This morning Agathe and I had a slow start because we were both very tired from the long week we had. We got up and went to the market that we also saw on Wednesday. It was interesting to also go on Saturday morning when everyone was doing their shopping. The market isn’t open on Sunday, so if you want to do any shopping over the weekend Saturday is the only day you can go. Since this is the case it is very busy over the weekend. Agathe (my exchange student) and Baptiste (her little brother) after the market walked around so they could show me some places that they really like. This included place plume which is a very popular location with restaurants and some places to get dessert. We also walked around Baptiste school (ages 4-15 go there) and to Cecile’s school (Agathe’s little sister). We also went to this very large church in tours were Saint Martin is buried. The inside of the church is beautiful and they actually had a service going on so it was very interesting getting to hear some of the mass while we were in there. I also got to go into a room dedicated to Saint Martin and see where he is buried. After that we headed back to Agathe’s house and we played a game with Baptiste. Their family loves to play board and card games so we have basically played a different game every night. Today we played a card game I taught her when she was in the United States called kings on the corner. We played this for a while until it was almost lunch time. Baptiste and I went to the bakery down the street to get a baguette for lunch. I’ve been to the bakery a few times while I was here to pick up a baguette for dinner but they wanted one for lunch today. Once we got home we had lunch. First we ate a salad that had lettuce, tuna, avocado, and tomatoes with a balsamic vinegar dressing. We ate this with the baguette and then after we all finished the salad we had a cheese platter which we ate with the remaining baguette. Then finally we had apples and bananas for our dessert. After lunch I was very tired and went up and took a short nap. Once I woke up we went to the government building down the street. It is very beautiful and impressive. Agathe’s mom was invited to go today for a party with artisans from around the world and then a dinner in the hotel de ville. However, she was just available to go for dinner so Agathe and I went for the party this afternoon. It was very interesting to see because there were artisans from all around the word and they all were wearing a traditional cap and gowns with pins from where they are from. The cap and gowns looked similar to our graduation outfit in the United States. They also had some snacks there and drinks (most of the drinks were alcoholic but Agathe and I found some orange juice). We hung out there for a while and it was very fun to see the inside of the hotel de ville. It is super beautiful and they also had some memorials for the soldiers that died in the First and Second World War. They had all the names of soldiers from tour that died in battle. We hung out there for a while and then went home and hung out at her house where I played games with her sibling and her friend came over for a while. Then we went shopping until dinner time. The photos that I have included are one me with a macaroon I got at the market, one of the hotel de ville from the outside, one of the memorial for the soldiers, and one of the ceiling in the hotel de ville.
Anna, I enjoyed your recap. It sounds like you are doing a great job being part of their family and becoming French for a short time. Kudos to you for appreciating the small everyday things that will become great memories later on.