Day 6

It may be about time for a more straight-up post about what I'm up to way over here, instead of just going on and on about ideas and revelations. As much as I enjoy having and writing about them.

I slept in today since we don't have classes on Fridays. Bad idea, and I knew it, because I get headaches when I do that. It went away relatively fast though, so I had my breakfast (some baguette with jam, coffee, granola cereal with dried fruit) and got ready for the day. Which, at that point, was plan-less. So I spent more time that usual getting ready. Strange, seeing as people usually do that when they have plans, but I only do that when I have a lot of free time.

So I had a lazy morning, and decided to grab a sandwich at my favorite little shop and head over to the Institute to study a bit. This basically just meant pulling out the two pages of French words that I don't know (that I write down during class) to translate. I didn't get far before I ran into some people from the trip, who were planning on exploring the city all day. So, I tagged along. Probably the best choice I could have made, since it turned out to be my favorite day here so far. We visited the St. Martin Cathedral, which was breathtaking and actually very moving. A little fact is that there are 37,000 churches and chapels throughout the world named after St. Martin, but this is where his tomb is, which we also saw.





St. Martin's Tome





Then, we visited the Notre Dame la Riche-









On the way out, the 5 of us stopped to look at some souvenirs you could buy, and we ended up talking to the nun who worked there for a while. She was actually very funny, and had a lot of good things to say, though I'm sure I missed a bit here and there. She spoke slowly for us and asked us questions, gave us some good advice. Probably one of the more interesting things to happen while I've been here.

And afterwards, well, it was the most fun I've had in a while. I got to know the others a little more, and then we really loosened up when we started taking silly pictures of each other by the Loire River. It was a bit like a model shoot for a bit, and there was a lot of giggling involved.







So we just stayed there for a while. Walked down to some benches, talked. It was beautiful out, if not a bit cool in the shade. I really enjoyed people watching too. A lady sat against a wall while she threw sticks into the water for her two dogs to fetch. There were a group of 4 or so of our age a ways to the right, sleeping on the grass or kissing. You see a lot of that here, it's not really frowned upon or anything. There was a homeless man who got in a boat tied up and in the water, shook it a bit, then left singing. And there's a little outdoor café when you kept walking to the right and up a small hill, with hanging lights for when it gets dark, and a little stage where they have live bands. We decided to all come back sometime at night and try it out soon.

We walked back to my house to grab something for one of the girls, and realized we all live relatively close to each other. You might have assumed that everyone on the trip must be close to each other since we all go to the same school, but some are as far as a half an hours walk away. So this was a huge plus to the day.

So, I introduced my friends to my host-mom when we got here, and then just sat and talked in my room for a while. It was relaxing, and we all talked about how the trip had been for us so far. It seems like everyone is having a really good experience. I didn't think it could get much better, but meeting these girls was my favorite part so far. We made plans for our own mini-excursions, when we'd meet up for lunch, when we'd go for a walk in a garden. I have a feeling the rest of the trip is going to be so much more memorable because of them. I already smile when I think back on the day and how much fun we had being silly, taking pictures and just talking. I love the simple things like that. I don't have to go to some great big castle to have fun, it's just a plus that we get to, haha.

Well, it's the morning of day 7. I don't actually have anything planned for today, but I'm still excited for it.

Au revoir!