8 Days and Counting

*Sigh* … the weekend. It’s nice to have a break from working on the farm, as it was a LOT of work. As a result, the day after we finished the cement wall I had a sore back, but it’s gone now. Friday evening Nicolas picked me up from the farm, wherein we later went out with Anais, Sebastian, and Justine to a Creperie! What a wonderful surpriseJ; Nicholas ended up paying for my dinner as a gift. I tell you – my American friends – that the French (at least those in Bretagne) are impeccably nice people.  (Thanks Nikos!!!)

After our soirée, I left with Justine and Sebastian and had a long, restful sleep during the night. The next morning, I ate breakfast like a French(wo)man; a croissant containing chocolate morsels, with tea and a yogurt.  I find here that the French very often dip their bread, croissant, etc into their coffee/tea and so that’s exactly what I did and it was actually very good! After lunch, Sebastian and I visited Justine at work and then left for the beach. No … we didn’t go swimming.  Both the weather and ocean were too cold- not that that was stopping other people from swimming and tanning.  We ended up walking about 5 miles along the coast of the ocean.  I love walks like that: nature walks near the ocean, with the waves crashing against the rocks, the coastal breeze blowing in your hair … simply bliss.  In the end we were tired and sore, but nonetheless very happy.  Later that night, Justine made zucchini gratin with pork chops and then waffles (called goffres here).  Problem was the waffle maker kept blowing the electricity circuit the second it was plugged in.  So she ended up making crepes with the batter; I can officially say that I’ve had waffle crepes! They were the most interesting crepes I’ve ever eaten too due to the resulting crunchy texture.

This evening, Nicolas is going to pick me up and drive me to my last destination in Normandy.  So far I know that I will be staying on a farm for lodging and meals, and will be picked up each morning to visit work related to l’OS Normande.  I know that it involves cows, but that’s about it for now.  The rest of my day here looks rainy and cloudy, so I doubt we’ll be doing much outside. I do know that we’re having “oeuf a la coq” for part of our lunch, as I’ve specially requested it. Basically, it’s a hard partially boiled egg with a liquid yolk for dipping toasty, herby or buttery bread.

I can’t believe I have one week and one day left here. Honestly, I’m getting kind of nervous because I’m taking the train from Rennes to the metro in Paris to the RER in Paris to the airport, where I have a connection in London. There are soo many things that can go wrong, even though my friends have given me the metro and RER map of Paris with the directions specifically written out. Still, I’m nervous. Almost done, but not sure how I’m going to feel once I get back! Wondering if I’ll notice any more differences between France and the U.S.A. once I return?