Ready for Take-off: Carrot Salad and Dancing Bugs: Bienvenue à Sucé-Sur-Erdre

OK, a couple things to catch up on! I'll try to go in order.

So, like I said in my last blog, I arrived safely in France. WOO! I'm staying with my friend Jérôme's parents, Jean-Yves and Vivienne Henry. They're very friendly and incredibly kind. They have a lovely home in the small town of Sucé-Sur-Erdre, about 15-30 mins north of Nantes, and about 2 hours south of Laval, the town I'll be living/working in. Vivienne is a middle school or «collège» principal, and Jean-Yves has multiple positions in agricultural-based government jobs.

Lovely backyard, no?

I'll say that one interesting change for me already is food. I've been to Europe before, but I've never stayed with a family here. Every meal I've had has been at home, and it's all been homemade. Breakfast is typically something small, like toast (with Nutella) and coffee. Lunch and dinner, however, are larger affairs. Both have been somewhat multi-course meals, consisting of something small to start, like bread, then a main course that is almost always paired with wine, and a dessert. The main courses have varied from chicken, to ham, to a carrot salad. You read right - I ate a salad that consisted of nothing but shredded carrots and hardboiled eggs...and I LIKED it! I'll admit: at home, I would never have tried that. But I was raised to try local foods/recipes when in a new or foreign place, and I obviously don't want to be rude and just deny something someone has prepared, so there I was trying and enjoying a carrot salad. I honestly think it has to do with the fact that all the produce here is fresh and organic - no preservatives, no crazy biological enhancements, just genuine fresh produce.

I don't have a photo of the food, so here's a picture I took of a duck.

One of the first things Jean-Yves and Vivienne started doing after I arrived was help me to search for my apartment. You think searching for an apartment in the US is rough, try searching in another country on a limited budget and having to have about 5 different types of documentation because you're not a citizen. This is one reason I can't thank the Henrys' enough: by the end of my second full day, I had an apartment locked in and the security deposit paid. It's a smaller, older place on the fourth floor, but I'm fine with that considering 1)it's fully furnished; 2)it's right in the center of the city; 3)I'll only have a 10-15 minute walk to the school; 4)3 of the other 4 residents are about my age; and 5)even with the location, furnishing, and all utilities (including Wifi), I'll only have to pay €315 each month (approximately $350)! The visit to Laval was nice. It looks like it's going to be a nice town with a great atmosphere (shops, a park, a chateau, etc.). I seriously cannot thank Jean-Yves and Vivienne enough for all of their help (have I mentioned how kind they are?).

One unexpected outing came as a spur-of-the-moment suggestion from Jean-Yves. Apparently there is a big street performance festival in the nearby town of Grandchamp Bardement that happens every year with over 10,000 people attending annually. It was my first theatre festival (weird, right?), and it was great! There were acrobatic acts, unicyclists, clowns, musicians, and one group I particularly liked that seemed to combine comedia dell'arte, music, combat, and some slow tempo work. Their show was fantastic! I highly suggest you check out the act («Pardessus») and the group («Cie Passanbleu») some time by following this link: Cie Passanbleu Teaser

I suppose that's one way to say "No" to a coat.

Oh, yeah: Here are the dancing bugs (Mandibul'Orchestra)

Ok, so if you've stuck through this post up to here, cool! Thanks for reading. My last and latest update is just about the town of Sucé-Sur-Erdre itself. Jean-Yves took me on a tour of some of the further parts of the town today, and then I took some time and wandered around myself. The town sits right on the river Erdre, and so a lot of the town's life revolves around that: the city center has a TON of docks, the restaurants seem to advertise a fair amount of seafood, and (if I understood correctly) there is a big boat-and-jazz festival that takes place in the town every year. It's a quiet place, and very lovely. I love the older architecture and the tranquility of it all. I'll be staying here until October 2, when I can move into my apartment in Laval, so I still have time to rest and get my affairs in order. Until next time!