Of Food, Fashion & la Fac

Greetings friends!

I've had a bad bout of writer's block lately, but I'm back! 

The beautiful Château d'Azay-le-Rideau.
 Seems to me something out of a storybook!

I’m starting to get into a bit of a routine in regards to classes, though there is much that continues to boggle me.  I’ve learned that in France it’s not unusual to show up for a class that doesn’t exist, or that has unbeknownst to me, changed times, or has been cancelled with no prior warning. Their classes are less time-consuming than in Canada, hence I’m taking 8 classes instead of my usual 5 at Laurier. I’ve been biking 3.2 kilometers each way to class, which really gets me moving, especially at 7:30 in the morning!

I am continuing to enjoy (possibly too much) the delights of French cuisine. I’ve set a goal of trying a new French cheese every week, and every time I succeed in beating the French administrative system, I award myself a wonderful flaky and buttery pastry. While French women may not get fat, Canadian ones do, so thank goodness for my bicycle and “butt, thighs and abs” classes! I’ve also managed to find a few home comforts as well. Last night my neighbor Chelsea and I made homemade mac & cheese (as Kraft Dinner sadly isn’t a French food staple), and finding cheddar cheese was surprisingly a great struggle! However, I did purchase some “American-style” bread (I can only devour so many baguettes a day) and (*drumroll please*) a precious bottle of Canadian maple syrup! Nevertheless, it is evident that I will not go hungry in this beautiful land of abundant, deliciously and affordable food!

Yours truly at the Botanical Gardens of Tours

I also wanted to comment on French fashion choices. As I’m clearly a contender for What Not To Wear, I’ve been casually observing the French dress. The scarf is a chic fashion must and I’ve been slowly adding to my closet a few of these trendy and versatile accessories. A few other curious things- everyone owns a denim jacket! I’ve always thought of this as a moms-stuck-in-80s clothing item but clearly it’s making a comeback! I’ve also been rather confused by boots as a fashion item. Personally, I’ve only worn boots when it’s minus 20 with the wind-chill and I’m thigh-deep in snow. Yet, I am now in possession of both new boots and a new coat, european style, so I am ready for autumn!

Tour Charlemagne and Basilique St. Martin

It was one month ago today that I arrived in Tours, I can’t believe how fast time has gone! I have about 8 more months to create as many wonderful experiences as possible and cram as much French into my brain! I’m so looking forward to the month of October as I will be heading to Dublin, Ireland with some of my new friends, then Mont. St. Michel on a school trip and finally London, UK with my dad for fall Reading Week!

Yours in cheese & pastry,

Z <3

Back to School!

Bon week-end à tous!

Best gelato of life! (with my Estonian friend, Maarja) 

I have officially survived my first full week of school in France! I almost kinda sorta maybe have my classes selected (pending approval) and I’m so relieved! Unfortunately, due to my abysmal knowledge of the French language, the only French language classes I am taking are essentially French for foreigners, but hopefully next semester will go a little smoother! I quickly realized that taking third year history classes was not feasible as the content would be difficult enough without being spoken to in a foreign language. Without flashy power points and other North American pedagogical staples, comprehending lecture-style classes was a recipe for failure with a side order of stress.

Nutella cookbooks! <3 I don't know
how I'd get through my day without Nutella ;)

The school system here is so maddening because there isn’t an academic calendar like we have in Canada so all the courses I have I heard through word of mouth or through countless rendez-vous with practically everyone employed at the Fac. After endless emails, desperate phone calls and the occasional tears, I was reassigned a new coordinator, Carine, who was an absolute angel and helped me figure out my courses. There have also been many instructors out there willing to lend a sympathetic ear to a confused and overwhelmed exchange student. God bless them!

lookout from the Château d'Amboise 

This week I also started my Pack Sport, which for y’all reading in North America means- for only 20€- you can register for up to three physical activities as well as sign up for “stages” or special trips (I’ve signed up for the Mont St. Michel trip in October, so stay tuned!!!). Wednesday was my “remise en forme” (fitness class).  As I didn’t have a schedule until this week, I signed up for whatever few classes were available, not having a clue what they entailed. It couldn’t have worked out better! Two days later, I am still excruciatingly sore from the all squats, lunges, planks and crunches!  This was made all the more wonderful by my clearly delusional plan to bike uphill to my volleyball class this afternoon (in the pouring rain, no less). Apparently traveling to a facility called “Grandmont” (big mountain) wasn’t enough of a give-away. I hadn’t played volleyball in over three years so it was a lot of fun to get my competitive edge back and meet some more students. I’m also picking up some sports-specific vocab, which is great!

On that note, I do believe my French is slipping! I’d never realized how easy it is to live in a country and not speak the language. Most of my friends here are native English speakers or are Europeans with a fantastic grasp on the English language. My comprehension of French is fairly decent but I get very tongue tied when speaking! It’s not coming as quickly as I had hoped but every day is a step closer :)

Thank you to all the awesome & beautiful people reading my blog. A bientôt!

Z <3

Des Bonnes Journées

Chelsea & me at Château d'Amboise

Hello there!

Yesterday I took a day trip to Amboise to see the château with my fellow Canadian Chelsea and my other neighbors, Maarja and Agnes, from Estonia. The castle itself was less impressive than Chenonceau (most the original building was destroyed in the French Revolution and also by the Germans in 1940) but the scenery was incredible! Just like our last casual château Sunday, we had a perfect day. Château d'Amboise is built more like a fortress so you can survey the entire city and the Loire from all vantage points. The Chapel of Saint-Hubert at Château d'Amboise is also the resting place of Leonardo da Vinci (which I didn’t even realize at the time, what a horrid historian I am!). We had some time to kill so we sauntered around the town and indulged in the most amazing gelato I’ve ever encountered and passed through the quaint and delicious biscuiteries, chocolateries and pâtisseries! :)

Agnes, Maarja, Chelsea & me at Amboise

Today I decided it was time to faire le shopping so after my culture class this morning I went on a journey to see what I could find. While food is significantly less expensive here than in Canada, the same cannot be said for shopping. If I had a first-born child I probably would have had to surrender it in exchange. 150 Euro scarves! 200 Euro shoes! Mon dieu! Still, I could not get over the selection of stores and clothes that the French have at their disposal. Each autumn in Canada it seems we are subjected to the same blah mustard yellows, blacks and plums so I was overjoyed to see some fun colors like raspberry red, royal blue and dusty rose. However, being fashion-oblivious and barely over 5 feet tall with an acute weakness for pastries tends to make shopping rather trying. Hence, I am holding open auditions for a personal shopper- who’s game?? ;) In all, it wasn’t entirely fruitless as I acquired a poster for my apartment as well as three new tops from H&M. Can’t wait to ditch the American tourist look!

First crêpe in France! with Nici & Marie (Germans)
and Ivy & Sydney (Canadians)

Lastly, tonight, a few of my neighbors and I went up the street to check out the Café des Langues. Each Monday night a local café holds a drop-in to practice the language of your choice. We seated ourselves at an English-Français table and I met a lovely and helpful lady from Northern Ireland who spoke French quite well. The real treat was speaking for over an hour with a native French speaker! He was an older gentleman interested in improving his English so it was a gagnant-gagnant (win-win, that is)! I certainly intend on returning as often as I can, as the language café was a valuable and relaxing immersion experience and also a great way to meet new people from all over! 

Back to the daily grind tomorrow- 8 hours of class demain! Oh man, just a jour dans la vie! 

Z <3

#CanadianAbroadProblems

Here are a few things I've remarked about the life of a Canadian in France! Enjoy :)

·      1. Your house is furnished exclusively by Ikea…and nothing matches

·      2. Referring to a 2 Euro coin as a “toonie” and a 1 Euro coin as a “loonie”

·      3. You catch yourself having spontaneous dance parties for one in your apartment

·      4.  Finding an item in the grocery store and immediately flipping it over to read the (non-existent) English   side

·      5. Hearing another student snicker when you inadvertently add “eh?” to the end of a sentence

·      6. Using your elevator doors as a full length mirror

·      7. Thinking that baguette, cheese, wine and Nutella are the four food groups

·      8. Getting excited about the prices of things...until you see your Visa bill

·      9. Explaining to non-Canucks that:

o We don’t live in igloos

o Yes it snows a lot... no, not all year... yes, we do feel the cold...

o We don’t keep polar bears as house-pets, nor do we ride them.

o Canadians are not Americans à But Quebeckers are Canadians

o We're not all lumberjacks, nor is our economy based on clubbing seals

o We are certainly not all bilingual (I’m living proof!)

o Why, yes, we do put maple syrup on everything

o We don’t say “oot and aboot” (who comes up with this stuff, anyway?)

Observations on la vie Française

Bonsoir mes amis!

Unfortunately I’ve been so busy as of late that my web presence has been a bit lacking- for that I apologize!

On Sunday, I made an exciting dent in my bucket list!! A bunch of us international students took a day trip to the nearby Château Chenonceau, which was absolutely gorgeous! Thanks to the brilliant “Stuff You Missed in History Class” podcasts, I’ve learned so much about Catherine de’ Medici, so it was amazing to see somewhere she actually resided! (For those of you in need of a brief brush-up in the history department, the château was given by Catherine’s husband, King Henry II, to his mistress el supremo Diane de Poitiers…Catherine was less than thrilled but snatched it back after Henry’s demise… a good historical cat fight ;) ). The castle was built across the Cher River (which also passes through Tours) and served as a dividing line and hospital ward during the Second World War. I am living in the perfect place to study history!!

I started some of my classes this week, which has honestly been extremely challenging. Living in France has made me cast away all pre-conceived notions of how administration ought to operate. For international students, there’s no registration, per se. The first week is more of a chance to sample courses. At this point I’m attempting to sort out classes, as getting my hands on course listings and times is challenging. Syllabuses and office hours are entirely non-existent. Other things to know about university in France: email is not a preferred method of communication. I can’t even count how many times I’ve marched back and forth between home and the Fac to get a hold of somebody! I’ve certainly taken the resources we have in Canada for granted. Also, I’m thankful that in Canada we don’t have four-hour lectures commencing at 8AM. Non merci. But, being France, our classes appear to have ample smoke breaks (never fear, dear readers, caffeine will always be my drug of choice ;) ). On that note, I have discovered the miraculous invention that is the coffee vending machine. For the mere price of .50€, I can instantaneously acquire a scalding hot shot of espresso. Hip, hip, hooray J

Something else I really ought to mention in my observations is that I love how the tax is included in the prices here. It makes things so much simpler and prices often come to even numbers. Furthermore, tips are already included in the cost of menu items, which saves a lot of hassle. What does amuse me, however, is that there is no such thing as a separate check. You get one bill and everybody chips in what they owe. One night we did ask for a split bill, and we got our entire check divided equally five ways! Eating out in France is an perfecly delicious exploration of gastronomy, as there is such an abundance of fresh and different foods to taste and everything is surprisingly affordable! Nobody can make cheese, quiche, or éclairs quite like the French! 

Gros bisous! :)

Z <3