Week 4-Week 6

Two weeks ago I went to Mont St Michel and St Malo. Mont St Michel was one of the neatest places I've ever been (and that is one of the dumbest adjectives that I have ever used). It is an abbey/castleish looking thing on this island, completely surrounded by quicksand. There are so many little winding pathways through the houses and stores, and the views from the top are incredible. The stores were kind of touristy (the souvenirs could have been sold at any Medieval Times restaurant in the states). And I fell in the quicksand, which was also a less than enjoyable experience but overall it was really breathtaking. St Malo was AMAZING. The town was a lot cuter/less touristy than Mont St Michel. It is surrounded by a huge wall, and just on the other side of the wall is a beach!!!! There was a diving board/dock way out in the ocean which we took full advantage of, had a glass of wine on the beach, and just had a generally fun time. Unfortunately I did not bring a bathing suit, but luckily I found a pair of cute shorts on sale at a store- although there were plenty of naked women on the beach so that could've been an option as well haha. It was one of my top 10 days in France so far and I would definitely go back there!

Then last weekend I went to Munich, Germany for OKTOBERFEST which was insanity. The fair itself was pretty much what everyone says it is, but you don't really believe it until you're there. I don't think that I could summarize it more effectively than "a shitshow." There were so many lederhosen, so much sausage, SO much beer, and everyone running around singing and dancing. It was a really fun experience- something that I don't feel obligated to repeat- but great nonetheless! The city of Munich is really beautiful; we toured around all day saturday and then a little bit on Sunday morning. The castle there was incredible and interestingly very different from French castles. We also went to the English garden which reminded me a lot of central park, but a little bit more open. In the middle there is a chinese tower/beer garden which we stopped at for a little while. We had a lot of German food; the hotel breakfast was 1. free and 2. huge so we didn't really eat lunches but dinners were terrific. They serve soft pretzels instead of bread, and everything is sausage and pork and gravy and HEAVY food which was a nice break from french cuisine (which I love, but it was nice to mix things up) On friday night we just ordered whatever looked good/that we could pronounce, and all of us ended up loving it. On saturday, we went to this restaurant called the Hofbrauhaus which was SO hard to get into! They didn't take reservations, and to get in you had to either have a connection or flash the bouncer. Luckily we were able to sneak in with another party so we avoided all of that but it was still absurd. Inside we sat at a table with this german family whose dad spoke amazing English. He was teaching us all about Germany, German food, Munich, Oktoberfest, etc. and helped us place a more knowledgeable order. Unfortunately, midway through dinner they found out that one of their daughter's wallet was stolen so they had to go to the police station, but they offered us their pretzels and beer! We felt kind of bad, but there was nothing we could really do about the situation so we decided to make the best of it! I would describe Germany as a very strong country- the men, the clothes, the food, the language- everything is very sturdy and heavy. I enjoyed it a lot- but personally I prefer France :)

This weekend we visited 5 chateaux de la Loire (castles): Serrant, Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau, Ambois, and Chenonceau. At Azay-le-Rideau, we ate lunch at a restaurant with the friendliest owner. He told us how he used to speak English very well, but no english speakers ever come to his restaurant so he is starting to lose it and he was so excited that we spoke with him that he gave us all free wine! Amboise was alright, the weather was pretty crappy, but Leonardo de Vinci is buried there which was really cool, and the town had a chinese food restaurant which was also really cool. Villandry had the best gardens by far- they were absolutely gorgeous, and they had a lot of grapes... we helped ourselves to just a few of them... Chenonceau wins though- I'm getting married there I already decided. Catherine de Medici lived there, in addition to a lot of other people; amazing gardens, the whole castle was built over a river, and a lot of pretty forests. At a few of the castles we had a guided tour, but mostly we just explored by ourselves which I much prefer. We played out in the gardens and fields in almost every castle which reminded me of Denison where we just lay out on the quad and act ridiculously- only here there were centuries-old gorgeous castles and amazing gardens in the background.

Overall, visiting Germany was a blast, but my heart is in France. It might be because I understand the language, but I think it's more than that. For some reason France is incredibly romantic- but not in a strictly "romantic" sense. Just as I would define Germany as a strong country, I would describe France as a romantic country; it is an underlying emotion that is expressed through various aspects of the culture. The language here is so beautiful, the architecture is so elaborate, the food is so decadent, the fashion is so luxurious... I'm never coming home!!!!! Just kidding, I know I'll be ready to go back when the time comes, but I love it here so so so much!

Bis,
Mariel