Salon du Chocolat!

     That's right, ladies and gentlemen! Today we visited the coveted "Salon du Chocolat" in Nantes. OH MON DIEU. Diabetes, anyone? Sadly, there wasn't as many free samples as I would have hoped, but Juliette's father was a saint and bought us fortunate gals many different items to share. Included in the choco-haul was an orange chocolate covered "guimauve", or marshmallow, a white/milk chocolate covered guimauve shaped like a bell, a large chocolate meringue (my favourite), and a Florentine. There were also some items I don't know the names of, but they were REALLY GOOD. (Of course they were, it's chocolate!) There was also a bazillion items I didn't get to taste, but looked magnifique. For example, the Chocolate Couture: clothing made with/of chocolate! There was also a suspended chocolate hot-air balloon, various animals, and some.... questionable items. That's all I'll say about that. We also briefly watched a cooking demonstration, a live singing performance, and what I think was a gameshow/quiz. An amazing experience overall!

A few of the entries for a chocolate sculpture in the Salon du Chocolat.
(photo taken by Juliette)

      Don't worry, I wasn't a total slob this week. I got in another round of exercise--Marie and Philippe asked me to join them for a 10km run! At first I laughed because they like to pull jokes on me every once in awhile... But they were serious! Fortunately I was allowed to ride a bicycle behind them, I'm not that athletic! (yet...) We went through a gorgeous park, and only got rained on a little bit. I also derped around with the bike; I fell on the sidewalk once, had its removable light fall off in the middle of the road, and caught my pant leg on some metal bits. I came back alive, that's the bottom line.

     I also got to meet Juliette's best friend Léa (our name similarities made conversations really fun), who was visiting from another town. We spent the day with her and went up a tall building in the center of Nantes called "Le Nid". The view was terrific, and so was the stork-themed restaurant on the inside. Juliette made a new friend as well -- a two year old boy with amazing blue eyes, who desperately wanted a hug. In fact, he crawled across the floor... Right up into her lap! Even when prompted by his parents, he snuggled right into Juliette and refused to let go. Once removed, he had the biggest tantrum! Later on, he escaped and scooted across the floor again, presenting her with a gift: his blankie. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to him, but it was pretty hilarious. Hopefully Juliette doesn't become a heart-breaker!

     Another great week in France! Also, my one-monthiversary has already come and passed, I can't believe how fast time flies! Pictures to come, some may take awhile longer than others. Thanks for the patience and support!

Bisou, Lia

PS. I had a minor freakout today because I thought it was Daylight Savings... Turns out different time zones change on different days! France doesn't move forwards until March 31st... Who knew?