Henry here!

Monday:
After classes today we went out to the Isle de Raguenez for a coastal
hike. The fresh air and ocean scenery were incredibly refreshing.
After a short hike we crossed the tidal sandbar to the small island.
From the rocky beach we climbed through paths walled by vivid, yellow
gorse. Along the way we passed old testaments to WW2; German bunkers.
However nature had taken over and the bunkers were covered in gorse
and wildflowers. You should have seen the clearing on the far side of
the island; a field of pink flowers swaying in the ocean breeze. The
jagged point of island framing the ocean beyond. medieval farm

"Artists on the Isle"

 "A lone Maeve studies the scenery"

"Cazo on the Coast" 

"Dalton Scuba Diving"

 

"The Medieval Breton Farmer with his Oxen"

Tuesday:
What a day! After art class and humanities with Sue and Lies we took a
trip down to the beach. The name escapes me, but it was one of the
first beaches we hiked to and it was still beautiful. Angel smooth
sand and high, rocky coves; the beach was perfect with the bright sun
above. After some swimming in, um refreshingly cold?, water we each
found our little sunbathing spots. Dalton, Ben and I dug ourselves a
sunbathing hole, with thrones for each of us! While Izzy, Lucie,
Olivia, and Cazo listened to Maeve read Winnie the Pooh. However the
day wasn’t given to relaxation completely; after a delicious dinner we
walked to our Breton dance class. I have never in my life met anyone
with such strong pinkies; never mind the fact they were little, old
ladies! The dance was of course incredibly fun and we laughed with the
other dancers as we stumbled through the moves again. By the end of
the dance though we had gotten a hold on the shuffles and pinkie
whirls of classic Breton dance.

Wednesday:
After an enlightening class of art history with Caroline and a display
of our art we set out to finish our hike of the Breton coastline! After walking
the zig-zags of the various bays and inlets on the coast we found ourselves in
Concarneau. Hopping on the nearest ferry we motored over to the island
fort. This place was huge; imagine ten Putney barns lined up and you
get an idea of it’s size. Too bad the inside had been turned into a
tourist trap. Yet I have to say the exclusively air-plant shop was
intriguing. After our hike we retired to our respective homes for
dinner.


Thursday:
Art class and studio time with Sue in the morning. We worked on our
final projects for the big exhibition that was coming up. After class
we went to intermarché to pick up some lunch. You see every once in a
while we go and pick up some cheap baguettes, delicious cheese and
chorizo (spicy sausage) and make ourselves a delicious lunch. Of
course after lunch we had to book it to my house for French class.
After taking notes on a french movie and playing with Sofienne, we
worked on our french. After class was free time until dinner and we
each had our own little adventures. I for one went and explored the
Bois D’amour some more!

Friday:
We started the day with humanities class; discussing All the Light We
Cannot See. After arguing over how much responsibility German soldiers
had over their actions within the war and under Hitler’s control we
had lunch. Our afternoons were devoted to working on our final project
and ten art pieces.

Saturday:
We began with a wonderful french class watching le apartment
espagnol. A movie which mirrored our lives as exchange students.  A
french college kid applies to the Erasmus program for exchange
studies. The movie explores his life living with an international
melting pot of seven roommates. Hilarious and filmed in an incredibly
original way; I highly recommend this movie! After class we headed
over to Sues to meet Tim Eriksson. One of Sues old friends, Tim is an
incredible musician and vocalist. Today however he became our teacher
as we learned how to sing Russia and Blow from on High Gabriel. This
was all to prepare for our small concert that night. After a
spectacular performance from a 10 year old guitar wizard and his dad
we were on. Even though I’m not the most musically inclined person I
thought we did just fine. Plus it was great fun when the rest of the
audience joined in. Of course listening to Tim perform was something
completely different. He was truly an incredible singer. Tim is on tour now
in the UK for ten weeks.

PS Unfortunately Blogger won't let me upload the rest of the photos, I'll try to fix this later. Sorry!