Sometimes, it's just one of those days

Do you ever have a day where you just can't take it anymore (giving a very vast and vague definition to the word "it"--whatever the case may be)?  Well, today is one of those days.  After 8 hours straight (with an hour and half lunch break of course--the French LOVE to take the time to eat) of sitting and listening to French explanations of computer terms...I had had enough for the day.  Earlier in the week, I had planned to take the train to Nantes Thursday night (tonight) and have an aperitif with Pauline, the friend with whom I lived during the first summer I spent in France, because I haven't seen her in ages!  Unfortunately I had to call her after my class (around 5:30pm) to tell her that I wasn't coming back tonight until Friday early afternoon.  My brain needs a rest and so does my nervous system--keeping track of this, keeping track of that, applying for an internship, speaking/writing/listening/living French 24/7.  So, what do French women do (and pretty much all women for that matter)?  They buy shoes.

Sometimes, you just gotta do it...for sanity's sake.

So continue where I left off from my last blog, we all said in a hotel that night after the wedding.  It was SO nice to sleep in a big comfy bed, with clean sheets and towels, a hot shower in the morning, and a TV!  The boys watched the France vs. Canada rugby match that morning at 10am, in their pj's, drinking yes you guessed it, whisky.  I didn't know that 10am is also another time for the aperitif in France! Haha.

That Sunday after the wedding, we had lunch at Benoit's parents house.  His mother was so excited to host us because she was prepare the chicken that she picked up herself from the farm and had it freshly plucked and slaughtered.  I think that you need not a further comment...it was the best chicken I have ever tasted.

Another recap: Curious George is no more.  Now, George is a 30 year old asian man who is receiving a scholarship from his accounting firm in Tawain to learn French (at least that is what is understood).  He is moving out on my birthday because him and the woman from whom we are renting the apartment, do not get along.  You can smell the frustration between the two as soon as you enter the appartment.  George speaks a few words of French (mais pas beaucoup); however, he knows enough English to get by.  The woman speaks minimal English; therefore, it is almost impossible for them to communicate.  He lives like a slob and keeps a rice-cooker next to his bed.  Obviously, being messy and having an asian rice-cooker that most likely uses 75% of the electricity in the house do not do well in French society.  Apparently, there will be a 20 year old chinese girl moving in on October 1st.  We will see how that goes.

Well, I am very "pooped" to say the least.  Love you all and think of you often :)

Day in the life of a "Angersaise"

First of all, my apologies for not blogging as much as I should.  Transition is hard especially after being on vacation for two full months, living with your boyfriend that you haven't seen for over a year, experiencing the joys of a foreign culture, eating the best food I have ever tasted in my life at every meal, and oh yeah, enjoying French wine "sans limite."  Currently, I find myself with a full course load of a 2 year Masters program compressed into one year, taught in French.  I swear I am not complaining because although I don't think I have ever been so caught up and lost in my classwork (in both positive and negative ways alike) in my life.  My classes change every day.  For example, the 3 hour class I had to day is "Révision et relecture" will not meet again until next MONTH.  So, if I ever lose my schedule, I'm pretty much dead.

There are a total of four people in my class (yes, myself included).  An algerian man in his mid-thirties with greasy slicked back hair and a creepy accent.  A lebonese woman (Melissa you would LOVE her) who fell in love and married a French man and in order to not bore herself to death in being a "femme à foyer" (housewife) she decided to apply for this program.  She is a lot like me in the fact that she smiles a lot, has a rich passion for the French language, and loves frenchmen haha.  Next, there is a hungarian girl who is about my age.  We are becoming great friends and she told me that anytime I would like to visit Hungary, I would be welcome at her house.  She resembles almost exactly the portrait of Grandma Trach when she was around the same age, which was painted my Grandpap O.  She is currently dating a Marocan man who has been living and working in France for quite some time and announced to us today that over the weekend...he ask for her hand in marriage!

I didn't have class this past Friday, so I decided to join Benoit in Pornic Thursday night.  Mussels with a curry sauce and fries for dinner.  We were vexed by the way my creme brulée turned out the last time (and apparently there is a certain "french finesse" that must be done because Mom, you said that you didn't have much luck either) so we decided to buy creme brulée already made.  The only direction we had to follow was to put in the oven at 225 degrees Celcius for 1 1/2 minutes.  Voila, yummy creme brulée.

This past weekend we had another wedding to attend :) I love French weddings, although I am convinced that depite my eagerness to participate in wedding festivities, my cameras are much less motivated.  It's official, Big Red is dead (my faithful little red, Canon camera that captured so many wonderful memories that passed 2 years) and I losted the charger for the Sony camera that Benoit gave me.  As a result, again, no pictures from the wedding.  It's ok, I am currently studying translation with in way can also be considered as a certain art of language.  So, I will do my best to describe it to you!

The mass was held very early compared to the other two weddings that I attended this past summer.  It took place at 2pm.  Benoit, Djo, Enguerran (yes, we still hang out with him...), and I planned to go together; however, we arrived an hour late to the church because Enguerran was late and forgot his suit.  So, in order to avoid the total humiliation of entering the old gothic church, built in the 13th century (no big deal) we decided to have a beer and play fooseball at the local bar.  Haha.

The cocktail was held that the same castle where Anne-Edith, my oldest host sister, was married two years ago.  Of course, it was raining, but luckily that had organized the cocktail inside in the, which was at one time, "the sitting ROOMS" of the castle.  There was an enormous terrace towards the back of the castle, that looked out onto the mote and the castle gardens.  After 3 or 4 glasses of champagne and a dozaine or two "verrines" (see picture below), it was time to leave and find a nice restaurant where we could have dinner (Benoit, Djo, Enguerran, and I were not invited to the dinner, only "cocktail" and "soiree"--cocktail and after party).

After having eating "une bavette avec une sauce d'échalote" (literally translation as a "flank stank with a shallot sauce"; however, I can assure you that it tasted like a piece of filet mignon done rare...mmmmmm!) with a nice 2008 pinot noir to accompany it.  We returned to the "soiree" around 11:30 where we danced the night away until about 3 am.

Small pause!  Gotta make dinner and start my homework before I have a skype date with my mommy!

Curious George

I am so amazed by how fast time flies.  To think that it was exactly 2 years ago that I first arrived in France, not speaking a single word except for the basic essentials such as "bonjour" and "merci"; and now I am about to embark on a who new and different kind of journey.

Benoit was kind enough to help me move in to my new "apartment" in Angers yesterday evening.  Once again, being the wonderful and curtious man that he is, he carried by 50 lbs suitcase up 3 flights of stairs.  There, we were greeted by my landlord and she gave us a brief tour of the place.  The first thing that popped out of my mouth when I saw my new room was, "C'est enorme!" (It's huge!).

My bed is quite comfy and the internet connection here is fast and efficient (we can finally skype whoever wants too!)  The only thing that seems to be missing from the usual "American comforts of home" would be a closet/dresser--I only have a small rack resembling a suitcase rack of a bellhop--and a door to the shower--the only thing blocking the shower from the rest of the apartment is a thick curtain.

The shower thing wouldn't bother me if there wasn't, who I now call, "curious George" in the next room over.  Apparently, there is another person renting a room in the apartment; however, we haven't met yet.  I think that his name is George because there is a post-it note on the fridge with three cell phone numbers: Sophie's (the landlord), my own, and "George's."  We also apparently share a bathroom, for I saw his glasses, razor, and toothbrush on the sink.  He had already left by the time I woke up and got out of bed to make myself a cup of tea, but hopefully tonight I will solve the mystery and "Curious George" will not be so curious anymore.

First day of school today.  I am all set to go with new folders, pencils, pens, paper, and an agenda; however, I didn't have the chance to by a new "back to school outfit this year."  I have absolutely NO IDEA how the university system words in France because the last time I attended the University of Nantes to years ago, I had the direction of my study abroad program.  This time around, I am on my own and the only thing I know for the moment is that at precisely 2pm I must be present in room number 38 of the IPLV building.  Bonne chance Laura!

I'm a new woman!

After spending a "girls only" weekend, I feel refreshed and ready to take on the world!  I love Benoit, however, from time to time, a girl needs her friends.

Thus far, everything is working out with my new French bank account (see my very own "carte bleu" and checkbook below--complete with the prefix "madamoiselle" and a picture of the Arc de Triomphe in the background).  In order to activate my new bank card, I decided it was offically necessary (for financial matters of course) and finally time to do a little shopping.

For the past few weeks, I have been organizing all of my paperwork for a certain "rendez-vous" I have tomorrow in Angers with the secretary of the university.  Since the French system of education is MUCH different than ours in the United States, I was unaware that after you are admitted to a university/school, you have a whole bunch of documents you need to feel out and mail-in (yes, mail-in--French schools have not yet completely turned over the Internet) in order to CONFIRM your spot in the program.  Due date of these documents for my university: July 13, 2011--aka the day of my departure for France.  Hmmm, il y a un petit problème (there is a small problem here).  Luckily, l'Université catholique de l'ouest is somewhat used to dealing with foreign students, so hopefully there will be no problem straightening out my situation, hopefully.

Other than organizing my paperwork, my days have been consisting of reading, watching French movies, doing crossword puzzels on the beach, going shrimp fishing (yes, true story), and cooking.  Here are a few photos that I took during my days living at the beach with Benoit:

My lovely book of crossword puzzles.

Yes, it's not an illusion.  I am sitting by the fire wearing boots and a scarf, drinking a glass of red wine in the middle of August.

More often than not, the French do not invest in electric mixers.  This is a picture of my eggs whites, whipped by my own hands.  I almost passed out afterwards lol.

Finam product of my day's labor: salted, butter caramel macaroons.

These are tiny shellfish called "beigornoses."  They kind of look like small escarots, however, you eat them raw with a small toothpick.  These ones here are the catch of the day from Benoit before coming home from work--Yup, normal.  Obviously a stone mason would go fishing for exotic shellfish before coming home.

Beautiful "promenade" on the seaside.

Pears cooked in red wine with a side of sorbet.  Don't hesite to ask for the recipe!  It's very easy to prepare, trust me!  Even an americain can do it :)

Getting ready to go shrimp fishing!

At the end of the day, even though we had no shrimp in our buckets, Benoit and I spend a wonderful week together.

In other news, I cut my hair!  I needed a change.  Plus, spending practically every weekend at the beach and exposing my hair salty air and humidity is not exactly the best remedy for having healthy looking long hair.  Anyway, hair grows and I am quite happy and content with my " new French parisian look!"

First reaction from Benoit, "Wow, j'ai l'impression de tromper ma femme!" (Wow! I get the impression that I am cheating on my wife/girlfriend!)  I still don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  However, after the initial shock, he said that he liked it.  

That night, in order to celebrate "ma nouvelle coupe de cheveux" (my new haircut), we cooked an entire rabbit in the oven for dinner.  Haha, no joke.

Pray that everything goes well at my meeting tomorrow!! Love you and thinking of everyone often.

"The Burial of the Life of a Young Girl" aka Bachelorette Party!

With the long awaited wedding of Anne-Laure and Romain finally approaching, Benoit and I were very excited to finally take part in the bachelor and bachorlette parties last weekend.  At 9am Saturday morning, the "kidnapping" took place at their apartment by both les garçons (guys) et les filles (girls).  All eleven girls were dressed in our matching pink polo shirts while the boys supported their love of rugby and decided to all wear their jerseys.

Without reveiling too many details of what exactly happened on the "boy's end" after the two groups parted their separate ways, Benoit told me that they took Romain to the Place Royal (the biggest square in all of Nantes) and paraded around with pots and pans, chanting, "il va se marier, il va se marier!" (he's going to get married, he's going to get married!) Following somewhat of the same plan, the girls took Anne-Laure around the city of Nantes, diguised as an ugly princess and blindfolded, bringing her to prominent places during her childhood; such as her daycare, her schools, ect.  Next, still blindfolded, we drove Anne-Laure an hour and half to her family beach house in Croisic (see map below) where some of the girls had already prepared the aperatif with champagne, kirs, and a lovely lunch afterwards.

After lunch, we decided to take Anne-Laure on a "catamaran."  A catamaran is a special kind of sailboat with two big "floaters" on both sides and thick piece of canvas in the middle, connectly the two.  It is normally a 2 person boat, but since we were an odd number of 11 we had to have a group of 3 (I was part of that group of three because I was the only one that never mounted on a sailboat niether knew how to guide one).

That's me all the way on the right!

Not only was I part of the only group of 3, I was also on the only boat that flipped over in the middle of the ocean!  Please don't freak out Mom or Grandma Trach, I lived through it don't worry!  We got caught in a small wind tunnel that prevented Pauline from changing the direction of the sail.  As a result, the boat turned itself to one side and all three of us were tossed out of the boat.  The current was rather strong that day and the guide (yes, there was a guide to help us, although he was on a different boat, paired with one of the other girls).  Finally, we were pulled out of the water and were able to sail safely to shore.  However, the arranged pairs got jumbled during our cry of man over-board and suddenly I found myself on a boat with just one other girl, Eugenie.  Eugenie took the post of pilot and I was in the cockpit with the job of changing sails according to the direction of the wind.  After a bit of stress and panic, Eugenie and I safely and successfully "drive" the boat to shore.  

After such an event, we all decided it was time for the aperitif before dinner.  We made our way back to the house and directly started to prepare dinner.  The sequence of events were as followed:

-Aperitif+question and answer session with all the responses we were dying to know from Anne-Laure  concerning her "inimate" relationship with Romain

-Shellfish dinner with white wine a flowin' (see pictures below)

-Homeade mojitos and kareoke!  

The next day, we all decided it would be a nice idea to let Anne-Laure (and the rest of us) sleep in.  After we all got dressed, it was time to take the bachelorette in a treasure hunt through the town of Croisic.  The catch?  Once Anne-Laure responded with the right answer to a question and found the box that was hidden, she was able to "keep" what was inside.  However, what was inside were costume pieces that she had to put on (in public) and complete a second challenge.  For example, outside a creperie, she found the box.  Inside was an orange whig.  Anne-Laure had to put on the orange wig and then give a total of 10 hugs to the people who having lunch at the creperie.  Everyone was so friendly and willing to play along--to my surprise because French people are rather closed-off to rowdy and ridiculous things--and even the chef at the creperie offered Anne-Laure a chocolate crepe!

The "Burial of the Life of a Young Girl" turned out to be a great success!  And one step closer to the wedding, THIS WEEKEND!

A "Petite" Briefing...

Although life seems to roll at a slower pace here in France, the adventures that I've had thus far are numerous and I am having trouble keep up with all of the updates! From taking a tour of Brittany, to renting motor boats, temporarily moving to Benoit's family's beach house, going shrimp fishing, recently experiencing my second French bachelorette party (otherwise known in French as "l'enterrement de vie de jeune fille=burial of the bachelorette--don't worry, details to follow), I apologize for the fact that life seems to be flashing before my eyes, but oh boy oh boy am I enjoying the view!!

To conclude the roadtrip that Benoit and I took, here is a briefing of some of the last things we saw and did together:

1) Taste testing of hard cider at a "ciderie," (thank you Benoit for making me finish all of your glasses because you were driving--obviously, afterwards I took a nice nap in the car) and bought a whole case of hard cider...oops.

2) Playing with some huge rocks.

3) Stealing corn and picnicing on the seaside.

 4) and finally buying a big stone house with a beautiful garden--haha just kidding, I wish!

I would say that our roadtrip was a GREAT SUCCESS!