Final "Au Revoir"s

Well, I'm officially giving myself some homework for when I get back to Seattle, because I've been doing some more fun things that I'd like to post photos of....I don't have time to do it now before I leave because I need to focus on packing the last 9 months into one (quite large) suitcase and cleaning the apartment!

I wanted to let you all know what's up with me, though, so I thought I'd just copy & paste this email I wrote to one of my besties back home :)

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It's crazy! I SOOOO don't want to leave! hahaha but at the same time I'm SOOO excited to be home!!! Not so excited for the impending 19-hr flight/layover journey, but it'll all be ok! I feel like maybe i have an exaggerated view of jetlag -- I imagine myself as a walking/sleeping zombie for like 2 weeks after I get back, haha but i'm thinking/hoping that'll turn out to be unrealistic! :)

This weekend was good, not what I expected, but good! :) I didn't end up saying my goodbyes to the Frenchies as I expected b/c I accidentally fell asleep -- Friday was an ALL day trip to the island with my students --- SO much fun!!!!! I love them so much! It was so awesome to be with them outside of the classroom having fun in the sun! So Friday night I was exhausted and fell asleep at 9:15 and didn't hear my alarm OR phone; once I woke up at 2:30am it was too late to meet up with them!

Saturday and Sunday Nikki and I fit in some quality final hang-out time. Saturday night we went out to a fabulous dinner in my town with one of the other assistants to say goodbye and celebrate this year. Sunday, Nikki and I spent all day bronzing at a really nice beach not too far from my place :) ahhhh, it's hard to leave this wonderful place and sad to say goodbyes!

Today I've been packing and cleaning a little. I went for a nice long bike ride with Raymond and Christine this morning and said goodbye/thank you again to them. Tomorrow I'm tying up some more loose ends, saying bye to Dani, finishing packing/cleaning, having one last lunch w/ the teachers and going to my other school again to their "kermesse" (end of the year show/game time) to say more goodbyes! I got a text invite from a girl and tomorrow evening I'll be meeting up with the Frenchies to say goodbyes finally, so that should be good! :)

Wednesday morning I check out of the apt and catch the train to Paris! Hopefully will be meeting up w/ Laura Zoeller to spend the night w/ her, and hopefully we'll be meeting up with Madame Beauclair for dinner in Paris! Then early Thursday morning I'm off to the airport for the 19-hr journey :) and should be in Seattle Thursday night if all goes according to plan!!

Whew! So that's the deal!...I'm so glad my foot's all back to normal so we can be crazy active (if i'm not a zombie) when I get home! on my list: gym classes, tennis, soccer, biking, hiking, jogging, swimming, kayaking, lake jumps... plus beach time bronzing, camping, rafting!, wakeboarding, ooooh so many fun things to do!!...

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Wildlife Weekend in the Camargue

The Camargue


A bit of info to start us off...

On the Southern coast of France, a bit west of Marseille, is a marshland frontier/Regional Nature Park known as the Camargue.

Just north, at the city of Arles, the great River Rhône splits into two parts: the Grand Rhône and the Petit Rhône. Between the two parts is a giant triangular expanse of land, 2.7 times the size of the city of Seattle. This is The Rhône River Delta, aka the Camargue.

We're talkin' a lot of land.

The Camargue is compromised of a mix of salt water lagoons, fresh water marshes and reed beds, salt plains, dunes, and meadowland. The region has been defined between the battle between river and sea; as is reflected in the existing plant and animal life -- all of which must withstand both dry and wet conditions as well as extreme salinity.

The Camargue is known for it's long-horned bulls and white horses that run semifree throughout the region. It is also known as a great bird preserve; particularly because it is one of the only and largest flamingo nesting sites in Europe.

I had the awesome opportunity, thanks to my friends Raymond and Christine, to visit the Camargue with them last weekend! We stayed 2 nights at Raymond's nephew's home. Both Jean and his wife, Regine, have careers focused on sustaining the park -- finding the balance between human impact and natural sustainability. Needless to say, we had the best tour guides around :) Their family welcomed us to their home and we all went out together to explore the park and a couple small surrounding towns.

Where the Rhône meets the Mediterranean. The cloudy river water was quickly flowing into the small port, mixing with the blue sea water, when they opened the drawbridge (not in photo) to let a big ship through.

Here I am, cheeky as can be, perched atop the lookout over the "salins" -- the salt marshes in the lower Camargue, which have been designed to maximize sodium chloride concentration in the water. It is here where giant chunks of salt are collected with huge trucks, to be refined and exported. I actually saw a bag of Lays potato chips recently that had "salt from the Camargue" labeled on the front.

The salt marshes are rich in invertebrates have high levels of beta-carotene...helping our flamingo friends look their pinky best. As the salt levels intensify throughout the year, the color of the water changes from blue to a purplish-pink.

Part of the Camargue is a big, long beach. And a big section of the big, long beach is...you guessed it! A nudist beach!
The sign reads: "STOP - NUDIST BEACH, Here we live (in the) nude"
I though it'd be a funny photo to share, but aside from that, it was actually really interesting to see the way there were hundreds of campers and trailers parked all along the beach (nudist and non-nudist section). People were literally gonna be camped out (FOR FREE) for the entire summer. And, yes, it is a state park. It was interesting discussing with Jean and Regine the potential impacts on the wildlife and surroundings that this influx of humans are/could be creating.
Not goin' anywhere soon. Don't know why they're flying Old Glory, but there you go.

I was so excited about the horses! We stopped by the Domain de la Palissade, a part of the Camargue with a visitor's center and a few nature walking paths. And there were come Camargue horses, who (obviously) became my new best friends.
With Raymond and ChristineThe Camargue horses roam the park part of the year, grazing on reeds and grasses. Once a year, the "gardians" (more-or-less French cowboys) round them up and, apparently, go for a tour through the city streets. And yes, of course, plenty of tourist trail rides are available.

And here are those flamingos I was talking about! We actually have them here in Hyères during the spring, but they migrate over to the Camargue (as well as parts of Spain, Sardinia, and Northern Africa) to nest.

Finally! We saw the famed "taureaux"! And it was a very, very lucky sighting! The semiwild bulls were being driven through by the famed "gardians" -- right near the side of the road. We got an awesome view!

Some say it was Attila the Hun who brought these bulls' ancestors from Asia Minor, who were then were cross-bred with Spanish bulls. Nobody really knows for sure where they're from. But these "taureaux" are another important animal in the Camargue region, especially culturally speaking. The "bull games" take place in the summer in nearby cities, but unlike Spanish bullfights, the bull is NOT killed. It's apparently a game where the men try to unhook tassels from the bull horns and are awarded points accordingly.

School Trip to Marseille

Trip to Marseille with my Students!

Last week, I got to be a "chaperone" and accompany my students
on a school fieldtrip to Marseille!
Twisty-turny bus ride. We took 2 buses between the 75-ish students and dozen adults.

Nice countryside views from the bus window. We detoured off the main autoroute and took the smaller highway and got some beautiful views of the towns/water/countryside
Boardwalk along the water in the city

This is a Coca Cola advertisement mural on the side of the building.
The "Coke" coming out of the bottle is actually the city of Marseille
We headed up to the Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde for a stunning view of the city below.
Travel book excerpt:
"The domed neo-Byzantine-style structure was erected b/w 1853 & 1864 on the site of a 1214 chapel...It is topped by a 33-ft-high gilded bronze statue of the Madonna, who watches out for the fishermen headed to sea."

Enjoying the view, well, sort of

Invasion of students! Step aside tourists, here we come!

The inside of the Basilique is filled with mosaics and murals,
along with other artwork (and pews)
One of my students offered to take my photo.
Have I mentioned recently how much I love my students? They are just too cute.

After the Basilique visit, we walked down the Colline to the famous port, "where ships have docked continually for 2,600 years." Then we headed to a big park to eat our sack lunches, then either relax -- or run around on a full stomach -- this is what separates the grown-ups from the students... haha, I can tell I'm officially old when I want to take a nap after eating instead of doing cartwheels with my students...

Great weather, great students (I love them!!)...a great day trip!
I'm thankful to have been a part of it! :)

It's a Boat! It's a Plane!

"Centenaire de l'aéronautique navale:
Du grand spectacle à Hyères"

Me kickin' it with the French Marines. I just had to get a pic to capture their traditional uniform. I can't imagine US marines wearing a shirt like that, not to mention the pom-pom hat. But hey, I got to touch a pom-pom and apparently that brings good luck! Well that's what they say, anyway...

Tens of thousands of people came out last Sunday to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the "existence of aeronautical shipbuilding." And I was one of them!

Now I'm no expert on big boats and fancy planes, but this "meeting" was a huge event!
As I understand it, the naval base in my town was one of the first main places, in 1910, to really go gung-ho on, shall we say, encouraging the bond b/w ships & aircraft. Hence the giant party in my town!

Here's a very big ship, I think the USS Normandy, and a little police boat to come chase people away so they don't get too close

I met up with Raymond, Christine, and some of their friends/relatives and first we went out on their sailboat to take a look at the battleships that were just a ways off shore!

There were 8 giant ships on the water, from a mix of countries, including the US! It was so cool to see our flag flying (next to the French one, since the ships were in French waters). Not to mention, the BIGGEST, COOLEST ship with the most planes on it was from the US :) And yes, we had a cultural singing time on the sailboat, which included my stunning rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner, followed by both the Thai and French national anthems (not performed by me, thank goodness).

If you know more about big ships than I do, here are the names of the boats that were there:

• nuclear aircraft carriers "Charles de Gaulle" (France) & "USS Harry S. Truman" (USA)
• auxiliary aircraft carrier "RFA Argus" (Great Britain)
• aircraft carrier "Principe de Asturias" (Spain)
• missile-launching destroyer "USS Normandy" (USA)
• a big boat with a landing strip for the planes, "Foudre" (France) (ok, so it's getting tricky trying to translate the names of the types of boats)
• some missile-launching warships "Forbin" and "Hessen" (Germany)

See the helicopters?

After our tour by sea, we found our way to dry land and toured around a ton of different planes and helicopters that were all parked on the naval base. There were 110 aircraft!!!

Here's one of the helicopters on land!

They even allowed the public to go inside some of the planes/helicopters to see what it was like inside! It was really cool getting to talk to the crews responsible for the planes...I even found the AMERICANS! It may sound ridiculous, but Americans are few and far between over here, and casually talking to them in English made me so excited to come home! haha

This is Casey, from Dallas. I also met some guys from LA and NY. It's funny how it feels like a big deal to meet people from the US -- it feels like, "oh gosh! people that understand where I'm coming from!" (even if they don't.) It's just a change from trying to explain to French people the differences b/w here and the US.

I got a 5-euro* badge commemorating the "Rawhides" 50th year anniversary as a VAW/VRC squadron.

More info on the Rawhides here: http://vaw-vrcreadyroom.org/50th-anniversary-of-vrc-40/

*free for me! cuz I'm just that special... ;)

AND then there was a big flight demonstration of tons of the different planes, including a show similar to the Blue Angels show that flies in Seattle each year over Labor Day, only French style :)

"La patrouille de France" = French Blue Angels

There were some very noisy planes!

There are more photos of the event at this URL:
http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=113449&u=77322

Eating like a Frenchie

On a cultural GASTRONOMICAL note...

Christine and Raymond have invited me over & we've had several meals at their home. French people eat meals differently from what I'm used to in the US, and I'm hoping to pick up on some of their habits and bring them back to the States with me.


The main difference is the concept of courses --

start off with a small, shared appetizer,

then have a (small portion) main plate,

followed by maybe a green salad,

then bring out the cheese plate with a few varieties to share,

after have perhaps some fruit for dessert,

then end with a small, strong coffee
(and perhaps a small cookie or piece of dark chocolate to go with).

So, over the course of around 2 hours, we slowly enjoy smaller portions of food while enjoying each other's company and conversation. Of course, it's not always complicated and doesn't have to be (I know it sounds like a lot!) but it's really just having an order and separating the food out. Taking your time and having smaller portions helps with digestion and helps you avoid overeating, and you feel more satisfied in the end!

The meal becomes more ceremonial-- more of an experience rather than something on the "to do" list. Here, people often take time to eat. Having a solid block of time to eat is structured into daily life and is structurally reinforced in the way businesses and schools, for example, are run. Yes, it's annoying that certain shops and offices close during lunch hours, but it's interesting to think about the cultural differences in having time for a long lunch (vs. cramming in a quick bite while you're on the clock.) And it's ridiculous to think of US schools functioning as the French do when it comes to meal time -- students have about a 2-hr break and are even allowed to go home! The teachers are not responsible for the students during this time; there are other hired people who work to regulate the cafeteria and the courtyard (aka playground).

And another thing about eating habits, people don't eat and move at the same time here. Meaning, the one time I was running late and grabbed a wrap at home and ate it on my walk to school, I felt like everyone was staring at me (even if they weren't). At home, it's normal to eat while doing other things -- I eat toast in the car on the way to work, I drink a portable coffee while I walk around the mall, I eat an apple while I'm walking down the street. And at home, it's completely normal. Here, it's not normal. When people here eat, they do it at meal time (hardly ever in between), and they sit down when they do it.

Eating here, it seems, is viewed not as a means to get fueled up for the next activity, but as an enjoyable activity in itself . Food and wine are celebrated by slowing down to enjoy the taste and experience, as well as enjoy the company with whom you are sharing them.

(I pulled all these photos off of google image searching, which means I don't have the right to "distribute" them...hopefully, since I don't get paid to blog, it's ok that I put them up here? Does anybody know the rules about that?)

Adventures with R&C

Hanging out with Raymond and Christine

Raymond, Christine, and I have been going on new adventures! Here are some photos from another walk/hike we went on recently.

Finding some wildlife

If I jump, who wants to come save me??

Lots of little beaches and inlets, so close to my home!