Le Road Trip

As you know from literally every other post about our travels, Jason is a meticulous planner when it comes to vacationing. Every hotel is pre-selected, places to go and things to see have been extensively researched, and there is always a short list of restaurants that we could check out if our bellies start to rumble before we have finished a thorough tour of town. This is why I was a bit surprised when he agreed to an impromptu week-long road trip to the north of France during the May holidays. "We always do it my way. Let's try your way this time." Challenge accepted!

Jason rented a car (an automatic so I could help with some of the driving and not have a panic attack) and on May 1, we hit the road, with the Lonely Planet France book (thanks, Josh and Stefanie!) and fully charged cell phones as our only guides. We decided to make our first stop in Nantes, a city that reminded me so much of Bordeaux that it was hard not to feel right at home. They have a tram, we have a tram. They have a water mirror, we have a water mirror, they have a castle in the middle of town, we have... okay, well, we don't really have that. You win this round, Nantes! They also have this cool island in the middle of the river that runs through town where there are these giant mechanical animals that you can ride in. We were there on the ONE DAY that the machines weren't running but we still got to see the famous elephant.

Our next stop took us to St. Malo, a coastal walled city just north of Rennes. Although everything looks pretty old, much of the town had to be rebuilt after sustaining a fair amount of damage during the war. We explored the ramparts on our first day when the tide was in and the next morning, were treated to a lovely walk out to what we thought were islands, suddenly accessible at low tide.

Grand Bé, looking like an island

At low tide, you could walk out the forts over the rocks

Since we love old stuff so much, it shouldn't surprise you that we had to make a stop at Mont Saint-Michel, one of the more iconic destinations in France. It's just over the border from Brittany into Normandy, right in the crux where the country starts to stretch north again. The town is a technically an island and it's easy to walk out there when the tide is out, but you have to be really careful that you don't get trapped there. The water comes rushing in like wild horses and on particularly intense days, you can be swept away by the tide if you're trying to leave at the wrong time. Looming over the whole town is the famous abbey, which is admittedly quite impressive. 

Clearly visible and vast sandbar

10 minutes later, no more sandbar!

Our relationship in a nutshell: Jason being cheeky, me being suspicious

On our way to the place we were staying that evening, we stopped in Granville and Coutances, just for funsies! There was a random jazz festival in Coutances that we didn't really participate in but there was some solid street food that we got to enjoy.

On Day 4, we went to see the beaches of Normandy. It's difficult to describe the emotions that you feel staring out on the empty stretches of white sand, knowing the horrors that took place there only 72 short years ago. It's so peaceful today, so serene, but only because so many young men lost their lives that day. Even as a staunch pacifist that categorically rejects the way our country claims to support our troops while not providing them any services when they come home, it was hard not to appreciate the ultimate sacrifices that were made by hundreds of thousands of soldiers. We also visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, which was quite reminiscent of Arlington, with row after row of white crosses. It was a heavy day, but I am glad we went.

Much like in other parts of France, German bunkers still dot the beaches, providing an eerie reminder of the occupation

On our way out of town, we stopped by the floating harbor in Arromanches and checked out a few cannons that are slowly deteriorating in the hillsides of northern France.

We spent the night in Trouville, and we went for lunch in Honfleur the next day. It was one of the more charming towns that we visited on our trip and highly recommended if you're in the area. We sat outside soaking up some rays, our skin two shades pinker by the time we left. We had to cross the Pont de Normandy on our way to Étretat, famed for its white cliffs. They were nothing short of spectacular. I'll let the pictures do the talking on this one.

 It would be pretty hard to beat those cliffs so I was not surprised by the underwhelmingness of Pont-Audemer. Apparently it's referred to as the "Venice of France" but that is a dramatic overstatement. It was kinda cute, I guess? We slept in Angers that evening, in the shadow of a very impressive castle.

Looking more French by the day.

We had to be up and out fairly early the next day so we could get the full experience of the Puy du Fou. Part theme park, part historical reenactment, part zoo, this place ranks high on the list of French attractions, right up there with Euro Disney. It's a bit like if Colonial Williamsburg featured many more time periods, sword fighting and explosions. Admittedly, this was something that we probably should have planned ahead of time but I suppose hindsight is 20-20. We ended up at the park on a holiday weekend, meaning that it was crawling with small children and their parents dragging them from one show to the next, on the hottest day of the week, and we paid for tickets twice because my dumb ass didn't scroll down to read the conditions of the tickets we bought online (only valid for days other than the one we would be there. Of course!) 

I hate wasting money and Jason hates crowds so it wasn't exactly a winning combo but the shows were pretty badass. Vikings, duels, trick horse riding, gladiators on chariots, moving castle set pieces, but the best by far was the Bal des Oiseux Fantômes (Ball of the Phantom Birds). Featuring hundreds of birds of prey and incredible falconry, we had actual eagles flying within centimeters of our heads for 30 solid minutes. It was amazing. I couldn't even capture the awesomeness on film because I was too busy dodging owls.

On the 7th day, we started making our way back down to Bordeaux and stopped in the Marais Poitevin, which is known as "Green Venice" (not sure what France's obsession with Venice is but they clearly have never been there). It's basically a swamp that you can boat around or stroll through. Very green! It wasn't worth staying the night so we got back on the road and managed to snag a room at this amazing little beach side resort on the Ile d'Oléron. Terrace that backed up to the ocean, BBQ pits, kitchenette... It was everything you could want and more. We sat in the sand and ate the freshest seafood ever. There could not have been a more ideal way to end the trip.

Seasons May Change, Winter to Spring (2016)

To absolutely no one's surprise, the holidays were fantastic, as always, but not very restful, as always, and getting right back into the swing of things at work in the new year was challenging, as always. When we got back to France, we celebrated our 3rd (official) wedding anniversary with an adequate yet slightly underwhelming dinner at L'atelier de Franck. It had recently come under new ownership and was not the upscale bistro that I had seen in the months before but instead a deserted shell of its former self with dishes that were trying too hard to be original but not quite succeeding. (Yikes. When I did I become such a food snob? This is what 3 years in Bordeaux will do to you.) Despite the fairly average food, the wine was very delightful and it was nice to have an intimate dinner in such a massive and undeniably beautiful space. We'll have to give it another shot when it changes hands again any day now.

January was a bit of a whirlwind but we were back in the groove by February. Classes at Kedge were going well and keeping me busy enough, I was giving a few private English lessons to some friends of a friend on the side, and I even signed up to do the Teach For America phone screen process again. We have had our differences over the years, but I still like to believe the organization really does do more good than harm and I enjoy being a part of finding really great teachers for the youth of America. If I can't be there myself, I am going to find you someone awesome who can. Life was good!

But then we learned that the CEL was going out of business and all of the teachers that worked there would be out of a job come the end of their current contracts. I tried not to panic but unlike many of my colleagues, the courses through the CEL were my sole source of income. Their closure meant I was about to be looking for work again. The one shred of hope that I had was that 99% of my classes were at Kedge and they would always need teachers. I just didn't know how to ensure that I would still be working there come September...

March was a bit hectic, but it was good for keeping my mind off my impending unemployment. Between all of my classes, we spent a beautiful weekend in the Dordogne in a little town called Carlux, not very far from Sarlat. Jayne's friend has a little house there that she only lives in half the year and it just happens to share a wall with a legit castle. No big deal. I am pretty sure I had a sinus infection but I was not about to miss out on sleeping in (close proximity to) a castle.

There are worse places to spend the night

Picnic in Sarlat

Quick stop in Domme, a lovely hilltop town that overlooks the Dordogne River

Power couple

Easter came a bit early this year so we had a long weekend at the end of March to kill. No better way to spend four days than in another country! We had talked about doing Oktoberfest but decided
against it after realizing that it was going to be insanely expensive for something that had become a glorified frat party so we decided to check out Munich at a quieter time of year.

Our first impression was not super positive: It was cold and rainy so we sought shelter at the Hofbrauhaus, the city's most iconic beer hall. It was a holiday weekend so I suppose we should have anticipated a crowd, but for a place that was so massive, I didn't think it would have been quite so impossible for two people to find a place to sit and have a drink. We finally got a spot on the ground floor and waited for a server to come around. We waved at every person in the damn place for half an hour and couldn't get anyone to bring us a drink. I was annoyed but Jason was furious. Everyone around us was happily knocking back liter after or liter of beer and we couldn't get a drop! We eventually moved to another table and were served fairly quickly but neither of us were in a great mood at that point. After a few steins of beer, however, we were feeling a bit better. We chatted with some Swiss tourists, watched a teenager get absolutely plastered with what appeared to be his family, and snacked on soft pretzels. I am not sure how long we were there but when we finally decided to get dinner it was dark and we were both very drunk. I swear the fries that came with my wienerschnitzel were the best fries I have ever had in my life.

All smiles with a beer in hand

Very sober. I swear.

Since Salzburg was only a short train ride way, we took a day trip to Mozart's hometown while we were in the neighborhood.

Hohensalzburg Castle

I foolishly forgot to bring the passports (Austria is, in fact, a separate country) so we had to dodge the border patrol officers getting back on the train, but we managed to not start an international incident. Back in Munich, we continued eating and drinking our way through town. Check out the size of that meat bone! (Also note: sausage tits in the background)

Der Pschorr. My favorite of the beer halls

The glockenspiel at Marienplatz. A little cheesy but definitely an essential part of Munich 

I am glad we went but I can confidently saw that Munich is not my favorite European city. Aside from the beer halls, there's not much to see or do, and four straight days of nothing but fried pork and assorted sausages left me feeling like a giant swine myself. When we got back to France, we ate salads morning, noon and night for a week.

April and May were fun because we had a bunch of visitors, starting with a random day with Jason's brother-in-law Jon. He was in Paris for work and decided to take the train down to see us. We went for lunch at the Café Cheverus and Jason decided to try a dish called tête de veau. It's basically boiled calf head where they trim off the face skin, roll the tongue inside it and then cut it into slices. It was exactly as appetizing as the description makes it sound! I would still give it another shot because you have to try everything twice, but I can't say I enjoyed it this first time around. We went for a decent meal at the Bouchon Bordelais for dinner that night and got oysters and white wine at the Marché Capucins in the morning. I know I just complained about eating and drinking being the only think to do in Munich and here we were, doing nothing but eating and drinking again but it's just not the same!

Jere and Joyce dropped in for their second visit to Bordeaux and were the easy guests that they always are. They do their own thing during the morning, we find them nice places to eat in the evening and show them the cool insider spots to check out the following day. We even drove them down to the Basque country for the day so that they got to see something new!

Iconic and beautiful Place de la Bourse at night

Can't go wrong with raclette!

At the Dune

Bayonne

Biarritz

A bit later that month, Annie, an old friend from Ithaca and her boyfriend Todd were traveling around the world and came to crash with us for a couple nights. Unlike Kim and Kyle who still seemed pretty excited about their adventure when they got to us, Annie and Todd were just about over it, even cutting their trip a bit shorter than expected because they were ready to go home. I can't say I blame them. Living out of a suitcase and going to a new place every few days is cool for a while and then you just start to crave a little normalcy, a little routine.

Our last round of visitors didn't exactly come to see us but when the Waltons are anywhere within driving distance, you find a way to go see them! David and Margaret have (begrudgingly?) accepted us as Rick's bizarre American cousins, allowing us to hang out at family functions and now we're on the Christmas card list. Bam! We scored a lovely gîte for a couple of days in the middle of nowhere in the Dordogne, and got to take in that nice country air just before the summer heat settled in. Canoe rides on the river in the shadow of castles, prehistoric settlements, beautiful sunsets... There are certainly worse places to spend a weekend.

The Waltons!

La vie est belle, non?