After my skiing weekend a few weeks ago, I focused mostly on
teaching, but the weekend after, one of my professors invited me to meet her in
town for a cup of coffee Saturday morning since she was coming into Dax to do
some shopping at the market.
So Saturday morning I set out, bright and early (well,
bright and early for me on a Saturday morning at least) to meet for coffee. She
was running late due to car troubles and having to drag her (very heavy)
purchases through town. But finally she made it (and her husband followed
shortly after) and we had a nice coffee and caught up since we hadn't seen each
other since November (though we regularly email). It was carnivale weekend, so
it wasn't long before the café turned rowdy with young people dressed up in 70s
style who were already quite drunk. It wasn't even noon.
As we walked through the city, we talked about food (haha,
what else?) and eventually, I admitted that I had never eaten rabbit. In fact,
before coming to Dax, I had never eaten duck either. It turns out that her
friend, S, who I had met in November, was preparing rabbit for lunch that day.
Y immediately called her up and asked if I could tag along.
Turns out, S was fine with me coming, so we set out, and I
spent a lovely afternoon talking and looking at photos with them. The kids were
getting their costumes ready for carnivale (the boy as Obelix -- a famous
French cartoon character, and the girl as a fairy). They also amused themselves
with Y's computer taking silly photos of themselves using photobooth.
All in all, it was a wonderful day, and the rabbit was
actually extremely delicious. I was nervous about coming across small bones in
the meat, but had no problems.
It was "Springtime at the Cinema" which meant
movie prices were down, so I took advantage to go see the new "La Belle et
La Bête" which was absolutely MARVELOUS. It is easily one of the most
beautiful films I have ever seen. My only regret is that it is apparently not
being released in the US, so most of my friends won't get to see it. (Not until
it comes out on DVD and I invest in a universal DVD player, anyway.)
I had an absolutely horrid Tuesday at the collège -- my group of 5ièmes that I do
Doctor Who with would NOT shut up. Well, there are 3 students in the group (of
about 13) who will not stop talking. And one of them is a bit hyperactive, so
he was all over the place. We got about ZERO work done because I just spent the
entire hour trying to get them under control. Finally, I had to write a note in
one student's planner that the student has to get his parents to sign. After
that, he decided to chuck his planner across the room, then into the trash can,
and then he settled down -- for a whole 5 minutes until the bell rang.
My 6ièmes were good, as they usually are, since I stay with
the teacher. And the 3ièmes were surprisingly good as well. But the 4ièmes were
a pain. Once again, 3 students would NOT stop chatting, but I don't know this
class as well. So I had to ask for their names. At which point they gave me
false names. So I was obligated to check with the other students to see if they
were telling the truth. What's more -- they were a pain about the spelling of
their names (I had jotted them quickly on the board so that I could remember
them). Ugh. Working at a middle school is probably the best way to rid yourself
of the desire to have children. As much as I want to think that I'd have a
well-behaved, studious child, it would be just my luck that I'd have a little
monster. And I'm not entirely sure I want to take the chance.
In any case, this past weekend I went to Carcassonne --
easily one of the best decisions I have ever made, in spite of the horrible
weather. I couldn't find a good hostel (there were cheap ones, but they were
out in the countryside, not near the city), so I ended up finding a room for
rent on Airbnb. The family that hosted me (a young couple and their 8-month-old
son) was an absolute delight. PLUS, their house is right at the foot of the
medieval cité, so it was super convenient for visiting.
Saturday, when I arrived, it was church day since none of
the churches were open to visit on Sunday. First I went up into the medieval
city to see the Basilique Saint Nazaire which was absolutely fantastic.
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| The view from the top of the stairs (that lead down to the house I was staying at) |
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| The Basilica |
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| Detail on the columns |
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| The Virgin Mary judges those who judge women who breastfeed in public (Yes, this was a tapestry on display in the church) |
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| Playing around with the candlelight |
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| The candle I lit |
Next I headed down into centre ville (the newer part of town)
to visit the Saint Vincent Church and the Saint Michel Cathedral. Both were
absolutely gorgeous.
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| Joan of Arc - if I had a patron saint, it'd be her |
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| Barrels of wine in the church (pipe organ in the background) |
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| I had a thing for candles on Saturday, apparently |
Actually, when I entered Saint Michel Cathedral, I had
walked in on a wedding (on accident, obviously, and I wasn't the only one --
the church was supposed to be open for visits, and there was no sign outside
that said there was a wedding going on). I ended up sitting down to watch it
(not wanting to walk around taking pictures and disturbing them) and it was
quite interesting, though the priest talked so fast that I couldn't keep up.
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| The happy couple whose wedding I crashed |
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| One day they'll look through their wedding photos and notice a creepy tourist in the background |
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| The inside of the Cathedral |
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| Vivre libre ou mourir (Live free or die) -- so French |
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| Leftover from the wedding |
That night, trying to find somewhere to eat was a nightmare
(there weren't many places in centre ville and nothing that looked very
appetizing). I gave in, went to Subway, and called it a day. I hadn't taken my
computer with me, but did bring my e-reader. I stayed up as late as I could
reading, but still fell asleep around 9:30pm (and slept straight through until
8 the next morning).
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| The night view of Carcassonne from the Pont Vieux (Old Bridge) |
The weather on Saturday hadn't been too bad -- a bit of
light sprinkling here and there (a serious downpour while I ate my sandwich),
but nothing awful. Sunday morning was pretty clear as I headed up into the
medieval city (but it was supposed to be colder, so I was wearing a few
layers).
The first thing I did was visit the castle, which was spectacular.
The audioguide was well-worth the extra few euros (otherwise it was free as an
under 26 EU citizen). The strategy that went into building the castle was
incredible, and the audioguide broke it down in detail, which was amazing. It
also went into the history of the castle -- absolutely fascinating. Palaces are
pretty, but castles are so interesting. You can keep Versailles; I'll take
Carcassonne any day.
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| On the bridge over the moat |
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| A view of the basilica from the castle |
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| View out of one of the watchtowers |
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| Statues and frescos in the museum part of the castle |
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| La Porte Narbonnaise (the main entrance to the city) |
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| The legendary lady Carcas. |
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| On the ramparts |
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| Flowers growing in strange places |
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| Defenses on the back side of the city (there used to be a large barbican where the church now stands) |
After visiting the castle, I wanted to go see the museum of
torture. Not quite as bad as it sounds, at least for the first half. There were
two parts -- the first, an actual museum. It was sad, and gave me some shivers,
but it was mostly instruments of torture on display with a small explanation,
maybe a drawing. Somber, yes, but not too bad.
The second part was more of a wax museum (which I did not
realize). It had scenes set up to show what it would have been like to go
through a trial during the Inquisition (around which the museum was centered,
owing to the large amount of "heritics" in the city of Carcassonne).
The lady explained (when I asked if it was going to be scary) that it wasn't
meant to be scary -- nothing that moved and that it was a bit sombre (a word in French that can mean
either "serious/somber" or "dark") -- I thought she meant
the former, when she really meant the latter.
Well, I am afraid of the dark, and I cannot handle hearing
people in distress (especially if there's nothing I can do to help). So I walk
through the little curtain to enter the exhibit, and it is immediately dark
(not pitch black, but just very low lighting) and I can hear what sounds like
moaning.
Now, other than "a trial" I have NO idea what is
going to be depicted (and having just seen all manner of torture instruments,
my mind is racing with ideas). I stood in that little room for a good 5
minutes, convincing myself to go through the exhibit, that it would not, in
fact, be that bad, that I was not going to be a baby and walk right back out
the curtain. And continue on I did. The only person in the entire exhibit.
The soundtrack (moaning, groaning, whispering, etc) proved
too much for me to handle. I walked (practically ran) through with my hands
over my ears -- all the while talking to myself: "It's okay Katie, you're
not going to die, nothing's going to get you, it's not real, it's okay,"
ad nauseum. At one point, not knowing how much further I had to go, I seriously
contemplated curling into a corner with my hands over my ears, crying until
someone came and escorted me out. Not knowing if there were security cameras
that might alert someone of my plight, I decided it was better to just get out
as fast as I could.
Needless to say, never again. This is the third "wax
museum" I've visited (not counting Madame Tussaud's, which is entirely
different) and I just can't handle them. They're like haunted houses
specifically designed for me. Nope. Not again. Next time, I will trust my
instincts and just walk right back out the curtain. (And also, maybe never go
to a "torture" exhibit again.)
After this, I was quite shaken, and so decided to browse a
tea shop around the corner. Where, inevitably, I bought some tea -- the owner's
own blend "Le thé de la cité" ("The tea of the city"). Then
I went and had some lunch where I met a nice couple from North Carolina, and
got to pet a cat that lived in the restaurant. (The food was okay, the dessert
was amazing.)
During lunch, it rained, hailed, was sunny, and then rained
some more. When I left the
restaurant, it had cleared a bit, so I headed into the center of town to see a
garden and the Canal du Midi.
I made it to the garden, with the sky overcast, and I was
the only one inside. It was a little creepy -- with about as many statues as
plants, but ultimately kind of cool. But as I left, the sky cracked open and it
started pouring. Then it began to hail. Luckily, the hail was small, and my
umbrella is relatively sturdy. Finally it started pouring rain again, and I got
SOAKED. The wind was blowing with such force that my umbrella did precious
little good -- the entire back of my legs were wet (from waistband to ankle)
and the front was wet up to my knees. At this point, I decided to pack it in
for the afternoon and head back to base camp -- on a Sunday, little
was open anyway.
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| Another view of the city from the Pont Vieux |
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| These guys were just lounging |
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| Playing around with different settings on my camera |
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| It was actually really hard to get pictures of these flowers because the wind kept blowing them around |
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| Aftermath of the hail/rain storm |
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| Totally soaked |
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| The street I was staying on (with a view I could get used to) |
Once home, I changed and hung up my things to dry (they are
still damp 2 days later) and the woman hosting me made me a cup of tea and let
me sit with her and her son. Her son is absolutely adorable. (JUST adorable
enough to make me question my decision to not have kids, but not so adorable as
to change my mind.) We sat talking for an hour or so, and she gave me a graphic
novel about the history of Carcassonne. I went upstairs to start reading it
before dinner, and then headed out to find a restaurant for dinner.
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| The city after the rain |
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| The sun finally deciding to come back out. |
It was lucky that I passed up the first three places I found
because the fourth place was heaven. The staff was extremely friendly and
everything they served was made from scratch from local produce. And it made
SUCH a difference. The meal was simple, but absolutely incredible. Easily the
best meal I've eaten in my life. The hostess was also incredibly nice -- she
complemented my French even after I had asked for a "vin de verre rouge" ("wine of red glass") instead of
a "verre de vin rouge"
("glass of red wine").
When I got home, I forced myself to stay awake to finish
reading the history of Carcassonne, though at some points I was so tired that
instead of turning the page, I kept tapping it (like I would on my e-reader to
turn the page) even though it was, obviously, a physical book and not my
Kindle. I made it until about 11:30 before passing out.
Monday morning, my train wasn't until 11:30, and the train
station is right along the Canal du Midi, so I left a bit early and spent about
40 minutes walking along the Canal.
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| View from the bottom of an ancient defense path |
Today, there was a train strike -- it didn't affect me
getting to class on time, but they cancelled the 5:45 train that I usually take
home, forcing me to wait for the 7:51 train (and subsequently having to get a
taxi because the buses no longer run at that hour). Not a wonderful end to the
day, but the students today were extremely good and on task. They worked really
hard, and so it's all okay. Only 4 more weeks of classes with these kids! (3
more for the kids I had today and for my high schoolers!)
It's crazy how quickly it's all ending. I'm frantically
scrabbling to get everything in order to go home. I got some extremely good
news re: grad schools on Friday, but I'm still waiting on a couple schools, but
I'm going to have to make a final decision within the next week or so.
Until then, it's business as usual. I might be going to
Arcachon this weekend with one of the high school professors (so long as the
weather's nice -- it's back to raining all the time). Other than that, I'm trying
to go see a few movies before I leave since I paid for the subscription to the
cinema. Paris with Vanessa in just a couple weeks, then Cardiff, then Orléans
to visit my host family. And then packing and home. I finally got my flight,
and I'm not at all sure how I feel about it all. I'll be happy to be home, but
it's also not really home anymore (not for long anyway), and I'll miss being in
France, even if it's a bit lonely. Oh well, onward and upward. It's big decision time.
