House Party French Style

"la fête:" party
"bises:" kisses (as in the cheek to cheek kisses you give upon greeting)
"bisous:" kisses that are more as we American's consider kisses to be, such as for a boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, etc.  

So our apartment is situated behind our landlords' house, so we have gotten to know them and their family pretty well over the last 9 months.  We were invited to come to their daughter, Lucy's 20th birthday party last night.  I was not sure what to expect, but attended the "flower power" themed bash.  They had a pretty nice setup in this really big room in the house, decorated with candles and Christmas lights all about, plus a couple of disco balls-a-spinning.  The beginning of the night started out with Yves, Lucy's dad spinning old records including the Doors, the Rolling Stones, some twist & shout among others.  Brigitte (Lucy's mom) warmed up the dance floor...very cute couple, although at 20 I probably would have been horrified to have my parents dance at my birthday party!  Haha I think Lucy was happy to have them there, however.

Even after 9 months, the whole kissing greeting still confounds me.  So, I can totally understand friends greeting each other, such as when meeting for a coffee, seeing each other at school, family greetings, etc.  It becomes weird to me at places such as the office, and in this party situation.  So I arrived before most of the other people did (Lucy's friends), so every time someone arrived to the party, they are obliged to make a tour of the room greeting everyone with kisses or handshakes (guy to guy) even if you've never met this person before.  Insider's tip, this is how it works: usually you go to their left side of the face (so your right cheek) first, make a big MUAH kiss smack sound and then as you move to the next side before the second smacking sound, you say your name. Let's review it step by step: lean in (make sure to turn your head enough so has to not accidentally have a lip to lip kiss-whoa that'd be awkward) touch your right cheek to their right cheek making the obligatory smacking sound (intensity sound depends on personal preference, but normally the louder the better), and as you turn to the other side, say name ("Michelle" for me), but it is not necessary to say "my name is" or "i'm," just the name is sufficient, and then repeat cheek touch lip smack sound on other side.  Then move on to the next person.  You may not talk to this person for the rest of the night, or even ever again, but you have indeed exchanged bises. 

This is the typical process, of course you occasionally get different variations depending on the person, region, etc:

• Not just 2, but 3 or 4 kisses.  Anything beyond 2 just becomes a sort of bobbing dance. A tech intern, who works at our production facility in Aurillac, came into the office the other day and I gave him the bises, and pulled away as normal after 2, leaving him literally hanging for number 3.  Whoops, I felt really bad!  Generally speaking, anywhere south of Clermont-Ferrand does more than 2. 
• Then you have the big-bise giving studs who breeze past cheek to cheek bises and go in for the full on lips to cheek kiss.  I call this "Big Bisous"
• Sometimes with the kisses you just lean in, no touching besides cheeks, sometimes maybe an hand on the shoulder, and then there are those who like to go in for the full double shoulder grab, where there is no escaping or turning back. 

Anyway, back at the party after I had exchanged bises with about 20 different people,  we had some cocktails and party snacks provided by Brigitte.  At about 11pm, Yves got booted from his record disc jockeying and on came on the iTunes powered techno club beats to really get the party started.   I did not really know anyone at the party except Lucy (the birthday girl) and Vincent (landlord's son, 25), so it took a few drinks to really get me warmed up, but afterward was able to make friends on and off the dance floor.  Lights were flashing and music bumping until about 3:30am, while normal people probably would already be in bed, but we decided to take the party to a club in Clermont called L'Atelier, which is open until 5am.  Further dancing ensued, and to my shock, the club let a couple of chiseled guys hop up on the bar and dance, à la Chippendales while they took their shirts off.  These guys sure thought they were hot stuff...it was funny to see because it is something that would just NEVER happen in a regular bar/club in the States. 

Hip hop hooray that was quite a Saturday night. 

Day 5: Half-day in Geneva

I stayed Saturday night in Geneva, in a recommended hostel, which was actually super nice!  It was the cleanest and most well put together hostel I have ever stayed in!  I did not arrive until about 9:00pm so did not really get to see the city that night.  I grabbed some Thai food to go, and watched Benjamin Button in the lobby with some of my fellow hostelers.  That night, I did not sleep so well though-I was sharing a room with two other girls, and one of them woke me up because she was snoring so loud! You can't imagine the noises coming out of the little gal, I felt like I was in a lion den!   I was on the top bunk and laid there for a while trying to deal with it, which I could not, so after a bit I threw something at her to wake her up and tell her to turn over.  She did with many "sorry's" but then fell asleep and started snoring again.  I could not listen to my iPod because it was out of battery and the outlets in Geneva have three prongs unlike the rest of Europe (or Switzerland), so I ended up sleeping on my purse with my pillow on my head!  Ha, the adventures of hosteling. 

I dropped my bags off in a locker at the train station the next morning and explored around Geneva.  Unfortunately, as in France, everything was closed because it was a Sunday.  I did not get a very good impression of Geneva, however, by its outdoor appeal.  The architecture was not very interesting, mostly modernized buildings besides a few surrounding the cathedral St. Pierre in the vielle ville (old city).  I wanted to go inside the cathedral but services were going on, so that was a bust.  I walked by the lake, (Lake Geneva), but it was much more beautiful from Lausanne where it was blue, here it was more murky brown colored.  I am sure Geneva would be fun for shopping and going out because it is a big city, otherwise I prefer Lausanne!

I took two trains back from Geneva to Clermont, back to French life! 

Day 4: Gimmelwald

On our last day together, we decided to go up to Gimmelwald, a small village up the mountain from Interlaken with a population of only 300 people.  It is listed as one of Rick Steve's favorite places in Swtizerland, quoted, "If heaven ain't what it's cracked up to be, send me to Gimmelwald!"

It took a train, a bus, and a gondola to get up to Gimmelwald, but it was totally worth it and not packed with tourists at all.  There was one main road with wooden houses along, all with flower boxes hanging off of the windows.  The town is made up of hill-ed farmland, with towering mountains surrounding.  While walking along, you can hear the gentle dinging of cowbells in the distance, an actually quite delightful sound.  It was so serene and cute, every spot more picturesque than the last.  We happened to come across a lady who was selling homemade cheese and dried sausage in this little wooden hut.  She gave us some yummy samples and we just had to buy some it was so good! We hiked up for a view from above the village, meadow-ed hills in between.  I could have sat on this bench for hours just gazing out at the mountains and listening to the dinging cowbells.  (of course, whenever I actually think of "cow bell" the snl skit comes to mind..."what we need is more cowbell...").  Of course the weather was sunny and about 70˚F, absolutely perfect.  We hiked back down to the town and had lunch on the terrace of the only restaurant called "Pension Hotel and Restaurant," where we had deliciously fresh baguette sandwiches, tortilla chips, and salads (3 big beers, also!).  My sandwich had brie, tomato, cucumber, and pesto on it.  We hiked a little bit more after that, but it was nearing late in the afternoon and the beer was kicking in so we head back down the 3-way route to Interlaken. 

Back in Interlaken, we all caught the 6:00pm train to Bern, then split ways, Matt & Allie to Zurich to fly home, and me to Geneva.  I stayed in Geneva that night to break up my the long trip back to Clermont.

I had so much fun with brother and sis-in-law!  It was a welcome break from Clermont life and great to see some family!  I heart Switzerland!

Day 3: Extreme Interlaken

Friday morning we had some coffee and breakfast at a nearby bakery and café, and then walked around the town a bit, doing some window and souvenir shopping.  There are Victorinox swiss army knives everywhere!  Of course, we had to stop in any and every shop that sold knives or weaponry.  Matt seems to be magnetically attracted to these kinds of things!

That afternoon was our EXTREME adventuring afternoon.  Interlaken is known for extreme sporting, mainly a summer town because of this.  After discussing our options with fellow travelers who had already tried some of the stuff, we decided on canyoning. It is hard to explain canyoning, it is like hiking, swimming, and jumping along a river/stream.  First, we got all geared up in wetsuits, life jackets, harnesses, and helmets.   I asked Allie, "Do you think we look cool and sporty in our wetsuits, or dorky?" and she said, "dorky."  Bummer.  Our group was just us three, one other guy, and 2 guides.  They took us in a van to this stream of glaciar water and we slid in...oh that water was cold, but very refreshing!  We got to repel down a wall of rocks, which was super cool but super scary!  A guy attaches a rope to your harness then you stand backwards on a ledge and he says "Ok, just lean back!"  The initial leaning back was the scariest part because I didn't know what the expect, but once you get your balance and understand how to walk down, it's really cool!  I want to try that again!  We walked through the rocks and water--sometimes lying on our backs and sliding along, some sometimes jumping.  One of the jumps was about 10 feet down, and it was just a little area with about 2 feet deep water.  We had to crouch down and just off the edge and then land on our backs because the water was too shallow to go feet first.  It was scary because you had to think about how and where you were landing with rocks all around!  There was another jump where we had to land on our side, and it was my left side which felt really uncoordinated but I made it okay!  The guides looked super cool when they did everything, but I imagine I looked super dorky and uncoordinated!  Oh well!  I was really happy we chose canyoning because I do not think it is something you can do in very many places, and I felt really adventurous.  Now I can say I have swam in glacier water!

When we got back to the Adventure Sports center, they had cold beers and bread and cheese waiting for us, so we hung out there for a while.  Allie spilled her beer so the guide made her do a beer bong which was pretty funny.  We talked to the guides a bit- one was American and has worked in Interlaken doing this for the last 8 summers, always traveling somewhere else warmer in the winter, South America, New Zealand, Australia, and this year, India to guide sports there.  The other was an British guy who has lived in Interlaken for about 10 years and makes enough money doing summer sports that he just skis all winter and does not have to work.  Quite a different lifestyle!

That night, we had happy hour beers on top of the highest building in Interlaken, which is a hostel nicknamed the "concrete wall of shame," because it is made out concrete and very ugly.  It had a nice view though! We sat on the terrace at the restaurant on the top and had "3 big beers." It was lovely seeing evening roll in and various paragliders soaring by and landing plus a view of the two lakes that Interlaken sits between.   We went to dinner at "Art Pizza," an Indian-run pizza joint with the "best and cheapest pizzas in town," according to our guides.  I had a spicy salami, mozzarella, spinach, tomato, and ricotta pizza (and a big beer), which was delicious!  We went to the hot spot in town after dinner, called "Brasserie 17" and had some beers on the outdoor patio.  Matt got hungry again so ordered a salami plate-he's not really into bread and sausage after this trip!  It was nice just sitting and talking...Matt and Allie are so cute together!  Lucky Matt, he has found someone who doesn't scoff at him when he often speaks freely about his bodily functions!

Day 2: Interlaken hiking

Thursday morning we woke up early to adventure in the mountains.  We grabbed some breakfast at a little bakery, and took a few trains up into the mountains to do some of Rick Steve's reccommended hikes.  (He accompanied us along the whole trip and was very helpful--for those of you don't know, Rick Steve's writes traveler guide books).  The hike was quite nice, mostly flat around the mountains with a little bit of misting here and there.  Thank goodness Matt and I had our matching Marmot rain jackets (Thanks Mom & Dad!).  You cannot imagine the wonderful views we had--the un-snow-covered mountains are amazing: green grass and trees, rocks, and only some snow-caps on the highest tops.  We stopped on a bench to eat our packed sandwiches and chocolate, overlooking a bowel with a little town far below.

After the hike, we were a bit tired, but decided to push through to see this series of waterfalls called Trummelbach Falls, just outside of Lauterbrennen.  It was pretty neat-we took an elevator up inside the system of caves and walked through to see a total of 10 waterfalls flowing thorugh.  The glacier water putt off a cool, breezy mist throughout the caves.  It was cool to see how the water had carved out the rock throughout.  It was running to hard and fast that we could hardly hear each other talking!

When we got back to Interlaken, we had dinner at one of Rick Steve's recommended restaurants, Le Büren.  I had pork cordon-bleu, which wad delicious.  Matt tried eating horse meat for the first time, and enjoyed it despite the horse-drawn carriages that passed as we were eating on the patio.  Unfortunately, he did not think of the appropriate pun until the next day, "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse."  Better luck next time.   After dinner we seeked out some chocolate fondue with no success, so instead went back to our hostel bar and had some hot chocolates and amaretto.  We also made bets on how much the hotel dog weighed- a St. Bernard.  I ended up being the closest, he is 80kg, which is about 170lbs.  That's a big dog!  All he did was sleep and drool, but was super cute nonetheless!  I noticed a lot of dogs in Switzerland, big and small, but absolutely NO dog poop on the sidewalks, unlike in France.  They are very clean and organized in Switzerland.

Day 1: Lausanne and Interlaken

Lausanne (prounounced, "Lau-zanne"), with a population of 128,000, is a smaller city on Lake Geneva (Lac Léman in French), not far from Geneva.  I only spent a day there with Matt & Allie, but it was enough to decide that it is a place I would like to live!  The town is big enough for a small metro system and buses, but not too big that is overwhelmed by the business architecture, crowds, and dirtiness that can overcome big cities.  

I arrived to Lausanne on the morning of Wednesday, September 8th and right into the arms of my greatly missed brother and sister-in-law.  We dropped my bags off at their hotel and ventured up a big hill to a museum called Collection de l'Art Brut, a museum full of art by so-called "fringe artists:" schizophrenics, peasants, and criminals.  It was interesting to see the different kind of pieces: scuptures, paintings, drawings, etc.  It was not quite as disturbing as I had expected.  Each artist has a little placard with their story on it, and what I found interesting was that for at least 75% of the people, their parents had left them or had died when they were a young age.

After the museum visit, we caught a train to Grandvaux, a small village outside of Lausanne, and then proceeded to walk from there along the lake through a few other little villages.  This is Lausanne's little "wine country," as there were vineyards covering the acreage in between the little villages.  It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen!  The sky was blue and sunny, there was a little breeze coming off the water, and rolling hills of vineyards with grapes ripe for the picking surrounded us.  We could not have asked for better weather as I was content with a t-shirt and a scarf! Despite his fear of Swiss guards popping out of the vines, Matt sneaked a taste of one of the grapes!  Unfortunately, there were not any wine tastings along the way--the men I spoke with said they don't start until after 5pm.  We walked through the along through the vineyards for a couple of hours, then headed back to Laussane to take a train to Interlaken.  What a lovely afternoon!

The train took two hours to Interlaken, with nice mountain and countryside views along the way.  We got off at Interlaken Ost station to this absolutely beautiful town in a valley among mountains, and in between two lakes (hence the name Inter-laken). We had now ventured into German-speaking Swtizerland where my French-speaking skills would be rendered useless, but most people we came across spoke English, anyway.  I know English is not exactly pretty, but the German language is just plain rough on the ears!  Perhaps I am used to hearing silky smooth, romantic French.  They even break grammatical rules in French if something does not sound good.  This makes the language hard to learn, but nice to hear!

After we got settled into the "Funny Farm" hostel, with its retro orange and brown curtains and carpeting (not to mention the floor lamp in our room with fringe on it), we headed out to get some dinner.  Near our hostel there was a little Thai resaturant that had some good smells to it, so we decided to eat there.   First, we ordered "3 big beers," (this would become a theme of our trip together), and then the usual noodle/rice type dishes.  It was very yummy - typical Thai food.  A group of about 7 Australian guys sat at the table next to us, which was really close, so it would have been difficult not to talk to them.  Plus, they were the typical, fun and rowdy Australian travel types.  I have to admit they were all super good looking and made me curse to myself in my head, "Why didn't I study abroad in Australia??"

Swiss adventures

Matt & Allie coming to visit seemed like a long way away and then all of the sudden it was here!  Hands down one of the best few days I have had in the past couple of months!  First of all, it was so great to see Matt & Allie, family, and secondly, I absolutely love Switzerland!  Besides the fact that everything is ridiculously expensive there, it is absolutely beautiful--mountains and lakes, plus the culture is an interesting mix of the French, German, and Italian regions that make up the small country of Switzerland.  We started in in the west on the French side in Lausanne, and ventured to the middle in German Interlaken and its surrounding mountain towns.  I think Switzerland is one of my favorite places in Europe, and if I lived over here again, I think I would choose Switzerland.  (I could speak French, too, if I lived on the West side!). 

Although my trip started out a little rough, including France transportation strikes on the day I was supposed to travel, I made it work.  A colleague from work happened to be driving to Lyon the day I was supposed to train there, so I got a ride with him.  He had to go to the airport, so I was just going to catch the tram from the Lyon airport to the city, but of course the tram was not working.  After I already purchased a ticket, I had to find another way to get to the city!  I ended up taking a taxi with an Iranian girl, German girl, and Norwegian guy.  They all, of course, spoke English, so it was quite a diverse and interesting ride!  I stayed in a hotel in Lyon that night and took the train early the next morning to Lausanne.  When I arrived at the counter in the train station to pick up my already-purchased ticket, the man could not find it so I had to buy a new one and rush to my train with only 4 minutes to get there!  Luckily, I made it, and it was smooth sailing from there on out. 

Park Life

"le parc:" the park (but in French you do not say the "c" at the end so it really just sounds like "le par-"

I engaged in one of my favorite activities in Clermont this afternoon-lounging in the park right by my apartment, called Jardin Lecoq. On a 75 degree and sunny Sunday, what better pastime to rest, recover, and rejuvenate for the week (and from the weekend) than lying on a blanket in the grass.  I took my journal with me to record some of my observations:

Today, I chose to put my blanket down in a more public spot than usual, in order to engage in some quality people watching. With almost everything closed on Sundays in France, the park is quite a hot spot. You will see the occasional jogger here and there, but the principle activity here is idling. I see people, young & old strolling, couples hand-in-hand, or lying together in the grass. Public displays of affection are appropriate in France, especially in park settings. Children are running about, after balls, after each other, sometimes parents running after them.

The park soundtrack has a consistent buzz of happy cries and laughter of the kids running around, accompanied by the steady stream and trickling of the fountain in the pond, the gentle strumming of a duo playing guitars next to me, and the bits of various conversations you catch around you.

I had closed my eyes for a little while and opened them to realize a little dog lying not but a few feet from me. I quickly realized her owners were near by and she had just been looking for a sun napping buddy.

The couple to my right are laying in what I would consider a long-term comfort love position. She on her stomach perusing a magazine, he with his head resting on her back, together forming a "T." There's a younger couple up the hill a bit basking in the sun, she on her back, he on his side facing here, extremities gracing each other. Less PDA action here, or maybe it is just too hot in the sun to engage in full-on cuddling.

A new addition to my soundtrack turns on, that of the techno beat music emitting from a cell phone of two tweener girls sitting to my left, along with their carefree sing-a-long. What once was a boom box on the shoulder of hipsters is now a smart phone simply held in hand. The tweener girls, hipsters in their own right with over-sized sunglasses, tube tops, and jangling jewelry. Jingle-jangle with every movement.

Now another young couple approaches, and assume a more appropriate French position, her sitting in front of him in an embrace, cigarette in hand, he kissing her neck.

Two young boys run by, their little brother falling behind, not by lack of energy, only due to his shorter legs. How funny is it to watch little kids run? They don't even think about it, I imagine they just want to get somewhere fast so they just pick up their feet and go. With the toddlers, just learning how to make their body work, it's almost more like a wobbling motion to get from A to B.

The shade of the tree I am using to shield myself from the sun continues to creep back as the sun moves further west--must move blanket again to avoid melting. This brings me closer to the guitar strumming, only a few feet away and now has turned from a duo to a trio. Lucky spot I chose-no singing, no other raucous, just gentle strumming. Must be titled "Sunday afternoon tune," for it fits so well.

Nearer to the pond, I can now see all the kids who enjoy gathering around the water, chasing after pigeons or feeding the wading ducks and swans. Two guys to my left are lying side by side, jean cuffs rolled up and shirts pulled up to expose stomachs to the sun. Gay? I could not tell you. Perhaps a quite acceptable and normal activity for heterosexual males in France. My gay-dar can just be thrown out the window here where men kiss each other upon greeting, carry purses, and sometimes sport tighter clothing than I.

I dozed for a moment to be awoken by a little girl who stumbled upon my leg. Must have lost control when wobbling while running. ha. Not more than 15 minutes has passed, and there are whole new groups of people around me to be observed.

Park life.

To Market We Go

"marché:" Market
"legumes:" vegetables
"le boucher:" butcher
"la viande:" meat
"une pastèque:" watermelon
"melon de l'eau" honeydew melon (literally "melon of water"...confusing!)

There is a great market in Clermont-Ferrand called marché St. Pierre. It is an indoor market, open everyday (excluding Sundays), but on Saturday mornings there is more stuff and people. The last couple of Saturdays Kate and I have gone to the market to buy some good, fresh foods for the following week's meals, plus it is fun to go to the market and see what there is to see.

  I have never seen such a colorful array of fruits and vegetables. I do not know what they do over here but this market houses the most beautiful produce--I have never seen such red tomatoes, bright peppers, or such lovely displays of fresh produce! Anyone heard of purple or orange cauliflower? Even if you are not buying anything, it is fun to just wander around. The first couple of times, we didn't really know how to do it, though. For the fruits and vegetables, there are 3 big "stands" run by different people. The first time we tried to buy something, we were not sure if we should pick it out, where to wait in line, where to pay, etc., so we just stood there for awhile. Amateurs. Now that we have done it a couple times, it's a little better. Typically, you just kind of stand around the area where what you need is, try to make eye contact with the vendor, and be ready to order everything you want. One time I said a "head of lettuce" and the lady thought I said four lettuces so she went to find a big bag to put them in and it was awkward because I really only wanted just one. whoops.

Then there are the meats. Oh, the meats. I am not and likely never will be a vegetarian, so I do not usually have a problem with raw meat. However, I think I am used to a nicer presentation of it, you know, all ready for me to just cook. In France, you know what you're getting because oftentimes, it's all there. For example, poultry. The chickens are plucked but often come with head-on, full beak and all. eeks! There are rabbits in full form (no head, phew!). There are also really big slabs ready to be sliced by the butchers of many different kinds of raw, cured, or ground meat. (saw horse yesterday! "cheval"). The market also has an array of fresh fish, but I do not usually peruse that section too much. Most of the fish come in full form also...with those eyes staring back at you...

The cheese is also present, but it does not stand alone. So many different kinds of cheeses! In this market there are three different cheese stands, filled with all sorts of cheeses. The best though, is the store right outside of the market that is solely dedicated to cheese. When you walk in there, your nose is in for a treat! Wow, that is a smelly place. The smellier the better!

This week's market take: tomatoes, red and white cabbage, yellow peaches, bananas, quetche (mini-plums), red pears, and pork chops.