My vacation within what feels like a vacation is almost over! I have absolutely no desire to return to the cold, wet, and probably snowy north -- this Mediterranean climate is nothing to be messed with. It is seriously pleasant, thus yielding such warm-weather delights as incredibly fresh produce, lots of outdoor eateries, great parks, incredible flora, and tons of homeless people. I cannot get enough of it.
I think I have done a pretty good job of exploring Provence on a budget (less than 450 euro for a week and a half!). In ten days, I managed to visit Avignon, Arles, Marseille and its calanques, Cassis, Le Ciotat, Toulon, Salon-en-Provence and Aix-en-Provence (and lots of it). I was also able to see a great deal of the countryside, either through the windows of buses or in my friend's car -- Alps, Alpilles (much littler ones, to the south and west of the real Alps), scrubby plateaus, the shoreline, forests, vineyards, cities à distance. It's been a great and varied vacation, and I imagine that with the quality of life that I have right now, I don't deserve to be in Provence for another day.
3.11.09
27.10.09
Adventures, Quickly
I don't want to spend all of my time here using my Couchhost's computer, but I was gently awoken this morning by first a pigeon taking roost on the windowsill, and then rudely re-awoken by jackhammering in the street, so I don't really feel like this time is cutting into my day, which I had anticipated would start at about 10 o'clock.
I spend yesterday in Avignon, a large-ish city to the northwest of Aix. It's old, and beautiful, and I have plenty of pictures (and many more details) to post once I get home! I'm alternating my money-spending days with lazy free days (today) so that I don't become exhausted, financially and physically.
I'm meeting my second Couchhost tonight, a young French university student named Carole who lives in a studio apartment with her boyfriend, Clemente. I'm hoping she's looking forward to this being as much of a slumber party as I am.
Also, Nicole sent me a fantasic link to a New York Times article the other day about France and Halloween, a holiday that confuses and bemuses the French populace. I have yet to see any signs of alowine's approach in Aix, though I'm hoping that Marseille at least will have some bumpin' parties next Saturday.
I'm about to head off to the boulangerie to get some bread for this morning, as well as sniff out some good olive oil. I've compiled a small stack of non-perishable goodies that I'm dragging with me from house to house, knowing that I'll surely use them: green lentils, a bag of rice, garlic, a box of English Breakfast tea, hopefully olive oil. The only thing I wish I'd brought from home was salt and pepper, since I always feel bad asking my Couchhost if I can use a bit of hers. Dommage !
I spend yesterday in Avignon, a large-ish city to the northwest of Aix. It's old, and beautiful, and I have plenty of pictures (and many more details) to post once I get home! I'm alternating my money-spending days with lazy free days (today) so that I don't become exhausted, financially and physically.
I'm meeting my second Couchhost tonight, a young French university student named Carole who lives in a studio apartment with her boyfriend, Clemente. I'm hoping she's looking forward to this being as much of a slumber party as I am.
Also, Nicole sent me a fantasic link to a New York Times article the other day about France and Halloween, a holiday that confuses and bemuses the French populace. I have yet to see any signs of alowine's approach in Aix, though I'm hoping that Marseille at least will have some bumpin' parties next Saturday.
I'm about to head off to the boulangerie to get some bread for this morning, as well as sniff out some good olive oil. I've compiled a small stack of non-perishable goodies that I'm dragging with me from house to house, knowing that I'll surely use them: green lentils, a bag of rice, garlic, a box of English Breakfast tea, hopefully olive oil. The only thing I wish I'd brought from home was salt and pepper, since I always feel bad asking my Couchhost if I can use a bit of hers. Dommage !
25.10.09
Provence
So I made it to Aix-en-Provence without a hitch, the train ride was stunning, my couch host is fantastic, and the city is alive!
21.10.09
Lazy Title
I'm not sure if I ever properly explained what "la vie vosgienne" entails. This is a picture I found online of a woman who I think depicts the ideal "vosgienne" (woman from the Vosges):
She lives and works on a farm, has short, probably dyed, hair, and thin lips. She loves to eat anything with lardons (pieces of very fatty bacon), melted cheese, or mushrooms. She's tough as nails, but will lend you anything you might need. She's kind of dumpy; you have no idea why she's so physically strong.
That's about it. The Vosges are cold, mountainous, and have great dairy farms, so the people eat and act exactly as you think they might -- consuming massive quantities of cheese, bread, potatoes, and ham, and heating their homes with wood stoves. Kind of like upstate New Yorkers. Just thought I'd let everyone know.
Also, I think I might have found a replacement shampoo -- soap. I agonized over the ingredients on every bottle of shampoo, body wash, baby soap, and bar soap at the pharmacy today, until I settled on THIS:
She lives and works on a farm, has short, probably dyed, hair, and thin lips. She loves to eat anything with lardons (pieces of very fatty bacon), melted cheese, or mushrooms. She's tough as nails, but will lend you anything you might need. She's kind of dumpy; you have no idea why she's so physically strong.
That's about it. The Vosges are cold, mountainous, and have great dairy farms, so the people eat and act exactly as you think they might -- consuming massive quantities of cheese, bread, potatoes, and ham, and heating their homes with wood stoves. Kind of like upstate New Yorkers. Just thought I'd let everyone know.
Also, I think I might have found a replacement shampoo -- soap. I agonized over the ingredients on every bottle of shampoo, body wash, baby soap, and bar soap at the pharmacy today, until I settled on THIS:
All good ingredients: essential oils, simple saponified oils of olive and palm, some chamomile extract. The only weird ingredient is salt, but it's listed last, so I'm not concerned. This soap is the closest thing I could find to a concentrated version of castile soap, and so far it seems to be a pretty good match. I frothed it up in my hands, rubbed it all over my scalp, then rinsed with vinegar as usual. And my hair feels awesome!
It's a comfort to know (now) that I can maintain my chemical-free shampoo habits without having too many problems. I was kind of worried what "normal" shampoo would do to my hair and body. I tried using a "regular" toner on my face during the middle of summer, just to see what would happen, and my skin freaked out -- pimples, irritation like crazy. I went through a pretty intense detox period after I stopped using shampoo, conditioner, and lotion -- and I'd rather not reverse it. My skin burned, my hair was a mess, I was in turns too dry and too greasy. Then after two weeks -- aha! Balance.
19.10.09
Not-So-Brief Updates
1. I got my social security number today! I am officially a temporary French citizen, and have all the same rights (health care included!) as would any native Frenchwoman.
2. I went on a 8 mile-long bike ride today -- not an easy feat when going uphill and on a girl's 6-speed mountain bike... I feel like such a watered-down version of my formerly glorious biking self. But it was nice to explore more of the Vosges area, and to be able to say that I rode my bike "to the next lake over." It's very humbling being so limited by physical factors -- my own body, of course (I learned today that 40-degree weather means "wear a longsleeved shirt, Rachel"), and by geography. I rode my bike until I simply could not ride any further; the road ahead of me sloped upwards at what appeared to be a veritable 45-degree angle, and the bike lane disappeared. C'est la vie. If you'd like to take a look, check out the map on Gmaps Pedometer. I've been using the "terrain" feature a lot lately, and if you zoom out a couple clicks, you can see why I had to stop biking and turn around. If only I could get past those montagnes toutes dingues (ridiculous mountains) and make my way over to Munster!
3. I'm getting ready for my two-week jaunt in Provence, for which I leave on Saturday. I plan on visiting Marseille (big seaside city), Arles (Van Gogh hotspot), Aix-en-Provence (where I'll be staying the whole time; also a Cezanne hotspot), some naturey national parks in the area, and plenty of olive shops. The very famous, very French movie Jean de Florette (1986), directed by Claude Berri and featuring the extra-French lords of cinema, Gerard Depardieu and Yves Montand (and based on the book, La gloire de mon pere, by Marcel Pagnol) was filmed in the countryside of Provence, and I'm pretty jazzed to see it.
4. I think my brief, passionate affair with homemade shampoo has come to an end. Involuntarily, of course. Castile soap is simply not sold in France, and importing from a British distributor would cost me at least $30 for a small bottle -- and I have to put a price on my hair at some point, I'm afraid. I've been quite frugal with the little bottle of shampoo I had brought with me from America, but I'm looking pretty grungy these days as a result (tendrils a la Spring Break, for all of you who remember). So I'm buying my first bottle of commercially-made shampoo in almost a year (aah!), which is going to be an emotionally painful and long process, as I carefully read each and every ingredient on the back of each and every bottle of French "shampooing" (pronounced shah-pwang -- crazy, I know). They love fresh vegetables and local wine, but don't seem to care one bit about their body products, which baffles me; I haven't seen a single thing labeled "natural" or "organic" (or "bio," en francais), so I might have to take the plunge directly into Herbal Essences or something equally appalling. Wish me luck.
2. I went on a 8 mile-long bike ride today -- not an easy feat when going uphill and on a girl's 6-speed mountain bike... I feel like such a watered-down version of my formerly glorious biking self. But it was nice to explore more of the Vosges area, and to be able to say that I rode my bike "to the next lake over." It's very humbling being so limited by physical factors -- my own body, of course (I learned today that 40-degree weather means "wear a longsleeved shirt, Rachel"), and by geography. I rode my bike until I simply could not ride any further; the road ahead of me sloped upwards at what appeared to be a veritable 45-degree angle, and the bike lane disappeared. C'est la vie. If you'd like to take a look, check out the map on Gmaps Pedometer. I've been using the "terrain" feature a lot lately, and if you zoom out a couple clicks, you can see why I had to stop biking and turn around. If only I could get past those montagnes toutes dingues (ridiculous mountains) and make my way over to Munster!
3. I'm getting ready for my two-week jaunt in Provence, for which I leave on Saturday. I plan on visiting Marseille (big seaside city), Arles (Van Gogh hotspot), Aix-en-Provence (where I'll be staying the whole time; also a Cezanne hotspot), some naturey national parks in the area, and plenty of olive shops. The very famous, very French movie Jean de Florette (1986), directed by Claude Berri and featuring the extra-French lords of cinema, Gerard Depardieu and Yves Montand (and based on the book, La gloire de mon pere, by Marcel Pagnol) was filmed in the countryside of Provence, and I'm pretty jazzed to see it.
4. I think my brief, passionate affair with homemade shampoo has come to an end. Involuntarily, of course. Castile soap is simply not sold in France, and importing from a British distributor would cost me at least $30 for a small bottle -- and I have to put a price on my hair at some point, I'm afraid. I've been quite frugal with the little bottle of shampoo I had brought with me from America, but I'm looking pretty grungy these days as a result (tendrils a la Spring Break, for all of you who remember). So I'm buying my first bottle of commercially-made shampoo in almost a year (aah!), which is going to be an emotionally painful and long process, as I carefully read each and every ingredient on the back of each and every bottle of French "shampooing" (pronounced shah-pwang -- crazy, I know). They love fresh vegetables and local wine, but don't seem to care one bit about their body products, which baffles me; I haven't seen a single thing labeled "natural" or "organic" (or "bio," en francais), so I might have to take the plunge directly into Herbal Essences or something equally appalling. Wish me luck.
18.10.09
Transatlantic Flatulence
Fromage de la semaine! (Cheese of the week!). This is gonna be a thing from now on.
Last week's cheese: chevre.
Last week's cheese: chevre.
Notice the rind.
This week's cheese: tomme noire des pyranees rocabret.
Not the best picture, but I wanted to capture the quiet superiority of this cheese. It's what havarti always wants to be, but never, ever is.
Also, I've been reading this French music magazine called Tsugi recently, which is fantastic not only for its content (featured musicians include Animal Collective, Dinosaur Jr., Kanye West, Busy P, and DJ Medhi) but also for its slang. I'm learning casual swears, abbreviated conversation, and a whole lot about funky European electro artists. Nothing like a stinging interview with Paul McCartney to teach me the word for "bullshit" (connerie).
And this is a cartoon of David Guetta decapitating someone with a record:
Chanteuse
I remember being about eight or nine years old when I met my cousin's girlfriend, Rachel, for the first time. She drew pictures and had long hair and a really awesome leather satchel and I thought she was SO COOL. Fourteen years later, and I'm still struck by how COOL I find these types of women. Cool! What does that even mean? I'm impressed and amazed and suddenly become timid when it's time to talk. Who knew I would lose my own cool?
I saw a little show last night with my roommate and another assistant at a local bar. It was supposed to be a band, or a duo, or something, playing on stage for the night, but at the last minute everyone dropped out and the lead singer, a woman with (surprise here) long hair, a flowy skirt, awesome jewelry, and a guitar, ended up playing alone. She was a Gallic Fiona Apple, singing about "les fees du vent" (fairies of the wind) and crooning, telling the audience that "je chante pour toi" (I'm singing for you).
She also did something that I've only seen one other band (TV on the Radio) do on stage -- record loop tracks on the spot. I'm sure this isn't hard to do, and that my limited exposure to it is directly related to what bands I've seen. Nevertheless, it was awesome. For one song, she said she needed the audience's help, and started blowing into the microphone and snapping her fingers. Some people in the front row started blowing too, making a sort of rustling, crackly autumn sound. She'd been recording the whole time, of course, and this little improv nature soundtrack played behind her throughout the whole song. It was incredible. She did this with a bunch of other tracks, too, providing her own percussion, harmonies (she would record the same tune twice and just harmonize with her recorded self), and twitchy nature sounds like the one above.
And I can't really explain why, or how, I felt so in awe of this woman. "Awe" is a tricky word, even -- I felt like a little kid, watching her favorite cartoon character do something incredible on television while illogically (but no less passionately) wanting to be their best friend. (I felt this way about Nala from "The Lion King" when I was little, so this is not really just a simile.) Such a cool chick! All I can do is give her a thumbs up. I think I'm in love.
Listen, look, and translate into English: Alifair.
I saw a little show last night with my roommate and another assistant at a local bar. It was supposed to be a band, or a duo, or something, playing on stage for the night, but at the last minute everyone dropped out and the lead singer, a woman with (surprise here) long hair, a flowy skirt, awesome jewelry, and a guitar, ended up playing alone. She was a Gallic Fiona Apple, singing about "les fees du vent" (fairies of the wind) and crooning, telling the audience that "je chante pour toi" (I'm singing for you).
She also did something that I've only seen one other band (TV on the Radio) do on stage -- record loop tracks on the spot. I'm sure this isn't hard to do, and that my limited exposure to it is directly related to what bands I've seen. Nevertheless, it was awesome. For one song, she said she needed the audience's help, and started blowing into the microphone and snapping her fingers. Some people in the front row started blowing too, making a sort of rustling, crackly autumn sound. She'd been recording the whole time, of course, and this little improv nature soundtrack played behind her throughout the whole song. It was incredible. She did this with a bunch of other tracks, too, providing her own percussion, harmonies (she would record the same tune twice and just harmonize with her recorded self), and twitchy nature sounds like the one above.
And I can't really explain why, or how, I felt so in awe of this woman. "Awe" is a tricky word, even -- I felt like a little kid, watching her favorite cartoon character do something incredible on television while illogically (but no less passionately) wanting to be their best friend. (I felt this way about Nala from "The Lion King" when I was little, so this is not really just a simile.) Such a cool chick! All I can do is give her a thumbs up. I think I'm in love.
Listen, look, and translate into English: Alifair.
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