Playing the tourist

Wednesday, Natalie and I headed off to Chenonceaux for a day of sight-seeing. We brought our bikes, not sure of how far the chateau would be from the train station. Don't ya know, we pull into the station, and there's the chateau. We did pedal the few feet to the bike posts, though.

It needs to be said: Chenonceaux is amazing. There were fires going in some of the rooms, made it feel homey and welcoming. Christmas trees were still up. I want to get a book on the history of this particular chateau...it was apparently built by Henri II for his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. His wife, Catherine de Medici, couldn't have been pleased. It makes it so much more interesting to visit a place when you have an idea of the people that made it (in)famous. Like visiting the Tower of London and thinking of all the prisoners and executions...wouldn't be the same if you didn't have an idea of those stories.

We lolled around in a cafe, drinking cocoa and eating quiche, knitting, waiting for the waitress to finally kick us out so they could close. We then rode our bikes the 1.5 minutes back to the train station and waited around until the train came.

Back in Blois, Natalie made a killer curry salad for dinner, and we then watched "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not"--one of those puzzling films that gives you such a feeling of satisfaction when all is resolved and you have the glory of understanding it. Afterwards, Alan came over and we had a rousing game of three-person euchre.

Today--Thursday--Natalie and I had planned to go to Montrichard to see this underground city/mushroom farm. But a goooood thing I checked online for their hours, because turns out they're closed in winter. So we opted for a trip to Amboise instead. Another chateau, but still worth it. Leonardo da Vinci is buried there, AND the chapel where he's enterred is frequented by a very friendly cat. Greeted pretty much every visitor as he or she walked in.

The chateau itself is nice, although only 1/5 of it remains...the rest was destroyed here and there. The gardens were also interesting, even in December. They had these perfect bushes, ice-cream scoops of foliage.

Went into the town in search of hot drinks, ended up with some mulled wine across the street from the chateau. It's amazing how relaxing the past week has been. Our most stressful moments involved queries like, "Should I knit or read? Knit or read???" We had a slight spike in stress today, making a run for it to catch our train at the station...of course, the train was late by five minutes, so we had time to sit and catch our breath.

Back home, we potzed. O potzing. Then we went out to dinner with Alan and his family to this amaaaazing restaurant. I could be stuffed for days, I think. Had a salmon-egg/avocado mousse starter; first plate, quail breast and quail eggs with a CHOCOLATE sauce. Genius! Main plate, pork filet mignon. Cheese plate...omg cheese plate. And finally, dessert: I had Tarte Tatin, that gets capital letters because it's officially a food of the gods. It had accompaniments of vanilla ice cream with bits of "tonka" in it, surrounded by "apothecary milk"...don't know exactly what either of those were, except GOOD. Rolled out of the restaurant, back to the house, and have now been lucky to move enough to type all this.

Tomorrow, energy willing, will be a day to scout out the market and see what's new at Emmaus. Also gotta pack and straighten in preparation for London on Sunday!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day looked like pretty much every other day in France: gray. We got ourselves out of bed and made French toast from the leftover eggnog, then went on to gift-opening. After, we decided we needed to do something to burn off some of those eggs, so we went bike-riding through Blois...through the town, to the Loire, over to l'eglise Saint Nicolas (where we went inside...it's an amazingly beautiful and eerie interior, dark and empty, but with candles and music). Then we went to the Hotel de Ville, where we roamed around the courtyard and enjoyed the nice view of Blois. Back home to make dinner, which consisted of quail in red wine/mushroom/onion sauce, peas, and real mashed potatoes! YUM. The quails definitely came in whole form, with heads still attached. You sure know what you're eating around here. After dinner, we made mulled wine and listened to This American Life Holiday Spectacular off the internet. Then on to a French movie, Voyages. Finally, it was a late enough hour to respectably fall asleep.

Today, Natalie and I ran into town to run errands...aka go to the library for books, DVDs, and music. Also bought more yarn and got bread, cheese, and wine to go with the soup we'd made for dinner. Met up with Steve for a holiday beer, then back to the house for dinner. We watched Dracula, which was really just terrible despite its amazing cast! It made me realize how far away the 1990s are, when I see the effects and realize that they're really outdated-looking. Well, after that, we needed to get out, so we headed into town for drinks at the Singe Vert and l'Hendrix. L'Hendrix was great...I really like the neighborhoody feel it has. The bartender recognizes us, and one of the locals came up and started chatting...turns out he studied in Newcastle and was lookin to practice his English on some native speakers. He bought us a round and we talked politics. He was rather argumentative...I think he was expecting all sorts of resistance from us when he talked about Bush or Iraq, and when we tended to agree with him, I think it kinda spoiled his fun.

Tours tomorrow, or today technically, which means it's definitely time to get some shut-eye!

Christmas Eve

It's bizarre not being home for this evening. We made the best of it, but there's still that overriding aspect of not being with family. After a day of eating breakfast, planning Christmas Day meals, and general potzing, Natalie, Steve, and I went to Leclerc to get food. On the menu for tonight: waffles, snickerdoodles, and eggnog. We've gone through an obscene number of eggs in the last 36 hours.

We found Christmas music online...you neeeeed to check out http://www.pandora.com. It's like an online radio, but you create your own stations by putting in a song or artist name, and then it matches that song or artist with similar ones. Amazing, and free!

We also found "It's a Wonderful Life" in its entirety on youtube.com...we needed that, it wouldn't have been Christmas without at least one Christmas movie.

For now, to bed. Merry Christmas all!

Bits and bobs

Forgot some important parts of the week during the final rush of classes and outings. The Christmas lunch at school was worth noting: raw sea scallops, quail, chevre-stuffed baked potatoes, and asparagus wrapped in bacon were the highlights. Demonstrations continued throughout the week, so my class sizes were very unpredictable.

Today being Friday, I officially started my break with a good cleaning out of the fridge. The number of cheese bits we had in there was astounding. The housemates have all partir-ed; it's a good thing Natalie is getting here tomorrow because I'd go insane. Steve is moving in, too...well, moving from the couch to an actual room. So with any luck this place will still be lively!

Alan and I met up today for a Christmas lunch at the creperie...o it was good. Stopped by Teresa's place to chat. Then on to the bank to sort out this IBAN business...trying to pay a credit card bill from overseas is like a big administrative obstacle course.

OOOO and I received my CAF payment!! AND got paid for December. It *think* I'm getting 75E a month, which is half of what the others are getting (???). Whatever, it's good to finally see some results from all that paperwork. Between CAF and tutoring, things should become comfortable around here.

Wednesdays are nice.

Got up earlyish today to get some necessities done, like laundry, lesson plans, and cover letters. We had a deeelicious lunch of bread, cheese, and Greek salad. Then it was off to town to return library things, potz around the Christmas market, and finally go ice skating! Back home we went, fingers chilled and feet sore, but ready to eat soup and bread that was still warm from the oven. After a game of euchre and some fruitless efforts to make the TV work, it's time to get sleep so I'm ready for my last work day of the year!

O yea, and there are new pictures, finally posted!

Teachers' strike

Today, some of the teachers' unions are striking. Basically, there is a government act that would require teachers to teach in other schools in their commune, and also possibly teach outside their subject area, IF circumstances required it. I had images in my head of picket lines outside the school and maybe some police around for good measure. No way. I walked into an almost empty building today. Striking? More like sleeping in.

I had one student come to my first class, basically out of kindness to tell me everyone else had gone home. I'm gonna wait around and see if the second group shows up; the professor for my third group has already told me they won't be coming.

Pre-Christmas Blois

We went to the Christmas market yesterday...it's held in front of the chateau, complete with pine stalls, mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, and snow machines blowing white foam into everyone's hair. The ice skating rink looks pretty cool; hopefully we'll try it out later today.

I found...BAKING POWDER...at a coffee/tea store in town. Couldn't find it in any of the supermarkets, and this was the only canister this particular store had. Score! We also stopped in the wine/cheese store, looking for Christmas gifts. The man who owns the store is great; he was so excited to advise us on good local wines.

Things are open today...like Leclerc! It's rather disconcerting. :) I guess capitalism makes it everywhere, even to France on a Sunday.

Ah, les manifestations

I kept wondering why my classes seemed so small today, and it turns out a lot of students were outside the building starting a demonstration! Love France. Apparently, Sarkozy has expelled more immigrants from France, including some students. By the time I left for my two-hour break around 2:00, there were police out front, people shouting and singing, and banners saying "How many empty chairs does Sarkozy want?" I don't know about Sarkozy, but I had quite a few empty ones; one student showed up for my 4:00 class.

Tutoring at 5:00, and then it's another weekend! Am going to post pics of Blois all decorated for Christmas soon.

Tuesdays are a-ok

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Harhar I got my HEC2 class back today. Yay! Really, two out of three classes are good today, and the third one can go either way. I did this thing with my HEC1's where you give them "If" questions (for example, if you could only see one more movie for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?), and then they have to speak for one full minute, answering their question. Other fun thing was to give them a single word and have them say anything and everything they could think of about this word for one full minute. Works well with well-behaved groups that are actually going to make the effort to fill their minute and not just sit there going "euuhh..."

Also had my new tutoree today, who's in seconde, so like 10th grade. I do feel like an idiot when she wants to know what tense a verb is in, and I have no idea. I neeeed to inform myself on the ins and outs of English verb tenses.

Oooo and we got a Christmas tree! Steve carried the sucker back from Leclerc, last time he willingly comes shopping with us! It wasn't a huge one, will post picture once it gets decorated and is more than just an oversized bush in our front window.

Weekend

Sunday, December 10, 2006

I love Sundays: eating, laundry, and petanque. Internet is up and running again, yay! We've been watching multiple episodes of "Allo Allo," this crazy old British sitcom about a French cafe owner who works with the Resistance, but also has to keep his balance with his Nazi customers. Alan and I played petanque; I'm still in the process of perfecting my skills. I'm also thinkin that a frisbee is a necessity for Sunday activities...before it gets too cold.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Internet is on the blink…that’s what ya get for trying to fix things around here. Phone wasn’t working, so I reset the system…the phone works now, but no internet. C’est la vie. But this does mean that I got a lot of knitting done today. Susan and I made crepes for breakfast, need to perfect the batter…it was a bit heavy. I went down to see what the market had to offer today…stopped by the Christmas tree stall to inquire: 20E for a small tree, and they’ll deliver. It’s either that or drag a 13E one back from Leclerc. After that, I stopped by the book stall to browse and was grabbed by a very friendly, persistant woman who was selling pastries. You know it’s not gonna be good when they physically take your arm and half-drag you to their stall. Ah well, I was in a don’t-mind mood, so I asked for explanations of all the pastries, and finally handed over 2E for two of em, score!

Went with Catherine and Susan to Anna’s for dinner tonight (professor that Catherine works with). Her house is amazing; it’s from the 13^th century and used to house monks. The remaining walls are made of gorgeous old stones, and the rest has been reconstructed in white plaster. Wooden beams in the ceiling, and a real fireplace that smelled amazing. It’s times like that—when you’re sitting in a place like that around a huge table with half a dozen French people, eating and drinking like kings, talking politics or music—that it hits you, how did I get this lucky?

Productivity

Today was fairly productive...my do-to list: read, knit, go to library, figure out life. Check on the reading, knitting, library-going...and I did make progress on life plans. Checked out http://www.idealist.org. Gives listings of non-profit jobs, some of them actually looked really cool: administrative assistant for the New York Botanical Gardens, editorial assistant for the International Museum of Women in San Francisco,web production and communications coordinator for Facing History and Ourselves in Massachusetts, AND...a fellowship for NPR in DC!! Ooo. Now to apply.

Got a coat, too. ROCK.

Orientation day

Wednesday was our second orientation day in Orleans...went over general administrative concerns (I'm feeling significantly luckier than some of these assistants...people paying 450E in rent or people that hadn't been paid until November 22). We presented lesson plans that had worked for us in class, which was nice to see what other people were doing, and to realize that my classes maybe aren't that bad. I mean, most of the time they do look at me like I'm slightly crazy, but I feel like the better part of them make some effort to understand me. After a free lunch, we went over some documents that they had brought, brainstorming in groups how we could use them in a classroom. A worthwhile activity, I hope...should inspire some new and different lesson plans.

Stopped to look for a coat on the way back, but no luck. Everything is either bizarre-looking or out of my measly price range. Someday I need to take the time to actually look around Orleans a bit, not to go to Tours. I hear the second is actually the nicer of the two. Anyways, got back to Blois and set about making hamburgers, potatoes, and salad for dinner, followed by a good evening of cards.

Aaand now it's just a matter of getting through Thursday.

Pirates and Paris

Cheese cutters are amazing. These HUGE wheels of cheese, cut with wires...entertainment for hours, I tell you. Alan and I went and perused the market, cheese and all, before heading to Paris. Had a motley crew of folk from both Blois and Tours...we spent Saturday finding a hostel in Paris (good-looking one for 13E was at http://www.aijparis.com/...they had no room so they recommended us to a one-star hotel near Place de Clichy, which was shady as hell but still, 20E). Met up with Alyssa from B-W! Went wandering around Paris, up to Sacre Coeur (beeeautiful), stopped for crepes/paninis, and then headed off to catch a concert on a pirate boat! The band was pretty much hilarious...French funk with a little American thrown in.

The next day was the first Sunday of the month, which means FREE museum day in Paris. So after hitting up the Eiffel Tower (went up to 2nd level, 3rd was closed because it was so windy), we went to musée d'Orsay to see the Impressionists...amazing: Monet, Manet, Sisley, Renoir, Van Gogh, Degas...blows your mind, really. Recovered at a café, then headed on back to Blois. Now it's on to recovering from the weekend in time for classes tomorrow, which means going to bed asap. New pics to be posted shortly.

What to spend a paycheck on

Some of the most useful things invested in here:

1) bike!--not gettin anywhere fast without this
2) a wok--could eat stirfry every night of the week (and almost have this week)
3) library card--all sorts of music, movies, books, and who can live without those?!

That's really it. I'm sure other things are coming in handy, but these are the list toppers.

Classes were good for a Thursday. My MIA class is still MIA, but I'm not letting this bother me. Extra planning period. Had fun getting them all to write stories based off of random words I put on the board. Couple loud classes, and threatened several with office visits, but threats seem to do enough of the trick to get things settled down. Students need to quit being flirty though, it's weirding me out.

We watched "Swimming Pool" this evening; verrrry slow, was bordering on softcore porn/thriller until the last two minutes, then had a mind-blowing twist, became abstract for about two seconds, and ended. I still don't get it. Aaah French films.