We are all becoming bus and train competent which makes life easy! Well except when a train is delayed resulting in missing your next train so you have to go to some random city that you cant even pronounce in the hope to get on a train that takes you were you want to go. Yeah, that happened to me! I’m not going to lie, I was just a bit stressed about whether I would even make it haha! Basically a three and a half hour ride turned into about seven hours. I made it back in the end and my host family greeted me with a seafood feast!
Days are spent doing a variety of things such as visiting cinemas, finding cute clothing boutiques, eating baguettes ( I personally don’t know how I’m going to survive when I get back to Australia without the incredibly fresh and crunchy French baguette) and going cycling. Cycling is by far the most popular method of transportation for the French, its cheap, fun and environmentally friendly. There's almost no point owning a car here.
I have arranged to visit the local high school in Vannes to take part in a few lessons and talk about my home town and Australia. Rebecca and myself have organised with our lovely in country agent to assist with doing volunteer work for various charities etc.
About two weeks ago Rebecca, Samuel and myself caught a ferry to the most beautiful Island called 'Ile Aux Moines' which translates to Island of the Monks. It is the largest Island in the Golf of Morbihan. We hired some bikes including a tandem because hey you cant go to France without hiring a tandem bike! The weather was glorious, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the sky was clear. It is safe to say that mother nature treated us well that day. Conleau, a little Island approximately a 45 minute walk from Vannes is another place close to where our little group lives. Conleau is one of our favourite hang out spots, it is just so peaceful and secluded! You are able forget about the rest of the world by going for a swim, hiding your head into a book, having a feast under the trees or having a crepe overlooking the water.
I spent a weekend camping in Carnac with my host family, its such a beautiful spot there! Its located between Vannes and Quiberon. It is one of my host families favourite spots to spend the weekend. Carnac is famous for its standing stones, there are more than three thousand! Its pretty interesting. I learnt that the locals believe that the stones stand in such a perfectly straight line because of a Roman legion turned to stone by Merlin or something like that. One of my the highlights of Carnac was the Ice cream store, there were over a hundred flavours to chose from, some were quite bizarre! I mean, who would of thought that Curry or Soup flavoured ice cream existed?
Rebecca's host father took her for a spin in his private airplane, she saw a birds eye view of the whole of Brittany. What a great experience! Samuel's host family own a boat and take him sailing on a regular basis. In Le Mans, Anna has been spending her nights going to her host brothers music gigs and making friends with members of the band.
It is safe to say on behalf of the other gappers and myself that we have all completely adapted into our new homes, we feel just like part of the family. Thanks for reading, I’ll be sure to keep you posted again in a week or so,
Samantha!
Interested in travelling to France? What about teaching English overseas? Antipodeans Abroad specialises in volunteer travel and gap year ideas. Find out more here.
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