Postcards From Blair: Nantes

I can't believe it's already almost April! After almost 3 months of being in France, I finally got in touch with Abby and we found a good weekend for us to get together. Abby and I first met 6.5 years ago in Paris when we studied abroad in undergrad. Since then, she has basically been permanently in France and has since settled in Nantes. Nantes is a city in the northwest of the country, a 4.5 hour direct train ride from Lyon. She and her boyfriend, Greg, had both been busy preparing and taking the national teaching exam, and had just finished last week. It just worked out that I had the weekend off from the normal final exam schedule and was able to go over there. It was SO fun! Nantes is much smaller than Lyon, about 600,000 people including the surrounding area compared to Lyon's few million.
I'm starting to think of myself as more of a small-town type of girl. I wouldn't have said this a few years ago, having just left Milan and moving to Boston. But, as it turns out, I don't need the crowds and the anonymity as much as I used to think I did. Instead, I prefer feeling less packed-in to a place, to see the city for the city, and not for the number of people in it or for the number of locations open until the wee hours. Nantes is a great mix, actually. It has a lot of culture, a few universities, a medieval center, a fully connected public transport network, and tons of little restaurants, bars, etc. It is only a half hour from the sea. There are adorable residential towns very close to Nantes nestled into moderately sloping hills that are lined with vineyards.
Probably part of my affection for Nantes stems from the fact that when I'm there I get to spend time with my dearest Abby and her lovely friends. Her apartment is a converted maid chambers from the 1700s that looks out onto one of the main squares and the back side of the Gothic Cathedral. She and Greg offered such a warm welcoming, it was like a homecoming. We basically spent the days and nights moving from one meal to another, between Entrecote and Aperitifs, traditional Nantais food and meals at home. All of this, of course, was just setting for us to catch up from the last 2 years. I also got to meet Greg's parents and see his soccer game. As is my usual luck, it was rainy and cold the entire time I was there until I got on the train to come back to Lyon. I'm used to this, by now.
Attached are a few pictures from the trip. I didn't take too many, since I was mostly enjoying my time with Ab & Greg and not doing the touristy thing in the pouring rain. A WONDERFUL weekend off it was!

"I lost my burrrrkaaaaaa!" Abby yelled, as we ran for our lives in the pouring rain, our scarves only barely covering our head. A bad night to forget our umbrellas at home.