The Blonde Abroad: Crashing Weddings, and other fun stuff to do in Nantes

Yesterday was another great day in Nantes. I got in touch with my friend Leslie's friend Ivan, who studied with her at Audencia and then came to Ohio State for a quarter last year, and asked if he'd be willing to show me around the city. We met at the tram stop right by my apartment, and wandered around for about 3 hours. We stopped at Le Chateau des ducs de Bretagne, a big castle that's just a few blocks from my apartment.

Then Ivan showed me all of the great little areas around Nantes. They all sort of blended together, but I'm sure I'll figure them out. We went to an amazing cathedral right by my apartment, and when we walked in, there was a wedding ceremony taking place. There were quite a few people just in back wandering around like we were, so it didn't seem to be a big deal, but it was a bit strange. So many cute little cafes, creperies and restaurants to choose from! We saw what is supposedly the oldest building in Nantes, which, of course, I had to take a photo of.

He also took me to Passage Pommeraye, which is a cool mall-type of building that connects one street to another, and has all sorts of shops inside, including an amazing chocolatier. I bought some dark chocolate covered nuts (chopped up pistachios and almonds I think), but had to take a picture of the little sculptures they made out of chocolate. Incredible! They also had a really cool chocolate fountain, made out of chocolate.

We sat at a bar/cafe and had a couple drinks and people watched for a while. I'm definitely enjoying the relaxed approach to life here. No need to rush anywhere, just enjoying time with friends. After the cafe, I was craving a crepe, so we found a creperie and I got one with Nutella. As much as I loved the crepes in Cincinnati, they're really nothing special compared to the ones in France (not that this should come as a surprise to anyone).

We took a break after our exploring, and then went out for dinner around 9. Found a cute restaurant not too far from my apartment where we both had a great meal. We ordered a half-carafe of Muscadet, (which is the Nantes specialty wine), I ordered duck with roasted apricots and a potato tart, while Ivan ordered steak with a mustard sauce and some type of veggies. Considering that neither of us speaks French as our native language, we seemed to fool the waitress pretty well until about halfway through the night, at which point, she asked me if I spoke French. I told her I speak a little, but not very well, but she continued to ask me questions in French. Interestingly, I was able to understand most of it and respond en francais. Madame Merchant and Madame Palmer would have been so proud :) I ordered chocolate mousse for dessert, but could only eat about half, as it was so rich. Absolutely delicious though.

After dinner we went to a gathering with Ivan and Leslie's friend Agathe. I met her friends Rico and Stephan, who seemed to enjoy my attempts at French, while they tried to speak to me in English. Quite a fun, if rather confusing, experience. We headed to an Irish pub after the wine at Rico's flat was gone, and stayed there until about 2 a.m. Rico and Stephan wanted to go out to a discotheque, but I was way too tired. Came home, went to bed, and woke up around noon. Not sure if it was the jet lag or just the fact that I was out until 2. Guess it doesn't matter.