Tours - the former capital of France and home of Kings

In the 14th and 15th century, Tours was the capital of France and home to Kings and their royal court. Later, once the capital was moved to Paris, châteaux were built throughout the Loire valley as the summer homes to the royals. As a result, we are surrounded by wonderful structures dating as far back as the 1300s. I will be visiting some of these as part of my program and then Allan, Sophie and I will pick out some more interesting ones to visit ourselves. There is even a "château" with a miniature of all of the châteaux in the region, set up expecially for kids. Allan will take Sophie there.

Tours is located on the Loire river, which adds to its beauty. It also allows for a fertile climate, conducive to vignobles. The wine of the Val de Loire is lighter than a burgundy certainly, but even lighter than a bordeau. Both red and white wines are popular here.

The university is located in the center of Tours, mere minutes from the old city. During the lunch hour, I am walking down narrow cobblestone streets, snapping photos wherever possible. My colleagues generally profit from the two hour lunch break to have a long lunch (all of the courses, plus dessert), but I am not used to eating that much at lunch and it's nice to take some time all by myself to appreciate my surroundings. We are on quite a tight schedule, but program is very well organized and hits all of the literary hightlights of the region.

For the planned excursions, I ride in style - in the car of the president of the university with his private chauffeur!! Imaginez-vous!! Needless to say, they are treating "la délégation américaine" very well here.

The Provincial Life

We are now extremely fortunate to be spending two weeks in the center of France - the wonderful region of the Loire Valley. Paris was magnifique, of course, but it is lovely to be away from the hustle and bustle and from the unique smells and dirt of the métro!

I am attending a two week program on the literature and culture of the region at the Université François Rabelais in the city of Tours. Yesterday, we began our study with one of the greats of French literature - Honoré de Balzac - 19th century author known for his "comédie humaine" and his novels of "manners". Balzac was born in Tours, so this is particularly poignant as he evokes much about this area in his novels even though he lived most of his life in Paris.

Today's excursion to the château where Balzac would regularly visit friends when he was back in Tours was one of the most refreshing and inspiring outings I have had in a long time. Just being here, surrounded by the nicest, clearest French in the country (this area is known for having the most "refined" language, without a disparaging or distinct accent which can be found in the south or north) was inspiring enough, but to walk through the rooms and see the chair, desk and handwritten manuscripts where Balzac began or finished so many of his masterpieces was quite surreal for me. After a wonderful guided tour of the château and the accompanying museum, we walked along the grounds and continued our study of the novel Le Lys dans la Vallée in the garden, reading passages aloud. Now, I don't think it gets more authentic than that! Not only was I inspired as a teacher with all of the realia around me and how I was going to incorporate this into my forthcoming literature class, but I was reinvigorated as a student of literature, as an academic, a writer, a reader, a creative person - these interior elements which often lie dormant behind the more pressing committments and priorities of everyday life and work. I feel a bit indulgent and maybe even selfish, but at the same time, I want the feeling to continue, it is exhilirating in many ways.

As you can see in the photos, there are six of us in the group: 3 of us are from the USA (I will include myself in this group, although I have readily identified myself as Canadian through my passport and my university ID card which has my nationality stamped front and center), 1 from Poland, 1 from Albania and 1 from France. We are all females, this will prove interesting when we begin studying George Sand (nom de plume of a well known female 19th century author who wrote of the hidden feelings, desires and plight of women of her époque) with a lone male professor! The Madame Bovary comparisons are already foreshadowed...

L'Académie Française – has the language police gone too far now?

L’Académie Française was established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu with the goal of preserving and protecting the purity of the French language. And, the French take their Academy and their language very seriously. Of course as we know the biggest “threat” to the purity of the French language these days is our own native tongue of English. However, look what happens when the shoe is on the other pied. These restaurant menus show the English words: “fine”, hot” and “ice” with an “s" added to grammatically agree in number with the noun they modify, as is the case in French. Now, I don’t think this is a deliberate attempt to “Frenchify” English in the menu translations, but les Immortels (the head honchos of L’Académie) still carry a lot of weight with many French folk, in particular every school teacher of French language, and I would bet they would tip their berets to this!

I haven't seen this kind of calque transferance before and I find it fascinating. I am going to use this as an example in class to my beginning students who don’t believe me that it is automatic for a French speaker to make adjectives agree with the nouns they are describing. Apparently, they can’t even help themselves when they use another language which doesn’t even have this grammar trait.

Eiffel Tower - the most recognized monument in the world

Anyone will say of course that the Eiffel Tower is the symbol of Paris, if not all of France. Although I have previously wrote of my penchant for l'Arc de Triomphe, it is hard not to gasp at the sight of this awesome structure built for the world fair in Paris in 1889 and it was intended to be taken down immediately after. I took way too many pictures, from all angles, because I can!!! I am feeling tremendous photographic power with this new digital camera.

A new appreciation for Molière

One of the things I wanted to be sure to do was to see a play at La Comédie Française - Molière's former theatre and one of the most beautiful in Paris. When I tried to book tickets in online before we left, they were sold out for all performances this week. As luck would have it, while I was taking pictures of the outside of the theatre, there was a sign indicating tickets available one hour before the performance so I rushed in and got 3. We saw Molière's Le Mariage Forcé which was a real treat as they set it in modern times, but using the 17th century language. This is a very interesting play which I did not know before seeing the representation. It is a satirical take on forced marriage, only in this story, the 53 year old man is "forced" into marrying a 20 year girl by her gangster father to inherit his money - The father made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

As Molière's presence is still very much alive - just like Shakespeare in England and elsewhere - it doesn't get any better than seeing one of his plays at La Comédie Française in Paris.

An 80 euro mistake and rail strikes...

For the first time ever, we decided to take a drive through Paris at night (Paris la nuit). The trusty guidebook lays out a nice route and it seemed like a good idea. We left late at night and the sky was clear. To make a long story short – after three autoroute detours (typically French scenario #1), two hours trying to find the right route (and more than the combined total of arguments), we found ourselves in the middle of the famous Champs Elysées. It was all very exciting, and I was rapidly trying to snap off as many pictures as I could like any good tourist would, until the Paris police were hot on our tail complete with lights and sirens after we ran two red lights (no comment here by me, I wasn't driving - oops! sorry I said no comment). An 80 euro ticket later, we finished the drive and went home. Not even a great photo to show for it either!

Next day, we awoke to a strike on the train system (typically French scenario #2). This added some unnecessary “excitement” to the day. Although the trains were still running, there were massive delays and cancellations. All you can do is “wait and not get upset” is what un jeune Monsieur told me as we were crushed up against each other on the Boulevard St. Michel metro. Ah oui, I guess the old standby “C’est la vie” would work rather well here.

All is well in the Latin Quarter

A visit to the Place de la Bastille was very timely. In a few weeks, this will be the site of a huge celebration – July 14, 1789 – the storming of the Bastille. We won’t be in Paris then, but still in France- my first time for the national holiday and I’m looking forward to seeing how the French celebrate.

Visiting Victor Hugo’s house was a highlight for me. As perhaps the most important author of his time in Paris, he is responsible for the saving of la Cathédrale Notre Dame (and of course the modern cultural icon that is Les Misérables). Walking inside the famous cathedral was awe inspiring – I had forgotten how big it is.

This was followed by lots of walking around the Latin Quarter - huge crowds of people and many tempting restaurants, cafés and shopping. The problem is getting a seat, the outdoor tables are at a high premium these days, and a prime table like this is necessary to watch the shoes go by - it's all about the shoes here in Paris, for both men and women. My own weakness is for books (okay shoes, too!) – all I will say is that I’m glad I brought a couple of extra bags with me as some deals are just too good to pass by.

I have rediscovered a great drink I used to have when I lived in France. I thought it was a southern French thing, but it is available here in the brasseries as well. It's called a "Monaco" (yes, like the Monte Carlo place and I feel very important ordering it!) It's a combination of beer, limonade (a bit like Sprite) and grenadine - sounds strange, but surprisingly good. It ressembles a British "shandy". The French take "l'apéritif" very seriously and it is nice to have an excuse to comply with this cultural tradition. They even have "Happy Hour" here which is great, since there is no such thing as a cheap drink here!

It's funny how your feet and legs hurt less in Paris...

The quartier of Montmartre is up on a huge hill (it's huge as in it has its own funiculaire huge). But the climb is well worth it. Not only is the beautiful church of Sacré Coeur up there, but the Place du Tertre is where a host of artists, shops and restaurants are all there waiting to take your money and pose for photos. Having conquered my jet lag, I was determined not to let any other physical ailments prohibit me from getting up that hill. My family refused at first as this was later in the afternoon, but I promised we would eat dinner up there and that seemed to be enough of a reward. The view of Paris from the top is spectacular (I will be comparing this view to that from the Eiffel Tower later this week). Putting behind my ankle, knee, foot and calf pain I made it (of course half of the city's locals and tourists passed by me on the way at a much quicker pace!). I even managed not to trip on the cobblestones and uneven pavement. We walked around and had a wonderful dinner. It was not until after when we were leaving that we discovered that our train/metro pass would have allowed us to take the funiculaire for free. Despite my unconvincing argument that this was the way to really experience Montmartre - to work for it - I was not very popular as we descended the hill in a little glass car in silence.

How do you say "jet lag" in French?

Answer: le décalage horaire

No matter how you say it, it's tough going! After a thankfully uneventful 8.5 hour flight, we arrived in Paris at 6:10 a.m. on Monday morning. I guess age is taking a toll on me because I don't remember it being this difficult to shake before. It's 2:17 in the morning here and I'm wide awake, still on Cincinnati time!

A suivre... (when I've had some sleep!)

Bienvenue à Paris!

Needless to say we got a rather late start on Tuesday and took the RER train into the centre of Paris where the first sight I wanted to see was my favourite of all Paris monuments - L'Arc de Triomphe. Construction started in 1806 to commemorate Napoleon's successful battles. It was some time before it was finished because of various wars in between. I know the Eiffel Tower is supposed to be everyone's favourite thing in Paris, but nothing can compare to the first time I ascended the metro escalator at the Charles de Gaulle/Etoile métro station and saw l'Arc for the very first time, 16 years ago almost to the day. My knees weren't quite as weak today when I saw it, but it was a thrill nonetheless.

So off we go into the frantic, overwhelming splendour that is Paris. The smell of smoke and coffee everywhere and the sounds of many different languages in the air. What to do? How to do it all? Well, my trusty "guide Michelin" to the rescue. Paris in 5 days! That sounds good, now these five days are very full with lots of walking. After a few hours of exploring, taking photos (digital, you know!), I spot my mecca - Starbucks!! - no mirage, but the real thing, right in the middle of the opera district.

It was very quickly obvious that our default response to the question of nationality was a clear: Canadian! I had forgotten that the French assume that if you are Canadian and speak French that you are from Québec. Non, madame, nous sommes de l'ouest du Canada!

A bientôt...

Displacement at work

Before any plane even takes off, carrying me to a foreign land, a strong sense of displacement is overwhelming me in the chaos that is my everyday life right now. As I find myself in a state of limbo between offices at work - evicted from the cube farm, boxes piled high.. but yet forbidden to enter the coveted "new" office space. "No key until September 1", I was emphatically told. So, alas, all I have to comfort myself with is a closed door hiding the promise of private space and an empty bulletin board waiting to be decorated with coming attractions in French!

Now displacement in my house, well that's quite another issue altogether...

One Week until Lift Off!

One week today we will be in the air, somewhere over the Atlantic on our way to Paris. It has been 13 long years since I've taken a translatlantic flight and I am certainly glad I have my Canadian Gravol anti-nausea pills for this trip!!

I'm getting anxious about the packing and the preparations and the eternal question of what to take. This is part business-part pleasure and I have to be prepared for both. Sophie posed an interesting question the other day. She said: "Mom, when people in France ask us where we are from what should we say now?" Good question!! She always gets at the heart of the matter. Do we say we are Canadian but live in the United States now? Do we say we are from the United States (wow that sounds weird to say and I don't think Allan will ever be able to wrap his lips around that one!)? Do we avoid mentioning the USA altogether? I am reminded of times we have travelled outside of North America before and people have always evoked that wise old Canadian proverb: "make sure you wear a Canadian flag so people won't think you are an American tourist" which still rings in my head! Ah - we'll just have to see what comes out of our mouth when the time comes. I hope we don't have an identity crisis while abroad!