If there is anything that has defined this trip for me, it is the people, especially my host mother and family. Yseult is my host mom, and she is originally from Carnac in southern Brittany. The first night I went back to her house, I did not know what to expect or how to feel about living in someone else's home, but within the first weekend in Rennes, I saw how nurturing and loving Yseult's nature was, and we bonded quickly. Whether it is as simple as following her around a market, going thrift shopping together, cooking dinner, or spending time with her and her family, I am always content and feel that it is through her that I see the real Brittany. I could not have been luckier to have been given Yseult, and I owe so many of my best experiences here to her.
Yseult has several children, two of whom are Kristell and Colette. I met Colette through Skype because she lives in Lyon, but I have spent the most time with her other daughter, Kristell, and her two beautiful grandsons, Malo and Louan (or "Loulou"). Guillaume, Kristell's husband, works at the hospital, so I do not see him as much, but whenever he is around, he is always as funny as Kristell, and adds even greater dimension to the group. I love being with them all, and they usually come over at least once a week.
Kristell
Louan (5 yrs) Malo (2.5 yrs)
It is fascinating to watch French parents with their children, especially Kristell with the two boys. She disciplines them sternly, but at the same time is very affectionate and always has a sense of humor with them. To watch how the boys react and talk to their parents, however, is even funnier. Louan is mellow and seems to always listen to Kristell, whereas Malo has a fiery little personality, and is definitely the one who always wants his way! Both of them innocently spill out perfect French and use little mannerisms with their hands and faces, which are so unexpected that they are enough to tickle anyone.
I have to say though, I get slightly intimidated when talking to Louan or Malo, because since they are so young and naturally fluent, they mumble their sentences and use peculiar words, and it can be difficult to understand them, much more so than adults. So sometimes I have to ask them to repeat themselves for me, or even have to ask Kristell what word they used, which teaches me a lot, but still feels strange because they are so much younger than me!
Yseult becomes "Mamita" when the boys come over.
Louan and Malo love chocolate, so Yseult makes sure to always be regularly stocked with sweets for them. The kitchen cabinet basically looks like a mini Wonka factory. She also happens to know that I love ladybugs, and so one day she put out these "coccinelle" (ladybug)-shaped cakes as a surprise!
Spending the day with Yseult is one of my favorite things, and as she shows me the ins and outs of the market each week, she also teaches me which vendors to buy from and which to avoid, where to get the best gelato and tartines, and how to bargain for strawberries...
Yseult also tells me little stories here and there about her childhood, which I always love. She says that these oysters from Cancale are similar to another kind of flat oyster from Morbihan that, as a little girl, her father would harvest and they would eat right there on the shore.
Yseult and Kristell also love going out and showing me local places in Rennes, so one weekend they strapped Louan and Malo into the stroller and we all went to the Place Hoche so they could show me the Marché des Livres. It is a small daily market in the centre-ville, filled with old books that you can buy for as little as one euro or even fifty centimes. I have now gone there several times, and I especially love seeing books of Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Camus, and Sartre because I have read them so often back at school.
And then I found some other favorites...
Yseult loves buying books here to read to the boys, and when we get back to the apartment, she pulls out a drawer to show me all of the books she has read to them, a few I even recognize from when I was little. We sit on the floor and flip through them together.
One of my favorite things about Yseult though is that she loves to make homemade preserves, usually with apricots, strawberries, and rhubarb. She usually pots over eight jars by the time she is done cooking, and this time she gives me a little one of apricot preserves to take back home to the United States.
It is the simplest of memories, like Yseult cooking jam in the kitchen while I sit with Kristell and the boys, or us flipping through books and talking, that make this time here so meaningful and special that it is impossible to capture it in pictures or in writing.
For my upcoming birthday, they surprised me with tiny chouquettes, or fluffy cream puffs (one of my favorites), caramels, and a Breton mug! They said now I could think of them when I had tea in the mornings back at school.
And since tonight it is a rare night when Guillaume is off from work, we don our rain jackets and go to see the light show at Place du Parlement.
Yseult, Kristell, Guillaume, and the boys have made me feel so at home here, and I could not have been paired with a more wonderful family if I had done it myself. I feel like I have become a part of their family while being in Rennes, and I will cherish every memory I have with them.
