January 21, 2008

So I’m in the process of doing my laundry by hand. I’ve been dreading the laundry for a while, not because I have to do it by hand, but because I’m not looking forward to hanging three weeks worth of underwear out on a line for my neighbors to see. I’ve never cared how cute my underwear was until this point. Today is a great day because I have a fever-nose cold combo—meaning that I’m spending my first day relaxing and getting chores done instead of feeling like I should go out and experience French culture.

Yesterday we went on an excursion to Provence, which, some of you know, is the place in France I’ve always wanted to visit. Unfortunately, because it’s winter, the lavender fields weren’t in bloom and, because it was Sunday, nothing was open. But we still saw some pretty cool things. In Arles we visited a Roman Amphitheater and learned all about the Roman and Medieval ages there. After the Amphitheater we had free time so most people evacuated the place, but my friends and I stayed to walk around the top of it, and to go down into the middle where the gladiators fought. It was really cool. We danced and did yoga and headstands. We also went to Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer Sunday afternoon. The city is named after the three Mary’s who came to evangelize there. We spent our free time there just sitting on the rocky pier and listening to the gentle waves hit the rocks. I felt very proud and blessed that for me this was a sound that reminded me of home—my friends are from other places in the states that don’t have as much water as Minnesota! The weekend here was beautiful. It was about sixty degrees on Saturday and Sunday (which was a fabulous change from the rainy 30/40s). The weather here fluctuates so much in one day. Every morning my roommate asks me if I know what the weather will be like and what I think would be appropriate, I honestly don’t know because I’ll leave feeling freezing, and then it will get very hot, and then very cold again. It’s funny to feel freezing in thirty degree weather. At home I might not mind being in a t-shirt if it was thirty degrees in the middle of the winter. Here I’m always wanting more layers.

Last week I had a wine and cheese tasting. I’ll tell you what I learned. I took notes, but by the fifth glass of wine, some of them were a bit ridiculous. We started with a Mouscat wine. The Mouscat is a type of wine that’s a specialty of the region and everyone loves it except for me because it is so sweet. First we looked at the color of the wine, the darker the color is, the older it gets. A good wine (generally, each wine varies) is about two years old (a light yellow for white and a red-purple for red). Then we put the glass on the table and carefully swirled the wine inside. If there are a lot of “legs” (defined drips) the wine has a lot of alcohol in it (a Mouscat is 50% alcohol so it had very thick legs). Then we smelled the wine—I can’t quite remember, but I think if the smell is more floral then it’s younger, if it’s more fermented, it’s older. Then we drank. After the Mouscat we had Camembert, I wrote (in French) that it smelled like our bathroom, but that it didn’t taste too bad. The next wine was a Riesling, which comes from the French province Alsace (located on the border of Germany). The Riesling was my favorite wine because it’s dry and a little fruity, and it has bubbles. Next we tried my favorite cheese—Conté! It was sweet and smoky—totally different from the other cheeses we ate. The next wine was a Rosé from Gard (a town in Provence). It wasn’t bad; it was kind of sprite for a Rosé. Then was the Roquamador (I think this was the one made from sheep milk). Somebody said, “Mmm, smell’s like a pet store, I can’t wait to dig in!” It wasn’t bad, it was creamier than the Camembert and less strong. The Bordeaux was good, it was thicker, and it had more legs. For the Roquefort I wrote “Whoa! Strong! Sweet and salty and a little bit like the cow barn at the State Fair.” And we finished off our session with a glass of dessert wine, a mousseax from Bourgogne, it was fruity and bubbly. If you’re serving fish for dinner, serve it with a white wine. Rose goes with salads or white meat. Red goes with red meat.

Tomorrow is my last day of classes in the Prestage, then I have tests on Wednesday, registering for Paul Valery classes on Thursday and Fridays I have my Internship at the American Library (under a very funny French woman who is always adding to my vocabulary and who is a “pipelette”—she’s told me about her two cats, her fiancée, her twenty-three year old son who’s in Paris trying to get into the music industry—she gave me his CD—and that she has the same birthday as George Clooney).

Also, if anyone wanted to send me a letter, I have my own mailbox now, so you don’t need to put “Mme Marcou” on the letter (or else she’ll get it). The address is just simply:

Abbie Defiel
1, rue du Petit Scel
Montpellier 34000

Take care !