Three Day Orientation in Vannes

I arrived in France on Wednesday of last week then promptly moved my stuff into my host family's house where I have my very own room and bathroom (complete with shower hurray!) on the third floor. The house is a very nice French residence within walking distance to the center of Nantes and to the IES center where I will be taking classes. For the past four days (Thurs through today Sunday) I was in Vannes, a city about an hour away, for our first orientation. Essentially all 56 students (about 46 girls and 10 guys) and our 4 advisors whisked away for the weekend to be tourists and get to know each other by traveling around in notre car (aka our charter bus) and eating traditional French food. We ate our dinners at the hotel in Vannes which were complete three course meals-- appetizer, main course, and dessert. Sadly for me, many of the dinners were fish.... yuck. The desserts were always delicieux including la glace avec les ananas and la mousse au chocolat (icecream with pineapple and chocolate mousse). Overall it was a fantastic weekend full of conversation, sightseeing, and French culture.



On the TGV on the way to Nantes from Paris



































At our first "ice-breaker" stop in Vannes--- pretty chateau belonging to the family of one of our directors.
On the bus with Katie.
VERRRRYYY windy lunch stop on the coast.

Me at a chateau we toured

Eating crepes at the Creperie

Beautiful view of port. It rained a lot while we were there, but the sun came out just in time for a photo.