My cat, out in St. Affrique, Amy in Millau, Amy and Augustin, Christina and Jed in Albi
19.4.07
11.4.07
Always use your French English Dictionary
So, for Christina's spring vacation, after much deliberation and number crunching, we decided that the least expensive and most fun idea would be to rent a car and drive around Aveyron (the district (county) in France where Millau is, and of which Rodez is the "county seat"). There is a ton to see here, including Roquefort, the home of the very pungent cheese of the same name, and much of it can't be seen by bus or train. The first day we saw a famous boat shaped chateau (castle) and then went dolmen hunting. The second day we drove to the Lakes then went to Chateau le Brousse, which is an old castle in a small village. Driving around the countryside has been amazing, especially in springtime here, everything here is so green and lovely. It is a rolling hill kind of place, with vast fields divided by old stone fences, lines of trees, and some kind of low bushes. We have also seen a lot of livestock over the last five days, and while this is something that we have a lot of at home (across the street in Billings for me) it's still cool to see so much of the local life. We went to Albi on Monday, which is actually just on the other side of the Aveyron border in the Tarn district. The river Tarn runs through Millau and into Albi, and the city itself is very pretty. We had a nice walk along the river there, a city of bridges, and saw a giant Cather church in the center. The church wasn't open to go inside, but as I have said, and heard said many times before,including on the steps of this cathedral, you've seen one cathedral you've seen them all. This sounds cynical, but it doesn't take many magnificent cathedrals for this to be true. Each is amazing in it's own right, and they quickly become redundant; we found out that this is also true for castles.
That aside, we have seen a ton of countryside and taken hundreds of pictures. Today, after filling the tank of the super-SuperU car, we drove to Le Coutreveraude (something like this), another castle, and had a look around. It was free to walk around, besides the €2 it would cost to get back out of the parking lot. The castle is actually part of a fortified city that now houses many little shops and boasts some great views of the countryside. Though rainy, we enjoyed wandering around there for a couple of hours, but were ready to go when we were done, because as aforementioned; it was raining. It was at this point that our previously unmentioned fears about having put the wrong gas in the car were proven correct. In France, green is for unleaded and Diesel is also called Gazoil. We had filled our almost empty tank with Unleaded by mistake, and were suddenly stranded at the castle, in the middle of rural France and no phone book.
Christina talked to some road workers nearby who called a garage for us, and pretty soon we were in the front seat of a tow truck with the SuperU car safely strapped on back. A couple pastis and hours later, not to mention the €130 we "had to pay to fix our mistake," and we were on the road again. On the upside, we didn`t have to pay the 2 euro parking fee.
After my fun Russia experiences Mindy told me that it is not a trip unless you visit the police station just once. Well, already having done that, my French trip has been marked instead with a mechanic`s garage. Due to unexpected expenses we had to cut our car vacation a little short, but we still saw a ton of Aveyron, and in the end it was much cheaper then anything else we could have done; though double what we were expecting thanks to our guesswork. The moral of the story is, use your French English dictionary.
That aside, we have seen a ton of countryside and taken hundreds of pictures. Today, after filling the tank of the super-SuperU car, we drove to Le Coutreveraude (something like this), another castle, and had a look around. It was free to walk around, besides the €2 it would cost to get back out of the parking lot. The castle is actually part of a fortified city that now houses many little shops and boasts some great views of the countryside. Though rainy, we enjoyed wandering around there for a couple of hours, but were ready to go when we were done, because as aforementioned; it was raining. It was at this point that our previously unmentioned fears about having put the wrong gas in the car were proven correct. In France, green is for unleaded and Diesel is also called Gazoil. We had filled our almost empty tank with Unleaded by mistake, and were suddenly stranded at the castle, in the middle of rural France and no phone book.
Christina talked to some road workers nearby who called a garage for us, and pretty soon we were in the front seat of a tow truck with the SuperU car safely strapped on back. A couple pastis and hours later, not to mention the €130 we "had to pay to fix our mistake," and we were on the road again. On the upside, we didn`t have to pay the 2 euro parking fee.
After my fun Russia experiences Mindy told me that it is not a trip unless you visit the police station just once. Well, already having done that, my French trip has been marked instead with a mechanic`s garage. Due to unexpected expenses we had to cut our car vacation a little short, but we still saw a ton of Aveyron, and in the end it was much cheaper then anything else we could have done; though double what we were expecting thanks to our guesswork. The moral of the story is, use your French English dictionary.
Chuck Norris doesn't dance, he round-house kicks...
Justin came to Millau last weekend for Mr. Gil's party. Mr. Gil is one of the people who works in Christina's school system, and he invited us to his bi-annual academic party last time Chrisitna and I were at Inspection and he called in a favor to get her in to see the dentist at the last minute (remnants of their bad trip to Barcelona a couple of weeks earlier). Anway, March 31st finally arrived and Christina, Jed, Justin and I all caught a ride with one of the other assistans, Anna Maria, to St. Georges Luzecon (Louis-san-son). It was so much fun; the French really know how to have a good time. There was lots of crazy French dancing, and a dj playing terrible music. The party was also a dinner, and everyone brought some kind of dish, so really it was a glorified pot luck (Christina made a French version of potatoe salad that was really good). There were over 100 people there and we had a really fun time. Anna Maria took Jed and Christina home earlier than Justin and I wanted to leave, so we caught a ride back to Millau with a guy we had been talking to earlier in the evening. I spoke Spanish with a guy from Cuba who now teaches in France, and practiced my few French phrases, like "I don't speak French" and "I am American," the last not always met with a smile. I got this great video on my camera of Justin and some random French guy (the one who didn't like that we were Americans) dancing to some kind of French polka music while simultaneously drinking champagne. If there is a way to get it on this blog, I will do it. It's hilarious and awesome at the same time.
Anyway, we didn't really do anything the next day and Justin and I finally made it out of the chalet around 5pm to have some dinner before he caught his 8:40pm bus back to St. Aff. Somehow, after eating pizza at Pizza Miam Miam (idiotic name, great pizza) and talking to some Irish rock climbers in there, we stopped by the Bodeghita for a glass of wine before going to the bus station. Next thing we know, Justin has yet again missed his bus. We made it back to the chalet around 11:30, then stayed up until 4 am. Justin had to get up at 6 to make his bus, which was imperative this go-around because his first class on Mondays is at 8:30am. I think he was unhappy to get up because he was making a lot of noise, and I am sure it is unnecessary to say that I did not offer to walk him to the bus station this time. I heard later that he ran 10k that afternoon. My only explanation for this is that he is 22.
Anyway, we didn't really do anything the next day and Justin and I finally made it out of the chalet around 5pm to have some dinner before he caught his 8:40pm bus back to St. Aff. Somehow, after eating pizza at Pizza Miam Miam (idiotic name, great pizza) and talking to some Irish rock climbers in there, we stopped by the Bodeghita for a glass of wine before going to the bus station. Next thing we know, Justin has yet again missed his bus. We made it back to the chalet around 11:30, then stayed up until 4 am. Justin had to get up at 6 to make his bus, which was imperative this go-around because his first class on Mondays is at 8:30am. I think he was unhappy to get up because he was making a lot of noise, and I am sure it is unnecessary to say that I did not offer to walk him to the bus station this time. I heard later that he ran 10k that afternoon. My only explanation for this is that he is 22.
4.4.07
From Montpelier to Sete and home again
Well, we made it to Montpelier for our birthdays, and though the weather was ok (we are weather obsessed here...actually, to be accurate Jed is weather obsessed; he watches the French weather five times a day and is always analyzing and explaining the weather maps to us)however, after losing Jed in the afternoon, and spending the rest of our time trying to plan for the spring break that we are now in, we didn't do much celebrating on Saturday. To make matters worse, I was beginning to get sick, which I am just now getting over, and felt crappy. We ate pizza at one of Christina's favorite places, and then went to bed listening to CNN world news and Jon Stewart (in English!). The next day was the time change, which we didn't know, so we just barely made our train to Sete (is there a pattern here?)
We had earlier to decided to spend Sunday in Sete, a short train ride from Montpelier to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and though it was very windy, and I hate windy, it was otherwise lovely. Boats line the river of the city and the harbors on the sea, and the water was a beautifully bright aqua that commanded our attention for sometime. We ate pizza in the park and then walked up to the cemetary where the French poet Paul Valery is buried. I don't want to be buried, but if I ever changed my mind about that it would be to be buried in a place like this. Not only is the view from the hill the cemetary sits on beautiful, the place itself is beautiful. If my computer weren't on the fritz, I could put up some pictures, but alas, techonology doesn't seem to like France. Anyhow, from the hill you can see the aqua water extend as a calm sheet all the way to the horizon, where it joins the darker blue of the smooth, cloudless sky. The place itself is huge, and terraced into the hill, though it feels small and one feels more at home among these crosses and monuments for the dead than you would think possible. It deserves the label breathtaking, and though we didn't find Paul Valery's grave, we were happy to have made the trek up the hill to see it. It remains my favorite place visited so far.
We had earlier to decided to spend Sunday in Sete, a short train ride from Montpelier to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and though it was very windy, and I hate windy, it was otherwise lovely. Boats line the river of the city and the harbors on the sea, and the water was a beautifully bright aqua that commanded our attention for sometime. We ate pizza in the park and then walked up to the cemetary where the French poet Paul Valery is buried. I don't want to be buried, but if I ever changed my mind about that it would be to be buried in a place like this. Not only is the view from the hill the cemetary sits on beautiful, the place itself is beautiful. If my computer weren't on the fritz, I could put up some pictures, but alas, techonology doesn't seem to like France. Anyhow, from the hill you can see the aqua water extend as a calm sheet all the way to the horizon, where it joins the darker blue of the smooth, cloudless sky. The place itself is huge, and terraced into the hill, though it feels small and one feels more at home among these crosses and monuments for the dead than you would think possible. It deserves the label breathtaking, and though we didn't find Paul Valery's grave, we were happy to have made the trek up the hill to see it. It remains my favorite place visited so far.