Mars

The past several weeks have been filled with lots of exciting experiences and travel adventures. February concluded with a week of vacation from the university. For the first part of the week, I went to Oxford, UK to visit two close friends from high school who are studying there this year. While it was a bit of an adjustment to hear English all around me all the time, it was nonetheless a welcome break for my brain to exercise my English language skills for a change. I had a wonderful time visiting Katy and Sabrina and they showed me around all the highlights of Oxford, which is a dynamic college town. A highlight was visiting Christchurch College where several scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed! We also visited a lot of their favorite places to eat, which was a highlight for me. It was really nice to spend some time with old friends, meet their new friends, laugh and catch up.

Sabrina, Katy and me at Christchurch

For the second weekend of break, I visited San Sebastian, Spain with a Middlebury friend who is also in Bordeaux this semester, and I absolutely fell in love with the city. It was my first time in Spain, so it was really exciting for me to experience a new city and a new language. San Sebastian is a very unique city in many respects. It is located just across the border with France in the upper west coast of Spain, right along the Bay of Biscay, and the city itself lies right along a beautiful curving beach. The day we arrived it was sunny and gorgeous, so we climbed up Mount Urgull, a hill that gives way to beautiful views of old San Sebastian below and the Pyrenees in the distance. It was so wonderful to enjoy the sunshine and the spring weather. The Spaniards enjoy a cafe culture similar to the French, so after our walk we rewarded ourselves with chocolate caliente, a turbo version of American hot chocolate that is more like chocolate soup; a rich and creamy concoction that is somewhere in between a liquid and a solid. Delicious. San Sebastian is also right in the middle of the Pays Basque, which includes the extreme southwestern region of France and the San Sebastian and Bilbao areas in Spain. The Pays Basque has a rich cultural, political and culinary history which we got to experience in San Sebastian. The Pays Basque has long been in a struggle to obtain its independence from Spain, and the nationalist movement, the ETA, has pursued very violent and aggressive tactics in the past century in an effort to achieve independence. In January 2011, the ETA signed a permanent cease fire, but separatist sentiments are still harbored by a small minority in San Sebastian. On Friday night, we witnessed a somber parade through the old city of ETA sympathizers holding posters with the portraits of imprisoned ETA members.

View of the beach, the city and the Pyrenees in the distance from Mount Urgull

Hotel de ville in San Sebastien (with a huge statue of Jesus on Mount Urgull behind)

San Sebastian is also the culinary capital of the Pays Basque, which boasts some of the best cuisine in the world. In San Sebastian, the restaurant scene is dominated by small bars that serve pinxtos, the Basque word for tapas. For dinner, the locals do a sort of bar hopping routine, visiting several of their favorite bars, ordering one or two pinxtos and a glass of wine at each, which they enjoy standing up at the bar since there are no chairs, before moving on to the next bar for something new. Each bar has its own specialities, so we took to asking people what they had ordered if it looked good and then ordering it ourselves. We had some of the best food I've ever tasted, and some of the most exotic. I tried beef cheeks (which were to die for), pig's ear (the texture was a little strange but the sauce it was served with was amazing), squid and blood sausage. It's a very dynamic and adventurous way of eating, as the bars were boisterous and loud and filled with a palpable energy. Also, dinner time in Spain is even later than in France, so things don't really get going until 9 or 10 PM. But, during the dinner hours, you can always tell which are the best bars from the size of the crowd mingling outside, people munching on pinxtos and enjoying a glass of rioja.

One of our favorite bars--we went there twice!

In San Sebastian we also visited an amazing aquarium located right on the water, explored the local market on Saturday morning, and browsed through some extremely expensive and posh stores. It was also interesting to observe the differences between Spanish and French culture. We did notice that the Spanish wore many more colors than the French (where the national wardrobe is black) and are particularly fond of American outdoor apparel brands, notably The North Face.

The day I got back to Bordeaux from San Sebastian was also my 21st birthday, which I celebrated with a lovely dinner and birthday cake with my host family and Kim. Even though turning 21 in France where the legal age is 18 means that I can now still order a glass of wine in a restaurant, it was exciting nonetheless, and my host family made it very special. I know I will never forget this birthday.

My birthday with my host family: Tanguy, Marius, Valerie et Hubert

After returning to Bordeaux and resuming classes at the fac last week, I left again this past weekend for Poitiers, a city about an hour and a half north of Bordeaux. One of my French friends who is from Poitiers had invited me and some of our other friends home with her for the weekend, to experience the sights and tastes of La Vienne, the region where Poitiers is located. On Friday night, I experienced a classic French dinner at her house, which didn't begin until 9 PM and concluded around 1 AM, with aperitifs, entree, plat principale, fromage, dessert and cafe in between. There were twelve in total for dinner, so the dining room was full of boisterous French conversation and the enjoyment of good food. Saturday we spent the day at the Futurscope, a futuristic amusement park which was so much cooler than a Six Flags or King's Dominion. Sunday we went to visit Azay-le-Rideau, a smallish chateau located in the Loire Valley, about an hour from Poitiers. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend spent among friends, and a great way to experience a new region of France.

My work at the university is finally starting to pick up, so unfortunately I actually have to dedicate some time each day to being more traditionally productive. My family comes to visit next week, so I'm really looking forward to showing them around Bordeaux and introducing them to my French family. It's now been just over two months since I've been in Bordeaux, and the time feels like it's starting to go by very quickly. The spring weather has arrived in Bordeaux, and I'm looking forward to lots of time spent outdoors along the quais and in the jardin publique in the weeks to come.

Happy March, Happy International Women's Day, and happy spring!

Mailing Address

I've been getting a few requests lately for my mailing address, so I'll post it below in case anyone is interested. The mail (strictly letters--not packages) from the US has been very reliable so far, so if you want to send something, there's a good chance it will actually arrive, and it will be much appreciated!

22 rue du Marechal Joffre
33150 Cenon
France

February Adventures

The past couple of weeks have been filled with lots of wonderful adventures and the beginning of truly beautiful springtime weather in Bordeaux. I started off last weekend at the Grand Concours National de Chocolate in Bordeaux, an annual chocolate festival in which chocolatiers from all over the region craft a sculpture out of chocolate which is then judged upon taste and technique. The concours was held in a salon at the mairie, the building which houses the city government, and as I walked into the room, I was hit with a delicious wave of chocolatey goodness. It was amazing some of the structures that were crafted entirely of chocolate, particularly the intricate details, colors and textures that seemed too perfect to be real. I arrived around 1 PM, which was when all the chocolatiers were having lunch in a corner of the room, so as I walked around, I listened to their boisterous and passionate conversation about different types of chocolates, new techniques, and general discussion of the chocolate trade. And the best part was, there was chocolate to sample (which of course I got all over my mouth...my mom says I can't eat chocolate without getting it either on myself or my clothes, and this incident proved no exception).

Friday night I see a Chekhov play with my family, half in Russian, half in French. An interesting theatrical experience to say the least, since there were French subtitles projected onto the wall behind the stage during the Russian parts and no subtitles during the French parts, so following along with the dialogue was a little difficult. But it was fun to go out with the theater with my family, and since Valerie and Hubert have so many friends through their acting troupe who are involved in all types of performances, I've been lucky enough to experience an interesting slice of the Bordeaux artistic scene since I've been here. On Saturday I took a day trip with two Middlebury friends to Perigueux, a small town about an hour east of Bordeaux. There are a lot of Gallo-Roman ruins still standing and Renaissance era homes and buildings marvelously preserved, so it was a lot of fun to walk around the city and explore hidden squares and rustic old buildings. There's not too much going on in Perigueux especially after the Saturday morning markets are over, but it was very peaceful and refreshing to stroll through the quiet streets. I arrived home on Saturday night just in time for dinner with my family and then we all watched a made-for-tv movie that was showing that night that Valerie had a small part in. I don't know how many of you can say that you've watched your (host)mother on television, but now I have!

Gallo-Roman ruins in Perigueux

Hotel Regina in Perigueux!

Sunday is a big market day in Bordeaux, so the next day I went to the Saint Michel neighborhood to visit the huge flea market, or broderie, that happens every week. There are tons of vendors who set up their stands, selling everything from vintage postcards to costume jewelry to antique furniture. It was fun to wander through and look at all the obscure and wonderful things for sale, as well as to observe the diverse crowds of people in Saint Michel. The Saint Michel neighborhood is an up and coming one in Bordeaux, comprised of many North African and Turkish families. The quartier, French for neighborhood, has a dynamic feel which was particularly lively on Sunday morning. Then we went to the Marche des Capucins, a huge food market in Saint Michel with produce, meats, cheeses, flowers, bread, and most importantly, oysters, which are a regional speciality. After getting sufficiently hungry from looking at so much delicious food, we went to have donor kebabs for lunch. Kebabs in France are different than in the United States, where most people think of kebabs as some kind of meat cooked on a stick. Here, however, they resemble more of a Middle Eastern burrito or taco--meat, sauce, lettuce, tomato and french fries (a particularly interesting addition, I think) all rolled up in some kind of flat bread. The perfect quick fix for extreme hunger. And then as Kim and I were heading back towards home, we came across a huge group of people assembled along the quais, clearly all waiting for something. Curious, we asked someone what was going and and were informed that it was a "kiss mob," a group that had gotten together to try and break the world record for the most people to pass along a kiss from one to another. Apparently the current record was held by a nearby town and the Bordelais wanted to claim it for themselves. We choose not to participate, but while I was reading the newspaper in the tram the next morning, I learned that they had indeed broken the record. The kiss mob was successful!

La Braderie at Saint Michel

A picture in a mirror

KISS MOB!

This past week the Chaperon's have been on vacation, so being around the house was a little lonely. But some highlights were going out for a Valentine's Day celebration with some French friends on Monday night and making some new French friends through my English class on Wednesday, who invited me to go out with them last night. It's a real accomplishment to make friends with the French students, mostly because in general, they don't reach out to the foreign students. This the first time I've felt like an outsider in the majority culture, so making new friends feels like a real accomplishment for me.

I'm officially on vacation now since we have this coming week off at the fac for February break. I'm heading off to Oxford tomorrow to visit some friends from high school and then to San Sebastien, Spain for next weekend. I'm sure my travels will bring lots of new adventures, and I'm excited to explore some new places!

Bon Fevrier!

The Bordelais ushered in February, which happens to be my favorite month, with a bang. February 2nd was la fete de la chandeleur, a festival with religious origins that today simply means an excuse to make and eat lots of crepes. Twice this week I was invited over to friend's houses to celebrate la chandeleur and make crepes, including flipping the crepes in the pan. According to tradition, you place a piece of money in your hand while flipping the crepe, and if the crepe lands perfectly face up in the pan, you will become rich in the coming year. If not, misfortune and bad luck will apparently follow. While many of my crepes did not land perfectly, I hope that my beginner status as a crepe-maker will equal out any bad luck I may have brought upon myself.

And while the Bordelais are busily eating crepes, they are also busily shopping, as the first weekend of February also brought la grande braderie, a huge flea market and rummage sale, in the centre-ville along Rue Saint Catherine, the longest pedestrian shopping avenue in Europe. The bi-annual sales are also going on right now, as the French government dictates that all stores have sales in the winter and the summer. The sales began the first weekend after I arrived here, so for the past month, St. Catherine has been packed on the weekends. Yet, this weekend the braderie meant that everyone, and I mean everyone, was out and about, searching for good deals. Of course, it doesn't help matters that this weekend brought absolutely beautiful spring weather too. Yesterday I decided to brave the crowds and venture downtown just to witness this once-a-year event, and it was certainly a sight to see. For those of you Washingtonians, it was like gridlock on the Beltway at 6 pm on a Friday, but with human bodies. There were moments when I literally couldn't move since I was surrounded on all sides. But, it was a true example of the dynamism and vibrancy of the city of Bordeaux; vendors were hawking their lower than ever prices, young people were searching the discount piles of shoes and clothes for good deals, and families were out and about, parents clutching the hands of their children against the heavy tides of people, yet enjoying themselves nonetheless.

Tout le monde sur Rue St. Catherine

Une famille francaise sur les quais

And just this afternoon I experienced another classic event in la vie francaise: Sunday lunch. My host mother had invited the host family of a close Middlebury friend over for lunch today, and it was a true culinary experience. We started with aperitifs, drinks and light appetizers as a sort of warm-up for the courses to come. The first course was oysters on the half shell, shrimp, and a homemade terrine. Then came the main course, which was a huge pot of mussels steamed with white wine, parsley and shallots and Hubert's homemade frites. Seafood is a regional speciality in Bordeaux because of the city's proximity to the water, and everything was fresh and local from Valerie's trip to the seafood market this morning. And then came dessert, which was fresh fruit salad, apricot cake and chocolate and nutella cake. And finally, coffee, and then finally, rest. It was a wonderful four hours of eating, drinking and enjoying the company of friends. Since all the stores close on Sunday, there's really very little to do except eat and talk and sleep, and now I can say that I have truly spent a classic Sunday afternoon doing those very things.

Tomorrow marks a month that I have been here in Bordeaux, and the time seems to be flying by. I can't believe that it was four weeks ago that I arrived in this city, and how far I have come since that day. Yet, it seems that every day that passes adds more and more things to do, places to visit and expressions to learn to my to do list. I'm excited to continue exploring this beautiful and dynamic city and I wish all of you a wonderful February!

Beautiful Bordeaux at sunset from the Pont de Pierre

Je Suis Ici!

Greetings, all, from Bordeaux! I've been here for just over two weeks, and I am already in love with my new city. The first week I was here was filled with orientation meetings at the University of Bordeaux 3, tours of the city, and history classes on the Aquitaine region and Bordeaux itself. During this week, I learned about the importance of Bordeaux as a port town during the 17th and 18th century for the exchange of agricultural products, the transport of slaves from Western Africa to Europe to North America, and of course, the production and transport of the famous Bordeaux wine. Although there is an extremely modern and efficient tram system that links all parts of the city, I've also done a lot of walking, which has enabled me to slowly learn my way around on foot. I think Bordeaux is the perfect size; big enough that there will always be new places and cafes to explore, yet small enough that I'll (hopefully) never get too lost. On a day when the sun is shining and the sky is clear, my favorite thing to do is to walk across the Pont de Pierre and marvel at the sparkling Garonne River, the majestic 18th century wine merchant homes along the quais and the imposing bell tower of St. Michel.

View from Pont de Pierre of the quais. Bordeaux was named "port de la lune" for the way the Garonne River curves to resemble a crescent moon.

Pont de Pierre

My host family, Valerie and Hubert Chaperon and their two sons, Tanguy and Marius, have been incredibly welcoming and warm since I arrived and living with them makes me feel right at home. The highlight of my day is eating dinner with them, since they laugh and joke and tease each other just like my own family. They also truly savor mealtimes, sitting and talking for at least an hour, sometimes more (of course, there's the soup/salad course, the main course, the cheese course and the dessert course, so there's more time to talk). They also love maps, so we've spent hours pouring over their huge map of the world mounted on the wall by the kitchen table, picking out notable locations like Bethesda, Maryland and Middlebury, Vermont. One night Valerie bought a gateau de roi ("king's cake," a speciality here in Bordeaux that tastes like a cake made of Challah) for dessert. In every cake a small toy is hidden, and whoever gets the piece with the toy gets to wear the gold paper crown that comes with the cake. I picked the magic piece, so now I have a real life souvenir of the excellence of French patisseries!

Last week was the beginning of classes at the University, which was another interesting cultural experience. In my first lecture class, I was shocked at the behavior of the French students; when the professor begins to lecture, they don't stop chatting with their friends, cruising Facebook, or texting on their cellphones. In fact, the noise level in the room seemed no different from when before the professor arrived. I think part of the reason for this is that university admission in France is free for the first year, so there are many students who don't want to be there and act like it. The professors can't make them be quiet, so they don't try. But, the French students do take beautiful notes--those who are paying attention. They open up their chic little pencil cases, choose two or three pens of different colors and their mini rulers, and proceed to color code and organize their notes in a way that I, struggling mightily to listen and write at the same time, can only gape at. Needless to say, there are many French students who do take their studies very seriously, and I've really liked all the professors I've had so far. Bordeaux 3 is certainly a far cry from Middlebury's idyllic campus, but I'm slowly learning my way around, and I think it will be a very valuable experience to participate directly in the French educational system since it's so different from our own.

Classic Bordeaux architecture. The buildings on the right have been recently cleaned, the one on the left, obviously not. This gives the buildings a "piano key" look between black and white.

Musicians on the quais along the Garonne River

And finally, an observation on the subject of the popular American stereotype about the French: they're snobby. I arrived in France prepared to expect the worst; unfriendly looks, pushing and shoving, and a general attitude scorn towards me, obviously an American. While I certainly did attract some unpleasant looks while trying to navigate my two oversized suitcases along the impossibly narrow aisles of the TGV train and then again against a heavy tide of Bordelaise running to catch the train just as I was trying to make my way off of it, I have also encountered some incredibly kind souls who have made my adjustment to life here so much easier. For one, there was the young man on the TGV who saw that I was clearly lost and frazzled trying to find my proper seat who helped me find my seat and then hosted my justunder50pounds suitcases onto the rack above--something I never could have done myself. Then there is Julie Claire, the woman who works at the bank where I've opened an account, who is so friendly and warm, and doesn't just care about my bank account number but also asks me about how things are going at the University and gives me suggestions of places to visit in France. And then there are the countless souls on the tram who if they accidentally bump your foot or step on your toe, turn around with a shy smile and say "pardon." And yesterday, I witnessed perhaps the most heartwarming moment of my time here when I walked by a man playing the accordion on Rue de l'Intendance, one of the swankiest shopping streets in Bordeaux. His dish for money in front of him was empty, but just as I was passing by, an older man walked by, reached in his pocket for change, and dropped it in the dish, with a smile and the words, "Vive la musique."

A bottle of Bordeaux made entirely of chocolate!

Les mascarons, carved stone masks, very prevalent in Bordeaux architecture

I hope this finds you all enjoying a healthy and happy January, wherever you are. And for the next meal that you eat, do like the French do and take the time to really enjoy it and the people you eat with. Thanks for reading, and check back again soon! Vive la musique!