The First Post

I apologize for the ubiquitous title and kinda late posting, I've been typing these up as we go and didnt want to pay for internet. And Im sorry the pictures arn't working, they will be up ASAP.

Au Canada
Friday: Originally my incentive to fly through Montreal on my way to Paris was purely fiscal, but I realized soon upon arrival that it was the perfect transition into France living. For those of you who don’t know, Montreal is in Quebec Canada meaning there are two official languages (French and English). This may seem nominal, but to someone who has never been in a French speaking country (at least while I knew French) having a little warm-up was appreciated. All of the signs had both languages, but the most useful tools were things I typically consider relatively annoying and mundane: the final boarding calls over the loud speaker, and paying for things. The announcements were first broadcast in French, then directly followed by English, a convenient correction key for the want to be Francophone listening. Secondly, the $2.10 in Canadian money offered some interaction with the Quebecois cashers, and trying to maximize my word per dollar I bought the cheapest thing at three different stores. Did I need 3 packs of gum? No. Did I consider trying to buy a fourth even though I knew I didn’t have the money so I could see if I could talk my way out of the predicament? Yes.
After a lack-luster checking of my passport (he didn’t even turn it the right way) I picked up my complimentary copy of Le Monde (French newspaper) and stepped off North American soil for over 12 weeks. I had forgotten I was technically flying Air France until the in-flight dinner was served; it included the usual, generic chicken and grain hot dish, dinner roll, pâte, an ounce of gouda, a bottle of wine, a bottle of port, and UCGO (unidentified congealed green object)…. Wait, wine? Heeding Dr. Gragson’s jet-lag warning and not wanting my first bottle of wine to be plastic, I offered the wine to the guy next to me. His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas; this is how I discovered I was sitting next to two Frenchmen.
Emmanuel and Michael (pronounced Mee’chelle) are two of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. Long story (like the whole 6-hour flight long) short, they’re two French bankers who live a block from the Arc de Triumpe and who love America. They were kind enough to speak with me in French the whole flight and thus kept me awake the whole flight practicing French. At the end of the flight, they gave me their email address and phone number offering to help me out of a tight spot and show me around Paris if I wanted. Who knows maybe I’ll ask them to take a group of En Francers out to an obscure restaurant at the end of June when we’re in Paris? The arrival and meeting the others went swimmingly, other than the airline loosing Mary’s bag!….
Rêved Up in Paris
Saturday: I thought of this really clever entry title, but really there isn’t that much to say. Our train got delayed until 5PM so we decided to do a (power) walking tour of Paris. Seeing as I didn’t sleep on the plane, this would be nearly two days without sleep so it was like walking through a dream. I got some cool pictures though. And Mary’s bag? got into Pau the next morning, so it ended up being a non-issue!


The Vineyard
Thursday: Today was the end of our three day intensive French lessons. They were really meant for the other members of the group who didn’t speak French before the trip. We’ve been eating lunch at the college cafeteria, does this sound like a two hour, three course, wine bottle event? It is. The past three days did bring two particularly noteworthy activities: The Chateau and The Vineyard.
The Chateau is really old (surprise!): the brick part was built by Richard the Lionheart to look over the ford over the river, the Henry IV expanded the tower into the chateau and eventually Napoleon III moved in for a summer. I learned all of this and some spiffy French jokes in the tour (given all in French mind you!). Luckily one of the French students who I befriended came with us and would explain anything I didn’t understand. It was cool to see the Chateau, but the highlight of the day was clearly eating fresh liver (gras) and sipping wine in an outdoor café while watching the sun set over the Pyrenees.
The highlight of the trip so far has been the trip to the Domaine Nigri Vineyard. This white wine producer seems to specialize in sweeter wines (according to the wife they go well with fish and cheese). We got a tour of the vines, cave (where they keep the barrels), bottler, and finished with a tasting of all their varieties. Just remember the 5S’s: Swirl to Smell, Slurp your Sip and Spit. Their 10 hectares makes roughly 110,000 bottles annually. So I left 109,999 left for the rest of the world.