Lovin' me some France

Originally posted 9-25-2003

This past week I had a lot of stuff to take care of.  Brooke and I planned the Switzerland trip which you all will be hearing about next week.  We had to go to the train station to get tickets and the special student card for rail travel in France which cuts your transportation costs in half.  I also had to find new running shoes.  I should have gone straight to the internet.  After a lot of research and a lot of exasperated salespeople, I found that you cannot buy good running shoes in Europe for under 100 Euro, or about $120 USD.  Plus they didn’t have Brooks.  Probably only Marj will understand the extent of my distress when I found out that Brooks won’t be available in Europe until February 2004.  So after three specialty stores and four department stores, I ended up back at my computer and happily bought my shoes for $56.67 USD.  They’re pretty ugly, but I’m willing to sacrifice style for functionality when it comes to running shoes.  That’s a pretty American sentiment, but I can’t deny my roots.  So with shoe ordeal solved, I moved on to e-mails and found out that classes at W&M have been cancelled indefinitely and the school closed until further notice due to hurricane Isabel. Everyone ok?

Friday had arrived.  I again took a leisurely morning, then headed to town to do a little shopping and meet up with some people for lunch.  Then it was time for a visit to the Museum of Grenoble.  It’s one of the most respected museums outside of Paris (so say the Grenoblois, anyway) and it was the last weekend for an exhibit on Matisse and Picasso.  There were only two works by Picasso but they had amassed an enormous portion of Matisse’s works.  I am looking forward to going back and exploring the rest of the museum more.  There are a ton of museums in Grenoble alone.  I hope I have time to see more of them. 

That night I went to a local jazz club, La Soupe aux Choux, with Christi and Grant.  This club came highly recommended by locals and foreigners alike so I wanted to check it out.  I’m not the biggest Jazz/Blues fan, but I had a great time. It’s really small, not overly smoky (very relieved to find that out) and the people who go there are locals and regulars.  We saw the Bob Mississippi Blues Band*, a quintet of Frenchman who sang half in English, half in French.  They were funny and I was sitting practically on top of the guitar player they were so close.  It was a far cry from the London Pub and a very welcome change. We talked with the band at their halfway break and they asked us where we were from and some other questions.  Unfortunately, we had to get up early for the trip to Burgundy the next day so we left around midnight.

We left for Burgundy the next morning at 8:15.  We stopped at a little medieval town called Pérouges where they make this amazing unleavened bread, baked over open flames and flavored with brown sugar and cinnamon.  It comes in rounds.  That paired with thick, rich hot chocolate was a nice way to start the trip.   We then went to the Chateau de Pierreclos, a famous vineyard.  The region of Burgundy in France is the most celebrated wine region in the world and among the frontrunners for cuisine. We had a candlelit wine tasting in the caves of the cellars we visited. (P.S. if you know of vineyards near you, the girls came to a consensus that a fantastic date idea is going for a wine tasting/vineyard visit.  Just a little public service announcement from me to you, boys.)  The Chateau is owned and run by one woman who is single handedly taking on its restoration.  When we toured, they were in the middle of setting up a wedding for French nobles.  What a place for a wedding!  The chateau was absolutely picturesque.  There were rolling hills, acres of leafy green grapevines, gorgeous old stone structures dating from the middle ages, gates that lead to well-kept gardens. I am reminded of the line from The Emperor’s New Groove when Pasha says something to the effect of “When the sun hits at a certain angle, these hills sing”.  That afternoon those hills sung.  We left there and went to Dijon for a fantastic dinner of chicken with white wine mustard sauce, potatoes au gratin, kir (a traditional French cocktail of white wine and crème de cassis) and topped off with a chocolate and pear tart. Wow. 

We stayed the night in Dijon.  The next morning on my run I took my time and explored the old region of the city.  We were right in the heart of it and I weaved in and out of narrow streets.  It was just after sunrise on Sunday so no one was awake, nothing was open, and I had the streets almost to myself.  I ran past old cathedrals, colorful wooden buildings, down lush boulevards and through peaceful parks.  I was running past an old fountain which was not on and I thought it was turned off for the season, but when I was right in front of it, it turned on in the new morning light and sparkled brilliantly.  Joy to be alive: check!  Maybe partially due to the dazzling vision of this fountain, I got pretty lost on this run and when I got back to my hotel, Bonnie, my roomate, was relieved. I had given her a time limit at which point she should be alarmed that something had happened and I was cutting it pretty close.

We ate breakfast then went on a walking tour of Dijon.  The Burgundy region was one of the religious centers of medieval France and was second only to Rome in importance at a certain point.  Therefore, we saw many majestic cathedrals.  There was also an outdoor antique market.  France periodically has Journées du Patrimoine or "history days" and also that all museum entrance fees are waived.  This weekend happened to be one of them.  On these days, fairs and exhibitions are common and in Burgundy they had an expo of regional cuisine.  Christi and I sort of stumbled upon it.  We tasted mustard and country honey, foie gras, kir, these special cookies that are like lady fingers but they literally melt in your mouth.  As soon as it touches your tongue it dissolves into sugary goodness. Despite these pleasures, everyone was tired and a little crabby.  Next we went to the bus for a short trip to Beaune.  We visited the Hospice of Beaune, constructed specifically to give free care to the poor in danger of dying in the 15th and 16th centuries.  It was richly decorated and was famous for the expertise with which it administered to its patients.  If you were going to die, being there would have made it easier.  They had a display of medieval surgical instruments that made me cringe though. 

After the visit to the Hospice, we went to Chateau Bouchard Père et Fils, another celebrated vineyard.  We walked through seemingly endless caves of wine.  We found out later that there are over 4 million bottles housed in that one place.  There are bottles that date from 1904 that sell for over $1000 dollars. Some wines are behind huge wrought iron gates and may only be consumed in the designated year by the designated people.  That was the end of the trip and we piled back on the bus for the ride back to Grenoble. We watched Grosse Pointe Blank (in English) which was just icing on the cake. The apartment building in Grenoble was a welcome sight.  Marie-T gushed about the bottle of wine I bought her. 

I had class today and we spent an hour and a half correcting an exercise on pronouns.  I was overwhelmed with all the details I have to remember when I speak and write.  I am still optimistic, but certainly challenged.  Hope everything’s okay with everyone in Virginia and the hurricane hasn’t hit you all too hard.  W&M, I don’t know if I should be jealous or fear for your safety.  I guess a little of both.  Everyone else, hope this entry finds you well.  A la prochaine!

*In retrospect, this name makes me laugh.  I love how french people think that having the name Bob in their band will lend a folksy, American feel to their set.  Bob Mississippi.... hilarity.