Pictured here with Chloe & Ella is Romain Boudeau, the 17 year-old son of our friends here in Nantes. He was free today and spent 5 hours of his time showing us around town. We stopped for lunch after visiting a number of places and I snapped this picture. Ella’s meal may have been the most interesting. She ordered poulet avec frites et salade (chicken with fries and a salad). What made it interesting is that the chicken arrived on her plate completely raw but with a burning hot stone side plate. Romain explained it is a signature dish, served this way so you cook your chicken right at the table on the hot stone.

It’s late here in Nantes as I write, approaching midnight. We just returned from a lovely pizza dinner at the home of the Boudeaus where we all cheered on the Netherlands in the World Cup. Yup, here in Nantes the game started at a reasonable hour, 8:30pm.