Profites-en...that's one of my favorite French sayings. It's kinda difficult to translate but it mostly means "make the most of/take full advantage of". It can be said about anything- profites du weekend, profites du soleil, profites des vacances, etcetc. So that's mostly what I'm trying to do my last month or so here in France- profiter of the good weather, the late days, the delicious food and the people I've met.
I've been busy with the running group. I finished my 1st 10k in Mamers on a blistering hot day and am planning to do a triathlon next weekend that includes running, mountain biking and canoeing. Should be a good time! I also had a wonderful Sunday lunch with the family of the boy I tutor and then spent the afternoon driving around the Perche countryside and saw a lovely church and manor house in the area.
I also recently was a part of one of my school's end of year performances, where the students all sang songs they had prepared. My kids got to sing songs in English and then I sang a French song with all the teachers as well. Slightly stressful, although luckily, I was able to use my cheat sheet for the lyrics (other teachers did too!) That was really fun, and now all the parents know that I'm the English teacher so I've been seeing more of them around town as well.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Mai a Nogent
Sorry about the delay but, no news is good news, right? At least, it means I've been keeping busy hosting visitors from the US and traveling around France. My parents came and we visited Monet's gardens, the Loire Valley (again), and the Normandy Beaches to see a bit of WWII history. The gardens were absolutely stunning and looked just like a Monet painting- full of light and flowers and lovely colors. Aside from the short rain showers, it was perfect! The Normandy beaches were also amazing, very impressive to see what WWII soldiers had to go through in order to start taking back Europe for the Allies. Very moving. We also stayed in 2 lovely bed and breakfasts, my new favorite way to travel. It's much nicer than staying in a hotel, and you get to chat with French families and have a wonderful breakfast, usually croissants, baguette and home-made jelly. It was great to see the parents and show them a little of what I've been doing in France for the year. Thanks for coming! :)
Then the week after they left (with only small delays because of volcanic ash), 3 other visitors came, my friend, my brother, and his girlfriend. They were all super lucky and got to experience 10th century Nogent actually being 10th century with the Percheval Festival- a medieval festival put on by the town with the whole town going crazy. Everyone was dressed up in medieval clothes, the castle grounds became a medieval village complete with sword-fighting, horse back riding, and medieval cooking. It was really interesting and quite the spectacle. I head over to Italy this weekend to meet up with my brother and girlfriend there. Luckily, it's a 3day weekend so I'll get to spend more time there.
In other news, I've started giving evaluations in my classes for the kids going to middle school. Good news, they learned something- bad news, they immediately forget it when they have a one-on-one interview with me. Oh well...good luck to them.
Then the week after they left (with only small delays because of volcanic ash), 3 other visitors came, my friend, my brother, and his girlfriend. They were all super lucky and got to experience 10th century Nogent actually being 10th century with the Percheval Festival- a medieval festival put on by the town with the whole town going crazy. Everyone was dressed up in medieval clothes, the castle grounds became a medieval village complete with sword-fighting, horse back riding, and medieval cooking. It was really interesting and quite the spectacle. I head over to Italy this weekend to meet up with my brother and girlfriend there. Luckily, it's a 3day weekend so I'll get to spend more time there.
In other news, I've started giving evaluations in my classes for the kids going to middle school. Good news, they learned something- bad news, they immediately forget it when they have a one-on-one interview with me. Oh well...good luck to them.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
From the Loire Valley to the Mediterranean Sea
Another 2 week vacation done and gone already! Hard to believe I only have 2 months left teaching this year. For the April vacation, I went biking in the Loire Valley for 4 days and then flew down to southern Spain and stayed in Mazarron, in the Murcia region of Spain. Both legs of the journey were wonderfully relaxing, with the only stress coming in making sure I could get home! Due to strikes, construction and unexpected volcanic eruptions, my travel days to get home were a little hectic but all turned out well, and I couldn't have asked for better travel buddies.
Janelle and I biked 130km along the Loire Valley, stopped in 3 different towns, saw 5 or 6 different castles, stayed in a bed and breakfast with a French couple, and took way too many photos. It was a wonderful trip, following the "Loire a Velo" signs as well as the "Route des Vignobles de la Loire." The weather was perfect for biking, and the countryside along the Loire was beautiful, although the vineyards weren't quite growing grapes yet, it was still amazing. We went from Tours, to Chinon, to Azay-le-Rideau to Villandry and back to Tours. Even though hardly anything was planned out in detail, we had the best luck with getting everywhere we wanted on time and in good spirits.
After my hard work biking, I took off to Alicante, this time with Emma. We went to stay with her aunt and uncle who were the best hosts possible. Highlights of this trip include eating, sunning, shopping and relaxing to the fullest extent possible. I ate many new things in Spain, such as octopus, prawns, rabbit, mussels, shrimp, langoustine, paella, and whole tiny fish! This seafood sampling was a little tough, as seafood isn't my favorite, but I knew I had to try it since the food was so fresh. And everything was delicious, so I recommend eating all of the above. Emma and I also spent an afternoon at the spa, where the water came from a natural spring. We left Thursday afternoon, with a tiny tan and full stomachs to head back to France. Luckily, our plane got to Paris right before they shut all the airports because of the volcanic ash clouds, however due to construction on the train lines, we couldn't get home. After a frenzied search for a hotel, we found one the had a cancellation and therefore a spare room for us. We stayed the night in Paris and decided to hang around the next day and do some shopping in La Defense area of Paris. The perfect end to our vacation, and now a weekend to recover from vacation and get ready to go back to work.
Janelle and I biked 130km along the Loire Valley, stopped in 3 different towns, saw 5 or 6 different castles, stayed in a bed and breakfast with a French couple, and took way too many photos. It was a wonderful trip, following the "Loire a Velo" signs as well as the "Route des Vignobles de la Loire." The weather was perfect for biking, and the countryside along the Loire was beautiful, although the vineyards weren't quite growing grapes yet, it was still amazing. We went from Tours, to Chinon, to Azay-le-Rideau to Villandry and back to Tours. Even though hardly anything was planned out in detail, we had the best luck with getting everywhere we wanted on time and in good spirits.
After my hard work biking, I took off to Alicante, this time with Emma. We went to stay with her aunt and uncle who were the best hosts possible. Highlights of this trip include eating, sunning, shopping and relaxing to the fullest extent possible. I ate many new things in Spain, such as octopus, prawns, rabbit, mussels, shrimp, langoustine, paella, and whole tiny fish! This seafood sampling was a little tough, as seafood isn't my favorite, but I knew I had to try it since the food was so fresh. And everything was delicious, so I recommend eating all of the above. Emma and I also spent an afternoon at the spa, where the water came from a natural spring. We left Thursday afternoon, with a tiny tan and full stomachs to head back to France. Luckily, our plane got to Paris right before they shut all the airports because of the volcanic ash clouds, however due to construction on the train lines, we couldn't get home. After a frenzied search for a hotel, we found one the had a cancellation and therefore a spare room for us. We stayed the night in Paris and decided to hang around the next day and do some shopping in La Defense area of Paris. The perfect end to our vacation, and now a weekend to recover from vacation and get ready to go back to work.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Bienvenue le Printemps!
It's finally spring! The weather has been warming up, the sun is shining more often, and the cafes are setting out their tables in the sun. To celebrate the first days of spring, there was a carnival parade and festival in Nogent. All my students had been busily preparing over the past week by designing and decorating cardboard, spring-themed posters and such. Then, on Sunday afternoon, everyone (including teachers) dressed up in spring-time clothes, such as butterflies, ladybugs, gardeners, princesses, etc, and paraded around the town throwing confetti and being silly. Having almost 200 students is not so fun when they all decide to throw confetti in your face!! Luckily, I too was armed with a bag of confetti to get back at them. At the end of the parade, everyone went to Place St.Pol, the town square, and started a big bonfire to burn away the 'bad spirits'. It was great to see all my kids out about town as well as see the other teachers outside of school.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Una semana madrilena
Over break, I traveled down south to Madrid to visit Jessica, a good friend of mine who is teaching English there. It was a wonderful week of Spanish food- paella, patatas bravas, tapas, tortilla espangol, etc. Everything was amazing, and of course it was wonderful to see Jessica, as well as her roommates, Tory and Allison! On Saturday, Jessica and I played some ultimate frisbee (finally!) with the team she's joined in Spain. It was so much fun, even though after about 3 hours of ultimate I could hardly walk! It was really nice to throw a frisbee again and run around on a field.
We also celebrated Allison's birthday with a night out, full of dancing and fun! We also celebrated Valentine's Day by going to a tapas restaurant and sharing a meal there. One of the best things in Spain is that whenever you order a drink, they give you a plate of food to go with it- from olives, to paella to potatoes. On Sunday, Jessica and I got up in time to visit 2 of the most famous museums, the Prado and the Reina Sofia during their free hours and saw lots of Goyas and Picassos as well as other artists.
On Monday, Allison, Jessica and I went to a town outside of Madrid called Segovia that has the highest concentration of Romanesque churches in Spain and an aqueduct. It was a cute Spanish town, and really nice to visit. Overall, a very relaxing vacation and great to catch up with many UNC kids. :)
We also celebrated Allison's birthday with a night out, full of dancing and fun! We also celebrated Valentine's Day by going to a tapas restaurant and sharing a meal there. One of the best things in Spain is that whenever you order a drink, they give you a plate of food to go with it- from olives, to paella to potatoes. On Sunday, Jessica and I got up in time to visit 2 of the most famous museums, the Prado and the Reina Sofia during their free hours and saw lots of Goyas and Picassos as well as other artists.
On Monday, Allison, Jessica and I went to a town outside of Madrid called Segovia that has the highest concentration of Romanesque churches in Spain and an aqueduct. It was a cute Spanish town, and really nice to visit. Overall, a very relaxing vacation and great to catch up with many UNC kids. :)
Monday, February 8, 2010
Un week-end americain
To start the vacances off with a bang, some other assistants and I took a weekend trip to Le Mans to watch a basketball match with David Noel playing! Yay for some Tar Heel love! Even though his team lost, it was still a great atmosphere, lots of loud, French cheering, and a reminder of how wonderful basketball is. Le Mans is a lovely city, with an old quarter that was super charming and full of delicious looking restaurants. The shopping was also fantastic, and all of us found some good deals at the sales.
We continued the sport weekend by going to Paris to watch the Superbowl at Le Players- a huge sports bar in Paris. One of the assistants is from Louisiana, so needless to say, we were all supporting the Saints. Yes, it started at 12:30am here, yes it was in English, no they did not show the commercials (lame!), yes they had "cheerleaders" to pump up the crowd, and no, we did not go to sleep until the next morning, catching the early train back home. The atmosphere really reminded me of being back home for any other big sporting event. The most painful part, however, was the ESPN America commercials for their next big event- UNC vs. Dook on Wednesday night. Emma and I cheered real loud for those commercials every time Ramses showed up! Go Saints, Go Heels, and happy vacationing!
We continued the sport weekend by going to Paris to watch the Superbowl at Le Players- a huge sports bar in Paris. One of the assistants is from Louisiana, so needless to say, we were all supporting the Saints. Yes, it started at 12:30am here, yes it was in English, no they did not show the commercials (lame!), yes they had "cheerleaders" to pump up the crowd, and no, we did not go to sleep until the next morning, catching the early train back home. The atmosphere really reminded me of being back home for any other big sporting event. The most painful part, however, was the ESPN America commercials for their next big event- UNC vs. Dook on Wednesday night. Emma and I cheered real loud for those commercials every time Ramses showed up! Go Saints, Go Heels, and happy vacationing!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Snow?! Again!?
Another weekend, and only one week until winter holidays! This past weekend, Emma (another assistant from Cary) and I visited Versailles to see Louis XIV playground and experience French monarchy at its most extravagant. It was crazy! Huge, excessive, and beautiful. The gardens were my favorite part, but as it was winter, the fountains were frozen (kinda cool) and the flowers weren't in bloom. But it was a sunny day, although a bit chilly. Luckily, the snow that was covering Chartres and Nogent did not make it all the way to Versailles, so there was only a light dusting in the area.
Then on Sunday, I woke up bright and early (well, not so bright...) at 6h30 to go with the running club to the regional championships of cross-country. It was in Onzain, about a 2 hour drive away, in a charter bus. It was pretty neat to see how a cross-country meet worked, and visit with some of the other members of the running club. Also got to do a little bit of hiking in the park area where the race was being held. And a quick drive-by of the Blois chateau, which looked absolutely stunning from the bus.
Luckily, after waking up so early on Sunday, I got to sleep in on Monday and all of my afternoon classes were canceled because of 'Courir en ville,' an event that has every primary student running around in town at a certain time. So, of course, I went and cheered on my students and they were all super cute! The giant snowflakes from this morning had stopped, so the kids had nice weather to run around and spend an afternoon outside.
Then on Sunday, I woke up bright and early (well, not so bright...) at 6h30 to go with the running club to the regional championships of cross-country. It was in Onzain, about a 2 hour drive away, in a charter bus. It was pretty neat to see how a cross-country meet worked, and visit with some of the other members of the running club. Also got to do a little bit of hiking in the park area where the race was being held. And a quick drive-by of the Blois chateau, which looked absolutely stunning from the bus.
Luckily, after waking up so early on Sunday, I got to sleep in on Monday and all of my afternoon classes were canceled because of 'Courir en ville,' an event that has every primary student running around in town at a certain time. So, of course, I went and cheered on my students and they were all super cute! The giant snowflakes from this morning had stopped, so the kids had nice weather to run around and spend an afternoon outside.
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