Mont-Saint-Michel on a Sunday in February

Sunday morning, I was picked up by Katherine and her landlords. She is at a school on the outskirts of town, so she rents a room from a family near the school. They offered to take her and a friend on a daytrip to Mont-Saint-Michel, the abbey built on an ocean rock off the coast of Normandy.

View of Mont-Saint-Michel from the parking lot.

By highway, it took us an hour to reach the site, and we parked right at the foot of it. The wind was wild, but the sun was out, and once you made it inside the walls, you could take your coat off and feel the sun warm your back. We trekked up the hill on the only street on the rock, surrounded by tourists admiring the hotels, restaurants, and gift shops that lined the way. At the very top is the abbey, but you have to pay 9 euros to get in, so we decided to just tour the ramparts and eat lunch in a garden overlook. I'm pretty sure we walked every free inch of the rock, since we even found a little cemetary. A lovely way to spend a few hours on a sunny day.

The abbey at the top.

Shrine and French flag.

Cemetary cross and the abbey church.

We left around 3, and they drove us along the coastline. We saw a lot of little Breton towns and beaches and stopped at Cancale, the Point of Grouin, and Dinard. Grey skies took over and a rainstorm followed us home. I was dropped off around 5:45. To see all the photos, click here!

At the Point of Grouin.

Grouin.

Coastline of Brittany.

I packed a bag and took the train to Vitre and Pierre-Antoine for the night. The poor baby has a stuffy nose right before our trip to Prague!

This afternoon's stressor was a letter I had to send to my landlord in Andorra saying that I'm moving out at the end of May. You have to give three months notice (which means by today!) and send the letter with an "accusé de réception" so you can track it and get a receipt back because it's a legal document! So I had to pay over 4 euros to mail a piece of paper to Andorra... Boo!

By the way, this week and the next are school holidays!!! Yes, more holidays--as the couple who took me to Mont-Saint-Michel said yesterday, "The French teach their children to do nothing from an early age. And when they have to do something, they strike to get more holidays!" LOL!

So Pierre-Antoine and I are going to Prague Tuesday-Friday! You'll get a ton of photos and updates this weekend! :)

Holidays! Starting in St Malo!

Wow, a week to catch up on now! My last classes this term went well--we played a taboo-esque game that the kids enjoyed. It was kind of sad since I won't be working with these classes anymore--I have a whole new schedule for January and February. I just hope I did some good!

Then Friday was a bit of an adventure. I had to go to the immigration office for a medical exam so I could get my official residence permit. I ended up seeing five other assistants there at the same time! The process was very quick, one of the most efficient things I've seen in France or elsewhere: chest xray, immunization record, eye exam, height/weight, brief medical history, listen to lungs, check xray, blood pressure. All of this in three rooms in a hallway in under an hour! Bravo! I got my OFII sticker in my passport and immediately had a copy sent to the office for my housing assistance money. All paperwork taken care of, I'm legal!

So Katherine joined up with my afterwards and we headed to the train station to pick up Herbert, an assistant in Quimper who was coming in for an afternoon immigration appointment. He is from Louisianna, and I had talked to him on facebook before, so he asked me to be his Rennes tour guide for the day. For the morning, we walked all around the center city, ate tartines for lunch, and let him buy a jar of Mississippi Belle peanut butter at my grocery store--apparently, I'm lucky they stock it!

He headed off to his appointment, and I saw PA for a bit. When Herbert was done, it was snowing like crazy, so I took him to Le Haricot Rouge for hot chocolate and a few hours of warm, cozy conversation. They were even playing a Black Eyed Peas album, so we rocked out to that. The crowning moment of the day was the lights show at the mairie; Rennes literally projects lights onto the mayor's building in an awesome Disney-esque animation show! I'll film it sometime soon because it is every night until Janurary 2. Then poor Herbert had a 40 minute train delay! Still, he picked a good day to visit Rennes!

Saturday was a real French adventure! Katherine and I took the train to St. Malo, a walled coastal city. Even though we had slush under our feet and rain coming down on our heads, we trekked into the old city and took tons of pictures of the buildings, walls, beaches, sea! At one point, we realized that music was coming from speakers on every street corner--from Christmas carols to Rhianna! Cute or creepy? The jury is still out on that one...

Marina at the approach to the city gates.

Islands and swimming area off of St. Malo.

We had a delicious three course lunch of warm goat cheese salad, lamb and mashed potatos, and chocolate crepes. In the afternoon, the weather turned around and we had blue skies and beautiful light. We returned to the walls and walked around half the city on them, admiring the adorableness of it all. We also did a fair bit of shopping at the Christmas market (where I spent about 50 euros...) and in all the shops and enjoyed some warm, spiced wine.

Drinking warm wine!

St. Malo Christmas Market.

After a coffee and warmth break at a bar/cafe, we hit the streets again and saw a ton more people out! This led us to believe that the people of St Malo are vampires... ;) So more shopping, seeing the house of the Duchess of Anne, trying the Breton specialty butter cake, and walking the other half of the walls was on the late afternoon agenda. The lighting at the snowy beach was incredible! Just admire these photos below (and all of the ones in my Rennes Winter album) to get an idea.

We had a last cup of tea/chocolate in a classy salon du thé facing the cathedral before we had to trek back to the train station through the ice. It was a gorgeous day in a cute city full of lots of good food! A nice way to start off a holiday break.

Today I'm in the apartment resting, nursing my cold, maybe even cleaning a bit! Everyone is scattering for break, so I'll be entertaining myself for the most part. Skype me!

A cute festive touch at the St Malo market^^

Using all those brochures I have...

This is another short week of school because of Armstice Day on Thursday. We have no work Friday, and I have no classes tomorrow, so it is a five-day weekend for me. You would think I'd be excited, but I'm really just bored!

I worked two hours yesterday and one today (because the other class did not show up), talking about vacations and what activities people can do in cities, countryside, beaches, and mountains. I then passed out brochures from Las Vegas, DC, Tennessee, and Chicago and had the kids look through them to find an activity they would like to try, whcih they had to present to the class. More successful with some groups than others--language ability is super varied. Group size too--between four and ten--can chang the dynamic of chattiness versus participation in the lesson. The plan is for teachers to give me half the class for half an hour, and then we switch for the second half hour. It is better to have small groups but also tiring to do the same lesson four times in a row. I'll have to find a rotation system to keep myself alert.

Also, I did finally get a schedule from next Monday until the holiday break. I have 4 hours Monday, 2 Tuesday morning, 2 Wednesday afternoon, 4 Thursday, and Fridays off. Monday is a 9:30 start, Tuesday 8:30, but I'd rather get going now that I have official work to do! The reason that it will change in January is because professional schools have internships that their students go on for weeks at a time, so some of my students will leave then, and others will arrive to take their place at different hours.

This weekend I pledge to prepare more lessons and games! Next week I want to do a lesson on stereotyes between French and American people. I also want to play a song and have the kids fill in blanks in the lyrics, so we can talk about music and learn some vocab. The week after will be for my Thanksgiving activitites! ;)

Another thing I've noticed is that French people start sentences with "euh/bah..." and end them with "quoi" which means "what." I guess it is just their way of saying "um" and "you know" like we do in English, but it is funny to observe. I even notice some of the assistants doing it to sound more authentically French! Maybe I should join the bandwagon on this one.

I'll let you know what excitement I get up to this weekend too! Bisous !

Vacation

Sorry to not update, but even sorrier that I have nothing exciting to say! Since I've been back to Rennes, I've just been hanging out, doing laundry, watching movies, reading, catching up on the news, etc. Nothing to do!

I think the boredom is getting me down too. At least when I nominally have work each day, I can pretend I'm being useful. When there is nothing at all to occupy my time, I just feel like it was pointless of me to come here. People at my school don't seem to know what to do with me, and since I don't have a schedule, I cannot really prepare activites. I've just been spending money to set up a life here all month, and all I've given the world in return is a few English conversations. I hate that!

And to make this post less whiney, I thought I should explain what this vacation is all about! November 1st is la Toussaint, or All Saint's Day, which as the name suggests celebrates all the saints in Catholic tradition. The day is meant to bring candles and flowers to the graves of loved ones--chrysanthemums are the norm.

Since the French don't have a Thanksgiving break (or Halloween fun...), I guess this is their week of a fall breather.

If anyone has any entertainment ideas, let me know! Funny videos, books to get, recipes to try...

Shopping and notes on the Breton language

NOTE: I think I managed to change the blog language to English, so posting comments should be easier for you anglophones ;)

Saturday has been quiet for the most part. I slept in, made a pot of potato soup for myself, and watched How I Met Your Mother in French. After lunch, I got dressed to go out and profit from the warmth and sun that decided to pay Brittany a visit for the weekend. I stopped in Eurodif, a clothes and home goods store, only to find that there was a huge sale going on! I bought towels and rugs pretty damn cheaply, but since I don’t have the keys to my apartment yet, I didn’t want to go overboard. Yet, now I’m considering heading back and getting sheets and other supplies so that I can save money later… It’ll just be annoying to move things eventually.

I talked to my parents for about an hour in the afternoon just to catch up on things. Plus, PA texted me throughout the day to comment on the student group he is assisting with; they’re getting lectures on historical things in little Norman cities from the prof with the group. His job is mostly to herd them on when they stop to take pictures.

Dinner with assistants tonight at 7 at Creperie Ste-Anne, right below my future apartment! Hopefully, I’ll get to know some more people so that I’ll have things to do on these quiet weekends.

Also, if you are considering visiting me, I work Tuesday-Friday, but I may be able to arrange long weekends if I change my hours. And here is my vacation schedule:
-Vacances de la Toussaint: Saturday 23 October to Wednesday 3 November
-Vacances de Noël (Christmas): Saturday 18 December to Sunday 2 January (though I’m already planning to spend New Year’s with friends)
-Vacances d'hiver (Winter): Saturday 26 February to Sunday 13 March
-Vacances de Printemps (Spring): Saturday 23 April to 7 June, when I leave for the States

It has been awhile since my last cultural lesson, so today I’ll introduce you to the language of Breton! Yes, Brittany has its own Gaelic-derivative language, and there are even some schools where Breton is still taught. Here is the information that I have gleaned for you:

“Breton is spoken in Lower Brittany [which means farther west on the peninsula than where I am]…It comes from a Celtic language community between Great Britain and Armorica (present-day Brittany), and even Galicia. It was the language of the upper classes until the 12th century. However, afterwards it was only the language of the people of West Brittany (Breizh Izel), while the nobility, followed by the bourgeoisie, adopted French. As a written language, the Duchy of Brittany used Latin, switching to French in the 15th century. There exists a limited tradition of Breton literature. Some Old Breton vocabulary remains in the present day as philosophical and scientific terms in Modern Breton…

“Today, despite the political centralization of France and the important influence of the media, Breton is still spoken as an everyday language by about 200,000 people. This is, however, down from 1.3 million in 1930. At the beginning of the 20th century, half of the population of Lower Brittany knew only Breton, the other half being bilingual. By 1950, there were only 100,000 monolingual Bretons, and a rapid decline since with only small handfuls of elderly monolingual speakers as of 2009. A statistical survey in 1997 found around 300,000 speakers in Breizh izel, of which about 190,000 were aged 60 or over…

“Few of those of the 15-19 year-old age group spoke Breton, which is now considered to be an endangered language…In 1977, Diwan schools were founded to teach Breton by immersion. In 2010, 13,391 students (about 1.48% of all students in Brittany) attended Diwan, Div Yezh and Dihun schools, a number rapidly growing yearly… There are also schools in secondary education (collèges and lycées) offering courses of Breton (given as either foreign language or option, instead of e.g. German, Spanish, ...), and there are about 5,000 pupils in the universities in Brittany who take this option. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breton_language)”

Just wandering around town, you will notice that all road/street/information signs are in French and Breton, including all of the city names:

Bilingual signage in Quimper/Kemper.

Visitors to Brittany may encounter words and phrases (especially on signs and posters) such as the following:

Breton	English
degemer mat	welcome
deuet mat oc'h	you're welcome
Breizh	Brittany
brezhoneg	Breton (language)
ti, "ty"	house
ti-kêr	town hall
kreiz-kêr	town centre
da bep lec'h	all directions
skol	school
skol-veur	university
bagad	pipe band (nearly)
fest-noz	lit. "night fête", a fest deiz or "day fête" also exists
kenavo	goodbye
krampouezh	pancakes (a pancake = ur grampouezhenn)
chistr	cider
chouchenn	Breton mead
yec'hed mat	Cheers!
war vor atao	always at sea
kouign amann	rich butter and sugar cake

There is even a minor separatist movement that lives on in Brittany that wants to leave France. I’m sure that will never happen, but it was exploited by the Nazis during WWII who encouraged any subversive actions against the French government. I’ll explain this further in another post!

I've bought myself a big Brittany flag to hang in my apartment too: