A weekend in Angouleme

Having a few beers by the Charente river

Entrance to the Jardin Vert in Angouleme

Having a drink in Cinq Sens with a few friends

Friday October 9th Leidy and I caught a train to Angouleme. I wanted to see all my friends and pick up the stuff I'd left from last year. We stayed at the boys' house (which is the house I would have been living in if I'd moved back to Angouleme, instead of to Montmorillon) and they threw a big welcome back party (it wasn't just for me, they had just returned Monday from spending the summer in Brasil). The partys there are always huge and last until the wee hours of the morning, so I think I didn't make it to bed until around 5 am.

We slept in late Saturday, but then I took Leidy on a tour of the town around the ramparts and all my favorite gardens and stores. We ate lunch on the steps of the St. Martial church in the center of town (which was one of my favorite things to do last year, because its great for people watching). In the evening we met up with Nalleli, Michaele, Emily, and Emily's friend who was visiting from the states (weird story...I told Emily's friend that I was from Townsend, Montana and he said he actually knew some people from there {even though he is from North Carolina} because he'd dated a girl from east helena. I asked him who it was that he knew and he told me he knew Chris Ludwig who is a good friend of mine. but it was a little awkward because the reason he knew my friend was because he'd stolen his girlfriend...its such a weird small world that I'd be living half way around the world and meet someone who'd stolen my friend's girlfriend and happened to be friends with one of my friends in France...what a coincidence). Anyways, we had supper at a little italian restaurant and were there eating for a good three hours, before we headed to L'Havana to do some dancing. We got bored of l'havana a while later, so we grabbed some beers and walked down to the Charente river where we drank and chatted until the wee hours of the morning.

I woke up Sunday and began packing my suitcase full of all the things I'd left behind last year. Sundays are usually very boring and relaxing in France because everything is closed, but once I finished packing Leidy and I decided to walk into town real quick to see if anywhere was open to get something for lunch. As we rounded the corner to the center of town the streets were packed with people and venders. It was the weekend of the yearly bizarre. I was super excited that the one weekend I'd randomly decided to visit Angouleme happened to be the same weekend of the once yearly bizarre. Leidy and me looked around at all the venders and grabbed something to eat before wandering back to the house to grab our stuff and head to the train station. Kena met us at the house and helped me carry my stuff to the train station. She hung out with us and saw us onto the train before taking off. I was glad she stayed and visited with because she was one of my roommates last year and she hadn't seen her all weekend. All in all, I passed a great weekend in Angouleme and was able to see all my friends from last year and make some new friends too. I plan on visiting Angouleme at least once a month (hopefully twice) while I'm in France. My town is small and there's nothing to do on the weekends anyways, so it'll be great to be able to go to Angouleme, visit with my friends and always have a free place to crash ;P