It’s approaching midnight in Nantes as I write this, midnight each day being my self-imposed deadline for saying I post every day. And I’m late because it’s been a full day, with none too few things to write about!

As I mentioned, we moved in to the house we will be in for the rest of our stay late yesterday. It’s a lovely older home near the center of town, very “French” in feel. In fact, it’s quite different than the house we stayed in last year, something that I think is good for us. The family whose house it is are extraordinarily kind and thoughtful. We arrived to find the table set and a chocolate cake made for us, courtesy of 14 year-old Olga (Thanks, Olga!).

Chloe, Ella & I ventured out in the rain to the Beaulieu shopping center (the one I called “Bellevue Square” last year). It’s huge and full of shops the girls love. In the nearly 3 hours we were there, the girls only went in to 4 or 5 stores (and came out with 4 or 5 bags – each!)

Then for dinner tonight we met up at Christine’s & Bernard’s to have dinner with the Bertails, as well as John and two of his kids, Celine and Benoit. Veteran blog readers will remember that John & I hit off last year, playing snooker and otherwise enjoying conversation. His family was very, very nice to us on multiple occasions. They are moving from Nantes (tomorrow, in fact!) so this was our only chance to see them.