I will soon be homeless. Dominique & Hervé are coming at 8:00 on Saturday morning to move all the furniture, etc.; the estate agent will do her walk-through at 11:00; and Janette & Scott will arrive at about 12:30 to get me and my remaining belongings.
My internet access will be cut off tomorrow (Friday), because i have to mail the darned DSL modem back to my ISP. So, this will be my last post for a few days.
You can find my basic itinerary here.
I had dinner with Mohiddine and his family again last night. Nacim (now i know how to spell it) gave me a few lectures on the French electoral process and the various presidential candidates. Apparently, Mohiddine and Aziza took him to a political meeting recently, and he was totally into it. He even asked a question. He's 10. Honestly, he talks so much, he runs out of breath sometimes, but he's a great kid.
All three of them are so nice and light-hearted. We laughed all evening. Just like last time, the whole family took me home with Mohiddine being a back seat driver: "Are the headlights on?" "Is it clear to the left?" They told me i have to visit them when i come back to France :)
Busy, busy week.
On Wednesday, Pascale took me to Versailles. It was a beautiful day, and it wasn't terribly crowded (except for all the Italians). Unfortunately, the hall of mirrors was being renovated, so it was less than spectacular, but i got some pretty good pictures of other things. You can see all the photos here.
I have made a solemn promise not to tell anyone that Pascale cannot read a map, so i will just say that Marie Antoinette's little fake farm was not well signposted. We were unable to find it in the wilds surrounding Le Grand Trianon. Mostly because it's at Le Petit Trianon. Oh well. We had a nice a walk anyway.
This is going to sound stupid to anyone who knows better, but it had never occurred to me that there might be a rather large town at Versailles. When someone says, "Versailles", i always think of the chateau, but, of course, there's a bustling town that grew up around it.
On Friday, Dominique took Moïseanne and i to Mont-Saint-Michel. That was pretty cool. We got a good parking spot close to the island -- there were signs in the parking lot telling us we needed to reclaim our car by 7:30pm or the sea would claim it for us.
We went through the abbey, which was really interesting, and, as usual, i took quite a few pictures. Unfortunately, the battery in my camera died just after we left the abbey, so i don't have any pictures of the other things we did. You can see all the photos i managed to take here.
After Mont-Saint-Michel, we decided to stop in Avranches on the way back to see their new new museum, Le Scriptorial. All the manuscripts from Mont-Saint-Michel were moved to Avranches after the Revolution, and this museum showcases some of them along with discussing the methods of manuscript production.
The idea of the museum is great, but it was designed with only a small number of patrons in mind. If they ever get popular, they will have problems with their exhibits (labeling too far away from items, only 1 computer terminal for a whole room, stuff like that). Moïseanne loved it, though. We had to practically drag her away from some of the exhibits. She bought calligraphy supplies in the gift shop.
That's all for now. I think my last week here will be pretty quiet, but i'll keep you all updated.
Yesterday i went to Caen with Dominique, Hervé, Pierre-Yves, Moïseanne, and Patric (Mo's godfather). We spent most of the day at the Caen Memorial, a museum that covers political history from 1918 to the present day with a focus on World War II. It's an excellent museum with an amazing array of artifacts; you could easily spend a day and a half to two days in there if you read everything they have available.
I was surprised that it didn't confine itself to the war years, since that was what i had
expected. The Cold War was thoroughly covered with exhibits on propaganda, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and atomic/nuclear testing. One room played an endless loop of those ridiculous 1950s propaganda films that told school children to "duck and cover" or told army personnel that witnessing an atomic blast and exposing oneself to the ensuing radiation was nothing to worry about.
The memorial also includes an exhibit on world peace and currently a temporary exhibit about energy conservation. They have four pieces of the World Trade Center as part of the peace exhibit.
We also spent a little time in the gardens, where Pierre-Yves chased some ducks. At about 4:00, we left the memorial to head to one of the D-Day beaches (Jour-J en Français). Patric's GPS took us 
through every tiny village between Caen and the Channel, but we eventually stopped just up the beach from the Juno Beach Centre. It was a very hazy day, and the tide was out, way out. The kids went all the way out to the water, but the rest of us stayed at various stages further inland (Hervé and Patric barely set foot on the beach, while i walked out part of the way, and Dominique went a little further than me).
After stopping at the home of one of Dominique's friends near Courseulles sur Mer, and stopping at a Pizzeria in Pont L'Eveque for dinner, i finally got home at about 11:30. A long day :)
You can see pictures of the Caen Memorial here: 
and pictures of the beach here: 
Today was my last day of classes in Lillebonne. Aside from turning in all my keys (3 at each school), it was just like any other day. Dominique had asked me to be at PMF around 5:00, because she had tried to organize a little goodbye get-together. So, i waited around after my last class, and the only people who came to it were Dominique and Pascale! I don't feel bad about it though, Dominique had kind of tried to throw it together at the last minute. She is so busy: head of the PMF English dept., lecturer at Le Havre University, organizing a class trip to Britain, taking care of two teenaged
children, etc. She always seems to be run off her feet during the week.
Anyway, she very kindly gave me a gorgeous (and heavy) book about medieval monasteries. She really is a treasure - even if i sound like i must be 90 years old when saying that. I can't even count the hundreds of things she and her family have done for me here, and i am incredibly grateful.
Stay tuned for posts about Versailles (next week with Pascale) and Mont St Michel (the week after with Dominique).
Tonight i went to a show in Rouen with Jen, the assistant in Fécamp, and her friend, Theresa, an assistant in Rouen. Now it's almost 2:00 in the morning, and it was such a good concert i want to tell you about it.
The band we went to see is called Nelson. Not this Nelson, but this Nelson. They are friends of Jen from Paris, and she just realized yesterday that they were playing in Rouen. I listened to a little bit of the songs they have available on their MySpace page, and i thought they sounded a little too much like Joy Division for my taste. I figured it would be fun anyway, what the heck.
Their stage presence was amazing. The show they put on tonight blew away the recordings available, and i am now a Nelson fan. There are four band members: a drummer and three frontmen. The stage is set up with two keyboards (one on each side), two guitars, one bass, and the drumkit. The band members, with the exception of the drummer, rotate between the other five instruments and share singing. For their encore, the drummer came out from the drumkit and played guitar. I have never seen a band do this before. It was so egalitarian yet so good.
I really hope this band makes it. They might have to change their name though.
Easter Monday is a national holiday in France (yippee!). Dominique invited me over for lunch and an undecided upon outing in the afternoon. We (Dominique, Hervé, and i) ended up going to Bec-Hellouin, a village in Eure (the department on the southern side of the Seine) where there is a Benedictine monastery.
The abbey has a great 15th century belltower, while the rest of the older buildings, including a huge church the same length as Notre Dame de Paris, have not survived. The areas where the monks live, pray, and do whatever it is monks do all day were built in the 17th and 18th centuries. There is a chateau next door that has been given to the abbey, and the monks use part of it as a ceramics studio. They sell their ceramics in the little gift shop on the grounds (click here to see examples of their work).
After stopping in a cafe for a drink, we started heading back
toward Lillebonne. Hervé decided we should stop in Pont-Audemer to have a look around. He claims it is known as the Venice of Normandy. I thought he was joking when he said it, but it turns out they have a few canals.
It's a cute little town with lots of half-timbered buildings and a big church. Apparently, the parish ran out of money while building this enormous, gothic church, so it's a bit lop-sided. It also has a crêperie built into it, but i have no idea if that was a fund-raising idea.
After that, we took a ferry across the Seine, and i got home at about 8:00. Have i mentioned that i hate daylight savings time (summer time for you Brits/Euros)? I hate thinking i have lots of time left in the day, because it's so light out, but it turns out it will soon be bedtime.
P.S. As always, you can find more pictures on Flickr: Abbey & Pont-Audemer
I had an interesting day yesterday. I went to Giverny with Dominique, Catherine (a German teacher at PMF), and Catherine's German friend, Cornelia.
We started at Catherine's great, old house on the top of a hill in Caudebec en Caux, which is near the Brotonne bridge over the Seine. She has a fantastic view of the Seine and the farmland on the southern banks. Stupid me, i didn't take any pictures. Anyway, we went from there to Giverny, a good hour's drive.
It's still a little early in the year for the flowers at Giverny, but there were tons of
beautiful tulips, pansies, and assorted other flowers that i don't know the name of. We walked around the gardens and the lily pond, and then we went through Monet's house. The ground floor is decorated in the colors he chose: blue for the kitchen, yellow for the dining room, green and purple for a little parlor. There are Japanese paintings and prints on every wall; i had no idea he was so interested in Japanese art.
The gift shop was ridiculously expensive. Dominique and i basically walked around gasping. Catherine bought a postcard, and Cornelia bought a few small things.
On the way back to Caudebec, we stopped in Rouen to eat dinner. Catherine suggested an Afghani restaurant that she likes, but it was closed. So, we started wandering in the direction of a Lebanese place she recommended, but on the way we stumbled upon Restaurant Kaboul.
It turns out that the owner of Restaurant Kaboul, Qassim Azimi (click here for a French-language site with an interview), was a friend of Massoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance that fought the Soviets and the Taleban in Afghanistan (click here for a pro-Massoud biography). He brought out a couple of books of photographs for us to see and some pictures of him with Massoud when the latter came to Paris. He was a very interesting guy, and he made me want to learn more about his country. I would definitely recommend a stop at his restaurant for the history lesson, if not for the food (which was okay, but not great).
Definitely a satisfying day. Click here for pictures taken at Giverny, and here for a cool picture i took of Notre Dame de Rouen on the way back to the car after dinner.
This morning i said goodbye to my favorite class of little ones. I have been working with these 6e students since October, and, for the most part, they're really sweet. We played [educational] games for the whole class time today.
Two of the girls wrote me a note about how much they will miss me and that they will never forget me. If i had a scanner, i would show it to you; the bottom third has a bunch of hearts on it.
That's the kind of stuff that completely outweighs the discipline and/or attitude problems of other students. That and a silly boy acting like an auctioneer while playing Hangman: "Is there a D, D, D, D? No! No D! Next?" And the fight over writing implements to write fond farewells on the board. And seeing the quietest kid in class finally laughing and having a good time. I could go on, but i won't.
The municipal muzak is back. I blame Mum, because she mentioned it here. It has been going all week, perhaps in anticipation of Holy Week?
Sometimes it makes me laugh, like when they play the same French pop song twice in one day. Other times it's just annoying. I don't really want Chubby Checker exhorting me to "Twist, like we did last summer" while i'm walking to school. Come to think of it, i don't want Chubby Checker exhorting me to do anything at any time.
On my way home from buying Cadbury's chocolate fingers from the 8à8 today, Roy Orbison serenaded me with "Pretty Woman."
The only good thing is i haven't heard any Johnny Hallyday yet.
Of course, i just jinxed it.
Pascale asked me yesterday if i have any regrets about spending this time in Lillebonne. I quickly responded in the negative. She was worried that i felt like i had wasted a year, which couldn't be further from the truth.
I had wanted to come to France for so long that had i not done it, i would be wondering about it for the rest of my life. Discovering that i don't really want to live here and deal with all things French is just as important as coming here and discovering the opposite would have been. I will still come to France for holidays, and now i know people here that i can visit.
As far as the future, one never knows what that will bring, but it will work itself out. I tried to work out if going to graduate school was a cop-out for me, a delay-tactic used by so many others before me. Maybe it is, but at least i will be working toward something a little more concrete than i ever have in the past.
In these months in France, i have realized that i will never learn the language well enough to be an effective teacher here (or if i did, it would take too long). I have also realized that i really like working with children, even those in the midst of le crise d'adolescence. Watching some of the teachers at work, i have been amazed at their rapport with the students and their ability to be disciplinarians while keeping the atmosphere in the classroom friendly. They push the students much more than i do, and they get results. I wanted to ask one of them the other day, "how do you do that?" but then i realized that it was the result of 25 years of experience.
I may not have been happy the whole time here, but i have learned invaluable things and met invaluable people. And i have been happy for most of it, i guess.
Okay, i have finally uploaded the pictures from my camera to Flickr, so you can see the ruined abbey at Jumièges. I went there on Sunday with Dominique and Hervé.
According to the abbey's brochure,
Jumièges Abbey was founded by Saint Philibert in 654. It developed considerably although this was disrupted by the Viking invasions between 841 and 940. Its renaissance was then encouraged by the Dukes of Normandy. An economic center with many possessions, it was also a major intellectual center renowned for its scriptorium.
This will be short, because i have a cold that is knocking me out. And i just got some medicine from the pharmacy that may or may not literally knock me out.
I spent yesterday afternoon with Dominique & Hervé. We went to the ruined abbey at Jumièges, which was really cool. I took some pictures, but i haven't had the energy to get them off my camera yet.
Dominique says the parades on Saturday were for Carnivale. She said they were late because of the school holidays. This makes more sense than St Patrick's Day.
Oh, and i finally managed to write the essay required for Glasgow's scholarship application. I mailed it off this morning.
Three posts in one day is a record that will not be duplicated or broken any time soon, i hope.
Another parade just went by. This one was headed by the same drummers as this morning, but it was much shorter. It also included trained entertainers as opposed to small children in costumes. It was also going in the opposite direction.
The budget of Les Majorettes de Lillebonne doesn't seem to stretch to a uniform, or even clothing of the same or similar color, but they sure can twirl those batons!
The clown troupe, dressed as hospital escapees, abducted an innocent child and started wrapping him in bandages.
There was even a kid on a unicycle (being held up by his grandparents).
Yes, two posts in one day! How lucky can you get?
As i was writing the earlier post, i heard the deafening sound of drums outside my window. It was a parade! Lucky for me, it was moving exceedingly slowly, so i had time to put on some shoes, grab my camera, and go downstairs.
Once downstairs, i realized why it was moving so slowly: It was a parade of small children. I have no idea if this was in honor of St Patrick or what, but i took a bunch of pictures that you can see here.
The whole thing seemed very random.
My finger still hurts, but it stopped bleeding this morning. I thought you'd like to know.
*Work-related injury
So, today was the first day back at school after the 2-week long winter break. I had a class at 8:00 for which i needed to print and copy numerous items. I arrived at school with plenty of time to spare (25 minutes), and i printed my documents with no trouble. That just left the copies to be made.
I went to the receptionist's office to use the copier, and there were two other teachers there who obviously had the same idea as me. One was alternately cursing the copier and opening and closing the access panel. Uh-oh.
Apparently, the toner cartridge was empty. The teacher at the copier, let's call him "B", kept muttering about it being the first day back, and he couldn't believe there wasn't any toner, and didn't this just figure. The receptionist (aka Mistress of All Things Copier Related) was nowhere to be seen, because she normally doesn't come in that early. What was visible was a full cartridge of toner on the floor next to the copier.
I pointed the cartridge out to "B" and asked if it was full. He mumbled something i didn't catch, and the other teacher leaned over to pick it up. He declared the cartridge empty. They sauntered off, continuing the muttering out into the hall.
Suspicious, i picked up the toner cartridge and discovered it was brand new. Useless teachers. So, i popped open the copier and put the cartridge in. Success! The copier started running again, and it tried to finish the job it had started for "B". Then it jammed.
I opened the access panel again to discover that "B" had been using size A3 paper. For those of you in the States, A3 is large, almost square, and you can fit two normal-sized sheets (A4) on an A3 page. This size of paper is a bitch to get out of a jammed copier, because it's so big.
After some wrangling and tearing, i managed to get all the paper jams out, and i canceled "B"'s job. Things were looking up as i started making my copies with still 5 minutes to spare before the bell.
Then i noticed blood. I had scratched up the little finger of my right hand pretty well while fighting with the copier's innards, and blood was getting all over my copies. I quickly stuck my finger in my mouth, determined the blood spots weren't extensive, and continued my work.
The blood wouldn't stop. It just kept welling up and welling up. I got a tissue from my bag and tried to staunch the bleeding with it. No luck. I wrapped the tissue around my finger, went to my classroom, got set up for class, and reassessed the wound. It was still bleeding. I still had a minute or so before i had to get the students from their regular teacher, so i went to the vie scolaire.
The vie scolaire is the office that keeps track of all the children; they supervise study hall, help students who need something, and enforce punishments. I figured the place where students go for help might have a Band-Aid or two lying around. I asked a very nice surveillant if she had a bandage, and i showed her my bleeding finger. Not only did she have a Band-Aid, but she even put it on my finger for me!
And i still made it to class before my students :)
in no particular order
I had dinner tonight with Mohiddine, one of the math teachers at PMF, his wife, Azziza, and their 10-year old son, Naseem (i'm guessing at the spelling of Azziza and Naseem as i haven't seen the names written down). I was a little nervous about going, because, well, i'm not a particularly social person, and i haven't spoken to Mohiddine at school very much. I'm glad i went, though. They're a great family, and i had a really good time.
None of them speak English, so my French was well-exercised this evening. I held my own, even in a discussion of French & American politics and the impact of China on the world economy. Naseem asked me tons of questions about the US, and i quizzed him on the early French kings (mostly Clovis and Charlemagne).
All three of them piled in the car when it was time to take me home, even though Naseem had to be woken up. Mohiddine spent the ride being a back seat driver to Azziza. She couldn't see through the windshield very well, because it was fogged up, and Mohiddine kept saying things like, "Doucement, doucement", which means "gently, gently". It was a nice evening that included a lot of laughter. Oh, and i recommend Moroccan wine, if you can find any.
I went for a walk around Lillebonne this afternoon, and i went to places i hadn't visited before. There is a park near PMF called l'Espace des Aulnes (un aulne is an alder). It consists of some ponds and boardwalks, a playground, the community swimming pool, and a small experimental farming area. The park butts up against strips of farmland that are used by local families for growing vegetables for their own use. One of the houses right next door has an area where sheep, chickens, and geese have free range. The geese looked huge to me, much bigger than the Canadian geese i remember from Atlanta.
After a stroll around the park, i headed up the hill to the cemetery. I have been meaning to go up there for some time, because i like walking in cemeteries. They're so quiet.
I took a bunch of pictures that you can see on my Flickr site.
I just received a package from my mother that contains a box of Heartland granola cereal. I am so happy :D
I opened it immediately, because i haven't actually eaten anything yet today. It is just as i remembered, despite the fact that French yogurt isn't quite the same as American.
It's so nice to have a mum to look after you.
Some of you know that one of the reasons i left town last week was because my kitchen wall and ceiling were going to be repaired from the damage last November. I returned home yesterday to find a completely re-papered and re-painted kitchen:
It's off and on rainy again, but that's okay. I had lunch at a crêperie today. A yummy ham, cheese, mushroom (vegetable!), and egg galette followed by a caramel and butter crêpe. What's a galette, you say? A galette is usually a savory crêpe made with buckwheat flour instead of regular white flour.
This afternoon i went to the Palais Bénédictine. I hadn't planned to go there during my visit, but when i went to the Musée des Terre-Nuevas yesterday, they gave me a voucher for a reduced entrance fee at the Palais. So, i only had to pay 4€ instead of 6€, and boy am i glad about that.
The Palais comprises a distillery (where all the genuine Benedictine liqueur in the world is made), a museum of (mostly) sacred stuff, and a room full of herbs and spices that go into Benedictine. It was kind of strange. The Palais itself was built at the end of the 19th century, and the architecture is described in the brochure as Gothic-Renaissance. While i liked the museum, there wasn't anything in there that was incredibly amazing and must be seen. With the possible exception of the "Renaissance Room", which holds an extensive collection of keys, locks, door knobs, door knockers, lock plates, and anything else you can think of that would have been made of iron and put on a door or chest. No hinges, though (that i saw).
There was also a pair of postillion's boots in that room. They only looked like they were made of iron; they were, in fact, incredibly uncomfortable-looking black leather. They were one of those things that you knew a real person had worn a very long time ago and, as such, brought history into the present for me. I stood on my tiptoes and looked at the interior of the boots; i tried to imagine what it would have been like to stick your feet into them day after day.
Once i left the museum part of the Palais, i went through the spice room, which also has a display of a billion different kinds of Benedictine bottles. Okay, it probably wasn't really a billion. More like 150. But it made me wonder why the Benedictine factory had bothered with all these different bottles. Was it really necessary that the bottle of Benedictine being shipped to Germany look totally different from the one being shipped to Spain?
Next up was the video. Hmm, after yesterday's film it's possible i might not want to sit through this one. Well, the Benedictine video started with very excited music and images that conveyed the dynamic lifestyle apparently lived by people in Fécamp. Scenes of fishing boats crashing through waves and people hang-gliding made Fécamp seem almost exciting. Then it started in with the distillery information. Ho hum. It would have helped, i admit, if i was remotely interested in Benedictine liqueur. The film lasted probably less than 10 minutes, and from this room, i headed to the real distillery.
There are big signs in the distillery telling you that you are in an industrial area, so keep your hands to yourself. For an industrial area, it was remarkably devoid of workers. I saw one person working in the distillery, and he was sitting at a computer in a little glassed-in room. No one was making any liqueur. After walking past a bunch of casks, i ended up in the tasting room.
I had considered not tasting the Benedictine and just keeping the little token they had given me for it. It was kind of cool, but while watching the video i realized it was just one of the plastic bits they stick on the bottles just above the label to look like a wax seal. So i tasted some B&B (a blend of Benedictine and Brandy that was "invented" by someone at some club in New York City in the 1930s). It was okay, as liqueurs go. It made my lips tingle a little. Then i made a quick tour through the gift shop, and that was it.
I'm going home tomorrow, so you have boring posts about Lillebonne to look forward to now. Don't forget to take a look at my pictures on Flickr
Another super-windy day. The sky is changing by the minute: clouds, sun, rain, sun, clouds. I walked down toward the lighthouse and out onto the jetty next to it to take some pictures. There was so much sea spray in the air, my lips were salty.
After sitting for a while (after quite a long walk), i headed into town. I needed to buy more underwear, since i'm staying an extra two days. Fécamp has shops that stay open during lunchtime. It's amazing. So, i went to Monoprix and bought the two cheapest pairs of underwear they had. Then i decided to have lunch.
It has occurred to me that i don't think i have eaten a single vegetable since i got here, unless you count potatoes. Oh well. I did have lemon tart. Does that count?
This afternoon i spent some time in the Musée des Terre-Nuevas. I have walked past it every day, but it always seemed to be closed or about to close. So, i seized the opportunity today and paid 3€ to look inside. Well. If you're interested in fishing, commercial fishing, maritime history, and whatnot, then this is the museum for you. Les Terre-Nuevas, for those of you who don't know, is Newfoundland, and the museum brochure has this to say:
The Museum of the Newfoundland fishing-boats and fishing is located on the seafront and recounts the heroic endeavours of the seamen of Fécamp, who went away to sea for months on end to look for cod in the freezing waters of Newfoundland.It also has displays on herring fishing and smoking, the naval boatyards, the lifeboat service, sea-bathing, and harbour life.
My visit began with a viewing of La Grande Pèche, a 1955 documentary that won the Cannes Prix du reportage filmé - court métrage that year. It was only 45 minutes long, but it felt like at least 75 minutes; it didn't help that i was a little sleepy. Lots of scenes of fish being gutted and beheaded on this fishing boat that must have had at least 100 crew. The rest of the museum was very small-town-museumy, except that it did limit itself to the subject at hand. Hardly anything was labeled properly (or at all), so there wasn't much to be learned here, unfortunately. At least they didn't charge an arm and a leg to get in.
Check Flickr for more photos from today. There are some pretty ones :-) 
Not much to report for Wednesday. We had a thunderstorm in the afternoon, so i took a nap. After that i got caught up with Dr. H.'s transcription. Oh, and i decided to stay a couple of extra days. I just don't feel like going home yet.
I'm having a pretty quiet day today, because it's a little wet outside.
Thanks to Jen, i now have the bus schedules for the coastal bus routes. Despite these routes being in the same system as the routes i normally use down in Lillebonne, their schedules are not readily available. Now i can get to Etretat and Fécamp via bus whenever one is running (i almost wrote "whenever i want", but i know better than that). Just having these options makes me feel better. Thank you, Jen!
I started off the day with a walk along the front and down on the beach. Fécamp has a pebble beach that runs right up to the cliffs. There are no tidal pools; there are no sand dunes. There are rocks. And it's beautiful. This is known as the Alabaster Coast, and the soft, chalky cliffs have layers of flint running through them at fairly regular intervals.
After a slow stroll by the beach and a lot of picture-taking, i headed into town. I visited the two main churches, St Etienne and St Trinité. I saw the ruins of the ducal palace built by Richard I, second duke of Normandy in the 10th century (this was where William the Conqueror had a big victory celebration in 1067). I ate lunch (sausage and fries, yum). I discovered that chocolatines are called pepites in Fécamp. I rested.
Then i went out for dinner. 
Warning: verb tense shift ahead. Do not be alarmed. Go with the flow:
The restaurant doesn't have a menu i can read, in my hand, here at my table? I have to read the different chalkboards dotted around the room? And i mean dotted. Salads and mussels (yes, mussels get their own section of the menu in coastal Normandy) are in front of me; desserts are behind me; appetizers and main courses are at the other end of the room; and aperitifs are around the corner. No wine or beer list is available. Now, i'm not complaining. This is merely an expression of surprise. I'm on holiday, and i will not be complaining. At least not as much as usual.
I order steak and fries (i know, i had fries for lunch, but i'm on holiday, okay?). When it arrives i notice the chef has written the name of the restaurant in sauce on the plate. Fancy!
Around me people are being served huge canisters of mussels. 
Conversation (which i am trying to listen to, after last night's experience) is almost completely drowned out by the snick of shells being opened, the squishy sound of mussels being torn from their little houses, and the clatter of empty shells being tossed into metal dishes.
I begin to wonder why the woman at the next table is having so much trouble lighting a cigarette until i look over and realize she doesn't have a cigarette in her hand. The noise i thought was the rasp of a cigarette lighter was in fact her sucking mussels out of her teeth. She makes up for it later by actually lighting and smoking a cigarette.
My meal was delicious, especially dessert (tarte tatin). I topped it all off with another walk along the front, and then i came back to the hotel and blogged all about it. Excellent day.
Find pictures here:
Last night i had dinner with Jen, the lycée assistant in Fécamp, and her friend Dan, who is visiting from Montreal. While at the restaurant, Dan excused himself to go to the bathroom. When he came back, he related this small incident:
He opened a door that he hoped went to a bathroom (there were no signs on any of the doors he found). Behind this door were two other doors. He opened the one directly in front of him, and found himself in a one-person bathroom. Good! Exactly what he needed!
After finishing his business, he opened the bathroom door and was confronted with an indignant 10-year old girl, arms akimbo. She explained to him, as one explains to someone who might be a little slow, that normally, the other door over there is where men go to use the toilet. Apparently, Dan had inadvertently used the ladies' bathroom.
Thankfully, he has been properly reprimanded, and it will never happen again.
In other restaurant news...
At this same place, there was a table occupied by three middle-aged men. The men were all speaking English, but it was not a first language for any of them. Dan and Jen had to point them out to me as being speakers of English, because i hadn't even realized that i might be able to understand what they were saying.
This worries me. Have my eavesdropping powers completely deserted me after a few months in a foreign country? Have i become so accustomed to being unable to understand other people's private conversations that i have actually stopped listening to them? I like eavesdropping. It gives me pleasure. And to think i might not be able to do it anymore makes me a little sad.
I have made it to Fécamp, and i am officially on vacation.
As soon as i stepped out of the train station, a strong, sea wind hit my face; Lillebonne doesn't get much wind. I passed two Chinese restaurants on my way to my hotel; Lillebonne doesn't have any Chinese restaurants.
I am in a new world.
Oh, and my hotel has a very nice wi-fi connection.
I'm going to take a nap.
So, i went to Cote Blanche today for the 6e English Club as usual. There was a boy there who i had never seen before, and he was doodling on the white board while Marie Madeleine tidied up from her last class. He drew a bird's head that looked remarkably like a cardinal, and then he pointed to it and asked me, "Comment dit-on en anglais?"
Now, they don't have cardinals in France, so i was pretty sure that wasn't what it was. I looked at Marie Madeleine for help, and she said, "it's an eagle." I dutifully repeated, "it's an eagle."
Then he drew a little cartoon face and asked me how to say that in English. I looked at Marie Madeleine again, and she kind of shrugged. I said, "uh, a cartoon?" Marie Madeleine asked the boy who or what in particular he had drawn. He replied, "J'sais pas."
Huh? So i was supposed to know the English word for a random cartoon face that he just made up? Quoi? Je ne comprend pas. Damn kids
Yesterday (Wednesday), i went to see Claire in Le Havre. She had bunion surgery 2 weeks ago, and we arranged to have lunch together. She's doing very well, hobbling around her apartment with no pain. After lunch, she asked me if i would go to an ATM and get some cash out of her account for her. Simon (her 11-year old son) and i started making plans for emptying her bank account and running away, although the plan lost its appeal for Simon when i told him he couldn't use any of the money to buy video games.
After getting the money, we made a slight detour to the local magic shop, so Simon could show me lots of cool things. He decided to go ahead and buy the finger chopper magic trick that he had been eyeing for a while. We got almost all the way back to Claire's house before he asked, "Do you think she'll mind that i bought this?" I told him since he bought it with his own money, there shouldn't be any problem .
Well. Simon had been thoroughly instructed by the shop keeper on how to use the chopper, and he decided to do the whole routine for Claire. This included chopping a carrot first to show that the chopper contained a real blade. This part was succesful.
Unfortunately, Simon had to try a few times before getting the chopper properly set up to perform the real part of the trick (not chopping his finger off). This did nothing to allay Claire's fears that he might actually injure himself. Finally, he did it, and his finger was magically unhurt.
Claire kind of freaked out. She was certain that at some point in the future Simon would not set up the little machine properly, and she would have a bleeding fingerless child on her hands. Simon tried to reassure her by performing the trick multiple times, but this, of course, did not help.
After about half an hour of this, she finally looked at the machine and saw that the blade was not in fact razor sharp (it's quite thick, actually), and it would take quite a bit of effort to really cut off a finger (more strength than a normal 11-year old has). Claire said she felt better, but i'm not sure she wasn't lying.
I don't think i'll be allowed to spend time with Simon alone again any time soon.
In other news:
I went to Mr. Bricolage today. It's been ages since i went in there, and it was like visiting an old friend: "Oh yes, that's where i got the washing machine tube," "Oh yes, that's where the helpful lady told me i could find what i needed when she had completely misunderstood what i wanted," "Oh yes, that's where i found the funky blue woodgrain Contact paper for my dresser," etc...
The first thing i noticed was that they were playing gay dance music from the 80s and 90s. Bronski Beat and OMD, to be precise.
The second thing i noticed is that they keep their stock of string in 3 different places in the store. I had gone in to get string, and it took me about half an hour. Of course, i always have to wander aimlessly around for a while determining where things might be. And i have to dig through their bins of junk-we're-trying-to-get-rid-of. I found a personal alarm that i'm going to send to another assistant who has had a scary experience in her town recently.
That's all i have to report right now. Check back later for more, and don't forget to add yourself to the map.
While Andy tries to pick a fight on the Movie-making post, i'm going to give you a couple of questions asked by my monsters students this morning:
From a 5e (who will be in 4e next year): "Do the teachers only speak English in the 4e English classes, or do they speak some French, too?" [with a worried look on his face]
From a 6e to whom i had just given a "Pirates of Caribbean" Valentine: "Did you get these at Carrefour?" [looks disappointed when told they came from the USA]
Things have been kind of up and down for me at school lately. I very often have days that include really great classes and really terrible classes.
Tuesday was one of those days (annoying 3e kids after a super class of 4e).
Today was another one. I had Marie Madeleine's 4e at Cote Blanche this morning; they're the class i had to send back the first day i took them, way back in October. I haven't had any major problems since, but their level of English is very low. Today, i decided we would play sudoku. You may be wondering how i could possibly teach any English by giving the kids a number puzzle, but it actually works quite well. They end up using structures like, "that one could be a 3" or "i'm not sure". You can also introduce little bits of useful vocabulary like, "either... or" and "i am bad at this game".
Unfortunately, this particular class doesn't seem to have any basic logic skills. We didn't get very far with the puzzle, not because they didn't know the rules, but because they couldn't do it.
*Sigh*
This afternoon, however, i had another 4e class, this time Marie's at PMF. I LOVE the kids in this class, because they have a great sense of humor. They don't mind laughing at themselves, each other, or me.
These students couldn't get enough of the sudoku. They stood at the board with me, and, even though i had to remind a couple of them to speak English, they solved the whole thing (and used the vocabulary and grammar i had given them).
Such a nice way to finish the week. I'm glad they are always the last ones i see on Fridays.
I went to the market this morning and couldn't resist buying myself some flowers. 14 long-stemmed white roses for 1€ and a little dish garden for 6€.
I had to cut the roses down quite a bit, because i don't have a vase (they're in my French measuring glass). 
Get your very own French presidential sound bite as your ring tone:
http://www.ina.fr/elections/index.php?vue=mobiles
In other news, i have received my first piece of French junk mail that was actually addressed to me: an offer for 8000€ in credit from a company named Cofidis.
Oh, and i have been offered a job at a summer school just outside Winchester.
Those of you who know me well know that my regular breakfast in the US was granola and yogurt. The granola, specifically, was Heartland Brand Original Granola Cereal, which, of course, isn't available in my local Intermarché.
Yesterday i finally broke down and bought the closest thing i could find to this cereal. It's Jordans Country Crisp fort en chocloat noir. Yes, you read that correctly, "strong in dark chocolate". 
Jordans is a British company that has cleverly found a way to market their somewhat healthy cold cereal to French people: add pieces of chocolate! I couldn't find anything on Jordans' website that admitted to this particular variety, so i had to take a picture of my own box.
Today i tried this vaguely granola-ish cereal with some yogurt. It was DISGUSTING.
In a misguided attempt to get rid of the taste while still putting something solid in my stomach, i opened a single-serving packet of potato chips. Roasted chicken flavor. The first one or two were awful (contaminated with the residual chocolate/cereal/yogurt combo). I soldiered on, however, and by the second half of the bag, i was starting to enjoy the chicken flavor. I don't want to know how they get chicken flavoring into a potato chip, though.
So, if anyone in the States feels like mailing a box of granola to France, my address is 23 rue Henri Messager, Appt 3, 76170 Lillebonne.
P.S. I have put a few new pictures on the Lillebonne photos page.
Finally, i am a regular somewhere. Granted, i don't go anywhere, so that makes it fairly difficult to be a regular, but i have done it at my local boulangerie.
I had barely uttered "bonjour" when the owner got out a small pastry bag and told me they only had miniature chocolatines left today. I happily bought two (for less than one big one costs), and jauntily walked home feeling KNOWN.
It's the little things in life, you know?
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be coming out in a streak, which would be really cool.
I wonder if it's their constant chatter or their inability to comprehend English or French that's doing it.
Despite the sound of that, i'm enjoying meeting some different students now that my new schedule has started.
I left my umbrella at the post office this morning! I had too many things to carry, and i'm not used to keeping track of an umbrella. I realized i had lost it when i got ready to go back to school after lunch, and i figured i must have left it at La Poste. Unfortunately, they were still closed for lunch, so it had to wait until after i was finished at 3:00.
When i returned to the post office, i looked to see if it was where i left it, right in front of the counter, but no luck. So i stood in the very long line like a good British person (not like a French person at all), and i waited for my turn.
Have i mentioned it was a very long line? Have i also mentioned that it is always really hot in the post office?
Anyway, i finally got the counter, not too terribly sweaty (i had taken my coat off), and i told the woman i had left my umbrella there. She looked doubtful and asked her colleague if they had an umbrella from this morning. He said, "Oui, un beau parapluie." Then he directed the woman to where they had put it. He looked at me and said, "Il est beau, non? Les multi-couleurs." I nodded my head in agreement, smiled, and said thank you to both of them as i reclaimed my beautiful umbrella.
I finally stopped by the estate agency today to ask if they know any people who can do the work on my wall & ceiling. After a slightly difficult conversation with the woman who has been helping me, i finally understood that the first man who came to look at it is the man who will be doing the work. She will call the insurance to make sure they have everything they need and find out when he can start.
I hesitate to call it light at the end of the tunnel, since it all still needs to get done by the end of April. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
The insurance adjuster came to look at my wall (and a crack that has developed in the ceiling) on Wednesday. Luckily, Dominique remembered the appointment, so she was able to translate much of what he said.
Much of what he said, though, seems to have been: "Your insurance will pay for it. You need to get someone to fix it; try looking in the Yellow Pages. In theory this is the responsibility of the owner of the property, since the upstairs tenant had no way of knowing he had a leak behind his bathtub. But you'll have to arrange for the repair. Oh, and it needs to be done before you move out."
What??? I'm leaving at the end of April. I reported this leak in November. I'm not the one who wasn't available until January to look at the damn wall. And what does he mean, "in theory this is the responsibility of the owner of the property"? Is it, or isn't it?
Dominique said that once i asked the insurance company to get involved, i was bound to do whatever they said. I DIDN'T ASK THE INSURANCE COMPANY TO GET INVOLVED. All i did was report the leak to the real estate agency. Then my neighbor came over with a form that had been filled out by the agency for me to sign (if i hadn't signed it, then he wouldn't have been able to get any of his repairs done, aside from having the leak fixed). Then the agency told me to send the form to my insurance company, and everything would be taken care of. Apparently they meant that I would take care of everything. I don't even know if the amount to be paid by the insurance will be minus my 376€ deductible.
Sometimes i really hate this place.
You can find photos of St Valery sur Somme in the list of pages on Flickr.
If you want to see family and New Year's pics, email me for a link to private pages (some of you have already received those links via email).
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I am tentatively planning to leave Lillebonne the last weekend of April. Janette & Scott have very kindly offered to help me and store my stuff while i'm in transit, since i won't have a real home until i start graduate school (wherever that may be). I will be in the USA probably for the month of May, with more definite plans to be made later. Possibilities include flying to California for David's next triathlon in Monterey. It will be his first half-Ironman, and it takes place the first weekend in May (click my Tri-Sarich link to donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society -- David's mother is currently fighting lung cancer). I will probably be in Crystal Lake for the last week of May. The rest of the time i plan to be in Atlanta (assuming that Andy is there and not in California).
Well, i just spent the previous 24 hours experiencing a French New Year's Eve. Let me just say, i'm exhausted. I will post more later after i have recovered, but here's a teaser for you: Imagine ten adults, two teenagers, a huge dog, a five-course meal that got cut to four courses, because the diners would have exploded, disco dancing, and a subsequent four-course meal that was five courses if you include the second dessert. Yeah.
Well, i'm back home after a week with the family in St Valery sur Somme. It was bitterly cold, but no snow :)
I'll post some pictures and stuff when i get around to plugging in my camera. Meanwhile, i hope everyone had a lovely Solstice/Hanukkah/Christmas/Kwanzaa!
Today was the big Christmas lunch for the staff at PMF. We started at 1:30 with apéritifs (alcohol if you wanted it, i chose orange juice). Then we had our choice of appetizers (avocado, smoked salmon, or Bayonne ham) and main courses (turkey, fish, or venison). These were accompanied by red or white wine and cider. Next came the cheese course, and after that dessert with champagne.
The whole meal only took an hour and a half, quite speedy by French standards, and we were all groaning as we left.
This past weekend i went to Paris to meet up with Maria, my art historian friend from GSU. She has spent the last 3 months in Cassis, near Marseille, on a fellowship from the Camargo Foundation.
I arrived on Saturday at about midday , and we proceeded to a small restaurant for what ended up being a 3-hour lunch. It was rainy, the restaurant was cosy, we had a lot to talk about, and the proprietor was in no hurry to get rid of us. After lunch, i checked into my hotel, and then we headed out for a walk before dinner.
Maria took me to Bercy Village for a wander around some shops, which were crammed with people for the Christmas rush. Then we headed over to the Bibliothèque Nationale, so she could show me the "book-shaped" buildings that look very little like books.
From there we took the Metro to the neighborhood of the Winter Circus. We met a couple of Maria's friends, Sylvie and Sharon, for dinner at the Clown Bar next door to the circus.
On Sunday, Maria and i went to L'Orangerie to see the new installation of Monet's Waterlilies. On the way we took a detour so she could show me Le Palais des Colonies de la Porte Dorée. The palais was built for the 1931 Colonial Exposition, and you can see a number of pictures of it on Flickr. I have to say, one of the best ways to see Paris is in the company of an art historian. It was great to have someone there telling me about the history of buildings and works of art.
For lunch (at 3:30), we went to a great falafel place in a Jewish neighborhood. The streets were busy, since Hanukkah had started on Saturday, and i had to take a picture of this odd "Happy Phone" van.
I don't know what it's for, maybe it offers free phone calls to Israel?
Anyway, after a brisk walk, we headed to Gare St Lazare, so i could catch my 6:00 train home. It was really great to see Maria, and i am a little jealous that she gets to go home on Friday to her husband and her normal life in Atlanta.
Postscript: When i arrived at Gare de Bréauté-Beuzeville, back in good old Normandy, i realized i had made a huge miscalculation. It was 8:00 on a Sunday night, and there were no buses running from the station to Lillebonne! This is what i get for constantly confusing the French words for Friday and Sunday. After an expensive cab ride (thank god i had enough cash on me), i was in my apartment making cocoa and putting on my pajamas.
One of the drawbacks of living on the second floor (first floor to all you Europeans), aside from going up and down a staircase that always makes me feel like i'm going to fall, is the municipal sound system speakers.
I understand that the municipal sound system is not uncommon in France. For those of you who don't know about it, it's a network of speakers scattered throughout the center of town. With the holiday season firmly upon us, these speakers have been spewing pop music on a daily basis.
What does this have to do with my second floor apartment, you ask? The speakers are mounted to the building directly across the street from me. At the level of the second floor. I can hear the music quite well with my windows closed.
If i wanted to listen to Gloria Gaynor singing "I Will Survive", i would play it on my own personal sound system. If i wanted to have Sting crooning to me on my way to work, i would bring my iPod with me.
Why? Why? Why?