Paques it Up

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Paques it up

So this was the weekend of Paques (pronounced “pack”), or Easter, as we know it. The Canterots were kind enough to let me butt in on their celebration, and I got to enjoy a long weekend, since there was no school on Monday. Sadly, the weather here has been miserable lately, which just goes to prove the truth of the Palois proverb “Noel au balcon, Paques au tisane” or “Christmas on the balcony, Paques by the fire”. The week before, however, it was sunny and 75 degrees, as you can see from the lovely pictures I took in the Parc Beaumont. There really is no logic to it.

But anyways, back to Easter weekend. On Thursday evening, I baked black bottom cupcakes for the Canterots. They really liked them, although Sabine didn’t believe me when I told her they had cheese in them. Friday, the weather was so lousy that everyone pretty much stayed inside. I used the opportunity to finish reading a really good book that Charlene had lent me. On Saturday, I went to LeClerc, which is a nearby shopping center, to buy some greeting cards. Then, I got caught by the massive torrents of rain falling from the sky and decided to wait it out with a coffee and a book. As I was sitting there reading, I heard a cheery “Bonjour” and looked up to see 4 of my students from Jeanne d’Albret. They told me they were going to a movie at the cinema next door, and invited me to go with them. Since I had nothing better to do while I waited for the rain to stop, I took them up on the offer. We saw “Jumper” dubbed in French, which was pretty dumb, but it was still very kind of them to include me. I went back to the house after the film and then, because apparently I don’t watch ENOUGH movies, Charlene, my fellow cinemaphile, suggested that we go rent “Walk the Line” since I’d told her it was good. We watched it later that night after dinner, although Laurence said she didn’t understand who this Johnny Cash guy was and why he was important enough to have his own movie.
For dinner that night, Christine made a Fondue Savoyard, or a cheese fondue with massive amounts of wine and port in it.

Sunday morning meant we had to get up early to see if the bells had come during the night. In France, it’s not the bunny that brings chocolate, but the church bells. They fly out of the tower (creepy, if you ask me) and dump chocolates in the garden for all the boys and girls. This means we had to go out in the 40 degree weather to hunt the chocolates, but it was worth the trouble. The French don’t fool around when it comes to Easter candy. After breakfast, I went to mass with Christine and Laurence and Elsa, where it started to snow as soon as we exited the church. Snow, in April, in the South of France. Then we came back and prepared for the arrival of Alla, the 12-year-old Russian ballerina who’s staying with us this week. Last year, Laurence went to St. Petersburg as part of a dance exchange, so now the Russian dance school has come to Pau. Alla arrived late last night and while she’s only 12, she’s taller than everyone except Patrick. She’s very sweet, but she speaks no French and only a little English, so we’re all learning new communication skills. Everyone laughed at me at dinner when I tried to explain to her what foie gras was by going “quack quack”, but as a teacher, I’ve learned that a few sounds and gestures can go a long way to getting a message through when you can’t translate. Alla seems to have taken quite a shine to me, I think because I can tell when she doesn’t understand something. I’m used to encountering that same look of fear mixed with incomprehension in my students’ eyes on a nearly daily basis, so I rephrase and gesture and try again until she catches on. She told me she thinks I speak Russian, from the few words I’ve been able to parrot back to her.

On Monday Alla, Christine, Patrick, Elsa, Laurence and I went into the mountains and encountered…gasp, more snow! These were no fluffy little flurries, either! We’re talking multiple inches of the white stuff, here. Patrick even had to move the car because a woman coming out of her house told us that the snow could avalanche off of the roofs and wreck it. It was the first time in many years that I’ve seen that much snow falling (moving to South Carolina kind of put the kibosh on that), and it was really enjoyable, even when Elsa hit me in the butt with a snowball (don’t worry, I paid her back). We’d brought Ruska with us, and she of course had a blast. Once the cold started to numb our insides into Pyrenees Popsicles, we got back in the car and headed to a restaurant. Since there was no English menu, poor Alla was at our mercy in terms of nourishment. She understood that her main course that Christine ordered for her was lamb, but I don’t think she knew that the salad served before it had gizzards on it. I knew, and I tried them anyway, because I’m just that worldly and adventuresome. Honestly, they’re quite tasty. Then again, that’s coming from a girl who will happily eat snails. I also had a wonderful omelet with cepes, which are like regular mushrooms except about a million times better. WHY can we not get them in the states?! Oh, the injustice. If anyone feels like starting a petition to have cepes and kinder Bueno bars imported to the US, let me know. On the way back from the mountains, we stopped yet again at Lourdes so that Alla could see the cave and the cathedral. When we got back, Elsa noticed there were far fewer chocolate eggs in the basket than when we’d left. Turns out Bastian had been by to visit. I think she might challenge him to a fight to the death next time she sees him.

In other Palois news, Francois Bayrou lost the municipal elections by one percentage point to the Socialist candidate, Martine Lignieres-Cassou. This means his political career is essentially washed up, which suits Sarkozy just fine. The poor guy goes from a serious contender for the presidency of France to not being able to win Mayor of Pau. It’s a shame, too, because Patrick and I went to hear him speak the week before the elections and he was very well spoken, sincere, and convincing….three qualities that Martine Lignières-Cassou lacks in spades. It made me wish my “be French” card would allow me to actually vote in France. He made some very convincing points, saying that issues like the state of the schools or construction of a new auto route were not “right/left” issues, but things that concerned the everyday life of ALL of Pau’s citizens, and that therefore everyone should have a political voice. To that end, he was compiling his political team from both the right and the left. He also made the very shrewd move of aligning himself with Henri IV, saying they were both unifiers that wanted to end conflict between extremes. Anyways, I feel bad for the guy.

This past week was also the “Printemps du Cinema”, which meant that across France all movie screenings were only 3.50. As if I even need that kind of excuse to go see a film. So, on Monday Sabine, Bastian, Agathe, and I went to see Paris, which stars Romain Duris from “L’auberge Espagnole” and “De Battre mon Coeur s’est arête” (aka yummy French eye candy) and Juliette Binoche (who is apparently in every single French movie coming out this year). I enjoyed the film, but it was a tad long. On Tuesday, Helen and I went and saw “Into the Wild” at the Melies, which was definitely the best film I’ve seen in quite awhile. It’s right up there with “Brick” and “Bamboozled” on my list of all time hits, and those of you who know me know what high praise that is.

Lest you think that all I do is watch movies (which really isn’t that far from the truth), I’ve also been fulfilling my regular teaching obligations this week. Classes have been going well, and this past week included a lesson on Madonna’s induction into the rock and roll hall of fame (which necessitated me teaching my kids the words “wannabe” and “control freak”), and a lesson on the differences between American and British English. Virginie, who is going to the US at the end of this month, was surprised at all the vocabulary differences and worried that no one would understand her. For this coming week, I’m tackling Shakespeare at Laurence Chapelle’s request. I’m sticking with the comedies and turning it into a two-week lesson, but I’m still rather nervous about how it’ll turn out. If anyone has suggestions for scene excerpts that might be manageable, I’d love to hear them! I’m also translating some Jazz lyrics for Karine’s husband for his band. He’s a huge fan of American blues and jazz, and he asked me if I’d be able to help him with some Bill Perry lyrics he wanted to understand. His dream is to go to the US and drive route along route 66.

So those are my rather schizophrenic Aquitaine Announcements for this week. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter wherever you are, and that the bells were good to you this year.

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Photos

Parc Beaumont
Days before the weather got all nasty for keeps

Pyrenees
This is why I am a lucky, lucky girl

Elsa
Taking a picture of me taking a picture of her

Comments

[Grandma Susie]

Easter
Your Father is coming to visit us in Florida on Sat. We are going to have our Easter dinner on Sunday 3/30/08. We went to Sunrise Service on Lake Jackon at 7 AM on Easter Sunday. It was cloudy and sprinkles but warm. 67 Degrees. France is sure different from the US. NO EASTER BUNNIES. Grandma Susie

[gima]

so i just looked up what black bottom cupcakes are. my god woman. don't tease me like that.