En Angers!

Arrived in Angers on Sunday evening after a long 2 days of travel. From Chicago to Toronto to London-Heathrow to London-King's Cross to Paris-Chunnel to Paris-Train and finally to Angers!! But even after 24 hours of traveling and only 3 hours of sleep, the excitement and beauty of Angers managed to keep me awake for another 4 hours! My host family, Marie and Romu, are a young couple living in a flat across the river Maine, which runs through the middle of Angers. They speak some english, so we converse in that a lot, but also sometimes they speak (slowly!) to me in french and I speak (slowly!) to them in english. We agreed that we could teach each other. The school I attend is L'Ecole Superieur D'Agriculture D'Angers, or ESA. There are about 40 some other students from different colleges across the US (Minnesota, North Dakota, Texas, Maryland, Illinois, Wyoming, etc.) and everyone is SO nice. We started of the summer Monday with an orientation and a "welcoming glass" which was some champaign (not sparking wine!) and crackers, cheese, chocolates, etc. Then on tuesday we had a class on wine history and tasting (yes mom, we had drinks at school!). We are split into 2 groups by area of focus. I chose the Viticulture, Horticulture, Tourism and Gastronomy route, as opposed to the Agriculture/Agribusiness choice. Basically they go to a lot of farms and I get to go to a lot of vineyards, bakeries, and a chocolate factory(!!). We all have a french class 3 or 4 times a week, and take lots of field trips. This week we're all going to a distillery, and this weekend we'll be taking a bus to Normandy for a 3 day trip. 

More about the city: Angers is a very old town built around Le Chateau D'Angers, a castle constructed in the 1200's. The city was basically built around the castle, which I'll put up pictures of tomorrow, and has functional buildings that were built as early as the 1500's (that building is now a bar, go figure!). The city is GORGEOUS. Most everything is stone and kind of falling apart, but in a good way. There are cobblestone streets, fountains, and parks, but the best and most beautiful part is the landscape. Everything grows so well! You can see by the pictures what I'm talking about. 

Thats all for now, more updates soon! 

Avec tout mon amour,

Sarah