Living in a Dreamworld

Vacation is coming to a close and I’m back chez moi for at least the next week or so. I’ve been pretty busy, but I’m going to do my best to try and recap the past week. After spending Tuesday afternoon exploring the traboules of Vieux Lyon, I went out with Katie and one of her roommates to a bar to meet up with some of their friends. It got late pretty quickly and since the métro stops running at midnight we biked home. The Vélo system is massively convenient, as there are 340 stations around the city where you can rent a bike to get you from one place to another for less than a single ride ticket on the métro. It’s free for less than a half hour, and 1€ for up to an hour. Even though it was cold, it was a great experience riding alongside the river illuminated by the occasional bridge or boat. It’s a shame a similar system doesn’t exist in the United States, although I’m not sure it’d work out even if it did.

I ended up leaving Lyon on Wednesday because I didn’t want to be stuck there and miss my immigration appointments. Thursday was a national manifestation, so there were no trains at all. The law raising the retirement age did pass, and thankfully the aftermath isn’t at all what I expected to be. I guess they realize that there really isn’t anything that they can do about it now, and thankfully things are predicted to be back to normal by the end of this week. Unfortunately, Wednesday was a travel nightmare once I got to Paris; my train (as well as every other one leaving from Saint Lazare) was delayed, so I ended up getting to Val-de-Reuil just in time to catch the last bus.

From Thursday to Saturday I hung around Louviers. I did some food shopping and some serious collaging, making posters for my classroom. I’ve got three done so far and I’ll probably work on some more before the week is through. Daylight saving time came a week early to France, and the extra hour was definitely appreciated. The mobile phones here don’t change automatically, so at 4.00 AM I had to make sure I hadn’t misunderstood the commercial that told me it was DST by turning on the TV and checking the news. On the 31st I headed to Fécamp, a town up along the coast, to visit and stay with some other assistants. I couldn’t help but look out the window the entire ride up, taking in the rolling hills, fall foliage and farm animals of the Norman countryside. I found myself occasionally laughing to myself and shaking my head as I appreciated that this is my life.

After an hour and a half layover at a train station literally in the middle of nowhere (there was no bathroom and only two platforms), I finally made it to Fécamp. Alexia and Elizabeth met me at the station and gave me a tour of their town. After checking out several churches, a palace from the 10th century, the beach, the cliffs, and a waterfall, we headed to the Bénédictine Palace where they make the stupidly delicious Bénédictine liquor. Smell-wise it kind of reminded me of Becherovka, in that it smells like Christmas, but it tastes so much better. Bénédictine was invented in the 19th century and based on a medicinal aromatic herbal beverage that the monks at the Benedictine Abbey of Fécamp used to make. Their recipe was lost when the abbey was destroyed during the French Revolution and while the recreation may not be exactly the same, it is delicious nonetheless.

The marina in Fécamp.

Les falaises de Fécamp.

After the tasting, I was thankful that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast because it made the Ithaca-esque 30 minute walk uphill more tolerable grâce à my buzz. We had planned to go to Étretat, a nearby town famous for its cliffs, the next day, but one of Elizabeth’s professors – Patricia – invited us to go with her to a town called Honfleur. I had never heard of it, but both Alexia and Elizabeth said that all of their teachers had told them they had to go there. Not knowing what to expect, the next morning Patricia drove us there, and as soon as we crossed the bridge into town, the fly catching began. My jaw dropped and I must have said “Oh wow!” a dozen times in fifteen minutes. Walking around in Honfleur was like being in a fairy tale, or a Copenhagen/Bruges hybrid. Unfortunately, it’s only accessible by car, so unless I get driven there it’s unlikely I’ll be able to make it back.

Patricia treated us to lunch after we left a museum dedicated to French composer and pianist Erik Satie. The museum itself was definitely a little bizarre (a little too avant-garde for me to understand or appreciate), but the music was good. After lunch we went our separate ways; Patricia headed to another museum and I explored some of the stores of Honfleur. I sampled calvados (apple brandy) almost as old as I am, and wandered in and out of other specialty shops. Patricia drove us back to Fécamp around 6.00 and I headed back to Louviers this morning.

In spite of my travel plans being disrupted early on in the vacances, in the end comme d’habitude everything worked out. Now I’ll be collaging again until my appointments on Thursday and then I’ll have two hours of lessons on Friday and it’ll be the weekend. Pinch me.