The Final Part of the Adventure (Rennes)

So I had left my job in Brittany and ended up completing my Year Abroad in Rouen. But I still had a non-refundable hotel booking and flight in Rennes. This meant that I needed to finish my lessons early on my last day of school, take a train to Paris St-Lazare, go on the metro to Paris Montparnasse, and finally take the train to Rennes. It was a bit of a stressful journey in rush hour traffic, and it was already night by the time I arrived.

However, the good thing was that my flight was at 13:15 the next day, so I had some time to explore the city in the morning. And this is what I saw...

Palais Saint-Georges

La Mairie

The Opera House

Basilique Saint-Sauveur

Cathédrale Saint-Pierre

Portes Mordelaises

Tour Duchesne

Église Toussaints

I didn't know much about Rennes before I went, so I was surprised at how many beautiful and ornate buildings there were in the city centre. Overall, my stay there was like a mini holiday, and it was a really nice way to finish my Year Abroad.

This was the last place I visited, but I haven't quite finished with the blog yet. However, my next post is going to be my final one...

The First Week and a Half in France

For the last six weeks of my Year Abroad, I was supposed to be working at a animal park in Brittany. However, once I got there I realised that the job wasn't what I was expecting. So I moved on to Paris to look for work and accommodation there, but wasn't successful. But I did get the opportunity to see lots of sights around the city, which was great! I'd only been once before for a couple of days for my 18th birthday, and I'd wanted to go back ever since. I had hoped to spend a bigger part of my Year Abroad there, but it wasn't to be.

Here are some of the things I saw:

Jardin du Luxembourg

Notre-Dame de Paris

Moulin Rouge

Le Café des 2 Moulins (This is the café featured in one of my favourite films of all time, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain.)

Mur des je t'aime

Sacré-Cœur

The Eiffel Tower, of course!

Arc de Triomphe

The Chilean Embassy (I came across it while exploring the city and just had to take a photo!)

Versailles

Place de la Concorde

Tuileries

Bois de Boulogne

It was really fun spending a week exploring Paris and the surrounding area. Aside from the attractions in my pictures, I also visited other interesting places, like the Musée d'Orsay, Roland Garros and Le Parc des Princes.

It hasn't been easy adjusting to life back in Europe after being in South America for so long. I was really happy with my life in Chile, and didn't particularly want to leave. But I had to complete the Year Abroad (not to mention the final year of university)! So I tried to make the best of my time in France, and overall, it went pretty well. I had the chance to visit plenty more places, and I'll be writing about them very soon...

Life in Santiago!

I've actually been here in Santiago, Chile for over two months now. It's been a very busy time, so I've seriously neglected this blog...

Life is so different here to how it was for me in England and in Austria. I was fascinated when I first arrived here and saw people dancing in the streets and heard reggaetón music blasting until the early hours of the morning. However, I've felt surprisingly at home here right from the start.

Chile and the Year Abroad as a whole have changed me as a person. Before, I was very focused on my studies and rarely made time to go out and have fun. And although I'm really happy with the grades I got during my first two years at The University of Nottingham, I have to admit that I didn't exactly make the most of the university experience. This is something I'll try to work on in fourth year, but definitely not at the expense of my academic performance!

The classes at Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD) are not as interesting to me as the classes on offer at Nottingham, but there's a lot of fun activities and parties organised for the students here, which I go to whenever I have the opportunity! I've met lots of new people, experienced new things and made lasting memories.

Santiago is an amazing city with so much to see and do. I'm really happy living here, and I've always felt safe going about my day-to-day life. Of course I miss my family and friends, but to my surprise, I haven't felt homesick for England like I did sometimes in Austria. At least not yet!

Now for some pics...

La Moneda (the presidential palace) and the surrounding area

This is really close to where I live, which is pretty cool!

An Easter Island style statue

La Torre Entel

La Plaza de Armas (the historic centre of the city)

Basilica de los Sacramentinos

Iglesia San Ignacio

Plaza Baquedano/Italia

Another Easter Island style statue

Iglesia de San Francisco

A llama!

And finally the UDD, my new university!

I have done quite a lot of sightseeing and excursions around Santiago and Región Metropolitana since I've got here, as well as a few trips to other cities, so there will be posts about these coming soon. And I've got some more travelling coming up which I'm really looking forward to!