The Bay of Arcachon

Two weekends ago, I was invited to spend the weekend with one of my high school professors at her home near the Arcachon Bay (in a little town called Salles).

First off, immediately when we arrived Friday afternoon, I was greeted by a dog and a cat -- definitely a good sign. We went to run some errands and then came home to cook dinner. I spent quite a while with the cat curled up next to me (she eventually shifted onto my lap later in the night), and then we dined on confit du canard (duck thighs -- it's supposed to be the absolute best meat of the duck) and homemade fries. We also watched the Secret Life of Walter Mitty (in French) and then headed to bed.

On Saturday, we slept in a bit before eating breakfast. My professor and her husband went for a run while I watched a bit of French TV with the cat.

Kitten

The puppy was so cute, he just loved getting pets and would shove his face under my arm to make sure I was paying attention to him.

She looks kind of angry, but I swear she was purring.

Then, after lunch, we headed off to the Dune du Pyla (Pilat?) which is one of the tallest sand dunes in Europe (at 100m tall). Climbing the dune was hard work (stupid sand), and then of course I was terrified that I was going to fall down it. We admired the view for a while (and rested our legs) before heading back down the dune (like STRAIGHT down the side -- I thought I was going to faceplant and roll down). Next we drove to Arcachon, a beautiful little city on the bay. We walked along the coast admiring the beautiful weather, and then headed back home for dinner. On the menu was a pâté made of black pudding (blood pudding?), and I was worried that it was going to taste too much like... well... blood. But it was actually really delicious, and is a basque country specialty.

This looks really flat, but we're like up 100m here.

You can sort of see how big it is here -- those little black dots in the distance are people.

Looking down the side of the dune (where I thought I was going to fall down and die)

Looking back up the side of the dune

On Sunday, we had oysters for lunch. I actually managed to eat two! But right before I ate my second one, I was informed that the oyster is actually alive when you eat it (if you're eating it raw). I still ate the second one, but couldn't eat any more. The taste wasn't really that bad (just very, very salty), but the texture was a bit weird, and I'm quite certain I never want to put a still-living thing in my mouth ever again. Maybe I'll try cooked oysters...

After lunch, my professor took me to see some of the ports where they harvest the oysters (some of the best known oysters in the world). The ports were quite cute (the second was cuter than the first), with tons of little cabins (like tiny little cabins -- maybe the size of my studio, probably smaller) lining the water. The first port also had a few restaurants (advertising oysters -- what else?). 

Then we took a walk in a local nature preserve before I caught the train back to Dax. It was really a wonderful weekend -- it was nice to have a cat cuddle with, haha. And it was really interesting talking to my professor and her husband.

Oyster boat coming in (at low tide)

Low tide at the port

The view at the nature preserve

Last week was a little trying with my students -- the second group of 5ièmes (that I had trouble with a couple weeks ago) was back to not paying attention. At this point, they're just digging their own grave since I'd like to give them a treat and just let them watch Doctor Who for the last class I'm there, but if they haven't finished their work, I'm not going to let them off. So instead of getting to sit back and watch the episode, they'll still be working on questions. Entirely their own fault.

My high schoolers were mostly okay -- I've got one group that was a little raucous last week. Many of them had been absent for a while, and so had missed out on reading a Shakespearean sonnet in front of the class. I was going to let it slide and move on to discussing leadership like I am in the other classes, but 5 minutes in, I was so annoyed with the level of chatter that I made them read sonnets anyway. 

When I saw some of my middle schoolers this week and reminded them that I would only see them one more time after vacation, I got a lot of pouty faces, and one marriage proposal from one of my little 5ièmes. (I told the poor guy that I think he's a bit too young.) I officially only have 1 more class with each of my middle school groups, and that's quite sad to think about. I've made an email address for them, so if they want to keep in contact, they can. Hopefully some of them will. 

This week is my last week with the high schoolers. The one raucous group I'm not entirely sad to see go, but the other groups I'll miss. I've been working with them on preparing their subjects for their oral examination which they'll take in early July, and they seem to have come a long way, even if they don't believe in themselves. Mostly I ask them to prepare one or two things (facts, sentences, etc) to say about their subject, but I always ask "Anything else?" just in case they want to say more. One kid gave me about 5 sentences, and when I asked "Anything else?" he shook his head sadly and whispered, "I'm an idiot, I can't speak English." My heart almost broke for the kid and I had to stop all of them and be like, "You can speak English because you just did for like 2 minutes. I asked you for one or two facts and you gave me five -- you're doing wonderfully." Poor thing. Sometimes I just want to shake them and make them realize that they're not as bad as they think they are.

I can't believe how fast everything is coming to an end. This week is Luis' last week at the schools (he only works 3 hours on Mondays and Tuesdays, so he's arranged to make up his lessons before break, so that he'll be free to travel). The collège is arranging a little dinner for us on Thursday night --we'll stay after school for a pot luck before going to see a local production of Molière's Le Misanthrope.

And then after class on Friday, the last vacation of the year (for me) begins. Friday night I head off to Paris where I will be joined by my best friend, Vanessa, who flies in Saturday morning. We already have a wonderful week planned out including dinner at several amazing restaurants and Easter brunch at a teashop called Angelina's which is reputed to have the best hot chocolate in Paris. So we've got 9 glorious days together in Paris, then she will head home and I will head on to Cardiff with a friend from OU who is living in Paris. We'll spend just a couple days there before I come home to Dax to prepare for my two final days of class. Then I'll spend the weekend in Orléans, and then it's all preparing to come home.

I've finally made a decision for grad school (with tons of help from three of the best professors at OU), and I'll be moving to..... (*drumroll please*) TALLAHASSEE, FL to complete my MA (and hopefully my PHD as well) at Florida State University. I really couldn't be happier to be going there (though the thought of moving twice in a little over two months -- home from France, then MI to FL -- is more than a little bit daunting). But HELLO SUNSHINE. I've started looking at apartments online, but hopefully I'll be going down to take a look at the city in June and can do some more serious apartment hunting then.

Not sure if I'll have time to do any updating while I'm away in Paris and Cardiff, but there will be plenty of updates and pictures when I get back, for certain! Until then, DFTBA.

« Cette sacrée neige de merde! » (approximately: "This f'ing snow!")

Since I last wrote, I went to Barcelona (again) for the weekend to see Fall Out Boy in concert. I was really only there for one day, so I honestly just walked around and then went to the beach. Completely underestimated how cold it would be, but I did put on my bikini and walk in the water, even if only for a few minutes. I was going to go out for Carnivale with the hostel -- but drinks were served at 9:30pm, and by 12:30(am) there was still no sign of actually leaving to hit up 3 different clubs. At that point, I gave up and just went to bed.

Proof that I am actually wearing a bikini (kind of)

I put my vest on because it was a bit chilly

I ordered a beer at lunch -- just wanted a little one; this glass was the size of my face

The concert was amazing. I love Fall Out Boy and they're awesome live. It was also general admission, so I didn't have to wait like a shark for tickets to go on sale, pay like $800,000,000 for a pit ticket and then get in line at the butt-crack of dawn to actually get anywhere close to the stage. It was extremely chill. I arrived about an hour before doors opened, milled around while the opening act performed (The Pretty Reckless -- not too impressive) and then got about 4 people back from barricade near the left side of the stage (where Joe stands) while they were setting up the stage between acts.

The music was great, the atmosphere was incredible, and I'm like 99% certain that Pete smiled at me because I was the only one who didn't whip out my camera the second he came over to our side of the stage. All-in-all absolutely wonderful. I had like 3 big re-centerings during the February vacation: Notre Dame, being home, and this concert. Maybe that seems silly, but their music, especially their latest record (Save Rock & Roll) has really meant a lot to me. So it was a really great way to re-focus for these last couple months here in France.

Joe Trohman -- actually an angel

Pete Wentz

Patrick moved around so much that it was hard to get a shot of him that wasn't blurry

Actual angel Andy Hurley during his sick drum solo

Patrick finally standing sort of still

When I got back to Dax it was business as usual. My classes are going well, though two of my teachers are still out sick. One is going to be out for the rest of the year and they're still trying to find a replacement (in the meantime, we're communicating by email so that I can continue working with the students), and the other is due back next week. My high school classes are starting a unit on Nelson Mandela, so on Thursday I went with them to the cinema as a chaperone to see the movie Mandela. It was really an excellent movie and a good way to ease myself back into working at the high school since I haven't seen these students since before December break.

Yesterday, the Résidence organized a trip to La Pierre St. Martin, a ski resort in the Pyrenées, so I attempted skiing for the very first time in my life. Overall, the trip was really awesome. There were 5 of us residents (Mathieu, Thomas, Esteban, Adriano, and me), and one of the workers (Jacques, who is an experienced skier). Throughout the day, the ambiance was just really nice. Mathieu (the only one I had met before) made sure to include me in their conversations and help me out when I needed it (this generally involved holding my hand so I didn't trip and fall down stairs in my ski boots or slip on ice).

For Esteban, Adriano, and I, it was our very first time skiing. Jacques took us to the bunny hill and set us to work («first you must learn to walk with the skis on»). He then left for a while while we tried to get accustomed to our new ski-feet. We were all doing pretty well until Adriano started sliding backwards down a little slope, I fell over trying to help him out, and then Esteban slid down the same slope Adriano did when he came over to figure out what we were doing. Something was wrong with my skis -- the clamps that held the boots in place (and subsequently released them) were WAY too tight, so I couldn't undo them by myself.

By the time Jacques came back, I had resigned myself to sitting in the snow (« Non, ça va; je suis bon comme ça. » "Nah, I'm good.") and Esteban & Adriano were stuck against the fence nearby cursing the snow (« Cette sacrée neige de merde! »). But we were generally all laughing and in good spirits. Jacques helped me undo my skis (it was then that I realized that there was actually something wrong with my skis -- I wasn't just a weakling).

First time ever in the mountains

The "I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into" face

Selfie on the ground (Adriano & Esteban are behind me, stuck against the fence)

With all 3 of us up, on our ski-feet, and away from the little slope, Jacques taught us how to crab walk up the hill so that we wouldn't slide down. (I am very good at the uphill crab walk.) Then he brought us to a little slope (baby, baby slope) and told us to lean forward so that we would slide. Esteban managed it first, with me following. Jacques said we'd stop by ourselves -- and I did. On my butt. Once again, I needed rescuing because of my too-grippy skis.

Esteban & Adriano took a smoke break (so French, haha) so Jacques worked with me on stopping. If there's one thing I can do, it's stop. Until my stops accidentally turned into turns, which then turned into falls because I kept overthinking it. Esteban & Adriano came back and Jacques worked with them too. Finally, it was close to lunch time, and my not-quite-so-fluent French betrayed me. What I understood was that it was lunch time and "We're tired of walking, so we're going to take the rolling carpet to the top of the hill". I assumed that lunch was at the top of the hill, so I was all for the rolling carpet even though it didn't really seem that safe to me.

During our first break

The boys roughhousing

The boys, from left: Thomas, Mathieu, Esteban, Adriano

Attempted group selfie, but Thomas cut out Esteban

We all get on the carpet (Jacques first, then Esteban, then Adriano, then me, with quite a few people in between all of us). But the moment I slid onto the carpet, I lost my balance. Jacques had quickly barked out instructions ("Knees [something I didn't understand], knees [something else I didn't understand], face forward, don't look around") but I didn't get a chance to clarify. In any case, I lost my balance, beefed it, and almost took out two children (one in front of me, one behind). Luckily, there is an emergency stop button on the carpet.

An attendant helped me off the carpet, and (because I was now super nervous about trying to get back on it) I asked if I could just walk up the hill (to where I thought lunch was waiting). So I walk up the hill (exhausted when I get there, also having passed Adriano, beating him to the top), where I find that it's just a hill -- to get out (and to lunch) you have to ski down. At this point, having spent more time on the ground than upright in my skis, I decided to walk back down the hill and wait for the others to ski down (which took a while -- none of us were very good).

With my feet aching in the boots all during lunch, I decided to call it quits. The boys all headed back either to the actual slopes or the bunny hill, and I decided to grab a bottle of water and just enjoy the view. It was my first time actually being in the mountains, after all.

All-in-all, it was a fantastic day and we were all exhausted for the car ride home and slept most of the way. When we got back, Jacques offered to cook us dinner, so we also got dinner included, which was nice.

Kid sleeping in a sled -- I could've used a nap too, kid

Now I'm just gearing up for these final few weeks -- Vanessa is coming to Paris during the first week of April vacation and my friend Melissa and I just booked our tickets to Cardiff for the second week of vacation. I'm watching airfares like a hawk trying to get my flight home booked, and I just booked a weekend in Carcassonne -- something I'm super excited about because it's one of the UNESCO sites I've most wanted to visit for a few years now.

I'm hoping to get to Arles as well, to visit the town and countryside that inspired Van Gogh so much, but it's looking doubtful due to lack of affordable accommodations for a solo traveler. And I've still got to plan my vacation for May -- I'm starting to lean toward Istanbul and Greece, but I need to check on prices for everything. I remain open to suggestions.

I've also started hearing back from grad schools, so I'm working on making my choice about where I'll be next year (still waiting to hear from a couple places as well). So overall, life is getting to be pretty exciting, even though my time here in France is coming swiftly to an end. I can't believe I have to start thinking about closing my bank account, turning off my wifi, and all that end-of-the-year stuff. (It feels like I *just* got the wifi working!!)

Premature nostalgia hits again, but I'm actually going to miss this apartment. I've gotten so used to the space and to the city. And now that the nice weather is back (HALLELUJAH!) it's hard to imagine leaving it for more than a quick vacation. Oh well, back to teaching tomorrow. :)

Until next time, DFTBA.

Barcelona might just be my happy place...

So last weekend (and by last weekend, I mean like 3 weekends ago... I've been uploading pictures) I jetted off to Barcelona (well, I went by train; so I suppose I "trained" off). The train route took me past Carcassonne (I got a glimpse of the medieval city from the train!) and into a city called Narbonne. I had about an hour before my train to Barcelona, so I explored there a bit before heading back to the train station.

The train got into Barcelona pretty late, so I headed straight to my hostel (an adorable place called Tailor's Hostel just outside the center of town). Friday morning, I headed into the center of town for a free walking tour (organized, as always, by Sandeman's New Europe Tours -- I cannot recommend them enough). Since I walk fast, I stayed near the front of the group where I chatted quite a bit with our tour guide, Leon. He was really funny, and is actually an actor and composer (he worked on Wolfboy and Monte Cristo: The Musical). I really liked him, and he was running a modernisme tour that afternoon, so I decided to do that one as well.

Actual steps walked up by Christopher Columbus

The Barcelona Cathedral -- an example of Catalan Gothic Architecture

Narrow winding street

I just love these balconies...

Another cathedral (and another example of Catalan Gothic)

The damage at the bottom of the wall of this building is actually from WWII bombings

I have no idea what this actually is; I just thought it was really beautiful

I think this is the castle...

Snack between walking tours -- Meringue

The choral tower of the Catalonian Music Palace

Probably the ugliest building in all of Barcelona -- no idea what they were thinking with the fish eyes...

Leon!

I'd love windows like this in my apartment one day

Better yet... like this! Definitely would make the room with this window my library

The guy who owned this house tried to fake his wealth -- pretending the pink columns were a really precious marble

A facade done by Gaudi

Full length shot of the facade

After like 6 straight hours of walking, I headed back to the hostel to give my feet a rest before going out to dinner at a restaurant Leon had recommended earlier in the day. The food was DELICIOUS, and affordable (a plus), and it was right across from the Palace of Catalonian Music, which is an absolutely GORGEOUS building.

Box office (... I think??) of the Palace of Catalonian Music

The facade

Detail at night

More detail

Saturday morning, I had tickets to go into La Perdrera, a home designed entirely by Gaudi (THE big moderniste architecht) which is also said to have inspired a lot of the aesthetics in Star Wars. Honestly, the best part of it was the roof. Other than that, you only get into the top two floors (the attic, and a floor that has been transformed into a sort of museum, showing what the house/furnishings might have been like). Honestly, the inside was a bit disappointing compared to the outside of the building and the roof -- relatively normal and ordinary. (At least it was normal to the untrained eye. I'm sure someone well versed in architecture and/or modernisme might see it differently.)

On the rooftop of La Perdrera

A model of La Perdrera

The apartment inside -- rather lackluster compared to the rooftop/facade

After La Perdrera, I headed up to La Sagrada Familia to try to go in. But the line was ridiculously long, so I decided to wait and buy my tickets online to avoid having to wait on the sidewalk for hours. So I headed back into town, where I was met by some sort of horse parade?? I have no idea what was going on, but there were a bunch of people on horses and they were throwing candy at the crowd.

Horse parade?? I don't know what was going on...

Silly hats

I ended up stopping for a hot chocolate at a cafe recommended by Leon; it was a little hole-in-the-wall place that you probably would never find unless you knew it was there (or were REALLY looking for it) as it's tucked away in a back alley by the wax museum. It's called "Garden of the Fairies" or "Forest Fairies" depending on the translation (El Bosc de les Fades). It's a bit like the Rainforest Café with the trees and foliage overhead, but it's less gimmicky somehow (no recorded animal noises or animatronic animals around). The trees have got faces, and there's lanterns hanging from the branches. And there's a little nook behind the bar with a little pond and waterfall. It's just gorgeous and serene with celtic music playing in the background. Absolutely lovely place to take a little break.

Best. Café. Ever. (And the hot chocolate was delicious)

Then I headed over to the Barcelona Cathedral (I think that's its name...) where they had 13 geese to honor Saint Eulalia (who was 13 years old when she was killed, and underwent 13 trials). Overall, it's a gorgeous cathedral. Her body/remains are supposedly in a sarcophagus in the crypt; they're supposed to be "perfectly preserved" but also, because she was so holy, no mortal may look upon her body. Apparently the last man who tried (a priest, or some such) was immediately struck blind as soon as he attempted to open the sarcophagus. So I'm not sure how they think the body is perfectly preserved if no one has seen it in hundreds of years.... but that's the legend.

The courtyard

Geese!

Inside the cathedral

The tomb of Saint Eulalia

On the roof of the cathedral

Biggest. Seagulls. Ever.

After the church, I headed over to Parc Guell (buildings and park designed, once again, by Gaudi). I had a bit of a language mix up trying to figure out where to buy tickets (the sign said "pick up your online tickets here" but since I hadn't bought tickets online, I tried to find out where I had to go to just buy tickets; the man spoke absolutely no English, but it turned out it was all the same place, the sign just confused me.) The parc itself is quite beautiful. The homes in the parc are pretty too -- they look almost like Gingerbread houses!

Gingerbread houses!

Apparently Gaudi was famous for this Gecko

Majestic staircase up to the rest of the parc

The front of the house from across the street

Saturday night, I went on a "tapas tour" which is essentially like a pub crawl, but with more focus on food. We went to three different restaurants, and then a bar afterward, and the food was extremely delicious. At the second place, we learned about the traditional Catalan wine pitcher, called a porron, which is essentially a communal wine pitcher that everyone drinks out of. It's quite tricky to get the hang of it (especially with red wine!) but quite a bit of fun, and does save on dishes since you don't need glasses.

On the tapas tour, I met a girl from California who is currently working as an au pair in Spain. She was really nice, and we spent most of the evening talking. We also started talking to a Spanish guy on the tour who took us out salsa dancing until the early hours of the morning. That was quite a bit of fun, though I had absolutely zero salsa experience (other than Zumba, which I'm sure doesn't actually count). It was interesting just watching the other couples dancing, and getting to dance a bit myself.

Sunday, I took things easy and headed down to the beach, where I layed around for a good hour or so. The weather was absolutely beautiful. If I'd have had the foresight to wear my bathing suit, I really would have gone for a dip in the Mediterranean, even though it was January.

Barcelonetta

I went swimming accidentally again. I think this is a theme...

After the beach, I headed over to La Sagrada Familia (having purchased tickets Saturday afternoon when I nipped back to the hostel before the tapas tour). To be honest, it's not my style of church. I mean, I know the architect is Gaudi (pronounced, as far as I can tell -- "Gow - dee"), but it's just really gaudy. The outside especially is overly intricate. I mean, there's a point of "attention to detail" but that can easily be taken too far. And I think this takes it too far. There's just too much going on. The inside at least looks simpler. It doesn't hurt my eyes looking around, anyway. The pillars are all made to look like trees, and the coolest thing is the way the light plays through the stained glass windows and actually throws colors all over the room. That bit is quite beautiful. But the rest is just really too much.

Detail on the facade

Facade created by modern architects (not Gaudi) that depicts the Passion

More of the Passion facade

Gaudi was inspired by nature, and I'm 99% sure that chandelier was inspired by a jellyfish...

"Trees"

Light coming in through stained-glass windows

Windows

The lights playing off the pipe organ

Attempted panorama shot of the inside

After that, I pretty much headed back to my hostel to pack and get some rest before my early train on Monday morning. When I got back to Dax on Monday, it was basically like re-entering a disaster area. I went from sunny and warm Barcelona to rainy, cold Dax. But apparently it had been raining non-stop for a while, causing some pretty bad flooding in the entirety of the region.

Tuesday morning, when I went out to wait for the bus (so I could get the train to go to school) the bus never came (causing me to miss work). When I went out to do some grocery shopping later in the day, two more buses never showed up. Wednesday morning, I walked all the way to the center of town (where I have to go to catch the bus that early).  Eventually, a man from the transportation department comes around and tells us "No buses today. At all." I called a cab and JUST made it to the train station (where the tunnels between platforms have started flooding) in time for the train to school.

On the way home from school Wednesday afternoon, I saw more flooding up near the train station (the tracks were partially covered). And so on and so forth. It's been raining pretty consistently all week. The river water level got so high that the city decided to divert some of the water down a couple main roads -- residents of those roads have been offered rooms at a local hotel, and the streets are obviously closed to traffic. The buses are now out of commission indefinitely, though they've restored the free shuttle service around town. As for the weather forecast, it's supposed to keep raining for at least another week or more, though we might get a bit of a reprieve on Tuesday.

I thought about maybe going on a day trip this weekend or next weekend, but seeing as how I can't get to the train station (without paying an arm and a leg) I decided to stay in. Maybe if things are better, I'll go somewhere next weekend. (I didn't go anywhere this weekend -- I've been packing/cleaning/etc.)

It's almost time for our third break, which means I'll be heading back to MI for a visit. My suitcase is already packed with all sorts of extraneous items that I'm moving home sooner rather than later to alleviate what is sure to be a difficult move home in May.

(I'm working at uploading pictures -- I've been uploading them backwards, so I'll add more as I can, but I figure I should probably publish this since I wrote it about 2 weeks ago...)