Part 2 of the country. I should also preface this by saying that the title of the first part of my time in the country is a funny thing that Papi said to me, as well as this one. My first day here, Papi asked me if I liked cheese and I told him that I wasn't a huge fan but I like to try every kind I can. He told me that there are over 300 different types of cheese so I will always have a new one to try. When I told him the other day that I would love to just keep visiting castles and do that until I have seen every castle in France he told me that it was impossible because there are just too many. He then added "ohhh yes, there are a lot of castles, just like there is a lot of cheese" which is basically what that last title translated to.
this title comes from the time Papi googled Indiana on his IPad. We were sitting and reading one night and he looked up from his IPad and said "do you know that you have a canal in Indianapolis?" I smiled and told him that I did know that. He then started spouting facts about Indianapolis that he was learning on Wikipedia and I thought it was unreal adorable. From that moment however, there has been an influx of questions about where I come from and what it is like. This particular question came from Mami when we were driving and got stuck on the highway behind a tractor. She said sometimes that happens and I explained to her that sometimes on roads by our lake house we get stuck behind Amish people in their buggies. She was familiar with Amish people but had no idea that they lived in Indiana, then a steady stream of questions: And they refuse all electricity? What do they do for work? Do they use money the same way? What kind of food do they eat? and then today's title, can you make friends with the Amish?
they are really cute and funny.
OKAY so the second part of my time in the country.
The day after we went fruit picking, I bought a train ticket to Angers, a bigger city than Ancenis and WAY bigger than Oudon but not as big as Nantes. Papi gave me a guide book all about the pays de la loire and dropped me off at the train station. When I say dropped me off, I don't actually mean it. I mean he parked the car, walked me up to the train station, walked me to my platform, hung around for a few minutes and then said, well I guess you can take it from here, have a nice day! And then went home. So I took the train into the city and it only took about 25 minutes, not bad. I get there at about 10 and decide to just wander. I walk a while and I stumble myself into an open air market, which I had been to in Paris but never in the country so I take a stroll, they had literally anything you would need, 3 cheese booths, at least 5 butchers, 2 fish/sea creature (animals I have NEVER EVEN SEEN BEFORE let alone attempted to eat) vendors and about a million vegetable stands, plus shoes, lingerie, jewelry and more. I keep walking and I find a little asian food supply store which is exciting because B found out I know how to make sushi and every 3rd day he asks me if I will make him sushi and my answer is always the same: I don't have my sushi rolling mat... So I go inside and buy one. I figure this will buy me some good behavior. "I'll make you sushi IF..." Then I walk myself into the center of the city where there is: you guessed it. A CASTLE.
This one had 17 tours at one point and houses the Apocalypse Tapestries, which I found to be so interesting it's unreal. The self-guided tour was supposed to take an hour and fifteen minutes. I took 2.5. Casually. This one was interesting because instead of having just a museum inside, it also had the tapestries, ruins of the previous buildings (one was an early spa with steam baths) and a castle that was used as a prison during one of the wars... I can't currently remember which. I then absolutely STALKED the apocalypse tapestries and listened to the entire story on my little audio guide. oh yeah, I rented one. BECAUSE, the castle was free for EU residents under 25. Guess who that officially applies to? Yes, it's me.
After the castle tour, I was hungry, so I went into a little bakery and got a sandwich dessert and drink, a typical french 'formule' that you get for lunch, and I walked a little way to try to find somewhere to eat it. I find a garden and realize that it belongs to the museum of fine arts. So I sit in the garden, eat my lunch and then proceed to go into the Museum of Fine Arts; also free to EU residents under 25. There is a temporary exhibit here, which is the first I went into, called "The Last Night in Troy" and it was all paintings of the last nights before a riot or the breaking out of a riot. Lots of paintings depicting greek emperors about to be assassinated, The death of Purim was a common one, Purim bringing home the body of Hector, then there were also paintings of Julius Caesar being assassinated, and finally a slew of paintings entitled "the last night of Pompeii" with people frantically running around and a huge volcano erupting in the background. It was pretty bloody and terrifying, couple that with the fact that I had just spent almost an entire hour looking the Apocalypse Tapestries - remember all that for later.
I go through the rest of the museum, a little section on this history of Angers, then their permanent collection which is also just pretty cool, and the modern art which is always awkward and interesting. Here is a link to my favorite artists work that I found there: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/boccacino/3083891895/
his name is daniel tremblay, and those are real goldfish in a bowl in front of his painting. I want to know whose job it is to feed them, what happens when one dies, who changes the water, I seriously think it's all very integral to the art.
At this point I have a huge headache so I sit down at a cafe, order an espresso and read a book for a bit and just relax. I sit there for a while, get a magnum ice cream and I hope I looked as hot as Rachel Bilson when I ate it. (I didn't)
I still had some time left to kill before my train, so I hunt down the giant cathedral. I take one step inside and for some reason I burst into tears. (this is where my previous days experience is to be recalled, I think) I just could not stop crying. It was such a pretty cathedral but it was more than that. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and I had to step out and the second my foot touched the sunlight of outdoors I felt fine. Definitely something to consider.
I find a small grocery store, head in, grab a few things I forgot to pack, and then I go wait for my train and go on home. That was Wednesday, nothing super interesting happened Thursday that I can recall, and I stayed in Friday cause I was still exhausted. Saturday I walked back to the plan d'eau and layed by the lake and read and then walked back and Sunday I stayed at home too and the boys came back from their other grandparents, however this week the boys are going to like a day camp in the afternoons so it's going to be a little less hectic.
Yesterday after mami dropped off the boys, she came back to the house, picked me up and we went and ran errands together. We went to French Target, I think. Which was awesome. They had absolutely everything that anyone would need there; but I didn't need anything I just went with her. Then she dropped me off in the center of the little bity town of Ancenis, near you guessed it, another castle. This time however I did not go inside because it was under construction and I couldn't figure it out how to go in or buy a ticket or anything so I just walked through the courtyards. I also had a small little pamphlet that described a walking tour you could do for yourself to see the old architecture, so I did that, saw some cool old buildings, realized EVERYTHING IS CLOSED ON MONDAYS again and felt like an idiot. Walked the banks of the Loire to a small little island and then took off my shoes and walked in the river, then sat on the edge and read my book for a while until Mami came to pick me up.
Today I went to Nantes on the early morning train where I encountered and helped a group of confused American tourists. (boom) Walking around Nantes was fun, it was waaaay bigger than Angers so it felt a little like I was back in Paris which was nice. I got a quick pain au raisin from the bakery across from the train station and then I set out. First stop? The Castle of Anne of Bretagne, of course. This woman's life was unreal. She was the queen of France, twice. Like seriously? Anyway, Gorrrrrgeous castle, pictures to follow. As per usual I spent entirely too long in that castle.
Then I wander around until I find the galleries du lafayette; aka a department store kinda like Saks but maybe a teeny bit less nice, but tons of expensive french designers regardless. I walk inside and take a stroll around and I remember that I need a swimsuit bottom for my trip to the Baule (7km beach, ultra chic) on Thursday. So I walk around and I find a few and I go to try them on, I find two that I end up liking a lot that I think will go with the top I already have here (let's hope mix and match really is as big as people keep saying it is in magazines) and one is part of the Soldes which is even better (that is a topic for another post I still have to write). The woman working the area asks me which ones ended up working and I hand her the two bottoms and she walks me to her register. She mumbles something and then shoots me a coy little smile; to which I am not sure how to respond because I didn't hear her entirely so I just say, I'm going the la Baule on Thursday and I needed a suit! She then comments again and boy do I understand her loud and clear. She says "You're going topless, huh? You know you're allowed to do that! It's fun!" UMMMMMMMM
I giggle awkwardly and explain to her that I have the top at my house but left the bottoms in the united states. She hints that I should think about it and hands me my bag and I thank her and awkwardly laugh my way out of the store. Casual suggestion for a tuesday morning. Hey! Go topless at our beach!
I then get lunch, sit on the castle lawn and eat and read, then wander around for a bit. I find the castle and notice two guys going into a different entrance than everyone else so I decide to follow them haphazardly. Luckily for me (?) they entered the church through the Crypts. So I got to go down into the newly opened crypts of the cathedrale at Nantes and meander about. That leads you out and up into the church when you are done where I saw the tomb of Anne of Bretagne's father and mother: Francois II and one of his 2 wives, Marguerite de Foix. After the cathedral I wandered around some more, bought myself some ice cream and sat down on a bench to eat it.
The story of the guy who sat next to me on the bench while I ate my ice cream is for another time, but rest assured that it is a gem that ends so uncomfortably I can't even explain.
From there, I went to the Jardin des Plants which is exactly what it sounds like, a garden full of plants from around the world. Super gorgeous there, I sat and read a book for a while and then went to the train station kinda early but I thought I remembered seeing a sign for free wifi so I was like, I can blog while I wait for my train. I get there, I buy a coke and a water (5 euro, seriously) and I sit down to try to use the internet but it isn't working. So then I just sit there and drink my drink, relax, read a little bit and then I realize it's time for my train. I look at my ticket just to be sure. Of course, I bought a ticket for the train at 5:38, not 6:38. So I had missed my train. bah. I went to the ticket desk but the line was foreeeever long, so I went to a machine where it said you can exchange tickets, so I tried to do that but it told me that I couldn't so I would have to go to the line. At this point, my train is leaving in 15 minutes so I am not sure what to do. I end up just buying another ticket for the next train, asking the guy at the information booth if this train stops at Oudon, (yes) what do I do about this extra ticket, (take it to ticket booth, get reimbursed) do I have enough time to do that before the train leaves (no, the line is too long, you can try at the station when you get back).
Deal.
Papi met me on the train station platform (of course) and drove me home where I almost fell asleep in the car and I cannot believe I was even able to write all of this.
God bless you if you were able to read all the way to the end. Not only that, but thank you all for still being interested in my trip; awkward and almost unbelievable at times as it may be. It means a lot to me :)
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Pictures from the country part 1
So I loaded these pictures in order but for some reason blogger hates me so they are out of order. Mah bad. Technology alludes me.
1. Gate and open field I stumbled onto on my walk to oudon
2. Fireplace in the castle d'Oudon, shaped like a castle. Yes please
3.our massive haul from picking fruit at the farm
4.french wildflowers on the road to Oudon
5. This is what the French countryside looks like here
6. Castle d'Oudon
7.view down from one section of the castle
8. Part of the havre river, cutesy
9. Me and all the white currants I picked, ick
10. Casual boat on the havre
11. Picture from the day papi showed me around, told you it was grey
12. Inside of l'abbey st philbert de grand lieu
13. Part of the ruins of the castle d'Oudon
14. Back in the abbey, there is someone in that crypt, papi told me it was one person, my horrible French skills led me to believe there is someone else inside. Who knows.
15. I have never been this close to cows that were not at the state fair. True story.
1. Gate and open field I stumbled onto on my walk to oudon
2. Fireplace in the castle d'Oudon, shaped like a castle. Yes please
3.our massive haul from picking fruit at the farm
4.french wildflowers on the road to Oudon
5. This is what the French countryside looks like here
6. Castle d'Oudon
7.view down from one section of the castle
8. Part of the havre river, cutesy
9. Me and all the white currants I picked, ick
10. Casual boat on the havre
11. Picture from the day papi showed me around, told you it was grey
12. Inside of l'abbey st philbert de grand lieu
13. Part of the ruins of the castle d'Oudon
14. Back in the abbey, there is someone in that crypt, papi told me it was one person, my horrible French skills led me to believe there is someone else inside. Who knows.
15. I have never been this close to cows that were not at the state fair. True story.
"oui, il y a beaucoup des chateaus, comme les fromages"
this is the story of my first 1 and a half weeks in the country, photos will be uploaded tomorrow. (maybe).
So, I didn't end up asking Papi to take me to Oudon the next day like I said I was going to, because it was freezing cold and raining and I just felt like laying in my bed and watching the life aquatic with steve zissou. (which didn't work by the way so then I had to watch 500 days of summer. depression)
The next 2 days followed suit. Freezing cold outside, no heat inside and nothing but rain as far as the eye could see. I read an entire book; the Marriage Plot, it wasn't that good, but I still continued to read it because when it rains in the country, what else do you have to do?
That sunday, it was finally sunny and papi told me that we had to go take the boys to meet up with their other grandpa who was taking them for a week. Leaving mami, papi and i with H and her 13 year old cousin E who flew in the night before. I agreed to go on this adventure because what else was I doing besides sitting on the porch staring at the sun because I hadn't seen it in 4 days.
We get into his little car (when I say little I don't actually mean it. He drives a Mercedes, but don't worry- he made sure I knew that he once owned a Ford and talked at great length about the American auto-industry and he nodded approvingly when he found out I drive a Chevy) and we proceed to drive southwest and we get to a little parking lot of a big old stone building. We get out and the boys are running around and goofing off, I am literally just standing in the sunlight trying to warm myself like a reptile when A tells me he has to go pee and B tells me he has to go poo. I sigh and papi laughs. The boys still have an hour in the car ahead of them, so we search out a bathroom. Once we find a public bathroom, A has decided he no longer has to go pee, but B is still in need so he opens the stall door and what does he find, but a Turk. I am unaware of the fact until he comes out and says, I think I'll hold it. I ask why and he says, that's not a real toilet. I go examine for myself and just burst out laughing.
I finally tell him that he has a whole hour in the car ahead of him and he really probably should use the bathroom and he looks at me with a look of absolute horror and he just says, how do I use that thing? I then have to talk him through using the Turk, proper foot placement, correct shorts on the leg placement and everything. In the middle of doing his business he shouts, Amanda, how do you know so much about this toilet? And my response is, I have one of those at home, bro. (He thinks it's funny when I call him bro) he shouts from the stall "IN AMERICA?!" and I respond, no in Paris!
I explain how to flush, he flushes and comes out of the bathroom and looks at me and says, I don't believe you have one of those in Paris. and I can think of nothing else to say to him but... neither do I.
Anyway, their other Papi (papi de mon papa, as A has been calling him) shows up and the boys go and they give me bisous to last for a whole week (by this I mean they basically tackled me to the ground and kissed my forehead off) and then they get into the car and off they go. Papi then tells me that we are standing next to an abbey that was built in the time of Charlemagne and would I like to go inside and look around? Um, yes. thats freaking cool.
So we went inside, papi paid my whole 1.50 euro ticket price, what a gent, and it is soooo cool. There are parts of it that date back to Charlemagne and then you can see the other parts where other architectural design played a part in the building of it, roman influences, gothic structures and medieval elements too. It was super neat, I totally geeked out. I'm casually looking at stuff and papi is next to me talking my ear off and telling me things that I probably wouldn't understand in English about the history of France but he is speaking in French so I just go with it. I take some pictures, I pretend to read some signs, I just kinda explore around. All in all it was pretty neat. I bought some post cards from the gift shop and then we made our way back to Oudon.
The next week is ultra calm with just the two girls, one barely a teen and one is a tween so all they do is watch tv, listen to music and paint their nails. Monday I decide to walk into the town of Oudon (we live on the outskirts) its like a 45 minute walk but I google map it, so I figured I was good. Mami offered me a backpack, an umbrella and a bottle of water and then said she hoped I make it back for dinner, not like a suggestion on time but a suggestion of ability. I thought I would be like, walking along a road, no no, I legit took a trail through the woods and through someones back yard and finally came to a road that I walked on for a while until I eventually found the cutest little park with a lake in the middle. This is called the Plan D'Eau and it is on the outside of the town. I walk through it, and walk by the little swimming beach and then into the town, everything is closed. What the what? It's monday at like 2pm why is everything closed? This is when I remember Mami telling me that everything is closed Sunday afternoons and Monday all day. Lovely.
I sit on a bench on the side of the Hauvre which is a teeny little offshoot of the Loire River, and I just chill for a while, trying to figure out how on earth I'm going to walk back and tell Mami and Papi that I didn't do anything because I forgot that everything was closed. I get up and I walk the length of the Hauvre all the way until I get to a private farm and have to turn around and I walk all the way back. When I get back, I realize that the castle is open! So I march myself up to the castle of Oudon and I buy a ticket and I go inside.
This is where I have realized that I need to own a castle. Glamorous and not at all practical, I need one, end of story. So I hope to learn interesting things about the people who live here in this castle, but come to find out that it basically just is a museum about the Loire river (found out that over 300,000 people were drowned in it as public execution site. lovely little detail) I make it all the way to the top and I wander around, take some photos and then I get a little terrified when I realize how high up I actually am and so I go back down. I then find a sign that says "passage interdit" why is it that whenever someone posts a sign that says you can't go somewhere, you just want to go so much more badly. I have no idea what is at the bottom of that spiral staircase and it will haunt me forever.
Then I start walking away from the castle and I see people carrying baguettes. SOMETHING IS OPEN! At this point I am starving so I just walk in the direction that the people were leaving and by the grace of god I found a bakery that was open and I walk in, order a pain au chocolat avec des amandes (bread with chocolate and almonds, side note: my name basically means almond here) and I eat that on my way back to mami and papi's. I slept so well that night it was absolutely unreal, Papi calculated the distance I walked, about 9 km. BOOM.
The next day, papi asked me if I had anything to do and I said no, so he invited me to go with him, mami and the girls to the farm to pick fruit. We drive to a little "you pick" farm where they show me off to all of their little french countryside friends. Apparently it is ultra-chic to have an American Au Pair and all the french people like to stare at me like I'm a wild animal. Papi grabs a wheelbarrow and tells me that its called a brouette. He then asks me several times throughout the trip, "qu'est que c'est?" "what is this?" to see if I remember. I never did. He and mami then spend the next hour trying to teach me the names of different fruits and vegetables, some of which I didn't know what they were in English so when we finally got the french-english dictionary we were all surprised. Chards? What is that?
Papi's favorite word of the day was "zucchini" he must have said it a million times and then he would just giggle to himself. I guess zucchini is more fun to say than corgette. I picked red and white currants, mami picked green beans, papi picked strawberries and the girls picked raspberries. We then all piled in the car and I went back to bed because my brain hurt from all the new words that I was busy not remembering.
this is ultra long. I will finish the rest tomorrow.
ps. cheese is way better in the country than in Paris. Augusta tells me she thinks it is because the goats are closer in the countryside. this makes perfect sense to me.
So, I didn't end up asking Papi to take me to Oudon the next day like I said I was going to, because it was freezing cold and raining and I just felt like laying in my bed and watching the life aquatic with steve zissou. (which didn't work by the way so then I had to watch 500 days of summer. depression)
The next 2 days followed suit. Freezing cold outside, no heat inside and nothing but rain as far as the eye could see. I read an entire book; the Marriage Plot, it wasn't that good, but I still continued to read it because when it rains in the country, what else do you have to do?
That sunday, it was finally sunny and papi told me that we had to go take the boys to meet up with their other grandpa who was taking them for a week. Leaving mami, papi and i with H and her 13 year old cousin E who flew in the night before. I agreed to go on this adventure because what else was I doing besides sitting on the porch staring at the sun because I hadn't seen it in 4 days.
We get into his little car (when I say little I don't actually mean it. He drives a Mercedes, but don't worry- he made sure I knew that he once owned a Ford and talked at great length about the American auto-industry and he nodded approvingly when he found out I drive a Chevy) and we proceed to drive southwest and we get to a little parking lot of a big old stone building. We get out and the boys are running around and goofing off, I am literally just standing in the sunlight trying to warm myself like a reptile when A tells me he has to go pee and B tells me he has to go poo. I sigh and papi laughs. The boys still have an hour in the car ahead of them, so we search out a bathroom. Once we find a public bathroom, A has decided he no longer has to go pee, but B is still in need so he opens the stall door and what does he find, but a Turk. I am unaware of the fact until he comes out and says, I think I'll hold it. I ask why and he says, that's not a real toilet. I go examine for myself and just burst out laughing.
I finally tell him that he has a whole hour in the car ahead of him and he really probably should use the bathroom and he looks at me with a look of absolute horror and he just says, how do I use that thing? I then have to talk him through using the Turk, proper foot placement, correct shorts on the leg placement and everything. In the middle of doing his business he shouts, Amanda, how do you know so much about this toilet? And my response is, I have one of those at home, bro. (He thinks it's funny when I call him bro) he shouts from the stall "IN AMERICA?!" and I respond, no in Paris!
I explain how to flush, he flushes and comes out of the bathroom and looks at me and says, I don't believe you have one of those in Paris. and I can think of nothing else to say to him but... neither do I.
Anyway, their other Papi (papi de mon papa, as A has been calling him) shows up and the boys go and they give me bisous to last for a whole week (by this I mean they basically tackled me to the ground and kissed my forehead off) and then they get into the car and off they go. Papi then tells me that we are standing next to an abbey that was built in the time of Charlemagne and would I like to go inside and look around? Um, yes. thats freaking cool.
So we went inside, papi paid my whole 1.50 euro ticket price, what a gent, and it is soooo cool. There are parts of it that date back to Charlemagne and then you can see the other parts where other architectural design played a part in the building of it, roman influences, gothic structures and medieval elements too. It was super neat, I totally geeked out. I'm casually looking at stuff and papi is next to me talking my ear off and telling me things that I probably wouldn't understand in English about the history of France but he is speaking in French so I just go with it. I take some pictures, I pretend to read some signs, I just kinda explore around. All in all it was pretty neat. I bought some post cards from the gift shop and then we made our way back to Oudon.
The next week is ultra calm with just the two girls, one barely a teen and one is a tween so all they do is watch tv, listen to music and paint their nails. Monday I decide to walk into the town of Oudon (we live on the outskirts) its like a 45 minute walk but I google map it, so I figured I was good. Mami offered me a backpack, an umbrella and a bottle of water and then said she hoped I make it back for dinner, not like a suggestion on time but a suggestion of ability. I thought I would be like, walking along a road, no no, I legit took a trail through the woods and through someones back yard and finally came to a road that I walked on for a while until I eventually found the cutest little park with a lake in the middle. This is called the Plan D'Eau and it is on the outside of the town. I walk through it, and walk by the little swimming beach and then into the town, everything is closed. What the what? It's monday at like 2pm why is everything closed? This is when I remember Mami telling me that everything is closed Sunday afternoons and Monday all day. Lovely.
I sit on a bench on the side of the Hauvre which is a teeny little offshoot of the Loire River, and I just chill for a while, trying to figure out how on earth I'm going to walk back and tell Mami and Papi that I didn't do anything because I forgot that everything was closed. I get up and I walk the length of the Hauvre all the way until I get to a private farm and have to turn around and I walk all the way back. When I get back, I realize that the castle is open! So I march myself up to the castle of Oudon and I buy a ticket and I go inside.
This is where I have realized that I need to own a castle. Glamorous and not at all practical, I need one, end of story. So I hope to learn interesting things about the people who live here in this castle, but come to find out that it basically just is a museum about the Loire river (found out that over 300,000 people were drowned in it as public execution site. lovely little detail) I make it all the way to the top and I wander around, take some photos and then I get a little terrified when I realize how high up I actually am and so I go back down. I then find a sign that says "passage interdit" why is it that whenever someone posts a sign that says you can't go somewhere, you just want to go so much more badly. I have no idea what is at the bottom of that spiral staircase and it will haunt me forever.
Then I start walking away from the castle and I see people carrying baguettes. SOMETHING IS OPEN! At this point I am starving so I just walk in the direction that the people were leaving and by the grace of god I found a bakery that was open and I walk in, order a pain au chocolat avec des amandes (bread with chocolate and almonds, side note: my name basically means almond here) and I eat that on my way back to mami and papi's. I slept so well that night it was absolutely unreal, Papi calculated the distance I walked, about 9 km. BOOM.
The next day, papi asked me if I had anything to do and I said no, so he invited me to go with him, mami and the girls to the farm to pick fruit. We drive to a little "you pick" farm where they show me off to all of their little french countryside friends. Apparently it is ultra-chic to have an American Au Pair and all the french people like to stare at me like I'm a wild animal. Papi grabs a wheelbarrow and tells me that its called a brouette. He then asks me several times throughout the trip, "qu'est que c'est?" "what is this?" to see if I remember. I never did. He and mami then spend the next hour trying to teach me the names of different fruits and vegetables, some of which I didn't know what they were in English so when we finally got the french-english dictionary we were all surprised. Chards? What is that?
Papi's favorite word of the day was "zucchini" he must have said it a million times and then he would just giggle to himself. I guess zucchini is more fun to say than corgette. I picked red and white currants, mami picked green beans, papi picked strawberries and the girls picked raspberries. We then all piled in the car and I went back to bed because my brain hurt from all the new words that I was busy not remembering.
this is ultra long. I will finish the rest tomorrow.
ps. cheese is way better in the country than in Paris. Augusta tells me she thinks it is because the goats are closer in the countryside. this makes perfect sense to me.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The old country
So, it is summer vacation for the kids finally. The first week, H went to a dance camp in Barcelona, and while she was gone the boys left for their grandparents house in the country, leaving just the teenager and I.
H got back on Monday, did her laundry, repacked and then Tuesday I took the train with her to Oudon to meet up with the boys in the country. The teenager left yesterday for month in Texas, lucky her.
The French country side you say? That sounds lovely for a few days! I know, right?
We get off the train and are greeted by A and B and papi. Possibly one of the cutest little men I've ever seen. He is extremely French looking and just so sweet. He speaks a little English and has the cutest worn little French-English dictionary that he has only used to find the different names of fruits and vegetables to me.
We walk to the car and he takes my suitcase from me to put it in the trunk and I am immediately embarrassed by how heavy it is, you'd think I was leaving France forever by how much I packed. We get the kids in the car and he starts talking my ear off in French and I try so hard to listen and comprehend, he sees this and asks if I understand and I say I understand a lot but sometimes have trouble. He says this is normal but that my French will return and they will help. Phew.
We get to the house and I meet mami. An equally adorable little French woman who ushers me inside and starts to give me a tour. I take off my shoes and start to walk in, she asks if I have any 'chaussons' or slippers, pointing to the children who are all wearing them. I tell her no I didn't brig any I'm fine thank you, but she just shakes her head and wanders into the hallway saying 'non non non' she brings me a pair and smiles really big. So I mean, what do I do but put them on?
I have come to learn that it is absolutely freezing in this house, thank god mami gave them to me, because of all the things I managed to shove into my bag, socks were not one of them, and even if they were, they wouldn't be enough. I have also learned that slippers are a requirement in this house. If the kids walk into a room without them, even with socks on, they are reminded to go find them and put them on, which i can't say I understand completely. But whatever.
I get a quick little tour of the house, find out there is wifi everywhere, I have my own room in the basement with my own bathroom (HELLO REAL TOILET) and they really don't need me until 6:30 at night to get the kids all showered, and then eat dinner with everyone then brush teeth and to bed, I'm free to come and go as I please during the day. Which would be awesome except they are a car ride away from the nearest town. So I figure, get paid to hang out at a cute relaxing house in the country, read a bunch, play with the kids, save a ton of money by not really doing much and then go back to Paris happy as a clam.
Mami and papi have other plans. They keep telling me how easy it is to take a train to Nantes or angers and how there are a million things to do there. I looked up trains, not too bad actually, I may take a train to Nantes for a day and to angers the next but like I said I'm not made of money here.
So I wake up my first day and I go upstairs to see the kids, mami saved some things for me to eat for breakfast so I have some bread and homemade strawberry jelly that was delicious. I then grab a book that one of the girls left before she left Paris and start it.
I play with the kids a bit, then Mami asks if I want to go run errands with her, so I say yes. We drive into this tiiiiiny little village with a giant castle in the middle, all the while she's pointing out things I should see and do, which is like 'here is our pharmacy' 'that's a library' 'that's our big castle!' it was cute.
We go to the butchers and she walks in, orders what she wants, the butcher wraps it all up and she says something to him really fast, he presses a button on the cash register and her name pops up, then we leave without paying him. I look at her curiously and he proceeds to tell me that she is coming back later that night to buy something else so he is letting her pay for everything then. Which amazes me, but works easily for them I guess. We then go to the baker and get some bread where she asks for a baguette 'bien cuir' well cooked, or a little burnt so at crispier.
Then we go home and the rest of the night proceeds as normal. Today I woke up and went upstairs and papi said he would take me to the tourism office in Oudon. Wait, this rinkydink little town has its own tourism office? And you're taking me to it because....oh, I must look bored. How do I explain to these sweet grandparents that I like to read, and i don't really want to spend too much money, and I'm sure their town is lovely, but it's 60 degrees, rainy and I forgot a coat so I don't really want to explore it? The answer is, I can't. So I go with papi.
He pulls every single tourism pamphlet he can find with a little British flag in the corner, even though I insisted that I can, in fact, read French, and then he grabbed about 13 more in just French.
We then got back in the car and he drove me around, stopping at points to get out and look at things. I took a few pictures. It's mostly grey.
After perusing some of the pamphlets, I believe that tomorrow I am going to ask papi to drive me into Oudon after lunch, visit the castle (self guided tour will take about an hour and 15 minutes) stop in at a small art gallery that may or may not be open, go to the library, maybe stop at a bakery and try to kill about 4.5 hours just wandering around until papi hopefully can come pick me up.
Updates to follow.
H got back on Monday, did her laundry, repacked and then Tuesday I took the train with her to Oudon to meet up with the boys in the country. The teenager left yesterday for month in Texas, lucky her.
The French country side you say? That sounds lovely for a few days! I know, right?
We get off the train and are greeted by A and B and papi. Possibly one of the cutest little men I've ever seen. He is extremely French looking and just so sweet. He speaks a little English and has the cutest worn little French-English dictionary that he has only used to find the different names of fruits and vegetables to me.
We walk to the car and he takes my suitcase from me to put it in the trunk and I am immediately embarrassed by how heavy it is, you'd think I was leaving France forever by how much I packed. We get the kids in the car and he starts talking my ear off in French and I try so hard to listen and comprehend, he sees this and asks if I understand and I say I understand a lot but sometimes have trouble. He says this is normal but that my French will return and they will help. Phew.
We get to the house and I meet mami. An equally adorable little French woman who ushers me inside and starts to give me a tour. I take off my shoes and start to walk in, she asks if I have any 'chaussons' or slippers, pointing to the children who are all wearing them. I tell her no I didn't brig any I'm fine thank you, but she just shakes her head and wanders into the hallway saying 'non non non' she brings me a pair and smiles really big. So I mean, what do I do but put them on?
I have come to learn that it is absolutely freezing in this house, thank god mami gave them to me, because of all the things I managed to shove into my bag, socks were not one of them, and even if they were, they wouldn't be enough. I have also learned that slippers are a requirement in this house. If the kids walk into a room without them, even with socks on, they are reminded to go find them and put them on, which i can't say I understand completely. But whatever.
I get a quick little tour of the house, find out there is wifi everywhere, I have my own room in the basement with my own bathroom (HELLO REAL TOILET) and they really don't need me until 6:30 at night to get the kids all showered, and then eat dinner with everyone then brush teeth and to bed, I'm free to come and go as I please during the day. Which would be awesome except they are a car ride away from the nearest town. So I figure, get paid to hang out at a cute relaxing house in the country, read a bunch, play with the kids, save a ton of money by not really doing much and then go back to Paris happy as a clam.
Mami and papi have other plans. They keep telling me how easy it is to take a train to Nantes or angers and how there are a million things to do there. I looked up trains, not too bad actually, I may take a train to Nantes for a day and to angers the next but like I said I'm not made of money here.
So I wake up my first day and I go upstairs to see the kids, mami saved some things for me to eat for breakfast so I have some bread and homemade strawberry jelly that was delicious. I then grab a book that one of the girls left before she left Paris and start it.
I play with the kids a bit, then Mami asks if I want to go run errands with her, so I say yes. We drive into this tiiiiiny little village with a giant castle in the middle, all the while she's pointing out things I should see and do, which is like 'here is our pharmacy' 'that's a library' 'that's our big castle!' it was cute.
We go to the butchers and she walks in, orders what she wants, the butcher wraps it all up and she says something to him really fast, he presses a button on the cash register and her name pops up, then we leave without paying him. I look at her curiously and he proceeds to tell me that she is coming back later that night to buy something else so he is letting her pay for everything then. Which amazes me, but works easily for them I guess. We then go to the baker and get some bread where she asks for a baguette 'bien cuir' well cooked, or a little burnt so at crispier.
Then we go home and the rest of the night proceeds as normal. Today I woke up and went upstairs and papi said he would take me to the tourism office in Oudon. Wait, this rinkydink little town has its own tourism office? And you're taking me to it because....oh, I must look bored. How do I explain to these sweet grandparents that I like to read, and i don't really want to spend too much money, and I'm sure their town is lovely, but it's 60 degrees, rainy and I forgot a coat so I don't really want to explore it? The answer is, I can't. So I go with papi.
He pulls every single tourism pamphlet he can find with a little British flag in the corner, even though I insisted that I can, in fact, read French, and then he grabbed about 13 more in just French.
We then got back in the car and he drove me around, stopping at points to get out and look at things. I took a few pictures. It's mostly grey.
After perusing some of the pamphlets, I believe that tomorrow I am going to ask papi to drive me into Oudon after lunch, visit the castle (self guided tour will take about an hour and 15 minutes) stop in at a small art gallery that may or may not be open, go to the library, maybe stop at a bakery and try to kill about 4.5 hours just wandering around until papi hopefully can come pick me up.
Updates to follow.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Fête de la musique
I am so behind on things I want to blog about, ah!! In no particular order I'm going to list them off so I don't forget:
Climbing the Eiffel tower
4th of July with the kiddos
Summer plans with the family
Cafe oz
Dating/relationships in Paris (don't worry, no experience in this regard, just funny things I've noticed)
French fashion
French culture
But before I get to all of those things I have to first talk about the fetes de la musique.
This is one magical day in Paris that is just full of music. Each year on the summer solstice, all of France is overtaken by music. There are huge concerts everywhere, but what's more is that every corner you turn has a band playing music. To really explain what this night was like, I have to tell you about my night.
I met Siobhan and Natalie out at odeon at about 9pm and it was still super light out. We split some little aperitifs like vine tomatoes, cheese things and had a bottle of wine while we were sitting on the street listening to a cover band play in front of a little pharmacy. The streets were so crowded that cars just reversed down the street because there was no way they could pass through. From there we decided to stop in at wos, so we walked the 10-15 minute walk through the immensely crowded streets, stopping to listen to each band we found (think one per block) for a while we got intensely distracted by a beatles cover band that had taken over the sidewalk in front of a bank. Eventually we make it to wos, say hello to our friends and decide to keep moving.
As we walk down the street we meet the guy who owns the bakery next to wos and he proceeds to introduce us to the guy who owns the restaurant on the corner next to wos, the restaurant owner invites us to come to his restaurant for a little bit and gives us a table on the sidewalk. We sit down and then to the right we see a small crowd so we go to see who/what is playing. Two brothers one 11 and one 13 are hooked up with their electric guitars and are singing French pop songs while the crowd is pretty much made up of their families and then us. We become completely obsessed with these two boys and how adorable they are so we stay and dance for everrrr. We end up being obnoxious and cheering at the end before Siobhan gives a casual 'play sweet home alabama' shout to them and we go back to the restaurant. 5 minutes pass and we hear the unmistakable first two measures of sweet home Alabama
We sprint out of our chairs and go dance like idiots. They finish and start to pack up and finally we decide we have to talk to these kids. Their band name was 'les cacktus' the cactus (no idea the English plural for cactus but I think I'm on the right track)
They pack up and then the baker offers us free food from his bakery so he brings us 6 of his best pastries an we sit at this restaurant, eat these delicious pastries and listen to music for the rest of the night.
It was absolutely fantastic, i can't even begin to describe how cool it was to see musicians everywhere from famous bands in the opera to bands just getting started and selling their CDs I two brothers playing on a side street for their parents and a bunch of rowdy Americans.
Climbing the Eiffel tower
4th of July with the kiddos
Summer plans with the family
Cafe oz
Dating/relationships in Paris (don't worry, no experience in this regard, just funny things I've noticed)
French fashion
French culture
But before I get to all of those things I have to first talk about the fetes de la musique.
This is one magical day in Paris that is just full of music. Each year on the summer solstice, all of France is overtaken by music. There are huge concerts everywhere, but what's more is that every corner you turn has a band playing music. To really explain what this night was like, I have to tell you about my night.
I met Siobhan and Natalie out at odeon at about 9pm and it was still super light out. We split some little aperitifs like vine tomatoes, cheese things and had a bottle of wine while we were sitting on the street listening to a cover band play in front of a little pharmacy. The streets were so crowded that cars just reversed down the street because there was no way they could pass through. From there we decided to stop in at wos, so we walked the 10-15 minute walk through the immensely crowded streets, stopping to listen to each band we found (think one per block) for a while we got intensely distracted by a beatles cover band that had taken over the sidewalk in front of a bank. Eventually we make it to wos, say hello to our friends and decide to keep moving.
As we walk down the street we meet the guy who owns the bakery next to wos and he proceeds to introduce us to the guy who owns the restaurant on the corner next to wos, the restaurant owner invites us to come to his restaurant for a little bit and gives us a table on the sidewalk. We sit down and then to the right we see a small crowd so we go to see who/what is playing. Two brothers one 11 and one 13 are hooked up with their electric guitars and are singing French pop songs while the crowd is pretty much made up of their families and then us. We become completely obsessed with these two boys and how adorable they are so we stay and dance for everrrr. We end up being obnoxious and cheering at the end before Siobhan gives a casual 'play sweet home alabama' shout to them and we go back to the restaurant. 5 minutes pass and we hear the unmistakable first two measures of sweet home Alabama
We sprint out of our chairs and go dance like idiots. They finish and start to pack up and finally we decide we have to talk to these kids. Their band name was 'les cacktus' the cactus (no idea the English plural for cactus but I think I'm on the right track)
They pack up and then the baker offers us free food from his bakery so he brings us 6 of his best pastries an we sit at this restaurant, eat these delicious pastries and listen to music for the rest of the night.
It was absolutely fantastic, i can't even begin to describe how cool it was to see musicians everywhere from famous bands in the opera to bands just getting started and selling their CDs I two brothers playing on a side street for their parents and a bunch of rowdy Americans.
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