a calm week and a visit to Lyon

It is such a relief not to have to worry too much about classes. This past Tuesday I successfully switched down to Niveau 4. I now have classes on Monday but I also don't have them on Wednesday. This made for a very bizarre week wherein I got both Monday and Wednesday off and really only had about three days of classes. Niveau 4 as a whole is a much better fit for me although I find it bizarre to be one of two white people in a class that is filled with Chinese, Japanese and Korean students.

On my free Monday and then Wednesday I got lunch in a cafe for the sole
purpose of reading afterwards with a nice cup of tea.

I was glad to find that in the class there were things I didn't know but that I also did not feel too overwhelmed and I'm quite sure that by the end of the semester there'll be a definite improvement in my French skills. I've already found that I can converse much more easily in familiar settings and I hope that this will help me with writing (which in French I find much more difficult as the sentence structure is completely different) and also with more formal speaking. 

Some sinister night lights in Dijon.

My favorite class of the week was actually Oral Expression where for the first hour we talked about the news. It's very possible that we talked about the news for an hour because it took some students so long to get their thoughts out, but I still really enjoyed it. It's great to be in a group of friends or fellow students that discusses current events because they want to, but when that can't be found, talking about worldwide news in a classroom suffices. 

Classes aside, on Friday we (the 5 UNH students in Dijon at the moment) made dinner at Michelle's (one of the 5 students) because her family is away for the week. I was thrilled to find pesto in a store, of which, I don't think there can be much of, and gladly had pesto pasta and a baguette with Camembert with the others.

Saturday we visited Lyon. Interestingly enough, during the time of La Gaul, Lyon was the capital and because of this has an incredibly rich history. We started out the visit by going to the Basilica de Fourviere which sits on a hill overlooking all of Lyon. Unfortunately it was a drizzly day so the view wasn't particularly spectacular, but like all cathedrals, basilicas and churches in France, this one was pretty spectacular. We had to hike up to to it, and though I didn't mind, the others did. A few constantly asked "are we there yet?". Coming from New Hampshire and having hiked many mountains in the Whites, I have to say that they had absolutely nothing to be complaining about.

Prayer lights in the Basilisque de Fourviere.

When we came down from the basilica we went into Vieux Lyon (old Lyon) where we had 2 hours to ourselves. Though I would have loved spending time wandering around the stores which were filled with all sorts of interesting trinkets, we had to eat lunch and we subsequently spent the rest of our time eating. Lyon itself is known for it's "bouchons" which is a type of restaurant centered around Lyonnaise cuisine. Lyonnaise cuisine itself is centered around meats such as tripe, liver and other things I have never eaten before and am still a little wary of eating . To be on the safe side I had chicken with potatoes and a salad. 

After eating we went into modern Lyon. Though it didn't have the charm of Vieux Lyon, it is known for it's tromp l'oeils which are paintings done on the sides of buildings that are made to look real but are actually false. One in particular that we saw was a building painted to look like an apartment building with various famous French citizens hanging out of the windows.

We then went further into the city, in particular to one of the busiest streets in Lyon. It's called the Champs-Elysees of Lyon but I don't know the actual name. Nevertheless it goes on for quite a while with stores on both sides. We had an hour and a half to ourselves here but none of us was particularly in the mood for shopping. To make things worse, I'd eaten too much at lunch and wasn't feeling very well. For a while I tried to walk it off but eventually felt like I was going to vomit. I eventually did vomit and because there were no cafes or bathrooms, I did so on the street. Strangely enough none of the passerbys seemed to notice. If they did, it was as if it happened all the time. While I'm sure this might be so at night, at 3 in the afternoon I'm quite sure it's not a regular occurrence. However, the French don't clean up after the dogs when they poop on the streets (which is as gross as it sounds) so I'm not sure it's a cultural thing.

After vomiting I felt much better, though still not in the mood for shopping. Once everyone was sure that I was alright and was then offered a piece of gum we had a good laugh about it. Of all the things to happen in Lyon it was the last thing I expected and the only reason why I was grateful for the rain!

Lastly, I'm very happy to say that I'm going to be able to see a stage finish of Paris-Nice in Nuits-Saint-Georges. I can take a pretty cheap 16 minute train ride from Dijon there with plenty of time from when my classes get out till when the riders finish in the town and am really excited about the entire prospect of it all!

the internal debate over classes continues

Throughout this past week I wavered between staying in Niveau 5 and going down to Niveau 4. I knew that I wanted a challenge when it came to French here, and Niveau 5 would certainly be a challenge, however, I also wanted to do well. On Thursday I talked to one of my Professors who I have for three classes. I told her that I wanted a challenge (defis) but that I also wanted to succeed and in her opinion, did she think I could do this? She said she wasn't sure as she hadn't been able to see my writing sample but that it was good that I was participating in class.

After this I was pretty sure that I was going to stay in Niveau 5 and either rapidly improve or fail miserably. But then, then came Grammar. It wasn't the worst class I have ever taken in my entire life (that title goes to Physics, which I still fully detest) but it was pretty terrifying. Our Professor threw as much information as he possibly could in as little time as possible. He dissected sentences, noting different parts of them, and then went into more detail about said parts. Let me explain that while I have a pretty decent grasp on English grammar, that does not mean that I am by any means an expert. I certainly can't go into incredible detail about sentence structure, in particular the names of certain parts of the sentence. So when this grammar is thrown at me in French...I get a little lost.

When this is followed by a "review" of all 22 verb forms (of which many are useless, many I did not know existed, and many I do not know how to correctly conjugate) of the French language, well then the class just starts to get nightmarish. By the end of the class, I was strongly leaning towards moving downwards. As I've told multiple people in the past few days, I can handle small challenges, but when the number of challenges rises and some of them cease to be small, then things switch from being slightly difficult to stressful and quite possibly insurmountable. 

This little guy is everywhere around the center of town. I don't know who he
is, or why he's there, but whenever I see him I think of Exit Through the
Gift Shop Window.

After talking with another student who switched down from 5 to 4, with reasons similar to my own, and after being reassured that the class wasn't too easy and definitely one that could be learned from, I was pretty much sold on the idea. Now I just need to wait till Tuesday to ask my Professor to sign a paper giving me permission to move down. I think it's a lot easier for Professors to sign off on someone moving down then to sign off on them moving down. Seeing as how I've expressed some concern already, I don't see it being too much of an issue.

Apart from French language classes, I've gone several culture classes and one civilization class. As a whole these were much less stressful. The only culture class I really did not like was Art History. It had nothing to do with the subject, but our Professor - who looked to be about the age of a grad student - had a monotone voice and his lecture was clearly based off of a book that he looked down to often while lecturing. To make it worse, when he showed us pictures of the art he literally turned around the book that he was using and showed it to us. I should note that we were in a lecture hall and that it was pretty impossible to see any of the art. By the end of the two hours, the Professor started to sound like the teacher out of Peanuts. 

Despite the disaster that was Art History (a class I thankfully do not have to go back to) my other classes were massive successes and I really look forward to them. Civilization gave a brief overview of French History. When I say brief I mean from the time of the Romans (when France was called La Gaul) to the present day. Our Professor is the same Stephane who was our guide to Beaune and still has not lost his humor. The class began with some stereotypes of France both from the perspectives of the French to those of foreigners. I won't go into detail, but it was incredibly entertaining.

Kevin, who is sort of a combination of Indiana Jones and James Bond
solely because he's British and because he always wears this hat.

I will note that I discovered that one of France's national symbols is the rooster, or the cockerel. The symbol harks back to the days of La Gaul when France (as well as parts of Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Italy) was under the control of the Roman Empire. The fierce pride of the Gauls mirrored the way in which a rooster puffs out its chest. In addition The Latin word for cock (gallus) is incredibly similar to the Latin word for the inhabitants of La Gaul (gallicus). Whatever the reason, it stuck.

Part of civilization was also what is called "francais familier" which is essentially a class in French slang. I find it quite weird to be studying slang before having a complete grasp on formal French, but I don't think our Professor intends for us to speak it and instead hopes that when sitting on the buses and walking in the streets we'll be able to understand what people are saying.

Lastly my Fridays end with a History class, which is something I look forward to, but that I know others don't. The classes switch off every other week and so I've only had Political Panorama (essentially 20th Century Europe but with an emphasis on France) but next week I have Contemporary History which is focused on France after 1945. Both classes are taught by the same Professor, which I'm really pleased with because he's both engaging and enthusiastic.

A gargoyle on the top of the tower in the Palais des Ducs. We climbed
to the top of it this weekend, which was quite a feat mostly because the
the stairs (over 300 of them) were incredibly windy.

At the start of the class the Professor asked if there were any History majors amongst the class and I was somewhat surprised to see that I was the only one to raise my hand! The class started off with World War I. For those non-history majors out there: when historians talk about the beginning of the 20th century they don't mean 1900, they mean 1914. Not only was WWI a devastating war it was also an incredibly different war and a real break from the past.

I shamefully, forget a good deal of WWI apart from the essential details, but do believe that I am pretty good at the end of it, the Treaty of Versailles and the interwar period. Of course what I realized on Friday was that while I might know the events in English, in French they're slightly different. I found myself trying to figure out how to say "self-determination" when talking about the Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points in French and somehow managed to get my point across and also discover that the translation is "auto-determination". This class, I think, will be one I'll really like. Apart from the fact that my concentration is Modern European History, I always find it fascinating to study the different perspectives of historical events. Up till now I've studied 20th Century Europe from that of the British, from an American Foreign Policy stand-point and will now embark on the French perspective. For all I know it might not be incredibly different, but when studying WWI and WWII I've always studied from the point of the victor, and while France was technically a victor in both, they were also occupied for most of WWII and I wonder what sort of impact that will have on my studying it. Who knows! 

8 snails and some conversation

I suddenly have so much to write about. Classes started this week and it's going to be a busy (and hard) but hopefully very rewarding semester.

However, before I get into the subject of my classes, I have to talk about eating escargots with my host family. We had them on Monday because it was the best day of the week for all of us to eat and because next week Pascal (the swiss exchange student) will be back in Switzerland. Escargots are a particular Burgundy specialty. They are cooked with parsley butter and garlic and so essentially taste like butter and garlic. The texture is sort of similar to lobster and I found them to be quite delicious. They are also usually served in their shells which thankfully did not make eating them too difficult. The only real difficulty is that the shells can (and were) hot and so getting them out of their shells as rapidly as possible was best for my fingers!

After eating the actual snail there was always a good deal of garlic butter. My host father actually drank the butter from the shell, but I followed my host mother and mopped up the butter with my bread.

In all I ate eight snails, which I'm quite sure was more than any one else at the table. Pascal asked if he could keep the shells and my host mother said yes but she put the shells through the dishwasher first! She asked if I wanted them to keep in my room but I said that pictures would suffice! Of course, the escargots were not the only item on the menu. Before them we had some sort of soup which was made of something similar to squash and after we had some sort of fish pâté with the obligatory bread and cheese afterwards.

As for classes, mine started on Tuesday. I had technique d'expression which I think will be sort of a combination of two other classes (oral expression and written expression) but with more opportunity to practice what we might have trouble with. All of my French classes will be quite challenging which I am slightly apprehensive of but also excited for. I didn't just come to France to see places and people but to begin mastering the language.

In Oral Expression we have to research a controversial topic in French politics, present it to the class, present our personal opinion and start a debate on it. Part of our research; however, includes talking to an "expert" on the subject. Thankfully we were grouped in pairs, me with a girl called Mandy who hails from Alberta, Canada. We chose laïcité for our topic, which is the concept of secularism in French society (which harks back to the French Revolution). In particular we are looking at the laws against all religious items in public schools. The presentations are spread across the semester but we chose to go first (at the beginning of March). We'll have less time to research and do the work but I think we'll be fine.

I was a bit worried at first that the class might be too difficult but upon seeing that others are being corrected about as much as I am, I think that everything will be OK. We have two weeks to move up or down and hopefully at the end of the week I will know if it's right level for me. I have one Professor for three classes (two already, one tomorrow) and I'll ask her whether she thinks I'll be all right where I am. I'm willing to work hard and if that means a bit more studying, I'm fine with that.

a quiet weekend and some planning

This weekend as a whole has been pretty low key. On Friday we celebrated the birthday of Nick, a fellow UNH student who has been here since October. We all went over to Elsa's house where we made dinner (burritos) and had fun. On Saturday, Michelle's host family was away, so we all went over to her house, made pasta and then watched Zombieland.

Sunday followed in the pattern of quiet relaxation for the most part, except for when I spent a bit of the morning looking for an open Pharmacy (by law each city is required to have one emergency Pharmacy open on Sundays) and then spent time waiting in line to buy the French equivalent of Advil (neurofen for anyone that's interested).

I then went for a walk with my host father and Pascal, the Swiss exchange student who is staying with my host family for two weeks, at Lac Kir an artificial lake on the edge of Dijon. It was very lovely and I can imagine it being even more so in the spring when everything is in bloom and all of the trees are filled with leaves. I was quite happy to see my first French mallards! I can't say why but for some reason mallards (of any nationality) always make me happy. When I first went to Switzerland I was pleased (perhaps a little too much) to see them in another country, and it follows in France.

The trail, which follows an old river, to Lac Kir

There were also some swans, but after being bitten by one at age 8, the only capacity in which I like them is in relation to the ballet (which I adore).

The weekend did give me (and the others) some time to work on planning trips. We have a two week long break in April in which we plan to visit the Netherlands, Austria (Vienna to be specific), Italy and potentially Prague. Initially we hoped to visit Ireland but we're on a tight budget and finding inexpensive trains and planes has been a little difficult.

Tonight is my dinner with my host family and I've already been told that tonight's menu will be escargots! It's quite exciting and I'll be sure to post pictures of it as well as my opinion on them.

Lastly, on a note related to photography, I wrote here in my first post that I wanted to take one photo every day as a way to record my time in France, but also as a way of consciously working to improve my photography. I have posted at least one photo for every day, but will not post one for this past Saturday. I did take some photos but I didn't like any of them. While not every photo I have posted has been one I absolutely loved, I have made a conscious effort to post photos that I was at the very least satisfied with. Not every day and photo can be the best, and I will still take a photo ever day, but from time to time there might not be any posted photos of the day.

classes finally!

It is with great pleasure that I can finally say that I know what classes I will be taking this semester. It was very weird to be in a position where I not only did not know what classes I would be taking but also not knowing when they would be.

On Monday we took a placement test which mostly tested our knowledge of grammar, written expression and comprehension. Yesterday (Friday) we found out the results. There are 6 levels of French at CIEF ranging from beginner to intermediate to advanced, with the last being mastery, and I found out that I was in 5 which was a level higher than I thought I would be and therefore immensely pleases me. 

Practically it means that I'll be a lot busier than my fellow UNH students. I have 6 French language classes, each of which is 2 hours long, a 3 hour French Civilization course and then as much as 8 hours of culture classes a week. When totaling the possible hours (23) it's quite daunting but nevertheless I'm quite excited. If I have six hours of class a week where I specifically work on my French, I'm quite sure that by the time June rolls around I'll be at the very least competent!

The Place Wilson (where I live) kiosque at night.

The 6 French classes I will be taking are:

1. Expression techniques
2. Oral Expression
3. Written Expression
4. Oral Comprehension
5. Written Comprehension
6. Grammar

The culture classes that I am interested in taking. I may take all of the culture classes but at the end of the semester can choose three classes that I will take exams for. Each of these classes only takes place every two weeks, so while it looks like a lot of different subjects, I'd only be really taking three culture classes this semester.

1. Contemporary French History - Social and cultural history of France after 1945 to the present
2. Political Panorama - France in Europe and the world in the 20th century
3. Art History - Art from 1910 to 1970
4. Literature - French literature in the 20th century
5. Philosophy - pretty self explanatory...I'm not convinced on this one
6. The vine and the wine

Lastly, despite the fact that I'll have quite a load I do get Mondays off which is most important because it means I'll get three day weekends and an extra day to travel on the weekends. Immediately it means that the bus strike on Monday won't effect me because I won't have to take the bus!

Les Hospices de Beaune

On Monday, I took my placement test for CIEF. At the beginning of the test our professors stressed that it was a test and not an exam and that it would not reflect on future grades but rather place us in a class that would best fit where we were in the French language. I won't know my result until Friday but I'm guessing that the newer CIEF students (myself included) are spread across the spectrum of those who are beginning French and those who are working on mastering it. I'm somewhere in the middle but where exactly I will see. I had been told that the test would be both oral and written, but it was just written and that made it a bit easier to take. 

The test was the only real excitement of the day for Monday. We had a some CIEF information sessions but most of the information we already knew. I did learn that the name for old Bourguignonne houses such as the one in this photo are called les maison à colombages. I'd been calling them medieval style houses before, so I was glad to have an official name for them. 

Elsa, our tutor (and a very excellent one), but also a great friend and a  hilarious person with an infectious laugh. Kevin, the Englishman we met Monday through CIEF is photo-bombing in the background.

Monday (and Sunday) I was also able to have a meal with my host family that did not count as my meal of the week as because of the wedding on Saturday, there was a lot of extra food that needed to be eaten. I was all too happy to eat it without charge!

Yesterday was much more exciting as we visited Beaune. Our Professor Stephane who leads excursions was our guide and spent a bit of time telling us the history of the region, the significance of certain areas. He noted that while Dijon was the capital of Burgundy, Beaune was the capital of wine in Burgundy. He also explained a little bit (and with some bias out of loyalty) the differences between wine of Burgundy and that of Bordeaux. The most notable difference is that though the wine is all grown on the same soil in Burgundy there are many different methods for making wine and because of this every Burgundian wine is different and some are inferior to others. At one point on the way to Beaune we stopped in the fields where Romanée Conti is made. The wine in particular is the most expensive wine made in all of France selling for as much as $8,000 dollars. However; in order to buy one bottle one must buy five other bottles of other "grands vins" which are the best wines of a certain area. The total cost can be over $45,000!

These crests mark the grands vins which are named the best wines of a particular year.

Stephane also explained a little bit (and then I did some research) the phylloxera epidemic which was an incredibly severe wine blight that wiped out virtually all vineyards in Europe. The blight itself took place during the mid 19th century (1800s) and is thought to have been such a massive epidemic because of the advent of steam-powered ships which allowed the pest to travel from North America, where it originated, to Europe. After the blight, it was proposed that European vines would be grafted with North American vines which were resistant to phylloxera. Many French wine growers were opposed to this idea but really had no other choice. As we traveled by bus to Beaune and saw vineyards that seemed to stretch to the horizon, it seemed quite clear that the French wine industry was not just safe but probably thriving.

Our destination of the day, was of course, Beaune which is best known for Les Hospices de Beaune. Les Hospices originated during the 100 years wars (historical reference point: Jeanne d'Arc) as a hospital for the poor. Instead of just creating a plain hospital, the Chancellor of Burgundy (Nicholas Rolin) built the incredibly beautiful hospital that is Les Hospices de Beaune as an act of philanthropy so that the poor could live like kings. From the outside the building actually appears plain, which was a ploy to ensure that it would not be looted for its apparent wealth. On the inside; however, the roofs are made of the beautiful glazed tiles that are a landmark of Burgundy architecture.

As a group numbering 50 we were without a doubt as touristy as you can get.

When we entered Les Hospices it was the afternoon and so the sun was shining on the roofs opposite the beautiful tiled ones. Without the sun they are interesting to the eye but not exactly astounding and alas I don't have many good pictures. 

I should note that in continuation of the philanthropic essence of Les Hospices, Beaune hosts an annual wine auction wherein all the proceeds go to the poor.

A polyptych of the Las Judgment on wood (oak) with oil paint. The original was
actually painted over because of the scandal the nudes caused on the bottom.
The  painted on clothes were done with inferior paint and they were actually
accidentally washed off leaving the superior original behind.

Beaune itself was a lovely town, but we didn't get much of a chance to really discover it and there is still much that I would have liked to see (such as the wine caves). It's still only my third week in France though, so I've got plenty of time to see much more. On the bus-ride there several of us noted that we'd have to rent bikes and come back towards Beaune just to ride past the vineyards which must be beautiful in the spring.

a huge french family and delicious crêpes

Yesterday was a pretty hectic day in the apartment of my host family. One of their sons was getting married and as a result all of their other sons, their wives and their children were here. For a little bit in the morning I was afraid to leave the room. It felt weird being somewhere that was clearly the heart of the wedding, particularly when I didn't know anyone. When I finally emerged people said hello to me and were nice, but it still felt strange, as if I was intruding on something very private.

First letters to be sent to the USA.

Upon getting to the kitchen Madame said hello to me in English and then I said "Bonjour" back to her. She seemed pleased that I preferred to greet her in French and then noted that since arriving my French has improved a bit and that she'll have to start using more complicated words with me! It was a nice moment. I'm not sure if my French itself has improved or if I'm less nervous about speaking to actual French people and that because of it I'm able to form sentences much more rapidly and also able to correct myself. Who knows, either way, it was nice to hear.

When I left the apartment the family was taking pictures. A fellow UNH friend noted that I should have taken pictures as the family was dressed to the nines (coat-tails and fancy hats) but I didn't because it would have felt strange. I've only known my host parents for two weeks and I've only seen their children briefly. It was also their moment. Regardless, I took no pictures.

Dijon itself was quite warm out yesterday and it was nice to stroll without having to worry about the wind or the cold. I love walking through the old streets because of how they wind but also because I love the almost medieval architecture. The whole feel of Dijon is so different from the states that just walking in is an experience in itself. In walking around Amy and I discovered a crêperie that we decided we would definitely have to come back to. After browsing in a fnac (sort of like a Best Buy and Barnes and Noble mashed together) later that day with Sean (the only man amongst all of the UNH girls) and looking at cookbooks that made us quite hungry, we decided that we would simply have to eat that crêperie tonight. 

We arrived before it opened and so we waited a bit, but this turned out to be quite good because by the time we got our drinks all of the other tables were reserved. There are two kinds of crêpes: sweet and savory. The sweet are probably best known, but the savory (called galettes which should not be confused with the cake of the same name) are just as delicious. I ordered a fromagere which was filled with potatoes, Camembert, goat cheese and cream. It was delicious, as was expected, and we all decided that we'd be going back to the restaurant multiple times because there were quite a few items on the menu that looked delicious to drink.

As for today, seeing as how it is Sunday, I stayed inside. I bought stuff to make a sandwich but because of the wedding there was plenty of food to eat and I ended up dining with my host family (and their children). I tried to follow along with what they were saying but they all talked so rapidly and with slight abbreviations that it was just about impossible to understand. To make it even more difficult several of them would talk at once (often to each other - though not as if they were fighting). At one point one of the wives asked if I could understand them and I shook my head and said they talked too fast. Others tried to get me to eat more, although there was so much food, I simply couldn't.