Weekend Trip to the Languedoc Region

Matthew was able to take a few days off from work, so we headed south to the Languedoc region of France. The Languedoc is a great area of France, home to the oldest working canal in the world (Canal du Midi), the tallest aqueduct ever built by the Romans (Pont du Gard), the most famous naturally carbonated water (Perrier), and the list of superlatives go on and on...

Matthew and I headed to a city called Beziers. Beziers is not, shall we say, a "tourist hot-spot". In fact, as Matthew told people at work where we were going, he got the same reaction as, well, Clermont gets! Nevertheless, we were excited to head to the Mediterranean for some warmer weather, some relaxation, and some wine tastings! On our way down, we attempted to find a vineyard that a colleague of Matthew's introduced us to last year- Domaine La Tour Penedesses. Thank goodness for our GPS! We finally found it, tasted some great wine, and continued to Beziers.

Beziers was the birthplace of Pierre-Paul Riquet, the architect of the Canal du Midi. Friday, I planned a bike ride for us along the canal. The "trail" was 15 km...one way. We rented our bikes and set off on our little biking adventure. Let me just mention now that I have not ridden a bike in at least 6 years! We started off on a paved trail along the canal, wound our way through a little village, turned off onto a dirt road that took us through fields and vineyards, and we ended up in a little beach town. We had lunch at a restaurant that looked over the harbor, and then started the 15 km back... I was quite sore by the time we returned to Beziers! After well earned relaxation time, we headed out to dinner. We found this little restaurant called Le Patio. It was one of the most beautiful restaurants I have ever been in. Because it was the "low" season, we were one of only 3 tables in the entire restaurant. We had an amazing meal, with local wine- bien sûr!

Although Beziers does seem to be one of the poorer cities we have visited, I was really impressed with their efforts to increase tourism. Everything (menus, city guides, signs, etc) was offered in at least French, English, and Spanish. The Office of Tourism also provided maps that outlined different self-guided walking tours through the city. You could choose different walks based on your interests. There was a Romanesque and Gothic tour, a Garden tour, a 19th Century tour, a canal tour, and a 'Beziers over the centuries' tour. The walking guide also included pictures of various landmarks along with a little paragraph of history or information. We chose the 'Beziers Over the Centuries' walk. We started in the "Plateau des Poetes" pubic garden, built in 1870. It is a beautiful park complete with sculptures and a bird sanctuary. Next we headed down the Allees Paul Riquet, to the theatre, built in 1844. The tour took us down little winding roads past Gothic chapels, past the Town Hall, and through a covered market that dates from 1889. Our walk also took us to the Madeleine Church (XI-XIVth century). This church was the scene of the most bloodthirsty episode of the Albigeois Crusade, as the Catholic church tried to rid the world of Cathars. When one of the commanders of the crusade was asked how to tell the Catholics from the Cathers, the commander supposedly replied, "Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet"- "Kill them all, God will know His own". The people of Beziers were exterminated and the city was left in ashes. Ok, so there is your history lesson for the day!

Saturday afternoon (after the infamous mussel lunch...) we drove to a little village called Florensac. The winegrowers of Florensac have joined together to form a wine co-op. They have also built a huge building that is the home of the co-op, called Vinipolis. In the main room there are about 6 tasting stations set up with computers that walk you through the wine tasting process. The computers also provide information about the different wines available. Then it was back to Beziers for dinner. We took the recommendation of the hotel owner and went to a tiny French restaurant called Les Antiquaires. The restaurant could only seat 24 people (I counted). Even though it was the low season, we didn't have a reservation and luckily got the very last table that was not reserved. The food was perfectly French, and perfectly wonderful.

Sunday, on our way out of town, we stopped to see some of the more impressive sights on the Canal du Midi. The first was the Fonseranes Canal Locks, which date from the XVIIth century. This series of seven locks allow boats to navigate a 21-meter change in level! Next, we walked along the canal to the Pont-Canal. At this point in Beziers, the Canal du Midi intersects the River Orb. In 1857 a bridge was built over the River Orb to allow boats on the canal to cross the river. That's right, it is a bridge for boats! It was hard to take a picture from beside the bridge, so I found this aerial photo of the locks and the bridge to give you a better idea:

Les 9 Ecluses des Fonseranes (The 9 Fonseranes Canal Locks):
Le Pont-Canal:

http://www.canalmidi.com/aufildlo/fonceran.html

Here are some more pictures from our weekend:

Beziers - Slideshow Maker

I Heart the French Health Care System

Two weekends ago Matthew and I had a weekend get away (I will be blogging about that soon, hopefully!). On our drive home Sunday, I started to feel very achy all over. By the time we got home, I started thinking I was coming down with the flu. I had the fever, the all over body aches, the chills followed by sweating...but I did not have any of the cold symptoms. By Wednesday, most of my symptoms had subsided, but I was having severe pain in my stomach. Matthew came home from work early and called the doctor. There is an amazing service here called SOS Medecin. You can call this service and a doctor will come to your house! Within the hour, a doctor was in our living room (No waiting rooms with who knows what kind of germs. I spent my time waiting for the doctor in my pajamas, on my couch, watching TV!). After some very painful stomach mashing, he determined that I had either an intestinal infection or appendicitis. He told us I needed to go have blood drawn to determine if it was an infection. After explaining where to go, he told us "never mind", and that he would have the nurse come to us! We paid him his 32 euros (that's it! 32 euros to have a doctor come to your house!!!). An hour later, a nurse shows up to draw some blood. She only charged 7 euros! That night, the doctor called to say the blood work showed it was an infection, and set up an ultrasound for the next day to make sure the infection wasn't in any of the major organs. Unfortunately, I actually had to get dressed and leave the apartment for the ultrasound (can you tell how spoiled I am getting?). After all was said and done, the verdict was salmonella poisoning. Probably from some mussels I ate while we were on our weekend get away.

As the US tries to adopt a new health care system, I must say that I am loving living in France!

C'est Taboo?

Yesterday I went to an afternoon "chit-chat". A chit-chat is a group of women (or I guess it could be a group of men...) that get together and have discussions on any number of topics. These "meetings" are a popular way to practice a foreign language. There is a chit-chat group through the IWC, and I have been to several of their meetings. This particular one was organized by Robin and her new upstairs neighbor, Valerie. Valerie is French and has several French friends who want to practice their English. As anyone who has ever heard me speak French can verify, I personally need all the practice in French that I can get! There were about 15 women that met at Valerie's apartment. We had several countries represented (France, US, Canada, India, and New Zealand). In addition, many of these women have spent time living in other countries (Nigeria, Thailand, China, England, etc). The discussion today was about what topics are taboo in different countries. We talked about everything from money, to politics, to sexuality, to religion, to sex. These chit-chat groups always make me laugh because we are supposed to speak in the language that we are trying to learn. However, when you are trying to debate something, that is so hard! And, it doesn't matter what the topic is, when you put that many women in a room together, not everyone is going to agree (case in point: several couldn't even agree about what the definition of "taboo" is. That was finally settled after Valerie pulled out a very French dictionary, and by French dictionary I mean that it had a picture of a topless woman on the front, something you would never find on the front of an American dictionary! That would be taboo! But I digress...). It never fails that everyone reverts back to their native language, starts speaking very fast, and before you know it you have 5 different conversations going on at one time because the French can't keep up with the conversation in English that is going 90 miles/hour, and the English speakers can't keep up with the conversation in French that is going (at what seems to me) 200 miles/hour!

There are always a lot of laughs too. Like today, we were talking about weight and anorexia, and of course the topic of Americans' weight and food portions at restaurants was brought up. Valerie (whose English is very good, by the way) was trying to tell a story about her husband's business trip to the US recently. She was saying that he went to a restaurant, and that he had a bitch...
Excuse me?!? A what, Valerie?
She thought she said "meat", and couldn't understand why all of the English speakers were laughing, but we all heard the same thing.... Anyway, she was trying to make the point that his piece of meat was huge, and the plates were much bigger than you will find in a French restaurant.

It was a fun afternoon of chatting. Although, I am always so afraid to speak in French, these group meetings usually are more beneficial for my comprehension practice, not speaking practice. Which is just silly, because these French women are just as self-conscious about their English as I am about my French. One of these days (probably about a week before we move back to the US), I will get over the embarrassment and just start speaking!

Halloween in France

We have been told that Halloween has become more popular here in France the last few years. Trick-or-Treating still isn't that popular, but the costumes are! Jen and Bene decided to host a Halloween party this year at Bene's house in Aubiere. Bene convinced a few of her French neighbors to hand out candy to the kids, as our group made our way to downtown Aubiere for a costume contest and night of Halloween activities put on by the city.

Trick-or-Treating in Aubiere

After the festivities, we made our way back up to Bene's house for some good old-fashioned Halloween games like 'bobbing for apples'. Matthew and I dressed up as Fred and Wilma Flintstone. It was really sad that most of the kids didn't know who we were supposed to be, and the few that did know, it was only because of The Flintstone vitamins!

Fred and Wilma Flintstone

Cop and Robber, Clarrette and Preston

Bertrand and Claire at their first American Halloween Party.
They created their outfits in just a few hours
(and yes, that is Claire's real hair under all that paint!)

Time to Catch Up!

A photo Matthew and me from Steve and Margo's wedding.

It has been a really long time since my last blog! Sorry! The main reason is that I spent a little over 3 weeks in the US. I had a great trip home, and it was great to see family and friends. I even got to go to 2 Clemson games while I was home (although during the 1st one, we were evacuated from the seats because of lightning, and I sat through the 2nd game in the pouring rain). While I was home I also took a ton of photos! Here are few of my favorites from the photo sessions.

The first shoot I had was with my dad for Operation: Love ReUnited. My dad is a volunteer photographer for Operation: Love ReUnited, a non-profit foundation of photographers who help deploying or returning soldiers and their families capture images to remember their time together before or after a deployment. Dad was contacted by Kris, whose husband is serving in Afghanistan. Kris was around 28 weeks pregnant and her husband had yet to see pictures of her pregnancy. Dad and I met Kris in downtown Greenville for a very special maternity shoot.
I also met a friend, Stephanie, and her beautiful family, in the Botanical Gardens in Clemson for some fall photos. Unfortunately the leaves did not understand that I was only home for a few weeks, and decided not to change colors according to my time line. Oh well!


I also met MaryAnn and Marcus in downtown Greenville for a maternity shoot. The baby is due December 22. Luckily Matthew and I will be home for Christmas this year, and we can't wait to meet the little one!




One Saturday (when there wasn't a Clemson game), Dad and I met some very close friends for a post-wedding photo shoot. Clint and Cherie got married in July, and unfortunately Matthew and I weren't able to fly back for the wedding. I am shooting my first solo wedding here in France next summer, so Clint and Cherie agreed to get dressed back up and let me "practice" on them. The weather was absolutely perfect, and I think they enjoyed taking some relaxed photos, since this time they didn't have to worry about all of their wedding guests waiting for them at the reception!
Here are a few of my favorites from Dad's camera:


I also had the joy of photographing a 6 day old newborn, the daughter of some close friends. Sweet little Amelia was just perfect. She wasn't sure about the whole "photo shoot in her birthday suit" thing, but once we put the tutu on, she really turned on the charm!



One of the main reasons for this trip to the US was to tie it in with a trip to Pittsburgh for one of Matthew's college roommate's wedding. Steve and Margo have such a cool story. Steve spent a semester studying abroad in Australia. The same semester, Margo was studying in New Zealand. During a break from school, Steve headed to New Zealand and ran into Margo while hiking. Margo was with a group of girls, one of whom Steve knew from Clemson. It was destiny! The wedding was about an hour outside of Pittsburgh at The Barn at Falling Water. Although it rained up until the morning of the wedding, the weather cooperated just in time for a gorgeous outdoor wedding.

The Barn at Falling Water.
Margo was such a beautiful bride!
Such a magical place for an outdoor ceremony.
Margo and her sister found this door at a salvage store, stripped it down, painted it, and distressed it. The florist created an amazing wreath, and Voila! Such a neat idea for a backdrop for an outdoor wedding.


We have a similar picture taken at our wedding, of Steve picking Matthew up. I love Margo's expression in the background.
Clemson roommates, plus the wives!

Rugby, Blackberries, Wheat Fields, and Sunsets

Rugby has started for Matthew again. This year he is playing for a much better team, and it is much closer to Clermont. The team has practice on Tuesday and Friday nights. This past Tuesday I drove with him and walked while the team practiced. While I was walking, I found a ton of blackberry bushes growing on the fences that ran beside the road. Friday, while he practiced, I picked blackberries. There was an awesome wheat field beside the road, and the sunset was gorgeous. Here are some photos from Friday night.








About a month ago, this would have been a gorgeous field of sunflowers.

Puy de Dome at sunset.

The Heat Is ON!

I really cannot complain about the weather this summer. This spring, as the weather started heating up, I was really worried about what it would be like to live without air conditioning all summer long. We have had some warm days, but compared to the heat wave our families have endured this summer, Matthew and I felt very blessed. This did not stop us from installing ceiling fans in the living room and both bedrooms in our apartment, as well as purchasing 2 oscillating fans. This summer has been downright pleasant. Even when we had company, our apartment never felt hot. Throughout June and July we had many days that stayed in the 70's, sometimes even dipping into the upper 60's. Coming from the deep south, this is unheard of during the summer!
That all has changed this week. The worst part is at night trying to fall asleep in this heat. Last night, Matthew and I had our bedroom ceiling fan on high, an oscillating fan on his side of the bed (on high), and an oscillating fan on my side of the bed (on high). And by the way, our bedroom is really small, there is only about 2 feet of room on each side of the bed...just enough room for our fans! Even with three fans, it was still uncomfortable.
Poor Matthew has it the worst at work. He has to go to work in his normal khakis and polo shirt (although he has given up wearing an undershirt, which has been pointed out as soooo American by his French colleagues). Today, his office reached the mid 90's! Our thermometer on our deck read 102 at one point!
This afternoon I met Matthew, Bertrand, Claire, and a few others for lunch. When I got on the bus to ride to Jaude, the heat was stifling. It was impossible to hold on to the metal handrails because they were so hot. I will blame the heat for the "blessing out" I received by a woman today while waiting for the bus. She was probably in her 80's, and walked with a cane. I was already at the bus stop and watched her make her way down the street. She walked very slowly and every few steps would stop and rest. She also would hold the cane out in front of her, moving it back and forth to see if she was about to run into anything. As she got closer to the bus stop she started waving the cane again and I moved out of her way. She felt her way around the bus stop enclosure and found the bench. I saw the bus coming down the street, worked up the courage to speak to her in French and said, "Pardon Madame, le bus arrive." She glares at me, whacks her cane against the sidewalk and yells, "Je sais!" ("I know") and then continues to yell at me (although I have no idea what she said, but believe me her tone told me everything I needed to know). I think my jaw hit the pavement. I was just trying to help! Then the doors open and I was going to let her go first, but she started waving her stick again at me and yelling "Allez! Allez!" (go! go!). Geez! I know the French get a bad rap, but she is honestly the first rude person I have encountered (okay, well there was also the guy at a little kebab place in Delille that literally rolled his eyes at me when I didn't understand what he was asking me).

So, back to lunch. By the time we all walked to the restaurant everyone was sweating. I opened the restaurant door with the American expectation of being greeted by a blast of icy air conditioned air, but no- just hot, stale air. Throughout lunch we were all sweating. Our waiter must have brought us 10 pitchers of water. Everyone was wiping sweat off their faces throughout lunch, it was lovely. And poor Claire, who is 5 months pregnant! When Amy visited in July she brought a little battery powered fan Mom had sent with her. I pulled it out for Claire at lunch, so thanks Mom!

Luckily the forecast is only calling for this heat for a few more days. Until it cools off though, those of you who live in Clermont: beware of the little old lady that waves her cane in front of her!