Tag: travel

The Good Week

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"I'm ready for school."

Let me just get this out of the way….. brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  If you haven’t heard, we are freezing over here in Europe. Check out these photos. I have spent most of the week bundled up in the warmest clothes I can find or with my feet against my bedroom radiator. But other than that, it has been a good week!

As I write this, I have finished my 5th week of classes. If you read, Testing My Confidence, you know that I made it into the Level 2 group, which was a pleasant surprise.  My happiness was quickly destroyed because the first week at the University, I understood almost nothing of what was going on in class. I was also frustrated because it seemed as though all the other students were following along easily. But after a few days,  I discovered everyone in my group had much more experience (3, 4, 5 years).  Based on my 1 year of formal classes (at 1.25 hours per week), I was actually doing pretty good.  So, I’d say the first week, my comprehension level was about 5% (generously speaking). To bruise my ego further, a professor approached me and asked if I would like to move down a level. I can’t say I didn’t consider it, but after much thought, I decided to tough it out and stay put.

So, in my group there are 15 students. 4 Japanese, 2 Americans, 2 Turks, 2 Serbians, 1 Russian, 1 Moroccan, 1 Finnish, 1 Syrian and one guy who I can’t understand, but I’m guessing he’s from somewhere in Eastern Europe. There are only 3 men. Girl Power! We range from ages 20 to 50.  Only a few of us have a common language, so most of the time we speak french. Basically, it is quite a diverse group.  My classes are 22 hours per week with 12 different professors who cover the subjects, writing/oral comprehension and expression, civilisation, grammar and phonetics. Right now, my favorite class would be writing expression and least favorite (hands down) would be grammar. I find it interesting most of the teachers rarely ever break stride and speak English, when I know that most of them are totally capable.

So, the current State of the Union – I’m happy to report that I am on fire this week! There are many reasons…

  1. Normally, I dread Wednesdays and Thursdays due to them being jam-packed with grammar and teachers that are not my favorite. However, this week I understood a lot (estimating 60% comprehension). Also, I received the results of my relative pronouns test and did surprisingly well. Even better than some students who are in their 2nd semester. Needless to stay, I was pumped! **NERD**
  2. A few times, I have found myself responding (correctly) without thinking – huge step.
  3. One day this week, my group met with “real french students” at the University and because my partner was kind of lame, I lead the entire conversation, for 2 hours! She seemed to understand me, but maybe she was just being nice. Whatever, I was happy to be understood, even if it was just a little bit.
  4. Next, I received news that I’m finally getting my student card next week. This gives me big discounts when using transportation, going to the movies, restaurants, etc. And more importantly, I need my student card to apply for a long stay residence permit. Good thing since my current permit expires in mid-March. Oh, the efficiency of French Administration.
  5. And lastly, Henri and I are getting along famously. In other words, I have driven a whole week without any stalls or major catastrophes. I even successfully ventured outside my 5km comfort radius to give cousin Jade a ride to the equestrian stables.

In the past month, I have grown a lot, but still have a long way to go.  At the end of May, I plan to take the DELF exam (Diplome d’Etudes en Langue Francaise) . This would certify my language ability and be essential in the event I ever wanted to get a job here. Realistically speaking, it’s a bit of a longshot, but, with the luck I’ve been having lately I might just surprise myself and pass!

And for your viewing pleasure, here are a few pictures of the University campus.

The tram which I often take because I'm too scared to drive into Orléans by myself.

One of the 3 student cafeteria's. Here you can get a 4 course meal served by a disgruntled kitchen worker for 3€!

The "Lake" in the center of campus - more like a pond if you ask me...

The department where most of my classes are held.

“Home”: St. Cyr en Val

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Downtown St. Cyr en Val

When we made our recent move to Smyrna, Tennessee, I wrote a post about my new city. So, its only fair that I tell you a little bit about the place where I’m living now.  This is St. Cyr en Val.  It’s a typical french village 20 minutes south of Orléans, which is a city most famous for it’s Cathedral and being the hometown of Joan of Arc. St. Cyr en Val has 3,170 inhabitants (census 2009) who call themselves St. Cyriennes.

There are a few bakeries, a post office, church, convenience store, car dealership, pharmacy and two restaurants, both of which I have never seen open (welcome to France). Yes, it’s pretty small. However, while out for a run one afternoon, I discovered the village (like our home in Smyrna) also has a picturesque little river.

The adorable little river

The Church of St. Cyr en Val

The car dealership of St. Cyr en Val (LOL)

The church shown is where Fabien and I will get married (again) this July. Nearly every hour during the day, I can hear the church bells play from my bedroom. On Christmas Eve, they played my favorite Christmas song ‘Carole of the Bells’. Even though it was freezing, I opened the bedroom windows and shrieked with excitement. This is also the church where Fabien’s mother had her baptism, communion, confirmation and wedding. Now, it’s Fabien’s turn to complete the quadfectra.

Rue René Godin

In addition, the village is full of family history. His Grandparents, Jean-Claude & Raymonde Godin, are very well-known and loved throughout St. Cyr. The first time I came to France, Jean-Claude told me stories of when he was young and saw the American soldiers come into Orléans during World War II. Jean Claude’s father, René Godin, even has a street named after him.  When René Godin died, he gifted land to his family, which they used to build houses. So, the Chevrier’s live directly behind Corinne’s sister, Valerie, right next door to her brother, Gilles and down the street from her parents who live next door to her other brother, Eric who lives next door to Corinne’s other sister, Veronique. Got all that? Most of you will remember Veronique as the crazy Aunt at from our wedding who ran around taking pictures and speaking french to everyone who only spoke English. Well, can you imagine what it’s like to live in a whole village of crazy French people like her? FUN is the answer! But in all honesty, it’s quite amazing how many family members are in close proximity and how know one is in each others business. They each have their own lives and reserve the weekend for little visits.

I really can’t thank the people in St. Cyr en Val enough for how friendly and patient they have been. Often, I butcher their language while asking for items at the convenience store, but they just give me a gracious smile and hand me what I was asking for where as in a bigger city, I might be considered a nuisance. Overall, the family and residents of the village are the reason I am loving small town life in France.

Oh, and St. Cyr en Val is one quick ride away from this little vacation cottage of Francois the 1st that I visited last weekend (for more pics, click here):

Just a little vacation home...

Paris Encore: Bateaux, Bones & Breathtaking Views

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Now that classes have started, I have made some friends. (Yay, friends!!!) It’s funny to see our nationality clicks form almost instantly. Naturally, there are a few American girls I have bonded with – two from Detroit. By pure coincidence I have met one of them before, when Fabien and I picked up our marriage license.  Him presenting his passport and her recognizing where he is from prompted the conversation of her coming here in January. The world is so small.

After a couple of weeks in Orléans, we were all ready to get out of dodge and spend a few days in Paris. Yes, I know – I just wrote a blog about my visit there, but….IT’S PARIS and possibly the only city in the world deserving of two blog posts in one month.

Our Adorable Parisian Apartment (www.airbnb.com)

We used Airbnb and (again) had fantastic experience that included our very own adorable Parisian apartment avec a cat, named Terton.  (Please pronounce with a french accent, otherwise, he will not respond. Snobby french cats.)

Americans in Paris

In typical Parisian fashion, the weather did not cooperate, but it was still a fantastic weekend. We visited some usual suspects (The Eiffel Tower, Sacré Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge & Champs Elysees), but we also did a few new things, which were absolutely wonderful.

Friday night, we took a ‘Bateaux Mouches’ (translation, fly, as in the bug, boat) along the Seine. An amazing way to see the lights in the City of Lights. There are a couple of companies that do this and they are about the same price (approximately 12€, but we used the one near the Eiffel Tower – link here).

Catacombs

However, what I was most excited for was going down Saturday morning.  We woke up early only to descend below the sewers & metros to Paris’s world-famous Catacombs. If you’re not familiar and want to read the history, click here. But, basically, in the 17th century Paris had a sanitary problem because of all the dead bodies buried in the city. The solution was to move the remains into the quarries where they remain to this day. There are literally hundreds of miles of hallways underneath the city lined with bones. Rumor has it, there are currently people living in the Catacombs. Très creepy! We spent 2 hours walking through the tunnels, inspecting skulls, bones, carvings, tombs and wells. I know it’s quite morbid, but it was also really neat to see and hear the history.

Finally, Sunday morning we headed to Notre Dame to climb 387 stairs into the towers of the famous cathedral. Now, let me make a correction to my last Paris post (The Worst Tourist in Paris) – I still love the park, Buttes Chaumont, BUT Notre Dame has the best view (see below). Pourquoi, you ask? Well, you can see the Eiffel Tower, Sacré Coeur and the rest of the beautiful city, but what you get as an extra is a close up of Notre Dame’s iconic gargoyles and a breathtaking view of the Seine. What is more Parisian than all of those things? The answer is nothing. So, here is what I’m recommending…If the budget is tight, go to Buttes Chaumont. You’ll love it. But, if you’ve got a few euros in your pocket (maximum 8.50€) and it’s a clear day, go to the towers of Notre Dame. Do one of these two things or don’t even bother going to Paris. Kidding, but really, being atop Notre Dame was amazing.

Now, I’m going to cool-it on Paris until the weather is better. I’ll be back in early April to run a half-marathon, but until then….Paris, Je t’aime!

A few more pics have been added to the photo gallery.

The best view in Paris