Second half

I had expected that after going home for Easter I'd have a really miserable week back in Nantes and just want to go home again but fortunately this has not been the case - in fact it's been one of the best weeks I've had here!

The first thing I have been loving this week is the weather, it's been lovely and sunny all week and the city really seems to have come to life as a result. There are loads of people out boating on the river and all the cafés and bars are packed with people relaxing outside. On Tuesday evening it was warm enough for me to go for a candlelit riverside picnic with some friends from the Café Anglais which was really nice, although I was a bit worried the circling bats had their eye on our sandwiches (you all know my thoughts about flying creatures). After finishing in hospital on Friday we took the train over to Angers, where Alex's parents had been staying in a beautiful gite - we spent the evening with them over some delicious food and familiarised ourselves with a selection of the local wines before spending Saturday wandering around Angers itself in the sunshine. We had a look round the old town, a mooch around the shops (discovering the French equivalent of the pound shop! I knew they must exist!), and it was even hot enough to have a little sunbathe in the jardin at the Musée de Beaux-Arts. I felt like I was on holiday!

The second thing that's been making me feel all cheery this week is that I've started a new placement in neurology and so far it's turning out really well. Once more, the Chef has provided me with my own timetable so I have lots of interesting clinics coming up rather than just sitting around the ward watching the externes do paperwork. Saying that, the externes are really friendly and have made a real effort to include me and get me to help out. The interne is enthusiastic too and it looks like I might get some lumbar punctures done over the next few weeks which will be good experience although scary. The only drawback is that the placement is at Hopital Laennec (in Saint-Herblain, just under an hour commute away - where Alex did pneumologie) so it's a bit of a faff to get there and back. A tram and two buses each way. It's also quite out of the way from anywhere so there's really not much to do with that 2 hour lunch break, although it's been nice this week to sit out and read my book in the sunshine.

Yesterday there was an EXTREMELY exciting development in our Nantais lives: we finally managed to track down a pot of hummous! Now over the past 10 weeks we have searched this town high and low to get hold of the stuff. Even a small Greek/Turkish grocer's didn't have it. But yesterday when we went over to the fish counter to get ourselves some moules for dinner, lo and behold there was the hummous, nestled in between a display of sardines and a bottle of fish consommé. Why did we never think of looking there?!

We are more than halfway through now, 10 weeks down and 6 to go, and I'm feeling pretty positive about the next 6 weeks. I'm still looking forward to being home again but we have quite a lot of fun things planned and if the weather holds out we'll hopefully be able to experience the best of Nantes (and obviously work very hard and learn lots of medicine too)

Marie
xxx