Pub Lunch

Our class fieldtrip to London materialized rather last minute. I had been told about the excursion about a month before hand, but due to the necessity of purchasing tickets well in advance the initial outlook for our accompaniment was bleak. Luckily for us the French do not seem to be very adept with planning out schedules too far in advance. Thanks to one students test to obtain a permis de conduire, and another’s misplaced National Identity Card, Kathryn and I were able to join the group just one day before the trip. I had never been to London before other than three hours spent navigating the underground to Heathrow while coming home for the Winter Holiday. For Kathryn this would be her second tour through the capital of the United Kingdom, but her first time there in the last eight years.

The fieldtrip itself had a very “play-as-we-go” atmosphere, but one goal was to have as much time as possible for sight-seeing, museums, lunch, and a favorite Lillois pastime…shopping. With that in mind we met the electronic engineering BTS class at the Lille-Europe station to board our 7:35am departure. We arrived in London just before 8am local time. Once we had disembarked from the train our group traversed back and forth across the length of St. Pancras station twice before finally locating a currency exchange where we could turn our euros into pounds. While the students were exchanging their money Kathryn and I grabbed a croissant to hold us over seeing as our 5am rise that morning left very little time for breakfast.

First up on our list of activities for the day was a visit to the London Science Museum. The original plan was to take one of the famed double-decker buses which would provide a great opportunity for the students to see the city compared to the underground. Unfortunately the cost of a daily pass for the buses cost double that of the subway so we gave in to frugality, and the kids got their first chance to practice their English skills. None of them took that chance; instead they just walked up to the teller’s window, handed her the money, and waited for their change hoping they would receive the correct amount as well as their pass card. Our first challenge of the trip came just minutes later as we attempted to catch the blue-line of the underground.

It was still rather early in the morning London time, and we seemed to be right in the heart of rush hour as thousands of Londoners were making their way to work that morning. This was the main contributing factor to almost losing Kathryn before the day even got started. When the train pulled up it was, expectantly, filled to capacity. As the doors slid open about half the train car squeezed and pushed their way off as about the same number of people did to get on. We were a group of about twelve students, the teacher (Catherine) and one of the school administrators who is in charge of much of the schools financial expenditures (Eric).

Kathryn and I had stayed at the back of the group with the intention of corralling stragglers, and making sure no one was left behind. This almost came back to bite us. Kathryn, coming from Portland, was not exactly practiced in the art of forcing oneself onto a train car, and took more of a passive and accommodating approach rather than one more aggressive. In most aspects of life this is the best way to handle interpersonal relations in a foreign land, but anyone who has ridden the “L” during rush hour knows that’s not the best way to get onto a train. That being said, as the class piled on we quickly ran out of space and Kathryn was left standing on the platform as the ominous tone sounded indicating the doors would be closing. Neither Kathryn nor I had brought our phones with us because of the exorbitant out-of-country charges, so separation was not an option. Thinking quickly I was just able to fit my arm through the closing doors, and pry them back open enough to yank Kathryn onto the ledge while pushing a couple students further into the cabin to make room for her to fully board. That little dust-up aside the biggest problem we encountered the rest of the day was merely which pub to stop at and eat lunch.

We got off the train at Piccadilly Circus then stopped in the middle of the square so that Catherine could get her bearings (and actually decide what we would be doing seeing as the trip had no itinerary, but only a few ideas about possible things to do). After only a few minutes of impeding foot traffic (in normal French style) and consulting the map we headed off towards the science museum. Our walk there took about 45min, and took us through a major upscale shopping and hotel district. This was most apparent by the students stopping every block or so to take pictures of the numerous Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Ferrari’s and Aston Martins. The BTS students we quite obviously very excited for the trip, but it seemed they cared more that they were missing school rather than for the cultural experience. The kids were all between the ages of about 19 and 22 so who could really blame them?(I carefully selected this specific picture of two of the students that more or less sums up their behavior throughout the trip) One thing they really enjoyed was singing, loudly, in French (kind of). As we marched down the street Kathryn and I did our best to keep some slight distance between ourselves and the group so we wouldn’t be mistaken for French. Their tune of choice was not really a song at all. They just sang at the top of their lungs “Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry,” and then followed it with something in French that was incomprehensible. In fact it wasn’t until about an hour or two before we left that we actually realized what they were saying. To us it just sounded like “Cherriarty” (pronounced similar to the last name of the Sherlock Holmes nemesis Prof. James Moriarty). Aside from singing they also enjoyed clapping in unison at random people or at street musicians, and of course shouting and gesturing at the women of London.

The science museum was on the campus of the London Royal Institute College, (and as we found out at 9:30am when we arrived) didn’t open until 10am. When the doors finally opened we all poured in and the students went off on their own to (I assume) explore the engineering wings while we accompanied Catherine and Eric to the cafeteria to have a coffee. We didn’t spend too much time at the museum, and soon enough we were meeting back up in front to discuss lunch options. The students were unwaveringly bent on getting Macdonald’s (apparently because it was “cheap), but the adults wanted sometime a little more traditional. So we hopped the subway (this time without incident) back to a less costly area of the city in a bit more of a touristy district, and split up from the students who went off in search of their precious Macdo.

As per the suggestion of one of the other English teachers at Baggio who had spent significant time living in England when he was younger, we searched out some pub-lunch which was described as cheaper and in most cases tastier than any restaurant you might encounter. Based on our previous experiences with British cuisine (tuna/corn/carrot lasagna, burnt-to-a-crisp sausages, and mushy peas) we figured we would stick to the staple delicacy: fish n’ chips and a pint. Lunch was really good (and it turned out cheaper than the kid’s meals at Macdo), and because Eric didn’t speak English we spent a majority of our trip conversing in, and improving our French.

After lunch we met back up in front of the National Galleries, and Catherine took us on a mini sight-seeing tour. We started off seeing the guards on horseback in front of the palace guard’s stables. We continued on passed Downing Street (which was completely closed off), then to Westminster Cathedral and Abbey, and got a good picture across the street from Big Ben. Next we took a stroll through the Jefferson Park Gardens detouring for a few minutes while half the class took a bathroom break. One of the hopes for the trip was to be at Buckingham Palace in time to see the changing of the guards, but no one could seem to figure out when exactly that was so we hung around the Palace gates long enough for the kids to snap some pictures and determine if they could climb over safely, which luck enough they figured they could not.

For the final segment of the trip we convened at Piccadilly Circus one more time and laid out plans to meet up two or three hours later, and everyone was given some free time to explore London (and by “explore” I mean go shopping). This gave Kathryn and I a chance to first indulge in something that is non-existent in Lille: latte’s and more specifically Starbucks. I mean mini espresso shots are great from time to time, but other than that Lille doesn’t exactly have variety when it comes to getting a caffeine fix. One other motive in stopping for coffee was the fast approaching exhaustion from our early morning departure coupled with hour after hour of walking around the city. So we used this opportunity to relax and spend up the last of our pounds. After Starbucks we wandered around a bit more and Kathryn stopped in a couple boutiques before heading back to meet the class in front of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum.

Once everyone had returned from their shopping adventures, some with kitsch London souvenirs, others with British flag apparel, and one kid with a Yankee’s hat, we still had about two hours to kill, and the general consensus was to pass the time in one of the cities pubs. No one had any exact pub in mind so we began to wander along the streets, with the students peering into every pub we passed to see if there was enough room or if it looked accommodating. Finally they settled on one place down a side street and one by one they all piled in. Again we were bringing up the rear and just as we were walking in the door the students were quickly shuffling past us back out onto the street. It seemed a little odd since they had been kind of choosey when deciding. Then we noticed the all male customer base, the mesh tank-tops worn by the bartenders, and the gay-life magazines on the tables. No rude or degrading comments were made by any of the students; they just turned on their heels and walked right back out the door. Thinking they had just made a bad judgment on that particular bar the group walked about half a block down, and were about to enter a new pub when Kathryn and I figured we should inform them that they had stumbled upon “Boys Town” and it didn’t matter what bar they chose in this small quarter…they would all be gay bars.

The class then agreed the best course of action would just be to take the underground back to St. Pancras International train station, and find a pub around there. Again there were no problems with the subway, but the first pub we went into refused to acknowledge the student’s international identification cards as proper forms of age verification and wouldn't serve them. The bar next door did, so we all got a pint, raised our glasses to a day well spent, and then the class erupted in to their “Thierry Henry” chant. Apparently on the screen right behind where we were sitting was a large screen showing soccer highlights, and at that very moment they had just replayed the incident during the match between France v. Ireland when Mr. Henry reached out and palmed the ball to prevent it from going out of bounds, then proceeded to kick it back in front of the goal where a waiting teammate headed it in. This was met by a chorus of “Boo’s” from the English patrons, and the bartender quickly grabbed the remote and changed the channel.

That was the end of our fieldtrip to London. We had an amazing day getting to see most of the major sights and attractions, and Catherine was a fantastic guide helping us navigate the underground and through the streets of the capital (however, we did spend approx 30min or so lost in the parking garage back at the Lille-Europe train station trying to find her car). To be perfectly honest before this trip I did not hold London or the English in very high regard. All I had ever really learned or heard about them was that we kicked their ass in the Revolutionary War and then again in 1812; they were oppressive colonizers, spoke with a funny accent, had bad teeth, and worse food. While most of those ideas have stayed the same (and actually been exemplified/proven correct) I have a whole new list of reasons of why London rocks.

A bientôt,

-Jordan and Kathryn

COMING SOON!!! (as soon as I find some time to write)

Sunday with one of the other English teachers at Baggio (and her two baby daughters). Including a rare opportunity to talk some football (American that is) with her husband who was the captain of the French National American Football team, and finally having a chance to actually watch a game (Vikings v. Cowboys edited to play without commercials and with commentary in French).

AND...a BTS class fieldtrip to London!

Schedule Changes: School and Vacation

Since returning from the States not too much has been happening here in Lille other than the start of our second term of school. Both Kathryn and I have had our schedules changed around a bit. Her more than I and more than necessary. One of her schools, Turgot, got the brilliant idea to count the actual minutes that she works rather than the class periods. While teaching little kids, it is hard enough to keep their attention for the five minutes it takes to explain the rules of BINGO let alone keep them entertained for an entire hour's worth of English lessons. For this reason (I assume it's the reason, but it is France so who knows?) her class periods last 45minutes each; so even if she teaches twelve different classes that does not amount to twelve hours of work. Of course they are not taking into account how much time she spends preparing for each one of the classes. How could they when a third of the teachers cancel class on her just minutes before she is scheduled to begin? They also don't account for the hours she spends waiting around between classes because they refuse to group any of her English lessons together. This leaves her with large gaps of time filled with nothing but awkward silence alone in the lounge because all the other professors are too busy shut off in their cliques gossiping. So currently Kathryn is in the midst of a scheduling conflict created by the simple fact that all but a select few of the teachers she works with has any intention of assisting, and by "assisting" I mean telling her when they plan to have an English lesson.

I on the other hand have had a much smoother transition into my new schedule. Unfortunately I no longer have Wednesdays off and now have to work everyday! Of course I only have one hour of class Tuesdays and Wednesdays (and an hour commute each way), but c'mon, how can they expect me to be productive with only TWO days off per week, What is this Soviet Russia?!? Anyway, I am now working with a new BTS class, and am having them discuss their reports on the summer internships they completed this past June. So far things have gone well, but I have the sneaking suspicion that I once again am speaking with the best of the class first, and it will all be downhill from here. Oh well...at least I should be getting an entertaining class fieldtrip to London out of it come January 19th!

The big news of the past week is that Friday was Kathryn's birthday. I had lots planned including pasteries, flowers, dinner and a movie, but some class scheduling conflicts got in the way and I had to make a few modifications on the fly. I still think she had a pretty good birthday, hopefully. After I finished with my day I picked up some lunch for the both of us from a little sandwich shop close to my school, and brought it home with a bouquet of roses. That went over well. Kathryn was not feeling in top shape so we just hungout for a bit, and caught up on some American television shows that have been streamed over the internet. We had eaten lunch in the mid-afternoon, and we spent a little longer than expected getting ready to go out for the evening so we just grabbed a quick bite before dashing out the door to catch the tram into the centre-ville. Next we went to a little brasserie that we have been to a few times to have a little desert. Kathryn had an "assiette gourmande," or a mini tasting platter, and I had a very delicious tiramisu (Kathryn ate half). We paid the bill as soon as the food arrived because it was important we were not late for our final event of the evening: Le Majestique Cinéma to see Avatar in 3D. It was in English with French subtitles. We had considered seeing the French dubbed version, but we had heard so many good things about the movie and figured if we had the opportunity to see it in English we should take it. The movie was fantastic! I had never seen a film in 3D before, and the graphics and special effects were amazing. My only problem with the film was the general plot, and overall storyline was strikingly similar to that of Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. I'm not complaining though because it really was exciting and entertaining.

That was the end of our night and Kathryn's birthday. Seeing as we didn't get a chance to go out for a fancy meal we will probably make up for that sometime soon. The only other interesting tidbit from this past week came when we discovered a special deal by Ryanair for flights costing only £4 each way. That being a deal we could not pass up we booked tickets for our upcoming February vacation to the Spanish island of Ibiza. I don't know too much about the island, but at the very least it should be a great escape from the below freezing temperatures and almost daily snow flurries of Nord-Pas de Calais.

A bientôt,

-Jordan and Kathryn

Voyage Karma

Yesterday we returned from Chicago. We had an absolutely amazing time and really wish we could have stayed an extra week. Ten days have never flown by that fast. What I want to write about first (for those of you who didn't get the story first hand) is the trials and tribulations that we endured throughout our travels to and from Lille.


In the interest of saving a little money our plane tickets were booked to leave from London/Heathrow airport. By Eurostar trains London is only about an hour and a half away from Lille, but Eurostar is also quite expensive especially if you need to buy tickets around Christmas time only a week or two before traveling. So we settled for a 40euro bus to London rather than the 250euro train. This turned out to be the best (and worst) decision we could have possibly made. That was because of the total shut down of the Eurostar system the day before we were scheduled to depart.

Due to a record amount of snow that fell on Northern France coupled with the "extreme" cold, the trains all broke down. Apparently 50million euros doesn't buy too much these days. The snow-guard on the bottom of these trains failed to keep snow and ice from accumulating in the electrical system. When the trains left the cold France air and went into the much warmer Chunnel Tunnel the snow and ice melted, shorted out the electrical system and stopped five trains dead in the tunnel. The French and English had no idea what to do so of course they did what any European country would do in that situation...nothing at all and try to divert the blame. There were 2000 people trapped on trains for something like 12-14hours with no food and no information.

With no idea how to fix this problem Eurostar totally stopped all train travel between France and England leaving over 100,000 people stranded; the only secondary option would be to drive and take the ferry across the Channel. Thank God we were cheap and booked a bus.

Let's go back a little over a week to December 20th.

10:15p.m. - Kathryn and I were packed and out the door towards the bus stop. That day we had an extra inch or so of snowfall, and we wanted to get there early to be prepared for any problems the weather might cause. Little did we know what kinds of problems we were in for.

10:55p.m. - We arrived at Gare Lille-Europe on the Boulevard de Leeds where we were told to meet the bus. What we were told by the man at the Eurolines counter was the bus would arrive sometime between 11p.m. and 11:30p.m., we would board shortly after that and leave for London at midnight. Gare Lille-Europe is the second major train station in Lille, and it is mostly outside. Yes they had glass walls enclosing the station, but there were gaps between them and the doors were always open. This was where we had to wait for the bus. The temperature was the same as outside, but at the very least we were shielded from the wind. We found a group of other people also waiting for the bus and joined them.

11:45p.m. - A bus pulled up and everyone grabbed their bags and rushed over. Its destination was Southern France, and we dragged ourselves back to the station. We were beginning to get a little concerned. Luckily so were the other French people we were waiting with, and they had cell phones. One person called the Eurolines office trying to find out where the bus was and when it might be arriving. The person on the other end told him they didn't have any information.

12:30a.m. - Still no bus, and still no information from the Eurolines office.

1:00a.m. - There was a loud announcement over the P.A. system saying that the station was closing and everyone had to vacate. There were about 20 or so of us waiting for this bus so the general idea (between Kathryn and I anyway) was that they would allow us to continue waiting in the very top corner of the station until the bus arrived. We were wrong. They sent security over with a very large German Sheppard, and instructed us that they had no connection with Eurolines and that we all needed to grab our bags and go wait outside in the 25degree snow and wind.

1:15a.m. - A group of four or five people (one of whom was probably 70+ years old) went across the street to the Crown Plaza Hotel seeking refuge. All of them were immediately turned away back into the cold. It was unbelievable how inconsiderate and insensitive the French could be in certain situations. In general the French are kind and helpful, but not this night. It was also at about this time that someone called Eurolines again to try and find out what was going on. This time we got some "good" news. We were told the bus was en route and should be there in 30min.

2:00a.m. - A bus pulled up and everyone grabbed their bags and rushed over. It was going to Eastern Europe. We went back over in front of the station.

2:45a.m. - People are huddled together under blankets on a bench; others are bouncing around and doing jumping-jacks to try and stay warm. The bus still hasn't come. Back on the phone with Eurolines the person was transferred to speak with someone at an office in Paris who still had no information. The person on the phone told the representative that we had been informed the bus would arrive in 30min and that was almost an hour and a half ago. The representative’s response: "well it must be your fault." He literally said it was OUR FAULT that the bus wasn't there yet. Then we were hung up on. So we called back and after about 10 seconds of explaining we were hung up on again.

3:00a.m. - It was now three hours after our buses scheduled departure time, and four hours since we arrived at the station. We were both freezing cold, Kathryn could barely stand her feet were so frozen, and we were pretty discouraged by the lack of humanity exhibited by the French. It was at this time that someone new got on the phone with Eurolines, and was being told that the bus was "Annuler" (cancelled). It was also at this time that Kathryn and I were starting to freak out because the trains were shut down so we couldn't get to London that way, and the 7am bus to London was totally sold-out which was why we chose the midnight bus in the first place. The bus being cancelled and all, we figured we were out of options and would be stuck in France forever. We called Fiona to see if it would be possible to get picked up. She was awake and said that would be fine.

3:03a.m. - We could see a bus pulling off the expressway and heading our direction. Having been told that the bus was cancelled no one really believed this was it. When it came to a stop a large rather round British man got off, and yelled "Eurolines to London, hurry up and get on!" We quickly called Fiona back to inform her not to come, and then got on the warm bus as quickly as possible. Six hours later we pulled in to the bus station in London.

We had a few hours to kill so we got some breakfast and then tried to figure out the best way to take the underground to Heathrow. Other than the mishap at the beginning the trip went very smooth. Kathryn and I got seats next to each other in the Economy Plus section of the plane and in an exit row so we had more than enough room. After only 8hours in the air (the flight was scheduled for 9hrs) we touched down in Chicago.

I titled this entry "Voyage Karma" because I think that was exactly what happened to us. We were forced to endure harsh conditions of icy wind and below freezing temperatures for hours as well as rude and inconsiderate French people. This was all made up for by our flight back to London. Due to the Christmas "Underpants Bomber" and the anticipation of strengthened security at the airport we made sure to leave about three hours early for our flight. We got there so early that they couldn't give us our seats when we checked in, and had to get them at the gate. When we got to the head of the line at our gate the lady quickly found our tickets and told us "congratulations we decided to give you more comfortable seats." Then she handed us two business class tickets. I have never had a more comfortable eight hour flight in my life (even when I was upgraded to business class to Athens). We moved quickly from Heathrow to the train station St. Pancras, got some breakfast at the station and were back home in Lille by 2:30p.m. We immediately went to sleep.

I cannot say enough how great of a time we both had in Chicago. It was awesome seeing friends and family, and just all around feeling totally comfortable and relaxed. We resume school on Monday; go for about a month, then have Winter Holiday vacation until February 22nd. Kathryn and I are so excited for the next eight or more months here. Let's just hope my Dad's cooking school buddy comes through and we can spend the summer working in Sardinia!


A bientôt,

Jordan and Kathryn

Preparing for Our Glorious Return to America (and the Birth of Jesus)

This evening we had the opportunity to experience something that I have never before seen in my lifetime (with the exception of plastic light-up dolls in front of churches). Of course I'm talking about a live action nativity play documenting (from what I could discern) how scantily clad Roman soldiers were unable to stop a procession of Carnies from setting off fireworks after the birth of Jesus.

The nativity play is a yearly tradition that takes place in Marcq-en-Bareoul which is the town just next to Wasquehal where we are living. The reenactment was conducted outdoors, in below freezing temperature, with steadily falling snow, on a horseracing track called the Hippodrome. We were invited by the British family that we are living with, and it was quite a surprise to see the immense turnout by the French. There must have been over a thousand people watching.

We showed up just as the performance was starting so we were unable to get a seat in the bleachers, and were forced to stand in a crowd just in front of the actors. It was a very well put together event that included a lazer light show, Roman soldiers on horseback and in horsedrawn chariots, Mongolian camels, fireworks and an elephant. The whole show was about an hour long which was good because had it been any longer I think the soldiers and dancers would have gotten frostbite. They were obviously unprepared for the cold and snow because the Romans were wearing skirts and shortsleeves, and the dancers were wearing even less. Even being bundled up in two sweatshirts, two hoods, a winter hat and down coat, two pairs of pants, wool socks, gloves and a scarf, Im not sure Kathryn would have lasted much longer either.

All in all it was a good time with an entertaining soundtrack and devoted actors who shrugged off the cold without much problem. Another plus was that all of the audio for the performance was pre-recorded and played over the PA system so the dialouge was slow and comprehendable.

The rest of our evening has been spent cleaning up our room and getting clothes and luggage ready for our departure tomorrow evening. Really this entire week we have just been killing time and counting down the days until we return to the good ole US of A. Tomorrow night we leave on a midnight bus from Lille to London. Once we arrive in London we have about six hours before we have to be at the airport so we plan on getting some food and exploring what parts of the city we can before heading to London/Heathrow to catch our flight home to Chicago.

A très bientôt,

-Jordan and Kathryn

A Parisian's Paris

I have heard a number of different perspectives regarding Paris France. Some say it's overrated with too many people crowding the streets, peddlers trying to pawn off cheap replicas of monuments, and filled with overpriced restaurants and coffee shops. I have come to learn that’s just the superficial touristy version of a city that has much more to offer if you're lucky enough to see it through the eyes of a true Parisian. Yes, there were what seemed like millions of people rushing from one place to another, and an endless stream of tour buses dropping off gawkers at every street corner. The key is to try and see the big picture. These tourists are coming from all over the world. In the three days we spent traversing the city we could hear every language spoken from American and British English to Italian, Spanish, German, and a slew of Asian languages that I’m not even going to try and differentiate. Everyone is trying to capture the history and romanticism of such a magical city in their own way, and with my friend Yann and his girlfriend Marion, Kathryn and I got a taste of what it’s like to be a true Parisian for the weekend.


Getting through Friday was a bit of a challenge (and required more than a few cups of strong coffee), but before we knew it we were reclining in our first-class cabin seats on our way to Paris. The TGV got us there in exactly one hour, and Yann and Marion were waiting for us on the platform. After quick introductions, we boarded an inter-city train towards the suburbs to drop off our baggage. It was great to see my old friend again especially since my last trip in 2007 was mid-week, and he worked a majority of the time. The ride was quick, and highlighted by some drunk guy one car over yelling at the top of his lungs about nothing in particular.

Yann’s Mom was waiting up to greet us when we arrived. In true “Mom” fashion she had drinks and a little chocolate gateaux waiting for us (I was looking forward to the opportunity to talk with his parents because during my last trip my French was rather poor compared to now). We chatted for a bit while Yann changed from his work clothes, and then hopped in the car and drove to a little bar maybe 10 minutes from the house. We had a comfortable spot, but unfortunately ended up sitting just below the speakers that were blasting American dance hits from the late 1990’s/early 2000’s. We had a couple drinks while shouting back and forth across the table to each other in French. We left the bar just before closing time to get home and crash a bit “early” (~1:30am) so as to be prepared for the next day’s adventures.

Saturday we slept in until about 10am, and woke up to find Yann’s parents had gone to a patisserie, and gotten us a breakfast spread of croissants, pain-au-chocolates and some kind of brioche baked with chocolate chips. That plus a couple soup-bowl sized cups of coffee got the day started off right, but we were urged not to overindulge because we would be eating lunch about two hours later. Yann’s Mom cooked us up the best meal we have had in France so far, for our dejeuner. We started off with salad and creamy fois-gras spread over fresh baked bread which was picked up from the bakery just before the meal started. That was followed by a perfectly cooked tender roast beef in a sautéed mushroom sauce, accompanied by potatoes aux gratin, and of course a bottle of red wine. I had to stop myself after my second helping knowing that we had a long day of walking and sightseeing ahead of us, and I needed to be able to move after the meal (that ability came under serious jeopardy even without a third piece of meat). After the main course they brought out a dish with four or five different specialty cheeses on it and another loaf of bread. Finally to cap it all off was the chocolate gateaux covered with homemade crème-anglais. This was all to make sure we had enough energy for the day, but in actuality I think by the time we finished everyone at the table was ready for a mid-afternoon nap.

Having only the weekend for our trip there was no time to rest, and soon after we finished lunch we hurried over to the train station to catch the metro into the city. First up on our to-do list was visiting the Eiffel Tower, and the metro dropped us off about a block away. It was a great place to start our tour, but apparently that was the plan of every other traveler visiting Paris because there must have been ten thousand people waiting in the lines to go up to the top. Luckily both Kathryn and I have already visited the top of the tower so we took the opportunity to stroll around the park surrounding it, and get a couple of good pictures. The only downside to this stop (other than the enormous crowd) was that for five minutes or so there was the strongest odor of spoiled sardines wafting through the park as we were walking. That didn’t limit our stay, and when we had enough of the Tower we headed towards the Champs-Elysée.

The next hour or so was spent snapping pictures of the Arc-de-Triomphe, and weaving our way between the crowds down la plus belle avenue du monde. Our destination was the apartment of Marion who by amazing chance was able to secure a place not 100meters off the Champs-Elysée. It was just a single room studio apartment, but she had a small kitchen and a bathroom, the rent was reasonable and the location was unbeatable. We hung out there for a short while before venturing back out onto the street to see the lights of the Christmas market glowing in the fast approaching darkness of the night. Along our walk we met up with one of Yann’s friends whom I met on my last visit. The five of us walked through the market together before he had to catch a metro train to meet his girlfriend.

By this time we had about made it to the end of the Champs-Elysée so we turned off the main road and Yann and Marion took us on an impromptu tour of the luxurious district that surrounded us. I’m not sure of the name of the area, but around every corner there were Bentley’s, Maybach’s and displays of the most lavish diamond and precious stone jewelry I have ever seen. We also walked past the illuminated Opera house and finished our walk at the Galleries Lafayette where the entire building was lit up with color-changing lights.

Next we took the metro back to Marion’s apartment. This was easier said than done because there were so many people cramming onto the subway cars. We almost missed our stop since the exit was blocked by an almost immoveable wall of passengers. Once we arrived, Marion prepared some fantastic aperitif’s to subdue our appetites, and we opened a few bottles of wine to pass the time before meeting up with friends at le Bar n’importe de quoi. This was the French imitation of a dive bar, but in actuality it was a pretty nice place. By chance we got a couple tables together just after we arrived, and throughout the night a number of Yann and Marion’s friends showed up. The music wasn’t too loud either and this was a great forum for us to practice more of our French. There was a dance floor in the basement, but we mainly kept to the upstairs bar area. The bartenders were friendly and enjoyed showing off their skills by juggling bottles and other tricks of the sort. It was a really great night, but when it came time to leave we ran into a bit of a problem.

Paris has the pickiest taxi drivers I think I’ve ever encountered. Honestly they could use a few more driving around in the first place because at least 90% of them already had passengers. The real problem came when we finally got a few to pull over. Yann’s house is maybe 15-20min outside of the center of Paris, and for the cabbies that was unacceptable. The first four or five taxi’s we talked to just sped away when they heard where we needed to go. Our next idea was to find a good looking corner and call for a taxi to come pick us up, but that was impossible because each time we tried all we got was a message that all the taxi’s in the area were occupied. Finally around 3:45am we finally convinced a very talkative Haitian cabbie to give us a lift back. This guy had an opinion on just about everything, but partly because of the hour and partly because he didn’t pronounce any of his “R’s,” we had quite a difficult time understanding him for the first 10min or so before we picked up on his accent.

Again we crashed hard as soon as our heads hit the pillow, and unfortunately I was not able to drag myself out of bed at 8am to go watch Yann’s soccer match (I would feel worse, but when he was staying with us in Chicago he was never able to get up for one of my football practices at 6am either so I think we’re even). We slept until about noon, and Yann’s Mom was worried for me because I missed breakfast so she made up for it at lunchtime. She cooked us another massive lunch starting with salad and a quiche aux poireaux, followed by spaghetti with a homemade creamy Carbonara sauce, then the cheese plate and desert of chocolate gateaux and crème-anglais, washed down with another bottle of red wine. Everything was expectantly delicious, and when we had finished she packed us a little meal for the train home with the leftover quiche, and some specialty butter biscuits from Bretagne.

Next we packed up our things, said goodbye and thanked Yann’s parents for all the amazing things they did for us, and went with Yann to the train stop. He was going over to Marion’s to nap since he only got four hours of sleep the night before. We took the train to Gare de Nord together, and said our goodbyes, then parted ways. We had about two hours to kill before our train back to Lille left so we found a nice little café outside the station, ordered some drinks, and relaxed while watching the people passing by.

It was such an amazing petites vacances we are already beginning to plan our return trip (I left my sunglasses there so we’ll have an excuse). After the weekend of late nights, large meals and constant conversation in French we were exhausted in the best of ways. Even with the crowds of what seemed like a million people strewn all along the Champs-Elysée we never felt like tourists, just Parisians navigating through the sea of foreigners. One last observation that was very apparent to both Kathryn and I was our ability to understand everyone we spoke with in Paris. Compared to the northern accents of Lille the French spoken in Paris is clean, crisp and comprehendible. We were able to determine our language skills are much better than previously thought; it just depends on who we are speaking with.

Just two more weeks of classes back in Lille, then a quick couple hours in London before catching our plane home to Chicago for the holidays.

A bientôt,
 
Jordan and Kathryn

Rosebowling to Paris

Today started quite a bit earlier for us. As you know (I hope) the Oregon Ducks played Oregon State in the Civil War rivalry game this morning with the winner going to the Rosebowl. After missing the USC and Arizona game, both described as two of the greatest Duck games ever played, there was no way we would miss this one. The only catch was that the game stated at 3am France time. In preparation for our early morning Gameday we both went to bed early. Kathryn hit it at about 5pm and I joined around 7:30. The alarm went off at 2:50am giving me enough time to get up, splash some water on my face, and turn the computer on. Kathryn finally roused herself awake just after kickoff.

Thanks to the wonders of Skype and the webcam on my Dad's computer we were able to watch the entire game live, and what a game it was! The Ducks most definitely did not disappoint or make us question our decision to get up. As usual they started off a little slow, and because of some costly mental errors that equated to turnovers in the Beavers redzone, the game was much closer at halftime than it should have been. We didn't let that, or a little prodding from Kathryn's Mom about the Beavers lead, get us down. I can confidently say that even with the less than perfect start there was never a second that I doubted the Duck's victory. (Final score for those that missed it was: DUCKS - 37 beavers - 33)

The game ended just after 6am. Kathryn fell back to sleep about halfway through the 4th quarter. Elated by the win and ensuing trip to the Rosebowl I was kept awake for a bit longer by my emotions were ranging from ecstatic about the win to a little sad that I was missing the celebration going on back in Eugene. Then I remembered I still had a class to teach at 11am.

Its been a great day so far, and right now Kathryn is just finishing packing so we can get out the door and to the train station to catch our 9pm TGV to Paris. We’ll be back Sunday evening.

Lastly I just want to again say Congratulations to my Grandma and Grandpa who celebrated their 60th Anniversary yesterday. I love you both very much.

A bientôt,

-Jordan and Kathryn