Au revoir, Tours!

Wow, so tomorrow is my last full day here! (Unfortunately I have 2 exams to take!) It has certainly flown... As much as it'll be sad to leave France, it will be nice to be back in the US.

Something I've noticed being at the Polytech that I wanted to mention before I forget is that the students here are very big on greeting each other. When you see someone for the first time that day, you always, always greet them with a handshake or la bise, no matter how well you know them. This courtesy holds true for everything, whether it be a hunt or a club meeting, and it's not something that is overly prevalent among students in the US.

I was thinking the other day about how many castles I've seen in Europe - at least 11, I think, a pretty respectable number. I'm not sure I could even count the number of cathedrals, I've seen so many. So here, just for fun, are the castles I've seen:


Loches


Amboise


Blois


Chenonceau


Chinon


Tower of London


Chaumont-sur-Loire


Chambord


Villandry


Rocamadour


Beynac

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C'est nul! = That's worthless!

Apparently I'm going to be rich this coming year. According to the French, when you first hear a cuckoo in spring, you will be rich during the coming year if you have change in your pockets. This was at the country house, where I went for one last time on Thursday and Friday. This was another long weekend, since Thursday was Victory Day, and today (Monday) is also a holiday because of Pentecost.

This weekend was our last excursion - to the Perigord region of France. The Perigord is a region that is well known for its food. Needless to say, we ate really well. The region's specialties are nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts), liver (foie gras), duck, and truffles. As much as I was curious to see what a truffle tastes like, it costs quite a bit for a tiny little mushroom.

One of my favorite stops along the way was the château de Beynac - a privately owned castle at the top of a huge cliff. It was one of those cool-looking fortified castles, offering a superb view of the Dordogne River from the top of its ramparts.

We also visited the gouffre de Padirac, a huge system of caves following a subterranean river. We took a boat before walking around a little and then taking the boat back. It was pretty cool. (pictures added)

Every semester, all the Bucknell students in France vote for someone who best integrated themselves and made the most of their experience. This semester, my peers voted for me to get the prize! Needless to say, I am flattered.

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It's strange when certain words don't exist. For instance, the word "nut." The French have words for walnuts (noix), hazelnuts (noisettes), almonds (amondes), peanuts (cacahuètes), but there doesn't seem to be a general term to describe them all. Also, the other day, we had cantaloupe. I asked what it was called, and they told me "melon." I asked what type of melon, but then it became clear that melon actually means cantaloupe. (Watermelon is pastèque) Who knows how you say melon in French...

I was realizing today that the Polytech' kind of reminds me of high school. Well, ok, a highly specialized high school for big kids. The productique department is all contained in one building, they block out your entire schedule for you, there's no course selection at all involved. Today someone came into my class to tell us to all go to a meeting - in fact, it was an assembly of all the 3rd years - I guess you can just do that in that sort of an environment.

The meeting was actually kind of interesting. At the moment, the productique department is composed of the EEs and the MechEs, but when you get your degree, it is a degree in productique. There's talk now of changing the system to separate the two so that your diploma will actually say either electrical or mechanical.

Interesting revelation of the day: in France am does not mean morning! on the contrary, it stands for après-midi, meaning afternoon. That confused me for a couple minutes.

Well, our last excursion is coming up this weekend, then it's the home stretch!

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Officially 10 days left in France... Today my engineering professor just didn't show up for class. So that was interesting. Rumors are afloat about a train strike near the time when I leave, but I don't think it should be a problem. Thanks to Sarkozy, there is a bare minimum of service for when they go on strike.

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Fun French expression: noyez le poisson = evade the issue (literally "drown the fish")

Salut, mes amis. Not too much new here... though the weather has finally given us a break. I spent a relaxing weekend at my host family's country house. I brought along an origami book and some juggling balls, so it was fun to show my host siblings such things.

I was surprised, though, that after lunch, when we were sitting outside baking in the 70-something degree heat, they decided to have hot coffee! I guess it's a must-have, though somehow that doesn't do it for me. It was also Paul's 14th birthday on Sunday, so we celebrated that French-style with a round of 'joyeux anniversaire'.

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Fun French expression: la vache! = holy cow!

Well, I officially have less than two weeks left here. Time flies! So, to complete my French experience, I can now say that I've been to a French doctor. (who was very nice I might add) Fortunately, it seems that my little injury will take care of itself given enough time.

In the time that's left, though, I still need to finish a paper, go to three labs, present a final project, and take two exams. There's also our weekend trip to the Périgord in there somewhere. Going back to the country tomorrow to enjoy the nice weather while it lasts...

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Fun French word: berk! = yuck!

Happy May Day! As I mentioned, today is a holiday in France. Only on le 1 mai, anybody is allowed to sell lily of the valley (le muguet) in the streets. It's supposed to bring happiness.

I spent today at my host family's country house, with a fire in the fireplace. While we were there, Arnaud showed me parts of the airplane he's in the process of building - all from scratch, including the electrical systems. He showed me some wing parts and the instrument panel, with a few instruments installed. This will be the second airplane he's built - pretty cool.

I also had the chance to read a few of the family's old comic strip books, including Astérix and Tintin, both of which are well known in France.