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Published: October 19th 2006
Granted, I shouldn't be writing this. I should be either a) studying for my grammar midterm that's going to kick my butt, b) studying for my sociology midterm that's
really gonna kick my butt, or c) studying for my art history midterm of which i have no idea what to actually study. But really, since my family here just got WiFi, I now have constant internet access. Thus, lots of useless distractions.
So it's going to be another week-long recap because I don't know how to sit down each week and get this all down. Nor, at this point, do I remember most things, so you all can thank your lucky stars for that.
Two weeks ago, the five of us journeyed to Toulouse (and, no, Mom, I checked, it has nothing to do with
Toulouse-Lautrec, but it is the birthplace of
Antoine Saint-Exupéry, the author of
The Little Prince.)
There's definitely something to be said for spontaneity, as in, getting to the train station at 10pm with massive backpacks and wondering aloud, "So guys, where's the hotel?" and then realizing the hotel is
not within walking distance. So we hopped on the tramline (thank God for similar French
Mmmm, dinner.
So we got to the hotel after midnight, when everything's definitely closed. Thus, vending machine it was.city plans, Toulouse is pretty much a larger replica of Nantes). The trams in Toulouse are a bit interesting, since they don't really have drivers. It's similar to the Monorail at DisneyWorld, except for the fact that they go at about 40-50 mph. In dark tunnels. So after that roller coaster, we discovered we were in for another ride. Following the map, we find that our road is cut off by a soccer field. Or maybe it was a rugby pitch. Either way, the French police still pulled up next to us. Make that 2 cars with four officers each. Through broken English and a few frantic map-jabbings (by the police, not us), we are kindly informed that we are in "
Bagdad ! Beyrouth !" or, in English,
"Baghdad! Beirut!" Either way, it'd be a wise idea to leave and "
no speak to men with hats. Fine by us. So, we were off, we found the hotel, by the way, Formula 1's are not hotels, they are glorified hostels that resemble Happy Meal boxes. At least the doors locked. The next day was the standard, "let's tour the town and take a gazillion pictures," and that we did. That night,
Best. Gallery. Ever.
I really think the Art Institute needs to start displaying paintings like this. The red is actually done on purpose to complement the works. (Musée des Beaux-Arts Toulouse) we dined at quite the swanky restaurant where I was served
merluchon, which translates roughly to
silvery fish presented in circular position with tail in mouth.
Toulouse, by day, is known as the
Ville rose due to the way the sun hits the terra cotta bricks. By night, I have no idea what it would be called, but all the important buildings, yes, like those of museums and courthouses, are illuminated in different colors, thus = absolutely gorgeous. Plus, the river was lit in violet. Violets are a big thing in Toulouse, to the point they sell candied violets, which are petals coated in purple sugar.
The next day, we headed out for Bordeaux since we were stuck there for a few hours before our Nantes train headed out. I'm not going to lie, we were all quite excited to find some famed vineyard, they had to be everywhere. Ha. Bordeaux is urban. One needs a car to find said vineyards. That was a bust. But we did discover that even beauty queens take the tram.
- This would be where I tell you about all the exciting things that happen in my classes.
That
Said Beauty Queens.
I think their sashes read something along the lines of Mme Bordeaux. would be the end of that section. So yet again, we travelled (with IES)this past weekend to see the châteaux. In order, (Saturday) Montgeoffrey,
Azay-le-Rideau,
Villandry (best gardens), / (Sunday)
Amboise (resting place of Leonardo da Vinci), and
Chenonceau (quite massive, has a really depressing room painted in black due to queen's grief of assassinated husband but the labrinth outside makes up for it). Truthfully, I don't know if I was too excited to see the châteaux, I think they're a bit frivolous and, as with most tourist traps, the best parts are sealed off. But, as I quickly found out, a weekend with the IES students turns from sleepy to Is-Nick-going-to-cartwheel-into-the-pond-at-Villandry and other exhilarating affairs.
Things are starting to settle down a bit here (yeah, after 5 weeks). I know my way around the city fairly well, and to this day I have not stepped in dog crap. If you saw the streets, you'd applaud me too. I love that the French love their dogs, and the French love that the French love their dogs, but the French also hate that the French love their dogs. There's really no ordinances about cleaning up. That's what the massive pressure-washing
La Petite Boulangerie de Saint-Félix
One of our IES excursions included a visit to a famous bakery just steps from my house. We baked baguettes, the finished product seen here. trucks are for.
Some other random observations : there's a lot of pregnant women around here. And way too many little kids. It's amusing to be on the tram when I'm headed towards the Fac (the main university), because a few of the stops are near grammar and middle schools. Thus, at lunchtime, the trams are packed, but I can still see over everyone's heads. Which come to my elbows.
French fashion is, hmmm, interesting. It's definitely not what I expected. I've yet to see Paris, where I'm sure all our stereotypes will be fulfilled. Not everyone's umbrella is black. Just 75%. And as for the girls, their style of dress could be described as hippie-grunge-layered-chic, minus the chic. I have to say the guys are slightly more matching. And everyone wears scarves/pashminas/whatever. I mean everyone and at anytime. It was 70 out, people are in short sleeves, yet they've still got a scarf wrapped around their neck. Hot fashions right now are (for guys) striped sweaters and (for girls) necklaces with huge circle pendants and Peter-Pan/pirate-style boots, complete with full lace-ups and folded-over cuffs. Just in case any of you wanted to get a head start.
Food's awesome, thankfully haven't gotten addicted to Nutella, that could be a problem. Kebab stands are everywhere, they can be likened to a lighter version of a gyro. The only thing I can't get over is that they put ketchup on pasta. Yeaaaaaaaah. Wine is merely pennies, sangria's 1,50 euro, and it is possible to sell wine in juice boxes. If only in the States, if only . . .
For as much as the French don't seem to like Americans, they couldn't survive without us. Half the movies at the theater are American (if the title is translated, it's dubbed, if it's still in English, it's sub-titled), and they've got almost every popular American series over here : Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives, CSI (here,
Les Experts), Monk, Walker Texas Ranger (
popular at what particular time period needs some definition). And don't get me started on "MacDo." There is a line out the door of that place every day. Yes, it's McDonalds. One exists on every other highway exit.
Other than that, everything is spectacular. We're all eager to see France at Christmastime, since it seems leaves don't really turn so much here as they just drop crunchy-brown instead.
King François I's Salamander
So, salamanders were quite popular at one point in time. And as some students have found out, crunchy-brown things on the ground aren't always leaves. See 3 paragraphs up.
Halloween's coming up, no one really celebrates it here, it's still hotly debated as demonic or not, but thankfully, we're having a little soirée at IES. My friends and I have already decided that we're going to win for best group costume - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They all nominated me as Raphael, and I just can't imagine why. At least I'm not Master Splinter . . .
I've got quite a bit more travelling to do, we've booked our train tickets to Rome and Paris for break, and a few weekends after that, it's off to Paris again, and for Thanksgiving, Dublin. So excited to see Melissa & Andrea !!! Still trying to squeeze Spain and Sweden in. I wouldn't mind a quick trip to Belgium to see Magritte's paintings, but I'm not holding my breath.
By the way, if anyone has the desire, I am very accepting of snail mail delivered at the following address:
IES Nantes
c/o Amy Anderson
7, rue de Cadeniers
44000 Nantes FRANCE
and to those of you whom
Azay-le-Rideau
As Alli put it, this is how the queens had fun back in the day. I promised postcards, yes, I swear I'll write them eventually.
Hope everyone's well at home/Chicago/Illinois in general/West Point/Vermont/Rome/Nantes/anyplace I forgot
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Ms. P.
non-member comment
Wonderful!
Amy, Just caught up with yall our travel logs and I am so happy for you! What an adventure! Enjoy every minute of your time in Europe and keep us up to date! Try for Belgium. It is a LovelY country and ohhh, so close. Wherever you are, take pictures and have a blast! Ms. p.