Le Père Cent

Today was my last day of work before the holidays. As I headed home from class, I saw students having flour fights, so I tried to avoid them.

No, it's not snow. The streets are covered with flour.
Later this afternoon on my way back to the lycée four students asked me for change. I don't give out change as a rule of thumb, so my automatic reaction was to say "no." Next thing I knew, I was floured!

I got to the lycée and the teachers explained to me that today is le Père Cent, a tradition among stéphanois lycéens. Traditionally 100 days before their final high school exams, but now celebrated the last day of school before the February holidays, students ask for change. If you say no, they throw flour at you.

Having planned make the most of the afternoon to explore a park I'd not yet been to, I ran into a few groups of students. I explained to them that I am Canadian and that in exchange for money, I wanted to take their photos. They were happy to pose for me, and I gave both groups a euro each.

Nice ASSE

Outside of teaching, I don't encounter much English in my day to day life here in France (aside from speaking to other English assistants or reading the English translations of signs in museums, which contain a surprising number of mistakes). The gem above, however, is a constant source of amusement for us English speakers living in SaintÉ.

ASSE stands for Association Sportive de Saint Étienne, SaintÉ's football (soccer) team. Unlike us foreigners, the French pronounce every letter in the acronym, "A-S-S-E." They are also called les verts after the team's colour. ASSE's glory days were in the seventies, when they won la Coupe de France four times.

Although less humourous than Nice, ASSE's number one rival is Lyon. The two opponents faced off in SaintÉ the night we were in Lyon eating frog legs. Lyon won 4-1.

"Allez les verts!"

(Photo by Amy Barger)

Monopoly Money

As a Canadian I have felt the need to defend our colourful currency from our southern neighbours teasing us about having Monopoly money. I was thus super amused when the bank machine dispensed my 100 franc bill (the smallest amount I could choose from) and I got my first glimpse of Swiss francs: they are way more colourful than Canadian money! Swiss francs are multicoloured and way more brightly coloured than Canadian bills.

I had heard that Geneva was super expensive, but with the exchange rate I found that things were about on par with what I would expect to pay for them in Euros. Of my 100 Swiss francs, I still have more than 40CHF left over.

(Image of Mr. Monopoly via Google Images)

Un dimanche dans la Haute-Savoie

As I mentioned , Pamela, like many others, works in Geneva, but lives just across the border in France. Having seen the sights in Geneva on the Saturday, Sunday Pamela brought me to see Annecy.

Annecy is a breathtakingly gorgeous mountain town in the Haute-Savoie department of France. As with Lake Geneva, I couldn't believe how blue and crystal clear Lake Annecy was. There are many Venices in Europe--essentially every town with canals and bridges is nicknamed Venice--and Annecy is called the Venice of the Alps. Annecy's canals and architecture reminded me a lot of Bruges.

Annecy is bidding on the 2018 Winter Olympics. Being from Vancouver, I found this especially interesting and couldn't help but think of how amazing a location it would be for the games.

We spent the early afternoon leisurely walking around the old town's bridges. The old town is dominated by the Château d'Annecy, a medieval castle where the Counts of Geneva and the Dukes of Genevois-Nemours lived and which is now a museum.

Later that afternoon we drove to the tiny but picturesque medieval walled city of Yvoire, which is situated on the French shoreline of Lake Geneva. The village is so small, it only takes twenty minutes to walk around. During the warmer months, Yvoire distinguishes itself as "le village le plus fleuri de France," and also has a garden of the Five Senses. Like Annecy, Yvoire has a castle, but more incredible still is that it has been inhabited by the same family since the seventeenth century!

After a leisurely visit of Yvoire, Pamela drove me back to the train station in Geneva. It was a beautiful drive along Lake Geneva at sunset and I was amused one last time at our nearly unnoticeable transition into another country.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just wanted to wish all my loved ones back home a Happy Valentine's Day!
When in Rome, I visited Santa Maria in Cosmedin, home not only to the Bocca della Verità, but also to the relic of Saint Valentine's skull (how romantic, right?). You can see a picture of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in my facebook album from this trip.

Tastes Like Chicken

I tried escargots back in December and liked them. Now I can also say that I have eaten les cuisses de grenouilles.

Yesterday a group of us went to Lyon. After a day spent seeing the sights with our newly-arrived American friend Claire, we set out to find a bouchon Lyonnais, a traditional Lyon restaurant, for dinner. Lyonnais cuisine is very carnivorous, offering such specialties as tripe and brain. We chose this restaurant that seemed to be a modern take on a bouchon Lyonnais that also offered a vegetarian menu as Claire is vegetarian.

In France restaurants frequently offer set menus, which are typically good value. The only downside to this is when you are torn between dishes on different menus. Last night, for example, Claire ordered delicious chèvre crème brûlée and was nice enough to let us four omnivores have a taste.

When our frog legs arrived, we were surprised to see that they had been breaded and fried--we were expecting them to be pan fried in butter and more readily resemble legs; that they didn't made it easier to not think about the fact that we were eating frogs. The legs were delicious and they did actually somewhat taste like chicken.

Eating amphibious creatures spurred the debate as to whether a pescatarian would eat frog legs (a quick google search reveals we aren't the only ones who have wondered). We texted our pescatarian friend Annie who responded that she wouldn't eat frog legs as frogs weren't fish.

So there we have it. I have had the two most renown unsual French foods. Are there any others I should try while I'm in France?

Un samedi à Genève

Much like Belgium, Switzerland may often be left off the typical Eurotrip itinerary. But with an invitation and an old friend to meet up with, how could I not go to Geneva?

Inextricably linked with the United Nations, Geneva is probably of more interest to international relations students. However, there is more to Geneva than simply the UN. It is a beautiful city to spend the day exploring.

I arrived in Geneva late morning and met up with an old friend and classmate from UBC, Celine, who is from Geneva and works for an international organization. The sunny and spring-like weather made it the perfect day to wander the city on foot.

Crossing the pont du Mont Blanc, I couldn't believe how blue and crystal clear Lake Geneva was--unfortunately the iconic Jet d'eau was turned off. After getting a look of Geneva's famed flower clock and taking a quick walk around the jardin Anglais, we headed to the old town to climb la Cathédrale Saint Pierre's tower, where we were rewarded with an amazing view of the city and lake. We then took a walk in the parc des Bastions, where you can play giant games of chess or checkers and see the Reformation Wall.

After grabbing a quick bite of lunch, we went to the United Nations headquarters where, being an international relations student, I got the obligatory-photo-in-front-of-the-UN taken.

That evening I met up with Pamela. She, like many others, works in Geneva, but lives just across the border in France. Having not really travelled in Europe by car, crossing the border was rather novel: one moment we were in Switzerland, the next we were in France. Unlike the Canada-US border, there was no line-up and no agent to talk to; there was a customs building, but it appeared to be closed that evening.

Later that night, Pamela and I crossed back into Switzerland to have dinner at a fondue restaurant. The restaurant was decorated with murals of cows grazing in mountain scenes. We had fondue "moitié-moitié," which is half gruyère and half vacherin cheese, and was served with bread and potatoes--it was so delicious! This little taste of Savoie (the French and Swiss both lay claim to fondue being their dish), was the perfect end to a lovely day.

Where Am I? Geneva!

You guessed it: I was in Geneva for the weekend!

As the home of the European headquarters of the UN, among hundreds of other international organizations, Geneva could surely be considered the modern caput mundi.

Lake Geneva (called lac Léman in French), is Western Europe's largest lake, with a surface area of 580km².

Switzerland's three C's: chocolate, cheese and clocks of course!

And Jean-Jacques Rousseau is the Genevese native whose philosophy was one of the sources of inspiration behind the French Revolution.

Congratulations to Julie, the lucky winner! I will pop this postcard in the mail for you tomorrow. Also, thank you to everyone who played!

I couldn't help but laugh when I came across these hilariously kitschy Swiss army knife chocolates--probably the ultimate Swiss souvenir--I had to buy them!

Spring break begins in just under three weeks so stay tuned for the next postcard challenges.

Where Am I? Postcard Challenge #6

Back in December I attended a dinner organized by one of my colleagues for current and former English students and teachers. It was there I met Pamela, an alumna, who invited me to come visit her. This weekend, I am taking her up on her offer, so here are the clues for this sixth postcard challenge:

1. The whole world is here. Ancient Rome was called the caput mundi. This city might be considered the modern caput mundi.

2. It is located on the shores of Western Europe's largest lake.

3. The country is known for three things which begin with the letter "C".

4. The philosophy of a native of this city is considered to have influenced the French Revolution.

Where am I going? If you think you know, leave your answer in the comments below before 4:00pm CET on Monday, February 7th. I will draw the lucky winner once I'm home from work. Props to you if you can answer each of the clues(but don't worry if you can't, it will not put you at a disadvantage for a postcard).

Good luck!

Groundhog Day

Yesterday was Groundhog Day in North America, and while France doesn't partake in it, I would say that judging by the snowfall the day before, that we still have at least six weeks of winter left; despite the spring-like weather that started off the new year here, winter's not over yet.

Talking to some colleagues at lunch today, I learned that in France yesterday was la Chandeleur. Although originally a religious holiday, it is now celebrated by eating crêpes. According to superstition, if you succeed in flipping the crêpe in the pan while holding a gold coin in your left hand your family will have a prosperous year.