Les vacances III: Strasbourg [AMENDED, May 1]

I am back from Strasbourg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg with my arm still entact, despite the best efforts of the Paris Metro to amputate it! Thank you unknown man who pushed the doors apart, otherwise I would be pecking away at the keyboard one-handed! I'm going to upload pictures later because I have to get them developped and scanned. It was not until I was onboard the TGV http://www.tgv.com/FR/ and some schmuck started snapping photos--nothing like flash dazzling your eyes at eight AM-- that I realized I'd left my nice camera back in Conflans. So, when I arrived in Strasbourg, I headed directly to the Monoprix http://www.monoprix.fr/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoprix and for 4.50 euro purchased a disposable camera. [May 1 UPDATE-- thank you 1 hour developping at Auchan Cergy, 20-some-odd-euros later, plus scanning, plus cropping, plus blablabla, we have some images!]All in all the city was charming in an overly-touristy-type of way. It was nice, but I can't quite put my finger on what I disliked. Was it all the porky Alsacian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsace food? The feeling of being more in Germany than in France (both the attitude of people and the architecture and...)? The offputting mall http://www.placedeshalles.com/ built essentially atop what was a synagogue in the 1800s until the Nazis destroyed it in 1940?
Don't get me wrong, there was plenty that was very appealing about Strasbourg-- the European Court of Human Rights http://www.echr.coe.int/echr/, kugelhopf glacé http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gugelhupf, bretzels http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretzel, fleur d'Alsace glace (think vanilla/kirsch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirschwasser ice cream), the sweet gentleman in the Gingerbread Store with whom I had a delightful little conversation in French, the stunning cathedral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg_Cathedral, etc. It is just that after Nantes, and Conflans, and Paris, and yes, even Cergy, Strasbourg is not home.... Nice to visit, and glad I did, but that is that!

Les Vacances II: Je suis revenue de Nantes

J'aime beaucoup cette très jolie ville! I love gorgeous, enchanting Nantes. This city has restored my faith in running in France. Since arriving I have only run several times, which is bizarre since I used to run virtually every day in Portland-- usually on a treadmill during winter. Here, though, I quickly tired of strange looks and comments outdoors, not to mention the gym at Cergy (a sketchy, male-dominated sauna with limited equipment-- read: not even worth the 16 euro fee for the semester). Now that it is warmer I do see more runners in parks, but almost never just on streets, and always men, rarely women.

Thus, I was delighted when the first morning in Nantes there was a marathon. Even non-racers were out jogging each day, even in rain! In fact, while waiting at an intersection for runners to pass, a lady--clearly a native French speaker, not from Nantes-- asked me if I was from Nantes and proceeded to ask directions before I could even explain that not only was I not from the city, or the country, but that I'm hopelessly directionally challenged. Also, I was wearing an American sweater, French pants, and holding an Italian umbrella, but okay.... *giggles*

I'm trying to do this chameleon-blending-in-thing. You know, it seems to help so that every sketcho on public transportation doesn't make disgusting come-ons to you in French. The unintended consequence, though, is getting asked for directions! Do I look like I know where I am going? I wish I knew where I am going. I mean that in a different sense, though...a sense that perhaps is a little larger...perhaps.

In terms of direction, I am working on this language learning schtuff, and it was splendid to spend several days just using French. My language skills are limited, but it was enjoyable to go to restaurants (particularly Creperie Heb-Ken and La Cigale http://www.lacigale.com/), go to movies (see "Welcome" if you get the chance-- it was quite well done, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1314280/, http://www.premiere.fr/film/Welcome), and do everything in French. This was essentially the first time in France that I have not been travelling with other English speakers. I am realistic that this language acquisition thing is entirely a work-in-progress, and I will return to the U.S. and continue learning and learning and learning...and have I mentioned learning?! There are moments when I despair that I will never really speak French. Stupid neural networks-- language learning DOES get harder as you get older. I didn't have these problems with my first three languages, honestly!

Well, I ought to go finish unpacking from this Nantes adventure and get repacking for Strasbourg! À tout à l'heure!

Les vacances: Part I

Bonsoir à tous! Mom and I have said our goodbyes. She was visiting France this past week, mainly in the Paris area, but also with one day at "les plages du débarquement" in Normandie.

First, we started at the museum in Caen, http://www.memorial-caen.fr/portail/index.php. Then, we saw Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial, and several of the other beaches.

There is this still palpable sense of history always alive here. It is eerie. I recall when I first arrived in France during late last January and early February and meeting people who after learning I was American would start talking about WWII and express their appreciation. Likewise, the woman I live with (who is American, although she has lived in France for the past 28 years) has described how an elderly French lady at her Church gives her little gifts of gratitude like a clock, because for this French lady she symbolizes "America."

Tomorrow mom will fly home to America. Tomorrow I will travel to Nantes mainly to explore the area and see if it would be livable were I to return to teach, after I complete my J.D., in spring 2010. Thus, my "Les vacances: Part II" blog entry can be expected once I return from Nantes...probably around Wednesday. The third installment will come about a week from now when I return from another mini-excursion to Strasbourg. I figure, train rates are affordable, and I should explore as much of France as possible in my remaining time here. The reality is that time is rapidly running. Before I know it I will be back in America myself!

Joyeuses Pâques, Pesah, etc.

Bonsoir! I hope you all are having a splendid spring holiday season.

Pesah, the Jewish Passover, is in part a story about being strangers in a strange land, the need for tolerance, welcoming guests, and remembering one's roots. It seems particularly fitting this year to be in France sharing some of my family's traditions, while also learning more about Easter and the traditions of the family with whom I am living here.


Easter chocolate eggs, animals, etc.-- virtually edible pieces of art, much more exquisite than I had ever seen in the U.S.-- are infinitely more exciting than hunting for a piece of afikomen (the crumbly piece of unleavened bread--matzo-- that kids search for at a Passover Sedar meal). Also, a fifth question to add to those infamous Passover "4 Questions": why does French matzo taste so much better than American matzo? One can even find it in an orange/wine flavour here, apparently from an Algerian recipe!


Sweets aside, though, it is fascinating to see our shared traditions and values and also the interesting differences, both between Judaism and Catholicism, but also between America and France....


Today my mother, who is visiting for the week, and I chopped up some haroset (the apple/cinnamon/wine/walnut mixture typical during Pesah) to complement the Easter lamb meal we shared with the Soufer Family.


I am quite lucky to have been welcomed by this wonderful family, in this wonderful country. I don't know how to express that without simply sounding corny (no pun intended for you observant Jews of ashkenazic descent who do not eat corn during Passover). Seriously, though, I am very thankful for this experience of this spring semester in France. Naturally, spring is always a season of rebirth, of the earth blossoming again. This year spring feels all the more acutely a time of renewal, though. Is this partially a function of the precarious times in which we find ourselves?




I grow pensive...introspective...and that is independent of my visit earlier in the week with my Dutch friend Sanne to several museums, including the Rodin Museum http://www.musee-rodin.fr/ , where the pictures in this long overdue blog entry, including one of the famous "Thinker," were taken.


On that (thoughtful?) note, I have to start contemplating which courses I will enroll in next fall back at UMaine Law, so I am going to conclude the present post. A happy and peaceful spring to you all!

Post- le vingtième

Apologies for the long delay in posts. Last weekend with a group from the university I went to Mont Saint Michel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_St._Michel). It was marvellous! Absolutely beyond words. Even these photos don't do it justice!

The next morning, I came home to one of those horrendous "This is a terrible way to tell you, but..." e-mails, informing me that a high school friend, only 23 years old, had died in a motorcycle accident. Again, no words are sufficient.

We take each other for granted, never stopping to contemplate the fragility of life, never stopping to savor every second.... I don't say it frequently enough, but thank you people for being part of my life. Thank you.