Bretagne

Hahahah, so yes, it is spelled “Bretagne” afterall. Not “Britanny” or “Brittany” or whatever I wrote before! That’s a little embarrassing. Oh well hahah. 

It is 11pm and I am back in my bed in Paris and I am pretty tired so this blog will not be very detailed, but I hope you enjoy it anyways. 

I just got back from a very interesting, beautiful, and relaxing week on the coast in Bretagne with Cecile and Prune. I didn’t know what to imagine when I was invited, so I tried to just keep an open mind and bring warm enough clothes so as not to freeze to death, and that turned out to be the best thing I could have done! Bretagne is a region in the North Westernish area of France and Fred’s mom owns a house there that the family likes to visit whenever they have a bit of vacation time. I knew I wouldn’t have internet, so I packed a lot of warm clothes and books and decided to spend the week living as “in the moment” as possible, and I am glad I did so. I don’t know what my week would have been like if I had used my phone every now and then, but I don’t feel like I missed out on anything too important.

I am honestly about to fall asleep hahah oh my goodness. Okay. So the house that we stayed in was very very close to the beach (maybe a five minute walk away) and it was also close to a little trail that takes you up onto the cliffs above the beach, so I got up to run every morning and it was soooo refreshing. It was cold and windy and so so so clean there! It felt so amazing to escape the city for a week and breathe in super clean air and not worry about cars hitting me. Also, everyone in Bretagne would greet me with a nice smile and “bonjour” when I ran past them and I loooooved that so much. 

 

 

Other than admiring the spectacular scenery (which is probably how we spent most of the week) we also, of course, made time to eat churros by the ocean. 

 

And, pick blackberries...

 

And build sand castles...

 

And make daisy-chains!

 

During the end of the week, it got pretty rainy in Bretagne so we went to an Aquarium where we watched and octopus eat some shrimp, saw some sharks swimming around, and almost died on a submarine ride. Woohoo! 

 

 

The aquarium was near a city that Cecile said I absolutely MUST see since we were so close, and I am so happy she took me there! It was a really cool old city that is surrounded by a big wall so it looks like a castle and the whole inside is filled with cobblestone streets and adorable shops and restaurants. We didn’t stay long, but just being able to see a city like that was exciting for me because that is something I will never find in the US! 

We also went on a horse tour thing one day! It was all in French and I was pretty confused about what we were doing there or why the place existed, but the horses were pretty cool and the buildings were nice and from what little French I could understand of the tour, I learned some interesting things! 

 

 I hope you can tell that I had a great week. I feel like I got a lot closer to Prune this week too, for she began to make me pinky-promise her daily that I am her sister. I can’t believe how generous Cecile was to invite me on a trip like that. I don’t think she even realizes how much she does for me that isn’t at all necessary but makes me feel so at home. 

Also! During my week without internet, I managed to complete reading my first chapter book in French! It was probably written for fifth graders, but I managed to stay engaged enough to finish the book all by myself, and I feel pretty proud hahah. Learning feels so good. 

Tomorrow I will get up and take a train to the South of France with Prune and I am looking forward to it! Right now, however, I really need to sleep hahaha. Good night!