Photos-Eddy & Jorge, Laurent's Birthday, Trip to Countryside

GREAT NEWS!!

I found an English translation of the book I was talking about for any of you who might be interested: http://www.amazon.com/Could-Almost-Eat-Outside-Appreciation/dp/0312203640/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253278756&sr=1-1 The title in English is: "We Could Almost Eat Outside: An Appreciation of Life's Little Pleasures...it might be hard to find outside of Amazon, I'm not sure...but I definitely recommend reading the book, you will love it! That's it for now...wanted to share my excitement with everyone!

Just another Wednesday...not

Well I've realized that if I don't write immediately about the little things in France that I have enjoyed, I won't write about them at all. Therefore, I am writing now about last night, which was a quite fun experience. For those of you who don't know, I am the 3rd au pair my family has had. The previous two have both been Colombian, as the family wanted someone from South America, since that is where the kids are from. Anyway, one of previous au pairs' parents are in Paris now visiting their daughter who is also an au pair outside of Paris. So, my host family invited the parents and daughter to dinner last night. 2 immediate observations: (1) I have lost at least half of my Spanish (2) It is incredible to have not one, but 2 different cultural backgrounds in the same room at once and for an extended period of time. My host mother went all out making appetizers and a wonderful dinner and dessert. And although the cuisine was great, that was nothing new. The highlight of the evening was just sitting and talking (in 3 different languages, no less) with my host family and the Colombian parents and daughter. I had a great conversation with the father about the situation in Colombia with the drug trafficking (sp?) and to hear his views on Chavez and the Venezuelan situation, which were surprisingly similar to my views on the situation. It was nice to revisit Colombia a bit, since I had studied it in depth in one of my spanish courses in college and also just to hear the various perspectives. It was also neat to meet someone who is doing the same thing I am doing and who lives near Paris as well, although since there is a big Colombian contingent in Paris, I think they generally do things with one another. Nonetheless, we talked about Prague and I am now set on going there no matter what, so hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later. Anyway, these cultural exchanges are just one great part of living in France and I feel very fortunate to be able to meet and talk with such interesting people. Sorry if this post seems rather disorganized, I wrote it in a hurry and without much thought...that's it for now though!

A typical day in Bazemont

As promised, here comes my "typical day in the life of Regan Becker" post. The day usually starts around 9, since I can sleep in as much as I want and the evenings are generally pretty late. Breakfast consists of a choice between cereal or bread with an assortment of jams/butter/honey, along with the traditional morning coffee French-style (strong! :)) After breakfast, I generally take a glance at what activities are going on that particular day. Wednesdays are the busiest, since Jorge has off school, but other happenings might be tennis, guitar, or swimming, or perhaps a guest for dinner. This just gives me a good chance to plan out my day. Since Bazemont is a small village (around 1,500 inhabitants) there isn't a whole lot going on here. I guess there used to be 3 or 4 cafés and a patisserie (bread/pastry store) here, but those are gone now and now that I think about it there aren't really any interesting businesses in the village. However, it's not really a big deal because Maule and Aubergenville (both 5-8 min driving from here) have plenty to offer in terms of that. I have gone a few times to cafés in Maule, but I don't really ever need to because everything I need is here at the house.

Anyway, I have every day free until 4 pm when I go to pick up Eddy (12 yrs old) from school in Maule. My mornings are generally spent reading whatever French publication I can get my hands on. I buy the Philosophie Magazine, which is fun to read, and for other "light" reading I can always read the newspaper which comes every morning. I also now have a backlog of French books to read that have been given to me by my family as they have gotten to know my interests. Unfortunately, I am not very far in the first one I have started, but I did manage to finish "La Première Gorgée de Bière et Autres Plaisirs Miniscules", (The First Sip of Beer and other miniscule pleasures) which was one of the most incredible books I have ever read. As the title suggests, it is a book about the little things in life which bring pleasure, such as those days of spring where one could "almost" eat outside. Anyway, the morning generally goes by pretty quickly somehow and then it's time for lunch. Lunch consists of leftovers on Mon, Wed, and Thurs, but leftovers are pretty good when it's French cuisine that is left over. Things that are always included in a meal in France are: Bread, Water, Wine, and Cheese. Fortunately, there hasn't been a lot of potage (french soup consisting of who knows what ground up and somehow remaining tasteless)...generally its fish or duck or chicken or some sort of wonderful meal that we eat...and of course to finish off wine and cheese and finally un petit café.

One of my favorite parts about this family is the musical aspect and many of my afternoons are spent playing the piano, whether its playing something I know or just playing freely. Sometimes the dad (professional violinist for those of you who don't know) will accompany me on violin or guitar, which is always a lot of fun. Like many of my friends' parents, the dad has similar taste in music as I do, so its been fun to discuss different musical ideas and to exchange music. Sometimes I take walks around the village or just sit in the backyard and read (although it's beginning to get a little too cold for that).

As I mentioned, I pick up Eddy at 4 o'clock every day (although that will end once I begin classes next week because I don't get done until 3:45), Jorge (9 years old) gets home at 4:30 and they generally do their homework right away. If there are any activities I will take them to their activities for the evening, then we eat and then they basically go to bed.

Post-bedtime is reserved for catching up on e-mails, blogging, and trying to make progress of my graduate school applications (keep your fingers crossed for me!). I generally put on music (right now it's Tom Petty "You Wreck Me" playing on iTunes) and try to get down to things. Late-night for me is also the best time to talk if you are interested in skyping or if you need to get ahold of me, I am always on the computer around 3 pm CDT or 4 EDT. I also try to get my own things organized (right now that consists of reminding myself to open my bank account, charge my phone, and send mail to the French government before they come after me!) which isn't all that exciting, but is one of those things that needs to be done no matter where one is. Well that's about a typical day for me...nothing too exciting, but yet my days are at my own pace, which is really a wonderful luxury. Next post...my first piano concert in France

L'Orangerie and Sainte Chapelle

A Sunday in Paris

So I think last time I wrote I was so encouraged by the fact that I was almost caught up that I at some point decided to not write for awhile. Anyway, here’s my attempt at catching up, which may not be the most detailed account in the world, but at least will give you an idea of what I’ve been up to.

My first full weekend here, I took the day Sunday to go to Paris because all the "national museums" are free the first Sunday of every month. I drove to the train station in Maule and took the train from there into Paris (about an hour in total). I had a few ideas of what I wanted to do planned out, so I began working on that list with a trip to L'Orangerie museum. This is another impressionist museum in Paris, located in the Tuileries garden, in between the Place de la Conconrde (where Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were executed by French revolutionaries) and the Louvre. The highlight of this museum are the two oval-shaped rooms that house panels of Monet's waterlilly paintings. The idea of the rooms (dreamt up by Monet himself) is that, surrounded by the waterlily paintings, the viewer would feel engulfed in nature. The effect is quite magnificent, especially when coupled with the intense thought-process that went into the installaiton of Monet's paintings in this old greenhouse for orange-growing. The museum itself is between the Seine and the Tuileries gardens, where a marsh-like environment such as the one depicted in Monet's paintings could very well exist. The layout of the museum along an east-west line is perfect, as the waterlillies painted towards the morning begin in the east room and then the day continues into the west room, where one eventually finds the waterlillies at dusk. I unfortunately can't remember all of the details the curators thought of when installing these pieces, but this at least gives you an idea. This museum is a MUST for all impressionism fans visiting Paris.

One of my favorite things to do in Paris is to walk along the Seine. On this particular Sunday, it was a perfect day with a little breeze from the river to dull the heat from the sun. I walked for awhile and then sat down on a bench to people watch and eat lunch. I found myself near l'Ile-de-la-Cité (Notre Dame Cathedral), so I decided to make an unplanned visit to Sainte-Chappelle (a chapel on the island) because I remembered my old French prof saying it is a wonderful place. I found out when I arrived that they are doing some restoration on the stained-glass (for which this chapel is famous), so I debated with myself as to whether I should go in or not. In the end, I decided to give it a try, since I would have wanted to go at some point during the trip and the restoration will not be finished until 2013. It did not disappoint!! The panorama of stained-glass windows everywhere you look is magical, especially when the sun is shining through and the light dances on the walls. Much of the stained glass dates from the 13th century and they have done a fabulous job of preserving original panels, so that something like 85% of the stained glass is still original. They also have concerts there every once in awhile, so now I'm dreaming of listening to classical music in that gorgeous setting, but that may just remain a dream, we'll see....(On a side note, speaking of dreams, I'm dreaming in French now, which is a sign that my French is quite good now, so I'm very happy about that!)

To finish off the day, I headed over to Victor Hugo's house (Les Misérables), on the edge of the Place des Vosges, not too far from the Place de la Bastille (where the French Revolution began for those who might not know, although I think most reading this blog will know that). It was pretty neat to see where he lived, but like many homes turned into museums, there was a lot more about his family than his work. I enjoyed the museum enough, but it wouldn't be one of my first recommendations for those travelling to Paris. The good news is I still have a lot of time to go the other places I want to go as well, so I never have to feel like anything is a waste of time!! So that was more or less my day in Paris...a good one overall!

Trip to Paris/Settling in Bazemont

So last time I left off with the minor bumps along the way on my journey to Paris. As the 30th is generally the day when EVERYONE returns from vacation in France, I decided that for my train to Paris I should buy a couple days in advance. Unfortunately, a couple days turned out to not be enough, as all 16 trains to Paris Est train station were full when I went to buy the ticket. So I took the next best option (which more or less sucked) in which I went to Marne-la-Vallée (Disneyland Paris!) by train and then had to take the RER from Marne la Vallée to Paris Est. At least, this was the plan. However, upon checking my least often checked e-mail address the morning of my departure, I found out that my host mother had lost our communications through e-mail and so was not sure what time or even what day I was arriving! Naturally, this made me a little nervous, but there was nothing I could really do at the moment, so I decided to wait until I got to Paris to figure out the arrangements. Upon my arrival in Marne-la-Vallée, I attempted to call my host family, but each attempt was unsuccessful, so I decided to leave a message and take the RER to a convenient location in Paris and try again. I went to the Gare de Lyon (train station) in essentially the middle of Paris to try and call again. Fortunately, I was successful this time. As everyone was returning from vacation, traffic was awful, so we decided to meet in St Germain en laye (where I will be taking my french courses), which was another hour on the RER. When we did finally meet up in St Germain I was definitely relieved and a bit tired from the minor stresses of the day.

The nice thing was that when we arrived back at the house, the rest of the family was just leaving a birthday party of a relative just south of Paris, so I had some time to arrange my things and take a shower before they arrived. At first, the kids were naturally a little shy and I was already tired from my travels, so it was a little difficult to connect. Another adjustment for me was listening to and speaking French all day. Of course, this is a pleasant adjustment in general, but it is amazing at first how much energy it takes!! Fortunately, I am used to it now, so it's not a problem at all.

The first few days in Bazemont, the children and I took a bicycling tour of the area (essentially seeing where the younger one, Jorge, goes to school, the church, the countryside a little bit), went to the pool, the cinema, and played a little tennis. All of this was of course also a little tiring, but it was a good period of adjustment and getting to know the kids a little better. I've been to a couple social events already with the family (a birthday party and a soirée with all the parents of schoolchildren), so I know some people in the village now and everyone seems very nice. These interactions are also nice because they afford some intellectually stimulating conversation and discussion of the differences in our respective societies, etc. In fact, every day is a learning experience, whether it's a cultural lesson or an insight into the workings of French families, I really enjoy these little pleasures. It's also a lot of fun to live in this little village because you can do things like walk by a berry bush and pick as many blackberries as you want and eat them on the spot. These are the treasures of a small village life in France. I feel now like I'm just trying to get this entry over with, so I think I'll stop writing for now, but will return soon with a typical day in the life of Regan in Bazemont, as well as a tale of a Sunday in Paris! Until then...