Revenir à Rennes

Hydrangeas at the market

 

Photo exhibit in front of l'Opera

I arrived by train to Rennes on Friday, and my host mom met me at the station to take me home. It was so nice to see a familiar face. She dropped me off and went back to work and I got myself organized before my host sister, Lucile,


her older brother, José, and his two kids, Paolo (8) and Thomas (3) came over. I played with the boys for a while, you know legos, marbles, trucks, Shrek - my jams. We all sat down to dinner when my host mom got home and I helped clean up and get the boys organized before they left. My host mom, José, and the boys went to their summer house for the weekend, in Pornic, while Lucile and I stayed here. I slept in, Lucile and I had brunch, then I decided to venture into the city. It is very cold here suddenly so I bundled and stepped out with my iPod. It was really nice to be back in the city. Everyone was out and about, and I watched them close down the market. I walked everywhere, including finding an outdoor photography exhibit which has some hilarious photographs. Tonight I'm making Lucile and I some chicken before I go out and meet some kids from my program. I have a lot to do this week so I'm planning on just lying low this weekend and practicing French, in preparation for setting up a bank account and meeting the heads of my department ... yikes. It is so weird to be here without my friends who I met when we all lived here, but I know I will meet more people as the program seems to be pretty big.

Paris: one of the oldest cities in the world, never gets old.

Place Saint Sulpice

Due to a liberal arts, post-grad mentality of putting off finding a real job, I applied to a teaching assistant program through the French government that has landed me back in France! I'm so lucky and excited to return and get started. Even more exciting, I'm going to be back living in RENNES! I'm teaching at a lycée (French high school), and I will be the English teaching assistant. I will be living in student housing on one of the university campuses in my own apartment, but surrounded by other French and international students my age. Before my teaching program starts, I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Paris. I am now at the house I stayed at when I studied abroad, and I am staying with my family until I can move in on October 1st. It is so nice to have my own space and be comfortable - it feels very much like home. I got back to Rennes yesterday after four wonderful days in Paris ...

Lindsay and Julia at Place de Saint Sulplice

I got to Paris early, early, Tuesday morning and after the longest taxi ride (thank you Paris rush hour) I arrived at my hostel - Oops! Hostel in the 13th arrondissement. I met my friend Julia (from Camp Huckins) and my friend Lindsay (who studied abroad in Rennes with me) at the hostel. Julia and I waited for Lindsay's arrival by getting coffee and un croissant amande and sitting in a children's playground. By the time Lindsay got to Paris it was around noon, and despite Lindsay and I being completely exhausted, we decided to go for a walk. We went all the way to Saint Sulpice, stopped for macaroons at Pierre Hermé (we tried olive oil and vanilla?! incredible) , and sat in the place surrounding the famous church. I sat in the sun while Lindsay napped and Jules did some writing. Lindsay and I wandered back around 4 to nap and shower before dinner, while Julia explored. For dinner we settled for Italian pizza close to the hostel (and a carafe of red wine, bien sûr), while afterwords we ventured to the Latin Quarter and sat outside at a wine bar on Rue de Moufftard - which was very busy with lots of young people. Back to the hostel by midnight for some much needed sleep ...

Boardwalk along the Seine

Wednesday morning we slept in, and got coffee at Place d'Italie while people watching before Julia left around 12:30. Lindsay and I decided make the most of our free time, and run some errands. We walked to Gare d'Austerlitz where we bought train tickets to our respective cities (Linds is teaching in Toulouse). We were scheduled to leave on Thursday, but of course there was a strike, so we decided to leave somewhat early Friday morning. We had an absolutely lovely picnic in Jardin des Plantes with bread, tomatoes, cheese, wine, and salmon. After lunch we walked along the Seine and ended up finding a beautiful walkway on the left bank, accessible by ramp. We walked along the
river all the way to Notre Dame. We grabbed a bus back to the hostel and showered and cleaned up before returning to the Latin Quarter for dinner. Honestly, one of the best dinner's I've ever had. We had discovered L'Ecurie with Julia the night before, and decided to try it for dinner. It is tucked away by the Pantheon at the end of Rue de Moufftard. We waited for about 15 minutes for a table (they brought us homemade Sangria while we waited) and had a lovely table outside. The menu said the restaurant had been around since about 1684 - it was amazing, and according to Lindsay, the bathroom is proof that it has been around forever. I asked the table next to us a few questions about the menu and they were nice enough to recommend several things. I settled for a formule (app. + entrée + dessert) so we could split the salad and crème caramel, and I got lamb, while little miss vegetarian got the shrimp. We were also given a free digestif. It was bomb.com. I would absolutely go again. The wait staff was more than friendly, and the food was delicious.

Thursday - my third and final day. Up early for the hostel's free breakfast, then off to figure out phone details. Success! We grabbed a bus to the Bastille, where Lindsay was hoping to exchange some travelers checks, but didn't get very far because of the strike. Sidenote: the strike was because the French government wants to change the retirement age to 62 ... it is currently 60. Anyways, we walked to the Bastille only to discover the march was starting there. Literally, like a circus. Music, balloons, megaphones, face paint, and tons of street food - it was a carnival. We got overwhelmed and headed to our destination: La Conciergerie, a former prison where Marie Antoinnette was held during the revolution, one of the tourist spots I have always wanted to visit. We stopped at Place des Vosges (where Victor Hugo lived and definitely one of my all time favorite places in Paris) and in the Marais for a quick sandwich. We got to the prison and it started to rain - at the same time we looked up and saw a huge sign "FERMETURE POUR GRÈVE" - translation "Closed due to the strike". Of course. We headed back to the Marais, for a cup of coffee, some vintage shopping, and people watching. Again, success. It was close to 5:30 pm, and the buses still weren't running so we walked all the way back to the hostel - which in retrospect was a lot easier then we anticipated and I walked through a part of Paris I didn't even know existed. We bought a bottle of wine on our way back and chilled for a bit packing up and showering before dinner. Lindsay was craving pasta so we walked down to Rue Saint Marcel where we there was a place recommended to us called Pizza César. Yet again, jackpot. It was delicious, and truly Italian. Lindsay had incredible, incredible pesto, and I opted for eggplant pizza. We made friends with the Frenchman next to us who was from Toulouse and was giving us the low-down on everything about the city. I think Lindsay was relieved to hear such wonderful things about it. We went back to the hostel where we went to bed pretty early as we were both leaving in the morning.

Striking at the Bastille

Place des Vosges

I have to say it was a wonderful trip and I had such an incredible time in only 3 days. I think it is because Lindsay and I travel so well together, and because I have been so so many times, I'm able to enjoy the different neighborhoods and I'm not stressed to run and see all the attractions. I also have to say that the Parisians couldn't have been nicer. Everyone was so patient with my French and more then willing to help in every capacity - so in sum, some people say people in Paris aren't nice, but I say, don't believe everything you hear ...

See my next post for everything about Rennes!

Hoşça Kalın

Last night mom and I pushed through our exhaustion and went back across the bridge in search of some true Turkish cuisine. We went to a restaurant mom had found in the New York Times, written up as being absolutely delicious and in a cool area. Even though our cab driver couldn’t find the restaurant, he parked on the street to go in search of it, and he came back to the cab with the host, who brought us back to the restaurant, which was on a tiny street filled with outdoor restaurants. It was amazing. I had grilled eggplant with melted goat cheese for an appetizer, and a chicken dish with almonds, peanuts, date or raisin like fruit, in a creamy ginger sauce with rice. Mom had pureed eggplant (essentially like mashed potato consistency, but eggplant) with lamb and a special sauce. We had wine, and I tried a Turkish coffee afterward (YUM). When we left the restaurant, they helped us find a cab again. The restaurant was off of a road, but not for cars, for the above ground trolley, but the cab came to pick us up there anyway, and it was a mad dash to get into the cab before a head on collision with the trolley (of either direction). Of course.

We made it home (to Maine) safely, with no glitches– and by no glitches I mean NO glitches. Swiss Air was even accommodating, and put us in business class (once you go business, you never go back). We also learned in Switzerland it’s against the law for some who is handicapped to travel alone … so much for peace, love and equality (and independence).

Overall, my trip was so successful. I met THE nicest people, both Turkish and American, and got to see so much in the short time was there. CIEE made everything so easy, and all of their staff was so helpful in making sure that I was able to get up the 13 steps so I could see the blue mosque, or the HUGE stone “ramp” to help me get up to the second floor of the Hagia Sophia, or the two FLIGHTS of stairs to the reception/arts museum. The city is so beautiful, but there is absolutely no way I could have even pretended to do it on my own. So that’s it until my next adventure … Thanks for reading!

Xo
Emma

Spice up Your Life

I could bore you by telling you we woke up early this morning and made our way to the Tokpiko Palace before 10. Or by telling you about its incredible size, intricate tile design, or historical legacy of the Sultan’s reign over the 80,000 square meter grounds. Or even about the Harem, the area where the Sultan kept women, including his mother, one of the most powerful women in the empire, his wives, or wives to-be who were held in a certain section to essentially train to be the Sultan’s sex slaves. I could tell you about our incredible walk from the palace to the Bosporus, where we stopped in store windows filled with baklava and Turkish delight that would make your mouth water. Or about how we stopped under a bridge, filled with restaurants, where we had fresh fish sandwiches, literally a fish, on bread, with tomato and lettuce. I could try and explain the possibly hundreds of stairs we bumped up and down today, just to get from one side of the highway to another, in an underground walking tunnel. Or I could even attempt to explain the spice market, where there were tons of stores selling fresh tea, every spice, nut, and dried fruit imaginable. Not to mention the vendors, who were extremely interested in the fact that we were Americans. I believe one of the vendor’s comments was “Are you lost? Don’t worry … I’m right here!” Or another who said “Are you Miss USA?” and after I responded no, he said “Well, you are mine!” and offered me “Love” tea. Thanks, but no thanks. I felt like I was in some horror movie about super cheesy pick-up lines. We humored them by buying fresh “Relax” tea, and honey and pistachio sweets, but tried to stay away from “Natural Turkish Viagra” or “The Sultan’s Aphrodisiac” – which most of the time ended up just being Saffron.

Even though I could go on for days about all of the incredible things we did today, I would prefer to tell you that I saw my life flash before my eyes this afternoon. After about five hours on our feet exploring, we decided to grab a cab home. When we met someone who would give us a ride back to the hotel for 15 TL (Turkish lira, which is about 10 bucks) we called it a deal, crammed my chair in the trunk, and set off. The Turks drive like maniacs: worse then the French, the Italians, and anyone from Massachusetts. After almost getting into an accident because of our driver’s inability to use a blinker, we were inevitably pulled over. We sat awkwardly in the cab, while our driver got out and talked to the “polis”. We couldn’t decide whether we should stay and wait, or get out and find another cab. The fact that we were in the middle of a highway confirmed our decision of staying put. After about 10 minutes, the driver got back into the car, ripped up his ticket and threw it out the window, muttered something in Turkish, and lit up a cigarette. The next 7 minutes became the scariest cab ride of my life. Blinkers, stop lights, and people were minor hindrances, most of the time we plowed through all three, though somehow managed not to kill anyone. We arrived safely back at our hotel, where mom literally threw money at him, and the two of us ran inside before our interaction with this cab driver continued.

At the end of the day, if I could give you some advice about Istanbul, it would be: go to the palace, don’t take a cab, and when shopping, don’t settle for the first price someone offers you.

Turkish Delight

Today was the day of my speech – the whole reason I’m here … remember? This morning we went to a big breakfast with everyone from the CIEE conference, with again absolutely delicious food. And we were going to venture out, but my nerves took over and we decided to just practice my speech and chill at the hotel for a bit. We found an absolutely incredible view of the Bosporus, where you could see Asia, the Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque, it was unreal. I then met Daniel, my resident director from Rennes, Cerise, a woman from Mobility International USA, Chris, another student who studied in Rennes in the fall with Asberger’s syndrome, and his study abroad advisor, in the conference room to set up our power points and go over the order of the afternoon. I was extremely nervous, but somehow managed to keep my cool for the presentation. There were about 30 people who attended, and they were engaged and really eager to talk to me, Chris, and Daniel after our presentation. It was a little after 3 and mom and I had realized that we hadn’t had lunch. We ventured out of the hotel to find a sandwich or something yummy. We were crossing the street, looking for a falafel stand or something quick and easy, when we realized, we were taking our lives into our own hands by crossing the street on our own. Two lanes of the street had stop lights, while the other didn’t. So it was somewhat of a “run or die” situation. A really nice Turkish man noticed our hesitancy and helped us across the street. He realized we were American and spoke to us about his sister living in Baltimore “amazing America city.” We told him about our hunt for lunch and he said “come with me, I show you.” He brought us to his friend’s kebab stand, got us sandwiches, and helped us back to our hotel, first having us stop at his family rug shop for business cards, of course. He is an excellent example of everyone here, so nice. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he was about the 50th person to ask me if I were Turkish? Thank you Mimi for my Greek blood!

I also met some one from a program called Diversity Abroad, which encourages students with diverse backgrounds to study abroad. So, after lunch, he interviewed me for his website, and was really great to talk to about my experience. They are launching a new website in January, and hopefully I will be a part of it. There was then a “Meet CIEE” fair, where all of the Resident Directors set up tables with information about their cities and countries, and lots and LOTS of candy. My mom and I completely raided every country, taking chocolate, key chains, pens, and essentially anything we could find. Everyone was so nice and eager to talk to us about their specific program. I spoke with the directors from St. Petersburg, Seville, Brussels, Ferrara, and Dublin, who all seemed dynamic and interested in their students’ study abroad experience. After getting a stomach ache from chocolate and cookies, we ran upstairs to change before the big cocktail reception at the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum. Before we went, our rockstar organizers Kate and Jill, gave us a heads up that the lift was broken and the bathroom was small, but how often do you go to a cocktail party in the garden of the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum in Istanbul? We took a van over with a couple guys from CIEE who were super helpful. We bumped up a good flight of stairs, and we were under this amazing tent in the garden with heaters, overlooking the lit Blue Mosque. There was traditional Turkish music (which the Resident Director of Istanbul assured me that she found off the street) and delicious Turkish hors d’oeurves. We had a few cocktails, tried traditional Turkish Raki (which is like Ouzo, tastes like black licorice, and is horrible), and explored the museum. Of course as I was on the lift up to the museum, it ran out of battery, so once again we recruited CIEE man power and made it up the huge flight of stairs, you know … just a day in the life. The museum was very cool - they had Turkish rugs, turban accessories and hand painted tiles from the 16th century. We indulged in appetizers which included dolmas and fried parmesan cheese balls (yeah, they are amazing as they sound), and I chatted with someone’s husband from CIEE who is really interested in feminist film, which rocked. Around 9 we left the party and headed back to the hotel, where we then turned right back around and went to a hookah bar with some of the CIEE staff. We tried apple, grape, and lemon mint, and trust me, it was no Purple Caterpillar. Everyone was really nice, and the Resident Director from Jordon was with us, so she was able to speak Arabic to the bar staff. I was really proud of mom for sticking it out. She and I also had a conversation about being a strong, American woman in Jordon, which was interesting and less scary than you expect she said. After a really long day, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel. We are in for a big day of sightseeing tomorrow. We are hoping to hit the Spice Bazaar and the palace, along with trying some more traditional cuisine. This entire trip is flying by, and I can’t tell you how much fun I am having, and how unbelievably nice everyone is. I’m so lucky to have gotten this opportunity.

How Bazaar...

After a delicious breakfast at the hotel (complete with any sort of cheese you could ever imagine, delicious fruit, omelets, cereals, and fresh honey) we began to conquer Istanbul. Although I do have to mention that I am a coffee drinker and my body is use to caffeine, after two cups my heart rate was so fast I thought I was going to start shaking. Note: Turkish coffee is strong. But my first official day, I can say I love Turkey. Despite the fact that just about nobody speaks English, and I saw about 5 women today, everyone is so nice, extremely helpful, and surprisingly proud. We went on a tour with other conference attendees to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia (pic on the right). It was raining this morning, but everyone was too psyched to care – yay American tourists. We had a really nice and funny tour guide, and Istanbul native named Bora, who was so helpful and knew everything about his city. The mosque was beautiful with intricate tile design (outside picture on the right). Everyone had to take their shoes off because it was a functioning worshipping place. I even had to switch into a different wheelchair – one that wasn’t wet or muddy from the rain that came this morning. (Inside the mosque on the left). We then walked across the street to the Hagia Sophia, which began as a mosque, then converted to a church, and now sits as a museum. It is one of the largest religious structures in the world, compared to St. Peter’s in Rome, among others. It was built in the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th centuries – which is absolutely unfathomable. There was one pillar which had a big hole in it, and if you rub your thumb in a circle inside of the hole, all of your wishes will come true. It is called the “Sweating Hole” though that shouldn’t turn you off because it is just the illusion of wet that the marble gives off. (Me and the hole on the right). After the tour everyone returned to the hotel, but mom and I decided to venture to the Grand Bazaar. It was so cool. There are over 4,000 little shops selling rugs, jewelry, Turkish goods, and scarves, among hundreds of other things. (Pic on the left). We were told to visit one vendor, Jimmy, who takes great care of our Delta flight attendant friends. The minute we mentioned Delta, he lit up and took great care of us. He walked us around to bag and scarf places, and gave us great deals on his own jewelry. He spoke wonderful English, and had a photo album of all his favorite Delta people, which we are now a part of. He also gave us some heads up about what we should NOT say in English because it means something repulsive in Turkish – like “um.” It was so nice to be taken care of as the Bazaar is very overwhelming. He bought us lunch and called his taxi guy to come pick us up. We returned to the hotel for showers and a quick bite of baklava, (delish tower to the right) and then tonight we have an opening reception that sort of kicks off the conference. Everyone I have met so far is so nice and helpful. The city is extremely inaccessible, the “accessible” vans we have driven aren’t even realistic for anyone in a wheelchair, but if it takes twelve stairs to see one of the oldest mosques in the history of world, it takes twelve stairs. I am having such a wonderful time, but I have to start practicing for my presentation tomorrow! I’m not as much nervous as I am excited. This whole trip is flying by, and I’m just excited to start meeting people who are interested in hearing about my abroad experience. So I’m out for now, but more to come tomorrow!

Finally.

We are in Istanbul! One of the marketing guys at CIEE came and picked us up, and after a somewhat terrifying cab ride through Istanbul, we got to the hotel. It is incredible. The hotel is really swanky, and apparently Ahmenajad was here last night (you know, no big deal). Everyone here is so nice, and while no one who works here actually speaks English, they are so accommodating. The CIEE staff is incredible, surprise surprise. Our room is unreal with two bathrooms and a huge bed, not to mention a cute little sitting area. All we want to do is shower, after traveling all day. Tomorrow we have a tour of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, and hopefully have time for a little Spice Market action? We are also going to meet up with my Resident Director, Daniel, from Rennes, which will be great. I spoke to him for the first time tonight in English which was really funny. Tonight we took a walk to grab some dinner. The city was so busy and it is incredible that there are about three times as many men as women walking around. Everyone is very nice, but nobody speaks English. We found a random restaurant and indulged in some falafel, some eggplant stuffed with vegetables, and some Turkish tea. It was really nice and I’m so excited to explore tomorrow.

Iyi Geceler! (or I guess Günaydın since it’s only 2 …)
Emma