I am writing to you all from my friend Ali's flat in Foix, France, a village nestled in the French Pyrenees, just north of the Spanish border. Ali and her boyfriend Flo invited me to spend Christmas and New Year's here with them, and everything has been so lovely so far!
I finished school last Friday and spent my Saturday and Sunday battling loneliness (everyone had pretty much cleared out of Les Cottages by then) and my nemesis: the laundry machine--let's call it Clyde. Clyde and I do not get along very well. He likes to get my coins jammed in the machine. He also likes to stop working mid-cycle so that my clothes are left soapy and water-logged. Sometimes Clyde doesn't like turning on at all. (Note: Clyde's behavior might also be due to operator error...) Whatever the case, Clyde is not a fan of doing my laundry, and thus I, too, am not a fan of doing my laundry. But as it's a necessary evil, especially when you're about to depart for a nearly two-week vacation, I decided to dedicate my two days of alone time to this chore. Clyde was busy all day in Saturday, despite the supposed lack of residents at Les Cottages, so I was forced to wait until Sunday morning to do my laundry. I got up super early because Charly and Edwige had invited me over for lunch and Christmas prep, and I needed to get all my laundry done by 9:30am. So I got up when it was still dark and waddled across the courtyard and up the stairs to the laundry room. I put all my laundry in Clyde and inserted my coin in the machine. And then I waited. And waited. And... nothing happened. No lights, no response whatsoever. Clyde--why do you hate me so? After several more attempts to get Clyde going (jostling, slamming, dial-turning, more jostling), I accepted defeat and took all my clothes back down the stairs and across the dark courtyard, packed them up in my backpack, and waited for it to be a suitable hour to call Charly and Edwige and beg them to let me use their washer. (Two things to know about laundry in France: 1. It's expensive as water is expensive. 2. No one uses the dryer--like ever. Air-drying is king.) They agreed and I trudged over to their house (the fog was still clearing the semi-illuminated streets).
My day got much better from there. We got my laundry washed, we chatted about cooking, my feud with Clyde, our upcoming Christmas plans, and I had the great pleasure of watching Edwige, master chef, prepare some of the elements of her Christmas dinner extravaganza. She glazed cookies with chocolate, made pâte à choux for salmon puff ball things, made fish paste for a shellfish dinner, and tested out some foie gras, all while Charly made homemade French fries and reheated a lovely slow-cooked beef concoction that gets better every time you reheat it. Once again, spoiled by the Laumoniers. Then I went home and hung my laundry all over my apartment and had Christmas with my parents. I rounded out my evening with a chat with my dear friend, Carmen Fifield, and a couple of episodes of Friends. Most excellent.
On Monday (Christmas Eve), I got up early again and began my long journey to Foix. I got held up in Toulouse thanks to some gold old French strikes, so I got delayed two hours and ended up fighting for my place on the last bus to Foix. Twelve hours after my departure from Blois, Ali and Flo met me at the train station at Foix and walked me to their cute attic flat in the centre ville. Foix has a cool castle with actual turrets and everything, plus it's illuminated purple for Christmas. There are mountains on all sides of the village, and there's a little mountain stream running through its center. It's got a much different feel from Blois that I can't quite find the words to describe beyond saying that it's more Spanish-feeling and there's more of a sport culture. Flo made us duck with fried potatoes and carrots which we ate enthusiastically with our fingers and topped off with a bûche de Noël (traditional French Christmas cake that looks like a little log and/or a huge Little Debbie cake roll) and half a box of red wine. We dubbed a red flower plant our Christmas tree, and Flo spent the evening trying to convince Ali to open the huge present her sister sent her on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. He was unsuccessful, and we all passed out to the sounds of The Grinch. The next morning we slept late and lounged around all day. We opened presents and discovered that the big one was a TV (!). Flo set it up immediately. Ali and I took a walk around Foix and had a nice chat before another lovely dinner of lentils and sausage.
Today, Ali and I took a 45-minute train ride to Ax-les-Thermes, a mountain village known for its skiing and hot baths. We were there for the hot baths. We donned our bathing suits and joined the hot bath community, moving from indoor large heated pool to outdoor large heated pool, to hammam, to sauna, to small heated pool, in search of the perfect jet. It was wonderful and relaxing and oh so French. The best part: the people-watching. We came back on a late train to warm our hands on steaming bowls of chili (the glory!), plus I tried my first whole kiwi (tasted like a huge green grape). They've got me hooked on Sherlock, so I think an episode of that is next on the agenda. Tomorrow, Ali and I are headed to the medieval village of Carcassonne. Should be a good day full of a lot of old stuff, delicious food, and train travel. To sum up: I'm hanging out with some really cool people eating delicious food all the time and having awesome adventures. We leave for Barcelona on Sunday. Time to brush up on my non-existent Spanish...
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I sure missed being home with my loved ones, as well as a certain amount of American Christmas commercialism and a whole lot of Christmas carols (France sucks at Christmas carols), but all in all it's been a good time. Oh, I forgot to mention that my choir sang at the marché de Noël (Christmas market, and we sang non-Christmas-y songs like a Spanish one about coffee and a traditional French one about a girl who get deceived by a cute guy--see this link) in Blois last weekend and I got to meet the mayor! There was a band and speeches and little lit-up Christmas huts and lots of mulled wine for everyone! Pretty cool and very Christmas-spirited.
So, merry Christmas to all, and I will try to update you on more of my adventures in Foix before I head of to Spain for New Year's. Bonnes fêtes, tout le monde!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
My life continues to be busy here in Blois. The Orléans Christmas markets two weekends ago were a no-go. We misread the dates and were three days early, so we could see the cute little Christmas-y huts, but no merchants were there to sell us cute Christmas stuff. Alas.
Instead, we (that is, Harriet, Amy, and our British friend Suzie who is working in Romorantin, a little town 40 minutes away from Blois) went shopping in downtown Orléans. My British friends have turned me into quite the shopper (or perhaps it is just because I have disposable income all of a sudden and very few clothes). We then returned to Blois laden with our purchases and decided to have a full-out Anglophone evening by ordering pizza from Domino's. After an hour-long discussion about what to order, we finally decided on the three pizza deal (Hawaiian, vegetarian, chicken BBQ) with two appetizers (chicken fingers and potato wedges) and a bottle of Fanta. It proved to be an excellent decision. We chowed down while watching Magic Mike (oh lord), and then Suzie and I had a proper sleepover in my room and stayed up giggling until 3am. She got up at 7am to catch a bus, so all in all not much sleep was had.
Last weekend was Nancy's English Christmas party. Harriet, Amy, and I kicked off our day with an early bus to Vendôme and spent the day wandering around in the cold seeking shelter every once and a while in a warm-looking boutique. We went and got three massive hot chocolates and my favorite little coffee shop in Vendôme and watched the ducks being ducks in the Loir. Nancy's friend came and picked us up around 4:30pm, and we arrived at Nancy's ancient ramshackle abode right in time for egg nog and a game of "Who am I?" Though the majority of the attendees were French, we had a completely English evening. It was a small group--Nancy's two eldest daughters and their significant others and a few friends, plus Nancy and her husband Jean-Pierre. "Who am I?" was a blast. I was John Lennon, Harriet was Wonder Woman, and Amy was Britney Spears, though I think my favorite was Flipper the Dolphin, which was actually the first to be found. We had a light meal of quiche, homemade bread, fresh goat's cheese, homemade Earl Grey muffins (oh. my. god.), salads, and wine and then played Things (if you haven't heard of this game, go and buy it--it's amazing). After two hilarious rounds, Nancy's second-oldest Kim (the one who just got married) got out an old-fashioned street organ and we were treated to a private concert of traditional French tunes. Plus Nancy showed off her life-size puppets and we had a small gift exchange. What a great kick-off to the holiday season! It finally felt like Christmas.
School has been going okay. I've had a couple of rough days, mainly because of discipline issues that I don't have enough experience to handle properly. I had them work on dates and the calendar for the two weeks after Thanksgiving, and now we're onto Christmas. I've got Christmas flashcards and we sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" together. They have a ball playing Pictionary. I divide the class into teams and one person from each team comes up to the board. I show the two draw-ers one of my flashcards, and then they have to draw it. Then their teammates try to guess what it is before the other team does. Next week, I'm having my eleven-year-olds write letters to Santa, even though all of them have told me quite firmly that Santa doesn't exist. They'll just have to suck it up. Nancy has also helped me revolutionize my teaching style by giving me a toss toy, a small neon orange mouse whom I've dubbed Mr. Mouse. I use it to review previous lessons with my students. For example, I throw it to one student and they say "January," then that student throws it to another, "February," and so on. Or we count, or do the days of the week, or any number of things. They love it.
The Christmas markets have begun in Blois and all the lights have been illuminated, so the town is beautiful and festive. I've been performing with Edwige's choir. We sang for hospitalized children last Wednesday, and today we're singing in the centre ville. I'm really enjoying getting to know this group of women a lot. I'm also enjoying hanging out with Edwige, who gives me rides to rehearsal and who continues to invite me over for dinner. A few weekends ago she had me over for a family dinner, the culmination of a foie gras-making weekend with their kids and significant others. For those of you who don't know, foie gras is liver pâté, usually made from goose liver. Edwige and Charly bought whole ducks and made duck foie gras. It was delicious, as long as I didn't think too hard about what I was eating. The foie gras was followed by a roasted leg of lamb with potatoes, goat's cheese, and fresh fruit from their garden. I am so spoiled!
Today should be a lazy day. We're going shopping again (surprise, surprise), and I've got my eye on an elegant black dress that's only 25 euros (approx $33). I also need to go grocery shopping, but I have to be super careful as I only have one week left in Blois before I head to Foix to visit Ali and her boyfriend Florent. Yesterday we went ice skating, and none of us fell (!). Such a victory. Suzie is visiting again tomorrow night for another sleepover, and she has promised me a romantic dinner in Blois for letting her crash at my place. Of course, it is completely my pleasure to host her!
I'm obviously still loving France, but I know it's going to be hard to spend Christmas away from my family. Luckily, thanks to skype we'll be able to open Christmas presents together and have some family time. I'm looking forward to visiting Ali and Florent (from here on out known as "Flo") in Foix. We have booked a bus to Barcelona and a hotel, so I'll definitely be in Spain to ring in the New Year. Otherwise we're planning on hanging out, hiking in the Pyrenees, eating well, checking out the hot baths, and visiting some nearby towns/cities, including Toulouse and the medieval city of Carcassonne. I'm getting excited!
I will be uploading pictures soon, I hope, so stay posted for that. Okay, off to hit the centre ville shops with the Brits! À tout!
Instead, we (that is, Harriet, Amy, and our British friend Suzie who is working in Romorantin, a little town 40 minutes away from Blois) went shopping in downtown Orléans. My British friends have turned me into quite the shopper (or perhaps it is just because I have disposable income all of a sudden and very few clothes). We then returned to Blois laden with our purchases and decided to have a full-out Anglophone evening by ordering pizza from Domino's. After an hour-long discussion about what to order, we finally decided on the three pizza deal (Hawaiian, vegetarian, chicken BBQ) with two appetizers (chicken fingers and potato wedges) and a bottle of Fanta. It proved to be an excellent decision. We chowed down while watching Magic Mike (oh lord), and then Suzie and I had a proper sleepover in my room and stayed up giggling until 3am. She got up at 7am to catch a bus, so all in all not much sleep was had.
Last weekend was Nancy's English Christmas party. Harriet, Amy, and I kicked off our day with an early bus to Vendôme and spent the day wandering around in the cold seeking shelter every once and a while in a warm-looking boutique. We went and got three massive hot chocolates and my favorite little coffee shop in Vendôme and watched the ducks being ducks in the Loir. Nancy's friend came and picked us up around 4:30pm, and we arrived at Nancy's ancient ramshackle abode right in time for egg nog and a game of "Who am I?" Though the majority of the attendees were French, we had a completely English evening. It was a small group--Nancy's two eldest daughters and their significant others and a few friends, plus Nancy and her husband Jean-Pierre. "Who am I?" was a blast. I was John Lennon, Harriet was Wonder Woman, and Amy was Britney Spears, though I think my favorite was Flipper the Dolphin, which was actually the first to be found. We had a light meal of quiche, homemade bread, fresh goat's cheese, homemade Earl Grey muffins (oh. my. god.), salads, and wine and then played Things (if you haven't heard of this game, go and buy it--it's amazing). After two hilarious rounds, Nancy's second-oldest Kim (the one who just got married) got out an old-fashioned street organ and we were treated to a private concert of traditional French tunes. Plus Nancy showed off her life-size puppets and we had a small gift exchange. What a great kick-off to the holiday season! It finally felt like Christmas.
School has been going okay. I've had a couple of rough days, mainly because of discipline issues that I don't have enough experience to handle properly. I had them work on dates and the calendar for the two weeks after Thanksgiving, and now we're onto Christmas. I've got Christmas flashcards and we sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" together. They have a ball playing Pictionary. I divide the class into teams and one person from each team comes up to the board. I show the two draw-ers one of my flashcards, and then they have to draw it. Then their teammates try to guess what it is before the other team does. Next week, I'm having my eleven-year-olds write letters to Santa, even though all of them have told me quite firmly that Santa doesn't exist. They'll just have to suck it up. Nancy has also helped me revolutionize my teaching style by giving me a toss toy, a small neon orange mouse whom I've dubbed Mr. Mouse. I use it to review previous lessons with my students. For example, I throw it to one student and they say "January," then that student throws it to another, "February," and so on. Or we count, or do the days of the week, or any number of things. They love it.
The Christmas markets have begun in Blois and all the lights have been illuminated, so the town is beautiful and festive. I've been performing with Edwige's choir. We sang for hospitalized children last Wednesday, and today we're singing in the centre ville. I'm really enjoying getting to know this group of women a lot. I'm also enjoying hanging out with Edwige, who gives me rides to rehearsal and who continues to invite me over for dinner. A few weekends ago she had me over for a family dinner, the culmination of a foie gras-making weekend with their kids and significant others. For those of you who don't know, foie gras is liver pâté, usually made from goose liver. Edwige and Charly bought whole ducks and made duck foie gras. It was delicious, as long as I didn't think too hard about what I was eating. The foie gras was followed by a roasted leg of lamb with potatoes, goat's cheese, and fresh fruit from their garden. I am so spoiled!
Today should be a lazy day. We're going shopping again (surprise, surprise), and I've got my eye on an elegant black dress that's only 25 euros (approx $33). I also need to go grocery shopping, but I have to be super careful as I only have one week left in Blois before I head to Foix to visit Ali and her boyfriend Florent. Yesterday we went ice skating, and none of us fell (!). Such a victory. Suzie is visiting again tomorrow night for another sleepover, and she has promised me a romantic dinner in Blois for letting her crash at my place. Of course, it is completely my pleasure to host her!
I'm obviously still loving France, but I know it's going to be hard to spend Christmas away from my family. Luckily, thanks to skype we'll be able to open Christmas presents together and have some family time. I'm looking forward to visiting Ali and Florent (from here on out known as "Flo") in Foix. We have booked a bus to Barcelona and a hotel, so I'll definitely be in Spain to ring in the New Year. Otherwise we're planning on hanging out, hiking in the Pyrenees, eating well, checking out the hot baths, and visiting some nearby towns/cities, including Toulouse and the medieval city of Carcassonne. I'm getting excited!
I will be uploading pictures soon, I hope, so stay posted for that. Okay, off to hit the centre ville shops with the Brits! À tout!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)