so the two weeks following x-mas break, i worked a total of four hours, due to les greves, tests that were scheduled & re-scheduled because of les greves, and god-knows-what-else. i took the opportunity to explore a little bit of the area, an afternoon in paimpol (because the weather wasn't too terrible & it was somewhere the bus goes that i have not already been), and nicolas took us up to plougrescant. paimpol was kinda like charlevoix, small & quiet, a port, tourist shops, restaurants, and pretty much a ghost town this time of year. i still clicked a few photos & it was good to get a little fresh air... the next day (or maybe two days after, i don't remember now), nicolas proposed that we (jacqueline, saskia, & myself) take a trip with him up to plougrescant (where he was going to go footing), a natural protected coastal site where there's a bunch of trails and rocks to climb on. while it's only 30 minutes or so away from here by car, the terrain is completely different... and i seriously thought we set foot on mars. crazy jagged craggy rocks & boulders & cliffs. pretty sweet. we also stopped at the cathedral in treguier on the way back. took a bunch more pictures, you know how it goes.
port a paimpol.
castel meur a plougrescant.
le gouffre, plougrescant.
then, diana, the assistant in loudeac, came to visit us for the weekend, and we went to les valseuses, the bar we like to go to that's right around the corner, wandered around lannion & checked out our local templar church, went to a fest-noz in ploubezre on saturday with saskia & jo (after realizing that it's impossible to get a cab around here... i called for one, and he was obviously at some sort of fete, and most likely inebriated), some shenanigans with breton dancing & beer & 20-year-old boys, virgine, our new french friend, stopped by to say 'salut', what else (not to be confused with the george clooney nespresso ads)... basically bummed around on sunday... when i bumped into jo at the laundromat on the way back from dropping off diana at the train station. we starved ourselves until our favorite creperie opened, dragged male & catherine along after a petite cafe mexicaine, and went all out (menu express a 8 euros!... which includes a savory galette complete and a sweet crepe). yum.
last week was fairly uneventful, though i started my new schedule, so i'm working a little more often... and i no longer have mondays & wednesdays off, but i'm done at 9am on friday... give & take, people. anywho... basically did rien du tout other than laundry & grocery shopping, in preparation for chris's visit (a friend of a co-worker from last summer) & watched the inauguration on msnbc.com (yeah, live streaming!)... it was kinda sad not to be celebrating with everyone at home, or better yet, in d.c., but at least i got to watch american coverage. it was the topic of conversation for all my new students... first question (before my name, mind you) is always, "how old are you?"... fair enough. second question: "did you vote for obama?" they're nuts about him over here... it's really kinda crazy.
arc-en-ciel, landrellec.
chris came on thursday, i made a delicious dinner of two different quiches: tomato & zucchini and traditional lorraine. we went to check out a bar called havana, where they had live music... ran into lizzy, the american girl who i randomly bump into at times, had a faxe or two... i worked bright & early the next day, but we took advantage of the nice weather & headed up to tregastel. i would've liked to stay longer, but i guess not everyone likes to hike around as much as i do. i showed him the monolithic sites at kerguntuil & we wandered to a beach called landrellec. gorgeous. the weather cooperated just enough, as i was sure it was going to downpour on us. just as we arrived at the beach, a huge rainbow shone right over the water... it was pretty incredible. that was friday, so saskia had her german class over for dinner, i mooched leftovers in the kitchen (knödel, anyone?), and she won the prize in the fete des rois cake (epiphany to us), a petite vache, or cow. she lost it almost immediately after she pranced around with it, and then exclaimed "adrienne, you ate my f*cking cow!", accusing me of scarfing down the porcelain miniature along with the rest of my meal. pretty funny, but maybe you just had to be there. we had some cidre before going out to havana again, this time for salsa dancing. not much dancing happened, but before i knew it, we had a designated ride, via catherine's salsa friend to another salsa bar, and then the discotheque, putting our arrival back to the apartment at almost 5am. you just have to be open to the possibilities of just about anything when you live around here. anyway... i danced like a crazy person... and it was good to get rid of some pent-up energy.
saturday, was pretty much wasted, i think the weather was pretty much crap, and we slept in pretty late, as to be expected. i got ready for my first-ever west african dance class in lannion. long walk, but well worth it. of course, nothing like ryan & dori's classes back home in michigan, but it felt good to be back dancing again. i bummed a ride back into town with a fellow dancer, and it turns out she's a prof at a neighboring school & knows the assistants there (who are friends of mine). crazy how small this world is. well, then it was time for dinner & a phone call from mom & the americans-in-lannion party at au bureau. it was nice to talk with our fellow countrymen (well, mostly women), and the organizer was sporting her obama badge with pride. not too long after we arrived, virginie picked us up to take us to her place to celebrate her boyfriend's birthday. she prepared tartiflette (deliciious) for 17 people (!), and there were plenty of beverages. partying with 17-20 year old boys made things interesting, and i probably shouted "con" (a*sh*le) more than necessary at their childish behavior. we ended up staying out there at her place in plouaret, and i had very long conversations in front of a warm crackling fire, while i tried to fall asleep on the couch. the next day was for me more a highlight than all the partying the night before, we went to the boyfriend's (olivier's) family's farm next-door, and i got to play with the cows & love on the puppies or chiots. his family warmly invited these strangers out of the lazy drizzle & mud to a table of aparatifs of pastis & kirs (who said starting the day at noon was a bad thing?) & the most amazing homemade pate with crusty bread. those are the experiences that you can't plan... they just happen. that night, we went out for crepes at our favorite creperie (twice in one week, that's not become a habit, i hope), with male, jo, fleur, all the roommates, chris, & bruno. it was quite fun.
chris left on tuesday, i've been dropping into paint club on mondays & tuesdays, where we're painting a mural on the walls of the local hostel. i've met a few people through that, so that's been good. i've also become slightly involved with the social group that runs out of the hostel/foyer... a little tiny bit like r.h.a., so that's been pretty excellent. other than that, i've just been trying to shake this nasty cold i've picked up somewhere, teach a little bit (mostly just working with the students on how to introduce themselves... pretty boring on both our parts... if you have any ideas to make this more fun, fill me in!), more strikes (there was a nation-wide strike on just about everything yesterday... come on, it's thursday, folks!)... that's about it. been toying with the idea of maybe renewing my contract, can't get straight answers out of the people in charge, so i just have to complain louder, until i get my way (that's how things work around here... really). was planning quite the trip for february vacation, which starts in a week, but we hadn't gotten paid yet, and prices of tickets have gone up, so now, who knows what. i'm sure i'll figure something out. well, that's about it for now... pictures & more updates to come soon!
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