If you're wondering why I haven't written a post for the past 10 days, it's because I've been keeping pretty busy. It seems that it's just hit me that I only have 3 weeks left (tomorrow) until I leave Bordeaux and start my 24-day trek around France, and I'm starting to panic. Thus, this last week or so has been jam-packed with things to do practically every spare afternoon and evening. Instead of boring you with a list of all my day-to-day activities, I'll only talk about the most exciting experiences I've had, namely the trips!
So last Friday I got up super-early to catch a train to Arras, a city in Northern France in the region called Flanders. While there I got to visit the Vimy Ridge Memorial park, the place where Canadians helped the French push back the German troops during WWI. It was a moving experience to be there, to see some of the trenches, and to see the totally uneven land deformed so much from trench warfare. I think you can see a bit of what I'm talking about in the pictures below. Being there made me feel like I could have been back home again, what with all the Government of Canada signs and Canadian flags everywhere. I felt proud to be Canadian, even if I was a little homesick.
Also while I was in Arras, I visited the Jardin des Boves, and underground tunnel system that's existed since the Middle Ages, that is decorated every year with tons of plants and flowers. It was a very interesting tour. You'll see a picture of part of that below too. At the end of my first day there, I tried to go to sleep in the hostel, but right outside my window in the main square, there was a huge fair going on, so of course the music and French announcers were booming until 1am. But what better place to put a fair than a big open Place downtown? It is France, after all. But notice the beautiful Flemish-influenced architecture of all the matching facades of the buildings in the picture below!
The next morning, I caught another train to Bruges. In case you're wondering, yes, that's in Belgium. I love how close everything is here! It was just a 2-hr ride to get there and suddenly I found myself among Flemish speakers, Belgian chocolatiers, canals, and windmills lining the river! Bruges is a beautiful city. While I was there I got to visit a museum detailing the history of chocolate, a basilica where the Holy relic of the blood of Christ is housed (apparently it's really the blood of Jesus! Imagine that!), a lace-making demonstration with some elderly ladies, and a medieval hospital.
After having my fix of Belgian culture (but I didn't eat enough of the chocolate, that's for sure!), I headed back to Bordeaux, but I stopped for the afternoon in Amiens (back in France), where I visited the really impressive Jules Verne house (the author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in 80 Days among others) and then got a tour of France's largest cathedral. I got home late and had a much-needed sleep back on campus in my bed.
Apparently I couldn't stay on campus for long though, because on Wednesday 3 of my friends and I decided to go on a day trip to the Pays Basque, which is just south of here. When I went to Spain back in January I was in the Pays Basque too, but this time I got to visit a Basque culture museum in Bayonne to learn a bit more about their culture and language, which is super-interesting from a linguist's point of view... and I think I can safely say after taking so many linguistics courses that I am a linguist. It was a beautiful day so we walked around Bayonne a bit and bought some regional specialties to try on our picnic in the park, including Country Ham, a particular cheese, and a Basque cake. Mmmm...
Then as if one city wasn't enough, we took a 30-min bus ride to Biarritz, which is a lot classier but where there's not much to do except lie on the beaches and appreciate the view. So that's what we did! And it was free too. This is the third time I got to see the ocean, and it's still amazing every time. After spending a couple of hours there relaxing, it started to rain a bit, so we left to go find a chocolatier, because there are also regional chocolate specialties that we wanted to try. After this, we headed to the train station to make our way home to Bordeaux.
So, as you can see, I've done quite a bit of traveling this week, and I plan to do a lot more in the weeks to come too. My friend Esther and I were just discussing today when we're going to visit the caves in the Dordogne, a region close to here. And I think next weekend I'm going to go to Roquefort, where the world-famous cheese is made to see how they make it. Then on May 2nd I start my Tour de France with my friend Alannah. I'm pumped!
Other than all the traveling plans, I am still in school. One of my profs decided to move up our "exam" (or should I say our devoir sur table, or in-class assignment) to next Thursday instead of the Thursday after, which is apparently not a problem for anyone. That's what they do here. I can't imagine any prof at the UofW doing something like that, because all due dates and tests are pretty much planned out at the beginning of the term. I mean it's happened, but not on a week's notice, and I guess I just don't expect it as much back home. Nevertheless, I have my DEFLE exams next week too, which I can't really study for, and after that I have 2 more devoirs sur table and then I'm done my degree! I really can't believe the term is almost over. It's gone by way too fast and now I actually have to think about going home and getting back into my old life. I also have to think packing and selling my frigo. It seems like just last month that I bought the frigo! And as for packing, well, I don't really have to do it before I start my Tour de France in May, but it'll be easier to do it now instead of waiting until I come back to Bordeaux for one day near the end of May. I'm starting to worry a little that I may have bought too many souvenirs... Oh well, they'll get home one way or another!
Well, that's all I have right now. Below are some pictures of my trips. The ones I haven't mentioned yet are as follows: part of the Canadian monument at Vimy, called Canada Weeping for her Children, sheep at the Vimy park (they keep the grass trimmed, since it's so hard to maneuver a lawn mower over it), the workshop in the chocolate museum where we saw a trilingual demonstration of how chocolates are made, a beautiful bed of flowers by the river in Bruges, my friends taking a picture of a cathedral in Bayonne (what tourists!), the cool staggered and sloping apartments along the river in Bayonne (painted in the Basque flag colours), and me on the beach in Biarritz.
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