Frog Blog

i'll probably be peppering my entries with little things i don't want to forget about living here. like how my fridge gargles/grumbles really loudly after its fridge cooling cycle. or the sound my radiator makes when it goes on-- "ton-ka-TINK." i can hear it tinking on and off in the evenings, as it's still cool enough outside to need a little "chauffage."

it should be beautiful in this region tomorrow-- sunny and in the 60s. perfect traveling weather. i'm debating whether or not i'll go anywhere for the day-- i told my kids i'd most likely go to a place called charleville and they all said, "ugh, why? it's so boring!!" a couple professors explained that the area used to be very poor and full of factories that have since closed down, giving it an industrial feel-- therefore, not much to see.

i feel a need to do... something with all this time on my hands, but at the same time i feel weary of traveling-- it's expensive and i'm weary of showing up in another random, nondescript french town and spending the day by myself. i really, really enjoy alone time-- i absolutely need it for my well being, but i'm tired of experiencing things alone. and in most of these nondescript french towns, there is not much new to experience-- it's the same shops and chain cafes, the same vendors selling waffles. it's embarrassing to even write this because it's like admitting to myself that i've lost some adventure edge. i think i've just lost the rosy hue to my glasses...

i went to epernay instead of charleville last saturday and had a really fabulous time. champagne drunk is such a different kind of drunk for me-- it's giggly and bubbly and elegant at the same time. epernay is a lovely little town full of windy streets and little shops. it helped that saturday was sunny and about 72 degrees, without a cloud in sight. i wandered around, had some lunch (which i usually hate doing alone-- it's depressing-- so i bought a tiny notebook for writing and actually had a really cool waiter who looked out for me, which always helps) then headed to moet & chandon for a taste and tour. b told me i should go whole hog and get as many tastes as possible, so i did, because, really, when will i ever drink moet again? it's so expensive in the us, and not much better here. there was no discount for buying from the source-- a basic bottle of moet is 38 euros wherever you go in france.

so the tour. first of all, the grounds were lovely-- it's a beautiful, classy old building with a velvet sitting room, newspapers to read while you wait, tours in umpteen languages (some belgians in front of me could choose between dutch or flemish), a stunning garden in the back. moet is loaded, no big surprises there. the tour was short but sweet. once you've toured one cave, you've essentially toured them all, so i was glad not to linger too long. i was ready to taste.

i chose the "decouverte tour" which was three tastes for 21 euros. i was hoping for a little nip of dom perignon they didn't offer it-- i can't blame them since it retailed in their gift shop for about 100 euros for a non-vintage cuvee. i saw a dom in my birth year for 450 euros, and a 1962 dom for 790 euros. whoo-hoo! my three options were the standard brut (tasted lovely and lemony but surprisingly... standard), the premier cru brut (nutty and layered, got better after about 10 minutes) and the rose brut, which was by far the best-- so refined and smooth. i met a girl and her mom-- she's doing the same teaching program as me but in paris. it was nice to share a drink with someone. they poured a full glass, too, so i had three glasses of champagne in front of me and a free afternoon. i didn't think i was that drunk until i realized that i was laughing out loud to myself walking down the street and almost ran into a pole and a bus stop shelter. yeah! nothing like being half shnookered in the middle of the afternoon on the avenue de champagne. really, there's nothing like it. it was divine.

i booked a train back home-- it was the milk run train and i had a car all to myself plus windows that rolled down. i spent a half hour with my head out of the window taking pictures of the countryside. it was amazing-- one of my favorite experiences in europe this year. it's dizzying and freeing to be in a train ambling through vineyards, the wind in my hair, hoping my glasses don't fly off my face.

i'm so glad i went. i have to do it more often-- get out of this town for a change of fucking scene. pop calls it the kinetic energy problem-- it takes energy to get up and move and keep moving! but the benefits are worth it.

after getting back home i met some friends at a cafe in the center of town and nursed a coke for three hours before dinner. this is why i came to europe, to sit as long as you want in a cafe, not be hassled by waiters, watch the world go by. that 3 euro coke is totally worth it.

i've been sick again-- bronchitis again-- and am about to leave for a week's worth of vacation in the south, with the sun, so my posts will most likely be spotty for some time. i only have a week of school after vacation and then i'm finished, save for a trip to scotland with the school. but i am hoping to befriend the internet cafes along the way...

school is still closed, so i'm taking advantage of my free 30 mintues of internet a day at the local library. it's a lovely place-- all modern and glass-- with a fabulous view of the cathedral. i'm here checking out some books and enjoying a sunny day (er, indoors).

returned from the south of france tuesday evening. had a blast. H met up with me for half of it so i had a good mix of alone time and buddy time. the weather was good mostly, but hot enough one day that i was sweating in the sun at a beach full of topless bathers (most of which i wish had put their tops back on). i didn't have my suit so i swealtered in jeans and a black shirt. it was fabulous.

i can safely say that being on a put-put milk run train watching the ocean and small villages built into the mountainside is one of my top three favorite things to do of all time. i could be on that train all day and not get bored. it's cheap, beautiful, calming and puts everything into perspective. reminds me of the beauty of this world.

the people in the south are so, so, so nice. so much nicer than up here. on the tgv from antibes to paris, i ended up sitting across from a big group of people on their way to some reunion-- they got on in aix-en-provence and were all in the late 60s, early 70s. they offered me traditional provence cookies and were so friendly. they soon spied my english magazines and one of them told me "thank you" after i threw something away for her-- in english. i said, "you're welcome" and we struck up a conversation in french. about 15 people listened in, polite and attentive, at my terrible french, then asked me a million questions and told me where they'd visited in america. so sweet.

the flip side was on the train to home from paris-- i struck up a conversation, in english, with a guy in my car from montreal. a woman, all laced up and business, came in half way through our conversation and absolutely glared at us the whole time we were talking. scowling! it made me so unnerved that i stopped talking. she got off with me in my town. sometimes i feel like i live in a pocket of rich snobby mean people. oh well. at least i get free internet.

when i listen to music, i'm not much of a words girl until much later. i like a song based on how it sounds, not really what i says, at least at first. i'm just now getting into bob dylan because i'm forcing myself to listen to what he's saying and trying not to pay attention to that voice. often times when i learn all the words the song loses some of its mystique.

but every once in a while words from a song pop out to me out of nowhere and make me think, smile, ponder, wish i'd written it; sometimes they haunt me and take up residence in my head for days until i have to listen to that song again and again and again. here are some examples:

"used to be in a rock 'n roll band, but we broke up" -neil young (jesus, how many people can say that?)
"lost your head, now you sleep on the floor" -smashing pumpkins
"fuck and run, even when i was 17, fuck and run, even when i was 12" -liz phair
"i had a million dollars but i spent it all" -sublime
"first the mike, then a half cigarette" -elliott smith
"i could feel at the time there was no way of knowing" -roxy music
"and they say marianne killed herself but i said, not a chance... not a chance" -tori amos
"hello, it's over" -james
"listenin' to marvin all night long" -spandau ballet
"cuz i can thrill you more than any ghoul could ever dare try" -michael jackson
"she said, why do you stare so hard wrapped up like a doll with bad dreams and broken arms?" -throwing muses
"christine!" -fate of april (haha, that's for flashes!)
and here's a long one, a verse, really:

"sitting in my car outside your house, 'member when you spilled coke all over your blouse? t-shirts, cutoffs and a pair of thongs, we've been having fun all summer long" -the beach boys

that one sums up summer for me. i've been thinking of ways or smells or music lyrics to sum up my time in france. it's nearly impossible right now because i'm still in it. maybe that james lyric, hello, it's over. i leave for scotland in one week. et on parle anglais!

some of my favorite terminale students invited me for lunch today. i walked to town with seven of them, had lunch at au coteaux for eight. somehow me managed to get a table big enough for all of us during a heavy lunch rush.

i am happy to report that teenagers, in my opinion, haven't really changed since i was one myself ten years ago. they still want to be taken seriously yet find pleasure in popping baked-in air pockets in their pizza dough with their knives. they talk politics then giggle when the waiter gives one of them the wrong order. they are incensed that four requests for more water go unanswered so they bravely get up out of their chairs in a pack and search out for water, empty carafe in hand, and come back with water. then they steal a half carafe of someone else's water from an abandoned table.

they fit all stereotypes-- the goofball who ordered a 7-euro banana split for dessert, the super intense guy who rarely uncrosses his arms to let down his defenses, the kooky girl with blue streaks in her hair and mismatched stripes, the artist who rolls her own cigarettes, the somewhat awkward girl who you know will be so kick-ass in her 20s, the sweet girl who is nice to everyone, the martyr boy who never has any money but eats everyone's scraps instead, calling himself the garbage can. i felt bad for him and gave him the remainder of my coke and the girls told me, ah, it's your first meal with S, you feel bad, but you'll see, after a while you do not feel bad at all... but, true to form, they all gave him their scraps. when he started licking salt from where he'd poured it in his hand, i said, what the fuck are you doing? all dramatic and high school-like. they love these saying-- these "what the hell are you...???" or "dude, what the fuck?" they imitate my accent and i feel like i'm 17 again. i'd never go back to high school for the world but i might go back to 17 for a week or so.

i'm absolutely wiped. the american assistants threw an end of the year party last night and the english kids came too-- it was super fun but doesn't feel that way now. i'm not in the least bit hungover but feel that nasty murky feel of not getting nearly enough sleep. i don't know when it started-- when i was 22? 23? post college? but i can't stay up late anymore and it's worse if i stay out late after having a few beers. i got home at 2 and didn't really even sleep. i'm a creature of habit-- quiet time before bed, reading, chilling. most of the gang here is under 25. i'm the old fart with a bedtime.

which means, let's go, let's get outta here, break 'em. that's me! i've finished my last class. we met outside. i said goodbye for one class this morning, met with another class where they gave me little signed sheets saying goodbye and chocolates, then met with some of my favorite terminales, then had the last class outside. it's one of those perfect days-- sunny, warm, not too hot, not too breezy, the grass is so utterly green and freshly cut. i trooped around outside taking pictures of my kids. i'll certainly miss them. we had some good laughs.

it's bittersweet. there is another party tonight to say goodbye again. it's supposed to be 78 degrees sunday. it's so sad to leave now that the weather is better.

not much else to say today.