This Side of the Lens (A Year in French) One American's perspective of living in France

Christine and I drove to Liege because Christine had signed up to be a presenter at the annual AATF conference.  Since neither of us have ever been to Liege, Christine thought it would be a good idea to go and check it out.  Even though friends that work at the European Union felt that Liege is not all that tourist worthy, if you’re able to take a stroll around the city there are some beautiful places.  If you are curious, please see the link at the end of the post.

The trusty TomTom guided us to within 80 meters of our hotel (where the street was closed for construction) so we took a deep breath and and went around the block.  We stayed at the “Les Acteurs” hotel, where the accommodations were minimal but reasonably priced considering the trip to speak at the conference is basically a personal donation.  If you are in the area it’s not bad and may be worth a look.  Shortly after settling into our room, one of the other attendees dropped by to give us the low-down on the local cuisine and other gossip.  We took her advice and went to the local dive where Mussels are the house specialty.  After looking through the menu Christine asked what I wanted to drink.  “When in Belgium”. . .I’ll have a Chimay Bleu, I said.  She remembered having some Chimay in the U.S. so she decided to have one too.  While waiting for dinner to arrive I enjoyed the Chimay maybe a little too much.  In Belgium the Chimay is a little over 9% alcohol content by volume, so I was feeling buzzed.  Anyway, Christine had a big bowl of mussels and I had a steak hache Provençal.  Basically a hamburger without the bun smothered in a rich sauce.  After our meal we went back to the hotel to determine the following day’s timetable.

Since we did not have internet access in the room I fired up iStumbler and surveyed the neighborhood from the hotel window.  Luckily I found an open signal and checked the itinerary, because Christine’s spot had been moved from the morning to the afternoon.  That meant we could sleep in a bit and get a decent breakfast before packing up the car and heading over to the convention center.  Once I got Christine’s laptop all configured to use the projector I decided to take a stroll around town with my camera.  Here is the LINK to those photos.  

With the conference now out of the way, the plan was to head over to Brussels and stay with a friend of Christine’s and take in some other sites at a more leisurely pace.  Since we had no detours in mind we let Susan (remember the TomTom voice) plan the route tout de suite.  Without trouble we made our way to Brussels and found her friend’s apartment.  Heck we even found a parking place right in front!!  This was the view from the apartment towards downtown Brussels:

Pretty nice view eh.  We thought so.  Well that’s all for now, I’ll try and catch up some more in the next post and who knows, maybe I’ll even get caught up 😉

Peace,

-G

P.S. Oh, I nearly forgot… The Movie Christine was in looks like it will be coming out soon in the U.S.  If you want to see the Trailer, just click this link.  Thanks (Oh, and it’s in Quicktime format, sorry Windows people you may need the free QT plugin to view the trailer.)  And for those of you who just went to the end of the post for the photos, here is another link…LINK

Things have been pretty crazy here and I wanted to let you all know that I would be getting back on the ball here soon.  For those of you who have been following the blog from the previous web domain, I just want you to know that the previous posts on this page are a short representation of the original posts, because many of the pictures were just too much trouble to find and move over.  If you want to see those posts in their original format please go to http://web.mac.com/largerpurpose/  I plan on posting up some new content for you soon and I hope to get caught up with the current events just as soon as possible.  Thanks again for following along.  

Take care,

-G

Some fresh baked goodies in the local market.

Wouldn’t it be nice to both have the time to do interesting and blog worthy things and also have the time to blog about them? Sure there is a fare amount of time spent listening to people talk to each other without fully understanding what is being said and really not being able to add anything useful even if I do understand the gist of what was said. That said, however, it is considered very rude to try and do anything other than attempt to follow the conversation. Anyway time really seems to fly by, and here I sit feeling as though I need to catch up again.

After cleaning out the remaining items from chez Annette, we were able to take a small break from the activity calendar and get ourselves ready for the conference in Belgium. Time off includes shopping at the market, eating the good food from the market, going to the beach and <of course> visiting friends and family. The plan is to drive to Paris where we will catch the Bastille day festivities, which I understand are well worth the experience. We’ll try to stay the night with one of Christine’s friends and then finish the drive to Belgium after breakfast the following morning. We are likely to make several stops along the way, so will have to wait and see what happens. OK maybe it’s already happened and I just need to get you, the readers, up to speed. Maybe I should just end this issue here and continue a little closer to the present so that we can all be a little closer to the present.

Until next time…
Peace,
-G

A statue in front of the Luçon Cathedral shows more "Family Values" propaganda from the Catholic Church

After Christine’s mom’s house was somewhat under control,
I learned that there was to be a limited family reunion at
Christine’s family ranch called “La Foye.” The plan was to drive
to Luçon, spend the night with Christine’s cousin, and then
drive to the ranch the next day for the reunion and then
either head back to Saint Gilles, or stay another night in
Luçon.

Christine’s cousin and her husband bought an old warehouse
that used to be across the street from a Shipping port. I’m not
entirely sure about the details, but what I understand is that there was a canal maintained from the ocean in-land that was allowed to dry up or was filled in. Again, not entirely clear about the details, but here is a map so you can see… And maybe more information (well no actually, I googled Luçon and came up with nothing, so if you feel like searching and you find more information, let me know.) As I was saying, they bought a warehouse that had partially been converted into a residence, and over the past 18 years and three children later, the house is pretty amazing. I know I would have made some different remodeling decisions, but all in all the house was very large and nicely arranged. We received a tour of the property and then sat down to a large French dinner of mussels, wine, cheese, bread, Pasta (for those of us not so hot on the mussels) and the other usual suspects. After dinner I put on a short slideshow for the family and we retired to rest up for the next days festivities.

The gentleman in the front center is Maurice. The family Patriarch that reminded me of Papa and of Don Vito Corleon. This guy is 95 years old and a lot of fun at a party. We all had drinks before our drinks (in france this is known as the aperitif, which is meant to prepare the stomach for some serious macking, although it seems to me to be the best time to catch a buzz before your stomach is full of food.) After the aperitif, and the meet and greet, we sat down to a large multi-course meal with just as many wines as dishes. After lunch various parts of the family wandered off in search of different activities around the farm. I went on a walk with a group of Christine’s family in search of a plot of land held by Christine, her brothers and uncle. It was a nice walk through the country, though I was never completely sure that the plot of land had been found. After the walk, there was a short tour of the bread oven, where Christine took ill from the overwhelming smell of Bay leaves left in the oven. While she was resting I took a short walk around to take a few pictures.
After my walk around the farm some of the men decided to play a game called Pallet. I’m not sure if I spelled that correctly, but is was pronounced ‘Pallay.’ Basically it was sort of like bocci ball, except that it was played with steel saucers on a sheet of lead. I thought my experience with disc golf would help me out, however, the men were determined to correct my form. In Pallet, you are supposed to angle your steel saucer downward to grab the lead to stop your disc. I had some good throws, but I’m fairly sure my team lost in the end. Well folks, the meter on the car is running out, so I’m going to wrap this up now, and say goodbye.

I received a few email’s about the blog, and will try to address some of the difficulty by changing the first page a little. I thought is was a little odd that so much of the blog would show up on the first page, when to really read the issue, you had to click read more. So this time I will change it so that it is more clear that you need to click “read more” to read any of the blog. As far as the font goes, I’m sorry, but since I chose this stupid cartoon theme, I can’t change the font without messing up the page. I may change the theme to something different after I get to Aix, but on the laptop, I’ll just adjust what I can to make it easier. I hope you are all well. . .
Take care,
-G

Shiny orbs are difficult to pass up when you're packing glass.

I flew to Paris first class thanks to an obligatory upgrade, on top of a very generous family pass from my aunt. The flight left a little after 6 pm and the first class amenities started before leaving the ground. Champagne on the tarmac was a nice offer but I decided to stick to water. I was in the first row of the plane which meant I was in a select class of people that had seats capable of reclining completely into a bed. Being in the first row, however, also means that you get to hear every last bit of gossip from the flight crew and when one of the flight attendants spills water it comes rolling down the isle at you during take off. All that aside it was a very enjoyable flight. The woman who sat next to me told me all about leaving her husband and child for her french lover who lives near Paris. She had rented an apartment and was planning to love learning french and learning her french lover; or frenching her learned lover; or learn french lovingly, oh you get the picture, she was sharing a little too much information. So in first class you can watch an endless stream of movies, however, I was unable to see a single film as I actually tried to sleep after dinner. In the morning the flight crew pretends that we have all adjusted to Parisian time by flipping on the lights and serving us breakfast. I know that it was technically 6 am in Paris, but my body was still convinced that it was 12 midnight Eastern standard time and why on earth would I be eating such a large meal, including chocolates? Well we landed on time which meant I had time to find my luggage and then figure out how to catch a train to the west coast of France by 10:27 am.

Even though my suitcase was the last, I repeat, the LAST piece of luggage on the plane, somehow the ground crew was able to un-load and send my suitcase out last. I’m not sure how this is accomplished, but I watched them load my bag on the plane at the last minute, and then almost after giving up and heading over to the luggage counter in Paris, I breathed a sigh of relief as I finally saw my bag emerge on the conveyor after watching everyone else walk away with their own luggage. Now that I had my bags in tow I made my way in the general direction of the exit, where I assumed I would find the information booth and directions to the train. Along the way I came upon what was apparently the customs station. Unlike Mexico where you play the customs lottery, or the U.S. where they stop everyone, in Paris the customs agents stop whomever they choose, based on whatever criteria they go by. When I realized what was going on in front of me, I activated my cloaking aura and made for the exit. I don’t believe I heard any requests to stop, so I went straight out the exit where I joined the general population.

Per my instructions I went straight to the information booth (where I was told english was not a problem and I would get good information.) I asked where to go to catch my train to Nantes, and the nice gentleman told me to take the tram to terminal 1 where I purchase tickets and catch my train. Other than feeling like a sardine, I had no trouble getting to terminal 1 and making my way to what appeared to be a ticket counter. The woman there told me that the booth was closed, and at first she told me to wait 27 minutes. Then, after some pleasantries, she changed her mind and told me that I should catch the same tram I had just taken and to go to the next terminal where the train I wanted would be much easier to catch. Oh well, back down to the sardine packing machine I went and continued on to the next terminal where the real train station was (not just the local trains to Paris proper.) Here I found the ticket line and stood patiently while awaiting my turn. After what seemed like and extraordinarily long wait I approached the counter and said something like “Nantes s’il vous plaît.” Despite being short and somewhat choppy, the gentleman looked up the info and gave me a price. At this point it became clear that he understood a little english and we worked out paying for the ticket together. (Something about the credit card reader not liking the first card.) He hi-lighted the important information on the ticket for me and when I asked what track the train would be arriving on he laughed and said it was a surprise. Then he said that it would be indicated on the board only a few minutes before the train arrived, and to stand in front of the board to await this somewhat crucial information. (OK I added that part.)

The information did finally appear on the board and I went down to the platform to get on the train. I did manage to board the train, get on the right car and tuck my luggage away properly for the trip to Nantes. The trip was a little over two hours and Christine was at the platform to meet me when I arrived. From Nantes we drove the Euro-Focus to Saint Gilles croix-de-vie where I was wiped out and needed to take a nap. We went to Christine’s cousin’s house where she had been staying and I went down for a couple of hours. When I came to it was time for dinner, so we all had a bite to eat and we called it a day. The next day it was back to work as Christine’s mother’s house had to be cleaned and cleared out for the new owners and there was a schedule to keep.

The New Duke

Even though I had been in France for three days already when my nephew was born, I’ve chosen this event to mark the divergence of the blog from the last days in the states to first days in france. This is <the> Duke. A huge congratulations to my brother and Sister-in-law on the birth of their first child Duke. I am not sure if the name will grant him instant nobility, but maybe if he plays his cards and wears the right clothes he may have some fun passing it off.

Also, since I don’t know what photos are sanctioned, I’ll do some slight manipulations here to share this cute little yard ape with the rest of you. . .

Adorable (That’s the first French I’ve used in this blog)
I hope to receive more photos and share more news of my nephew over the coming year. From here out it looks like it will officially be my year in french,
-G

Boston Bloom

as i struggle with both catching up and deciding what exactly I’m doing in this blog, I am confronted with the fact that if I don’t start throwing stuff down, I’ll soon be buried under a mountain of photos and days, weeks, months in french. So what is this? What ever it is, it needs to get a little closer to the present. So I’ll try a little harder to condense time in this issue. I’ll throw in a little of this and that to try and bring you readers up to speed. . .
Our family activity director initiated a charming canoe excursion on the river.
We also had some Quality hang out time with the family while ‘expecting’

Can you see the no parking
sign in this photo?

No? Neither did we.
Do you think we could
find someone that could take
care of the ticket?
How about Mr. D?

I learned that the flight I had expected to take out of Philadelphia had been canceled, so I changed my other flight arrangements and decided to stay at Bro’s house. This photo was taken during my last night in the hotel.

The last day we spent walking around Cambridge.

I’ll just throw in a few more photos here as I’m running out of steam….

In the morning we headed of to Providence Rhode Island to catch my flight to Philadelphia. Except for a goofy suggestion from Susan (My GPS) we made it to the airport Where the next phase of my journey began. . .my year in french
Until the next issue
-G

Reflecting sunset off the building across the Charles

o.k. more catch-up. . .

After settling in to the hotel my brother and I took a quick tour of the facilities before heading off to Taiwanese food at one of bro’s favorite local dives. We met up with my sister-in-law’s parents, nephew and brother-in-law and ate up a yummy belly full. Afterward we headed back to my brother’s house to check in on the mother to be.

With no child on the way yet, we went out to meet up with some of the locals.
After that, homeways was bestways and i went back to the hotel for a bit of spatchka
goodnight droogies. . .

A view of the Boston skyline from my hotel room in Cambridge Massachusetts

Still working backwards at this point, so to catch you up. . .

The furry one and I stayed at my Aunt’s new house in chico, CAlifornia our first night out on the road. We got to see our cousin and meet some other interesting travelers. We got to do some catching up and some of us retired earlier than others. In the morning, after breakfast, her furriness and I got back on the road to portland.

We arrived in portland that same evening and began the process of acclimating my 15 year old four-legged bed warmer to her temporary home and being around her cousins. (See Pack Mentality) They seemed to get along alright, so the following day the plan was to help my sister’s seriouso fix their roof leak, which started with a partial tear-off to asses and address the damage. A day and a half later, with the roof looking like it would shed water properly I had an afternoon to gather my belongings, make sure they were well packed and under the weight limit for the airplane. I realize there were plenty of opportunities for photos and other media in this time period, however, it was apparently just not meant to be.

Once all my stuff was by the front door, and I had changed into my flight gear, I was ready to begin the next leg of the journey; Cambridge Massachusetts to see my brother, mother, cousin, uncle, aunt and the in-laws (no offense, but the list was getting long.) I said goodbye to my precious hair maker, thanked and blessed my benevolent babysitters and scurried off to the Portland airport guided by my dyslexic GPS unit. (A tense necessary fuel refill aside, I caught my plane which brings me to the title and photo of this post.)

My bro picked me up at the airport and off we went to cambridge. My bro has connections (though the boston mafia can not be confirmed) and I received a VIP guest card and a sweet room at the Hotel. **I need to get going now, so I’ll continue in the next episode. . .

Three days left before I hit the road. Just the WiFi and a few essentials left to pack up...

This is sort of a retro post to get the ‘year in french’ blog started. I took this photo to bench mark my progress in getting the house emptied out for the year in France, after christine had left to secure our house in aix-en-provence. Even though we had known and planned for this trip for a year, the last 5 days before I left were long, hot, exhausting and anxious. To top it off there was a heat wave cooking the county to 106ºF.

After moving the majority of our possessions to storage and the left-overs to the garage, I ran out of time and had to hire a cleaning lady to help me get out of the house on schedule. I had planned on driving to Ashland Oregon, stopping to see a friend on my way to Portland Oregon, where I had made arrangements to drop off my Furry four legged companion. Well even though the cleaning lady kicked serious @ss cleaning out the house while I finished up with the last remaining items and details, I got too late of a start to make it to Ashland, so I decided instead to drive to Chico and visit my aunt for the night.

As I drove out of Sonoma towards Hiway 80 I passed what was the start of several california wild fires that i hear had caused a lot of damage. The sky was an eerie orange color as I drove through fairfield, however, I was unable or unwilling to grab my camera so there were no more pictures until I reached Boston, where I was finally able to let the adventure begin.