Thursday, January 29, 2009
Crêpes for every meal
Real quick for Allie: for dinner last night, Ella and I made savory crêpes filled with sauteed mushrooms, onions, potatoes, and cheese. Then we used the rest of the batter to make dessert crêpes filled with sauteed bananas, PB (merci Papa John!), and melted dark chocolate all mushed together.
Jeudi Noir
Today I learned how to faire la grève (it means to go on strike). Earlier this week, we were warned of "Black Thursday" approaching, when government-employed workers would hit the streets, grève-ing. Transportation (trains, trams, buses, planes), banks, the postal service, schools, and hospital (wtf?!) services were all disrupted. Apparently the French are not too happy with President Sarcozy and his economic policies. They (like the rest of the world) are feeling the effects of the financial crisis, and are demanding job & wage security, greater purchasing power, action against rising unemployment, etc. Read more here: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1874757,00.html
I also learned how hardcore the French are about striking. Luckily, I didn't have classes at the University today (many students in homestays couldn't even get there due to interruptions in bus and tram lines). I had class at 2pm at the Museum in the center of Montpellier. Walking to class, it seemed like a chill day - lots of people at the outdoor cafes in the Place de la Comedie...do the French just sip coffee on greve day?! No!
I left class to find floods of people, old and young, taking to the streets. It seemed like everyone was greving for something else, but they all did it together. It was nice to see the French so passionate about being heard/part of their government. At first, I was like, oh shit this is annoying how will the country function/is this just an excuse for a day off from work? But after being a small part of the greve, I think it's just another badass perk of being French. It will be interesting to see what, if any, change this strike has on governmental policies.
I tried to snap some photogs of the commotion, but I didn't want to appear too touristy/like an outsider. This is the street I walk down to get home...obvs I had to find an alternate route today!
I'm a little tired after participating in the largest general strike in 3 years here. Will the French continue to strike through my February break? Stay tuned.
I also learned how hardcore the French are about striking. Luckily, I didn't have classes at the University today (many students in homestays couldn't even get there due to interruptions in bus and tram lines). I had class at 2pm at the Museum in the center of Montpellier. Walking to class, it seemed like a chill day - lots of people at the outdoor cafes in the Place de la Comedie...do the French just sip coffee on greve day?! No!
I left class to find floods of people, old and young, taking to the streets. It seemed like everyone was greving for something else, but they all did it together. It was nice to see the French so passionate about being heard/part of their government. At first, I was like, oh shit this is annoying how will the country function/is this just an excuse for a day off from work? But after being a small part of the greve, I think it's just another badass perk of being French. It will be interesting to see what, if any, change this strike has on governmental policies.
I tried to snap some photogs of the commotion, but I didn't want to appear too touristy/like an outsider. This is the street I walk down to get home...obvs I had to find an alternate route today!
I'm a little tired after participating in the largest general strike in 3 years here. Will the French continue to strike through my February break? Stay tuned.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
French womens' waistlines
Omg how do they do it? I mean they don't really snack/eat much between meals, but when they eat, they eat man. Butter, croissants, bread, cheese, wine, ham, pastries, WHOLE milk, it's ridiculous. No one exercises (see below). There is a lot of walking, but not enough to raise your heartbeat. I've just come to accept that they have skinny genes and it's just not fair. I think I've seen about 2 overweight French people so far.
After 3 weeks of eating my face off and not exercising, I decided to go for a little run. I barely made it a mile (pathetic!), and I think I broke both of my ankles on the crazy bumpy sidewalks. So I tried joining the gym last week. Holy shit it's expensive/I didn't know what the guy was saying so I left. Then I tried downloading exercise podcasts on itunes, but they are all 10 mins and a lot are weird home videos of people working out.
So I caved in and now I'm an official member of the NewPlanet'forme gym! It's only a 3 min walk from my apartment. Omg it's so bizarre I love it. It's like a social hang out for these old guys in their 60s...they're basically smoking while ellipticizing. I was on the treadmill and noticed NO ONE was breaking a sweat. The girl next to me even had her hair down. So when the French exercise, they don't even burn calories, adding to the mystery of their skinny asses.
I'm pretty sure everyone was staring at me the entire time...I was the only one there to acutally exercise. But they will learn to love me.
It's no rec hall, but the facility is pretty sweet, kind of like an old loft with a few of each type of machine. They even offer classes - step, yoga, cuisses-fessiers (like butts & guts!), etc.
Okay I'm off to shop! Lovies 4ever.
After 3 weeks of eating my face off and not exercising, I decided to go for a little run. I barely made it a mile (pathetic!), and I think I broke both of my ankles on the crazy bumpy sidewalks. So I tried joining the gym last week. Holy shit it's expensive/I didn't know what the guy was saying so I left. Then I tried downloading exercise podcasts on itunes, but they are all 10 mins and a lot are weird home videos of people working out.
So I caved in and now I'm an official member of the NewPlanet'forme gym! It's only a 3 min walk from my apartment. Omg it's so bizarre I love it. It's like a social hang out for these old guys in their 60s...they're basically smoking while ellipticizing. I was on the treadmill and noticed NO ONE was breaking a sweat. The girl next to me even had her hair down. So when the French exercise, they don't even burn calories, adding to the mystery of their skinny asses.
I'm pretty sure everyone was staring at me the entire time...I was the only one there to acutally exercise. But they will learn to love me.
It's no rec hall, but the facility is pretty sweet, kind of like an old loft with a few of each type of machine. They even offer classes - step, yoga, cuisses-fessiers (like butts & guts!), etc.
Okay I'm off to shop! Lovies 4ever.
Provence!
Long story short: on Saturday, we all (the entire program, about 60 of us?) went on a day trip to Provence - a lot of bus time, pretty villages and mountains, lots of rain, lots of us driving too close to the edge of mountains. Here is what I saw!
Pont du Gard: Roman aqueduct built around 50 A.D. It was pretty badass.
Fontaine de Vaucluse: a closed valley where the Sorgue river "mysteriously takes its source" Again, pretty badass. We climbed some rocks and took lots of pics.
Les Baux de Proevence: old castle on a massive plateau. Too tired to sightsee anymore so I grabbed a cafe and bought some spicy huile d'olive.
Moulin Saint Pierre: windmill built from 1815? No one really understood the significance of this site.
On the ride back (about 1.5 hours), like 50 security vehicles (firetrucks, ambulances, trucks w/ lifeboats attached) passed us on the highway....and then there over 100 hugeass tractor trailers pulled over on the shoulder/right lane...I was confused, but later found out there was a bad storm approaching with category 2 hurricane winds. The trucks thought they were going to get blown over. Nuts!
That night, Ella and I watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (we watched the first one the other night). Why do movies on itunes take literally 28 hours to download? If you're trying to think of something to send me, (FLANNERY, Mary Grace, 1 rue Henri Guinier, apt 109, 34000 Montpellier, France), American movies would be excellent.
Lots of love,
MG
Pont du Gard: Roman aqueduct built around 50 A.D. It was pretty badass.
Fontaine de Vaucluse: a closed valley where the Sorgue river "mysteriously takes its source" Again, pretty badass. We climbed some rocks and took lots of pics.
Les Baux de Proevence: old castle on a massive plateau. Too tired to sightsee anymore so I grabbed a cafe and bought some spicy huile d'olive.
Moulin Saint Pierre: windmill built from 1815? No one really understood the significance of this site.
On the ride back (about 1.5 hours), like 50 security vehicles (firetrucks, ambulances, trucks w/ lifeboats attached) passed us on the highway....and then there over 100 hugeass tractor trailers pulled over on the shoulder/right lane...I was confused, but later found out there was a bad storm approaching with category 2 hurricane winds. The trucks thought they were going to get blown over. Nuts!
That night, Ella and I watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (we watched the first one the other night). Why do movies on itunes take literally 28 hours to download? If you're trying to think of something to send me, (FLANNERY, Mary Grace, 1 rue Henri Guinier, apt 109, 34000 Montpellier, France), American movies would be excellent.
Lots of love,
MG
Friday, January 23, 2009
Sète
Today, some friends and I traveled to Sète, a fishing town about a 20 minute train ride SW of Montpellier. It's a cute little port right on the Meditteranean. The weather was a tad dreary; it hasn't really rained in three weeks, but it decided to today. But we thought that just added to the fish-y experience.
We walked around for a while trying to find the tourism office, and it took a few friendly French people to get us there. In MontP, it's easier to blend in, as there are so many students. But in a small town like Sete, we clearly stood out as lost Americans. Anyways, we decided to climb Mont Saint Clair, about a 40 minute steep hike, but the view at the top was great! My pictures did not turn out too well, but the sun eventually came out when we got back to the bottom.
On the way down, we stumbled upon a really cool/eerie cemetery. There were hundreds of graves nestled on the side of the mountain. Most of the graves were decorated with bizarre ceramic flowers. Paul Valery, a famous poet born in Sete, and the man who our school is named for, is buried there! We then wandered around the shipyard for a little and took lots of pics of the sea.
After all of that walking and calorie-burning, we decided to treat ourselves to pastries. I had a yummy 'tarte aux myrtilles' - a blueberry tart. Mm it was sweet and sour and flaky and moist all at the same time.
OMG side note! I now have a fruit lady AND a baguette lady! It took me 5 semesters to become a regular at the coffee place at PSU, and only 5 days to become a regular here. The woman in the boulangerie around the corner from my apartment likes to talk to me in French about French bread. The bread is probably one of my favorite things about this country. Panera ain't got nothin on this woman's goods. And there are fresh veggie/fruit markets on the Place de la Comedie (main square of the city) everyday, and I always get a pinklady apple from the one woman's stand. She even wipes it off for me, because she knows I eat it right away. And today she was like 'omg you're back again you love these' or the French equivalent, and then said 'a bientot' which is like cya later! because she knows she'll see my smilin face tomorrow.
Tomorrow, we're going with the whole group to 3 different places in Provence. Look for that post this weekend.
Mom - I know you don't like when I only have pictures of scenery, so here are some human shots for you! <3
Us in front of the largest bronze octopus scultpture in France:
Me on the sea!
Katie, Nick, Ella, Christine, and MG on top of the mountain:
We walked around for a while trying to find the tourism office, and it took a few friendly French people to get us there. In MontP, it's easier to blend in, as there are so many students. But in a small town like Sete, we clearly stood out as lost Americans. Anyways, we decided to climb Mont Saint Clair, about a 40 minute steep hike, but the view at the top was great! My pictures did not turn out too well, but the sun eventually came out when we got back to the bottom.
On the way down, we stumbled upon a really cool/eerie cemetery. There were hundreds of graves nestled on the side of the mountain. Most of the graves were decorated with bizarre ceramic flowers. Paul Valery, a famous poet born in Sete, and the man who our school is named for, is buried there! We then wandered around the shipyard for a little and took lots of pics of the sea.
After all of that walking and calorie-burning, we decided to treat ourselves to pastries. I had a yummy 'tarte aux myrtilles' - a blueberry tart. Mm it was sweet and sour and flaky and moist all at the same time.
OMG side note! I now have a fruit lady AND a baguette lady! It took me 5 semesters to become a regular at the coffee place at PSU, and only 5 days to become a regular here. The woman in the boulangerie around the corner from my apartment likes to talk to me in French about French bread. The bread is probably one of my favorite things about this country. Panera ain't got nothin on this woman's goods. And there are fresh veggie/fruit markets on the Place de la Comedie (main square of the city) everyday, and I always get a pinklady apple from the one woman's stand. She even wipes it off for me, because she knows I eat it right away. And today she was like 'omg you're back again you love these' or the French equivalent, and then said 'a bientot' which is like cya later! because she knows she'll see my smilin face tomorrow.
Tomorrow, we're going with the whole group to 3 different places in Provence. Look for that post this weekend.
Mom - I know you don't like when I only have pictures of scenery, so here are some human shots for you! <3
Us in front of the largest bronze octopus scultpture in France:
Me on the sea!
Katie, Nick, Ella, Christine, and MG on top of the mountain:
Monday, January 12, 2009
My first week in Montpellier!
Bonjour tout le monde!
I've been in Montpellier for a little over a week, so it's time for an update (this will be a long post). We arrived last Friday, moved into our apartments/homestays on Sunday, and were up at 7am on Monday for classes. To say the least, it's been a busy/stressful week. One of the French students who are basically hired to hang out with us this semester took Ella (my roomie) and me to our apartment. 40 minutes later, we still couldn't find the place. However, after asking several friendly French people, we arrived chez Madame de Lussigny.
From the outside, the house was lovely - in a quaint neighborhood a little outside of the city. But hey, it's cute, so no bigs, right? Wrong. We walked around the back of her house and up the stairs to the apartments. It was old, dirty, and just not at all what we were expecting. But we signed the lease, trying to hold back our tears. Most of my family and friends got the rundown of everything we didn't like about our living situation. Here's the cliff notes: everyone pays the same rate for apartments, and most are in the city center (a 5 min walk) and BEAUTIFUL (modern kitchens, marble counters, heated bedrooms, etc.). However, we had a 15 minute creepy walk to tram, 15 minute tram to city + a shitty apartment (non-functioning hotplates, curtains instead of bedroom doors, moldy rooms, and crummy dishes from 1960. So the first few days were extremely hard. Coupling that with homesickness, I cried a lot (so did Ella). We spoke with the program directors and eventually were moved to "L'Observatoire" - student apartments in the center of the city (for a pretty price). We live in studios across the hall from one another - equipped with a small kitcen area, bathroom, internet, a doorman, other students in our program, and laundry! It's a palace compared to our old digs. It does the job.
Okay so I was looking up flights back to the U.S. (before we moved into the building) - my homesickness was that bad! I honestly did not think it would get better. But thanks to my wonderful family and friends, I finally feel happy here. I mean, I'm in France, eating croissants andrinking wine everyday, it's ard not to love it.
Ella and I get along great! We share a lot of the same interests (music, cooking, eating). A lot of te other people on the program are fun as well - I'm getting to learn what "Minnesota Nice" means. I am sorry I haven't taken many pics - I took some of the crummy old apartment, and one after we moved. Here we are - happy to be re-adjusting and ready to go out!
Everyone in Montpellier is super friendly! I totally feel like Belle - I skip down the street with my book and baguette, and everyone says "Bonjour!" to me. Unlike in Paris, people actually let me (try) to speak French, and don't immediately speak to me in English when they realize I'm American. The pace here is slow and relaxed - shop owners often close their businesses between noon and 2 to grab an espresso or baguette.
Speaking of shopping, it's the season of "Soldes" in France (woah alliteration) - it's when EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE goes on sale. I am trying to resist, but I think this week I may give in and buy some booties. We attempted to shop in the Polygone (a hugeee mall in the center of town), but it was clazy - clazier tan Macy's in NYC at Christmas. Seriously (I know that's hard to believe, Megs).
As for classes, they are a little boring. I go to Universite Paul Valery, about a 30 min commute from my apartment. The architecture there reminds me of the Brady Bunch or someting. I'll post pictures later and you'll agree. I am taking phonetics (required), grammar (required), civilisation du sud, art history, gothic french lit, and either translation or American environmental history. Art history seems the most interesting - it takes place at Musee Fabre. Half of each class is lecture; the other half we explore the galleries and look at the artwork we just learned about.
I am desperately trying to arrange my schedule so I don't have class on Fridays, but it's not working out (you jinxed me, Allie!). But I only have each class once a week. 3 straight hours of grammar is not fun, but it's better than 1 hour thrice a week!
My winter break if approaching quickly! I am off from Feb 13 - Feb 22. I think some of us want to go to London & Paris (Johnny and Megan and others please join). I also have a 2-week break in April from the 3rd to the 19th (my 21st bday) for a couple of weeks? And then I will already be homeward bound. I hope it doesn't go by as fast as that made it seem. Well I must get back to reading about French cavemen!
Keep reading! I swear they won't always be this long. And I will post more pictures of the beautful city this week/weekend.
A bientot!
MG
I've been in Montpellier for a little over a week, so it's time for an update (this will be a long post). We arrived last Friday, moved into our apartments/homestays on Sunday, and were up at 7am on Monday for classes. To say the least, it's been a busy/stressful week. One of the French students who are basically hired to hang out with us this semester took Ella (my roomie) and me to our apartment. 40 minutes later, we still couldn't find the place. However, after asking several friendly French people, we arrived chez Madame de Lussigny.
From the outside, the house was lovely - in a quaint neighborhood a little outside of the city. But hey, it's cute, so no bigs, right? Wrong. We walked around the back of her house and up the stairs to the apartments. It was old, dirty, and just not at all what we were expecting. But we signed the lease, trying to hold back our tears. Most of my family and friends got the rundown of everything we didn't like about our living situation. Here's the cliff notes: everyone pays the same rate for apartments, and most are in the city center (a 5 min walk) and BEAUTIFUL (modern kitchens, marble counters, heated bedrooms, etc.). However, we had a 15 minute creepy walk to tram, 15 minute tram to city + a shitty apartment (non-functioning hotplates, curtains instead of bedroom doors, moldy rooms, and crummy dishes from 1960. So the first few days were extremely hard. Coupling that with homesickness, I cried a lot (so did Ella). We spoke with the program directors and eventually were moved to "L'Observatoire" - student apartments in the center of the city (for a pretty price). We live in studios across the hall from one another - equipped with a small kitcen area, bathroom, internet, a doorman, other students in our program, and laundry! It's a palace compared to our old digs. It does the job.
Okay so I was looking up flights back to the U.S. (before we moved into the building) - my homesickness was that bad! I honestly did not think it would get better. But thanks to my wonderful family and friends, I finally feel happy here. I mean, I'm in France, eating croissants andrinking wine everyday, it's ard not to love it.
Ella and I get along great! We share a lot of the same interests (music, cooking, eating). A lot of te other people on the program are fun as well - I'm getting to learn what "Minnesota Nice" means. I am sorry I haven't taken many pics - I took some of the crummy old apartment, and one after we moved. Here we are - happy to be re-adjusting and ready to go out!
Everyone in Montpellier is super friendly! I totally feel like Belle - I skip down the street with my book and baguette, and everyone says "Bonjour!" to me. Unlike in Paris, people actually let me (try) to speak French, and don't immediately speak to me in English when they realize I'm American. The pace here is slow and relaxed - shop owners often close their businesses between noon and 2 to grab an espresso or baguette.
Speaking of shopping, it's the season of "Soldes" in France (woah alliteration) - it's when EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE goes on sale. I am trying to resist, but I think this week I may give in and buy some booties. We attempted to shop in the Polygone (a hugeee mall in the center of town), but it was clazy - clazier tan Macy's in NYC at Christmas. Seriously (I know that's hard to believe, Megs).
As for classes, they are a little boring. I go to Universite Paul Valery, about a 30 min commute from my apartment. The architecture there reminds me of the Brady Bunch or someting. I'll post pictures later and you'll agree. I am taking phonetics (required), grammar (required), civilisation du sud, art history, gothic french lit, and either translation or American environmental history. Art history seems the most interesting - it takes place at Musee Fabre. Half of each class is lecture; the other half we explore the galleries and look at the artwork we just learned about.
I am desperately trying to arrange my schedule so I don't have class on Fridays, but it's not working out (you jinxed me, Allie!). But I only have each class once a week. 3 straight hours of grammar is not fun, but it's better than 1 hour thrice a week!
My winter break if approaching quickly! I am off from Feb 13 - Feb 22. I think some of us want to go to London & Paris (Johnny and Megan and others please join). I also have a 2-week break in April from the 3rd to the 19th (my 21st bday) for a couple of weeks? And then I will already be homeward bound. I hope it doesn't go by as fast as that made it seem. Well I must get back to reading about French cavemen!
Keep reading! I swear they won't always be this long. And I will post more pictures of the beautful city this week/weekend.
A bientot!
MG
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