Thursday 23rd December: Nantes

We woke up this morning to find the snow from last night had all but gone as we set off on foot to explore the city of Nantes and do a bit of housekeeping like wash the clothes and get a haircut and shave. It’s a very comfortable city with a good feel and we felt quite at home as we wandered through the streets.

Late in the afternoon Olivier picked us up and took us home where we finally got to meet the rest of Tom’s French family face to face. Olivier, Florence, Alex and Celia Jegou hosted Tom as an exchange student over the 2006/07 summer holidays. Although we felt that we already new each other well after years of email and Skype correspondence it was wonderful to finally meet and share a meal or two together. In fact this was the beginning of a week of dining and talking, the like of which I have never experienced before. Our hosts’ generosity was boundless as we went from one meal to the next always accompanied by a bottle of wine from Bordeaux, the Loire or whatever.