In case you thought all I do is go and see old buildings...

Here are some other things I have been up to recently:

Cake night.
Does what it says on the tin. I made cake of the carrot and all-in-one-sponge-with-chocolate-chips varieties. Paola helped me make cream cheese icing. My friends all came round and we ate the cake and spoke French with my flatmate. Then we had a preview of Chris' presentation for his French class.

Spanish.
I tried to speak Spanish with the Mexicans. I failed miserably. I can still understand everything they say to me and I can read the newspaper in Spanish, but my brain is no longer able to construct sentences and I just end up talking a bizarre mix of French, English and Spanish. So I'm thinking things could be interesting when I get to Granada. I did finally manage to go to a Spanish class but it was the wrong level. In true IEP style, level 3 does not come after level 1 and level 2 as I had thought, but in fact is in the middle. I really need to be in a level 2 class but it is now 6 weeks into the semester and we are going on holiday next week so I'm not sure that Spanish is going to be happening this semester at all.

Le Conseil Regional.
On Thursday this week all the international students were invited to the "Conseil regional". This is basically the regional parliament for the Bretagne region. I had already been to see it during the weekend de patrimoine and it was the same presentation, so not that interesting. Although this time we got coffee and biscuits before going into the hemicycle and then got stickers and pencils with the Bretagne region logo on them. So not an entirely wasted trip.

Soiree avec l'IEP.
Yet another Thursday night out on the town. This time, the IEP student association had organised a night out at Pym's "the best nightclub in Rennes". Theme for the night was sailors/nautical. Much alcohol was consumed and much dancing was done. See facebook for photographic evidence.

Vannes et Suscinio

I am feeling fairly lazy today so this post is going to be full of pictures and not much writing.
(Please note that any historical info is based on stuff that tour guides told me in French and therefore is not necessarily true...)

Last weekend, the European University of Brittany organised a trip for foreign students to the town of Vannes, on the South coast of Brittany, and the Chateau of Suscinio. After a nastily early start for a Saturday, we arrived in Vannes. It's another town which was built as a fortress and so it has huge walls surrounding the town centre. We had a guided walking tour through the town (in French of course) and our guide told us all about the buildings and a bit about the history.

A lot of buildings in Vannes look like the one above, with the crisscross wood on the outside and each floor getting bigger and bigger as the building gets higher. These two houses are almost touching each other and since all the streets were built in a similar way, there was a lot of problems with fires. Also, a lot of the streets are very dark because there is not much space for the sunlight to get in.

After the guided tour, we had a some time to look around the town ourselves. So naturally we headed to a bakery to pick up some extra things for our picnic!

After Vannes, we headed to the beach at Suscinio. Despite being October, it was still warm and sunny (well, I thought so anyway) and the beach was almost deserted except for a couple of hardcore French pensioners who were swimming in the sea. We had a proper feast sitting on the beach with all the goodies from the bakery everyone who was not too chicken went paddling.

The Chateau de Suscinio was built very close to the beach. It's another Ye Olde Castle with a moat, ramparts and separate staircases for the Dukes and the commoners. Due to some French law, ancient monuments can only be restored to exactly replicate how they would have been before they were ruined and as the documentation for the castle was only found fairly recently, it is still in the process of being restored. Although it is built with all the necessary trappings for a defensive castle (moat, drawbridge, holes for pouring boiling water on attackers etc etc) it was actually a glorified hunting lodge where the Duke and Duchess could show off their wealth and power to their neighbours.

I learned all this during our second guided tour of the day. We got shown all the different levels of the main lodge and where the Duke and Duchess lived when they were there. They had separate living quarters on different floors of the chateau and even a bathroom of sorts.


A few years ago (actually I have no idea when it was, but a while ago anyway) some archeologists were exploring the castle grounds and came across the remains of the chapel which was built beside the chateau. They discovered that the floor of the chapel was almost completely intact. It's basically a huge mosaic, some of it is just patterns but there are also a lot of paintings of mythical beasts and scary creatures designed to frighten the congregation into behaving. They have put some of the floor on display in the Chateau while they try and find somewhere to keep the whole thing. All in all, probably my favourite castle so far!

Me, Laura and Paola sitting on the well.

The courtyard of the Chateau.

The view from the ramparts.

Une soirée à l’Hôtel de Ville

Rennes is a very welcoming city. In fact, at the end of last week there was a yet another event aimed at welcoming international students to the city. This time, it was the turn of the Town Hall, by personal invite of the Mayor of Rennes. We decided to use it as an excuse to get dressed up since no-one really bothers when we are going out normally (the French always seem to be dressed fairly casually even in the clubs).


The reception itself was a bit strange. There wasn't enough room in the hall for everyone to stand so there were a lot of people standing outside in the corridor. I think there was some speeches going on at one point but it was difficult to hear and in the end all I managed to catch was "I hope you enjoy the drinks and snacks we have provided for you". So I did. I visited the Town Hall a few weeks ago for the Journee de Patrimoine but it was even more impressive in the full swing of an event with all the chandeliers on and the staff all dressed up smart in their official uniforms serving some kind of fruit juice cocktails. Both ends of the "Salle des Fêtes" are mirrors so although there are only 3 massive chandeliers, it looks like there are an infinite number going off into the distance.



After the reception, we headed out for drinks in typical group fashion ie. it took ages to decide where we were going to go. We ended up in a restaurant with a cocktail bar which was decorated with giant replicas of various types of alcohol bottle. At our table was a huge bottle of champagne, sadly empty but excellent if you want to take photos pretending that you have shrunk to the size of a Borrower!

We followed the cocktails with some galettes and crepes then headed to another pub where we got a demonstration of Conrad's dancing skills!!

Nantes

I have had another busy couple of weeks, doing things which obviously did not include updating my blog...

As a finale for Integration week, we all headed to Delicatessen which is a club in the centre of Rennes. The building it is in is a former prison so it is a pretty cool place to go, but it was PACKED since Thursday night is the big student night in the city. Also, French clubs are really, really expensive to buy drinks, so we stuck to dancing for most of the night. A lot of the people there were other Sciences-Po students so we did a bit of school-spirit type singing, along the lines of "Sciences-Po Rennes, allez! allez! allez!".



On Sunday, with another day of great weather forecast, we decided to go a roadtrip, this time to Nantes. We have finally got the hang of staying in a convoy of cars (which I'm sure the local drivers must hate) so managed to arrive in Nantes without losing any people along the way. First stop, the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne. The chateau is a proper castle, complete with huge walls, drawbridges, portcullis and moat (which was well stocked with fish and turtles). Inside the walls is a huge courtyard and several buildings, one of which houses the museum of the history of Nantes.

The museum is crammed with stuff all about the history of Nantes, Bretagne and the chateau but there wasn't much opportunity to see the castle as it would have been when people lived in it. There was also some truly bizarre multimedia type displays. After visiting the museum we went up onto the castle walls and had a look at the various things swimming in the moat below.


By the time we had had enough of the chateau, lunch was top of the list so we headed into the old town to find something to eat. We ended up in a kebab/falafel place which is maybe not the most French option available but was good and cheap. There are a lot of kebab and couscous restaurants here but we always end up in a creperie so it was nice to have something different.

After lunch, we headed up to the Cathedral which is also in the old town area. When we got there, there were huge tv screens set up outside broadcasting the service going on inside and a good number of people standing or sitting outside the cathedral who weren't able to get inside. Some nice French people explained that it was a special ceremony because they were changing over the bishop and that was why it was packed out. Apparently, the outgoing bishop was very popular and so lots of people had turned up to thank him (and maybe for their chance to get on tv, there was a camera crew outside interviewing people about what was going on!).

With the sun still shining and not a cloud in the sky, some of us decided to head to the beach. The only problem was, we didn't have a map with us and no-one really knew where the nearest beach was so we decided to just drive in what we thought was the right direction. Bit of a dodgy strategy but after 30 mins of driving we passed a sign for La Baule and Oli assured us there was a beach there so that's where we headed. It turns out La Baule has a very large, sandy beach perfect for a sunny Sunday afternoon. I braved the cold Atlantic along with Julios (Germany) and Oli (England) and went for a swim. Paolo (Mexico) and Priscilla (USA) chickened out and stayed on the shore. We played a bit of frisbee before heading back to Rennes to join some other Germans to watch the German election results, with some cider of course!

Weekend du Patrimoine

This weekend, Rennes, along with many other European cities, opened its doors for a weekend of cultural heritage (in French "journees du patrimoine"). Many of the public administration buildings which are usually closed to the public where open for the weekend and most provided free guided tours. First things first, I finally got round to buying a new camera. After standing in the appropriate aisle of the gigantic electronics store for about half an hour, I finally made a choice and went to meet the Mexicans (Laura and Paola) for lunch. Then it was time for some heritage...


After lunch, we met up with some of the other international students at the Parlement de Bretagne. This is in fact not a parliament any more but serves as the court of appeal for Brittany. A lot of it was actually destroyed during a huge fire in 1994, but it has been reconstructed exactly as it was originally (at the cost of A LOT of euros). It is very ornate inside, loads and loads of gold and paintings and tapestry, I imagine very daunting if you end up being part of a trial here.


Next stop, the Opera (which is not in fact in black and white but I was messing around with the settings on my new camera!). This is in the Place de la Mairie and the convex shape was designed to mirror the concave shape of the Hotel de Ville opposite. After the Opera we saw the Hotel de Courcy and the adjoining Regional Assembly building, then got drenched walking home in a MASSIVE rainstorm.



Sunday, I visited the Hotel de Ville (more gold and paintings) then met Miro for a look at the Cathedral de St Pierre and a look at the bric-a-brac market in the Marche de Lices building. On the way home, I checked out the flea market which was taking place in my quartier. All the main roads were closed off and there were hundreds of people with tables set up selling random junk, second hand clothes, and of course galettes saucisses. Totally bizarre but very French.

So after a fairly busy weekend, I have also had a very busy week at uni. Along with trying to finalise my timetable, on Monday night we had an integration evening for all new students along with (you guessed it) galettes saucisses and crepes. The mascot for the IEP is a giant galette saucisse and there is even a song about it. It was a good chance to meet some French students and everyone went to a bar after for a few drinks. On Tuesday evening, we had an International students integration evening where we had the chance to meet even more French students. There are quite a few students who have just returned from Scotland after their year abroad so I had a chat with some of them. Tonight, we have another integration activity, this time at a club called Delicatessen because it's Thursday so it's basically obligatory to go out!

Today is my 4 week anniversary of arriving in Rennes!

I'm not going to write about EVERYTHING I have done in 4 weeks because then this post would get out of control, but here are my top 10...

1. I found somewhere to live! After a week of getting (brutally) rejected by potential flatmates looking for people to stay for a whole year, I found a flat with a French girl Claire whose flatmate has just left to study in Canada for a semester. It's 20 minutes walk from the IEP, 10 from the town centre and 5 from the metro if it's raining.

2. I did a 2 week "intensive" French course before term started along with all the other foreign students. During this time I realised that actually I know quite a lot French. I also realised that a) all the french I know I learned either from Madame Sanwal at Emma Willard or at Oban High School and b) I haven't learned anything much since I went to Aberdeen.

3. At the end of the 2 weeks we had an international buffet for lunch. Everyone brought something from their own country and then we shared it. I didn't have access to haggis (some would say maybe for the best...) so I joined forces with the other Brits to produce an Afternoon Tea with cucumber sandwiches, scones with jam and cream and tea.

4. We took a trip up to Saint Malo on the middle weekend of our French classes because the weather was gorgeous. All those people who told me it was going to rain all the time in Brittany lied. We walked around the walls, had galettes and crepes for lunch then went to the beach. Some of us went swimming (Europeans first and after a lot of persuasion the Mexicans got in too) in the sea water swimming pool on the beach.


5. We went to Saint Malo again. There was a tall ship in the harbour called the Gorch Fock. It's a German Navy ship and apparently it's very famous in German so we decided to go and see it during open ship times. Then we went swimming, in the actual sea this time, and played a bit of frisbee on the beach.


6. Afternoon trip to the Chateau at Fougeres, about 50 minutes away from Rennes.
7. There is an AMAZING market every Saturday in the Place de Lices. There are 2 permanent market halls which have most of the boulangerie/charcuterie/boucherie type stalls in them, then around this are all the fish and seafood stalls, the cheesemongers and of course the vans selling galettes saucisses (a sausage wrapped up in a savoury crepe, the Breton equivalent of a hotdog!). Then on the road at the side and leading all the way up to the next square are the fruit, veg and flower stalls. In amongst all the vendeurs are people busking. Quite often there are people playing Breton music and a few times there have been demonstrations by a tap dancing school. It's a lot of fun but I always come back with several kind of things which I have no idea how to cook!

8. Miró Cassetta is here! She is studying at Rennes 2 and living with a family near La Poterie, the last stop on the metro. It was her birthday the first week we were here, so of course we celebrated by going out for galettes and crepes followed by some cider.

9. I played Ultimate for the first time since May. The team here is called Mr Friz and they play in a park in the north of Rennes. I wasn't sure what to expect and it turned out to be a fairly serious practice with lots of drills and stuff before we actually played any games. It was quite hard because I didn't have any studs with me so I was sliding all over the place on the grass but it was a lot of fun and all the French people were really nice and helped me learn some of the vocab ( a lot of which just involves saying the English word in a French accent). I paid for it the next morning though as I could hardly walk!

10. I took advantage of the Journées du Patrimoine which took place this weekend in Rennes and other cities in France. But that's the subject for another blog...

Welcome to my blog!

Hello!

I have been inspired by Miró and by the excellent film Julie & Julia to keep a blog of my Erasmus year abroad. I hope in turn people reading this will be inspired to come and visit me!

I am currently in the beautiful French city of Rennes which is in the region of Bretagne (Brittany) and the department of Ille-et-Villain (the Ille and the Villain are the rivers which run through the city).

For the first semester this year I will be attending the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (IEP) Rennes which is more commonly known as Sciences-Po (short for Sciences-Politiques = Political Science). The photo above is of the main building which is made up of 2 courtyards, a big one and a small one. The buildings are quite old and very pretty but of course behind the main building used in all the publicity there is a nice 70's style block of classrooms. The IEP is a "Grande Ecole" specialising in political science, history, law and management. All the French students also study at least 2 foreign languages and go away for a whole year in their third year which means that generally they are interested in/nice to the exchange students, partly because they want to practice their languages and partly because they have all either just come back from a year abroad or are about to head off on one of their own. So far, I have been at the IEP for only one week with French students but have had offers to copy notes if I need to three times.

Today was an integration day for all new students, both exchange and first years and there was a sort of mini Freshers' Fayre type thing in the big courtyard where all the student associations (there are only about 10) set up stalls so we could sign up for activities and language exchanges. There is quite a lot going on considering there are only about 600 students in total. I signed up for the Club de Cuisine (Julie & Julia still in my head!) and something else which I'm not quite sure what it is.

This morning, we also had a meeting where we met our French "marraines et parrains" (godparents!). All foreign students have been paired up with at least one 2nd year student and one 4th year student so that we have someone specific to ask if we need help with anything and so that we get to know at least a couple of Frenchies. It's much easier to hang out all the time with the other Erasmus and exchange students because we have already done 2 weeks of intensive French classes together but hopefully now we will mix a little bit more with the French (and stop speaking English all the time!).

So that's all for my first post, I'm still working out how all the functions work so it should get better as the year goes by with more photos and things.

Next blog: brief resume of the last 3 weeks!!!