Marseille: Land of Gypsies and More Gypsies
November 8, 2009
Filed under France, Travel
Tags: Aix-en-Provence, France, Les Calanques, Marseille, TGV, Vacances de Toussaint
After the incident with the weird guys on the train, the people in Marseille only got weirder. We dropped our bags off at our “family room” at the Hotel Montgrand near the Vieux Port, and our first mission was to find food. After surviving six to seven hours on a train on only chocolate cookies and “salty nuts,” we were famished. Apparently one Asian cuisine meal wasn’t enough, and after about a few minutes of reading menus at restaurants along the waterfront, we decided on Zen Zen, a very clean and new-looking Asian fast food place. While it wasn’t the best, it was cheap and pretty good, and thus became our official Marseille hangout for the next four days.
Following our late lunch (by American standards), we stopped in the Office du Tourisme to get free maps and information on local sights, and then we stopped in a few stores along Marseille’s main shopping drag. Amy wasn’t feeling too well after the long day, so the remaining three of us decided to forge on anyway. We headed up the hill to Cours Julien, the Lower East Side of Marseille. The main part is a plaza at the top of one of Marseille’s many hills (very reminiscent of San Francisco), but as we noticed along our walk, this city is very sketchy. Not to mention filthy. (I later found out that their garbage department was on strike – typical – but I don’t think it would have been THAT much cleaner anyway.) When we got to the top of the hill, we decided on a Pakistani cuisine restaurant. And after 45 minutes of being ignored (the waitstaff really tried to avoid eye contact with us after they simply told us to wait by the door for a table), we were finally seated. Then the waiter messed up our Naan order, which led to a very confusing discussion in both French and English, and even in English their answer didn’t make any sense. It was definitely time for drinks.
We first hit up Dan Racing, which was hosting a punk rock concert with mosh pits and everything. There were two weird things about this bar: one was the CA-Interstate 280 sign on the refrigerator, and the other was that their unisex bathroom had neither a toilet nor a urinal – simply a hole in the ground. I just couldn’t do it. I pleaded with Rachel and Liz that we find somewhere else quickly, and after about five minutes we found Planet Mundo, a much cleaner, upscale (but not too upscale) bar and club holding a reggae concert. They also had very clean toilets. While I was in the restroom, Rachel met a new friend named Bernard (I think), who was a local and seemed very nice. Although I didn’t really talk to him much. More on him later. After a very long day and readjusting to a new city very different from Bordeaux, it was time for bed.
Bordeaux: Land of Wine and Macarons
November 7, 2009
Filed under France, Travel
Tags: France, TGV, Assistantship Program, Vacances de Toussaint, Bordeaux, Wine, Saint-Émilion, Macarons, Marseille, Corail-TEOZ
On a very typical Lille morning (rain, cold, more rain) on October 27, four female American language assistants boarded a TGV with a final destination of Bordeaux. After only three weeks at work (and a total of six in France for me), we already had our first paid vacation. Life in France can be very good.
As the little blue dot on my iPhone Google map application treaded southward past Gare Marne-la-Vallée/Chessy (a.k.a. the station for EuroDisney), there were only blue skies for us for the next seven days. But, as we learned, there’s a price to pay for nice weather. Namely, you’re trading in friendly people for friendly weather. You can’t have both in France. Nowhere is perfect. While we arrived in Bordeaux twenty minutes late, the five-hour train ride fairly pleasant. High-speed train is really the most relaxing way to travel long distance on a budget (Although I’ve never been on a cruise ship, I’ve never been fond of boats.). But I did make the mistake of forgetting to bring enough snacks along for the ride, and in a moment of weakness somewhere near Tours, I made my way to the Bar Car and ended up paying € 2 for a bag of Lays classic potato chips. I still can’t believe I did that.
After taking the very sleek and futuristic tram into the center of Bordeaux where our hotel was, we got in a bit of sightseeing before the day was out. We started out at the Place de la Bourse, which has a huge fountain spraying pink water and the nymphs above the fountains had pink sashes draped over themselves for breast cancer. After that, we walked on water. Literally. Bordeaux has a giant, flat reflecting pool that tourists and locals mingle barefoot over, splashing about in the daytime and then admiring the brilliant reflection of the Parliament buildings at night.
After checking out the local carnival, we met up with Liz’s Bordelaise friend, Veronique, who did us the great favor and service of showing us around Bordeaux each evening. But as we were all exhausted by the end of the first day, we passed Rue Sainte-Catherine (the longest pedestrian street in Europe), had a round of drinks and called it a day. Not without trying to find a local grocery store first though. However, we were five minutes too late when we got to the closest market to the hotel, which was actually open pretty late for France (9 PM). After deciding to walk another block, we passed a Chinese food restaurant, which prompted us to all swear to eating there for dinner the following evening as we all had gone into Asian-food withdrawal. A few doors later, Amy screamed at an appropriate American-volume level, “It’s a liquor store!” There we were able to gather necessary supplies, namely wine and cookies. After we got back to the hotel and realizing being four girls in the “penthouse” (fourth floor) of the hotel and the week of Halloween, it was the perfect time for slumber party-style sharing of ghost stories. While I told my usual Unit 3 Computing Center “I saw a Ninja-looking ghost” story again (which is so true), Amy definitely won with her retelling of La Llarona, which might not have been the most pleasant imagery before going to bed.
Festival Des Soupes
October 26, 2009
Filed under France, Travel
Tags: Assistantship Program, Bikes, Festival des Soupes, France, Le Touquet, Montreuil-Sur-Mer, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, TER, Vacances de Toussaint
When I bought my Let’s Go: France guide-book a few months back (and after I noticed its serious printing press error of 14-pages about Spain instead of France), I came across a list of annual festivals in my humble village of Montreuil-Sur-Mer. While most take place in the summer, I happily saw one at the end of October: Le Festival des Soupes et des Pains (The Soup and Bread Festival). The book described it as a lively event in the town citadel, with admission set at 5€…all-you-can-eat soup and bread. While I was really excited about this, I wasn’t sure how much other people would actually care to come up for it.
Apparently, plenty. After I mentioned it to several other American assistants in Lille, nearly all of them were ecstatic about the idea. Initially, about seven or eight assistants said they’d come up for it, but being the first weekend of the Vacances de la Toussaint (my first of four paid two-week vacations while teaching over here), naturally some people’s plans changed. But Rachel, Pat, Marc and Rory seemed determined on the prospect of an endless supply of soup.
I sent out a confirmation Facebook message a few days in advance to see who was still coming, as I became nervous about how many people I could actually fit in my tiny studio. On Friday evening, I received a very mysterious series of text messages from Marc, first asking for my address. I sent it back, also asking what time they planned to arrive on the train. He said that he and Rory wouldn’t be taking the train, and I’d see them the next evening. While they had previously joked about biking from Lille to Montreuil, we all thought they were kidding. The two towns are 68 miles apart. But no, the pair seriously conducted their own mini Tour de France, eleven hours from Lille to my studio. More on their arrival later…
London Town
October 12, 2009
Filed under Europe, Travel
Tags: England, Eurostar, London, Oyster Cards, TGV, United Kingdom
After three weeks in France, I was itching to hear a bit more English being spoken. So I went to England. Well, that wasn’t the only reason. The primary reason would be that my dear friend Mary was organizing a petite reunion of the J-Schoolers in Western Europe (more like those in London and +1 from Ireland and +1 from France).
When I woke up on Friday morning, I could see some sunlight breaking through the clouds, so I had some hope for the day’s weather. Typically, what the weather is in Northern France, it is in England. But as the day progressed, I saw it deteriorate all along my journey, finally culminating in pouring rain when exiting King’s Cross-St. Pancras International Station.
It didn’t help that back in Montreuil, I realized as soon as the TER pulled away from the station that I had forgotten my Oyster Card AND my Eurostar tickets. I was slightly nervous all the way to Lille that I going to have to pay a hefty fee for getting duplicate tickets, since it said so on the email. When I got to the SNCF counter at Gare Lille Europe, I asked the woman to reprint my tickets, when she replied, “C’est pas possible.” (It is not possible.) My jaw dropped. I said nothing. My face must have gone pale. (But judging by the photo above, I’m sure you can guess I did make it to England this weekend.) I think she realized my fright by my lack of motion or life in my body, so she went to go talk to her supervisor. He came out with her and started speaking to me in English. He then pulled out a notepad of Eurostar tickets, gave them to her and she hand-wrote my new ticket. The forms were obviously old since they still said “London Waterloo” on them. But both of them were very nice, and probably extra so since I didn’t cause a fuss, yell or throw a tantrum when I almost didn’t get my way. (Read More)
The Studio
October 8, 2009
Filed under France
Tags: Assistantship Program, Berck-Sur-Mer, English Channel, France, iPhone, Montreuil-Sur-Mer, Orange France Telecom, Studio
Finally, one major problem solved: I found an apartment. Up until 5:30 PM on Monday afternoon, I was headed for a place where I seriously didn’t want to live.
There aren’t many options to come by in a village with a population somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 total residents. On my first day in Montreuil last week, Laurent and Nathalie showed me a room for rent in the flat of an older woman. While it was very clean and furnished, I’d be losing a lot of freedom. But as my problems were at a stand-still without an address at least and it didn’t look like there were any other options, I gave Laurent the go-ahead to call the woman and say I’d take the room. She said she could welcome me on Monday evening at the earliest.
Thus, we had the rendez-vous set for 6 PM on Monday, October 6. But around 3 PM that afternoon, Laurent showed me the contract he received from her. He didn’t seem happy with it. Neither was I. Considering I’m 25-years-old, she was treating me like her child. According to the contract, I couldn’t come back after 10 PM (since she didn’t want to hear me coming in later), I couldn’t ever have any guests over night, I could only have one or two friends over at a time before 10 PM, and I couldn’t use her laundry machine. Rather, she would prefer I left my clothes in a bag for her to do at her convenience. I really don’t like the idea of anyone touching my dirty clothes. Nor do I like being subjected to such rules. While I understand it is her home, and naturally there would be rules, hers were too draconian for my taste. But with time pressing and no other options, I resigned myself to the fact I had to take it.
That was, however, until Deborah, one of the teachers at my school who is my age, told me there was a studio for rent next to hers. She finished up with class at 5:30 PM, and that she could take me to see her landlord and the studio then. With Laurent’s recommendation, we sped off at 5:30 as I had an appointment with La Madame at 6. The downside I already knew was that the studio was at least €100 per month more than the other room. But even on the walk over, I was telling myself if its decent I should just take it. And as Deborah told me, at least I’d have my freedom. (Read More)
The Brooklyn of Lille
After having a very busy, stressful week, I needed to surround myself around friends and take a break from worrying about paperwork. So on Friday, I headed out of Montreuil back to Lille for the weekend. I even had a very special visitor, as Sharon visited me on her first stop during her French backpacking trip. When we first sat down for coffee, I spilled everything that happened in the past week and spoke a mile per minute as it was the most English I had spoken in five days.
After heading back to Rachel and Pat’s apartment in Fives (pronounced “feeves”, which is pretty much the Brooklyn/Hackney of Lille, Sharon and I didn’t have much to do as neither of the roommates were at home. But I had their keys since I was staying there for the weekend, so it was no problem getting in (except the 15 minutes I spent at the door trying to figure out the key). But without a TV or internet in the apartment nor a working toilet (it was fixed the following morning), it didn’t help we were extremely tired. After about an hour of staring at the wall and listening to Disney tunes blaring on my iPhone, we walked up the street to the first bar or café we could find to use a bathroom. (Read More)
Un Compte d’Argent
October 1, 2009
Filed under France
Tags: Académie de Lille, Assistantship Program, iPhone, Lille, Montreuil-Sur-Mer, Orange France Telecom, The Phone House
In France, one can’t get a bank account without detailed proof of an address. But, quite often, one cannot get an address without a bank account. There in lies the problem that faces the American Assistants de Langue.
But, as I am admittedly an iPhone-aholic, my bigger concern was getting a French phone plan. My preference is Orange (France Telecom) since they are the official iPhone plan people in this country. I had my phone unlocked (with AT&T’s permission and even at a place they recommended with a coupon in San Francisco) before my departure. However, when I went to The Phone House (a store that features all of France’s biggest phone carriers in one store), they informed me that I would need both my passport (check) and a French ATM card (darn).
The French Embassy in the US (the organization that recruits the Assistants and very loosely facilitates the program) suggests that we open bank accounts in France as soon as possible. After the visa process, all of our paperwork (which is a lot) depends on our French bank accounts. As does my iPhone.
When I was back in Lille the first week, I quickly sent my school contact, Laurent, an e-mail asking if I could use the school’s address to open an account. He said he didn’t see any problem with it since I have a mailbox with a lock at the school. Thus, I set out on a fine sunny Tuesday morning in Lille to make an appointment to open un compte d’argent. (Read More)
The First Day
September 30, 2009
Filed under Europe, France, Travel
Tags: Assistantship Program, France, Lille, Montreuil-Sur-Mer, TER, TGV
I’ve moved from a city of eight million to a village of 2,000. And no one seems to want to let me forget that.
My Motorola phone woke me up at 6:45 AM on Monday morning, giving me enough time to get ready and throw the last few things in my suitcases. Rachel helped me carry my three suitcases down the two sets of stairs, where I bid farewell to her and the Hôtel Moulin d’Or. As I stepped out the front glass door, pulling a big suitcase on each arm, fog was there to greet me. However, I barely noticed the temperature drop from the previous day after the sweat of carrying my bags downstairs. Luckily the trip to Gare Lille Flandres was short: just across the street. However, I overestimated how long it would take me to get ready and bring my suitcases down, thus was 45 minutes early. However, I noticed quite a few of the trains were delayed, including my 8:35 AM TER train to St. Pol-Sur-Ternoise, where I’d connect for the train to Montreuil-Sur-Mer. The train was five minutes late, which made me very nervous as I only had a 9-minute break between trains, and pulling my suitcases off a train and throwing them back on would not be as quick as it sounds.
The TER train system is far slower than the TGV, which stands for Train Grande Vitesse (basically, Big Fast Train). It’s probably the equivalent of an express subway train in New York when it’s going at its fastest possible speed. But it’s still quicker than Amtrak. However, my train pulled out of the station very slowly, and as it slowly picked up speed and some sunlight managed to break through the clouds, I said tout á l’heure to Lille. See, the town where I’m assigned to teach is Montreuil-Sur-Mer, considered within the same school district or academie as Lille, but its 75 kilometers away, with only five trains per day, none of which are direct. So the minimum possible travel time is 1 hour and 55 minutes on the TER. I assume it’s faster by car. And with the consistency and frequency that French unions strike in this country, I found out it would be impossible to commute. Thus my resolution has been to spend my weekends in Lille, at least, with my other friends in the program.
As the train made its way to the junction point, St-Pol, I became increasingly nervous (as usual) that I was going to miss my connecting train. We arrived at 9:45 AM, precisely when my next train to Montreuil was supposed to depart. As we approached the station, I didn’t see any other trains. And there were only four tracks. The TGV has usually been on time for me in the past, I assumed the TER was the same way. Well, apparently not this morning. When I finished pulling my bags off the train, I asked the station agent where train to Montreuil was, and he replied by telling me it was delayed. “Quarante minutes.” Forty minutes. I sighed, but was slightly relieved when I saw the elevator down to the underground walkway between the platforms. But when I reached the elevator, naturellement, it was out of order. Thus, I had to make two trips down the stairs with my bags, and then two very slow trips back up the next set, since that elevator, too, was out of order. (Read More)
Lunch in Brussels
After a week of exploring Lille’s crowded squares, gothic churches and lively nightlife scene, there weren’t many options available on a Sunday afternoon. Usually in France, grocery stores, bakeries, many shops, etc. are closed on Sundays, and no one was going to show available apartments to my friends that day either. Plus we were hungry. So what were we to do? Have lunch in Lille? No…we went to Brussels! Why? Because we could.
Brussels is just a short, 30-minute ride on the TGV from Lille. And with our SNCF resident discount cards (for ages 12-25), it was only €13 per person to get there. After waking up around 11:30 AM (I think we got back to the Hôtel Moulin d’Or from O’Scotland and the African Bar on Rue Solferino around 3 AM), Rachel and I got ready slowly, as Liana and Pat eventually arrived at our hotel room. We had bounced the idea around of going to Belgium soon, but as we sat in the hotel room with the French music station playing on the TV in the background, we realized we had nothing better to do. I checked the schedule online, only to discover that the next train was in 30 minutes, and the following train wouldn’t depart from Lille until after 3 PM. Thus, we sped across the street, through Gare Lille Flandres and then the following 400 meters to Gare Lille Europe. Actually, we made it with plenty of time to spare since there wasn’t a line at the ticket counter. (Read More)
Les Lillois
September 22, 2009
Filed under Europe, France
Tags: Assistantship Program, Autogrill, Barack Obama, France, Internet, Les Miserables, Lille, Lillois, McDonalds, Montreuil-Sur-Mer, Victor Hugo, Wi-Fi
I’ve been to France before, so for some aspects, I know what to expect. But those trips were for studying abroad or vacation. Nothing so long term or intense as actually living and working in another country.
After leaving the train station on what was then Friday afternoon, I headed for the flat that three other American Assistants de Langue (language assistants) and I were sharing for four days in Lille. I am really glad that we went this route for two reasons: 1.) I got to know other people in the program right off the bat, so the first day wasn’t lonely, and 2.) it was very cheap. For four nights, it was €200 total for a furnished flat with cable TV, silverware, and (something rarely found at somewhere so affordable in Europe) a clean bathroom. When I first showed up at the flat, the French landlord was friendly, but immediately he asked me, “Would it be possible if we only spoke in English? I want to practice.” I laughed a little and said that was fine.
While getting my bags up and down Stephanie’s five-story walk-up apartment building on the Upper East Side was a feat in itself, getting all of my bags up the narrow passageway that resembled a staircase was a new task altogether. But with the landlord and my new temporary roommates’ help, we all made it up. After the landlord departed, the four of us plus one more assistant headed into Centre Ville (downtown) to check out somewhere for dinner. (At this point, it was almost 7 PM Central Euro time, and I hadn’t eaten since I left America.) Mussels are a specialty in northern France, and thus, our first dinner was at Aux Moules. (Read More)
