Angers - (Pronounced An-j not Angers)

We finally got out and did something touristy this weekend! Angers was a place I wanted to visit since the last time I was here (Sophie had studied there and my Professor studied and teaches there). We (Emma, Christine and Jenny) took an early train on Saturday and arrived in Angers where the weather had luckily changed from rain to cold and sunny. We started with a trip to the Office du Tourisme and a little cafe to grab some caffeine and warm up. Then we began our day of tourism.
The Chateau d'Angers is more of a fortress. It was a nice change from the more royal and fancy chateaux in the Loire area. It was a nice mix of beautiful stone walls and architecture and geometric gardens. There is also the Tapestry of the Apocalypse, which apparently is really amazing - but I'm not a huge fan of tapestry. I find it amazing they've kept them intact for so long, but other than that - not so much. I think there are much more amazing and beautiful things from long ago.
After the Chateau we visited the Cathedral, a must for any trip to a French town. It was beautiful, like most, had a beautiful carved (I don't know what - place where people go up and sing) and organ. Since it was Saturday there was only people visiting it, so it was pretty quiet.
After lunch, we visited the main site I wanted to see in Angers. The Carre Cointreau is the museum of Cointreau - the original triple sec. If anyone has had a real margarita or high class Cosmo - this is the liqueur they're putting in. It is made from the oils in orange peels (both sweet and sour oranges) and is the first brand-name liqueur of its sort. We had to take a bus to get there and it took all afternoon, but it was worth it. Like most liquor museums it gave us a run down of the making and the history. They had all the marketing pictures from the 1775 when it was started. They also had all the bottles of counterfeits who had tried to use Cointreau's unique bottle style and label. Of course, the best part was the end when we got to try some. We started off with it pure, then with ice, then the bartender showed us how to make two of their cocktails (they're trying to market it now in order to get more brand recognition). We made a Cointreau-politan, which is Cointreau, lemon juice and cranberry juice shaken like a martini. Delicious. Then they gave us a parting recipe book and a breathalyzer for the driver. We didn't have a driver, so I tried it. After completing the test (after a few false starts and difficulties) it showed that I was apparently just fine to drive. Unfortunately, it wasn't until hours later when retelling the story that we realized I had misread the directions and completely ruined the test and results. I guess those are my results right there. We took the evening train back to Tours and passed the rest of the weekend back in our "normal" assistant lives. (PS Thank you to Jenny for some pictures with me in them!)

Loches Sous La Neige

When I arrived back from my winter vacation, it had started to snow in France. We had one day of snow that lasted more than a week because of the freezing temperatures. It was sunny and beautiful all week, but because it was so cold the snow didn't budge. I had never seen snow last that long without it snowing again. Now it is wet and rainy, though they've forecasted more snow this week. Last time, the buses for school didn't run the entire week, so each day at school was pretty boring. I'm hoping the panic doesn't set in again this week if it does freeze. Its a different experience living in the country, because 60% of our students are bused in from small towns. When the buses don't run, the in-town kids know that the majority of students won't be there, so they don't come either, but the teachers are required (except if absolutely unable) to show-up. Anyway, it was interesting to see Loches in the snow. Especially this fountain...

Grevin' (Greve = Strike)

As you may be aware, France is famous for its strikes. They are much different than the strikes we're used to in the United States. The most prominent in my memory is teachers' strikes, because I would not have school for weeks while the teachers' went on strike until they got their demands or worked out a compromise. In France, at least in the schools, there is more than one union, so its not always a unified movement. Strikes are usually organized for one day, to show the disapproval of something the government has done. In this case, Sarkozy is just screwing things up left and right - he's kind of like Bush. They are reforming the school system here, taking away teaching jobs and trying to get other teachers to work more hours in place of having co-workers (sound familiar?). Usually the teachers' strikes just mean I have no class for a day and then it all goes back to normal...except we talk about the cuts every single day.

Since I've been here there have also been various other strikes, like AirFrance pilots which disrupted many travelers and the garbage men in Orleans, which meant piles of garbage on the streets (those lasted more than one day I believe and therefore in my mind are more effective - because it forces negotiation). On January 29th there was a nation-wide public and private general strike to show the government that the people are not happy. I got permission from the school to not come to school, because I found out that neither teachers I worked with that day would be there. I thought it would be much more interesting to attend the manifestation (protest) in Tours to see what it was all about.

It started around 10, and we arrived to film (Emma is a journalist for her university) and see how they got organized. It was freezing! It was kind of like a parade, with each union/group organizing in the middle street (there are side streets along the main road - for parking and smaller vehicles) and then starting the march towards the end of the main street. It was flat, so it was hard to see how many people were there - but it was a lot. We waited around an hour before heading forward ourselves, with some of the teachers from Loches. And there were lots of people behind us. Many people asked me if this was my first strike/protest or if we had these in America. Christine is from Philadelphia and she said it isn't very often to have a protest like this. I was reminded of my high school days, marching from GHS downtown for different causes ranging from the WTO Conference to the annual MLK Day March. I was proud of my Seattle leftist roots. We left once we reached Place Jean Jaures to go get some lunch and warm up - yes, we were not real activists - we played the "not really French" card and decided we'd done our part. On the way back to Christine's we passed by her school, which had been barricaded early that morning by the students - in an attempt to close the school. If they can't get in, then they're not liable for being absent. We heard one kid that was hanging around the blocked entrance say to his friend who was asking his whereabouts (via cell phone) that he was guarding the barricade. Pretty great day for experiencing French culture.