2 weeks of work, 2 weeks of vacation!
So after two hard weeks of work (6 total work days total) it was vacation time! It is the Vacances de Toussaints (All Saints Day). I love France! I decided to visit parts of France that I have never seen, and on Friday the 25th of October I set off for Grenoble. My friend Lucy who was on my Senegal abroad program met me there. (She is an English Assistant in Lyon) Grenoble was beautiful, and I also had my very first experience surfing someone else's couch through couchsurfing.com. It was wonderful! We stayed with a poli-sci student named Anne Sophie for two nights and met her housemate who was heading off for vacation also. After walking around Grenoble, which is in a y-shaped valley created by glaciers (which means it is surrounded by steep mountains) we came back to her house and watched American tv-shows with her on our computers. She was exposed to Lipstick Jungle (as was I) and then the next night, The Office and Project Runway. We went to her friends house for dinner the first night, and found out that young people in France all learn to juggle. Who knew? There seemed to always be someone juggling in the hallway with a friend. And they're pretty good at it! We also tried lots of delicious cheese and I think I probably smoked an entire pack of cigarettes second hand. Vive la france!
Then, after visiting Grenoble in a very leisurely way, we headed to Dijon. We decided to go to Dijon at the last minute and so had not made couch surfing plans for the city. Instead we called a hotel and reserved a room, but we never ended up going! Instead, we ran into Anne Sophie's housemate who lives in Dijon and was actually meeting her friends at the train station to continue their vacation! She insisted that we stay with her parents in her room since she was leaving that evening and wouldn't be using it. Her family was so nice, and made dinner for us both nights. Her mother is half-American, and so we spoke in English and French and discussed all the differences between the two countries. We talked a lot about politics, which I can't get away from nor can I stop myself from bringing it up. But it's always interesting to discuss with French people, because they just don't understand our right wing, which is far more right than theirs ever will be. The father was really interested in the political situation, and we had long talks over dinner. The whole time we were in Dijon, they took such good care of us, and it felt so good to have a mommy for two days! We also did some delicious tastings while in Dijon. There is a small town next-door called Beaune, and we went there on both days to taste teh specialties of the region. We tasted 20 different wines on one day, many of which were very good. We also tasted Creme de Cassis, which might be the best alcoholic thing I have ever tasted in my life. It is this super sweet liqueur made from a fruit that doesn't exist in the US. The closes thing we have is black currants, but they aren't exactly the same. It is thick and syrupy, and oh so good! The second day in Beaune, we visited a mustard factory and learned all about Dijon mustard (which is a recipe rather than mustard from dijon!). We learned that 80% of mustard seeds come from Canada! We also got to taste different kinds of mustard with different little nibbles of local foods, mmmm. It was really fun, and Lucy and I ended up translating the entire tour for this American couple that didn't speak good-enough French to understand most of it. We got to make some mustard which was really disgusting, but luckily the tasting came afterwards so we ended on a good note.
After Dijon it was off to Bretagne (Brittany). In Brittany there is a very strong Breton culture, and all of the street signs are written in both French and Breton. We spent the longest part of our vacation here. First we stayed in Rennes with another couch surfer who was very nice and accommodating. We visited the city, saw all the important buildings, and froze to death! But Rennes is very pretty and full of cool architecture. We also ate a lot of crepes and galettes (dinner crepes made with a darker, saltier flour) because that is what the region is known for (and with reason!) I decided that I don't really like galettes but I LOVE crepes, and boy did I have my fill! From Rennes we did a day trip to Mt. Saint Michel where my American friend from Avignon, Carly, met up with us.
We got there, pretended to be Monks, and decided that the dreary weather and rain definitely made it easier to want to stay inside and pray. It was beautiful, and because it was Lucy and Carly's first time there, we sprung for a delicious and very overpriced meal at La Mere Poulard, the most famous restaurant there, known for their giant fluffy omelettes. It was yummy and a lot warmer and dryer than outside! From Rennes we went to St. Malo, a small beach town on the channel.
It was gray and misty, and we couldn't help thinking of Virginia Woolfe and "To the Lighthouse." It was sooo beautiful. Since we were on the coast, we spent a long time searching for the best seafood restaurant, and were very satisfied with our decision! We had coquilles St. Jaques, giant scallops, that the region is also known for. MMMmmmm. After almost missing the train the next morning, we headed off to Nantes, in the Southern part of Brittany.
There, we saw the city, and at night went to a dinner party based on melting cheese in little pans and mixing various kinds of meats with it. It's called Raclette and it is always a giant party. We went with our couch surfing host and there were about 20 of his friends there, all of whom sang along enthusiastically to the classic French music that they put on during dinner. At one point, we all got up in the middle of eating, linked pinkies, and started dancing in a giant circle around the table. It was ridiculous and so much fun! Bretons are very proud of their culture and love to dance! It was a night full of cheese, singing, and dancing - nothing could be better. After dinner it got a little too ridiculous - I think the absinth and large quantities of alcohol and pot started to kick in, and for those of us not partaking it was a little overwhelming. But definitely an experience I won't forget. We got home very late, sqeezed onto a double fold-out couch, and left early the next morning for Quimper, our last stop. Quimper is a quintessential Breton town, and we went to a museum of Breton culture where we saw the traditional costumes which are beautiful and a little silly. The women wear hats that are shaped like little lace cubes on top of their heads, and at some points in history were as tall as 30 cm. They were really cool to see. We also went to an earthen-ware workshop, which is what Quimper is known for, and got a tour of how they make their famous ceramics. The traditional designs are kind of what you would see at your grandma's house - pretty but a little fussy - but they have a lot of really nice designs that are based on the traditional ones but are simpler and more modern. It was fun to see the women painting the designs on the different bowls and statues, and to see the process from start to finish. After the workshop visit, Lucy and I stopped into a cookie store that had lots and lots of free samples. There are butter cookies all over Brittany, and we tried about 10 different kinds of butter cookies. Mmmmm. Then we finished our day at Point du Raz, the western-most point on continental France.
It was gorgeous - wind-swept with steep cliffs, and we sent all of our love and positive energy to you in the States since we were so close! We also sent all the luck we could to Obama! And thus concludes my first big vacation. Sorry this one is so long, but we did so much! Miss you all!
Bisous!
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