Rennes

Yesterday I went on a field trip with my class to Rennes, a large city in Brittany, to visit the headquarters of Ouest-France, France's most circulated daily newspaper. I was interviewed in it once after the elections, and I'm glad that at the time I didn't know it had such a large readership! It was very interesting because I have never seen the big machine thingy where newspapers are actually made. It was just nice to get out of Caen for a day! My friend Lauren and I ate at a Moroccan restaurant where the management was so incredibly sweet. Plus, I love any restaurant that gives you a free aperitif and a free coffee or tea! Especially as tea is ridiculously expensive here!



We got home at around 3:00 AM which was fine with me as I have nothing to do on Thursdays. I like taking the day to walk around the city, shop, eat, read, etc. Today that wasn't in the stars because I feel so... icky. Just icky. I spent the entire day in bed which I hate doing. Then my internet stopped working and so I ventured out into the gray, Normandy drizzle to take my computer to the internet store, where of course it began working again. Sigh. At least I was able to get through the transaction without fumbling up my French too terribly much!

Because I was downtown anyway, I decided to pop into Memoranda, my favorite used book store, to pick up a couple of books and to have a hot chocolate. It's the only book store in Caen that understands the beauty and comfort of books, food, and hot beverages in the same place, but stores in France are usually too tiny for such things. Memorandum is different from other bookstores, though, because there is a lady baking things inside the bookstore all day long-- breads, brownies, apple crisp-- and the aroma wafts through the claustrophobic bookstore creating the most cozy and soothing atmosphere. I purchased a French translation of A Series of Unfortunate Events and Asterix et Obelix, which is a very famous French comic book about a little village in Gaul that has resisted being conquered by the Romans. It's adorable.