For lunch today, we had the rest of yesterday's taboulet, ground steak patties with mustard, cheese/bread, fruit (I practiced my apple peeling skills again), and coffee and chocolates. Another great afternoon meal. Afterwards, I took my time getting ready and headed to the bus on my way downtown. It was a little gray out today, but was relatively nice and not too breezy so I was feeling light as a feather on the short walk down the Boulevard to the château. There, we all met up out front (a relatively small group), met our tour guide and headed inside. I have walked by this beautiful piece of unique Pau history many times but have never been inside. I was so excited to go see some MORE history- I love old, beautiful things and could spend so much time slowly admiring them.
The tour guide was bad: he talked too fast and used that casual, hardly says full words kind of french that we learners can't understand and just result to ignoring. At least Ryan was there and he offered up quite a few explanations for those of us who started the french classes at a beginner level and still need some help with fast french. Though today that was all of us. We went from room to room seeing the grandeur of the dining room, welcoming halls, meeting rooms, bedrooms, and just the splendor of a life of luxury. True royalty! Though it is old and the style is now something we can't imagine living with, I could understand the elegance of this place.
The dining hall- now THAT'S a table! I grabbed the edge of it and felt like I was going to break my hand
Something beautiful and masterfully carved
Bonjour Henry IV, and merci for letting us tour your home. :)
Now THAT'S a ceiling
Now THAT'S a fireplace- look at those carvings!
Now THAT'S a bed- and one I wouldn't necessarily want to sleep on!
The courtyard. We came in under those three archways
This was the Queen's quarters, or something like that. It was for an elegant woman, either way, and it was here that i figured out which room I would like. ;)
(I'm sorry it's blurry) There were paintings all throughout the château depicting the life of Henri IV. This one in particular caught my eye; it's name was something like "Henri IV playing with his kids" and I thought it was adorable
Back outside: a couple of gargoyles hanging out to decorate the place
USACers enjoying the well. From the left going around the back: Courtney, Rodney, Andres, Carl, Tyler, Noah, and Joseph
It was just stunning
On the right side of the château there is a gorgeous, perfectly-manicured garden that could possibly be the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland (in my opinion). Now this was a sight!
Me on the side stairs of our château :)
After the tour, everyone was trying to find something to do that didn't involve simply going back home. Somehow or other, I ended up with the group of guys- eh, I've gotten good at handling being the only girl during guy time. Just roll your eyes and ignore them. XD It was me and I think five other guys and we all walked to Place Clemenceau so the guys could buy some food. They don't run on food schedules like the rest of this country. haha. I insisted that we take their food to the Parc Beaumont to eat (because it is beautiful) and so we did. A couple of guys left so it ended up being me, Tyler, Andres, and Jeremiah at the park. We found some little side trails that lead to mounds of rocks, climbed up on one pile, and perched ourselves there to listen to the birds and admire our city.
*Album cover* hahahaha
And amphitheater with a view to inspire any actor or musician
We hung out there for a little while and then decided to walk back to Place Clemenceau: the heart of downtown. There is a café in Clemenceau called Café de l'Europe and I have been wanting to sit at one of their outside tables with a coffee since we got to Pau. Well, today was the day! Me and the guys sat there with drinks and I couldn't have been happier about it. I had a café au lait and it was perfect.
Evening was settling in now and we decided to part ways; I wanted to get home in time for dinner. I took the bus to my stop at the rond point (round about) and on my walk to the house, saw lots of beautiful plants and flowers. I took a picture of the street sign leading to my house and tried to capture the same angle as a few weeks ago. You might remember that the plant behind the sign was stark yellow before, and now it is almost entirely green!
Then it was dinner time. We had the rest of the zucchini soup tonight to start and then had an excellent main course: a terrine of dried prunes, chunks of bacon, and Gruyère cheese. The sweet and savory combination blew my mind! With that we ate a chicorée salad with apples, and had pears covered with vanilla ice cream and hot chocolate sauce for dessert. Mmm mmmm!
Our dinner table
The sweet/savory bread
Apple and endive salad
Sorry for the glare, but you get the idea. :)
Tuesday: Today was an interesting day. The first half of it was fantastic, and then it took a bad turn on my way to my second cuisine course. To start, breakfast was great (as usual) and I spent most of the morning studying for our second exam in Business. I went to class, took the test, and walked out feeling pretty good about it. Plus, I finished it relatively quickly and decided that about three hours of free time was enough to go shopping for shorts and dresses before the cooking class (I wanted to have stuff to wear to celebrate the great Spring weather, AND our coming weekend in Provence). The sun was out, it was a gorgeous day, and I actually really enjoyed shopping by myself.
The Palais de Justice (Courthouse), a truck full of homemade ice cream, and gorgeous vines covered in purple flowers
I went into a couple of different stores, tried on a lot of different things, and eventually settled on a blue and white striped bikini, some shorts, and a purple-flowered sun dress. The thing I was most excited about was a massive black and white striped sunhat that I could not wait to wear on our lunch cruise in Avignon this coming Saturday! I walked up and down a lot of streets (and even ran into Rosie and Chantalle who were doing the same thing I was) and eventually decided that I had done enough damage for one day and headed back to school. There, I had about 45 minutes to kill until my cooking class. I was so excited about my spoils (and the weather was still so nice) that I went into the school bathroom and changed into one of my new pairs of shorts. At about 5p, I started heading towards the building where our class is held. I had a half hour to go, so I just figured I'd take my time walking and would find a bench or some nice place to sit and read while I waited for 5:30p to roll around. I wasn't off the university campus yet, in fact, I hadn't been walking more than 2 minutes when it happened. I was looking at my iPod but had glanced ahead to see what was coming on the ground. There was a steep curb leading down onto the street- I noticed it, knew it was close, and looked back at my iPod. When the curb came, I stepped... but I didn't clear it. The back of my right heel hit the edge of the curb, pulling my toes down and leaving all of my weight (and momentum) to fall on the outside of my right foot. I came tumbling down to hands and knees, scraping my left knee and hitting my palms hard on the ground. The worst part though? I FELT A MASSIVE POP AND RUSH OF FIRE INTO MY RIGHT ANKLE! That was it... I had truly sprained my ankle. The pain came instantly and I was thanking my lucky stars that the only person who had seen all of this go down, decided to keep walking instead of help me when he saw me get up and brush myself off. I did not want to have to deal with people in that moment: I suddenly could not think straight and felt like the only thing that would come out of my mouth if I dared to open it would be curses. Thank God I was very near a short stone wall where I hobbled with as much grace as I could muster, set my bags down, plopped myself down, and used up every ounce of courage to keep my composure together. I felt like crying, but even more so I felt like screaming and breaking down into posture that is not acceptable in public. So I sat there letting my ankle swell and clenching the rest of my body into a stone statue. After a couple of minutes of this, I tried to breathe slowly and clean off my knee and hands. My ankle continued to throb but at least I had a small first aid kit with me (thanks to USAC's list of tips!) and was able to clean my now bleeding left knee cap. It was then, when I pulled out the one bandaid I had with me that I realized this was meant to happen and I should have known it when I left my room this morning: this morning as I grabbed my bags, I saw that bandaid on my desk. I remember asking myself, "where in the heck did that come from?" and decided to take it just in case I should need it. As it turns out... I NEEDED IT.
Needless to say, my ankle ballooned and filled up with liquid fire. I quickly chugged down about 4 Ibuprofen (this was serious pain we're talking about) and waited for that to kick in. About that time, two very sweet USAC girls- Rebecca and Michelle- saw me sitting there bandaging my knee and came over to see if I was okay/what I was doing. I recounted what had just happened- trying to convince myself that it had even happened at all. Seriously, the whole thing happened so quickly and this conversation happened about 5 minutes after my fall- I wasn't even sure if it was real! They hung with me for a few minutes and soon left; probably because I didn't let on how bad I was quickly realizing the ankle injury was. I just really didn't want to deal with the attention and concern right then. So I was alone again. I thought I sat on that little wall for 10 minutes, but I looked down at my watch to see that class would be starting in 5. I knew I was in bad shape but I also didn't want to miss this class. I wasn't sure what to do so I decided to walk extremely slowly and just see what happened; I also needed to get a sense of how bad it was. Well, it was bad. I was able to cross the street and walk half way down the path that leads off of the university, but I just couldn't go any farther. What is worse, I happened upon about 15 USACers playing frisbee who started calling to me to join them. Oh how I laughed at and cursed them in my head! They didn't understand why I wouldn't come out so they came over to me. I still covered up the intensity of my pain and the injury but they got the picture that I was at least hurt and wasn't going to play. All of the guys then went over to their shade tree for water. The two people who stayed behind? Aleca and Jenna. They would see behind my charade. I was talking to them explaining what happened and how bad it hurt when a wave of sickness and approaching black-out came over me. The two of them helped me over to a bench and I decided to quit my silly attempt to make it to class on time. I texted Noah in my class to let him know that I was hurt but I was going to come at some point, and he offered to meet me outside to help me up the stairs when I got there. So there I sat, sucking down water to ward off the sickness and waiting for that merciful medicine to kick in. I could hardly move my ankle, and friends, you can not imagine how upset I felt about this whole stupid thing.
The Ibuprofen eventually kicked in. The fieriness of the pain receded but my ankle was still incredibly swollen and very tender. I was so close to the class now, and the sick feeling was gone, so I decided to hobble as slowly as I needed to to get to the class. It was painful but wasn't as bad as before. I think I got to the building in about 10 minutes; something that should have taken 3. Noah met me outside like he promised but I managed to get up the few steps by myself. As long as I kept my foot flat and didn't turn it in the slightest, it didn't feel too bad. Françoise and Jamie (who wasn't there last week) asked if I was okay and then gently explained what they had already cooked. I was happy to be there and with people who obviously cared that I was hurt, but I wasn't too concerned with what I had missed at that point. I was going to do what I could and would be as happy as ever to eat.
The three of them (Mari wasn't present) had made little zucchini and bacon cupcakes that were already in the oven and had prepared tonight's meat: duck. Yummmmm. What I got to do was help prepare the entrée: tunafish Deviled Eggs, topped with shredded egg yolks. Who would have thought?
Noah shredding the egg yolks
And pretty soon after the eggs, it was dinner time. This was my third duck-eating experience in my life. The first happened in China and that didn't wow me. The second was with USAC when we went to Biarritz, and that was pretty good. But those could never have prepared me for the unimaginable tenderness, and gorgeous flavor of tonight's duck! It was some of the best meat I have ever eaten.
Confit de Canard and Gâteau de Courgette et de Lardon
This was an ultra-satisfying, oober mouth-watering meal! The duck, like I said, was indescribably good; and the zucchini cupcakes were Heavenly in their softness and in the gentle flavor of zucchini mixed with savory bacon. Mmmm! I could eat this again every day and will certainly make it when I get home!
We finished off this incredible meal with dark chocolate cupcakes. The cakes where made with pieces of real chocolate bar stuffed in the batter so there would be a melty surprise inside after they were baked. After that, Françoise poured Crème Anglaise around each cake and we were left to enjoy.
After class, it was time to be brave and get myself home. I had seriously considered calling Christine for a ride, but I did not want to do that and the improvement in (the now numbness of) my ankle tempted me into taking the bus. I didn't want to inconvenience her and I also didn't want to get her too freaked out. I knew the sprain was bad and was taking it seriously, but I also knew that it was probably just going to need ice, rest, and elevation. To give me a little encouragement, God bloomed a stunning tree of cottony-pink flowers right next to my point of departure on this long trek. I took a picture and a breath and began.
Thankfully I didn't have to wait terribly long for the bus, but sitting there for a few minutes in the coming chill of the evening just made my muscles ache. Finally the C13 pulled up and on I went. Stepping up into one of the raised seats like usual was somewhat difficult, and stepping back down again wasn't that fun either. But I was getting close. From my stop at the rond point it is about a 10 minute stroll, 5 minute power-walk to the house. I think I did it in 20 this evening. I also found out on the walk where the pain was originating from: the outside of my ankle just under the ankle bone. I noticed this because of the unevenness of the sidewalks (it's a wonder it took me 3 months to fall!). When I'd step on a bump that turned the outside of my right foot up towards my leg, it pushed the top of my shoe up under my ankle and that was nearly enough to drop me like an anvil in the middle of the street. I decided to walk IN the street where it was flatter and somehow or other, made it to the house. When I got there, the family plus Vittorio were in the middle of dinner. I explained what we cooked, set their treats on the table and then made my confession. Christine immediately went to look for some ice and I put my things away, grabbed my computer and slippers, and came back down to plop on the couch with foot elevated and covered in the ice pack. And that's where I stayed for a good couple of hours.
Before bed, Lionel came out and sat on the couch next to me to watch the news. While there, he offered up his hands to warm my ankle and get the circulation going. So, he had me plop my foot in his lap and he covered it gently with his hands. This unexpected father-daughter type of moment was almost too much! Before bed, I e-mailed my family to explain everything that had happened and that I would talk to them tomorrow to take the run-down of questions and advice.
Et bien, c'est comme ça.
Fromage!
We had to wear these to go inside haha
We were given about an hour-long tour and explanations of the different cheeses in the different holding rooms. The guy explained to us how and why cheese changes in color, texture, and flavor over time; why cheese is left to age; and why the length of time varies with each type of cheese. Here's a brief summary: most types of cheese start out light in color and hard in texture. They are left to age and if they are left in a packaging/holding center like this, they are treated during the aging process. Our guide said that once or twice a week, each cheese is scrubbed with a salt water solution that cleans it, gives it its flavor, and creates a crust. As they age they soften and become creamier inside. They are left in holding rooms (like the one pictured below) where they slowly let off a stream of ammonia. The older the cheese gets, the more its ammonia breaks down and is released. When this guy opened the holding room door, my nose hairs almost burned from such a strong smell of ammonia!
Two of the same cheese: the one on the left is older
Some cheeses are preserved and are given their flavor not from a salt scrub, but from being covered in.... ashes! And it is perfectly edible. Can you believe that?
After the tour and explanations we finally got to taste. We were given four different cheeses, four pieces of bread to eat after each one, and were then told the proper order in which to eat them. We started with the rounded one on the top left. That had a gentle, creamy flavor that was very pleasant. After that we had the goat cheese covered with ashes on the outside. Chèvre is quickly becoming one of my favorite cheeses, and the ashes don't have a taste so I loved this one. Thirdly, we had the large yellow cheese that actually had a sort of sweet tanginess to it and was stronger than the last two. Finally, the cheese with the crust we were told to cut off. My friend Carl ate it before being told this and ate the whole thing. Luckily for him the crust doesn't hurt- it just tastes terrible.
To finish, our guide brought out a big block of Roquefort. Yes! We were actually going to try the real stuff! And raw!
Sorry it's blurry but you get the point. This cheese had big old mold spots in it and they were unexpectedly strong and salty. The white part of the cheese was super creamy and gentle, but it just couldn't balance out the blue. I understand now why people love this cheese, but I couldn't decide if I did too or if I hated it.
When we were done with the tour and our tasting, we were let loose on the cafeteria in the entrance. Everyone who had Business in the EU was heading back to the school together after this for class so we had to find lunch here. I have gotten a little tired of the baguette sandwiches here, so I decided to go with two pieces of Quiche Lorraine from the bakery. They were good but the ham/bacon was too fatty and chewy for my tastes.
We finished lunch off with coffee from the coffee stand, and then it was time to walk back to the bus.
As our group was walking back, we saw the bus pull up about a block away. Well of course, everyone started running towards it to not miss it, but me? I was still hobbling! Running was absolutely out of the question and I just hoped and prayed that the amount of us needing to get on would hold up the bus just enough for me to make it. I was so lucky at this point to be walking with my friend Tyler. This guy realized that we were not going to make it walking at my injured pace, so he picked me up with my bag and all, and ran. Well we made it- incredibly! I made sure to give Tyler a hug and a "you're my hero" when we disembarked in downtown Pau.
Well we all made it to class alive and well. After our two hours of spring fever, we were finally let loose into the sunshine. Today was the day of my last English lesson with Lucille and Emile and I only had a little bit of time after class to relax outside before needing to head back downtown to meet them. I got to the Parc Beaumont and was struck by the beauty of the day: the mountains were as clear as ever, the sun was so present that I was sweating, I was wearing my new dress, kids were getting rides on the little train, and there was a truck parked nearby selling ice cream. Well, I had to go for it! And why not? I got a cone with one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of strawberry. It was perfection.
The view from Parc Beaumont
My and my ice cream! (and my new dress)
When I got to the "-ile" threesome, I explained to Cécile that I was injured- just so she knew in advance and could ensure that I would not become a human jungle gym for Emile. We commenced to the lesson right away and Cécile captured the moment. She took so many pictures that her memory card filled up, and even video recorded each kid reading "Green Eggs and Ham" in its entirety. It was a lot of fun. :)
Sitting on the grass, teaching English, and hearing the local orchestra practice in the concert hall
Practicing pronunciation
Lucille and Emile [and my injuries]
It was a great lesson and I was sad to say goodbye. But on the car ride to my house, Cécile gave me a wonderful idea: she wanted to know if there were any girls Lucille's age where I live who might be interested in corresponding with her. YES! I love this idea! I'm sure I can find a few girls who would love to do this. These kids will be able to stay in my life a little bit now. :)
Cécile drove me all the way to the park that runs just on the side of my house, given the state I was in and all. It was very nice... and well appreciated. It was still early enough in the evening that one could burn under the sun, and I decided to lay out in a long chair with a book under the overhang on the front porch for a little bit. I ended up laying there until I got really drowsy, and Lionel's arrival from work snapped me to attention. He was happy to see me relaxing but definitely poked a little fun my way with jokes about my pathetic state. He suggested that I take my book and chair to the backyard where it was more private and I could soak up a little sun. I think I laid there for about half an hour, not reading, and nearly falling asleep. It was perfect. I stretched and came inside about 15 minutes before dinner to slap a little ice on my ankle. We sat down to dinner not too long after that, and we got to eat outside this evening. There wasn't a soup tonight, but our main course made up for that: spinach, tomato, and cheese lasagna with a spinach salad. Mmm mmm!
During dinner, Lionel went into the house to get his bird call so he could communicate with the happy orchestra accompanying our dinner. Yes, I am totally serious.
We finished with the usual dessert and I made sure to go with raspberry preserves again; the time is coming where I won't be having this every night and I want to stock up on the flavors!
After dinner I skyped with my mom, Spencer, and Sabrina (dad was at work) and gave them the update on my ankle status. It is always wonderful to hear their four voices. :)
Thursday: I woke up before 10a today, went down and had my breakfast (coffee with Nutella-covered wheat bread, Nutella-covered white bread, and butter/raspberry-covered sweet bread), and then attempted to read for Business in the EU. As usual, that didn't get very far. I ended up getting myself the rest of the way ready and then went through the house opening up all of the windows to let in the fresh, warm air. I pulled a chair into the backyard, turned the classic radio station up loud enough to hear it outside, and then hoped that I would be able to focus on my darn textbook that way. I read a little bit, but mostly I was just enjoying the sun on my skin and that drowsy feeling you get when Nature seems to be hugging you. I came in about 45 minutes later to put some ice on my ankle. It was still very swollen and hurt, but I was trying my best to take it easy and just go one day at a time. Soon after, Christine and Lionel got home for lunch. Today we started with a wonderful cold salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, and black olives. Then we ate two Strasbourg sausages (the hot dog tasting things we had with sauerkraut the other day) each and had these with sautéed zucchini and mushrooms. And mustard, of course. We finished off with fruit (I had a banana) and then it was time to head to class.
I walked [slowly] to my bus stop, saw the bus take his usual turn before coming to my stop, and ended up waiting there for about 15 minutes because the bus never came! Grr. I knew that I was in no shape to walk to the university so I just waited for the next bus and got to class late. Ryan understood and I was able to jump right into class from that point. It was kind of a fun class: today we went over French cultural and business characteristics and it was all very interesting to learn about. After class, I had my last French lesson with Cécile and she kindly dropped me off downtown on her way to pick up the kids. From there I met Aleca in a cheap clothing store called Eurodif to look for some last minute things for the coming weekend in Avignon. Together we walked through a few great stores looking for sundresses and finally found the one: Promod. In there, I found an adorable red sundress that would go perfectly with my new black and white striped hat and also may have found my dream black dress. It is classicly cut, flares a little at the bottom and comes with a red belt. SO okay with these purchases!
When the stores started to close, we decided to head to the train station to buy our tickets. Unfortunately, there was a huge line when we got there and we just figured we'd be okay to do it in the morning before our departure. From there we said good evening and I took the bus home for dinner.
Dinner tonight was a fantastic pasta salad that you see below, and a platter of cold meats with little onions. It was light, flavorful, and perfect after a warm, long day like this.
I am soooo lucky =)
We finished with the usual. I hope you aren't getting bored of this... because I definitely am not. =)
Tomorrow: AVIGNON!!
