John's Exile in France, Day Three
Mar. 17th, 2005 09:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jcfialaWell, it's official - by yesterday (Wednesday) I had completely had the jet-lag problem licked. Monday I was exhausted and went to bed at 9pm, Tuesday I was a little tired during the day, and Wednesday was just a normal day... only in another country.
Wednesday was tame at work, but then it should be at a computer company. Came in, learned a lot. Lunch is longer than in America, so I had plenty of time to go out and explore... but I work in an office park, so there's not a ton of things to see there. Still, the weather continues to be nice for March, and it was nice to get out and stretch my legs a little. Towards the middle of my walk I found a little lunch-place, and I think that instead of having lunch here from the sandwiches delivered I may go out.
Or, I may not. I haven't decided yet, entirely.
Wednesday evening we were going to go out with a group of people including our esteemed president, who is also visiting here in France. However, the dinner was quite late, and as such I got really hungry waiting for it. Not only do the French work later than in America, but they seem to like to eat later as well.
However, Eric and I perservered and soon enough we were driving off into the dark countryside. We lost our bearings rather quickly, it being dark and unfamiliar there. The destination was a combination winery and restaurant, a very old place dripping in what they call 'old world charm'. As in many restaurants that we've seen here, the menu featured individual items as well as special multi-course meals, which is what everyone chose that night. (There was much laughter over trying to translate the meals for us.)
For an appetizer, I had thinly sliced smoked salmon in olive oil, while my companions had the compressed duck with ravioli stuffed with fore gras. It was quite nice. Then for the main section everyone had the shoulder of lamb cooked for 7 hours with beans of some sort (white lima-like beans). Dessert was a choice between an ice cream with nougat, a sort of 'upside down' apple pie with cinnemon ice cream, or an odd sort of cheese I didn't enjoy. However, the restaurant was nice enough to let me replace it with the apple-cinnemon, which was good.
Throughout we had a fun time talking, although at times they broke out in streams of French which left Eric and I sitting quietly... but they usually returned to English and would translate what they had been saying. The meal was accompanied by three sorts of wine, a white with a bit of blackberry liquor mixed in it and two reds. I didn't mind the white too much, but the other two weren't really my taste, although I worked my way through as much as I could, as I was sure it wasn't cheap wine given the surroundings.
After that we split up again - our president took us down to the beach (which we were not far from), which was nice - I walked up to the edge of the Mediterranian and looked out into the dark. The sea-side area was a bit of a surprise, because it was very similar to Ocean City, Maryland. Sightly-overworn looking seaside hotels, sideside shops selling various slightly sandy-looking essentials, seaside bars, and the occasional seaside casino, which I guess takes the place of the skee-ball arcades. We drove around a bit there, and then returned to the hotel.
The hotel room is small, which isn't too bad, I guess. I got used to larger hotel rooms when travelling with CSS, but Mom says that European hotel rooms do tend to be smaller. It's not too much larger than my bed (which is at least a double), with room for a small desk/counter, a combination closet and shelf unit, and a bathroom which is a good size. The name of the hotel is 'Campanile', which means 'Belltower', although it doesn't have one, and it was described to me as a sort of 'Holiday Inn' chain.
One odd fact is that there are two doors to the room - the outer door which goes out onto the walkway (it's more of a motel), and an inner door which seems to just get in my way. It has a large window looking out, but for whatever reason there is a metal perforated shutter that covers the window - I'm not sure why. In any case, I've left it down because most of the time that I'm there it's dark outside anyway.
Once I got back to the hotel it was very late - late enough to call my parents and talk to them (or my Mom - Dad was not yet home), but not late enough to call Tammy, though. :(
Unfortunately, there is no internet in the room. I was hoping I'd be able to keep in touch through there, but instead I come in in the morning and write this up quickly before starting my lessons.
Tonight I think I'll strike out into the city again. My friend Eric is thinking of staying home this time - he's staying on Montpellier over the weekend, so he's going to get a lot of chances to wander the city then. On the other hand, I'll be heading up to Paris to meet with my wife, who will be joining me there. I'm really looking forward to seeing her.
Wednesday was tame at work, but then it should be at a computer company. Came in, learned a lot. Lunch is longer than in America, so I had plenty of time to go out and explore... but I work in an office park, so there's not a ton of things to see there. Still, the weather continues to be nice for March, and it was nice to get out and stretch my legs a little. Towards the middle of my walk I found a little lunch-place, and I think that instead of having lunch here from the sandwiches delivered I may go out.
Or, I may not. I haven't decided yet, entirely.
Wednesday evening we were going to go out with a group of people including our esteemed president, who is also visiting here in France. However, the dinner was quite late, and as such I got really hungry waiting for it. Not only do the French work later than in America, but they seem to like to eat later as well.
However, Eric and I perservered and soon enough we were driving off into the dark countryside. We lost our bearings rather quickly, it being dark and unfamiliar there. The destination was a combination winery and restaurant, a very old place dripping in what they call 'old world charm'. As in many restaurants that we've seen here, the menu featured individual items as well as special multi-course meals, which is what everyone chose that night. (There was much laughter over trying to translate the meals for us.)
For an appetizer, I had thinly sliced smoked salmon in olive oil, while my companions had the compressed duck with ravioli stuffed with fore gras. It was quite nice. Then for the main section everyone had the shoulder of lamb cooked for 7 hours with beans of some sort (white lima-like beans). Dessert was a choice between an ice cream with nougat, a sort of 'upside down' apple pie with cinnemon ice cream, or an odd sort of cheese I didn't enjoy. However, the restaurant was nice enough to let me replace it with the apple-cinnemon, which was good.
Throughout we had a fun time talking, although at times they broke out in streams of French which left Eric and I sitting quietly... but they usually returned to English and would translate what they had been saying. The meal was accompanied by three sorts of wine, a white with a bit of blackberry liquor mixed in it and two reds. I didn't mind the white too much, but the other two weren't really my taste, although I worked my way through as much as I could, as I was sure it wasn't cheap wine given the surroundings.
After that we split up again - our president took us down to the beach (which we were not far from), which was nice - I walked up to the edge of the Mediterranian and looked out into the dark. The sea-side area was a bit of a surprise, because it was very similar to Ocean City, Maryland. Sightly-overworn looking seaside hotels, sideside shops selling various slightly sandy-looking essentials, seaside bars, and the occasional seaside casino, which I guess takes the place of the skee-ball arcades. We drove around a bit there, and then returned to the hotel.
The hotel room is small, which isn't too bad, I guess. I got used to larger hotel rooms when travelling with CSS, but Mom says that European hotel rooms do tend to be smaller. It's not too much larger than my bed (which is at least a double), with room for a small desk/counter, a combination closet and shelf unit, and a bathroom which is a good size. The name of the hotel is 'Campanile', which means 'Belltower', although it doesn't have one, and it was described to me as a sort of 'Holiday Inn' chain.
One odd fact is that there are two doors to the room - the outer door which goes out onto the walkway (it's more of a motel), and an inner door which seems to just get in my way. It has a large window looking out, but for whatever reason there is a metal perforated shutter that covers the window - I'm not sure why. In any case, I've left it down because most of the time that I'm there it's dark outside anyway.
Once I got back to the hotel it was very late - late enough to call my parents and talk to them (or my Mom - Dad was not yet home), but not late enough to call Tammy, though. :(
Unfortunately, there is no internet in the room. I was hoping I'd be able to keep in touch through there, but instead I come in in the morning and write this up quickly before starting my lessons.
Tonight I think I'll strike out into the city again. My friend Eric is thinking of staying home this time - he's staying on Montpellier over the weekend, so he's going to get a lot of chances to wander the city then. On the other hand, I'll be heading up to Paris to meet with my wife, who will be joining me there. I'm really looking forward to seeing her.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-17 01:34 pm (UTC)Love you and can't wait to see you too.
Bon Nuit (Good Night)
J'adore vous! ( Love you)
Tammy
Grammar
Date: 2005-03-18 03:32 am (UTC)In French, the you comes before the verb. Vous is the formal you, te is the familiar.
Love you both
John's Mom
Re: Grammar
Date: 2005-03-18 05:07 pm (UTC)Sigh,
Hope I don't miss John at the Gare du Lyon. the stations are bigger than I thought.
Tammy