Christmas Market in Strasbourg

Bonjour!

I felt that the Christmas market deserved its own post because it was something I had been really looking forward to as I've never been in France in December.  Strasbourg is known for its Christmas market in France and it didn't disappoint.  I had been to Strasbourg back in 2008 for a short weekend, so going back, especially in December, was an entirely new experience.  The city turns into the capital of Christmas, as it likes to call itself.  Each town square is transformed into a market selling regional products, or christmas decorations and/or presents, and food stands.

It really felt like the Christmas capital, especially at night with all of the lights!

Strasbourg is located in the region of Alsace, bordering Germany, and the architecture is one of my favorites in France.

Walking around after an amazing breakfast consisting of an expresso and a homemade twix bar.  Yes, you read that right, a homemade twix bar.  No photos because I inhaled it.

How much do I love the architecture with the dark brown on white?  A LOT.

As much as I love Christmas, I have to say that I was Christmas'ed out after this weekend.

One thing that I've become particularly fond of is vin chaud or hot wine.  Whenever I've spent time in France/Europe, I always arrived around the end of January, and never got to experience Christmas markets, which is why I made the 5 hour trip to Strasbourg.  However, you can find hot wine at any Christmas market in France, at any time of the day.  Made with mulled spices and served super hot, it is a more than welcome beverage when it's chilly outside! 

As for food I ate choucroute, an Alsacien specialty, which is basically like sauerkraut with sausage and pork, and it was so so  good!  Paired with a nice riesling, which is also from the region, and it was delicious to say the least. 

If you ever thought about visiting France, I would strongly suggest doing a day trip to Strasbourg or Colmar (where I plan to go during the February break), or anywhere in the region of Alsace (for the Christmas markets if you can!).

Catching up

Bonjour family & friends!

I know I haven't been keeping up with this as much as the last time I was here, so I thought I would just do a quick recap of what I've been up to.  I've been enjoying my time here in France for the most part, but have been much more sensitive to cultural differences this time than when I was here as a student, but that is something I'll save for another post.

I've been visiting, and re-visiting different parts of France, starting with Aix en Provence.  My trip to Aix en Provence marked my first time in the south of France.  It's a city known for its fountains, and known to the French for being very "bourgeois", meaning it's the "it" place to be and live.

They have their own version of the Champs Elysees called le cours Mirabeau, an avenue full of shopping and restaurants.

I visited Aix en Provence during my first break in October and the weather was perfect.  I've been keeping track of the weather there since my visit and have since been kicking myself wondering why I didn't choose the south of France for this program.

After Aix en Provence in the south, I visited Aix les bains, in Haute Savoie towards the Alpes.  Aix les bains is known for its thermal baths and lake Bourget.  It made me realise how much I miss being near the water, and reminded me a lot of my time in Annecy.  The Aixois (people from Aix) are very active, they ride their bikes everywhere and run along the lake, and I don't blame them, it's too pretty not to!

 Like a tourist, I took a boat tour around the lake, and it was breathtaking.  The water is so clear and calm, and with the Alpes in the background (like this picture below), it felt like a dream.

 As Aix les bains is known for its thermal hot springs, of course I had to go to one.  Of course you can't take picture inside of one without strange looks, so my friend Lizzie and I took one before going in.  We spent some time in a sauna and hammam, which I'm still not entirely clear on how they're different, they're both very hot.

The next stop after Aix les bains, was Annecy, where I studied in 2009, and it's probably my favorite place in France.  I visited my French mom that I stayed with now 7 years ago, and it also happened to be the weekend of the 13 november Paris attacks.  It was comforting to spend time with the only "family" that I have here half a world away, but it was a strange feeling trying to live life normally when there was so going on a few hours away.  We walked around the Annecy lake and old town, and again, I tried to take everything in before heading back to Saint Etienne where there is no lake or river.  

I've noticed that whenever there is a body of water, whether it's a lake or a river running through a city, people tend to live a more active lifestyle here.  There were people running, riding bikes, rollerblading and enjoying the outdoors in general, and I don't blame them! 

 In 2009

 Same pic, 6 years later!

Hoping to go back to Annecy very soon, either this month or next to visit my French mom again!

"Cultural differences" vol. 1: my first trip to a yoga studio

Bonjour!

I was going to wait and put a clever list together of all of the cultural differences I find from the mildly inconvenient to the outright hilarious, but what happened to me just now is truly the icing on the cake and I have to share.

Here I was, first day back after vacation, hoping to get back into the swing of things with a routine of eating more healthily, and actually going to a yoga studio (instead of seeming antisocial and practicing by myself in my own apartment).  I have to say that I was actually ready to take the plunge and be completely uncomfortable in a new studio practicing yoga in another language last week, but of course when I was ready, the studio was closed.  Surprise surprise.

Anyhoo, I had waited all day (and I suppose all week) to go to this studio tonight for a class at 6:30 pm.  I got dressed early and was all giddy waiting for it to be time for me to walk over to this place.  I arrive, and the man, who I assume was the teacher and studio owner welcomed me, and told me that he wasn't sure if there would be enough space for me.  I thought to myself, okay, I know at the studio that I go to in Hawaii, we never turn anybody away, which can ultimately be annoying to practice in such close quarters, but this studio had a limit of 14 people.  I took a peek into the studio and 14 mats were arranged, with ample space between each one, they could have easily fit another one, seeing as how I brought my own, and yet it was going to be a toss up of whether or not I could join, depending on attendance.  I thought that dropping in would be no problem, as it usually isn't in the states, but of course it is different here.  I asked if it was necessary to reserve a spot and he said no...but the spots are "saved" for members who have already purchased either monthly or annual passes.  I was mildly annoyed at this point to say the least but the teacher was really nice and took my name and number down to call me in case he knows in advance whether or not there will be space available in the future...EVEN THOUGH THEY ONLY HAVE 8 CLASSES A WEEK.  Okay, that's my little rant for today.  It just seems so FRENCH of them to have such a peculiar way of running a studio, with only so many spaces available, but with SO MUCH SPACE left where they could have fit at least ten other mats, granted with much less personal space in between.  It still wouldn't have been as squished as I've seen at home.  I guess they value personal space, comfort and convenience more than making money, something that I'll get into later when I do get into the real cultural differences.  It's just another lesson learned, things don't always work out the way we want them to, and hopefully I'll get to go another time this week...

Macon + wine tasting

Bonjour!

During the break of "le Toussaint", I went wine tasting with a few other assistants from my program.  We rented a car and drove to Mâcon, about two hours north of Saint Etienne.  Driving in France was an adventure, their stoplights are strangely where you would stop at a normal intersection in the US.  You're not looking across the intersection for the stoplight, instead, it's a small set of lights where pedestrians normally wait to cross the street.  So that was the first weird thing, the second was les ronds points or roundabouts.  Europeans love their roundabouts, they are supposed to help traffic flow "naturally" and they eliminate the need for coordinating traffic lights.  I guess they're okay, just slightly terrifying for the first few times.

Anyway, back to wine tasting and wine country.  The region of Mâcon is absolutely breathtaking, grapevines and vineyards as far as the eye can see.  It is the southernmost part of Burgundy, and borders Beaujolais, two of the more well-known wine regions in France.  The difference between Burgundy and Beaujolais wines lies in their soil, one is more like clay and the other I can't really remember, nor do I remember which one is which, but the wine was really good!

We went to Chateau Chasselas, which I would definitely recommend to anybody looking to do a wine tasting.  It is so cute and quaint and dreamlike, and we were lucky the weather was so nice!

During our tasting they fed us charcuterie and bread and cheese and escargot.  

I'm hoping to do more wine tastings as Saint Etienne is in a good spot, but back to work for now until Christmas break!

Saint Etienne: de retour! + book & chestnut festival

De retour!

And I'm back!  Sorry for the delay, other than settling into my new place and starting school, life has been more or less uneventful.  School started on October 1, and now I'm on vacation for two weeks for "La Toussaint" or All Saints Day, which is just that, a day.  All Saints Day is November 1, but the teachers and students have been working so hard that they must feel this break is well deserved.  I on the other hand, am now left with two weeks off and nothing planned.

However!  This past weekend was rather eventful with a book festival here in the city of Saint Etienne, and a chestnut festival just up north.  This was the 30th anniversary of the "fête du livre" or book festival, and the idea is to get people to read more.  There were tents set up all around the city center with local, national and international authors and comic book artists and the like.  

 You could buy books from vendors who set up tents like the first photo, and they were all run by book stores from in or around Saint Etienne.  You could even buy really old books, which (nerd alert) I thought was really cool.

I had to read these books (not all, thank goodness) in school, and it was really neat to see these beautiful bound copies of the classics.

This was a live reading of The Odyssey by Homer, mostly done by this man fully dressed in Greek clothing, but you could volunteer to read passages just by lining up and standing in that little square.  I happened to pass by when little kids were reading and couldn't resist the photo op.  Little kids, reading The Odyssey?  My mind was blown.  This only happens in France. 

On to the chestnut festival or La fête de la châtaigne in French.  It was in a small town about an hour outside of the city center, and when I say small town, I mean very small town.  The nearest bus stop, which I went to with 3 other girls, was over 1 mile away.  Luckily the weather was nice, and the walk wasn't too bad.  I don't have many pictures of actual chestnuts, and it was my first time eating them.  You could buy them roasted, which was how I ate them, or there were crêpes made with chestnut flour, chestnut beignets and chestnut butters and jellies.  I never knew there were so many ways to eat a chestnut.  

A view from the top of the city called La Tour-en-Jarez.  It really was a gorgeous day.

I somehow always seem to find myself amongst medieval festivities.

A look at some of the vendors on our way to the top.  That blue tent was the "drinks" tent, with beer and warm wine for 1 euro!  The warm wine went perfectly with the warm chestnuts.

Myself + Lizzie (another American assistant from Milwaukee) and two other assistants from the Czech Republic and Cyprus.

I will hopefully find things to keep myself busy over these next two weeks, it won't be so long until you hear from me again, I promise!  

Aloha et ciao!

Geneva!

Bonjour!

Went to Geneva a few days ago and it was lovely, from the train ride to the old town.  The view on the train from Lyon was beautiful, it crosses through mountains, along rivers and past little towns here and there.  It was so interesting in fact, that my dad didn't even want to sit next to me!

The weather was rather dismal when we first arrived, chilly and gray.

This was a tiny island and statue of Jean Jacques Rousseau, Geneva born French philosopher and writer who complained about everything.

Just lounging around on the streets.

Making our way through the old town

And here, the most recognisable landmark in Geneva, the jet d'eau, which shoots 140 m in the air. Also, the weather cleared up!

Obligatory yoga pose in front of the fountain :)

The water in the lake is so clear!  There are swans and ducks all over the place, hoping for a bite of food.

Found a Victorinox store (swiss army knife brand), and there was an entire floor designated for knives, and a little bit of luggage on the side.  I saw these and thought how prepared you would be for anything in life if you had one. 

Geneva was wonderful, and incredibly expensive.  The Swiss dollar is about 1:1 with the American dollar, but with what you could buy for about $10 (USD) or less, you would pay almost double.  In any case, for a day trip it wasn't so bad! 

Medieval Festival in Puy en Velay

Bonsoir mes amis!

Today I went with France (yes, like the country), a teacher who I will be working with, and her family to Les fêtes Renaissance du Roi du l'Oiseau, a medieval festival in Puy en Velay, a small town just south of Saint Etienne.  People came from all over the country either to play tourist, or to partake in the festivities.  To work up an appetite, we climbed to the #4 attraction in France, Saint Michel d'Aiguilhe, a little church built on top of a mountain entirely made of volcanic rock from a neighboring now inactive volcano.  Construction began in the 10th (!!!) century, and I can't even begin to imagine how they got the rocks from the volcano to this city, before making it up the hill.

On another hill is the ever impressive La Madone 

Walking through the city

I ate a medieval themed lunch, duck au confit with lentils, and the dessert was a pear soaked in hypocras, a typical medieval wine with spices and it was delicious!  Then we walked through the medieval market where they had numerous food stands and shops where you could buy medieval costumes, jewelry and weapons! which were fake of course.

At the end of the day there was an hour long parade, filled with people from all over the country, dressed to the nines in their medieval Sunday best.

I forgot to mention that I too, was in costume (borrowed from France) but unfortunately for you (and very fortunately for me), there are no pictures.  If you ever get the chance to go to a Renaissance fair, I highly suggest you take it.  The people were so into it, especially the ones that traveled to Puy en Velay, they stayed in tents outside and burned firewood, like they would have done in the middle ages. (!!!)  Until next time...