Grumbling and Growling

It's about 6:30 PM on this cloudy I afternoon. I am debating going to sit outside and write this, but my feet hurt worse than my legs did yesterday, so my bed "tres petit" bed is the location today. Last night was a lot of fun. At one point during the evening I observed that Rennes and Schenectady, NY could not be any more different. Rennes is a spectacular college town and cultural center. Schenectady is not (far from it). Schenectady has one of the prettiest college campuses in the country. Rennes does not (very, very far from it). The list continues but last night at about 10 PM I grabbed the 15 in to Saint-Anne where most of the night life occurs. In the Saint-Anne area, there is a street called "rue de la Soif"...or thirsty street. "Rue de la Soif" is home to about 100 bars, thus making Rennes the perfect college town. Jumping backwards for a minute, the social tone on this trip is interesting. There are 4 guys, and 17 girls. Good ratio right? Since one of the guys is my roommate from freshman year (those stories exist), and another is his best friend, guy #3 (a Sig Chi, I'll get over that) and I will be left to fend for ourselves. So, naturally we spend lots of time with the lovely ladies on this trip.
Last night, when we arrived in Saint-Anne, the girls immediately flocked to the psychodelically lit bar in a corner of the courtyard. Mr. Sigma Chi was not there yet, so I followed the gaggle...into a gay bar. As soon as we sat down I knew it, and the girls were oblivious, "gee, thanks guys" was about all I could get out before someone put a beer down in front of me. Free beer! Woo hoo! The waiter pointed at the dude who bought it for me. He was french-master-sketch to the enth degree. I nodded in to show my thanks, chugged my beer and was out door before anyone had time to ask me what was going on. Went to another bar with Mr. Sig Chi and had 6 euro stout, and called it a night.
Today was interesting. We got a chance to see the facility where we'd be taking classes this semester. It sucks. Its on the fourth floor of a colorless cement building accessed only by a spiral staircase outside. Can't wait for it to rain. We then went to the French Barnes and Noble to grab books for classes. We were shopping around there as well, and I stumbled across the childrens' comics section. I love the French. ONLY in France can you find kids comic books with full boob-view and thong bikini's in the beach scenes. REALLY?!?! Not only that Where's Waldo, turns out to be Where's Osama Bin Laden.
Not to drag on, but we ventured to les Champs-Libres in Rennes, aka the Rennes cultural center. We had a tour of a King Arthur exhibit...not my thing. The tour guide was about thirty years old, pas chic, and wildly over-excited about here work. Additionally, she had eyes that could stare into the depths of your soul if you weren't paying attention. I didn't pay attention. It was rough. I had two hours of my soul being drained bit by bit, and learned nothing. Day well spent....HA! A demain.