Wednesday: Today was a great day- we had our final USAC lunch together and Denis and his family arrived! To start the day off, I was up at a more reasonable time and was able to eat breakfast mostly with company. Christine was running around like a madwoman (once again) cleaning the house for her brother and his family. And then after breakfast, I did the funniest little chore for her: she asked me to record myself reading a short story in English so Guilhem could hear the proper pronunciation. It was funny how awkward the whole thing was- Christine showed me how to work the recorder, I helped her fix a couple of minor errors in the written story, and then she went to her room so I wouldn't have an audience while I did this. haha! I messed up a couple of times and had to start over. I even found myself cracking up at the way I had said something more than once. It was a fun little exercise, and I was more than happy to do this for my favorite French brother. :)
In the early afternoon I headed out to find the restaurant where we met for our final lunch: La Brasserie Royale. It used to be called Le Champagne but the Champagne region challenged the restaurant and they were legally required to change their name. This is a very French thing: Champagne is only that if it was produced inside a certain region by a specific method; the same is true for Roquefort cheese, Dijon mustard, Bordeaux wine, etc. I finally found the restaurant after a gorgeous stroll down the Boulevard des Pyrenées. It was sunny and beautiful today- more of Pau's final farewell to us. Lunch was fantastic: we had a whole room to ourselves and they managed to squeeze all 60 or so of us comfortably in a back room. We had a great Cobb-style salad, chicken with crispy potatoes, and cake. The room was loud with all of the excited conversation about our coming trip to Paris, and also with farewells. A few of us are not going on the field trip, so today was actually also a day of parting for some.
The salad
Chicken and potatoes
Half-way through, we all went outside to take a group picture :)
(I'm in the second row from the top, third white shirt in from the right)
The front of the restaurant
Dessert
When the meal was done, Robina passed around a very full basket of Easter chocolates for all of us to share. Then her and Ryan took turns telling us how great this semester has been, how they've enjoyed meeting all of us, and how they will miss us. We even peer-pressured their French assistant (a huge hit with the American gentlemen in our group) Pauline to speak. She said the same sorts of things- it was all very touching and was sort of the segue into saying "goodbye" to those who left today
Easter chocolates
After lunch, most everyone split to go pack, hang out, and whatnot. But for those of us in Business in the EU we had our final class: a tour of the Chamber of Commerce building for the Béarn region. Once inside, we had to wait for our tour guide, but that was alright: there were statues, model cars, and pictures all around the lobby from different years of the Grand Prix to entertain us! When I come back to Pau, I'll be sure to visit during Grand Prix season. :)
About 10 minutes later, a young intern greeted us and lead the way into a conference room where she passed out booklets full of information, flyers, and catalogs that have to do with bringing tourism to Pau, marketing the city, etc. She talked to us for a little while, explaining what the Chamber of Commerce and Industry is and does, and how it serves the Béarn region. She took some questions and we went around the room introducing ourselves. Eventually, another woman joined us and we quickly realized we were speaking to one of the more seasoned staff members. She was a German native who speaks German, French, and English fluently, and she had an awful lot to say about where we were. I got the sense that she is taken pretty seriously around the office.
The Chamber of Commerce building
A lot of what they were talking about went a little over my head, but I tried to listen intently and pay attention. About an hour later, we were free to go for the day- Business in the EU had come to a close! Sadly, but not surprisingly, the sunshiny weather had disappeared while we were inside and had been been replaced by gray clouds and light sprinkles. Zut! I had planned to walk down the Boulevard after our tour to finally go inside the beautiful Palais Beaumont and I was worried about possibly getting caught in a downpour if I did that. One of the guys from my class, and avid frisbee player, Tyler wanted to come too so I just decided to go for it anyways. I had my umbrella... hopefully that would help should the rain come.
Tyler and I walked down the Boulevard to Palais Beaumont in slowly increasing drizzle. When we finally made it inside it was officially raining. Needless to say we killed as much time as possible indoors hoping for it to let up. Inside the Palais there were all sorts of interesting things to see: there's a tea garden on one floor, a big ballroom on another, a museum exhibit about air travel and Pau, and the local casino. The two of us looked through the little gallery and found a bunch of pictures and quotes from Pau's rather long history in air travel. It was neat to see this little part of Pau I had never visited before.
The ballroom in the Palais Beaumont
But, this wasn't enough to keep us intrigued for long. Finally, we decided to step out into what was now a downpour. Another friend, Steve, had his host dad's house to himself for the day and invited us to stop by. When we got there I felt a little out of place: it was Steve, Gavin, Tyler, and I.... definitely guy time. haha I hung out there for a little bit talking with them but felt like I needed to head home to meet all of the family. The rain had finally let up for the moment and we hurried to take advantage of the dryness (the guys walked with me to the campus to play some frisbee).
Pretty house outside of Steve's place
On the walk from my bus stop
The gorgeous flowers in front of my house
I finally made it home, a little damp but sound nonetheless. Naturally, all of the family was there when I arrived so there were a lot of introductions. Once I had a chance to put all of my things away and freshen up, I placed myself downstairs in the midst of all of the commotion rather than hide in my room from these new faces. I helped Aude prepare the table for dinner, talked with Denis about San Francisco (this is the brother who did the cross-America Greyhound Bus trip with Christine back in the day), and watched the boys play. Guilhem is such a show-off around his cousins; he challenges Lionel even more to prove how tough and brave he is to face the man of the house. Which is all just too funny for me...
We had a nice dinner that started off with Christine's new favorite carrot and ginger soup. We had a light main course of deli meats, rotisserie chicken pâté, and endive salad. We finished with Christine's spectacular apple layer cake!
After dinner I helped Lionel put the dishes in the washer. While we were working, I tried again to insist that him, Christine, and Guilhem come stay with me and my family in California as soon as possible (I've been pestering them about this over the past couple of weeks). He told me that it won't be possible this summer but they will truly try to do it next year. =D He also said that I am welcome to come stay with them whenever I should like, and so is my family. "Like with the few other students we really take to, you are welcome here on an invitation anytime." =,)
I tried my best to claim the bathroom to take my shower this evening but there were an awful lot of bodies needing the sink and shower tonight. Eventually I got my turn and then I shut myself away to attack the rest of my packing. Around 9:30p a happy realization: it will indeed be possible to shove everything I own into these bags! I am definitely going to have at least one overweight bag flying home but at least it will all make it home with me.
When I was done packing I got to blogging. I realized tonight that I probably won't get caught up like I had planned before I leave Friday morning. Oh well... c'est comme ça. While I was online I saw that Maÿlis commented me on facebook. She asked if I am coming to Paris, for how long, and would I like to meet up with her? Of course! Maÿlis has a little apartment in Paris, and after getting her cell number from Christine she said I should call her to meet up for dinner or a drink next week! Whoopi! And so concludes another day in one of my favorite places in the world.
Thursday: MY LAST DAY IN PAU! =(( Today was odd: I felt on the verge of tears or intense laughter all day long. The sharp realization that this was it, my last full day in this wonderful place was very clear in my mind from sunup to sundown. I looked at everything, every face, every detail with strong clarity all day; desperately trying to memorize the last little tidbits before I have to leave. That same sentiment seemed to hang in the air around Lionel and Christine as well, and the three of us had this unspoken, shared sadness in our eyes every time we looked at each other today.
I ate breakfast today with Denis, Aude, and their three sons. Afterwards I got dressed and ready to go on a little outgoing with Christine and Denis. The three of us went to the last thing I really wanted to see in Pau: the English mansions with the best view of the Pyrenées mountains. Pau outdid itself today and kissed me with sun and hugged me with warm breeze all day. The view of the mountains and those beautiful mansions was just too stunning in that light-
A great way to start off an outstanding day
Mansion 1
Mansion 2
Mansion 3
A pretty Basque house
We lingered there for 10 minutes or so and then Christine asked if I wanted to go with her and Denis to Les Halles to buy some fresh vegetables. Yes of course!! Before stopping at the market, Christine needed to run into her optician's office to pick up her new prescription sunglasses. While we were there, Lionel called. What I gathered after is that he left some paperwork in Christine's car (which was with us) and he needed it basically right then. He was leaving for a work trip for the rest of the day and could not leave without those papers. Oh you should have seen Christine's face when she hung up the phone- utter irritation! It was lucky that Denis was there, because is a naturally calm person and he gently suggested that he go start the grocery shopping across the street at Les Halles while Christine and I waited for her glasses. It was so hilarious listening to her fume over Lionel's forgetfulness as we waited for a clinician to make little adjustments to her glasses.
Finally, she had her new sunglasses and we were sprinting across the lot to Les Halles. I have heard about Les Halles on early Saturday mornings but neglected to go see it for myself. Luckily, this little thursday morning outing gave me a taste of the hustle and bustle.
Les Halles (you can see Christine off to the left in her white pants walking towards her brother Denis)
The air conditioned section
Christine found everything she needed and then we were flying down the busy streets to get the car home to Lionel. Denis and I looked around while Christine drove hoping to find the papers but never found anything. We figured Lionel would find them once we got to the house...
Well, we pulled in, Christine shouted to Lionel that we were home (she was still pretty frustrated with him at this point), and he went out to search the car. I did my best to fade into the walls for the next 15 minutes or so... Lionel found nothing in the car. We hurried and sprinted through all of the morning for nothing. Him and Christine went all around the house searching as their voices quickly escalated until they were shouting at each other- a total first from my experience. Lionel was very late for is meeting but they couldn't find the papers anywhere. He eventually found them but it wasn't enough to quench the blaze in Christine's face- I had never seen her so put out before. I suppose it's a good thing he left for the day... I think she needed a break from him.
When things calmed down around the house, we started moving things to the backyard for lunch. Christine outdid herself once again, serving a stunning Moroccan-style salad topped with oranges and a wonderful chicken dish for the entrée (she told me she prepared this because she remembered I really liked it the first time she made it). We ended lunch with a gorgeous cake-shaped block of vanilla and raspberry ice cream. It was all so delicious
Lunch in the backyard!
Christine's Moroccan salad complete with mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs, and oranges
Also Moroccan: tangy lemon chicken and couscous
All of us: Me, Rémi, the cousin who's name I just can't remember, Guilhem, Bruno, Aude, Christine, and Denis taking the picture
Dessert: fabulous vanilla and raspberry ice cream
After lunch, I was going through my room throwing a few more things in my luggage that I won't need until sometime tomorrow in our hotel, when I saw my house key. Uh oh... here come the tears! I had to finally do the act that made this parting all the more final and "turn in my key." When I gave it to Christine she took it, looked away, and we both teared up. Ugh... this is going to be hard...
A little while later, Christine asked if I wanted to join her and Denis to take the boys to play tennis (Aude was off to visit Lourdes for the rest of the day). Why not?! We took them to a local facility that had soccer fields, tennis courts, and the like. I think we spent a solid hour+ watching them play.
Guilhem was so funny today: he's very competitive so he became nearly red in the face every time he made a mistake. He was truly very frustrated, but I couldn't help but chuckle at his muffled curses.
Smack!
Can you believe this day still isn't done? After tennis, we all went for a drive over to Pau's kayaking facility. Some USACers have mentioned this place before but as far as I know no one has actually done it. It was neat to finally get to at least see it.
Family: Bruno, Christine, Denis, Rémi, Guilhem, Other cousin (sorry!)
I think we walked around the course and watched people go down for at least another hour. Eventually we were all getting hungry and tired so we headed home to get ready for dinner and say hi to Lionel (Christine had cooled off by now). For my last dinner in this house, I had all kinds of anticipation trying to guess what it would be. But it ended up being completely simple; and that made it totally right. We had the rest of Christine's fabulous soup to start, and then we shared a delicious asparagus loaf, salad, and the all-time favorite... yogurt and raspberry preserves. In between courses Lionel showed off the sweet bread he made for tomorrow's breakfast... just for me. :) It was the perfect way to end this perfect day.
The table set
Lionel's breakfast bread =)
The lovely asparagus loaf
After dinner, I slowly went the through the motions of wiping off the table, setting out the breakfast ware, and getting the tray all set for the morning. I recognized that this was the last time I would be doing any of this on this trip, and that made the mundane seem suddenly precious. I was in the middle of having all of these thoughts when I could feel someone watching me. I looked up to see Christine and Lionel standing side by side, hands behind their backs, stalking slowly towards me with sly looks on their faces. "J'ai peur!" (I'm scared!), I said. And without pausing they pulled three different gifts out and handed them to me. One was a bag of very pretty Easter chocolates, one was a jar of Lionel's raspberry jam (my favorite), and the last I had to unwrap. Lionel said, "this one we hope will encourage a passion we see developing in you." With the hugest lump in my throat I tore the paper off of a little French cookbook full of recipes. I didn't have enough in me to keep the tears from coming. Without seeing anything she was pointing at I let Christine show me how this book is full of little tips and tricks; something she is hoping will be of use to me. We were all overcome. I went to each of them finally prepared for the typical French embrace (a kiss on each cheek), so was all the more moved when I was pulled into a strong hug by each instead. Well, you get the idea. Christine and I cried- hard- and I wasn't really sure how to end the moment... or if I really wanted to...
Eventually, it was time for bed. Somehow we all straightened ourselves up to go off to our separate duties (Lionel to his reading, me to the last of my packing, and Christine to go fight with a Guilhem who refused to sleep anyway but with his chatty cousins). It was hard to pack at this point; every darn little thing suddenly seemed special to me, even my shampoo and conditioner. I was having a hard time throwing things away and packing up the last of it. I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the way I went from being home sick to sick at the thought of leaving Pau. I still cannot wait to hug my family and step back into my real home for the first time, but right now all of that excitement has been forced to take a backseat...
I talked to my mom on Skype for a little while tonight, and that was comforting. We talked while I packed so I had something to distract me. Once I was showered, teeth brushed and mostly just ready for bed, I decided to say bye to her. The next part was hard: I had to set out my host family's parting gift on my now empty dresser. I bought part of their gift back when we visited Verdier Chocolatier, the other part Lionel and Christine helped me with- it was a printed picture of the four of us up in the mountains last month. Lastly, I hand wrote a note to the three of the them. In a way, it was like a love letter: I thanked them for everything they have given me and for welcoming me so thoroughly into their home. And I signed it: "à chaque personne, je t'aime" (to each person, I love you). I didn't write it through tearless eyes....
Their gift
I tried to blog a little but didn't get through more than one post. I wasn't in the right frame of mind for that, and that's okay. It will get done when it gets down. For now, my bags are packed, my room is as it was on January 3rd, and it is time for me to sleep. Tomorrow will be hard too- but that only proves how blessed I have been in my time here.
My room at the end of the day- bye bye bedroom. =,(
