a trip to Paris, my love of impressionists

Before jumping into my weekend in Paris, I suppose I should briefly say that everything in Dijon has been going very well. The only downside for this week was that I was once again alone due to the sickness of my host father's mother. It isn't the fact that I didn't get a meal last week (though I do get two this week to make up for it) but that I like being around them and being forced to speak French and to get my ideas across with those whose native tongue is French.

Amy on Friday. Dijon has been gorgeous this past week, so nice in fact
that we were able to have picnics outside and that the fountains are
now running all the time.

My somewhat solitude this past week actually played a part in my trip this weekend as I was accidentally dead-locked into the apartment. My host mother had thought that I was leaving Friday morning and had told someone in the apartment to check the door and dead-bolt it if I hadn't. The person did just so but while I was still in the room. This lead to a bit of hysteria as all packed up I went to open the door and found that it would not open. I won't lie, but my first reaction was definitely to look to the window! Frantically I called Nick, who lives in the apartment above, but he wasn't in the building and didn't have a key. He suggested I call my family and I did seeing as how it qualified as an emergency. Thankfully Madame explained to me that the dead-bolts went both ways and that there was a keyhole from the inside. I'd actually seen this during my hysterics but had put the key in the wrong way. Seeing as how I was able to go to Paris this weekend, I think you can guess that I managed to get out.

I reached the train station with plenty of time to spare but then discovered that my train was delayed by 50 minutes. This was quite annoying but I took out my book and read on a bench to pass the time and thankfully 50 minutes later the train did come. I took the TGV which is the faster of the two trains that go to Paris and after leaving at 19h45ish (7:45PM) I arrived in Paris at around 22h (10PM). Becky was there waiting for me and took me to her home in Montrouge where I met her husband, two kids and also had dinner.

I felt very lucky this whole weekend not to have to worry about a hostel and I want to say that I am very thankful for the hospitality of someone I don't think I've ever really met before.

As for visiting Paris goes, I wasn't supposed to be alone but ended up being so. The others came to Paris Saturday morning but due to getting to the hostel and difficulties using the metro I didn't end up meeting them till about 16h (4PM). This was mostly disappointing because every hour our so I called or texted to try to fix a spot and time to meet but either they were very late (and I don't mean to place any blame) or were across the city from me. Had I known this earlier I think I could have seen a lot more than I did, but I didn't, so I ended up spending a good amount of time at Notre Dame, in the Jardins des Tuileries and at la Tour Eiffel waiting. Unlike at the train station, I did not have a book to read.

I will say that at Notre Dame I discovered the archeological crypts which are not quite under the cathedral but  are directly under the square before it. In the crypts are several scale models of Paris which begin with its inception in the Gallo-Roman times when it was known as Lutèce and up until the modern times. This was pretty cool mostly because it's remarkable how much Paris has changed over time. Not only had it grown in size but in the 19th century much of it was leveled and then rebuilt under the guidance of Baron Haussman so that the winding streets of pre-Revolution France became the wide avenues that are more famous today. Apart from the models the crypts also showed some of the old foundations of Paris that were very cool to see.

Due to the fact that I didn't want to do things without the others I didn't go into the Louvre on Saturday (although I later realized I could have spent several hours there) and I didn't go up la Tour Eiffel  (even though I could have probably done this as well). Naturally by the time I did meet up with everyone it started downpouring.

After an hour in a café and then another hour at la Tour Eiffel (again) I ended up having to back to Montrouge for dinner. I didn't have any difficulties figuring out what lines to take to get back to Montrouge but I did have some difficulties finding out where the buses would stop. In the end I did, but for a while there things were a little shaky. 

Becky's husband Yves very graciously made lapin à la moutarde for dinner. I've never had rabbit before but I really did enjoy it and if the opportunity ever presented itself I would have it again. I will say that there were quite a lot of mushrooms with the meal and I somehow managed to eat everyone one of them. I didn't like them but I was trying to be polite and seeing as how I ate them as fast and as soon as possible it didn't really effect my dining experience.

The next day we had many more definite plans and met up at the Louvre at 9h30. Despite the fact that the woman selling tickets did not want to give us free admittance for being students, with our ID cards to a French institution she was forced to do so. Le Louvre itself is a massive museum and it's quite common knowledge that it would literally take days to see every single exhibit. In addition to being huge it is also quite confusing to get around barring the pieces everyone wants to see: La Joconde (The Mona Lisa), Winged Victory and the Venus de Milo. I had been to le Louvre once before four years ago and had already seen these three pieces but several of the others hadn't so we were obliged to see it. I personally find La Joconde interesting but not enough to warrant the swarm of tourists constantly around it.

One really incredible thing about Le Louvre is that it has so many pieces of art that are truly ancient. We were all amazed when we would sometimes stop to look at busts or statues and realize that they date to the year 22 or before. I noted in my post about the Chateaux de la Loire that we really don't make anything to last these days, and being inside le Louvre drove this point home further.

Becky had told me that the Rosetta Stone was in the Mesopotamian portion of Le Louvre (it was for one month in 1972 in Le Louvre but for over 200 years has resided in the British Museum) and I really wanted to see it but had significant difficulties getting to this portion of the museum. In the process of getting there I did walk through a wing dedicated to Egyptian antiquities and though I didn't see the Rosetta Stone I did see very many stones with hieroglyphics on them. For this portion of the museum I was also alone because the others wanted to see items that weren't on my priority list.

Egyptian Artifacts from the Louvre

We left the museum at around noon though I could have spent far more time inside (and will!). The others had planned to meet up with Michelle's friends who I had briefly met on Saturday but because they were meeting up at Notre Dame and planning to see many things I had seen before I decided to head to the Musée d’Orsay to see other things.

The Musée d’Orsay is without a doubt my favorite museum of those I've visited. I appreciate Le Louvre for its paintings, sculptures and antiquities but something about the Musée d’Orsay gives me a combined sensation of bliss and intellectual stimulation. I also truly prefer the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists to the older and much more traditional art presented in the Louvre. One floor of the d'Orsay was actually undergoing renovations and as a result of this the Impressonists were temporarily reorganized so that they were on the main floor. This was actually very cool because, as the museum noted, it allowed for new connections between artists to be made. Regardless of the reorganization there was nothing quite like walking into a room and seeing a Monet or a Degas right before my eyes. I had seen most of the paintings before but I forgot little details in between seeing it in person and seeing it on a print.

What affected me even more than the works by Monet, Manet, Degas and Cezanne were the Van Goghs. I don't really remember seeing the Van Goghs the first time around but I think this visit will really stick with me. I don't think I'd ever truly realized how bright and vibrant the colors were. After spending time in le Louvre where the paintings are much darker and even after seeing some pastels in d'Orsay I was really awed by the strength of the colors and the strokes of the paint brush. The sight of such beautiful works combined with the knowledge of how unappreciated and unrecognized he was in life and his subsequent suicide truly had an impact on me.

The Passion Flower at the Gate based off of a passage from
Tennyson's Maud. I have no photos from d'Orsay because they
were not allowed but also no picture of mine could ever compare
to the actuality.

At d'Orsay there was also an exhibit on Pre-Raphaelite artists most of whom were British. The art as a whole dates to the Victorian Age and though the paintings were lovely what I was most fascinated with were the photographs. Many of the photographers at the time attempted to illustrate parts of books or poems in the way that painters would but instead of showing events they showed emotion. I thought the concept of this was really brilliant and that the execution was also marvelous. One photographer in particular, Julia Margaret Cameron used a technique of focusing that was very different from other photographers of her time. Today we are able to take photos with a much more rapid shutter speed but Cameron and her contemporaries were forced to take longer exposures. For some this made portraits quite difficult but the slightly out of of focus images or the somewhat blurry photographs that she took actually added something to her images and really allowed for some emotional resonance. When I saw her first photo of the exhibit I knew almost immediately that I wanted to buy a book of her photos (and I did!).

Altogether and largely thanks to the hospitality of Becky and her family and then the wonder of the Musée d’Orsay I very much enjoyed my trip to Paris.

oh les chateaux!

This past weekend (and also Friday) I had the pleasure of visiting several châteaux in the Loire Valley. The Loire Valley is known for its castles because there are over 300 in the area. When the French kings began constructing castles (first for fortification and then for pleasure) the nobility followed suite. After the construction of Versailles, kings stopped building castles in the Loire Valley but many ministers and other members of the nobility continued to do so.

Though there are, as I mentioned, over 300 castles in the Loire Valley, we saw only five. The first was Sully-sur-Loire, chosen by Stephane because it represents the last of the castles built for fortification (your typical medieval castle) and the switch to castles of luxury. I find it hard to express my feelings on seeing castles simply because when walking past them and walking through them I often stop and think to myself "oh my god I'm in an actual castle". Perhaps it's different for Europeans but in the United States and especially in New Hampshire our greatest monuments (and my favorites) are natural ones. There aren't any real castles in the US and so to so casually walk up to a castle is a very strange experience for me, one I even now can't quite comprehend.

Sully-sur-Loire

For this reason I think it's also difficult to wrap my head around the idea of being disappointed by castles. Many of the castles in France remain in such good condition because of renovations and care of them but the fact that many of them have been standing for half a millenia is incredible particularly when so much that we make today can so easily fall apart. That said, there were some castles I found disappointing mostly due to the weather and time of year.

The guard tower in Sully-sur-Loire. This hallway was patrolled by guards
and directly underneath the stone and wood is the moat.

As for Château de Sully-sur-Loire, it certainly felt like a real castle (un chateau-fort) because it had a moat and looked strong enough to defend. Its purpose was to control one of the few places that the Loire River can be forded. The Loire in particular is the longest river in France but incredibly unpredictable and because of that was not as popular a mode of transport as river like the Seine. The castle itself was built by a Minister of Henri IV who was the duc of Sully.

After Sully-sur-Loire we made our way to Orleans. Orleans doesn't have a castle but it does have a magnificent cathedral and is also perhaps best known for Jeanne d'Arc. I won't give a history of Jeanne d'Arc or the 100 Year's War but I will say that Orleans was the site of a battle in which Jeanne d'Arc entered and liberated the city quite famously saving the city from the Plantagenets and also earning Jeanne d'Arc the name "la pucelle D'Orleans" (the maid of Orleans). We did not have much time in the city because there was a lot of difficulty finding a parking spot for the bus but we did see the exterior of the Cathedral though not the inside because apparently it's "unremarkable" and were able to eat a very quick lunch.

Chambord, the hunting lodge of Francois I

After our brief visit to Orleans we traveled to Chambord which was built as a hunting lodge for King Francois I. The castle is easily one of the most recognizable castles in the world but the fact that it was built as a hunting lodge will always continue to amaze me solely because it's a fact that highlights the huge disparity between royalty and everyone else. I would have loved to visit Chambord on a clear sunny day purely for photographic opportunities, but it was not our luck and instead we were greeted with a very gray sky. Even worse; however, was the discovery that in January of this year the castle changed their closing times (without really giving any notice) and as a result we had about half an hour to tour an immense castle.

A bridge by Chambord

The castle was very bare on the inside because it was not built as a residence but there were several remarkable parts of the castle. One of them are a set of stairs designed by Leonardo da Vinci (who when he became French changed his name to Leonard de Vinci, a fact I was completely unaware of). The stairs are a double helix and remarkable because they look like one set of stairs but are in fact two. Two people can be walking (one up and one down) and believe that they will meet in the middle but never actually pass each other on the stairs because they are on two separate staircases.

The Cathedral de Saint Gatien in Tours

When we were kicked out after our half hour we made our way to Tours which didn't have any castles but did have our hotel and was in the middle of all the castles that we would be visiting. We arrived at around 6:30 but it took about a half hour to check in and divy up rooms and by the time we were in our rooms most of us were famished. Stephane brought us from the hotel into the center of town to a street with the most restaurants. Dinner was a little difficult to find, mostly because instead of it being just four of us from UNH we were joined by two others and finding a table for six so late at night wasn't exactly a simple task.

This made choosing a restaurant more difficult than normal but we ended up choosing to eat Lebanese simply because the food sounded decent and there was a table of six just waiting for us. Despite being almost pigeon-holed into eating Lebanese it was delicious. I had also never eaten it before but was pleased to find the chicken, hummus, tabbouleh and pita bread was very good and quite filling and I was glad with our choice. Exhausted after the meal we returned to the hotel and quite exhausted I know that I slept quite soundly.

A porcupine carved into one of the walls of Blois. The porcupine was the
chosen symbol of Louis XII. The symbol of Francois I was a salamander.

The next morning after a very nice breakfast at our hotel we traveled to the Château de Blois where we had a guided Tour. The castle itself is a melange of several different architectural styles because it was built from the 13th to the 17th century. The oldest wing of the castle was built by Louis XII, the next by Francois I (the same king who had Chambord built for him as a hunting lodge) and the last by the brother of Louis XIII, Gaston duc d'Orleans. Gaston had actually planned to destroy the first two wings of the castle and build a castle in just one style but he was only able to construct a minor part and the plans were eventually abandoned. The abandonment was quite fortunate because it allowed us to see three very different architectural styles of France.

The bed of Catherine de Medici in Château de Blois.

We had lunch time free in the city of Blois and due to the cold and overcast weather we quickly tried to find a place to eat. We were successful and I had pasta but it also meant that when we were done with eating we had a lot of free time to wander around a city that like many in France shuts down during lunch time.

After lunch we headed off to Villandry. The chateau de Villandry is quite unremarkable and it is instead the gardens that are special, unfortunately because it's not quite spring nothing was in bloom. This was quite the pity because many pictures showed hedges growing in intricate patterns with flowers in between them and also extensive vegetable gardens. We could see the hedges but without the brightly colored flowers or the unique vegetable gardens, Villandry was honestly disappointing. Perhaps one day I'll make it back there to see the gardens as they're meant to be seen but for now I'll have to rely on pictures in books and because I didn't take very many photos at Villandry here's some visual guidance for how it is supposed to look: the official site of Villandry.

Our bus was tagged our last night in Tours.

Done with Villandry we traveled back to Tours for dinner and the night. We went to a restaurant that served traditional and regional meals off a recommendation from Stephane and an other student and were not disappointed. The food was absolutely delicious. I chose to have duck cooked with figs and was quite happy about my decision after my first bite. I believe I've only eaten duck once before and that was when Mom and Dad tried to cook it at home. I don't remember much of how it tasted (fine I'm assuming) but I do remember that cutting the meat off the bone felt a bit like slaughtering the duck all over again. This time the duck was painless!

Chairs in Chenonceau

Our last Château was Chenonceau the next day. Of all the castles we visited, Chenonceau was probably my favorite. The castle is built over the river Cher and while it was iconic the day also treated us with clear skies. The castle is often called the Château des Femmes (women) because of the long history of the women who lived (at least for part of the time) in the castle. The first woman of the castle was Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henri II but after the death of Henri, Diane was expelled by his widow and regent Catherine de Medici. After Catherine's death the castle passed on to her daughter in law Louise de Lorraine. It was in Chenonceau that Louise was told of the death of her husband, Henri III. After her death she pledged her life to mourning her husband and spent the rest of her life wandering the castle in mourning clothes surrounded by black curtains.

One of the many flower arrangements in Chenonceau

Apart from the women of Chenonceau there are many incredible bouquets of flowers spread throughout the castle. Each of them is different from one another and each month they are all changed. Stephane noted that in all of the times he's come to Chenonceau, he's never seen a bouquet of lowers that was the same.

From left to right: Amy, Michelle and Sean in the kitchens of Chenonceau.

The historical information throughout all of our tours was constricted to the French monarchy but in Chenonceau I found some interesting facts in relation to World War II. Just as in many grand manors in England, the castles were often used as military headquarters or in the case of Chenonceau, as hospitals. Chenonceau was particularly unique, at least for me, because the river Cher which it sits on was used as a line of demarcation between occupied France and Vichy France. Due to this fact the entrance of the castle was on occupied territory while the long gallery lead to "free" French territory and was therefore used as a means of escape from the Nazis!

A brick oven in Chenonceau. The kitchens as a whole were quite
expansive.

In Chenonceau I also had the opportunity to go into a maze. After our tour of the castle we had 30 minutes to explore the grounds. I spent the first part trying to get at least one picture of the castle and the last inside of a maze. Had we more time I'm sure others would have joined me but seeing as how we were pressed I was the only one to go in. I'm sure that if the maze had been any bigger I might not have made it to the center so quickly but I was fortunate and I was able to both reach the center and also exit the maze relatively quickly with time to spare.

A look out the windows of Chenonceau at the gallery which sits over
the river Cher.

After Chenonceau we stopped for lunch in Amboise which does have a castle but not one that we visited. Apparently students in the past have visited but found three days of castles to be quite exhausting and suggested seeing the exterior but not spending time touring it. I have to agree with this decision because while each castle is certainly unique, too much can ruin the entire experience. Apart from the castle Amboise was also home to Leonardo da Vinci and his final resting place.

The bedroom of Louise de Lorraine.

In lieu of the tour we had lunch free to ourselves. Before arriving in Amboise we were told that it had a very famous pastry shop and that we ought to stop there and buy some chocolate as a treat. Incidentally we ended up eating in the shop for lunch without realizing that it was famous. Upon leaving we noted the many delectable treats but bought nothing because we were saving for "the famous shop" only to discover after exiting that we had just been inside of it! Once we realized our mistake we decided to come back to it after walking around mostly to save ourselves from too much embarrassment. When we finally did go back all of us bought chocolate and having tasted a few of the treats I bought, I know that the reputation is justified!

Chenonceau castle which you can see is undergoing some restorations.

With our chocolates we piled back on to the bus and headed back to Dijon. All in all despite the weather and visiting Villandry in the wrong season, our trip was a very good one and I'm glad to have gone on it.

lessons in French politics

Apart from the Paris-Nice finish, this past week hasn't been terribly exiting. I was alone for the entirety of it because my host father's mother is dying and they were with her. Madame came back yesterday and Monsieur just came in to say hello to me. I hope all is as well as it can be but I've stayed pretty removed from the situation and only offered my condolences.

I've developed quite a cough in the past few days which has not been fun at
all. A good French expression for my cough is "Avoir un chat dans la gorge"
which translates literally to "to have a cat in one's throat" but is most similar
to "to have a frog in one's throat". Thankfully I've found Ricolas  (my
constant savior) and have been drinking lots of fluids. My favorite, just as
when I'm not sick, is tea.

This past week's courses seemed to me to be quite heavily dominated by French politics which I found quite fascinating. It's disheartening to remember that the politics of other countries aren't very often discussed in the US unless they relate directly to US interests which is a shame. French politics are something that, as a subject, I find myself quite drawn to. I think if I could pinpoint the start of the interest it would be when I first heard about the revolts of May '68. 1968 as a year was one of revolutions across the world but I always found (and still do) the one month period in which France was virtually shut down from strikes to be intriguing. The summer after my freshman year I wrote a research proposal relating to May '68 and hoped to turn it into an IROP (International Research Opportunities Program) but sadly had difficulty finding a mentor.

May '68 aside, while I'm fascinated by French politics, up until now I've had little - if any - knowledge on how the Fifth Republic functions let alone the politics of it. As for now, I understand a little, but like the country itself, it's pretty confusing. That said I think I might take up a pet project of looking into either Charles de Gaulle and the creation of the Fifth Republic or the 2002 Presidential election and the Front Nationale. I'm reluctant to go into specifics about either here not because they're complicated but because I don't necessarily have a grasp on either of them.

This was pretty similar to an apple crisp, but in addition to apple there was
Cassis, which is an essential ingredient in Burgundy and also delicious.

As far as this week goes I had my first test today. It was a combination of Oral Comprehension, Written Comprehension and Written Expression. I think I did relatively well but it's hard to tell because the French grading system is so different from that of the US. Everything is graded out of 20 but it's unheard of for anyone to get a 20/20.

France aside I've found a series of websites that serve as excellent news sources for Japan. I don't think that many pictures or words can do justice to the gravity of the situation there at this moment but I do think that it's paramount to stay informed and also to do whatever can be done to help everyone there.

the Nuits-Saint-Georges stage finish of Paris-Nice

I had the absolute pleasure of seeing the Stage 3 (Etape 3) finish of Paris-Nice in Nuits-Saint-Georges today. My schedule somehow aligned with the finish time and I was able to get out of class at 13h (1PM), eat lunch, grab my 55-200mm lens and then head to the train station for a train that left at 14h18 (2:18PM). I was a little worried that I'd have too much time in Nuits-Saint-Georges before the finish, which was estimated to be at around 17h (5PM) but I didn't have to worry about this at all.

The sprint finish! You can see Matthew Goss, the HTC sprinter on the right,
who won the stage.

I had a little walk from the train station into town but it wasn't terribly cold and I had plenty of time. I initially attempted to follow signs to the Office of Tourism and then ask where the race route was but when I saw a few police officers blocking off roads I had the hunch to follow them. Sure enough this brought me to where the final sprint would be. The barriers were already lined up and a good amount of people were already there. Despite the brief glances of the crowds on television, in Nuits-Saint-Georges everyone was very calm and chatting away.  When I first arrived people were drinking beer or eating fries (sold quite close to the barriers) and I bought a bottle of water.

I spent a good amount of time just observing the crowd and even more cleaning my lens of dust and stood close to the barriers by the 50m mark. On the other side of the road a JumboTron was set up. For the first few hours it re-played footage from Paris-Nice 2010 and about an hour and half before the finish it switched over to live footage. It was without sound but there was also a commentator who began talking about the same time as the live footage began. My favorite part of listening to him was hearing the different ways in which he pronounced different cyclists' names and also their teams. It was a good source of amusement but also a good way of practicing listening to French.

A Cofidis rider comes through after the peloton. Everyone encouraged
him by banging on the barriers. It was great to have another affirmation
that cycling fans have a great sense of sportsmanship and give
equal support to everyone when it comes to the actual races.

About an hour before the finish the crowd solidified. I was in one of the busiest areas but all of the spectators were incredibly calm and polite and they ranged from young or old. No one was dressed in any outrageous costumes although there was a man who took the free Bien Public newspaper we were all given and made it into a Curious George hat. It was very busy but everything was very controlled and it was devoid of the chaos at this past weekend's Carnaval parades.

At around this time photographers and team technicians started to come in. The photographers walked past the finish line but the technicians stood in the middle of the road and watched the live play. I could only distinguish teams when the techs had on team swag but from what it looked like they were all chatting with one another. I strained to see if any of them were speaking English but the French all around me was so overwhelming I couldn't hear anything.

Riders double back after the finish.

The technicians finally went past the finish when all of the official Paris-Nice cars came rolling through. From the commentator and the live-play I was able to keep track of roughly how close the riders were to Nuits-Saint-Georges and also how much time difference there was between the breakaway (referred to as those at la tête de la course) and the peloton.

Finally as the riders became 4 and then 2 km away we heard the thwap-thwap of the helicopter. Almost simultaneously the spectators cheered, I think, because they could recognize Nuits-Saint-Georges from the images on the live footage. Peter Sagan, a rider from Liquigas wiped out just as they rounded their way to the sprint finish but I didn't see it with my own eyes because it was too far away. Instead after the sprint it was re-played on the JumboTron.

The race was over in a strikingly short amount of time. Watching it on TV one gets the impression that it lasts much longer but basically as soon as the sprinters cross the finish line, it's over. After that the rest of the riders roll in and those not in the peloton follow. When the riders did come through all the spectators began yelling and banging on the barriers. I would have done some banging but I was snapping away at photos.

When most of the riders had crossed the finish line they doubled back to their buses. On the initial race to the finish line I had caught a glimpse of Frank Schleck and I saw him again on the way back along with the German everyone loves: Jens Voigt. Frank had his arm on a team mate's back in what I assumed was some comfort but when someone yelled out to him he turned around, waved and nodded before continuing onwards. Some riders, while on their way back to their buses stopped and watched the re-play on the JumboTron. I found this to be quite amusing, mostly because sometimes it seems we know what's happened in the race better than the riders!

The window of a Leopard-Trek car and the side of the bus with the flags
and first names of all the riders of the team (not all in the race).

Not 15 minutes after the finish the crowds started to thin and I followed the masses to see where they were headed. The masses, I discovered, were headed towards the parking lot where all the Team Buses and Cars were parked. A lot of people were looking at the bikes on top of the cars and others stood outside the buses but none of the riders came out and about 10 minutes after I got to the parking lot, some of the buses and cars started to leave. Despite this I was able to pass by the Team Radioshack and Team Leopard-Trek buses. I'm assuming there was some sort of ceremony for the stage win and the jersey's but I didn't know where it was so I wasn't able to see it.

All in all the race was quite an experience. I'm sure the chaos that reigns on mountain stages in the Tour de France would be quite something to see but it's also hard to tell what's crazy in the few moments that the camera stays with a certain group of spectators and what's crazy when the riders have passed. It was also very inexpensive to the race. Discounting the water, I payed less than 5 EUR for a train there and the return and the entire journey was relatively painless!

a magnificent visit to nice

First off: prepare yourself, this could get quite lengthy as this past weekend I went to Nice and while there did just about as much as you could do in two days.

As I mentioned earlier there are seven of us in Dijon from UNH and all seven of us went to Nice this weekend. We caught a train at 22h (10 PM) and didn't get off the train until 9 the next morning. This in itself was pretty strange because if you were to take a train straight from Dijon to Nice it wouldn't take 12 hours; however, we had to take a 1 hour train down to Besancon and then take another train from there to Nice. This train then did what felt like a tour of France stopping in Strasbourg (north of Dijon), Marseille (south of Nice) and in between the two Dijon itself. When we rolled back into Dijon two hours after starting our journey we were pretty baffled and furious until we realized that no one got on or off the train at this point.

The stands for the Corso Illuminé with ferris wheel behind it.

The train was also quite odd as no one checked our tickets. When we first got on the second train there was someone sitting in my seat. This conversation was the result (the original was obviously in French):

Me: Uhh this is my seat.

Woman who was sitting in it:  Do you have to sit here.

Nick: Yes, we're a group.

Woman who is still sitting in the seat: There are no other seats.

Our entire group: *shows tickets*

Woman: *moves grudgingly but not before glaring*

After this we were quite sure there were a huge amount of people who did not buy tickets and were just sitting on the train.

Surprisingly enough I was able to sleep on the train and by the time we arrived in Nice I was quite well rested. From the train station we made our way to the hostel (Villa Saint-Exupery) which was in the heart of the city and literally a street over from the parade routes. We were a bit early and our room wasn't ready but they were kind enough to let us leave our baggage, have breakfast (gratuit!) and wash up a little bit. While we were eating someone came over to us, gave us a few maps of Nice and told us where we could buy tickets for the parades and then gave some advice on what else we could do.

From front to back: Michelle, Kendra, Amy, Kayla, Nick and Sean.

We attempted to buy tickets right away because we had been warned that they could sell out. Strangely enough none of the ticket booths were open. I was a little worried that they had already sold out but later on we discovered that they didn't open until 2 hours before the parade. While looking for an open booth we walked around. Nice was strikingly warmer than Dijon and I didn't have to wear my peacoat at all. We were even able to go down by the ocean because Nice sits right by the sea. The beach was entirely covered in rocks and I was wearing tights, but the others took off their shoes and dipped their feet in the Mediterranean. 

Not long after we saw an open ticket booth and all bought tickets for the Bataille des Fleurs, then bought sandwiches for lunch and finally checked in to the hostel. We were in a room of 10 beds (5 bunks) and apart from us 7 there were two others in the room under the name Miguel who we barely saw.

A view over Nice from the Ferris Wheel. Usually only 6 people were
allowed per car but the operator let all 7 of us up together.

The Bataille des Fleurs was at 14h30 (2:30PM) and took place on the Promenade des Anglais which is a huge strip that runs along the ocean. As we had tickets we were guaranteed a spot along the route. "Bataille" in French means battle and the battle referenced in the title of the parade is between the spectators who try to grab the flowers that are thrown by the people on the floats. As a group we got quite a bunch of flowers but most were caught by Nick who, quite tall, could grab them out of the air before the others. It was pretty neat to see all of the floats, balloons, people walking on stilts and others dressed in magnificent costumes but the parade was over two hours long and we left as soon as we realized it was coming to an end because we were getting quite exhausted. 

In focus: a giant whale balloon in the Bataille des Fleurs. This year's theme
was "King of the Mediterranean".
Out of focus: the yellow flowers that were thrown at the crowd.

From the parade we wandered into Vieux Nice and then decided to go up to the Castle which overlooks all of Nice. It was a beautiful day and we reaped the rewards in wonderful views. The castle was surprisingly less of a castle and more of a park. The sidewalks were covered in places with beautiful mosaics and there were several playgrounds for children to play around on. Just walking around the park was a great way to spend the rest of the afternoon.

A giant flower in the Bataille des Fleurs.

By the time we got back to the hostel it was happy hour and by the time we left to get dinner it was about 19h30 (7:30). Dinner itself was nothing special. There was a guide book lying around our room that we had a look at and it reccomended this one restaurant that turned out to have what was 3 EUR wine sold for 12 EURs and a huge line. There were several things on the menu but by the time we were able to order they only had pizza. We were forced to gobble our food because it was getting to be quite close to the Corso Illuminé (Light Parade). It was unfortunate and I'm quite sure we would have all liked to eat somewhere else but by the time we realized we didn't really want to eat there we had been in line too long. You can't win everything!

The streets of Vieux Nice which I really adore because they seem to burst
with color either with the awnings or the actual buildings.

Earlier in the day we had bought masks for the Corso Illuminé for fun and because someone had read online that if you came to the parade disguised you could get in for free. This turned out to be false but some internet research revealed that there were other ways of watching the parade without paying and we took this route, putting on dance recital levels of eye make-up and our masks before making our way to the parade.

If the Bataille des Fleurs was a battle (although not too strenuous) the Corso Illuminé was a spectacular show. Many of the floats that were in the afternoon parade were also in this one but with lights, music and crowds throwing tons of confetti and spraying cans upon cans of silly string. I was a bit worried about not having tickets but the chaos turned out to be a better experience than the controlled crowds with the 10 EUR standing tickets or the 36 EUR bleacher tickets.

By the time we got back to the hostel we were completely covered in confetti and I was personally quite exhausted. So were a few others and, like me, they tucked into the remarkably comfortable hostel beds.

A very fitting fish float in the Corso Illuminé. Somehow they managed
to make this guy change colors.

The next day was Sunday and on the advice of people at the hostel we had planned to go to Eze (a medieval village) and Monaco. After breakfast we spent our time waiting at the beach and then headed to the bus stop. We made it to the bus-stop two minutes before it was supposed to arrive but it didn't. At 11:45 we left, figuring we'd missed it but as luck would have it, when we rounded the street the bus was coming towards us. I said "Oh my god it's the bus!" and then someone else yelled "Run!" and then we were off, making it just as the bus stopped!

Eze itself was pretty touristy. Our first order of business was getting lunch and we did so at an outdoor café where we could get sandwiches and sit in the sun. Though Eze was a medieval town and all that we really saw were some shops and an open market. A castle sat on the top of the hill overlooking the Mediterranean but we didn't go up to it.

At the hostel that morning we had been told that we could take a train from Eze to Monaco and we tried to figure out how to do so after lunch. This proved to be quite difficult. Towards the castle there was a sign labeled "Gare/Plage" (Train station/beach) and we started down this. What the sign didn't note was that the path was actually a trail and that the train station wasn't actually in Eze but in Eze-sur-Mer.

Not three minutes down the trail it forked in to two directions. One lead further downwards and the other lead to what everyone else thought to be a bus station but actually was just a perfume factory with a tour bus parked in the parking lot. I started to go down the trail but the others were convinced that this couldn't actually be the way and outnumbered, I was forced to return. From the perfume factory, which quite clearly did not lead to a train station, we made our way back up to the Tourism Office. There we discovered that the train station was in Eze-sur-Mer and that the trail that went downwards (and that I had attempted to continue on) was the only way to get to it. Normally there are buses that run between these two towns and also between Eze and Monaco but it was a Sunday and nothing is ever normal in France on a Sunday. The trail it was!

The trail itself was quite nice, with carved steps all the way down. The only difficult part about it was that no one had planned on hiking that day and while I was wearing sneakers (though not of the hiking variety) some people had on flats and sandals. Thankfully enough no one moaned about going down. We were also all really glad about the strange change in plans, as the walk down allowed us to have beautiful views of the Mediterranean and enjoy the fresh, warm air.

Me in my mask which I bought earlier in the day. Some people were
hesitant about buying masks but in the end I somehow convinced
people that it was a good purchase and an investment for a great
memory of Carnaval. Luckily I was right! As you can see, I'm also covered
in confetti which made for an interesting floor in the hostel later.

Once down we bought tickets to Monaco (1.6 EUR) and with half an hour to spare went down to the beach. This time I was actually wearing shoes (not tights and boots) and so I was able to dip my feet in the water even though the beach was still very rocky. We stayed on the beach for about 20 minutes before heading to the train station where we only had to wait a few minutes for the train.

As for Monaco? I found it to be quite bizarre. At the hostel it was described as where "rich people live" and it's a pretty accurate description. Our first view of Monaco was the yachts, all of which were massive and all of which are worth some ungodly sum of money. The next sight was the cars and after that the famous Monte Carlo Casino (from the outside only of course). The most accurate picture I can paint of Monaco was that their banks are not called banks but wealth management. 

Despite being a place that screamed "MONEY", Monaco did have one thing of interest. As we attempted to make our way to the palace (which I didn't see and don't regret missing) I found a Space Invader mosaic. For anyone that watched Exit Through the Gift Shop they'll recall the street artist Space Invader. Well, stuck on an unassuming street corner was one of his mosaics! A few pieces of it were missing but for being so low to the ground and being in such a controlled city I was both surprised and elated to see it. 

From the mosaic we made our way back to the train station. Nick and Kendra wanted to see the palace but the rest of us felt like heading back to Dijon so that we would have plenty of time to get dinner, pick up our luggage at the hostel and still have breathing time to catch the train. We were all pretty reluctant to split up but eventually we did. Those of us that went back to Dijon (myself, Kayla, Amy, Sean and Michelle) all bought some gelato (I chose pecan which turned out to be an excellent choice especially for a first-timer like myself) and while eating it found a place to eat for dinner. We sat down at the restaurant as it was opening and by the time we had ordered Nick and Kendra were back in Nice. To continue our streak of luck for the day they were able to find the restaurant and also able to order shortly after us. Being the only restaurant patrons we were served quite quick and we were able to eat with time to spare.

The Space Invader mosaic in Monaco.

Back at the hostel we took our luggage from the luggage room, made changes into more comfortable outfits and used the bathroom. Our train left a few minutes before 20h (8 PM) and we were able to get quite comfortable on it before it left the station. This time around someone did check our tickets. This turned out to be great for us because the conductor told us that the stop at Dijon (the strange one I mentioned at the beginning) we could get off. This saved us two hours on the train and also gave us some time to sleep in our own beds. The early departure made up for the baby sitting right in front of me who alternated being trying to climb over her seat at us and wailing and subsequently prevented me from getting much sleep.

By the time we rolled into Dijon at 3h44 we were all exhausted and ready to sleep. There was only one difficulty in getting home and that was that none of the doors would open. We ended up going through an open iron gate on the platform when it was clear that the sliding doors were locked until 5 in the morning. All in all Nice was wonderful and an experience I certainly won't forget!

of cheese and x-rays

I almost found myself in a rhythm this week which was quite extraordinary as every other week has almost been a testing of the waters. This week however was about as normal as a week in Dijon could get. My classes went very well and I'm feeling very comfortable in them while still learning new words, ways to form sentences and other tidbits about the French language. It feels very good to be in a position where I'm learning but not stressing and I'm very glad I made the jump down to Niveau 4.

This week I also visited a fromagerie with my host father and Kayla and Nick two other UNH students that have been here they whole week. The fromagerie was about 20 minutes outside of Dijon and in a huge factory building. We didn't really see much cheese making but there was a corridor with windows on one side where we could stop and look at different stages in cheese making. It was a bit weird because you could actually see the workers and they could see us which made me feel as if I was at a zoo except instead of other animals there were humans making cheese.

We came into the fromagerie while they were doing a tour so we had to wait in the corridor for a few minutes to ask one of the women in store-front to let us taste some cheeses. I imagine it's a pretty common occurrence because all my host father had to say was that he had a few Americans with him who would like to try some cheese and then there we were trying cheese. The way this cheese tasting went, and I'm assuming others, is that one starts with the softer, less potent cheeses and then works his or her way up. For me this was good because after the third cheese they became too strong for me.

The cheese I liked best was called a "Plaisir au Chablis" which is a soft cheese that is washed every week in Chablis, a Chardonnay that comes from the North East of Burgundy. Speaking of the naming of wines, I've come to learn that wine naming is done differently in Burgundy (and perhaps France) than it is in other parts of the world. Some would identify a wine by the type of grape it was made with such as a Pinot Noir or a Chardonnay but in Burgundy the wine is identified first and foremost by the place that it was grown (par le terre - by the earth).

We talked about this during my wine class this week but also at the wine tasting I went to after going to the fromagerie. Over all the subject surrounding appellations is an extremely important one when talking about French wine. As for the wine tasting, we tried several whites and several reds with our guide telling us about the making of the wines and a bit about appellations. Interestingly enough, this week I learned that there is a greater percentage of white wine in Burgundy than there is red wine. I always thought it was the other way around though I couldn't say why. One theory (proposed by a professor) is that in English we have the word "burgundy" a shade of red but in French they do not have this such word. Bourgogne only stands for the reason. Bordeaux; however, is a shade of red!

My favorite part of the wine tasting was seeing an actual cave of wine. They use caves for wine to protect them from the sun but also to keep them cool. Because of this there was no flash photography allowed in the caves (which wasn't a problem for my very fast lens).

The French Communist Party gathers in the Place de la Liberation. I would
have taken one closer up but I was already feeling a bit creepy about it!

This Thursday I also had my medical visit and obtained my "titre du sejour". With it I am now allowed to leave the country and also come back. Without one, if I were to leave the country I would not be able to return. The medical exam was a pretty strange one and rather uncomfortable. They did normal things like take our height, weight, check our eye-sight and measure our blood pressure but we also had to have an x-ray done to test for tuberculosis. This was the worst part of the whole visit because we were brought in the radiology room (separately) and then told to strip from the waist up. This was understandable but instead of being given a gown I was forced (and the other girls were too) to stand in a room, with a door that wasn't completely shut with just our arms in front of our chest. The X-ray itself went smoothly except for the fact that we all had to press up against a metal plate that was probably not washed in between x-rays.

I'm in perfect health (and can now stay in France) but the visit itself was pretty weird and some parts I'm attempting to block from my mind. I'm not sure how well this will work because we were given our x-rays to keep. I've never had one in the US so I'm not sure if this is normal but I always thought that the doctors kept them for medical records...

The medical visit aside this weekend we're off to Nice for the very end of Carnivale. We're taking an over-night train and I can't see myself getting an incredible amount of sleep but it's still very exciting!