Blogs from Pau, Aquitaine, France, Europe - page 2

So “le meteo”, or the weather, gets center stage for this update. I know I’ve mentioned several times before that, in the words of Shakespeare, the skies above Pau often ressemble “a foul bombard that would shed his liquor” (Tempest). This has led the assistants to coin the phrase that it’s “Pauing” instead of pouring. However, this past week has been like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life. The rain did not let up for a single day after Easter. It rained in sheets all through Alla’s visit, right up until Saturday. Then, we had one day of absolutely perfect, sunny, 75 degree weather before being plunged back down into the black pit of despair on Sunday. Monday, however, took the cake. I walked to work at Jeanne d’albret in the pouring rain, arriving “archi-trempe”, ... read more

Well, I’m almost over my bronchitis and back to teaching at full strength instead of just standing at the front of the room and hacking up a lung. The weather here in Pau has been absolutely gorgeous for the past week (I’m almost afraid to type that…I don’t want to jinx anything!), which has probably helped with my “guerrison”, or healing process. Monday and Tuesday left me feeling pretty wiped out, since it was the first time I’d been on my feet in about a week, but by Wednesday I was starting to feel like my old self again. On Monday, I played “Simon Says” with my 4eme Euros to help them work on the imperative. In France, they call it “Jacques a dit” or “Jack Said”. After classes on Tuesday, I went and got a ... read more

Any Disney fans catch the Hunchback of Notre Dame reference? This weekend, Carnival came to town, working its way up to a fever pitch that will terminate on Tuesday….Mardi Gras. In Pau, it’s the Carnaval Biarnes (Bernaise). Festivities include releasing a flood of pigs through the main drags of the town and crepe parties in Place Clemenceau. Christine and I were at “les Halles”, the market, when a whole Basque band marched through with drums, bagpipes made from sheep bladders, and trumpets. To say the least, it’s an unpredictable event. We also had a little celebrity sighting on our outing. Francois Bayrou, ex-presidential candiate, and current candidate for mayor of Pau, was just strolling along down the street next to us. I guess he didn't want to miss the carnival either. The idea of Carnival is ... read more

(Or the story of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte) Once there was a little boy born in Pau to parents of humble origins. They rented the second floor of a house near the Chateau for 9 years. Jean-Baptiste, as he was named, joined the Royal Marine in 1780 when his father died and left him broke. During the French Revolution, he became general of a brigade and in 1797 the Directory put him in charge of the Italian campaign, under the direction of one Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1798 he becomes the ambassador to Vienna, then comes back to Paris where he ends up marrying Desiree Clary, Napoleon’s ex-fiancée. Thanks to cronyism in Napoleon’s empire, Jean-Baptiste becomes Prince de Ponte-Corvo in 1806. He’s lenient with some Swedish prisoners at Lubeck, and so in 1810 the decide they like him enough ... read more

So I’m a little behind in my blogging (what else is new?). I didn’t really post anything while I was home in the states because A) I didn’t have time and B) Since most of the people reading this saw me over the holidays anyway, I figure they know what I was doing. However, for the 3 or so non-family members who do occasionally read this, I’ll do a quick recap. One of the most exciting things for me about being home was getting to have a kitchen all to myself again that I could destroy as I liked. I spent lots of time baking and cooking, and I even made a chocolate and candied chestnut “buche de noel”, or yule log cake, for the cousins when they were there. Matthew asked me if I could ... read more