Holidays! Starting in St Malo!

Wow, a week to catch up on now! My last classes this term went well--we played a taboo-esque game that the kids enjoyed. It was kind of sad since I won't be working with these classes anymore--I have a whole new schedule for January and February. I just hope I did some good!

Then Friday was a bit of an adventure. I had to go to the immigration office for a medical exam so I could get my official residence permit. I ended up seeing five other assistants there at the same time! The process was very quick, one of the most efficient things I've seen in France or elsewhere: chest xray, immunization record, eye exam, height/weight, brief medical history, listen to lungs, check xray, blood pressure. All of this in three rooms in a hallway in under an hour! Bravo! I got my OFII sticker in my passport and immediately had a copy sent to the office for my housing assistance money. All paperwork taken care of, I'm legal!

So Katherine joined up with my afterwards and we headed to the train station to pick up Herbert, an assistant in Quimper who was coming in for an afternoon immigration appointment. He is from Louisianna, and I had talked to him on facebook before, so he asked me to be his Rennes tour guide for the day. For the morning, we walked all around the center city, ate tartines for lunch, and let him buy a jar of Mississippi Belle peanut butter at my grocery store--apparently, I'm lucky they stock it!

He headed off to his appointment, and I saw PA for a bit. When Herbert was done, it was snowing like crazy, so I took him to Le Haricot Rouge for hot chocolate and a few hours of warm, cozy conversation. They were even playing a Black Eyed Peas album, so we rocked out to that. The crowning moment of the day was the lights show at the mairie; Rennes literally projects lights onto the mayor's building in an awesome Disney-esque animation show! I'll film it sometime soon because it is every night until Janurary 2. Then poor Herbert had a 40 minute train delay! Still, he picked a good day to visit Rennes!

Saturday was a real French adventure! Katherine and I took the train to St. Malo, a walled coastal city. Even though we had slush under our feet and rain coming down on our heads, we trekked into the old city and took tons of pictures of the buildings, walls, beaches, sea! At one point, we realized that music was coming from speakers on every street corner--from Christmas carols to Rhianna! Cute or creepy? The jury is still out on that one...

Marina at the approach to the city gates.

Islands and swimming area off of St. Malo.

We had a delicious three course lunch of warm goat cheese salad, lamb and mashed potatos, and chocolate crepes. In the afternoon, the weather turned around and we had blue skies and beautiful light. We returned to the walls and walked around half the city on them, admiring the adorableness of it all. We also did a fair bit of shopping at the Christmas market (where I spent about 50 euros...) and in all the shops and enjoyed some warm, spiced wine.

Drinking warm wine!

St. Malo Christmas Market.

After a coffee and warmth break at a bar/cafe, we hit the streets again and saw a ton more people out! This led us to believe that the people of St Malo are vampires... ;) So more shopping, seeing the house of the Duchess of Anne, trying the Breton specialty butter cake, and walking the other half of the walls was on the late afternoon agenda. The lighting at the snowy beach was incredible! Just admire these photos below (and all of the ones in my Rennes Winter album) to get an idea.

We had a last cup of tea/chocolate in a classy salon du thé facing the cathedral before we had to trek back to the train station through the ice. It was a gorgeous day in a cute city full of lots of good food! A nice way to start off a holiday break.

Today I'm in the apartment resting, nursing my cold, maybe even cleaning a bit! Everyone is scattering for break, so I'll be entertaining myself for the most part. Skype me!

A cute festive touch at the St Malo market^^