Another day in Angers...

We have a huge dog in the house! I forgot to mention "Douchka" before, but she is an enormous and very affectionate dog. I had a great conversation with Madame and Jean about dogs yesterday morning in which I tried to describe Boomer (my family’s golden doodle). This was difficult; I said that his dad was a golden retriever (they knew this name) and his mom was a poodle, but they did not know the word poodle.  I couldn't describe poodles in French, but Madame took out a huge book called “Les Chiens” (“Dogs”) and I flipped through it to find a picture of a poodle…they are called “les caniches” in French…very different from the English word. And of course the picture was a foo foo poodle with the pompom haircut. Madame and Jean thought this was a very peculiar combination.

Boomer!

Anyways, today I ventured to Centre Ville again. On the way, I first stopped for a pain au chocolat (a very French pastry, it’s a croissant with two pieces of chocolate inside), and asked the lady where I could get a café. I had already passed two café/bars, but was too scared to go inside because they looked strange… they’re like a combination of a café and a bar and dimly lit, but I went in one across from the patisserie. I sat at the bar, ordered a café, and sipped it in the company of middle-aged French men on lunch breaks. We watched French horse races on TV.  It was pretty fun and the bar tender was very nice. I felt very out of place, but very happy because I had been communicating effectively in French!

My University!  I walk by it on the way to Centre Ville.

After my café, I continued walking to Centre Ville, where I did some shopping (bought a cute pair of pants at Zara) and did more exploring of the heart of the city (Indiana Jones style :) ). A super stylish French girl asked me where Zara was and I tried to give her directions, but wasn’t sure the street names for how to get there. I showed her the little map I had drawn in my notebook, but I don’t think it helped. But she was very nice and understood my French! I already have a pretty good sense of direction in the city and have really enjoyed my little excursions and encounters I’ve had. Each day I feel more and more comfortable and more excited about the semester.

La Maison d'Adam in Centre Ville (I wrote about it in the previous post)

Madame’s son came over for dinner and we discussed medicine because he goes to school in Paris to be an osteopathic doctor (D.O.). I told him that I went to school in the same city as A.T. Still (the founder of osteopathic med. created this school in Kirksville), and he knew the name! I also learned how to say pediatrician, obstetrician, and gynecologist in French—“pédiatre”, “obstétricienne”, “gynécologue”. After dinner I walked Douchka with Madame on the banks of the Loire! We drove about ten or fifteen minutes to get there and then hiked along the sandy banks. It was beautiful and there were little villages in the distance all along the walk and a chateau. I didn’t take this picture, but it looked like this because it was just after sunset.

Banks of La Loire (there's a chateau in the distance)

Thanks everyone for reading my blog and for the wonderful messages/feedback!

I found this bug on my desk when I got back from the walk.