A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Andrea, Julien and me

Town of Etretat from the top of the cliff

The bird posed perfectly for the picture!

There was a golf course on the cliff!

Etretat is known for its famous arches in the water

We were pretty high up on the cliffs

Etretat has a connection to the United States!

Church in Etretat, note the giant sundial on the left

Our French friend Julien did a little photo shoot of Andrea and I

Mom, Dad, I would like this car please haha

Port in Honfleur

Love it

There were a ton of cute art galleries in Honfleur that we went in

Sitting in Honfleur

Parc Asterix!

The castle is smiling :)

At parc asterix there was a greece section complete with santorini building look alikes and mykonos windmills

We saw a dolphin show at parc asterix (dauphin = dolphin)

The was actually the scariest/most fun roller coaster of my life

Last weekend I went to Parc Asterix, which is kind of like Great America, only Gaul-themed. It was VERY cold, but also quite fun! We got "barbe a papa" which is cotton candy :) There were other interesting shows, and we even got recruited to be in Caesar's army!

The first set of pics are from the school trip this weekend to Etretat and Honfleur. (The school has an organization called Culture Connections that plans excursions for the international students.) Etretat is known for its cliffs and famous natural arches. They were magnificent! Many artists such as Boudin, Courbet and Monet were attracted to and inspired by Etretat. The other town we went to was called Honfleur, which also attracted and inspired many artists. All of the little art galleries were quaint and many of the artists we saw were hard at work! It was really a cool experience. 

The video shows the view from the cliffs in Etretat. (The video didn't work even after 12 hours of trying to upload it, but it exists!) It was breathtaking. Also, on our way out of Etretat we crossed the longest bridge in Normandy! It was pretty sweet, and funny because it was basically a giant arch.

This week I will go to Switzerland, a place I've dreamed of going my whole life. Then, off to London for the weekend!!!

I miss everyone and hope the U.S. is treating you all well!

Solidarity, solidarity. Solidarity forever!

I’m starting to get fed up with this constant lack of public transportation. 

First strike = “hmmm well we don’t have strikes like this in the U.S. It’s pretty interesting.” 

Second strike = “Well this is annoying, but at least I got lucky enough to have a bus at the opportune moment.” 

. . . . . . .

Sixth strike = “Dear France, please stop striking.” 

So today there was another strike, surprise surprise. The thing that was different about today was that people blocked the roads. Usually during a strike there are some drivers who will go to work, so buses will come every so often. Today, even if they wanted to drive, they couldn’t. Unfortunately, I was not well informed. I got to the bus stop around 8:10 as usual. I stood  for a few minutes, more people came, we all waited. A lady walked by and said that there were no buses because the streets were blocked. It was 8:15. My class starts at 8:30 and it was a 40 minute walk to school. We are penalized if we are late. Therefore, I ran. About seven minutes away from school it started to rain. Lucky me. So I got to school soaked and out of breath – but only four minutes late! Sprinting up the stairs, I saw a classmate who gave me frustrating news. The teacher had just called and would not be coming to school due to her inability to take the bus. Therefore, class was cancelled. Fortunately, some other classmates that I was supposed to do a project were at school, so we worked on that instead. While we were working on it, there was music blasting in the hall…basically a party in the school at 9 am. Pretty amusing. So welcome to Normandy…rain and strikes that pop up out of nowhere. 

I was working on the project in the computer lab with two girls from Japan and we were speaking French. A girl was STARING us down from across the room. No doubt because our French was less than perfect. It is SO weird to be considered the “foreigner.” Also, in class the other day my teacher asked a question about the United States and no one spoke. I realized that I was the only American in the class. Also a weird feeling. Anywho, good thing I was there…I was able to share the American perspective of the “handshake.” Apparently in China, you should shake hands kind of limply. Well as we Americans all know, in business it is important to always have a firm handshake. So if you meet a Chinese person and they have a weak handshake, don’t judge them by it! There, a weak handshake does not necessarily indicate a weak character. Something I also learned was that in China when someone greets you, they might say “have you eaten yet today?” But what that really means is, “how are you doing?” If you answer that you are hungry, it is considered quite rude! Ohhhh culturally differences. 

It is surprising how much I am learning about American culture, HERE in FRANCE. The questions and topics that come up in class make me question why things are the way they are in the U.S. I expected to learn a lot about France and other cultures around the world, but never did I expect to learn so much about my own culture. It’s extremely interesting to hear people’s perceptions, because it makes me think about things that I wouldn’t otherwise. 

Even though I had a frustrating strike-filled day, when I got home the most amazing smell ever filled the entire house! My host mom had made some kind of apple raisin bread, or something like that. Anyway, the lovely aroma helped dissipate my less than jovial mood.

One more note on the strikes… you know you’re in the middle of a strike when the little electronic board at the bus stop saying when the next bus will come is just completely blank. What’s worse is if it says 5 min, then 4, then 3, then 2, then 1, then 0, then no bus comes, then the time goes up to 1 hour. That is most certainly an unfortunate situation.

The final vote for the retirement law change is this week. If it passes, strikes for the rest my life. If not, maybe I'll get to ride the bus sometime this month... after all I did buy a bus pass, so riding the bus would be nice.

P.S. Today 46% of all flights were canceled due to the strikes.

You MUST know this word to survive in France… Grève = strike

P.S. There are 12,000 gas stations in France and so far 3,000 have run out of gas...uh oh

Quicksand and Negotiations

Giverny is the town where Monet lived. It is about a 45 min train ride from Rouen, so of course I had to visit the home of this amazing artist. No pictures were allowed in the house, but they had replicas of his paintings and made the interior as authentic as possible. The kitchen had old pots and pans and a really old stove. Also, the dining room was probably the biggest room in the house and had an enormous table! Outside, the gardens and ponds were beautiful. I can definitely see why Monet was inspired.

Bust of Monet randomly in the woods

Bernadette, Andrea, Ryan, Greg

Monet's House

After Giverny, we went to Paris and had dinner at an adorable little Italian restaurant that played Italian music. I met up with Kara (from the U.S.) in front of the Eiffel Tower. It was my first time at the Eiffel Tower at night, and it was magnificent. Every hour, the Eiffel Tower sparkles for a few minutes. It was magical. We also had a traditional crepe. The night life of Paris is so active!

Kara and I!!!

Bonjour!

The next day was a school excursion to Mont Saint Michel. It is built on a hill and there are no cars inside the town. Quicksand completely surrounds Mont St Michel, so we didn’t do much exploring. Inside the walls of the town are shops, museums and a famous abbey. We took a tour of the abbey, and enjoyed the sights. The perfect weather made this an enjoyable trip.

Mont Saint Michel

Drawbridge to enter Mont Saint Michel

Inside the abbey

At the end of the day, we saw loads of rugby players wading through the water in the distance on their way to Mont St Michel. It was really bizarre, and I have no idea what they were up to. However, this spectacle provided entertainment as we waited for the bus!

Today I went to an outdoor market in a plaza near the school. (The market is there every Wednesday.) I looove outdoor markets. They have lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, jewelry, clothing, shoes, and many other items. I was looking for scarves, but couldn’t find what I wanted. 

For my international negotiation class our homework for the week is to attempt a negotiation and use some of the techniques we learned in class. I thought the market was the perfect place. At one of the booths, I saw some dresses/shirts that I liked, so I browsed around, trying to portray discontent upon viewing the price. Immediately the man lowered the price by 2 euros without me having to say anything. Knowing that it is easier to negotiate when purchasing multiple items, I found three things I liked and attempted to work my magic. I ended up getting a 15% discount, which I was pretty happy about. 

After the market I had quiche for lunch with a friend =) Then we went downtown Rouen and walked around while browsing the shops. I found a scarf - success!

This weekend there is a big festival in Rouen with people from all over Normandy giving demonstrations on French cuisine. Hopefully I’ll get to check it out!

A bientot!

Rainy Rennes and Beautiful Bordeaux

First off, there’s a strike tomorrow, so that means I get to walk to school! When public workers go on strike, often times the public transportation system is most affected. This is about the fourth strike this month. Quite typical of France. I’ve been hearing a lot of grumbling on the news about the retirement law change situation in France; so the discontent is what is fueling a lot of the strikes.

The last few weeks have been extremely busy – mostly due to travel. I am trying to visit a good representation of French cities (North, South, East, West) so I can get a complete picture of what France is all about. Last weekend I went to Brittany (Rennes), and it was super rainy. Luckily, I’m used to living in Normandy so I never go anywhere without my parapluie (umbrella). We stayed in Rennes and got to ride bikes around the town! In many cities in France they have “velo (bike) stations” near the bus stops where you can rent bikes. 

You ride the bike somewhere and then drop it off at another velo station in some other part of the city. So when it cleared up for a brief period of time, we rode down the canal and enjoyed nature. The next day we went to a beautiful garden that had a random outdoor bird house chillin’ in the center of some grass.

Rainy Rennes

Market in Rennes

Greek restaurant in France

I lit a candle for my family :)

After Brittany came beautiful Bordeaux. Not only was the weather fantastic, but the city was quite aesthetically pleasing. The city of Bordeaux is extremely rich with history, and was once an important part of triangular trade with the West Indies and Africa. Although the main port has been moved out of the touristy section of the city, back in the day, you could walk across the river solely on the boats that were packed into the port.  Bordeaux was once an important political center and Thomas Jefferson even made an appearance.

As most people are aware, Bordeaux is known for its wine. The city is constantly attempting to improve the quality of the wine they produce, so as not to be only known for the quantity of wine they produce, but also the quality. 

Extensive Tram system in Bordeaux

In Bordeaux we (Andrea and I) took a tour of a wine vineyard, learned all about wine making, and toured a chateaux. It was cool because we chose the French version of the tour. (good preparation for my wine class that starts on Friday) On the tour I learned that each barrel that holds the wine as it’s maturing costs 600 euros, and the barrels can only be reused once. Pretty expensive business. Also, over time the wine absorbs the taste of the wood that the barrel is made out of, so you have to find the perfect blend in order to end up with the taste you want. Interestingly, when ageing wine, they use sulfur end egg whites. This helps get rid of sedimentation in the wine.

When we asked about the color of bottles, we were told that they are darkly colored to block light. This helps the wine mature. Thus, if a wine will sit for a long time, it is best preserved by a very dark bottle. For young wines, a dark bottle is not necessary.

Andrea and I

Our tour guide (Bruno) had many interesting things to say about Bordeaux and wine. For instance, according to him, the different regions of France produce wines having various tastes due to the differences in the soil. Also, in Bordeaux, extensive irrigation is not necessary since the soil can retain water so well.

Different grapes are made into a unique type of wine, and these grapes mature at different times. Being that some grapes were still in the fields maturing, we did a little taste test of our own…

On the bus ride back home, Bruno informed us that,

“Wine is not for drinking. It’s a cultural object.”

And my personal favorite…

“There is more philosophy in a bottle of wine than in a book.”

During the tour, we had lunch at a restaurant in Bordeaux. I ate duck for the first time and despite my initial apprehension, it ended up being particularly tasty. After the meal, we were escorted downstairs in the…dun dun dun… CHEESE ROOM. That’s right folks, a room full of cheese. It was very smelly. Since there are over 3,000 types of cheese in France, this room provided a nice little sampling of the many kinds. I tried about 4 different morsels, although nothing too adventurous. (I just cannot fathom eating cheese with a  blue or green hue.)

After the tour of the vineyard we went to an adorable little town called Saint Emilion. There we shopped a bit and climbed a tower. The town reminded me a little of some towns I’ve been to in Greece as it was quaint, peaceful, and relaxed.

St Emilion

The next day we toured a church and went up a bell tower (Hunchback of Notre Dame anyone?) that had 232 steps. It wouldn’t have been bad aside from the fact that the steps were all different heights. I came dangerously close to falling on several different occasions. At the top you could look out over the city of Bordeaux and it was amazing. The light wind was particularly refreshing and I felt so calm up there looking out.

Cinema in Bordeaux

TINY door at the top of the bell tower

All in all, Bordeaux was an amazing place to visit, and I highly recommend it!

Coming soon…news on Giverny (where Monet’s house is), Paris, and Mont Saint Michel.

Au revoir!