When you're living in a Vannes, down by the river

Hello all
After three weeks of hard work, I am currently enjoying the first day of what will be a twelve day vacation from school. In France when one goes on vacation, one really goes on vacation. Rather than the American style, where you would have a three or four day weekend here or there to break up the monotony of the school calendar, the French system is much more consolidated. Just put all of those days together, throw in a few extra for good measure, and you have a recipe for a wonderful break. This particular holiday is called the "Vacances de Toussaint," as Toussaint (All Saints' Day) is on November 1st and falls toward the end of the break. It is a glorified fall break, halfway through the semester; so for those UGA students who remember what it was like to have both Thursday and Friday off for Georgia-Florida weekend and are still bitter over the loss of Thursday, just think that if you worked here you could start your pregame festivities an entire week before the game. And then continue for another five days after, regardless of the outcome.

So I decided to kick off my fall break with one of the most daring things I will ever do while I am here. I got my haircut. You may think I am exaggerating, but my last haircut in France officially ended my four year foray into the world of long, shoulder-length hair. Though it was probably a move for the best, at the time it was completely unintentional, unplanned, and ruined my confidence in foreign hair cutters.

I can proudly say that I not only survived my second French haircut, but came out of it positively impressed...well, at least I was not running home with my head in a hood this time. It may not quite meet the standards of say, Mr. Haircut in Athens, but it comes close enough that I know where I will go when it is time to do battle again.

Tomorrow marks the first of what I hope will be many exciting adventures and new experiences over this vacation. I have a trip planned to a beautiful island called L'Ile de Groix that is close to Vannes and is only accessible by ferry. Next week, I will be in Paris for four days, taking in the sights and seeing a couple of friends. After all of that, I still have five days left on break, with which I hope to do some sailing around Vannes, as well as a few other day trips to some incredible spots in Brittany. More on all that later, as it is time for me to hit the sack before I start my journey with a 5:30 am wake up call.
Salut
Tommy

p.s. A special thanks to Dave for credit where he knows is due