On the wings of the night
Well it has been almost a week in France, and so far I have worked a helluva lot ( I guess that I was wrong about taking it easy for the first few days). I have also played a bit, watched a lot of Football (soccer) and have eaten way too much yummy French cooking. Even the little canteen next to our office at the airport has fantastic food. The weather has been hot and sunny, and usually a bit humid (today, a lot humid, you could see the moisture in the air), with temperatures up around 35C. It makes for tiring days, trying to stay hydrated while working hard out on the tarmac where the temperature gets up around 40C+. And I haven’t had much opportunity to use the pool, only one day off so far, and most days I have been home too late, or was too tired from the jet-lag to use it. I have a day off tomorrow, which will be used to do laundry, catch up with the internet stuff, (the internet doesn’t seem to stay up for more than an hour at a time, and after the office staff goes home, don’t even try) do some dishes, clean a bit and then lounge by the pool. Which might I add, always has some nice scenery.
There are a few odd things going on over here though. Driving is hazardous to your health, unless you are a half crazed lunatic. I have driven a bit, mostly to learn the route from home to work, and it is a good thing that I am a little crazy too. Weaving in and out of traffic isn’t just common, it is mandatory! Most don’t use turn signals, will drive half way into your lane, cut in front of you, then cut out from in front of you, for no apparent reason. Some (most) will stop in the middle of the road, on a blind corner just to chat with a friend on the sidewalk. Then there is the parking fun. If you can get your car into the spot, whether it is on the sidewalk, someone’s front lawn, or even on stairs, you can park there.
Another thing that I have had the pleasure (yeah, right) of experiencing is grocery shopping. There is this grocery store that would make Wal-Mart jealous. It is like Superstore, Future Shop, Home Hardware, Zellers, Home Outfitters, and the biggest liquor store that you have ever seen all rolled into one. There are one hundred check-out counters! And no, I am NOT exaggerating, I counted them all. And even with that many, you will still wait 15 minutes to pay for your stuff.
Living with another language has been fun. It is amazing how easy it has been for me to go grocery shopping; after all, I have been reading the French labels on the food packaging back home all my life. There are some challenges, and I have been stumbling through basic things like buying a meal, but I have improved a lot for less than one week. Je ne parle pas francais and Parlez vous anglais? have become my two favourite phrases. I have been trying to think in French, and answer questions in French, even when I know the person speaks English, and it seems to be helping.
We did a little road trip last Saturday to the town of Avignon to take Gus to get the motorcycle that he had rented for the weekend. Avignon is a very ancient place, with a stone wall surrounding the old part of the town, and very, very narrow streets. It was also home to many Popes over many centuries before they moved to the Vatican in Rome. So, in the middle of the old town is a very large “castle” that was the center of the Catholic church for many years, and the Petite Palais which was the Popes home. In the “castle” was a cathedral that we had just enough time to see before it was closed for the evening. Can we say gold? Yeah, there was a lot of it. I took a couple of pictures, but it was too dark to get very many.
Afterwards we walked around a bit, saw a few more things then had dinner at a street café. France was playing against Togo in the World Cup, and our restaurant was showing it on the TV. Well, need I tell you that we had the biggest crowd? Even the serving staff from the next restaurant was over watching the game.
Well, that has to be the longest entry that I think I have ever made here! I will try to keep things up to day a bit more often, as long as the internet stays working. I also have photos to add to Flickr soon. I will open a new group that I will call France so they will be easy to find.
I have so much more to say, but I better leave that for another day.
There are a few odd things going on over here though. Driving is hazardous to your health, unless you are a half crazed lunatic. I have driven a bit, mostly to learn the route from home to work, and it is a good thing that I am a little crazy too. Weaving in and out of traffic isn’t just common, it is mandatory! Most don’t use turn signals, will drive half way into your lane, cut in front of you, then cut out from in front of you, for no apparent reason. Some (most) will stop in the middle of the road, on a blind corner just to chat with a friend on the sidewalk. Then there is the parking fun. If you can get your car into the spot, whether it is on the sidewalk, someone’s front lawn, or even on stairs, you can park there.
Another thing that I have had the pleasure (yeah, right) of experiencing is grocery shopping. There is this grocery store that would make Wal-Mart jealous. It is like Superstore, Future Shop, Home Hardware, Zellers, Home Outfitters, and the biggest liquor store that you have ever seen all rolled into one. There are one hundred check-out counters! And no, I am NOT exaggerating, I counted them all. And even with that many, you will still wait 15 minutes to pay for your stuff.
Living with another language has been fun. It is amazing how easy it has been for me to go grocery shopping; after all, I have been reading the French labels on the food packaging back home all my life. There are some challenges, and I have been stumbling through basic things like buying a meal, but I have improved a lot for less than one week. Je ne parle pas francais and Parlez vous anglais? have become my two favourite phrases. I have been trying to think in French, and answer questions in French, even when I know the person speaks English, and it seems to be helping.
We did a little road trip last Saturday to the town of Avignon to take Gus to get the motorcycle that he had rented for the weekend. Avignon is a very ancient place, with a stone wall surrounding the old part of the town, and very, very narrow streets. It was also home to many Popes over many centuries before they moved to the Vatican in Rome. So, in the middle of the old town is a very large “castle” that was the center of the Catholic church for many years, and the Petite Palais which was the Popes home. In the “castle” was a cathedral that we had just enough time to see before it was closed for the evening. Can we say gold? Yeah, there was a lot of it. I took a couple of pictures, but it was too dark to get very many.
Afterwards we walked around a bit, saw a few more things then had dinner at a street café. France was playing against Togo in the World Cup, and our restaurant was showing it on the TV. Well, need I tell you that we had the biggest crowd? Even the serving staff from the next restaurant was over watching the game.
Well, that has to be the longest entry that I think I have ever made here! I will try to keep things up to day a bit more often, as long as the internet stays working. I also have photos to add to Flickr soon. I will open a new group that I will call France so they will be easy to find.
I have so much more to say, but I better leave that for another day.
posted by Travelcedric at 22:34
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