For the past eleven days I have been enjoying "Toussaint". Officially, it is a holiday that falls on the first of November, also known as All Saints' Day. But for us French students, it serves as a well-deserved break from the long school days.
October 22
My host-sister's birthday!! Happy seventeenth, Marina!! From me, she gets a Canadian cap and tank-top (even though it's too cold for either at the moment) and a Telus bag.
October 23
Visited a castle on the sea with my host-brother and -father. Not Mt St Michel; this one was much smaller and a LOT less crowded... but I actually preferred the view! It overlooks the sea to one side and is flanked by country on the other. So...yes. Very Pretty. Afterwards we had coffee and dark chocolate outside a cafe, and later that evening Carlos, the other chef that works at Capriccio, came over and we all had a wonderful dinner in honor of Marina's birthday.
October 24
Second month in France!
Went to Normandy with M. Berthoux and Cassandra. We visited two cemeteries dedicated to the men who fought and died on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. One of them was especially for Canadians; France had even given the land in which the soldiers had been buried to Canada in honour of what their men had done. So technically I was back in Canada that day. It was bittersweet walking between the tombstones of all those young men; most of them were not older than 23. But there was so much pride and respect put into that cemetery; every tombstone had a unique epitaph and was decorated with a cross, and between the rows maple trees had been planted. I was sad, but very proud to be Canadian that day.
October 31
Halloween!!! So, let's say it started with a bit of a mix-up. Initially, the plan was for Cassandra and I to dress up as Canada and America and go to the movies at 5:30 to watch "Un Monstre a Paris". But I double-checked the online schedule and it looked like our movie would be showing at 3 instead. Deciding this was too early to be waltzing around in costumes, we met up in normal dress at the theatres - 2:15. When we got to the ticket-lady, however, she informed us that our movie was not playing. Disappointed, Cassandra and I stumbled out of the cinema like the confused foreigners we were and proceeded to "eat our emotions" (read: the candy we were going to sneak into the movies) in a park across the street. Soon sick of sugar but not ready to go home, we then headed to a bargain store and partook in a little retail therapy, which included the purchase of some very fuzzy socks and a book that translated insults into 5 different languages (french, english, spanish, german and arabic). Leaving the store in a considerably better mood, we went back to the theatre and found out that the movie really WAS showing at 5:30, so we walked back to Dinan, meandered about for a bit (that's a sweet word, "meandered"), bought more candy, and watched our movie. (It was cute, though I really wanted the flea to have more screen time. Please just look up the trailer online.) So after that, Alessandro and I had an all-or-nothing Mario Kart showdown to decide who is true Champion of the Game... He won. By one. Damaged pride aside, it was a great day and awesome way to wrap up the break. My Canada costume is going to have to wait until July 1, though.
November 1
Nothing special happened today, except the third instalment of Uncharted is out on the shelves. Anyone who has ever come into contact with the previous two will understand my excitement.
And that was Toussaint. Almost (almost!) ready for school tomorrow.
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