The Bureau + A Renaissance Fair

No, I'm not referring to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Bureau" means office in French, and over the past month those of us in the program have taken to calling the UMN office in Montpellier as such. As there are American-French and French people working with American young adults, it makes sense that word replacements like this would happen. It's amusing, however, as one uses this word exclusively with the previously mentioned government agency when in the US. 

Now that we've gotten that squared away, I can say that one of my favorite things in Montpellier is the presence of the bureau. I'm glad that I chose this program over others offered by the UMN-TC Learning Abroad Center because of all the support and staff that comes with it. The staff includes:

KIM, who coordinates the housing such as my home stay. Since she and the host families have been doing this for several years, she pretty much knows all of them (including how good of a cook my host mom is). Kim is an American who moved to France and is married to a Frenchman.

PAUL, who helps us with our classes. He registered all of us with Paul Valéry and is an expert on the temperaments and accents of French professors. He is another American transplant. 

CORRINE, who manages the internships. Over the years she has formed relationships with several businesses and elementary schools in the area that eagerly accept American foreign exchange students. She is French and no doubt a people person. 

CÉDRIC, who plans and executes our various excursions. He is French and has been doing this job for a while, so he is able to easily navigate the group and share with us the history of the areas. I already put up a post about Paris, and I'll be sharing about another one of these excursions down below, Aigues-Mortes.

CARRIE, JOLAN and DELPHINE, who spend time in the bureau throughout the week and plan activities in Montpellier to help us experience the area. They are univeristy students hired by the bureau, so it seems like a very painless job for them.

These are the individuals that make the bureau a great place, but the end result is very multi-faceted. At the bureau, one can:

• Take classes taught by the UMN staff, such as conversation with Cédric and internship class with Corrine

• Ask questions of the staff, who are always available (much to the chagrin of their work efficiency, I'm sure)

• Hang out between classes

• Do homework

• Eat lunch (using the fridge/microwave if needed)

• Watch movies with friends for fun or for class

• Find out about various events and activities

• Find shelter from the infrequent but heavy rain storms!

And more! Here's a view of the bureau on a rather gray day:

Activities with Assistants

Each week the assistants email out a newsletter with events in the area as well as activities that they have planned for us. I have to pick and choose among the events to fit them in with my school schedule, but here's some of the highlights thus far:

ICE-BREAKERS & IDIOMS: Delphine planned a night where we all got to know each other a bit as well as learn some well-known French idioms. There turned out to be a surprisingly large number of us who like either Thai food or sushi, and guessing the meaning of the idioms was hilarious! One of my favorites was "avoir les dents du found qui baignent", which means to be stuffed or completely full. It literally translates to "have back teeth that are swimming [in food]"

GRAND SLAM BURGER: Carrie took us to the Grand Slam Burger, a restaurant owned by her boyfriend. I felt a little bit silly indulging in burgers in France, but they took some creative twists on the flavors (and names) and the food was delicious! [photo missing - burger devoured on sight]

ROCK CLIMBING: The center for rock climbing is way out at the end of a tram line, but this was another can't-miss event planned by Carrie. We simply signed some paper work, harnessed ourselves up and attacked the auto-belay walls. A little while in folks started belaying each other, as this offers more opportunity on the climber's part to try trickier grabs. Not only did I join the trend and get belayed, I learn how to belay others and was doing it like a pro by the end of our time there. I've only gone bouldering back home at the U, so I look forward to bringing this knowledge back with me and climbing more there.

PATINOIRE: The first event of Jolan's that I made it to was at the patinoire, or the ice rink. My friend Megan and I were very excited for this activity as we are both long-time figure skaters. When we got there, however, we discovered things were a little bit different at this ice rink:

There were two guarded off center areas, a hill on the far end and a lighted multi-color tunnel that one could skate through. Jolan explained to us that this wasn't typical for French ice rinks, but rather a unique aspect of the one in Montpellier. We also met some people practicing in one of the guarded off areas that described themselves as “freestyle” skaters. In this new type of skating there are not rules and one wears either hockey skates or special freestyle skates. In effect, it's crazy tricks and dancing that match the EDM music that was pumping through the speakers. It was very impressive to watch, especially as even Megan and I were slipping a bit in the skates we rented.

HANDBALL: I also have the opportunity to watch my first handball match! This was another event planned by Jolan, and it took place at a stadium not far from Paul Valéry campus. While we didn't have a grasp on the rules, it was fun to help cheer on Montpellier and to get caught up in the passion people have for handball here! 

You may think I'm exaggerating, but in addition to the pop music over the loudspeakers there was a pep band made up of fans who played traditional French pump-up music. There were also two commentators and girls who shot t-shirts to the crowd to keep things interesting.

Aigues-Mortes

Now, a bit about the lovely city of Aigues-Mortes. We went on this excursion the first weekend we were in Montpellier, but I'm just writing about it now. I'll claim that this is a creative decision for organizational purposes.

Anyways, Aigues-Mortes is one of many (many) medieval towns in France, but the interest in this city lies in its status as France’s first port on the Mediterranean Sea - Louis IX founded it in 1240 to help launch his Crusades. Here’s a bit more about the history: http://www.beyond.fr/villages/aiguesmortes.html

We started out by walking the medieval walls of Aigues-Mortes, which have impressively stood the test of time:

Outside the city walls lie the Camargues of France:

And we also checked out inside the city walls a bit:

Including this candy store:

Which had “peas and carrots” shaped candy!

We also had the opportunity to swim in the Mediterranean Sea:

And take a cruise on it, as well:

Renaissance Fair

So a bit about my host family - one of their hobbies is being part of a medieval troupe. There are many across France and even across Europe. They dress in the style of the era, share meals and sometimes camp (medieval style, of course) on site.

Their son became interested in medieval fairs when he was younger, and somewhere along supporting him Jean-Lu and Sabine fell in love with it. Twice a week they go to fencing practice, where Sabine prefers the grace of the lines that one makes with a sword, while Jean-Luc sees the grace but loves how practice aids his game. They are also regularly reading and discussing the dress and habits of the people of their chosen era, the thirteenth century.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to share in this love of theirs! As I hadn’t even been to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, it was quite the experience for me.

The area for this fair was gorgeous. We drove two hours to the city of Avignon, and when we arrived the field was already full of medieval-style campsites:

There were lots of activities at the fair:

A medieval version of rugby (translation: no rules)

Jean-Luc in his gear

And in the ring!

A video of the fighting

Characters in their dress:

And a good meal to share:

We have spaghetti and meatballs for the noon meal and “fondue bourguignonne” for dinner. Even the chefs of each troupe tried to keep in the medieval style, and so meals were cooked over a fire and the fondue pots were kept hot with pans of simmering coals.

The event itself was quite long, and we didn’t even stay overnight like some others. But I loved experiencing a new event and something that my host family holds so dearly.

Me at the end of a long night in an extra set of Jean-Luc's clothes. Still smiling though:

I just got off the train in Barcelona to spend some time with my real parents, as well as my aunt and uncle. So for now, adios!

Il faut qu'on aille à Paris

Il faut qu'on aille à Paris - One must go to Paris. There's really no way around it when you're studying abroad in France! (Just like the French subjunctive, am I right?)

So this past weekend, we traveled to the most well-known city in France for a bit of fun. At base price, it was very economical as the Montpellier program subsidized the trip - I'll explain more about our program organization in a future post - but of course that was before we tried out several crêpe stands and went shopping on the Champs-Eylsées. But I'm getting ahead of myself! Here's a account of our getaway to the city of lights.

Packing Light

Since it was just a weekend trip, most of our group showed up at our meeting point with just a backpack, but some opted for the carry-on suitcase size as well. We caught a TGV train out of Montpellier, making the journey a short 3.5 hours even with some stops along the way. We played cards, ate chocolate and researched the catacombs for that night. Here is myself and my seat mates, Becca, Erin and Mercy:

Underground Lights

Almost all of the group chose to visit the catacombs the first night. Paris is perhaps the most well known for this concept, but in fact this happens with many cities around the globe (see: Palermo, Italy; Dublin, Ireland and Odessa, Ukraine). Venturing down into these creepy tunnels was one of the top items on my list for Paris, so I was pretty excited.
Basically, over the 18th and 19th centuries the city of Paris moved millions bones moved from cemeteries to space underground because of the risk they posed to public health. At the beginning of the project, the tunnels closely followed Parisian streets, and so there were engravings marking this information:

Over the course of the project there were also multiple architects and engineers. They periodically engraved their worksite, initials and the year, such as this one denoting that this was the 65th intervention carried out by Charles-Axel Guillaumot in 1781:

Here's some of the crazy facts we were reading about on the train ride there: http://www.catacombes.paris.fr/sites/catacombes/files/editeur/pm_catacombes_depliant_gb.pdf. Some of the architects of the project seemed to be a bit artistically minded for moving bones around, but I'll let you all be the judge:

"Stop! Here lies the empire of the dead."

Information about the cemetery from which these bones were taken

Becca checking down the well

They're trapped!

A juxtaposition between death and life

I had a lot of fun reading all of the quotes they had engraved in Latin and French. Here are a couple:

"Thus everything happens on earth

Mind, beauty, prayers, talent

Like an ephemeral flower

That is blown over by a low wind"

"It is by the mischief of a demon

that death

entered the world"

Eating Light

After our time with the dead, we were all pretty hungry. Pretty much ravenous. So, we set out to find a nice Italian restaurant in Paris. I was hoping to get some chicken parmesan, but when we had finally found a place and sat down there was only pizza, pasta and calamari. For the regular joe, this choice would be easy, but since I can't digest gluten, I was left with the calamari.
Now, let me clarify, I have liked calamari in the past. My Uncle Sam was known for his calamari, and I had it at his house several times. The difference, I think, was that that was breaded. This was grilled:

Grilled and with little octopuses on top as a garnish. How cute! As I was ordering this, I was commending myself on how adventurous I was being. How great it was that I could find something to eat in a bread-infested city. Long story short, I made a bad name for americans everywhere and doused it in lemon juice and parmesan cheese. I ate light that night.

Tower of Lights

Not a minute to waste, after a quick stop at the hotel for some gluten-free bread we were off to see one of the most famous landmarks in Paris, the Eiffel Tower. It was fun to see close up when it was illuminated, and it was a lot less busy than during the day!

Fleeting Moments of Light

The next morning we woke up bright and early for Musée d'Orsay:

Not only is this museum home to countless Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works of art, it also had a special exhibition while we were there titled: "The Spectacular Second Empire, 1852-1870.

"Against a background of social unrest, this prosperous era was a time of splendor and of economic euphoria, of ostentation and numerous lavish celebrations that are worth revisiting. It was also a period of moral and aesthetic crisis, torn between the old cultural frameworks and the new practices, between increasingly excessive decoration and the quest for the real - conflicting currents that determined much of French artistic creation in the 1850s and 1860s"

That was from the museum website and that's all I can give you, because we weren't allowed to take pictures in this exhibit! Nonetheless I did have a lot of fun reading all the informational pieces in French like a pro and ogling at the diamond jewelry and the crystal fountain. 

The Impressionist and Post-Impressionist sections had no problems with pictures, however, so here are some of my favorites/some of the more well-known pieces:

POST-IMPRESSIONISM:

IMPRESSIONISM:

For Mom!

The view from the Impressionist exhibit:

Light of the Lord

One can't see Paris without including a couple churches! 

First, Sainte-Chapelle:

And Notre Dame de Paris:

And Sacre-Coeur (even though we did this on Sunday) (during mass):

This was inside the church, I kid you not

In Light of Being in Paris... 

We of course had to walk the streets, take photos by the Seine, and find the most famous ice cream shop in Paris! No joke, the Berthillon brand is sold all over Paris:

A Creative Light

On day two in Paris we went to the creative neighborhood of Montmartre, a place where artists, writers and bohemians once gathered to work on their craft, share their ideas and partake in debauchery. Today Montmartre still holds its historic charm, but has become an expensive neighborhood in which mostly actors and hipsters choose to live. 

Known as one of the cutest streets in Paris

"salt pancakes" (crêpes) taste better than they sound

The well-known art vending area of Montmartre

An artist at work

They walked past the Moulin Rouge to take photos elsewhere, but I couldn't resist snapping a shot as if that was their destination:

Light(er) Pockets

With our remaining time in Paris, we decided to spend the afternoon on the Champs-Elysées:

(looks photoshopped but it isn't)

Lots of security here. Our bags were searched upon entering the famous street as well as each store:

McDonald's on Champs-Elysées is pretty high tech:

My friends bought a shirt or two, but I gamely window shopped as I had bought some shoes right before the trip. The girls of my program have noticed that Adidas are very popular in France and we have taken on the trend:

On an anthropological note, it's amazing to me that a country the size of Texas can have such drastic differences in culture between cities. While Montpellier is very laid back, Paris possesses that hurried big city attitude. Perhaps in some ways the size of a city influences a culture more than its nationality. 

It was difficult to see the city of light in just a weekend, but we made the most of our time and fit in lots of adventures. And of course, it not always where you are but who you're with, and already I know I'm with some pretty great folks. 

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