Mom's Adventure in Nantes part 2

The next day started out a little bit later than expected. Apparently our bodies wanted more sleep and decided to just sleep in an extra hour. I think mom was alright with that. Forgot to mention in my part 1 entry, that I was very grateful to have Mom there on her first night because she killed one of the larger spiders I've seen in this house that had a face like a lobster. The spiders and I are making a pact that my room is OFF LIMITS. I'm sure they'll talk about it at their next meeting.

ANYWAYS, we started off walking, and walking, and walking. We started out in the park next to my house. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to see the botanical gardens in all their glory, but there were still a few flowers hanging on. We then went to the market. Nantes does an open market every Sunday and mom happened to see the antique market when she was hear. Even though it was raining, we saw some pretty nifty looking stuff--if only I could fit furniture into my suitcase....

After that, we ate at an interesting little creperie. The crepes did not come on a plate, but they did come wrapped up in a cute little paper bundle. I know that I say this every time I try crepes at a new place, but these were amongst the best I've had. Pretty delicious. And I think mom was in agreement. We then did a little bit of shopping at the Galleries Lafayette--didn't buy much, but it was pretty cool to see the French version of Macy's.

Then, we made our way down to see something I haven't seen yet--Les Machines de l'Ile. Mom was quite the rebel on the way there and rode the tram illegally--TWICE. *gasp* The Machines on the island are pretty impressive little creatures--and by little I actually mean huge. Unfortunately, the gallery was closed so we couldn't see all of it, but we were able to see the elephant and the mechanical tree. We later took a virtual tour of the place which was pretty neat. Much better than standing in the rain if I'm being honest! Anyways, the island was dreamt up by a group of people inspired by Jules Vernes fiction and De Vinci mechanics. Combine the two and you get giant elephants with wheels for feet. Pretty interesting.

After, we did a little bit more shopping in the Passage Pommeraye. The passage is a compilation of cute, expensive little stores with very unique things. For example, we bought ourselves some macaroons in a chocolate store known for its chocolate moldings of shoes and ladybugs. Then I bought a matryoshka doll at a very colorful store. And once again, we took refuge in the house to attempt an ounce of warmth and to get into some dry clothes. I was suffering severely from WJS (Wet Jean Syndrome).

We ventured out once more to Bouffay, which is exactly what it sounds like--a buffet. Bouffay is a road that goes on for quite some time with tons of restaurants crammed together. We searched out something that looked/smelled delicious and after seeing about fifty restaurants, we finally settled on an Italian restaurant. Yes I know, Italian restaurant in France. And Mom got an English menu.

After all of THAT, we returned to the bed and climbed under the covers and tried to prepare our bodies for Paris in the morning :)