Le Med a La Manche

Salut! I am back in Nantes from a weeklong vacation and it was absolutely incredible. I started out in Marseille, which blew me away.
The city is right on the Mediterranean Sea and it is just buzzing with this amazing North African vibe that permeates everything. The soul of the city is super raw (and a bit dirty) yet at the same time warm and inviting. There are wonderful little winding streets, old buildings with blue-green shutters and orange tile roofs, laundry hanging out to dry, sea gulls chatting away, and so many gorgeous and historic monuments scattered throughout the city.

I climbed the highest point in Marseille to experience the Cathedral of Notre Dame de la Guard and its unbelievable view, took a boat to the islands of Frioul to hike around beautiful secluded beaches and climb on top of old fortresses, had a love affair with cous-cous, and strolled the docks of the Old Port, embracing the sights, sounds and sun.

My hostel was super cool (its called Vertigo and I highly recommend it) and I met a bunch of really great international travelers that I ran around town with. It was such a great experience to meet and get to know other people traveling by themselves because we were all there to do the same thing; see the sights, explore the city, and experience whatever was going on as it unfolded. One of the guys I met there happened to be going to Paris around the same time as I was so we had a Rendez-vous in the Marais with another dude and it was great fun. Lots of random, serendipitous energy going on.


Paris was beautiful, as always, and I stayed with a girlfriend Ali Mandelkorn, who lives near Saint Sulpice and St. Germain de Pres. We spent three days strolling through Paris, seeing a few sights and being tourists for a minute, and then getting drunk on cheap champagne and going to bars to find new boyfriends.

The boyfriend hunt was kinda bunk for me because though we went to Paris’ largest gay bar, Queen, located on the Champs Elysees, it was ladies night, which meant tons of girls (no cover charge for them) and tons of straight guys trying to take advantage. Ali found about 4 prospects and I was left with a bunch of Italian girls that didn’t really understand that though I was interested in their bangin’ outfits and hair, I wasn’t that interested in taking them home.


My last stop was St. Lo in Lower Normandy to visit a good family friend, Christine. The minute I got off the train I went with her and her colleagues to an amazing 4-course lunch at a beautiful restaurant, which was one of the most delicious meals I had ever had. Seriously. I had lamb and the meat was so tender it was literally running away from the bone. Christine has a fantastic house, a friendly maid named Renée, a golden lab named Lucky (but pronounced Look-y because he’s French) and I was able to have a whole guest suite to myself. I took baths and showers at the same time (just cause I could), slept in a big bed, and ate tons of fabulous food.


We went on a tour of the coast of La Manche and visited tiny ports, beautiful coastal towns, had a seafood luncheon by the docks of St. Vaast, saw the D-day beaches, and basically did a lot of standing, looking, inhaling, and wow-ing in silence. Normandy is bitchin’.


I returned super revitalized and inspired by the whole thing and am feverishly planning and setting into motion my next Tour de France in April. I have a lot of time to plan too because the University is back on strike. If there’s anything I’ve learned here in France its that if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, its probably a strike. Vive la Grève.

Fight for the Night

We went out. Finally! Luba and I fought the urge to stay in and nest and got our Saturday night on! There is a club venue here in Nantes called Hangar a Bananes, which is a bit of a trek (its on an island and a 20 minute walk from the Tram stop) but we figured if we kept saying “we’ll TOTALLY go next weekend”, it’d never happen. So I whipped out my Google map skills, located the club complex via aerial photograph, used a website that I use to map distances for running to calculate the distance from Tram stop to the front door (it was 1.38 miles), checked the weather report, and bought a bottle of supermarket brand vodka. After the 3-S’s of night-out preparation (Shit, Shower, and Shave) I was ready!



Turns out that though Google maps shows you the street layout, they don’t tell you that you might have to walk for 15 minutes through a construction site that may or may not be closed to the public. Luba and I were pretty drunk from “front-loading” in my room and I just told her “pretend we’re walking in a sand-box” (because that’s really fun when you’re wearing Gucci Boots and cashmere?).


Once we found the complex it was wondrous! Hangar a Bananes is a huge warehouse overlooking the water at the end of the Ile de Nantes that houses about 15 bars and clubs. We had a moment in about 4 different bars, mixed rum with vodka, I knocked over a trashcan, Luba chatted with her Mom at 1:15am (sometimes you gotta make do with the time difference between France and Alaska, even when you’re trashed at a bar with an island theme…), took some photos next to the urinals in a bathroom with cool graffiti, and then ran (again through the construction site) to catch the last Tram home at 2:30. We’re officially no longer those Americans hanging out in the dorm kitchen on a Saturday night choosing to drink 0.95 Euro wine till 11pm instead of going out.

BLOCUS

If you thought the Grève was fun times, Blocus will make your head spin! So we already knew that France really hates not getting its way (or going to class) but today, communal procrastination just reached a new high! BLOCUS! Its pretty wonderful. Its where students decide to block all of the entrances to the academic buildings with big signs saying “BLOCUS!” and all classes get cancelled. Ok, I know you’re thinking “psh, ya just like the Grève, show me something I didn’t just read in the blog post below…” Well, here’s the kicker: Blocus lasts for a week. Yup, went to the secretary, asked what the word on the Blocus was (apparently during the Blocus the secretary is visible and existent, unlike during the Grève) and she said that there was a manif (manifestation= big gathering where people complain en masse) and that all classes would be cancelled until Wednesday. Apparently the university system is in great need of reform and both students and teachers are not too happy about it. Needless to say I’m SUPER down with the Blocus (seriously considering buying the T-shirt). As I was walking toward the Tram I ran into some sassy Italian Erasmus exchange students from my sociology class and we spoke of the wonder that is French University closure.


I went into the Centre-Ville and went to the SNCF boutique to buy the last train tickets for my weeklong vacation, which is coming up in a week and a half! I will be doing my first bit of solo travel and I’m super stoked! I’m heading first to the Mediterranean city of Marseille, the 2nd largest city in France with a huge Moroccan/West African influence. I’m kicking it in a cool hostel, seeing the sights, drinking the Pastis, eating the Bouillabaisse and speaking French with the locals. Then I’m headed to Paris to do some museum-ing, sightseeing, wining, dining, and partying with my friend Ali Mandelkorn (Ali goes to Scripps College for Women in the Claremont College Consortium). I finish my P’tit sejour with a visit to St. Lô in the Normandy region, to stay with a family friend, Christine (if you’ve been following along, Christine is the mother of Ewa, my fantastic French hostess from my first days here in Nantes. When Christine was in high school she was an exchange student in the US with my Grandmother, so she and my family go way back).


Since last we spoke I also worked things out with the Office of International Student Affairs here at the University of Nantes and in about 2 weeks I should begin getting 300 Euro per month for the duration of my stay! It will come in handy to cover my travel expenses (those drinks wont pay for themselves…).
Attached is a photo of l’Eglise de Saint Nicholas located in the Centre-Ville, next to the café where I spent my afternoon reading about French Nationalism in the 18th century and drinking espresso. Its kinda big so I captured it in three photos. Enjoy.