La Normandie

All the exchange students visited Normandy on the Fourth of July, a very moving experience.  For Independence Day, we had temporarily returned to American soil, as the WWII cemetery was gifted to the United States by France after the war.  On Omaha Beach, the site of first debarkation on D-Day (Jour J), we sang the national anthem, our sole contact with English after half the summer.  I had never before visited the memorial, and the sight of so many perfectly aligned white crosses covering the lawns was powerful.

Upon entering we were each given a flower and the name of a soldier to locate who had never before received flowers on his tomb.

Parade militaire et beach handball

On Saturday we were caught in the streets as a huge military parade was passing by.  We were so close we could touch the paraders.  Saumur is the home of a military base and an elite military equestrian school, so there are always either personnel in fatigues walking around or police riding around on horses or military students on a run.

On Sunday we attended a beach handball tournament on the banks of the Loire.  The weather has been wonderful, luckily.

This week is also La Fête des Films.  Thanks to the French minister of culture, all the movie theaters are discounted!

My host brother carrying my backpack as we walk home from school

Oplah ! (l'expression preférée des Français)

After-school snack of flan and Orangina (ratatouille was for lunch!)

Making crepes

Cake contest at Arnauld's school's kermesse

The topic of discussion during dinner tonight was why the French are better than the English.

Faites la fête

France is the place to be during the summer.

Friday was La Fête de la Musique, a nation-wide free music festival of all genres on the first day of summer.  Started by the French minister of culture in 1982, it has since spread to over 100 countries.  The entire city of Saumur was out in the streets; down every alley some type of musician could be found and in every plaza a free concert.  We ate dinner and crepes in a narrow cobblestone street shared with a French rock concert, and then we meandered around the city which had transformed itself into urban fairgrounds until dawn.

Salsa in the streets of Saumur

The view from the appartement the night of the fête

Sunday was La Fête du Velo when the city was closed to all vehicles besides bicycles.  For two days the Loire was lined by bicyclists, and a vintage fair, featuring antique bicycles, took place.

A bicycle statue for the fête

My friends at the antique bike fair

The Tour de France begins the 29th!  July 11 (for the end of Stage 12 and the beginning of Stage 13) it will be in Tours, a city nearby Saumur that I'm visiting in a few weeks.

Les soldes began today!!! Les soldes is a month-long season of extreme sales mandated by the French government on ALL merchandise.  Stores are not allowed to have any other sales all year long except during this period mid-summer and also mid-winter (although they still have some special offers).  All the women in Saumur were out shopping this afternoon.  It is only the first week and the discounts range from 20% off to often 50% off, and the deals get progressively better throughout the season.  Even some of the guys in our group went shopping aux soldes today.

Clafoutis à la myrtille

Clafoutis fait par moi

Mélangez bien :

150g de farine

100g de sucre

1 sachet de sucre vanillé

3 œufs

une pincée de sal

un peu de rhum

Ajoutez de lait jusqu'à avoir une pâte lisse.

Tapissez le fond du moule (beurré et froid) de fruits (myrtilles, cerises, mûres, ou frambroises, etc).  Versez la pâte sur les fruits.

Cuisez au four à 180 C jusqu'à sentir l'odeur (~25 minutes).

Les châteaux du Val de Loire

Le château fort de Saumur

Le château fort de Saumur

La cathédrale de Saint Louis à Saumur 

La cathédrale de Saint Louis à Saumur 

Le château à Blois

La cathédrale à Blois

Le château Chambord (où vivait Louis XIV quand il était jeune)

Le château Chambord (pour la chasse)

L'escalier à double hélice désigné par daVinci 

Le château Chambord

Le château Chenonceau

Le château Chenonceau

Le château Chambord

Le château Chambord

Le château Chambord

Cacher l'anglais de la vidéo informative

Différences culturales

Gourmand, translating roughly to gluttonous or greedy around food, is the highest compliment in France.

There is no word directly meaning "cheap" in French; the closest is "not expensive" (pas cher).

Tonight is one of the little host siblings' birthday.  And the girl chose to have her birthday party at McDonald's.  Here MacDo serves croque-monsieurs and hamburgers with Camembert, and there are iPads at every table for enjoyment during dinner.

One of the few things I hate about living abroad is differently sized paper.  The standard paper in Europe and Asia is just a little bit longer and impossible to fit in American binders and folders.  No matter what country, I will always have a preference for the 8.5 by 11.  Plus the French use a keyboard that does not have QWERTYUIOP, and you have to hold shift to get the period!