The week off

Today I had a visit to the doctor and he approved me for playing ping pong, it was necessary to get an exam before playing at the club.. I've just been relaxing these few days and getting ready because Keith and I are heading south to Marseille tomorrow! We'll be staying with my distant relatives so it should be an interesting few days. I'll be sure to take pictures and I'm really excited to see how the south is, should be fun. When we get back on Sunday, it'll be time to prepare for school again as we will meet Monday at 9:30 back in the auditorium to get the semester started.

These few days off also gave me time to walk around town and with the help of my professor, we've found what is in my opinion the best boulanger in Angers, and in most of France. The place is called Le Grenier a Pain, a chain of places across France managed by famous baker Michel Galloyer..In all seriousness, he has figured something out about bread that I have not tasted in other places, I'll post again about this place in the next few weeks.

Fore!!!

Another reason why I didn't hit driver last summer
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Well we did it, even though I couldn't find my friends at the bus stop, or the market, somehow we all ended up together at the golf course and played. It was situated near a chateau, so it was nice, but the course wasn't great. It's nice to say I've played in France though..and I was able to rent a set of Cleveland clubs, really nice 2009 model Launcher driver, irons, hybrids, great clubs! Obviously after a month off (as you can see in the picture) I didn't put them to great use, but we had a good time. I played with Keith, my friend from CMU, and Adam, my friend from Canada, and we walked 9 holes in a little over 2 hours, so it was fun. Let's just say that it isn't always easy convincing yourself of hitting a shot when you don't know the yardage..that meter to yard conversion was something we had to deal with the whole time..obviously a 130 meter par 3 doesn't play to 130 yards..remember this if you hit the links in France I have a yardage book from the place and a souvenir ball, plus some extra balls that I didn't lose that will be put to good use for the 2010 season! .

The fall break that I never get at CMU

The amphitheatre
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

That's it, the intensive language month is finished, and I'm off until Oct 5, when I begin the actual semester of classes. Last night we had the end of the stage show and party. The director, Marc Melin, gave a speech, and some students showed off talents relating to their culture, it was pretty fun.

Now I've got time to relax, and take care of some things before the semester starts. Tomorrow I'll be playing golf, and you can rest assured that there will be pictures, I'm really excited for that! Then I'll be here in Angers for a few days relaxing before heading south, specifically Marseille on Thursday! We have relatives down there and I'm going to be with them for a few days, I'm really looking forward to seeing them and the south of France!

Have to mention also that I ate dinner at my friend Keith's place on Thursday, well with his host mom, and it was a great meal. It started off with a noodle soup, then the cold plate of a little salad and things, followed by ham, and a potato mixed with something casserole dish, and lastly some eclairs and ice cream. I know I'll be back there before the semester ends.

The end of the stage

Well here we are with 2 days left of classes and things are getting busy. I delivered my speech on my favorite French singers today, it went pretty well. Our class went out to a creperie tonight so that was really good. Tomorrow I'm eating at my friend Keith's house, he has 5 other kids living with him, so it should be a good dinner. Friday, there is a end of the September stage party at the university, then we are off until October 5. What am I going to do for the week? Well once I figure a few things out, I hope to have the chance to head south and see some distant relatives in Marseille. By now, I've seen a decent amount of the west of France, so it's time to head south. Also, I'm golfing with a few guys on Sunday, so you can bet that I'll post pictures and a report on how golf is here, so excited to play! Can't believe that fall is here, we got up to around 24 celsius today, great weather! I'll be updating this weekend, bonsoir!

West Coast Weekend

The megalithes
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

The weekend started off with some ping pong on Friday night at my prof's club. It is a gym only used for ping pong, so it was great. It was nice to play again and try to get into the swing of things, I played ok but still lost to most of the people, I'll be ready next time.

Yesterday we hit the west coast, took a boat ride around the Golfe de Morbihan, visited the historic city Vannes, and had time to enjoy some local crepe and cider...That picture shows our visit to the megalithes, the big rock structures. It was a good last excursion.

Today, I'm resting and getting some things ready for the final week of the September stage. I went out to the market and got a few things, this market was just incredible. I wish I had more time to walk around, it's amazing to see so many great things at once. Boulangers with 6 or 7 different kinds of baguettes, fruit stands everywhere, clothes, cds/dvds, wine, homemade products, cheese, great stuff. I bought a little dried fruit from this one guy, he told me that in a few weeks he would have the kind of dried apples that I'm looking for, so I will return!

The weekend ahead

Alright it's the last day of week 3 of class, so that's good. I've got a test in a few hours, then we are done by 2:30...uh I mean 14:30 today. After class, I'll be out on the street with my friend as we need to survey a few locals about a topic that we picked to do a written report on. I am going to ask people about le petit dejeuner (breakfast) and how it differs from the US. That should be good, then hopefully there will be time to check out this chocolate place that our prof recommended. At night, the same prof is taking me to his table tennis club, so I'll be there, come home, get up early and head off to the final excursion. This one is going to the west coast. Hopefully I'll have a post by Sat night explaining it all, Sunday will be a good day to rest and get ready for the final week of the September stage before we have a week off and the actual semester begins on Oct 5..So I'm looking forward to a great weekend and I'll keep you posted.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Le macaron!

Le macaron!
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

As the days go by, we discover more and more. Something I discovered a few weeks ago was le macaron..a French cookie not to be confused with the macaroon. I'm sure you've all seen these before..the dessert most famously made at Laduree in Paris. These little cookies made out of egg whites, sugar, and whatever else are incredible. They come in all different flavors and colors. Luckily enough, a guy who studied at Laduree opened up a patisserie in Angers, and the macaron are incredible there! Our professor recommended the place to us, so we went and tried them, and le macaron will probably end up being one of the best things I've had on this trip.

Les Chateaux de la Loire

Azay-Le-Rideau
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

On what will probably go down as the best excursion of the year, we got to see several amazing works of art today, buildings that are simply incredible. The program took us to 3 amazing "chateaux de la Loire", Azay-le-Rideau, Chenonceaux, and the best of all in my opinion, Chambord. I only uploaded pictures of the first two because I need to go to bed here, but it was simply incredible. How people managed to build amazing structures like this back then is beyond me..but I am certainly in awe of them. As great as it is on the inside, I could just marvel at the view from the outside of all of these places, it is just amazing. Having access to places like these is something that should not be taken for granted, it is a treat. I bought a nice poster of all of the chateaux in the loire valley for future use in the classroom, pretty good souvenir for the weekend..

This is certainly a great way to start the week if I'm running on the US schedule, but in France, this is a great way to end the week...seeing that the French week runs from Monday to Sunday. So I'll post the Chambord photos tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to a great week ahead!

L'Anjou Troglodytique

Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Yesterday was the excursion to a village below the surface, to see how the troglodytes lived a long time ago. We visited the caves and things that were actually bedrooms and kitchens back in the day, pretty interesting. From there, we went to a wine cave, and we got to see part of the production process of wine in the loire valley, and had a little tasting to go along with it. But as great as that was, the meal we had at an underground restaurant was even better. The main features were beef and mushrooms, with a little salad, bread, cheese, and apple pie to go along with it. The bread was similar to something you would eat in a middle eastern restaurant, the round football-shaped pita breads, so that was nice.

This morning, my host mom took me to the Decathlon, the euro sports shop, and I got what I needed to play ping pong here for the next few months, so now I'm ready. My professor is in a club, and he got me a discount on a good paddle, so this Thurs I'll be playing a local club, and I'll be playing at his club on Friday night...that should be interesting because it will test my ping pong and language skills at the same time, but it'll be fun. Tomorrow we are off to visit "les chateaux de la loire", or at least some of them, it should be great, and there will be pictures.

Coteaux du Layon

Today we had the honor of visiting le mayor of Angers, and a museum filled with tapestries not typically open to the public. After some kind words, we got to sample a wine from the Loire Valley: Coteaux du Layon. Now many of you know that I do not really drink that much, but this was incredible...needless to say we'll need to find out how to buy some of this from time to time. It was really sweet, but really good....The few glasses of wine I've had these past few weeks have been excellent, early day tomorrow I have class from 8 to 5, then I think I need to do some laundry....the vacation is over

Pat

The house

The house in Angers
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Here is the view from the front, nothing too elaborate, but it looks nice on the inside. If you go in and head up the stairs, that is where Jacqueline lives..She has a nice living area with a computer and a nice flat screen tv, a good size kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. I live on the first floor with another student in different rooms and we have our own area for preparing meals or eating with a little kitchen and a bathroom...this leads into the pictures of the garden that I posted when I first got here. It is a nice place. In other news, I'm excited to learn about where and how I can play ping pong in France, my professor is going to help me get that info tomorrow, bonsoir!

Mt St Michel: A Great Excursion

Mt St Michel
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Wow, today started at 6:45 am, loading the bus at the university to go to Mt St Michel, and the city St Malo...We get on the bus to hear our enthusiastic director Marc Melin: "un, deux, trois, bonjour!"...I'll get a picture with him eventually, he is the director of the program that I'm in at the university, and he goes on the excursions and shows us things on the bus. That picture is Mt St Michel, a nice island place that can't really be described in words, but it is incredible. After a great few hours of walking around and taking in the sights there, we headed to St Malo, a city that was bombed during WWII and rebuilt..Now there are a ton of tourist places and creperies mixed in with some good landmarks like chateaus and churches. As I see more of these it's easy to take them for granted, but there are unique features about each place, they are really stunning. So it was a great day of seeing the sites, eating on the rocks at Mt St Michel, and discovering great local crepes with housemade dark chocolate and local cider at St Malo. Now time to get back to school for the week before more excursions next Friday afternoon and Sunday!

What you can always do in a French city

So I've been in France for over a week now and I've spent time in 3 cities. Now there are big differences, but also several similarities between these towns.. Some of these things will seem obvious, but this is the truth as far as I can tell so far from my time in France:

Top 4 things you can always do in a French city (depending on the time of day)
1. Go to the boulangerie and buy a baguette or croissant- easy enough, these places are everywhere, it's up to you to see which ones are better, or to try different breads. I eat normally the demi, the half size, since it's better for one person.

2.Have a drink or eat at a cafe- There are also tons of cafes, not just restaurants, but cafes or brasseries..sometimes you can only have a drink and you can't order any food, but rest assured these places will be around.

3.Go to the pharmacy- And we're not talking like CVS or Rite-Aid, these are places that are on all the streets, noted with a green cross..And they have just about every kind of cream or lotion that you could think of. When I bought sunscreen in Paris, the pharmacist was questioning me like it was a very serious purchase, very different than our idea of a pharmacy.

4.Get a haircut, as simple or as complex as you make it- So I got a haircut in Paris, and I think it took me longer deciding where to go than it did for the actually cut, but these places are not the average chain, there are tons and tons of places, some chains, some not. They are all over the place, and the prices can be anywhere from 10 or a little more to 30, 40 euro for a haircut.. Incredible!

That is what I've noticed in the cities I've been in, obviously there is much more to do than this, but there are the common things that I've seen.

Bon week-end

Bubbly: Perrier, Colbie Caillat, and the Hypermarche

What I bought at the hypermarche
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

So my friend and I were placed in level 4, a little shocking and kind of sad for us, but it was just one test. The material is probably going to be a little easier in September, we will probably bump up to level 5 or higher for October if we do well. That being said, I learned a lot, and I mean a lot..My professor, Stephane Morin, is very smart and funny. He also really enjoys ping pong! Small world, huh?

Anyways, getting to the point of the post, the hypermarche. Obviously there is a supermarket, but then you have a strip of stores like a mall, a clothing part to it, and they sell all kinds of things. So having said that, I was able to get some Perrier ( my drink of choice in France, and sometimes in the US) and the latest Colbie Caillat CD all in one place! I have high hopes for this cd, hopefully it'll calm me down after a long day of intensive language courses..

The positives and negatives of French cuisine

Alright, so I took the test to see which level I fall into for the language classes. We find out what happens tomorrow morning. There are 8 levels, 1 meaning you don't know how to say hello, and 8 means that you can understand pretty much everything the director is saying, so I'll let you know how that turns out. But I wanted to talk about food. Take today for example.
Petit Dejeuner (breakfast) : toasted baguette with homemade peach jam at the house, and a cup of hot chocolate, very good. A simple French meal, a hot drink and some baguette with jam or butter..

Also always assume that lunch and dinner is served with bread.
Dejeuner (lunch): at the university mind you, It started off with a kind of pate, as you know a famous French food of who the heck knows what it is..That didn't sit well with me, followed by salmon, and I really don't eat fish, so now I'm 0 for 2. At least it was salvaged by some tomatoes and rice and a peach pie....but the pitts were still in the peaches! quite odd..

Le diner (normally will be at 7 pm at the house): She made this great Veal with a wine sauce, rice, cucumbers mixed with a cream sauce, and fresh tomatoes from her garden. Very good!! This is the type of cooking I've been waiting for!

I feel great about the food at the house, but I'm not too optimistic about the university cuisine, hopefully it gets better as time goes on..until then, I refuse to eat any more pate..yikes.

Here we go!

My room
Originally uploaded by supermarioguy

Here we are, in Angers..just moved in with the host mom, Madame Ramakers. She has two dogs, and I'm staying on the lower level of her house in my own room. She has a beautiful veranda and garden also, and there is a piano so I plan on playing and or recording when I can. Also here in another room is a student from North Carolina who will be studying at the university here as well. It feels great to finally be free of luggage and to have things sorted out a bit. The next few days are going to be interesting as I have a dinner here tonight, and then orientation and a test tomorrow morning at the university. It is going to get very interesting. All of a sudden it is September 1st and school is in session!

And yes, she has wifi, and it took a while but I figured out how to make it work with her help, very useful!

Here goes a semester at the Centre International D'Etudes Francaises!

-Pat