Chapter 87: Pa-Rennes-tal Car

nerd blog post #91

5 points to anyone who gets the triple pun (called a triplun) of the nerd blog's title.

I will try to write a happy nerd blog post, even though I am sad to have said goodbye to the p-unit today... Ahem.

We returned to Rennes Monday night and were pretty tired after a whirlwind in Paris. We headed to bed early (all sharing a room - slumber party!) and had a breakie feast with Cynthia and Benito in the morning. That day (Tuesday) we saw Rennes. We visited the university (yes, still on strike) and the beautiful park and all of the old city. It was a nice day. In the evening, I made dindins and then we went to Merrill's for Tuesday Tradition. The p-u was able to experience the typical Tuesday night: delicious snacks, copious amounts of wine, and good chats. I walked them home for their bedtime and then headed back to Merrill's for a couple more hours.

They had rented a car from Wednesday to Friday and on Wednesday they visited the Loire Valley. This is a part of France that has a bunch of huge castles and is supposed to be very beautiful. Unfortunately for them, the driving was too much that day. Wanting to avoid toll highways and take the scenic route, it took almost half the day to get there. But they enjoyed the castles once there. I didn't have to work this week, but decided to stay back that day and get some applications and other work done. We had roly polys for dindins.

Thursday, we set off early (I joined this time) and we went first to Mont Saint-Michel, the beautiful abbey on the coast of Normandy/Brittany. I had been once before, in October, but we had more time this time and visited the inside of the abbey. This was a huge highlight for me. The abbey was amazing and much larger and more beautiful than I had expected. From there, we drove along the coast to Saint-Malo. There, we saw the beach and walked along the top of the old city wall. We had lunch at little sandwich place and then shared an ice-cream from Sanchez, supposedly the best ice-cream in France. I bought two little cider bowls as a souvenir from Brittany since I only have a few more weeks there. On the way home, we stopped in for just under an hour to Dinan, a beautiful medieval town. Cynthia and I made Mexican food for dindins and Indian chai tea to go with our French pastry dessert. A real international meal!

Friday, Cynthia joined us on our day trip, which was really nice. We went to Bayeux, Normandy, home of a seventy-metre tapestry made in 1077 to commemorate the Norman invasion of England. It was really cool. We had cassettey things to hear the story as we walked along the tapestry which was great as I would have a) been lost and b) missed the cool little things it pointed out. We then went to a war museum, also in Bayeux, that outlined the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy. It was a big museum with tons of information and well-displayed. I learned a lot. From there, we went to Juno Beach, which is where the Canadian troops landed. It was kind of eerie being there, knowing what happened just over sixty years ago on that sand. It was a really neat day and I'm glad I didn't miss it.

My grandparents had generously given my parents some money to go for a nice dinner while in France. So that evening, the four of us had some delicious French food at a fancy restaurant. I had duck and sesame tuna and a dessert that I could eat every day. It was really fun.

And just like that, the time in Rennes was over! We came to Paris yesterday morning and checked into the hotel. Of course, the room wasn't ready, so we went for a micmic lunch and then took a boat ride on the Seine. That was a lot of fun. We met Raffi for dinner and went to a favourite spot of mine, which is near his house. We went there on Steve's last night, too. It's a creperie. My crepe's name was Marie and had tuna and anchovies in it. Delish. I said goodnight to my parents (no more sleepy ovaries!) and met back up with them this morning. We ate breakie in their hotel room and then went to the airport.

It was a sad goodbye. Though this time apart will be shorter, I got really used to them being around and it was so sad. I miss them as it is, but to have had them here made it a bit harder. And it was the best week. It makes me want to move back home and attend high school again so I can have summers off to hang. I don't think that's what they want, though.... Too bad.

Raffi's second term is over and he has two weeks off now. He's coming to Rennes with me tonight and staying until Thursday, at which point we're going to Amsterdam to visit Doctor. I'm looking forward to the week! But if school starts up again, it will be a busy week. And I also am moving out at the end of the month, so I have to pack up my room before I leave Rennes on Thursday. Could be crazy!

Hope you're all well. Much love to Canada...

Love love love,
Hincks.