was done in style.

cheers, jkro