Chapter 19: A Blogctor Post

nerd blog post #20

Doctor and I got in a huge fight and he left Rennes early. I don't want to talk about it.

Juuuuust kidding. It has been the best time.. I don't even know where to start really. I guess I'll do what I always do, which is tell of the adventures, one small detail at a time. Buckle your seatbelts, little children.

I think I mentioned in the last post that we were going to take it easy Friday night. Have a glass of wine and then go to a little patio. Cute idea. Didn't happen. Go big or go home is what Nurse Hincks prescribes, and so we did. It ended up being the perfect remedy - an excellent dosage of fun, dancing, awkwardness, and colliding worlds.....

Ahem. Okay, to back-track a bit, the Saturday night where Cynthia and I went to prison night box1000 (two weeks ago), was the night I met P-A. It was also the night Cynthia met a Parisian engineer named Jean-Marie. J-M is tall and handsome, and, as it always goes, has a short and dorky side-kick. I didn't blog about it before, because it was insignificant, but while Cynthia and J-M were busy falling in love on the dance floor, I was playing wingman with S&D. (To 'wingman' is to support your friend by hanging with his/her new lover's s&d side-kick friend. A tedious, but necessary, job.) Anyyyyways, J-M and Cynthia kept in touch, and he and S&D (who was unaware that I was wingmanning, and thought maybe we would be special friends) were back in Rennes Friday night. And now you're caught up.

Having already made plans to get together with P-A, and not wanting to disappoint Cynthia by not wingmanning again, we had to mish-mash the whole gang together. So we went to this place named Kenland (which I think should be called Barbie and Kenland) and the party was as follows: J-M, S&D, P-A, Doctor, Cynthia and I. Pretty awkward combo. We hung there, and then went to a night bar, where we thought the dancing would erase the awkwardness that sitting around and chatting cannot.

Doctor had to play wingman's wingman, as I tried to be nice to both P-A and S&D, while giving Cynthia the time to get to know her potential Prince Charming. The funniest bit was when S&D was trying to convince Doctor that it would be a great idea if we all (excpet P-A) went to the ocean. Doc came up to me after and said something like, "S&D just asked me if I have swimming trunks here.. I think he wants to go to the beach..." Funny.

It was a fun night though, and we ended up dancing until the wee hours, and then enjoyed a Skype chat with my mama upon my return. I told her we were up for the day (4am) and about to go for a run. She told me to go to bed. So we did.

Satur-hooray we slept in a bit and then made our way to the market. Now, Doctor had just been at the Borough Street Market in London, famous for its beauty, so I was a tad worried that he would be let down by the one I love so much. It rules, though, and he liked it. One thing I really like about both Doc and Cynthia is their appreciation of free samples. We tried everything from cheese to bread to cantaloupe. We bought a cantaloupe. It was tasty.

After that, we visited Hosseon, who told us about a giant, traveling flea market that's near the river that's near the slum motel. We wandered over, not sure what to expect. It was incredible. Like a giant garage sale that stretched at least a kilometer on both banks of the river, this was a market unlike anything I have ever seen. There was everything - stupid little toys, very old shoes, bike parts.. Also some crafty jewelry, musical instruments, silly hats, swords, clothes, furniture.. You name it. The salespeeps were like gypsies, jut traveling this market around from town to town. It comes to Rennes once a year. We bought a stool for the kitchen table. There were only two, and we thought there should be three. It was $4.50 and we carried it around for the rest of the day.

Hungry, we went to Hosseon's for lunch. Kebabs and sammys and a good chat with Hosseon, who was very happy to see Doctor again. We came home for a nap (I didn't sleep but the others did) and then showered and got ready for the evening.

First we went to a "pot." It's a Breton term. It's written like the drug or cooking instrument, but pronounced like Po for Police. I love the term because I love cooking. A pot is a small party where the host provides snackies and drinks. If any of the two are missing, or if there are tons of peeps there, it's not a pot. This pot was hosted by Cynthia's now-married ex-roommate and her husband. He teaches at the university in my department and is writing his PhD in English. He spent years in Birmingham and loves England, and was excited that Doc is on his way there to study. The other lecteurs were invited, too. We sipped wine, ate goodies, and chatted.

Doc and I left first to come back here and call our mothers because it was Saturday night at 11pm, and that's what you do. All of a sudden it was 130am so we went to bed.

Juuuust kidding. We left to go to a Night Box named Batchi. Very different than the prison Night Box, we had to ring a doorbell to get in, and if we didn't know it was there, we would have missed it altogether. On a small and quiet street, Batchi was just a blue door with a small sign. There, we (Cynthia, Doctor and I) had a wonderful time dancing. We requested hit songs that we love and that remind us of our pals back home. We also met a man with a silly mustache, named Mustache Man, who was super nice and pumped we were Canadian, and wanted to buy us all a beer. Thanks, Mustache Man! The crowd was very nice, slightly older, and being that there were almost no chairs to sit in, dancing was basically obligatory. I will return to that land for sure.

Doctor and I had plans to go to Paris for the day today, but were open to being flexible. As Loanne said, "Paris will always be there," and it's a good meeting spot city and all that jazz. So we set our alarm very early to get up and go, buuuut then we accidentally slept through it. Oopsies.. I guess our bodies weren't satisfied with a two and a half hour nap that night? Weird. Happy in each other's company no matter what the plans, we had a relaxing morning here, writing e-mails, sipping cafe, catching up.. Cynthia went to Saint-Malo with J-M and S&D today, so Doc and I have enjoyed talking all about home, and making plans for the year. We both have a week off this semester, two next, and Christmas break. It's nice that we'll see more of each other.

During breakie, he asked me about museums here. They're closed on Sundays, like everything else. But strolling into town for a coffee, we saw a long line up. We learned that today is a special day in France and so is the Rennes equivalent of Doors Open Toronto. What luck! We waited in a short line and then had an excellent guided tour of the Opera House. It was great. I want to write all about it, but that might be bah-ring... I will say, though, that it was super interesting to see such an historical theatre, and to learn all about it. It was awesome that we stumbled upon it.

So next we sat on a patio where the sun was shining and the Cola was diet. We discussed trips. It's interesting how we would dream about them on our balcony at Isabella, getting so excited.. We'd wonder where the planes overhead were flying to and talk about what it would be like to hang out together in Europe... And now we're here. Sitting outside, watching lovers pass, seeing small cars, children who dress like adults, baguettes a-plenty.. So different than what we could have imagined those months ago.. And now, the excitement of planning trips together is different because it's not really imagining anymore, it's real planning with real obstacles and actual dates.. Crazypants.

We came back here and are now on the bed, blogging away. I will miss him when he goes. It feels as though he's been here for weeks, and he fits in so well with my life here. It will be very sad to say goodbye. I wish he could stay. He also got along so well with P-A, and likes him very much. And he and Cynthia, who are probably more similar than I am with either of them, have hit it off like brother and sister. I haven't worried about awkwardness for a second, and it's been so nice being a little trio. I can tell already that she's a lifelong friend, and it's nice to have someone as important as my Doctor see how wonderful and fun she is.

Tonight we are actually going to take it easy.. Go for a nice dinner and then come back here. I have to teach in the morning, and Doc has some pre-school business to take care of. Plus, Night Boxes and Night Bars are only open Thursdays through Saturdays, which leaves no room for temptation. Which is good.

I am a very happy camper right now. Though it would be perfect if everyone I love could be here, Doctor always writes the perfect prescription, and it has been an amazing few days..

Love to Canada, from both of us.

Signing off,
Hincks.