The theme of this post is "Studying Abroad is Awesome!"

This experience just gets more and more fun, and I don't even know where to begin!  So hi everyone.  This time my first picture for you is not food, but a giant walking, water-spewing mechanical elephant (I know, it's amazing).  It is the main attraction at this place in Nantes called "Les Machines de l'Ile," which consists of a menagerie of large mechanical animals, with a Tim Burton-ish kind of feel.  You can actually pay to ride the giant walking elephant, and it is my goal to do so when I have the time.

The Elephant in action:

It is seriously impressive.

This weekend was really action-packed, starting on Friday afternoon with a visit to my first ever Ikea.  Here it is- the Ikea in France:

Ikea might be one of the most amazing stores I've ever seen.  The funny thing, though, was that we were English-speaking Americans in French-speaking France, in a store with Swedish labels.  It was too bizarre!

This may  not sound possible, but the weekend actually got a whole lot cooler after Ikea.  Right now, the largest "Trimaran" ever constructed is in France- the Banque Populaire V, and this weekend was a big party to celebrate it.  A Trimaran is essentially a type of sailboat with three hulls (I think that would be the English word- all my sailing terminology is in French).  This one is as large as the Arc de Triomphe- around 40 meters tall, and the fastest boat of its kind in the world.  It was christened on Saturday night, with a great fireworks show and a concert, but the festival lasted all day.  Pictures from that are here:

My boat-visiting buddies- L-R: Paul, Jane (from the last post) and Rachel.

Here's the boat itself.  I couldn't get all the mast in and still demonstrate the proportions of the thing- it's huge: see the people?

The whole party atmosphere at night was absolutely amazing.  There were around 5000 people there, and all the activity is impossible to put into words.

Sunday morning, I went to one of the three protestant churches we seem to be able to find with MinSoo (who is from South Korea) and Jane.  Everyone has been really welcoming, and our main friend, Olivier, is really nice about introducing us to people.  After the service, we were invited to stay for lunch with the rest of the congregation.  It was a family-style meal, with passing of plates, and the men at our table filling everyone's glasses with wine or water, and, as usual in France, the meal was really good!  There were these cheese and vegetable-stuffed tomatoes, and the dessert was pistachio ice cream with a whole cooked pear all covered in chocolate sauce... amazing.  Unfortunately for me, I did not enjoy the main dish (although Jane and MinSoo did).  It was something very traditional involving Liver, applesauce, and mashed potatoes.  Jane and MinSoo thought that it was great, but for me, the texture was kind of weird.  It's ok, though, because Jane took care of mine :).

Even better than the food, however, was the company.  Olivier sat with us, and another couple sat down, and when Olivier introduced us to them, the woman said (in perfect English), "You're from America? I'm an American!"  We were completely thrown for a loop, but then she explained about how she came to France as a Fullbright Fellow, and met her husband in the University restaurant.  They now live in Versailles, and her husband Francois proudly informed us that thay have "almost" 9 grandchildren.  We had a great talk with them, and at the end, Marge (the wife) invited us to stay with them if we go to Versailles.

My amazing weekend finished with (yet another) amazing meal, this time, with my host family, who had invited a seminary student from the Seychelles to eat with us.  In accordance with French custom, we sat around before dinner and drank aperitifs, specifically, Kir, which is a mixture of white wine and (I think) a blackberry liqueur.  The U.S. really needs to import that one.  My host mom is an amazing cook, so the food at dinner was beyond belief.  But, as usual, a sizable portion of dinner conversation consisted of my host brothers picking on me, and me attempting (in my limited French) to retaliate.  The frequency of my success in retaliation is steadily increasing.

In all honesty, I really love the fact that my host brothers feel comfortable making fun of me like that, because it makes me feel more like a part of the family.  It's the kind of thing that reminds me how similar my host family is to my American family.  I don't think I could have asked for a better placement than the one I have.  Thomas, my youngest host brother (16) likes a lot of the same music that I do.  Thibaud, my middle brother (19) is funny, and alternates between picking on me relentlessly and being really friendly and chatty (also, he's really good about correcting my French, which I love). And

Stéphane, my oldest brother is surpremely helpful with whatever I need (including trying to fix my wifi when it decides that it no longer wants to work).  Also, I think Stéphane understands my challenges here, since he spent a year studying abroad in Australia

This weekend was also really great for cool pictures, which I promise to put up very soon.  You can check out all my pictures at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/danielle.has.pictures