Orientation in Vannes

So everybody arrived by Wednesday and they gave us most of Thursday to sleep but on Friday we got to take a 3 hour exam to determine our proficiency in french...needless to say no one was feeling super confident. But they semi-bribed us because after the exam they took us to Vannes, a city in Brittany by the sea, for the weekend. They called it an orientation but while we were all expecting it to be like the first few days of summer camp, lots of name games etc, it turned out to basically be a vacation without adult supervision. It's pretty crazy but they actually treat us like we're adults here....we're all not really sure what to do with that yet but it's pretty fun. The first night we got to explore downtown Vannes and check out the local bars (with our "social coordinator" of all people). There's a drink called a "Monaco" like the place that was pretty good. New vocab of the night: petite joueuse = light weight

The next day was spent on the l'Ile aux Moines where we road bikes all day, hung out on the beach, and swam. We met this super cute dog on our bike ride. He was sleeping by the fence while his owner worked in the garden and when we asked if we could pet him she told us his name was Ceasar (/say zahr/). He looked like a golden retriever puppy but she told us he was full grown...they have golden retrievers that never grow up....MIND BLOWN

On Sunday we visited three different cities, Saint Goustan, Plougoumelen, and Rochefort en Terre. They were all really picturesque and beautiful (see pics below).

Saint Goustan - those were ramps you could climb to get to the top where there were more shops and houses.

This is the view from the top of those stairs. I was standing on the bridge when I took the above picture. 

Plougoumelen - where we ate lunch at a creperie. A savory crepe is called a gallette; this one was cheese and ham. Very yummy (:

 Rochefort en Terre - This was what a lot of the houses looked like

I took this at the chateau there. There was a huge wishing well with a crank the size of a car tire.

Until next time, au revoir!