Joyeux Pâques!

Happy Easter everyone!
I have been terrible about keeping this blog updated but France is certainly keeping me busy. It is Easter weekend and my housemate Jayne and I decided to stay in Angers for the weekend, and I think it was a great decision. We are both catching up and resting up for Spring break which for me will start this Friday! I will spending the first week of the Break in Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London with my friend Ryan. Week two is girls week in Antibes which is in the south of France with Jayne and Anna, my other good friend here. I am so ready for this adventure!

Ok now time to play catch up.

two weekends ago: Two weekends ago I went on an excursion just with the AHA program kids. We went to the François Rabelais museum (French author), to a troglodyte restaurant, and then to a zoo!! The Rabelais museum was interesting, and on the bus way there, several students took turns reading passages out of either Gargantua or Pantagruel to get us in the mood.
As for the cave restaurant, I have never eaten so much in my entire life. The appetizer was a variety of different types of mushrooms, all were delicious. After that they brought out this bread that were like pitas hot from the oven. You cut them open and fill them with butter and this type of cured/salted pork spread. And they just keep bringing out the bread until you have eaten as many as you possibly can. Then there was more bread with melted cheese, and finally dessert. So good but we were all having a rough time walking around after that.
The Zoo was really neat. Lots of different animals and it was just a lot more open than any zoo i have been to in the states. Like the monkeys weren't in cages but they seemed to stay where they were...I am not sure how.
All in all, a successful excursion, and fun times with friends.

Last Weekend:
Last weekend was the excursion to Normandie and the D-Day beaches. We began our excursion with a visit to the memorial museum in Caen. It was a very interesting museum with lots of information, too much to take in during the few hours we spent there but enjoyable nonetheless.
After the museum we went to the American Cemetery. This was interesting because I did not realize that as soon as you enter the cemetery you are on American soil. The cemetery itself was beautiful. It overlooks Omaha beach and there are pathways from the cemetery down to the beach as well. There were rows and rows of crosses, some with names and some without that simply read "Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God."
After the cemetery we were able to go down to the actual beach. All i could picture was the video they showed at the museum of the rows and rows of men coming ashore, and many of them not even making it out of the water before they fell, and the men behind them who somehow found the strength to keep going.
Pont de Hoc was the next stop. This was an area where there are still old Bunkers from the German troops. This was an area where you could actually go down into the Bunkers.
I am really glad that Normandie was one of the excursions offered by the program. I am really glad I was able to visit.

Stuff In between: School has kept me busy although I still am probably not studying as much as I should. It is just so easy to get distracted here! My hardest class is definitely my grammar class. I am terrible with grammar in English, so learning all of the tiny nuances in French is definitely not easy. But I am working at it, and I know it will help me improve my French. Other than that, I am still getting good marks on all of my tests and staying afloat!
I have been to two hockey games here in Angers which have been a lot of fun. Angers has their own hockey team and they are actually pretty good. They have won the past two games, and the last game I went to was on Wednesday and it was the semi-finals.
I still have yet to make it to a soccer game, but it is on my list of things to do!
Spring is in full bloom here although the weather has been crazy the past two weeks. It will start out rainy, get beautiful, there will be thunder and lightening in the afternoon, rain some more, then clear up again, and repeat. It has also hailed 3 times in the past week. Weird. All of the flowers and trees have bloomed and it is beautiful!
Yesterday I went to the Saturday market and bought some delicious apples and probably the best grapefruits I have ever had. I still have two left but I know they wont sit around for long!
Today is Easter Sunday and Jayne and I are taking it easy. The plan is to bring our books to the nearby park by the river and soak up some sun.
I hope your Easter Sunday is just as leisurely!
Love you all!