Christmas Fever is sweeping this European nation as I’m sure it is in the States. All the decorations are up, just about every city in France has its own “Marché de Noël”, Père Noël (Father Christmas, what they call Santa Claus) is listening to the requests for Bob le Bricoleur (Bob the Builder) dolls and karaoke machines, advertisements are full of snow and sleigh bells- it truly is the most wonderful (and by that I mean commercial) time of the year. Not that celebration here is completely without meaning and survives only for its profitability, but as is apparent in much of the culture, the true roots have been forgotten.
I am finally finished with both my papers as of Sunday night. I sat there, staring at the screen with a satisfied smile as I hit the save button, and then it hit me: what am I going to do with over two weeks of free time? All I have to do now is show up for class, which ends this Thursday for me, and my exams. I don’t have a lot of studying to do, the way the system works here you study as you go along. A sudden panic took hold of me. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being bored. And it’s even worse being bored when you’re waiting for something. I am anticipating Dec. 19th, the day of my return.
Monday night is Fête des Lumières in Lyon which will occupy all afternoon and into the wee hours of the morning. It’s in gratitude to Mary, mother of Jesus, and the festival started in 1643 when a plague struck Lyon and the city promised to pay her homage if the town was spared. To celebrate, there are light shows and amazing fireworks and candles everywhere. I’ve been told its one of the best fêtes that France has to offer and the fireworks are even better than Bastille Day. I’m looking forward to it. The rest of the two weeks will go by quickly, I think.
In my panic I made a list of things I wanted to do before I leave Grenoble and found there was a lot. I’ll be able to stay busy. Last Tuesday night I went to a hockey game. Grenoble’s team, Les Brûleurs des Loups (translated it means wolf-burners…I don’t know what the significance is *). I have to say, it was better than the soccer game I went to for a few reasons. One, I was almost warm the whole time. Two, we were right behind the glass, although there are two layers of glass, one right on the rink and then another about 4 feet behind it which is where the audience starts. And three, the fans were even more out of control. Instead of just one group of fanatics there were two groups of about 60 people strong, equipped with megaphones, face paint, flags, scarves, cheers, baguette pieces to throw at the other team, and, of course, gigantic drums.
The rules of French hockey are a little different. There isn’t supposed to be any fighting, but that goes out the window pretty fast. Refs break it up and then the more traditionally French verbal battles ensue (replete with words and phrases your teacher tells you never to use when you ask what they mean in class). They are also allowed to use their hands in some cases, and they are allowed to use their skates to deflect the puck. I don’t know much about North American hockey, but I don’t think that the hand usage or the skate deflections are sanctioned. **
Anyway, I had a great time. I got into it and I was all about the wolf-burners by the end of the game. It turned out to be a 0-0 tie in OT which left me rather disappointed. A friend of mine who had gone the week before said the score was 9-4 which is, as I understand, unheard of. Nonetheless, it was fun and it was an AIFS “cultural activity” so my ticket was already paid for.
I have once again taken to long, leisurely walks through the town in spite of the cold, to enjoy the window displays in stores and the seductive montages of the chocolatiers. Last weekend I went to biological products exposition called “Naturissma” at a big showroom outside of town. They had some really good food and beautiful crafts. This weekend there was a Christmas exposition which I went to but it wasn’t nearly impressive, except in the foie gras department. There were at least 12 different booths for foie gras. And there was a booth that sold cups of hot chocolate with spice bread which was to die for. Best cup of hot chocolate I’ve ever had, hands down. Today I went to a city-wide garage sale which they call a “brocante” here. Everyone brings out their knick-knacks and you rummage and bargain. It was bitterly cold today so after about an hour I retreated to the Grenoble Art Museum who was having a free admission day today. It was nice and warm inside and I was glad to have a chance to walk through and visit it myself without being rushed by a guide. Then I came home, Marie-T went out so I made dinner for myself, and then I watched Lilo and Stitch in French. Thanks to the grandkids, Marie-T has a little collection of Disney movies. They’re easier to understand since the vocabulary is less elevated than, say, the news.
I took some nice pictures of the sunset on the mountains and the moon rising this evening. The sun sets at about 4:30 and it’s completely dark by 5:30. Every time I look out my window I think of how I’ve grown to love this town, and how I will miss it. I have to think of what awaits me in Paris though. I am truly lucky to have such opportunities. One regret: I wish I had tried to ski here, but it's still pretty early in the season for that. Once again, for the students: study hard, finals will be over soon, for everyone: travel safely, and if you don’t already live there, come to Fairfax between Dec. 20th and Jan 10th.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br%C3%BBleurs_de_Loups Thanks, Wikipedia, for existing!
** My little brother and male friends would be groaning and slapping their foreheads right now because I'm so woefully uninformed about sports and their many and varied rules.
No comments:
Post a Comment