Resting up in Dublin, ready for Germany!

I had a really relaxing time in Nantes. It is a very nice city, clean and attractive. But there aren't a whole lot of sights to see, I could hardly believe it when I found out 800,000 people live there! It's not even mentioned once in my Lonely Planet guidebook. Vincent and I wandered around and checked out the castle, the main cathedral, and checked out a couple of bars. It is pretty easy to walk most everywhere.

His parents have a really nice, new flat next to just about everything. Vincent's father, Jean-Pierre, used to own a big restaurant and is an incredible chef. Neither he nor Vincent's mother, Martine, speak much English at all. Possibly less English than I speak French! I ate some amazing French food while I was there. And, of course, had a fresh baguette for every meal of the day. One night for dinner we sat down and Jean-Pierre put the dish on the table and said to me "Bugs Bunny!" So I ate some damn good rabbit. We had cous cous another night, roasted chicken a different night. I love that they eat every meal with fresh baguettes. You don't waste any food because you use the bread to mop up your plate when you are done. And the four of us drank 2-3 bottles of amazing French wine for dinner each night, not to mention the bottle or two for lunch. I tried the local favorite, called Muscadet, which was sweet and really tasty. Also had various wines from Bordeaux and the south of France, a couple different champagnes, reds, whites, roses, you name it. Many meals started off with a tomato salad which I (shockingly) am starting to enjoy. I would really like to learn French better to be able to talk to all my new friends. I am going to start watching some movies in French on my computer, and I hope to take a language class sometime after Oktoberfest.

On Friday I took a day trip with Vincent and his parents to the coast. We stopped in a medeival walled city called Guerande to look around, then continued to the salt flats which Bretagne is famous for. We made it out to La Baule, which is kind of like Nice for the west coast of France. It is a rich French playground with a huge sandy beach, dozens of kite surfers, and expensive real estate for miles. We walked along the main beach boulevard and had a beer at a cafe. On the way back, we stopped at a German U-boat dock fortification thing that is basically in the same condition as the war. The Allies bombed the shit out of it apparently, but no luck. The concrete walls are probably 20 feet thick. It housed 100 U-boats right in the Loire delta. It was pretty amazing to see.

On Saturday evening, Vincent and I decided to finally check out the bars and clubs. We wandered around not really knowing where to go, eventually followed some people to the Island of Nantes (in the Loire River) and found one of the main stretches of clubs and bars. There was some famous DJ playing at the biggest club, and there was a 45 euro cover! We kept walking down the strip and found a bar/club that was absolutely packed with no cover and 3 euro pints of beer! I couldn't believe it, so we stayed for awhile. On our way home, we talked to a couple of French girls that were headed the same direction as us. They hardly spoke any English at all, so Vincent tried a little game: he pretended to be American. They completely bought it which was hilarious. He was my buddy Vince from New York and we were travelling together. They had no idea he spoke French, and I just played along.

I explored the last bit of Nantes on Sunday with Vincent, saw the old biscuit factory, lol. As I said, not a lot of sights. After yet another amazing dinner, they drove me out to the airport and I hopped on a plane to Dublin. Quick flight, easy bus ride, hopped off the bus on O'Connell St. in Dublin and found Lisa right away! We walked back to her aparment ten mins away and I met some of her flatmates. There are two German girls, one Brazilian guy, and one other guy, not sure where he's from yet, maybe Brazil too? They are all very nice and speak excellent English. They are all in school or working (or both) here in Dublin. They all have fairly normal routines, and Lisa works 6pm to 12am every evening, so I have been hanging out with Lisa during the day and her roommates until midnight. On Monday I stayed in and took care of some chores. Transferred some money, posted some pictures, bought my next plane and train ticket, etc. Today, Tuesday, Lisa and I got up really early (5:30!) to take a day trip out to Kilkenny. It is two hours away by train, so we had to leave early to have enough time for her to get back to work. It is a really cute, very Irish town. We went into the beautiful castle right on the river which dates from the 1200s. Saw a modern art exhibit, went to a cathedral and climbed the cool round tower. We stopped in a pub for lunch and a Guinness before heading back to Dublin.

I have booked the next week of my trip, I am flying to Eindhoven (in the Netherlands, no one has heard of it, even my new German friends who live two hours away!), then taking the train to Hannover. I looked up many cities to fly to and take a train from as there aren't many directs from Dublin to Hannover. It is only 10 euros (before tax) for my flight, plus 29 euros for my train, not bad! I am staying with my friends Marlene and Malisa in Hannover until next Wednesday. I then have a train booked for Munich for Oktoberfest! I will meet up with a bunch of friends there and camp! I am really excited, hope to post again just before I head there!