"peux-tu faire des amis avec les amish?"

Part 2 of the country. I should also preface this by saying that the title of the first part of my time in the country is a funny thing that Papi said to me, as well as this one. My first day here, Papi asked me if I liked cheese and I told him that I wasn't a huge fan but I like to try every kind I can. He told me that there are over 300 different types of cheese so I will always have a new one to try. When I told him the other day that I would love to just keep visiting castles and do that until I have seen every castle in France he told me that it was impossible because there are just too many. He then added "ohhh yes, there are a lot of castles, just like there is a lot of cheese" which is basically what that last title translated to.

this title comes from the time Papi googled Indiana on his IPad. We were sitting and reading one night and he looked up from his IPad and said "do you know that you have a canal in Indianapolis?" I smiled and told him that I did know that. He then started spouting facts about Indianapolis that he was learning on Wikipedia and I thought it was unreal adorable. From that moment however, there has been an influx of questions about where I come from and what it is like. This particular question came from Mami when we were driving and got stuck on the highway behind a tractor. She said sometimes that happens and I explained to her that sometimes on roads by our lake house we get stuck behind Amish people in their buggies. She was familiar with Amish people but had no idea that they lived in Indiana, then a steady stream of questions: And they refuse all electricity? What do they do for work? Do they use money the same way? What kind of food do they eat? and then today's title, can you make friends with the Amish?

they are really cute and funny.

OKAY so the second part of my time in the country.

The day after we went fruit picking, I bought a train ticket to Angers, a bigger city than Ancenis and WAY bigger than Oudon but not as big as Nantes. Papi gave me a guide book all about the pays de la loire and dropped me off at the train station. When I say dropped me off, I don't actually mean it. I mean he parked the car, walked me up to the train station, walked me to my platform, hung around for a few minutes and then said, well I guess you can take it from here, have a nice day! And then went home. So I took the train into the city and it only took about 25 minutes, not bad. I get there at about 10 and decide to just wander. I walk a while and I stumble myself into an open air market, which I had been to in Paris but never in the country so I take a stroll, they had literally anything you would need, 3 cheese booths, at least 5 butchers, 2 fish/sea creature (animals I have NEVER EVEN SEEN BEFORE let alone attempted to eat) vendors and about a million vegetable stands, plus shoes, lingerie, jewelry and more. I keep walking and I find a little asian food supply store which is exciting because B found out I know how to make sushi and every 3rd day he asks me if I will make him sushi and my answer is always the same: I don't have my sushi rolling mat... So I go inside and buy one. I figure this will buy me some good behavior. "I'll make you sushi IF..." Then I walk myself into the center of the city where there is: you guessed it. A CASTLE.

This one had 17 tours at one point and houses the Apocalypse Tapestries, which I found to be so interesting it's unreal. The self-guided tour was supposed to take an hour and fifteen minutes. I took 2.5. Casually. This one was interesting because instead of having just a museum inside, it also had the tapestries, ruins of the previous buildings (one was an early spa with steam baths) and a castle that was used as a prison during one of the wars... I can't currently remember which. I then absolutely STALKED the apocalypse tapestries and listened to the entire story on my little audio guide. oh yeah, I rented one. BECAUSE, the castle was free for EU residents under 25. Guess who that officially applies to? Yes, it's me.

After the castle tour, I was hungry, so I went into a little bakery and got a sandwich dessert and drink, a typical french 'formule' that you get for lunch, and I walked a little way to try to find somewhere to eat it. I find a garden and realize that it belongs to the museum of fine arts. So I sit in the garden, eat my lunch and then proceed to go into the Museum of Fine Arts; also free to EU residents under 25.  There is a temporary exhibit here, which is the first I went into, called "The Last Night in Troy" and it was all paintings of the last nights before a riot or the breaking out of a riot. Lots of paintings depicting greek emperors about to be assassinated, The death of Purim was a common one, Purim bringing home the body of Hector, then there were also paintings of Julius Caesar being assassinated, and finally a slew of paintings entitled "the last night of Pompeii" with people frantically running around and a huge volcano erupting in the background. It was pretty bloody and terrifying, couple that with the fact that I had just spent almost an entire hour looking the Apocalypse Tapestries - remember all that for later.

I go through the rest of the museum, a little section on this history of Angers, then their permanent collection which is also just pretty cool, and the modern art which is always awkward and interesting. Here is a link to my favorite artists work that I found there: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/boccacino/3083891895/
his name is daniel tremblay, and those are real goldfish in a bowl in front of his painting. I want to know whose job it is to feed them, what happens when one dies, who changes the water, I seriously think it's all very integral to the art.

At this point I have a huge headache so I sit down at a cafe, order an espresso and read a book for a bit and just relax. I sit there for a while, get a magnum ice cream and I hope I looked as hot as Rachel Bilson when I ate it. (I didn't)

I still had some time left to kill before my train, so I hunt down the giant cathedral. I take one step inside and for some reason I burst into tears. (this is where my previous days experience is to be recalled, I think) I just could not stop crying. It was such a pretty cathedral but it was more than that. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and I had to step out and the second my foot touched the sunlight of outdoors I felt fine. Definitely something to consider.

I find a small grocery store, head in, grab a few things I forgot to pack, and then I go wait for my train and go on home. That was Wednesday, nothing super interesting happened Thursday that I can recall, and I stayed in Friday cause I was still exhausted. Saturday I walked back to the plan d'eau and layed by the lake and read and then walked back and Sunday I stayed at home too and the boys came back from their other grandparents, however this week the boys are going to like a day camp in the afternoons so it's going to be a little less hectic.

Yesterday after mami dropped off the boys, she came back to the house, picked me up and we went and ran errands together. We went to French Target, I think. Which was awesome. They had absolutely everything that anyone would need there; but I didn't need anything I just went with her. Then she dropped me off in the center of the little bity town of Ancenis, near you guessed it, another castle. This time however I did not go inside because it was under construction and I couldn't figure it out how to go in or buy a ticket or anything so I just walked through the courtyards. I also had a small little pamphlet that described a walking tour you could do for yourself to see the old architecture, so I did that, saw some cool old buildings, realized EVERYTHING IS CLOSED ON MONDAYS again and felt like an idiot. Walked the banks of the Loire to a small little island and then took off my shoes and walked in the river, then sat on the edge and read my book for a while until Mami came to pick me up.

Today I went to Nantes on the early morning train where I encountered and helped a group of confused American tourists. (boom) Walking around Nantes was fun, it was waaaay bigger than Angers so it felt a little like I was back in Paris which was nice. I got a quick pain au raisin from the bakery across from the train station and then I set out. First stop? The Castle of Anne of Bretagne, of course. This woman's life was unreal. She was the queen of France, twice. Like seriously? Anyway, Gorrrrrgeous castle, pictures to follow. As per usual I spent entirely too long in that castle.

Then I wander around until I find the galleries du lafayette; aka a department store kinda like Saks but maybe a teeny bit less nice, but tons of expensive french designers regardless. I walk inside and take a stroll around and I remember that I need a swimsuit bottom for my trip to the Baule (7km beach, ultra chic) on Thursday. So I walk around and I find a few and I go to try them on, I find two that I end up liking a lot that I think will go with the top I already have here (let's hope mix and match really is as big as people keep saying it is in magazines) and one is part of the Soldes which is even better (that is a topic for another post I still have to write). The woman working the area asks me which ones ended up working and I hand her the two bottoms and she walks me to her register. She mumbles something and then shoots me a coy little smile; to which I am not sure how to respond because I didn't hear her entirely so I just say, I'm going the la Baule on Thursday and I needed a suit! She then comments again and boy do I understand her loud and clear. She says "You're going topless, huh? You know you're allowed to do that! It's fun!" UMMMMMMMM

I giggle awkwardly and explain to her that I have the top at my house but left the bottoms in the united states. She hints that I should think about it and hands me my bag and I thank her and awkwardly laugh my way out of the store. Casual suggestion for a tuesday morning. Hey! Go topless at our beach!

I then get lunch, sit on the castle lawn and eat and read, then wander around for a bit. I find the castle and notice two guys going into a different entrance than everyone else so I decide to follow them haphazardly. Luckily for me (?) they entered the church through the Crypts. So I got to go down into the newly opened crypts of the cathedrale at Nantes and meander about. That leads you out and up into the church when you are done where I saw the tomb of Anne of Bretagne's father and mother: Francois II and one of his 2 wives, Marguerite de Foix. After the cathedral I wandered around some more, bought myself some ice cream and sat down on a bench to eat it.

The story of the guy who sat next to me on the bench while I ate my ice cream is for another time, but rest assured that it is a gem that ends so uncomfortably I can't even explain.

From there, I went to the Jardin des Plants which is exactly what it sounds like, a garden full of plants from around the world. Super gorgeous there, I sat and read a book for a while and then went to the train station kinda early but I thought I remembered seeing a sign for free wifi so I was like, I can blog while I wait for my train. I get there, I buy a coke and a water (5 euro, seriously) and I sit down to try to use the internet but it isn't working. So then I just sit there and drink my drink, relax, read a little bit and then I realize it's time for my train. I look at my ticket just to be sure. Of course, I bought a ticket for the train at 5:38, not 6:38. So I had missed my train. bah. I went to the ticket desk but the line was foreeeever long, so I went to a machine where it said you can exchange tickets, so I tried to do that but it told me that I couldn't so I would have to go to the line. At this point, my train is leaving in 15 minutes so I am not sure what to do. I end up just buying another ticket for the next train, asking the guy at the information booth if this train stops at Oudon, (yes) what do I do about this extra ticket, (take it to ticket booth, get reimbursed) do I have enough time to do that before the train leaves (no, the line is too long, you can try at the station when you get back).

Deal.

Papi met me on the train station platform (of course) and drove me home where I almost fell asleep in the car and I cannot believe I was even able to write all of this.

God bless you if you were able to read all the way to the end. Not only that, but thank you all for still being interested in my trip; awkward and almost unbelievable at times as it may be. It means a lot to me :)