La Fete da la Musique

Yesterday was a double wammy at the Jouaret household. It was the 29th Annual Fete de la Musique in Lyon and Also Axel's birthday.
It was finally for once nice out for once, a bit windy and a bit chilly, but gorgeous and sunshiney, which made me happy.
I spent most of my day out enjoying the sights. I walked along the river and daydreamed in broken French. It is a bizarre feeling to transition from thinking in English to thinking in French, but the longer I am here the harder I find it to think only in English, thus I mix the two and laugh at myself for speaking awkwardly in my head. Mostly I was thinking about how much I appreciate Lyon after my visit to Paris. Lyon is a beautiful city with a lot of history and a lot of variety, but unlike Paris it is tidy, easy to navigate, and the people are generally more eager to speak to you. It is like comparing Kansas City to New York. Lyon is just smaller and therefore it is naturally a little bit easier to take in.



When I returned home Mama Jouaret was yelling at Axel for eating in his room and frantically trying to get the party together. The French do something called Apero for holidays and special occasions, they usually sit around and share a glass of champagne and eat snacky foods. That is exactly what we did to celebrate Leo's special day, the only problem was that the champagne was apparently bad. It was from 1990- Fred said that was a bad year for France because the wine from that year is bad, but a good year for the US because I was born--Thanks Fred! Martine told us not to drink the champagne because it was no good but Axel and Leo had no problem with it, go figure, they drank all of it.
As we sat and conversed and celebrated the boys discovered my camera from mad bag, more specifically fish eye, and took plenty of photos of themselves while Fred sat across from us and took photos of us taking pictures of ourselves. I noticed but pretended not to because I felt like it would be awkward if I asked why he was doing that. Then again, I have no room to speak, I love taking pictures of Grandpa Frank while he is taking pictures.




After the cake (which I swear is sugarless, I cannot wait to get home and eat some real cake, the kind that is bad for you) my family suggested that I should sortir (go out) to the music festival because the real festivities were over. So I did. And boy was it a treat! There were bands set up all over Lyon. My personal favorite was a middle aged man in tight white skinny jeans and pink shoes who was singing the Beatles with the absolute worst French accent, banging on a cow bell, and dancing around all at once. It was almost too much to handle. I think my favorite part of all of it was the people watching. There were all kinds of people out enjoying themselves, it was really just an enjoyable evening. I ended up missing my bus home though so I walked. In the end I was actually kind of glad that I walked because it meant I got to enjoy even more music as I meandered home. I got asked for a cigarette twice, but other than that my meander was uneventful, and really just peaceful. Everyone was in good spirits and so was I.



I was a bit tired this morning when I woke up, I had over five hours of classes today so for lunch Jen and I bought a loaf of Brioche (think a giant chocolate chip muffin in the shape of a loaf of bread) and enjoyed it without guilt. Also Manuela made us take a break from class to go to the espresso machine and drink some caffeine. Espesso machines are everywhere and they are incredible. For 45 cents you push a button and the machine drops down a cup with a tiny spoon in it and coffee however you order it. I swear there is an elf in there doing it for me. Anyhow, a good day has passed and I just got done watching the France vs South Africa game. Who could ask for anything better?

Paris day 1

In order to share my adventures in paris I am breaking them up into day-by-day posts. I can tell you from experience that Paris is a very overwhelming city that needs to be digested in small segments, otherwise major constipation of the brain will occur.
Day 1-Vendredi the 18th
We took the TGV out of Lyon in the morning. Our parents all packed us surprise lunches. Mine included a baguette sandwich, squeezable apple sauce (no spoon needed!), an orange, and a half-boiled hard-boiled egg. I think someone got distracted while they were boiling the egg because it was very much so runny on the inside. But it's okay, I gave it to Julia to eat anyway because I don't enjoy eggs.

We jumped immediately from the train and dove head first into sight-seeing.
Le Tour Eiffel
Arc de Triumph
Champs Elysees
I tried really hard to get a photo of myself holding the Eiffel Tower in my Skants for Eli (upon her request) but between all of the men hassling me to buy 6 mini Eiffel Towers for 1 Euro and the massive crowds of people I failed miserably and wound up holding Jeff's head in my hand rather than the Eiffel. Good Try, better luck next time.
After a long day of running through the streets of Paris, my Skants flapping in the breeze, I retired to my hostel room where my roommates and I made lots of awkward eye contact with the creepy boys across from us. So I got out my camera and used my zoom to stalk them...and they began posing for my photos. So then we closed up shop, ate couscous at the hostel, and then the gang headed out for a Free night in the city of lights. Our Free night ended up consisting of us walking 45 minutes out of the way to bar.

The bar was not particularly special, in fact, it was quite boring and normal, but the highlight of my night came when MASSES of people on roller blades came pouring down the street. I mean Five minutes worth of Roller bladers rolling down the street, INCROYABLE!


I tried to capture the moment but it was so dark and they wore moving so fast that the only good shot I ended up getting was the one of the stationary couple canoodling on the street amongst the roller bladers, go figure.
After about and hour at the bar, other Jen and I decided to pack up and head back home to the hostel. On the way home we discovered these wonderful white tents that were filled with music, ice cream, and dancing people. Jen and I stopped there, ate two scoops of wonderful ice cream each, and danced in the crowd of strangers until we had finished our treats.

As we headed back home it became increasingly obvious that we did not know the exact way home. We may or may not have walked for 2 hours in circles around the hostel trying to find it. In my head I was freaking out, but I am proud to say that on the outside I remained calm, read the maps (Maps of Paris are a headache) and acted like I knew what was going on until Jen and I eventually stumbled upon the place. It was embarrassing, frustrating, terrifying, and very sketchy, but in the end we were safe, we still beat the rest of the group back ( I have a feeling they were also lost but do not remember coming home enough to know it), and I had my first real vision of non-touristy Paris. And thus my first day in Paris was concluded.
Stay tuned for adventures from day number two.

Away to Paris for the weekend

I do believe my host parents met and fell in Love i Paris. I could be making that up, I'm not sure. They lived there the first half of their marriage. This photo hangs in our house. Aren't they sweet?

Off to paris for the weekend in 30 minutes! The city of love, the Kansas CIty of the France. I won't lie, I'm super excited to be a tourist and see the Eiffel Tower, the Musee D'Orsay, the Louvre, Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame...you get the point. I will act like a tourist and I will not be ashamed.
A Dimanche soir point du jour! Be back Sunday Night!

I presented my exposee today. I was very nervous about being the first one to go, also terrified to speak for 15 minutes in French about the Religion of the Gauls. After practicing my exposee at 630 this morning over skype, James suggested that I should not worry about the things I cannot control. His advice was good. I decided not to worry and things went well. Manuel told me it went really well and that she was pleased with my presentation. I feel so relieved.

Today I had 7 hours of class--a very long day. It was rainy and cold too. I had to go buy a sweater between classes because I was freezing. But I guess a Christmas miracle happened because when I left my final class, the sun was peaking through the clouds, the rain was gone, and it was no longer dreadful outside.

So I felt very happy and free and went on a romp through Lyon. I wish everyone could have been with me for my romp, it was beautiful out, truly beautiful.

In the spirit of French civilization I went to the old Roman theaters. I climbed a bunch of stairs, hopped over a sign that said for your safety, do not enter, and I basked in the sunshine on a lovely hill of poppies.

When I returned home I found Millie cat. I think her name is Millie. They always call her something that sounds like "Meeree" to me, but I gave up on figuring it out. To me the cat is Millie. They call Millie a wild, untamed, outdoor cat. They also say that Millie doesn't enjoy being touched, False. Millie is always begging for my attention, and from time to time she climbs in bed with me in the morning. That cat is always up for a good nuzzle. She is an LOL cat waiting to happen 24/7. We had a moment today, I think she was manipulating me into feeding her.



Last night at dinner I called Martine feisty. It was the first time I have ever said a word that nobody in the family could figure out. I was of course proud of myself for that one, and Fred was of course interested, so he googled the definition and printed this of for the family to view:

"This is an Americanism which is gaining ground in British and Australian English. It is defined in many dictionaries as 'aggressive, excitable, nervous, touchy' but is now more often used to mean 'spirited', 'assertive', 'able to speak up for oneself' (usually applied to women). It has also appeared in an advertisement for a high-performance car, presumably suggesting that the car is fast, tough, and exciting to drive.
Words tend to change their meanings with time, sometimes through an error which gradually becomes accepted (as with decimate), often by being applied to different things, as in this case. Feisty is changing too quickly for dictionaries to keep up with – and it remains to be seen what the accepted meaning will eventually be."

France learns the words feisty and it's a big hit. The family agrees that Martine is feisty, they decide to keep the word in their vocab.

Sam's Club meets France

Las Friday Professor Snape, I mean Sipe, made us get up at 5 am to go see a market. It's the market that Grocery stores and Restaurants buy their produce from during the night to use/sell during the day. Think about Sam's lub fir a moment, and then think of Sam's club on drugs, lot's of drugs. The kind of drugs that make you grow a lot. What are those called? Oh yes, steroids. This market was Sam's Club on steroids for sure. Easily the size of ten Sam's clubs combined and filled to the brim with fresh fruits, veggies, and creepy men. We spent over two hours marching through room after room after room of fruit, all the while listening to some man talk about the shipping process. Who cares, right? The only thing keeping me going was that they bribed us with breakfast. I never turn down breakfast.
Do you know what breakfast was? Breakfast was us, all of the creepy French men who had just gotten off their shifts, and LOTS of meat and wine. How's that for a light breakfast? Pig intestines, Sausage, ham, more kind of sausage, 4 kinds of sausage, and red wine. SO what did I do? I ate two baguettes. Sausage in the morning? Vomit. Professor Snape was offended that I refused to eat it (minus ten points for Gryffindor) but for real, vomit.
Now I will say that tonight I had a lovely conversation with my host Dad about France's feat of genetically modified food, and it's for real. The produce I saw was much smaller, it was very tasty, and they didn't use pesticides on the majority of it. That was one thing I really enjoyed about the market. But let's get real, the creepy men and morning sausage were not worth the 5 AM wake-up call, or were they?

That's what she said.

Sunday was a treat for me. We had lunch like usual with Martine's parents, Louise and Antoine. Not much was new with them; Louise still wouldn't change her clothes (She suffers from depression and memory loss) and Antoine told me he had gotten a hair and eyebrow cut the week before. I noticed that Antoine was looking pretty spiffy and that his eyes were more visible. I also got to meet Marine's sister from Paris. She wore electric yellow converse, she loves to speak English, she is 48, single, and ready to mingle--let me know if you are interested in a French woman, I'll arrange a date,
After lunch my host parents (plus Elliot of course) took me to a Medieval village which was pretty fancy. Everything was made out of cobble stone and I was amazed that people still lived there in the original houses and everything (of course refurnished, but still) Elliot spent his four Euros- 2 weeks of allowance- on buying these two little figures that looked like knights. Everywhere we go Elliot has to find a stick. It's the first thing he does when he gets out of the car. French children are taught very young about knights since unlike the USA it's a big part of their history. My civilization teacher told us that French children fantasize about being knights the way American children do about being cowboys and Indians. Hm, well, alright Manuela, I'll take your word for that. I guess Kimmy did dress as an Indian for Halloween when she was a child and carry around Nanty Jane. I digress. Anyway Elliot's knights crumble into three pieces each about 10 minutes after he bought them, Poor Elliot.
At some point in time on Sunday, maybe in the evening, I skyped James. Leo walked by so I introduced James and Leo and we all had a good time conversing in Franglais. As we were conversing I made a "that's what she said" joke to James. Leo of course got curious and asked me, what does that mean? After explaining to him that it was a very popular trend in America to add on "that's what she said" after someone unknowingly says something that could have a double-sexual meaning, Leo was quick to use the trick. At dinner that night, Martine was talking and Leo exclaimed "THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" That opened up a whole new can of worms seeing as Fred then wanted me to explain the joke to the whole family. So I did and they responded by telling me that they enjoyed just how simple or complicated a "that's what she said" joke can be. Now the family officially thinks that I'm a pervert and also loves to squeeze in a that's what she said if possible.
I'm slowly revolutionizing France, one family at a time.

Stumble Upon the Day

Yesterday was Saturday , the twelfth day in June and here in Lyon I had no real plans.
Other Jen and I decided to embark on a search for an open air produce market on the East side of town. I am not sorry to say that we never made it to the east side of town because the things we stumbled into on our pursuit to the East side were much better than the produce markets that I see everyday in Lyon.

1. 10 Block long Flea Market




Our day started as we got of the Metro at Saxe Gambetta to make a transfer to a Tram. We ditched the idea of the transfer and enjoyed over ten blocks of flea market fun up and down both sides of the street. I found so many weird and wonderful things. If only I didn't have to transfer them back to the states, I probably would have bought them all. Amongst my top finds were THREE TELETUBBIES. I gound, Tinky, LaaLaa and Dipsy. Poe was the only one lacking from the bunch. I will fill you in on an interesting facts- French teletubbies make the same noises- their voices are not dubbed over- BUT their eyes blink! It is awesomely creepy. If they didn't take up so much room in my luggage I would have brought the dogs back a souvenir.

2. My Family Name

After the Frenzy at the Flea Market it was 2pm and Jen and I were starving. Unfortunately since it was after the lunch hour and the streets were so crowded, all of the boulangeries were picked over. So Jen and I hopped back on the metro and got off at another stop which happened to be equally as crowded. There was an antique show, mimes on the street, a wedding at the Cathedral (sorry I did not get photos of these things, there were too many pickpocketers on the loose) and people working in teams to pick pocket tourists like myself. Our hunt for food was unsuccessful but I did find this place called Fleming's, a little taste of home I suppose. We did not eat there, but have no fear, a few minutes later I ate my first Croque Monsieur in france, Mmm.

3. Book Sale on the River



After lunch we set out toward the river where we found this time five or six blocks of books- all for inly 1-5 Euros. I felt so so happy and so sad all at once because I knew that I couldn't take the home with me. But hey, shout out to Kansas because I found In Cold Blood!

4. Musee des Beaux arts
We followed the yellow brick road of books and were soon greeted by the big art museum of Lyon--happy day. I am always up for a good romp through a museum, especially art museums. My spirits we high and just when I thought my day could not get any more exciting, when I exited the museum through the courtyard I stumbled upon this...

5. Gay Pride: Lyon style
The parade was absolutely massive and Jen and I enjoyed dancing in the streets of downtown Lyon as bubbles were spewed through the air, music was played cheerfully, and flags were flown proudly. It was the perfect timing indeed. As Jen and I walked out into the streets from the Museum the front of the parade had just made its way to the street we were on. It was meant to be I suppose.





It was a delight to take part in the Gay Pride festivities of Lyon, it's certainly a moment I will never forget!
6. Skants

You may think they're ugly but in France they're trendy! It is nearly impossible to find a plain dress or skirt in some stores that aren't actually pants. The French love their Pants that resemble skirts and they wear them like there's no tomorrow. The most commonly worn style are the long ones, but hey it's summer, and my legs want their freedom. I was also excited because I got them for ten Euros with a tag that told me they were ethically made in thailand. Hooray!
7. Banlieue
I thought my day couldn't be any more exciting. I was on the bus headed home, feeling good about my accomplishments, when I realized- I was on the wrong bus. And where was I headed? To a Banlieue--the outskirts of a city--the Ghetto. In France things are opposite of the USA. The nice upperclass live in the city and the very poor live around the outside of the city. When I realized I was in the French Ghetto I got off the bus. Was that the smartest move? No. But hey, it was an adventure. I walked for probably about a mile until I found a bus stop with the number 42 on it (the bus that i KNOW goes by my neighborhood) and I waited there for 35 minutes for the bus and enjoyed some quality people watching and thinking time. Again, no photos of this adventure I'm sorry to say, but I had already made enough stupid choices in the last two hours of my life and I didn't feel my camera would be a smart choice.
8. I returned home at half past 7 in the evening and SURPRISE!
There was a soiree at the Jouaret household. Lots of kids running freely,lots of cigarettes, and of course the USA-England soccer game. It was interesting watching the game with French commentators, especially since they were leaning on the side of England. As was my family, and all of the guests. But not I, I was team USA and I was proud to say that at least we did not lose...