Overdue!

Time is flying by here in Angers! Seems like yesterday I sat down to begin the previous blog entry about Fall Break (that even as I write this is still incomplete).

    Saturday the 13th of November a handful of us went out to experience Foire Saint Martin, which is a small carnival on the other side of the Loire river that stays there for the month of November. We actually got in a little bit of trouble referring to Foire Saint Martin, because to the French, Carnival is a large Springtime celebration, this was specifically a fair. Foire Saint Martin was ten times more fun than any American carnival I have ever been to! The rides, the lights, the music, were all over-the-top! It was lightly raining, but we barely noticed we were having so much fun. =]

    The first ride we decided to try out was the Haunted House. These are typically one of my favorites at carnivals, and it definitely didn't disappoint. What we didn't know was that in France, unlike in the U.S., the people working inside of the Haunted House were allowed to touch us! That was definitely a terrifying surprise, especially when the guy at the end ran his chainsaw across my chest!






    After the Haunted House, we basically ran to the grown-up Fun House! I have to say, after a few cheap beers, that was probably the most fun I've had in Angers to date! Everyone was spinning and tripping in every direction. There were pitch black laser rooms, rooms with shifting and jolting floors, rolling walkways, spiral slides, and a washing machine at the end that took us around 10 minutes to climb out of! Loved it!

    There were a few more rides after the Fun House, and some Dance Dance Revolution that took me back to middle school! (I used to LOVE Dance Dance Revolution) All in all, the night was a terrific success!

    This past week was very short! Some classes had been cancelled, and others had quizzes and homework. I actually missed classes on Thursday because I wasn't feeling well at all. Friday was interesting though. There was an excursion to three châteaux throughout the Loire Valley. The bus picked my group up at 8:30am and I listened to Sufjan Stevens on my iPod while looking out the window at the heavy, thick fog throughout the hillsides and forests. We were in the vicinity of two rivers, so I'm not joking when I say the fog was intense!
    The first château on our list to visit was the Château d'Amboise. Built in the 15th century, about half of the place was demolished in the 19th century because it was too expensive to maintain. What is left of the château, however, is beautiful! There is a small chapel there that houses the grave of Leonardo da Vinci, as he died in the house that the King had given him in Amboise. The château was also an important location during the Wars of Religion.

    Once our tour was finished I got some chorizo pizza from a local restaurant, and the group walked across town to see the house of Leonardo da Vinci. It was undergoing renovation, but we were still able to see much of the house, including the kitchen, basement where some of his working machines could be seen, and the gardens. The land on which the house was located was beautiful! There was a large open park just in front of the house, and down the hill there was a stream with a cobblestone bridge and many of da Vinci's machines lining meandering pathways.

    A short ride through a copper and red colored forest later, and we were at the Château de Chenonceau. This was definitely the most beautiful of the three! Built in the 16th century on top of what used to be a fortified castle and mill, the château actually acts as a bridge across the Cher River. There is a mote around the building, and a sizable garden to the right of the entry. There was also a small hedge maze. I was in love with the area because of all of the massive trees in their organized rows. We had emerged from the forest into a neatly organized vista that was ever so French! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, pictures scarcely do the place justice! What I wouldn't give to have seen this château in the Spring or Summer!

    Last night, Saturday night, all of the St. Ed's people were invited over to the house of one of the French students, Marie Danielle. The meal was Raclette, which is very French apparently. Needless to say, it was delicious. Red wine and baguettes with endless butter at first, and then the raclette. Each of us had personal sized skillets that we melted slices of cheese in to smother on the trays of sliced meats, potatoes, and veggies. Amazing! Dani is of Congolese decent, so after the raclette, we were treated with this spicy kind of fried chicken and rice. I didn't think I could eat anymore after the raclette, but boy was I wrong! Yum Yum Yum! Coffee and ice cream followed the epoch meal, and we were all sent home uncomfortably full! :D

    Today was a day to study, study, study for my French test tomorrow. Tomorrow morning before my test my international business class is taking a trip to Scania. More to come on that!
Thanks for keeping up with my blog, even when I don't!

Kev

Fall Break, etc.

    I know, I have been a terrible steward of this blog! It really has been an insane month here, so apologies for the length of the post...

    The week after returning from Normandy was fast and uneventful. Tests and book reports. The next Wednesday was the next day worth writing about. For my international business classes I had the opportunity to visit the one and only Cointreau factory!

    If you didn't already know Cointreau as the delicious orange liqueur used as the triple-sec in a lot of places' margaritas, then you a) need to drink more margaritas, and b) need to ask for it next time. If you've read this blog, though, you'll know that it was a flaming Cointreau shot that I took here in Angers weeks ago that gave me the circular scar on my right palm.

    Anyway, we toured the factory (which smelled a lot like Jamba Juice) and after a brief q&a about their international business strategy (95% of their business is international, mostly to the US, because in France, domestic alcohol brands are forbidden to advertise) we were all given free Cointreaupolitans (at 11am...). It was a very cool experience, and I'll probably buy everyone Cointreau filled Lindt chocolates for Christmas! Mmmm.

 http://www.abarof.co.uk/product_images/a/980/lindt_cointreau__12873_zoom.jpg

    That Friday, St. Edward's sponsored a walking tour of the City of Angers! A little late, perhaps, but better late than never. Our good old tour guide, Hedwig, who had previously taken our group to Fauntevraud met our group at the tourist office and from there we walked over the the Château d'Angers.  The château sits right next to the river and next to the cathédrale Saint-Maurice d'Angers, it is the second most prominent feature on the skyline of the city. 


    Built in the 9th century, it was largely deconstructed by Henry III to pave the streets of the city, and it was heavily damaged during WWII when Nazi munitions exploded inside the fortress. Today, it houses the oldest and largest collection of midival tapestries in the world (The Tapestries of the Apocolypse). We walked around the château for an hour or so, and then went through the midieval section of town to the cathedral, all things that we had seen before, but still interesting none the less. 

The week after was midterms =[

    Over the last few weeks, especially the week before I left for Fall Break, the strike was getting more and more intense. The garbage wasn't being picked up so the streets were filled with mountains of trash. Trains were being cancelled left and right. Schools were closed (except for colleges) and one was even burned to the ground in Le Mans after being threatened for remaining open. Protests were happening multiple times a week, there was a fuel shortage (international flights from CDG in Paris were taking off with the intention of refueling just outside of France), and (sometimes violent) riots were happening in Paris, Lyon, and Marseilles. There was even a plan called 'Operation Escargot' in which truck drivers would drive at a walking pace on the highway. This was all in anticipation for the pension reform bill that I have written about before. A lot of other people in my program had their Fall Break travel plans altered because of the trains, but thankfully mine worked out okay!

    Friday the 22nd at 8am I got on my SNCF train to Paris! I occasionally looked up from my book to see beautiful fields and trees beginning to turn for the Fall, and scattered throughout the countryside were several wind energy farms. Upon our arrival at Montparnasse, (literally right as we dismounted the train) Katie ran for the nearest trash can... we had backwards facing seats on the train and she had been very nautious. Welcome to Paris! We laughed that off, and quickly shuffled over to The Metro to get to our hostel way up at the north end of the city at Crimée. The Metro costs 1€70 for each ride, not bad considering the London Tube (The Underground) costs £4 per ride (just think about that terrible exchange rate, too!). 

    We stayed at St. Christopher's Inn Paris, and it was SUCH a nice hostel! Somewhere around 25€ a night and definitely worth it! The staff was so outgoing and accommodating, the bar/grill served delicious French food, there was a club built in, free wifi, cubby style bunk beds that were very private and came with personal night-lights and outlets, and great washroom facilities! It was heaven. Very social, too. We stayed there for three nights and met a lot of interesting people (lots of Canadians, Australians, and Americans).

    After checking into our hostel, we took The Metro to the Orsay Museum to see Impressionist and Naturalist art. It was breathtaking. The museum is in what used to be a mid 19th century rail station, and the building is a work of art in itself. My favorite pieces in the museum were "Porte à l'Enfer" by Rodin, and "Serenity" by Henri Martin. I also really enjoyed the collection of art nouveau. 

    After spending a good three hours in the Orsay, Katie and I walked around that area of the left bank making our way towards Invalides (the war museum where Napoleon is buried). We stopped and bought the most delicious pastries you have ever tasted in your entire life, and then ate them across the bridge on a bench in between Small and Large Palaces (both museums now). 

    Since we were sitting right in front of Le Petit Palais, we decided to go ahead and see the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts that is housed there. It was getting into the evening, and we only had an hour or so to make it through the rather large building. Everything was so beautiful, from the art nouveau gate, to the garden in the buildings courtyard, to the intricate ironwork on each marble staircase, to the art housed there (once again, Rodin was my favorite). 
    In the building's basement, there was an exposition called "Reporters Without Borders: 100 Photos of Pierre & Alexandra Boulat." The photography was truly breath taking. There were pictures ranging from Yves Saint Laurent preparing for a show in Paris in the 1960's, to images from Iraq and Palestine; from post-war France to the daily life of the American soldier. 

    An hour later it was fairly obvious that the museum was closing. Men and women in navy sweater vests and maroon ties were walking through each exhibit and ushering people towards the exit. Feeling completely satisfied with our sightseeing for the day, Katie and I made our way back to the Metro, back to Crimée. 


    At the hostel, we had some drinks and burgers, and turned in early. At 4:30AM, I woke up to the sound of a drunk Australian who was staying in our 10-bed room stumbling out of his cubby. Our room came with a sink and mirror, but the bathroom was located at the end of the hall. The guy peed in our sink, and while he was doing so he farted so loud that afterwords I heard other people shifting in their beds.


    Saturday morning we pulled ourselves out of bed early so that we could take advantage of the complementary breakfast downstairs. Breakfast consisted of baguettes, Nutella, coffee, and more coffee. We then ventured out for the day, taking the Metro south to Montparnasse so that we could begin the day with a view of Paris from the 59th floor roof of Tour Montparnasse!

    Seeing this view of Paris was one of the things that I was most looking forward to! I felt like a kid in a candy shop as we exited the Metro, crossed the avenue, bought an umbrella at the complex's shopping mall (because rain was moving in across the overcast skies of Paris), and entered the building. 

    Tour Montparnasse was completed in 1972 (the same year as New York's World Trade Center 1), and   stands at 210 Meters (689ft).  In 2005, asbestos was detected as a threat to office workers in the building, and asbestos removal is still going on there. 

   The elevator ride to the observation deck cost a mere 8€ for students and lasted around 12 seconds. There were little flat screens in the elevator that showed exactly how far up the building we were at each second, and counted each passing meter. It also showed our view of Paris as we rose from street level into the sky. Very cool. We were instantly greeted leaving the elevator, and immediately shuffled (as would be the case on any cruise ship) toward a green screen to get our picture taken. Katie and I posed like a real tourist couple, and then walked over to see our image super-imposed on a high definition Paris skyline with TOUR MONTPARNASSE-PARIS written in tacky bubble letters in the lower left-hand corner. Obviously we didn't buy it for 15€ but it was a good picture. 

    If we thought the view from inside the 56th floor observation deck was cool, we needed only walk up the stairs to the roof! As we came closer to the exterior door, we could feel a freezing cold wind-tunnel effect. It was lightly sprinkling outside, but the wind made the mist sting when it hit my face. I couldn't even believe what I was seeing on the roof of that building. I was surrounded by Paris in every direction, and it was a poetic feeling, I wish I could bottle that feeling and sell it! After spending entirely too much time up on the roof admiring the beautiful view and watching a rainstorm roll in over La Defense, we went downstairs again to get some coffee. We sat overlooking the eastern portion of the city, and I learned that the word for skyscraper in French is gratte-ciel. As we were leaving, we asked about 5 different people where the entrance to the Catacombs was located. We would walk a certain distance, and ask another person, and so on.

When we finally reached the small green shack that housed the entrance to the Catacombs about two Metro stops from Montparnasse, it was full on raining. Katie and I waited in a very long line to pay the student price of 6€ to enter. The Catacombs are a famous underground ossuary in Paris. There are miles of tunnel under the city that have become underground cemeteries. Started in the 18th century to relieve the overcrowding of Paris cemeteries, the Catacombs are a very creepy tourist attraction that are definitely worth seeing. Because it was raining while we were in the tunnels, water was seeping through the ceiling and landing on our heads, it was gross, creepy, and added to the somber scene. Thousands upon thousands of bones were formed into sculptures and designs throughout the chilly tunnels. The most memorable part of walking through the Catacombs was probably the endless circular stairwells on either end. They lasted for at least five minutes, and it was like riding a merry-go-round, I wanted to throw up!

    At that point, the baguettes and Nutella were definitely wearing off and we were starving! The next place on our list of things to do (ambitious) was Centre Pompidou (the modern art museum). We hopped right back on the Metro (I think half of my time in Paris may have been spent underground) and rode across the river to the massive museum. Katie and I went to the first boulangerie/patisserie we could find and I got some sort of amazing chicken sandwich, and Katie got an even better Croq Monsieur *(YUM)*. 

    Centre Pompidou was built in 1977 in the high-tech style of architecture, and houses a large public library, and the National Museum of Modern Art.

Wine Tasting, Normandy, Mont Saint Michel, Saint Malo

    Okay, I know, it's about time I started writing again! It has been a long and eventful week. The weather is becoming colder and more wet, and the leaves are beginning to change and fall from the trees. Upon arriving in Angers, the weather was sunny and comfortable, so you can imagine how grumpy and lazy this week has been now that we're all adjusting to the cool, damp, and depressingly overcast weather. I miss the sun!

I believe I left off just before the wine tasting excursion that took place Thursday, September 23rd. I had a short history lesson that morning, and then after a kabob for lunch, I boarded the bus for the small village of Savennièrs. It was almost comical (but mostly terrifying) watching our over-sized tour bus squeeze through the narrow streets of small rural villages on the way to Savennièrs. In many places, the small buildings (typically just small stone houses) were built right up on each side of the small two lane roads, so there were a few near misses between our bus and smaller cars and buildings. The worst is the traffic circles. The French LOVE their traffic circles. I'm sure they are completely tolerable in a smaller car, but in the tour bus, they felt like spinning carnival rides.

When we arrived at the château (Château des Vaults), an older woman met us at the gate. Her name was Madame Pontebriand, and the château and vineyard had been in her family for centuries. We followed Madame Pontebriand across her beautifully landscaped lawn, past her well preserved château (which was less of a castle like building and more of a glorified country estate if you ask me), and up a wooded path to a bridge. Apparently, in the 19th century, the village of Savennièrs divided her property with a city road, and in turn, built a bridge that linked her larger estate with her vineyard located up a steep hill. Anyway, we crossed the old bridge and climbed the steep hillside until we reached a clearing filled with rows of grape vines. It was gorgeous. From the hilltop, the Loire Valley stretched out into the distance, and you could also see the small village below.

In her vineyard, Madame Pontebriand explained in detail the history of the wine industry in France, beginning with its origin, the Romans. She spoke poetically about the concept of terroir, which is the idea that the land on which the wine is cultivated is unique, and will yield a wine unique from any other region.

The concept of terroir means that wines from a particular region are unique, incapable of being reproduced outside that area, even if the grape variety and winemaking techniques are painstakingly duplicated. Winemakers in Burgundy do not believe that they are producing Pinot noir that happens to be grown in Burgundy, but that they are producing unique Burgundian wines that happen to be made from Pinot noir. Terroir is often italicized in English writing to show that it is a French loanword. The concept of terroir is at the base of the French wine Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system that has been the model for appellation and wine laws across the globe. At its core is the assumption that the land from which the grapes are grown imparts a unique quality that is specific to that region. The amount of influence and the scope that falls under the description of terroir has been a controversial topic in the wine industry.

Basically, in France, wine is categorized by appellation or region (a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown. Other types of foods have appellations as well, i.e. cheeses). The rest of the world, categorizes wine based solely on the type of grape used, and then attempts to maintain the exact flavor and standard each year by artificially adapting the flavor through a process called micro oxygenizing. In France, however, wine is supposed to vary year to year. When you drink wine from a specific appellation, you are tasting the land that the wine was grown on, the amount of sunlight it recieved, the amount of rainfall before the harvest, the temperature of the soil, the type of soil, etc.


After giving such a vivid explanation of the history of French wine, and also an insight into her own growing style, Madame Pontebriand walked through the rows of grapes with us, shelling out even more detail about what to look for in each grape. While we were walking, I stayed close to her so that I could get every word. I had specific questions about the acidity of wine, and she explained in great detail how to achieve the perfect balance between a sweet and an acidic taste.

There was also a 19th century park on the grounds of the château, and on our way back to the tasting, we had the opportunity to stroll through it and learn more about the process of shipping the wines throughout the past 200 years.


Once back at the château, we were taken into a large room with tables set up for our tasting. There were instructions given on how to first check the color of the wine in your glass, then swirl and inhale the wine as you taste. When tasting, Madame Pontebriand said to do almost a chewing motion to spread the wine evenly across the pallet. I'm sure it all sounds cheesy and pretentious, but I could actually understand the different smells and tastes of the wine as she was explaining them. It was an excellent crash course in appreciating fine wine, and I can gladly say that none of us used the provided spittoons.

That night, I had my first experience at a night club in Angers. We did our regular rounds to the few good student bars, met up with some friends from Notre Dame, and then made our way to a club called Le Boléro. The way it works here, is that the bars close at around two in the morning, and then the clubs fill up at that point and they are open until six or seven. I wish I had pictures from the inside of the place. It looked like it could have once been a small theatre, but where the stage would have been, there was a large black-lit mural of a tropical waterfall and a topless woman. The music was mostly in English, and it was all dance hits from the 70's and 80's. It was really a blast!

The weekend that followed was uneventful. The weather was too poor to really do anything outside, and I had plenty of homework and chores to do at the residence. Monday I had a homework due in every class, and also a French test (that I made a B on!!) Tuesday there was a pastry tasting in my French culture class. Wednesday was also uneventful.

Thursday was a day to prepare for our upcoming Normandy excursion. We watched Saving Private Ryan, and then had a lecture by a former British Ambassador about the strategy behind the D-Day invasion. It was very interesting and very depressing at the same time, but much of what the man was saying I had never known before.

Saturday morning, everyone boarded the bus at 8am for our trip to Normandy. After a long three hour drive, we arrived in Bayeux, and had a small picnic in the rain. We had just enough time to power-walk through the local cathedral, and saw a pretty cool Romanesque crypt before getting back on the bus and driving to Point du Hoc.

Point du Hoc is a large cliff that juts out into the English Channel (la Manche). It was heavily fortified with German bunkers and large weapons during WWII. On D-Day, United States Rangers scaled the cliffs and took out the fortified bunkers (with the help of air bombing raids). The land was actually given to the United States in the 70's and the current memorial is operated by the United States. Walking up on the memorial, it was overcast and lightly raining. The land is littered with 20 feet deep craters and half destroyed and buried bunkers (a few of which we climbed into). I hadn't expected to still see craters and crumbling Nazi bunkers still at the site, and walking through them was surreal. They were pitch black, mud and puddles covered the floor, and there were still bullet holes in the walls. Many of the original metal doors still sat rusted to their frames in the bunkers, and we maneuvered through some tight spaces so that we could see inside. The whole experience made the subject matter of Thursday that much more important.

After Point du Hoc, we traveled to Omaha Beach to see the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. We had the opportunity to hike down the hillside to the expansive beach and see the same landscape that our soldiers saw on June 6th, 1944 when they landed there. Despite the overcast weather, it would have been a very pretty beach had I not been thinking about the thousands of men who died there. We lingered shortly on the beach and hiked back up to the cemetery that overlooks the beach from the hillside. The gravestones and their organization resembled that of Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C., and the view was just brilliant. Past the landscape was the long beach, and then the English Channel as far as the horizon. It was very strange to hear other languages spoken at a site that was so distinctly American. For example, there were many German tourists at the cemetery.

To continue our excursion across the beaches of Normandy, we then went to Arromanches AKA Gold Beach, which was a British landing site. The beach was also the site of two Mulberry Harbours, and there were still sunken breakwater barges outlining the harbor.

A Mulberry Harbour was a type of temporary harbour developed in World War II to offload cargo on the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy.Two prefabricated or artificial military harbours were taken across the English Channel from Britain with the invading army in sections and assembled off the coast of Normandy as part of the D-Day invasion of France in 1944.

That night, we ate at such an amazing restaurant called Le Relais du Roy, near Mont Saint-Michel. We had two bottles of wine at our table of six, and half-way through the delicious coursed meal, we were each given a shot of a local liqueur to open our stomachs for more food. The main course was a type of Ray, and it was delicious! Mmmmmmm.

There was a small party that night at the very nice hotel that we stayed at. We got very hungry later and tried to crash a wedding that was happening at a place across the street called Cabaret, but were unsuccessful.

Sunday was all about Mont Saint-Michel and Saint Malo. Mont Saint-Michel has one of the oldest churches in France, and is a very well known national monument. It used to be situated on an island, but the tourist road that was constructed has since connected it to the mainland. There were about 4 gates as we entered the village, and they were all heavily fortified (which came in handy during the Hundred Years War). The village curved up and around the sides of the mountain and the one small street was surrounded by tall ancient buildings that now housed crêpe stands, restaurants, and souvenir shops. There were so many steps and SO many mosquitos (moustiques). Yet again, astounding views.

Once inside the Church at the top of the mountain, our guide told us all about the half of the church that was Romanesque, and the other half that was Gothic. We wound our way down and around the mountain from the inside, and saw the cafeterias, kitchens, and crypts of the abbey. I have to say, I definitely preferred walking down the mountain. The place was a labyrinth of winding passageways.

Once we were outside, ready to leave, we spotted a little piece of Texas that looked somewhat out of place! =]

    For lunch, we drove to Saint Malo, a walled in city that had been reduced to rubble during WWII, but has since been reconstructed. The city was very pretty for having almost no grass or trees. We walked through the maze of narrow cobblestone streets until we found a seafood restaurant, because seafood was supposed to be very good in the region of Brittany. We decided on a restaurant with mussels in the name. It didn't disappoint! I had a meat plate, a bucket of the best mussels I have ever had, fries, and a regional specialty: prune cake for desert. I also had some cider, which is also supposed to be a specialty of the region. During our meal, two French homeless men came over to our table and started asking for cigarettes and looking at our money (because we were about to pay). They really were very creepy and looked like pirates. As sketchy as they were, I couldn't help but almost laugh when one of them started trying to speak English. He was obviously drunk. They did finally leave us alone, no harm done, and we walked back to the bus focusing on the amazing food that we had enjoyed. Once on the bus, it was a short three hour ride back to Angers to do homework!

Kevin