may updates

hi everyone!

the month of may has just flown by. i can't believe i have just one more month left before coming back state-side! i know it's been a while since the last update - here's a couple things i've done lately....

nantes football club soccer match....as usual, we lost. (nantes doesn't have a very strong team and, for some reason, is in the top division. caonsequently, they get their asses handed to them on a regular basis. doesn't stop the nantais from going to games though!)

the stadium at beaujoire....myself, eugenie and april - fellow assistants. the yellow and green things you see us wearing are scarves with the nantes' logo and colors. over here, fans don't wear hats, only sometimes wear jerseys but always wear a scarf.


a player being carried off the field after an injury. the rennes fans, jeering the home team.

i found it interesting that they keep the fans of the opposing team in a separate spot in the stadium and then afterwards, hustled them out a separate entrance! too much violence post-game, i guess. these folks take their football seriously!

earlier in the month, myself and a couple other assistants went to the beach for a picnic. we wound up on ile de noirmoutier - which was just gorgeous. none of us were very photogenic that day, which is why you'll just have to satisfy yourself with beach pics!

since the beginning of the month, many many assistants have been leaving the city, as they had 7 month contracts. (because i am working in a primary school - i have a 9 month contract and so, am here til the end of june.) so alot of may has been filled with going away parties and dinners. it's been sad seeing people go, but i know most of us will keep in touch.

bordeaux!

i took advantage of a four day weekend (yes, i know....we never work over here) to take a side trip to bordeaux. it was fantastic! being the wine enthusiast that i am, it was fabulous to go see where some of the most wonderful wines in the world are made.

i started out with an all-day tour of both the chartrons district (where the wine merchants were historically located in the city) and st. emilion.

a luncheon was featured between the city tour and the trip out to st. emilion, at a 'cheese restaurant' in the city. after feasting on warm goat cheese and duck confit, they took us downstairs to the cheese room, where we could serve ourselves from a selection of over 75 different cheeses. it was heavenly!

the village of st. emilion

me in the vineyards.

where the magic happens

scenes of bordeaux (city)

the river front

place de la bourse, reflected in the miroir d'eau - a flat 'place' that they fill with just a touch of water to create the effect. sometimes, the jets produce vapor and it's beautiful and misty.

most days i was there, this spot was filled with adults and children walking barefoot and generally frolicking in the water.

more bordeaux.

i also did 2 half day tours; one to graves/sauternes and another to medoc. they all shared the standard agenda of meeting the manager/owner, seeing the fields, (no fruit yet, this time of year), then inside to see the vats in the fermenting rooms and the stocks of barrels in the chais and tasting afterwards.

this is in sauternes, home of sweet dessert wine.

one of the property managers, showing us the fields and explaining the wine making process.

drinking sauternes in the chai (barrel room)

more magic!

the last day, i went to the dune of pyla - on the coast, not far from the city.

this is another one of those times when i wish photographs could do the subject justice. it's impossible for me to convey the scope of this dune. it is HUGE!!! naturally formed over the course of 4,000 years, it spans 500 meters from east to west, 2.7 km from north to south and its height varies but is usually around 110 meters high. (if the metric doesn't mean anything to you, get out your google converter tool.) incredible place for a picnic, to say the least.

looking n -s

the climb up.

looking out across the atlantic.

last night's sunset over bodeaux.