Mysteries Solved! - kinda

My my, does time fly. It's already been three weeks since we ended our jobs at American Village, flew to Florida and arrived back in Europe. How did that happen so quickly?! Well it did. We're currently in Southend, England, in the county of Essex, about 45 minutes east of London by train. It's a bit of a story, but I'll tell you how we ended up here. Sorry for the delay in the post - the blog has been broken all week! The Art of Planning (and the non-art of not planning)

As many of you know, we started this trip 5 months ago with a pretty clear idea of how it would progress. Belgium, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco, we thought Spain, but then we got the jobs in France so we headed there. We knew we'd be there until early May and that would end the first 'leg' of our journey. It never really crossed our minds how important that basic outline to our plan was - because it'd always been there. Sure we got sick, we got tired, we got to pick and choose cities and be flexible on timing. But overall, we had the plan.

Fast forward to May 6. We're in Lyon, just finished with camp, with one day in Paris before flying to Jacksonville. We had no place to stay in Paris. Luckily our now former employer offers 1 free night in Paris to all employees, so we were fortunate to take advantage of that and stay in a decent hotel in a cool neighborhood we'd never see (Vincennes, check it out next time you're in Paris!). At the time I remember thinking, "ok, when we get to Florida, I really want to work on finding a great place to stay for when we go back."

But it became abundantly clear to us that we really had absolutely no plan of what our next move would be after Florida. All we had was a return ticket to Paris and an impending date. Turns out also that the weekend we flew back is a holiday weekend, so everything - and I mean everything was booked. Couchsurfing royally failed us (if you're not familiar, couchsurfing.org is a site you can go to in order to connect with people all over the world who will offer a free place to stay) - we probably reached out to over 20 people with no replies. Hostels were booked, airbnb was booked - and expensive, and no replies from TripAdvisor's vacation rentals left us wondering if we were going to have to skip Paris again and pick a random town in France to go to. Luckily at the very 11th hour (as in we didn't have a confirmation by the time we boarded our overnight flight from Charlotte to Paris...) we found a decently priced hotel - and although we wanted to find free or almost-free accommodations - we were so desperate we booked it.

But all of that last minute scramble made us realize that we weren't able to spend anytime even thinking about what we might do after our 3 days in Paris. Money is getting tight and we want to make the most of our time with the least amount of expenditures.

At this moment, I have to thank my dear family, who all throughout my brother's incredible wedding weekend (congrats Jeremy!), were kindly asking, "So...where are you going next?" To which we could only answer, "Um...we land in Paris." (end of conversation)

So after three days, in Paris, between seeing the sights, walking about 20 miles in 2 days and enjoying our last bit of France (for now, hopefully), we connected with a few of Jon's college and work friends, and an old friend of mine to piece together 8 days in the UK. Don't ask us what we're doing next week! We'll let you know :)

All of this has really made me appreciate how the world being one's oyster can be both a blessing and a curse. Transport is expensive, but we could go just about anywhere. The multitude of choices has been our downfall and we're working to figure that one out. For now, we're enjoying the small coastal town of Southend, then up to Peterborough north of London and then up to Newcastle. Funny that in trying to save money we've taken ourselves to the most expensive countries in Europe. Oops.

Hot, Sunny Florida

So what did we do in the States? Other than a brief medical episode (we had to, we've seen doctors in every country, got to keep the streak going at this point), we relaxed, ate delicious home-cooked meals - thanks Mom and Dad - and enjoyed our friends and family in celebration of my brother's wedding.

We also visited Universal Studios and got relish in our dorkdom at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We did have to stop ourselves a couple times while marveling at Hogwarts castle and realize that it's silly we're less impressed by real castles. It was a fun time to ride the rides and play all day at the theme park. Even the crazy downpour we walked through was nice - tropical rain is nice and warm - as opposed to the 40 degree frigid rain we were welcomed with in Paris.

Speaking of Paris

It's grand. There simply isn't another word for the size and scale of the City of Light. I've been to Paris before a few times, but I hadn't done the sights in the last few visits. We only had 2 full days and boy did we pack it in. Day one had us at the Eiffel Tower, a walk to Les Invalides (where Napoleon is buried), a visit to the Rodin Museum, Musée d'Orsay and the quintessential eating experience - Royale with Cheese at McDonalds.  Day 2 had us on the Right Bank, starting at the Arc de Triomphe and a walk down the ENTIRE Champs Elysée past the Jardin des Tuileries, through the Louvre (we didn't go it, we were too tired), a cross over Pont Neuf (supposedly the most romantic spot in Paris - can you tell by our pictures?), a visit to Notre Dame, ice cream at the famed Barthillon and a walk through the 5th arrondissement up Rue Moufftard and back for a quick break before having a fabulous eating experience at a little neighborhood Basque restaurant. It was an enormous amount of walking - which justified the extra crepes and ice cream - and a lot to see in 48 hours. I already miss it and hope we can go again, but I'll look forward to the English countryside just the same.

Southeast England

We've been blessed to be welcomed by a former co-worker and friend of Jon's into his home for a few days in Southend - heartily described as the "Jersey Shore" of England. I don't know what to say about that, other than I had a lot of fun playing the arcade games the first night we arrived.

We've been enjoying a very 'english' experience - pubs, fish 'n' chips, afternoon tea in a garden, and roaming the countryside of Kent looking at old (as in built in the 14th century) country homes, mansions and castles. I love it!

We're still working out the next leg of our adventure. In a couple of days we should know more. But for now, think England, Hungary, France or Norway. Once we know, we'll tell you why :) We're just as curious as you are (maybe you're curious?) to find out, but that's all part of the fun right? And yes, even though it's uncertain, we're still having a blast!

Cheers!

My medical moments

A warning: This all sounds pretty horrible and much of it actually was, but I’m feeling fine now and I think I’ve learned where to be careful in the future. I’m hopeful that I am on the mend for a long while and would like to note that my circumstances were a little extreme and I’ve learned a great deal about how to care for myself during travel.

So as many who would read this blog will know, I have been plagued by miscellaneous illness over the last few months. Thus, I have now experienced medical care in five different countries and on three continents. 

I thought maybe people might be interested where and how I received care, especially those who are interested in travel and worried about health care. So here it goes:

In Mali I was blessed with fever blisters, which turned into infections and then abscesses. Mali (Bamako) has a few different medical options but I choose a local clinic. After spending about $20 and an hour or so I got to see a doctor who after a very brief interview gave me antibiotics for my feet.  There was not much more than that; keep them clean and wrapped. The medications were less than $20.

After a while we had to get to Senegal a little faster than usual, but my foot problems continued. We were fortunate enough to have met a doctor who came out to our house free of charge. He wrote me a prescription for another antibiotic and gave me instructions to air my wounds, which was a major factor in them healing.

However, it turns out that for some reason I was just prone to infection, so in Morocco I formed another abscess, which was quite a bit more painful and impactful. This time we visited a clinic and saw a doctor who again prescribed another antibiotic. I also received an ultrasound. The visit was $25 and another $10 for the antibiotics. I was also scheduled for a blood test to check for possible diabetes due to my multiple infections. We went to a military hospital for the test and were sped through multiple lines to be seen by the head doctor. Another $25.  I saw him again later in the day to get my results, then saw the first doctor again to have a final look at my abscess which was quite a bit better. All told, I received a doctor visit, ultrasound, blood work, two more visits, and antibiotics for $60 with no insurance. They even solved my problem :).

All was well for awhile until I worked one too many days in the cold and rain in France. I got a pretty nasty chest cold. Fortunately, we received healthcare for working in France and our employer picked up the tab. The doctor visit was about $30. He basically just said rest and prescribed some special cough syrup and mistakenly gave me some kind of stomach medicine, all of which cost me less than $20.

Unfortunately, just as I came back to the States the chest cold came back with a fury. I was so congested that I got a horrible earache and had to go to the ER. We don’t have the bill yet (which I’m sure will be multiple hundreds) but the 5.5 hours it took to see a doctor was pretty crappy. They actually fixed me up pretty well once I finally got in. The antibiotic was somehow free. We are fairly confident that because of our zero income a lot of the medical bill will be written off.

So, in summery…medical care gets more expensive the more Western the country and is not necessarily any better for usual problems. Drugs are definitely cheaper overseas. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that there are social programs all over the world that help people in general cover medical costs (or their costs are made quite reasonable), but it only seemed like the States had income requirements specifically for poorer people. In general, we felt like people went out of their way to help us in Africa as we were clearly foreigners. I would imagine a Western hospital to be a horrible experience for someone from Morocco or Senegal. I also was asked to have by far the most complicated procedures in the States where those procedures are far and away the most expensive.

I am fortunate enough to be relatively healthy, and I’m sure should I end up with some horrible condition I would appreciate American healthcare, but I would also spend the rest of my life paying for it.

Return to America (for now)

After a fabulous 2 days in Lyon, France, and a very short but stunning few hours in Paris, we're hopping the pond and heading stateside tomorrow to relax, recuperate and celebrate my brother's marriage in Jacksonville, Florida. It's almost strange to be going to America at this time. Aside from the fact that I cannot wait to see my family, there's a part of me that thinks, "oh, it's over? We're going back to our country?" But then I have to remember, that in all the little legs of this trip, this big leg #1 is coming to a close and a new chapter of our adventure is beginning. Being in France seems normal at this point - we have been in the country for 7 weeks now. For me speaking French comes easily, and Jon's comprehension is really picking up to where he can follow conversations. There are things every day that surprise us and help us remember that we're traveling and living abroad, and those moments continue to make every day special.

I also have to remember that our ticket is a round trip flight, and 2 weeks will pass very quickly. Before we know it we'll be back in Paris and another part of our experiment will begin. I for one, am really looking forward to being in a familiar place, with people that I know care about me and with whom I don't have to second guess or worry a decision will drastically impact the next set of events. We've come to learn just how stressful (all the while amazing) continuous travel can be. Both Jon and I commented that if we weren't going to Florida at this point, we'd need to find an apartment somewhere for a good long while just to stop moving. Not only is it expensive, but it's just exhausting. While I miss my friends, community, definitely family, and sometimes work, I still wouldn't trade being here. There's so much more to do and see, and so many unexpecteds to cross our path. I can't wait for the next chapter.

Some Stats

Since December 28 (our departure date) here are some fun facts from our travels:

• Visited 29 cities, villages and towns
• Traversed approximately 39 degrees of latitude and around 118 degrees of longitude
• Used boats, trains, buses, cars, taxis, airplanes, shared taxis, metros, our feet, bikes and hitchhiked to get to where we wanted to go
• Stayed in 7 people's private homes thanks to their generosity
• Attempted to entertain approximately 308, 8-14 year old French children over the course of 6 weeks
• Colored, drew and/or laminated well over 200 handmade posters (and trust me, the mention of designing something on a computer and printing it results in a very disappointed look from your boss - tried it)
• My favorite stat for which I truly have no idea - the number of bottles of wine consumed that cost less than 3euro each - enough to be proud - budget traveling baby.

Lyon/Paris Recap

Before I get too far into thinking about the future - because let's face it, Jon and I make travel decisions on the fly - I do want to tell you just how awesome Lyon is. It's really awesome.

But seriously, Lyon for me is to Paris as Chicago is to New York - the more laid back, user friendly, unintimidating 2nd largest city with arguably better food, definitely nicer people and attractions that will still boggle your senses.  We rented a little 1-bedroom flat through airbnb (if you don't know it, try it it's fantastic) from a lovely French woman who happens to have traveled a bunch in West Africa and Morocco and is really into the arts. We rented her entire apartment (she goes and stays with a friend while she has guests) for at least 20 euro less than the cost of a hotel. BUT we got a kitchen, private bathroom, washer and endless internet. We also got to spend time in a neighborhood we would never have seen, which happened to be the Asian/North Africa/Turkish neighborhood. YES! Pho for lunch, kabab for dinner, and endless options for grocery shopping in the Asian food markets and Middle Eastern pastry shops. It was also a 10 minute walk from the very heart of Lyon. It was almost too good to be true - must have been the 5 flights of stairs we had to climb to get there that offset the perfectness.

Another bonus was that we got to spend the day with our counselor friend Krista, who was passing through on her way from our mutual last work site to Barcelona. Together we spent the day walking Lyon, searching for traboules (tunnels that connect buildings in old Lyon), and climbing the mountain to see the incredible castle-like church that overlooks the city.

If you do anything in Lyon, I recommend traboule hunting. Some of them are marked, and as we learned from a nice bookstore owner, you just have to press the bottom button the call pad to open the doors. Naturally, since the majority of them are not marked, this led us to probably prank call about a half-dozen or so homeowners on their callpads, before realizing these were just private residences with no cool tunnels running under their apartments. Oh well. Sorry people.

Anyway, our stay in Lyon, as usual was too short, and so here we are, with less than 12 more hours in the grand city of Paris before we board the plane and head to Florida. Still recovering and exhausted from camp, we walked through the Louvre courtyard and the Jardin des Tuileries. Crossing the bridge near Musée d'Orsay and meandering down Rue St. Germain was about all we had in us. It's my 5th time in this fabulous city, and Jon's first. If we weren't arriving back here in 2 weeks, I think we would have made a more concerted effort, but since (incha'allah) we are coming back, we're contented to enjoy our little neighborhood (thanks to a free hotel night on American Village! woohoo!) and lay low. Paris Party 2013 begins on May 23 - stay tuned.

So, off to the States tomorrow, check ya'll stateside!

Reflections from Camp

It's our last week at American Village, and with approximately 5 long days left on our contract, I find myself attempting to reflect on the last 5 weeks of craziness that has become my life and sort it all out. It's been a fascinating, frustrating, at times funny, and at most times frantic experience (Jon wants me to insert f^&*cked in to my 'f' adjective list...). So here are some thoughts on where we've been and perhaps what's next. "Being" in France

Yes, it's true, the phrase, "I'm working in France" sounds sooo romantic and exciting and wonderful all at the same time. We've also been pretty good I'd say at sharing some enticing photos from where we've been. But it's time for us to come clean. In the last 5.5 weeks, we've had 4 days off, with the addition of a 3 day break when we moved work locations. ALL of the adventuring, eating and yes, drinking, we've been boasting about has happened on those short days. That should tell you that we do a lot of the following things when we're not at camp:

• Eat
• Drink
• Walk (usually 5-10 miles in a day)
• Think about eating and drinking
• Think about and subsequently search for patisseries and chocolatiers (that's usually JStern-driven)
• Walk
• Get ourselves to and from our work site.
• Oh yeah, we usually spend a lot of time griping about camp...

I will say that in our short and few days off in the last month or so, the best part about where we've been in France is that we would NEVER come to these small towns and villages. Most likely we would pass through Vienne on the way to somewhere else, and we certainly would not have stopped in Marmande or even remotely thought about going to Eymet - which was truly a highlight. We would probably not have quite the exposure to the different regional flavors and wines as we are having, and we certainly wouldn't be seeing so much rural farmland. So although the time we're spending experiencing France as opposed to working in the bizarre little microcosm that is American Village is short, those days off have been really great.

Cultural Lessons from Camp

The fascinating 'f' adjective in my introduction stems from the fact that being around French adolescents for 5+ weeks really has been quite interesting. It's a great way to experience French culture and see how different (and sometimes similar) French kids are from American kids. For me, although I am not permitted to speak French with the kids (full on English immersion) it's been an excellent way to improve my comprehension of the language, as well as learn vocab and take in colloquialisms. I also realized today that it really wasn't my fault I can't understand anyone here back at Vienne, their accent is so much thicker than the folks that live near Bordeaux. It's as though they really do have marbles in their mouths! Some observations about the kids are:

• Although incredibly competitive - much more than American kids - French children will support and encourage their peers in such uplifting ways.
• French kids are pretty whiny
• As a result of an education system that teaches by repetition rather than problem solving and critical thinking - French kids have a really hard time with creative projects and open ended questions for which they have no model. (Insert a plug for the need for quality arts education HERE!)
• As language learners, they say incredibly funny things. For example, we had a super cute kid last week try and ask to pass the bread at the table, but what came out was (think of a strong french accent here), "can uhh you uhhhh shit bread?" What?!? Awesome. Of course he wasn't saying 'shit' but whatever he was trying to say certainly sounded like it.

Life After Camp

At the end of our American Village experience what will we do? SLEEP. I will also be certain to never work a job that pays less than $3/hour and requires me to work 6 days per week for over 15 hours per day. It's just dumb.

We're thinking of heading back to the South of France, but it's super expensive so we're looking at other options to spend time here until May 10. On said date, we're flying all the way to Jacksonville, Florida for the fabulous celebration of my brother's (heeeyy Jeremy) wedding. Let me tell you, we have NEVER been more thrilled to go to Florida. 3 months of various illness, exhaustion, ups, downs, stress from this crazy job and so on, makes us happy to spend a relaxing 2 weeks soaking in the sun and doing nothing but celebrating. Don't get me wrong, travel is AWESOME, and I feel blessed and so fortunate to have been able to make the decision to take my life in this direction. Wouldn't change a thing. A little break will be nice, that's all.

Signing off for now - have you ever needed a break from something really super awesome?

Flavor of the day…PORK!

It has been a while since I wrote a strictly food blog so I thought I would get something down. As the title of this post would lead you to believe, France is a pork kinda place. Pork is second only to the ever delicious Fois Gras in my esteem. Besides all of the various cuts and preparations of the lovely meat that Jess and I have sampled, there are an ever-increasing number of sausages, pates, and hams to be had in France. Of them all, France has definitely nailed the pate. It is as easy as walking into the nearest store where a pate can be bought for an extremely reasonable price, like $20 a kilo (one portion might cost $1-2 and be the only protein necessary for a well planned lunch).

Unfortunately, while good, the ham leaves a bit to be desired. I am confident that Italy and Spain will rule in that domain. Additionally, cured meats also fall a little flat when one considers the great gastronomical tradition in France.  I have found much better cured meats in Portland than in France thus far, but have sampled some very promising meats…we shall see.

Strangely, before the blessed BBQ rib incident (a big thanks to Josh Bishop for his awesome ribs and major role in my pork awakening) in my late 20’s, I hated pork

; so, lets move on to cheese.

The cheese is pretty awesome and again soooo much cheaper than in the States. While more mild in general, I have had some lovely cheese here for less than a euro for a generous portion. We have yet to do a sampling of chesses as we have mostly been buying for a picnic.

Picnics in general are a hell of a lot easier to prepare, buy, and consume in France: You can get good cheese, ham, pate (fois gras or pork) or cured meat, local veggies and fruit, and a lovely baguette for super cheap; add a decent bottle of wine for 3-4 Euro and you have an awesome picnic you can take anywhere. Picnics have thus far been the most impressive eating I have done in France. The most amazing thing is that we are not shopping in specialty stores, or even in particularly nice stores; these are just little markets in town. It is like every little shop in France is a mini New Seasons. You don’t even need to ask if it is local, because everything is local and fresh unless it is obviously not (bananas and such).

Jess and I were pretty excited to be invited to a little village this coming Sat to have a picnic with the locals in front of the town cave (wine seller). It will likely prove to be delicious and extremely pleasant.  Apparently the town does this every Sat in season and a significant part of the population is Brits, Americans and other English speakers, which is nice for me. We are likely in for some great wine, good food, and a lot of laughs. Wish you were here!

Well, that’s all for now…I’ll keep eating and drinking till I find something new to discuss.

Wine, Ducks and Camp

These are the things that occupy our minds most days in France. Apologies for the lack of writing, camp keeps us busy! Wine

As previously mentioned, and as you probably have assumed, there's a lot of wine in France. We like it and it's incredibly cheap. Generally we can give 10 euro to someone making a run to a grocery store and say, "can you pick up at least 3 bottles?" and there's no problem. The best part is that we've only had one dud in all the exceptionally cheap wine we've bought. Not bad!

Yesterday (Saturday), was our day off and we decided to take a classic 'séjour' in France and ride bikes through the rural farmland that surrounds our camp location. We're about 5km from the border between the Lot-et-Garrond and the Dordogne regions. Despite being on the worst bike I've ever ridden in my life, it was great to be out in the country, soaking in our first day of sunshine in 2 weeks, and of course, being in France.

Our goal was to ride 33km (about 17 miles) to Bergerac, but at km 16 we were in so much pain (in the derrière) that we gave up and turned around to head back to the little 12th century town of Eymet. A wise decision, because Eymet is awesome - as in we want to live there awesome. Jon had read up a bit on a little 'cave' - or wine cellar - that we ended up visiting, which is owned by a British expat named Mitch (a lady) who sources about 50 local wines from the region. Woohoo! We walked in and were greeted by 2 other Americans and a Frenchman, who owns the town's favorite local tavern down the block. In 15 minutes, it was like we were all old friends, and the 'free tasting' consisted of 3 full glasses of wine, specially picked by Mitch, to give us a flavor of the local rosé, white and reds of the region. Again, the best part is that buying all three bottles cost us no more than 25 euro - and these are good wines.

After our tasting, and a hearty invitation to come back next weekend for homemade canapés and wine at lunchtime, we picked up a delicious "Opéra" pastery (coffee buttercream, chocolate genoise cake covered in chocolate) we decided to check out this town-favorite tavern. The owner was so excited to see us that in addition to the glass of house rosé we ordered, he gave us a glass of the red and the Sancerre (white wine from the Loire valley). That sealed it, we're going back next weekend for sure! Love wine in France.

Ducks

No, not the Oregon ducks, I'm talkin' French ducks - and the kind that make delicious fois gras. The Dordogne region - next to which we are currently living - is where the best fois gras in France comes from. Like the incredibly cheap and accessible wine, fois gras du canard (duck fois gras) is cheap and can be found everywhere. You can buy it in little pre-packaged portions at any grocery, or you can get a delicious terrine or paté from the local boucherie (butcher). Either way, it's cheap and yummy, if you like duck liver.

Not surprisingly, fois gras d'oie (goose) is 3 times more expensive. Boooo - that stuff is gooooood. And you know what? I have no problem eating fois gras - 'cause if you saw these ducks and geese, you would know they are living very happy lives plodding around the unbelievably green and gorgeous french countryside. Ya ya so they get fattened up, but they get to go walk it off right??

Camp

You've heard our complaints - long days, little pay, inefficiencies and too much coloring (yes there is a thing) - so I guess not much has changed. We had 43 kids last week, all 12 years old 32 of whom were girls. Yikes. They were from a 'european school' which apparently means bilingual, upper class, private, good education. My guess is that most of these parents are diplomats, CEO's, export/import/international business owners. They're english was great.

We have 2 more weeks here in Miramont, in the beautiful region of Aquitaine - which has been inhabited since prehistoric times. It's cool to think that this place was once Gaul, and is know as the "pays des bastides" - or the country of ancient walled towns. I counted 7 chateaux in the first 10km of our bike ride, and the towns are quaint, friendly and beautiful. Jon said it right when this is what he imagined when he thought of France.

In 2 weeks we're being moved back to our original side of Tour de Buis near Lyon and Vienne. It's just a week and then our contract is finished. Yipee!

PS: finally, we're both healthy! First time in 2.5 months!

Aixactly!

Four days off has offered a nice break from the long days of kid-dom and allowed us to finally see a bit of France. Observations? Yes I have them. Lyon

Our first full day off from camp took us to France’s second largest city (ok, I thought Marseille had that title, will check) of Lyon, situated on the Rhone and Saone Rivers, partly tucked into and built onto some lovely hills, partly sprawling into the Rhone Valley. As Jon mentioned, Lyon is the gastronomical capital of France. For food lovers this would normally elicit a “Yipee!” However, when you’re on a “budget” good eating at fine restaurants is limited to a one shot experience, and if you read Jon’s last post, that one shot experience can be pretty disappointing if it doesn’t turn out.

But we know there’s good food to be had in Lyon and gosh darnnit some day will find it. Having visited during college, I know there’s a fabulous Saturday market there where all the top chefs shop for their ingredients. We didn’t get to see it this time, again for the future.

For France’s (maybe) second largest city, Lyon has a great vibe. It’s laid back, totally impressive architecturally and just a really fun place to be. I could spend a lot of time there.

Aix-en-Provence

A desire to see another place in France took us to Aix-en-Provence. We originally had grand plans of going down to the coast, maybe skirting into Italy (which is really only about a 45 minute drive from Lyon) or Switzerland, but 4 days and the cost of train tickets, hotels and food forced us to pick 2 places, and I’m so glad we did.

I LOVE AIX-EN-PROVENCE. There I said it, totally in love. The area has been settled since Roman times, and I was more than overjoyed to get a glimpse of the famous Roman aquaduct from which I built a model of in grade school from the train.

Aix has everything you think of in a small town of France – the food, the old and charming architecture, beautiful natural surroundings, and art – lots of art. Not only is Aix the home of Cezanne, this is a town bursting with cultural activity. If you don’t include the 8 theatres within a kilometer radius, you’d still be impressed. At the tourist office I picked up the “Guide Culturel” for April. It was just for April and thicker and more event-packed than Portland’s own TBA Festival (nothing against TBA!!!). There were over 10 events listed for each day, including lectures, gallery tours, dance, music and theatre – and these were just the programmed events. Everyone who doesn’t work in a restaurant in Aix must be an artist I’ve determined.

Jon and I opted for a free concert of live JS Bach played on the grand Cathedral’s organ. We figured – what an awesome opportunity to hear Bach’s music played on a grand scale in the environment for which it was written. It was cool, needless to say.

Our food experience was better in Aix, mostly because we stuck to the local boulangeries and patisseries and ate picnic style – stocking up on sausage, cheese, fois gras for Jon, wine and fruit – all for under 25 euro.

Jon’s probably tired of hearing me say this, but Aix is a place I would love to hole up in a studio apartment and just live the small French town vibe for a good while. It also helps that the Mediterranean is less than an hour away!

Wine Country

That’s sort of a silly title, because I’ve come to determine that all of France is wine country. We took the slow train (which still moves pretty quickly) from Aix through Nimes, Montpellier, Beziers (which has a giant castle/church overlooking the town for future note), Narbonne, Carcasonne, Toulouse, Agen and finally to our destination of Marmande, just ahead of Bordeaux.

It was a fun game of looking out both sides of the train and continually saying to each other – look castle! Look cathedral – look castle cathedral! I wish we’d started a castle count, but just know there are a lot of them.

The south of France between the cost and the Bordeaux region is stunning. Vineyards are everywhere, flowers are blooming, trees are sprouting. This is what you think of when you imagine France. Rolling countryside, stunning villages tucked here and there, vineyards, farms and gardens.

Le Chateau

You already know that Jon and I suck at budget traveling. So we decided that instead of staying in a not so great 1 or 2-star hotel for 50-70euro, we’d just do it right and stay in a chateau for 10 euro more – and that’s where I’m writing you from. We opted not to go to Bordeaux in order to slow down and have more time to rest before camp starts again tomorrow, and instead of staying in town where we’re to get picked up Wednesday we booked a room in a chateau in the countryside. It’s lovely, what can I say; it’s a blessed life.

Wish us luck with the start of camp tomorrow! What have been some of your favorite travel accommodations?

First few free days in France

Jess and I are finally free to explore a bit of France due to a break in our American village jobs! France is beautiful, it is hard to deny. So far we have seen a small bit of Marseille, a good portion of Vienne, a little bit of Lyon, and are working on Aix-en-Provance. While the architecture is amazing and we have had some decent wine on the cheap; I have not had the eating experience that I was hoping for yet. As a matter of fact, it has been downright unimpressive. It really makes me appreciate Portland's food scene.

Don't get me wrong, I know there is amazing food here, but I have yet to try it. Strangely, I have come looking for Cognac, Bordeaux, Fois Gras, and amazing French comfort food and found only disappointment. In Lyon, the gastronomical  capital of France, I had one of the worst meals of my life. Thank god Jess was there, so the company was enough to save the night :)

I also had my first French crepe....not good at all. It was soggy and the chocolate was more like cheap syrup.

The cognac I got was okay, but they are so damned stingy on the pours and it is really expensive. Actually, this is a ridiculous thing about France...they make all these amazing spirits and they come in tiny little pours for way more than I would pay for an average pour in the States. Super frustrating!

Thus, I have decided that I will make every effort to get to the source of the things I want to consume: I will go to Bordeaux and drink until I find what I want. I will go to Cognac and taste until I am satisfied. I don't know where the Fois Gras comes from, but I'm gonna go eat the hell out of it!

I'm still really hopeful...but at this point i'll take a liege waffle and a fine Belgian beer over anything I've had in France food wise.

More to come; the eating shall continue...

Camp: Not for the weak-hearted

Weekly post here, phew I think I'm three for three, woohoo! Jon and I officially have 1 week of camp under our belts and are preparing to greet a new group of kiddos tomorrow. It's been an exhausting, exhilarating and exciting experience (like my string of E's?? yeah, I'm tired).

For those just tuning in, Jon and I have camp counselor gigs in France for 6 weeks for American Village - a program that offers English exposure classes and activities to French kids. We're called "Animateurs" and I have never felt so animated on the spot (whether naturally or forced) than in the last week. Actually, if the work day wasn't literally nonstop from 8am-10pm with the kids (last week was 53, 8-11 year olds) plus a staff meeting 'til 11pm, I'd say that it's actually quite fun to be in a purely playful environment where my biggest responsibility is to make kids - most of whom don't understand english - laugh, play and have a great time. It's a nice change from the office life.

The Stats

If I remember correctly, in the first week of camp I wore 3 wigs, played a robot, a cow, a rocker, a French Olympian Ninja Chess Player (I won the gold - of course), did aerobics to "Pump Up the Jam", learned and taught 53 kids Gangdam Style, rocked the basketball court and felt pretty good about it until I realized I was playing a 9 year old who'd never touched a basketball, and watched in awe as Jon played a clumsy spiderman and 2 women. Generally - we've been nothing but ridiculous and I love it (except the tired part).

Rhone Valley

In all the silliness, I can't forget that we are in the heart of the Rhone Valley of France - surrounded by lush rolling farmland and mountains in the distance. I wrote about Vienne last week, and yesterday on our day off Jon and I walked to the nearest village of Cour et Buis. Round trip it was 7 miles, a nice opportunity to take in the scenic rural landscape and enjoy each others company, which we aren't able to do during the week. Cour et Buis is tiny - with 3 restaurants, a boulangerie, a tabac (mini mart) and our favorite stop - a farmers co-op selling products from the farmers that live and work right in the pastures we walked by. We picked up some locally made salami, honey and of course a large bottle of wine, all for under 10 euro. I will note that you can buy 5 liters of "Vin du Pays" or table wine for 8euro. Clearly the way to budget travel in Europe is to get your calories from drinking and sleep under a tree (?).

VACATION

Since I'm working now I get to say that time off = vacation. So, as far as I know we have next week off. Any suggestions on where we should go in France (or Italy...or Spain... or Switzerland..)??

Weekly Fireflies - Vienne France

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I realized that earlier today as I was coloring a poster (more on why I was doing that below), and thought – wow it’s mid March, my concept of time has really changed. En France?

We arrived in France a little less than a week ago, and (poor Jon, who’s never been here) could not have had a less-French experience. We spent about 9 hours in Marseille, France’s 2nd largest city. Apparently the transport in France’s 2nd largest city stinks, because the trains stopped at 10:30pm (our flight from Marrakesh arrived at 10pm) and the next day all transport was on strike, so in less than 12 hours we were over $50 into transportation via taxis. Goodness the euro is expensive!

A quick train ride to Lyon and an even quicker train ride dropped us in the small town of Vienne on the Rhone River. Exploring this food-haven would have to wait; we were getting picked up to go to our new jobs – “Animateur” or counselor at a camp for French kids whose parents want them to learn about America!

It was dark by the time we arrived so even getting to see the beautiful rolling countryside was out of the question.

Apparently It’s the Little Things

I’ve been in France a week and I still can’t get over the endless supply of hot water, electricity, heating, food, water you can drink from the tap and toilets that flush properly. I’ve been beginning to realize how accustomed I got to not having all those things throughout our travels in West Africa. I feel like I’ve landed in complete luxury. I also find myself seeing French women and thinking, “wow they are really scantily clad, and they should cover up!” Even though they’re wearing nothing out of the ordinary or even remotely provocative. I’m just so used to dressing conservatively to walk about in Muslim countries. Huh.

Apparently it's about wine

Ok, I lived in Strasbourg, France in 2003 for 5 months and I'm sure I knew this then, and perhaps it's the stark contrast from traveling in Muslim/mostly-alcohol-free countries for the last 2 months, but there is so much wine here!! People are drinking all the time! I seem to have completely forgotten about wine with every meal (ok not at breakfast), and even then the multiple types of wine you drink at various stages in the 3-5 course 2-hour meal. In complaining about how expensive the euro is, I will say that we found the thing in France that is cheap - wine. Jon and I just bought 3 bottles of Cote du Rhone "vin du pays" (country or table wine) for less than 13euro, and they were all great. I'm particularly proud of the 2 euro bottle that was actually quite nice. I'm almost relieved that we're not allowed to drink when the kids are in camp session. I'd just be slightly tipsy and mostly groggy all the time.

French/American Camp

We’re working for American Village, which runs week-long English language immersion camps for French kids. Jon’s teaching English and I’m running activities with 6 other American/Native-English speakers. More soon on how it’s actually going (the kiddos arrive tomorrow), but so far I’ve done a lot of coloring – making posters for the camp buildings – and eaten a lot more butter than I’m used to.

Vienne

Luckily on our day off (Saturday) Jon and I got a ride into the town of Vienne, situated right on the Rhone River and built into a rocky hillside that climbs right off the river. Vienne is a lovely small French town. We arrived during the weekly outdoor market, and although the wind was blowing a blustery cold wind, the sun was shining and the deliciousness of French eating was on full display. We enjoyed a long lovely walk through the old town center, which is complete with a Roman temple, amphitheater and other beautiful ruins. Turns out that the Archbishop to Vienne in 1080 or something became Pope Calixtus II in 1118. Needless to say the cathedral is impressive. Our day in Vienne was what you might think of as a classic day in small-town France – quiet small streets, a cozy wine bar where we had a bottle of local wine, a plentiful charcutrie plate and olives and the entertainment of some pretty tipsy old French guys, all for 14 euro. The day was complete once we picked up some delicious chocolates and enjoyed dinner with 2 fellow counsies and headed back through the rolling farmland to camp.

The most frustrating thing about being here is knowing that we’re in France but we can't spend time enjoying France! Hopefully that will change as we make good use of our days off and move camp sites and see a bit more country.

Have you ever been in a place but really not been able to experience it?