Brest.

I arrived in Brest late Thursday night, exhausted after 12 hours of travel. My friend from my first stay in France, Jules, met me at the train station and took me back to his home where I stayed for the weekend. On Friday we woke up early and relaxed around the house for a few hours. After having lunch with Jules and his parents, we went to a beach near Brest (Plage de Moulin Blanc). Afterwards we met Jules’ friend Guillaume and visited the American monument in Brest, and the old castle. Who knew there was an American monument in Brest? Not I! It is in memory of the World Wars, and the alliance between France and the United States I believe. The castle is also a maritime museum now, it was rather interesting.

Saturday we spent at a different, much prettier, beach about 30 minutes from Brest. The weather was perfect for the beach, I was lucky in that aspect, because Bretagne is notorious for clouds and Jules’ said it wasn’t good weather before my arrival and wouldn’t be after my departure. The water of the Atlantic was a bit to cold for my taste so I just dipped my feet. We returned to Jules’ house after a long day at the beach for dinner with his parents. After dinner we went to see Melancholia, a movie that appeared at the Cannes Film Festival. It was a bizarre film about the end of the world. I cannot say I liked it or disliked it; it was just interesting.

Sunday we visited Oceanapolis, the aquarium. It was great, I absolutely love watching seals, they are so playful! Overall, it was a relaxing and nice weekend in Brest.