First few days...

Hey all,
Made it safetly into Paris. Getting to Challans was another task completely! First off, I tried to speak french to purchase my ticket and the woman said, "thank you for trying to speak French, but I speak English. Let's go with that" HA!

Anyways... so exhausted, hopped on the train. I sat down next to this elderly woman that I assumed was American (naive, yes). I said bonjour and she started rambling in French. I just looked at her and shook my head saying je parle en francais un petite peux. (I only speak french a little bit) To my amazement... she continued to speak french. Hilarious. We were having this dialogue back and forth in a sort of hybrid language that actually worked.

So, I'm exhausted meeting people left and right when all I really need is sleep. I tried, only to hear babies crying and then dogs barking. I thought to myself A) There are babies EVERYWHERE! and B) There's dogs on this train???

Made it to Nantes where I grabbed the bus out to Challans (the beach, I'm so happy). French people smoke ALL the time and EVERYWHERE! Wasn't quite ready for that (neither were my lungs!)

Sarah picked me up. She's so grown up. So good to see her and then Lina at the house. Doc looks good as well and we all had dinner and caught up last night. Today we've been exploring the area and working on Lina's classes.

Will post pics when I can.

--- Meg