Be we in Paris or in Lansing, it Doesn't Matter When We're Dancing
During the month of June 2005, I had 2 French roommates named Claire and Nico. While they sadly left soon after July 4th, they invited me to visit them in Troyes when I came to France. And this I did.
Little did I realize that they did not live in Troyes proper, but in a tiny village outside! And a good surprise it was. I took a train to Troyes yesterday afternoon and watched as they prepared dinner and drinks for a party of about 20 friends they made growing up. This was a striking change in scenery from Paris. It felt far from the city (I could see the stars) and I could vaguely smell trees. Dinner was a delicious stew of sausage, pork stomach and some other unidentified forms of pork and beans which I saw go from raw to steaming hot and delicious. I maybe ate too much, because I felt fool even when I woke up.
There wasn't any actual dancing, but it was an excellent party. Only a few of the Troyens spoke any English, but I had a few "conversations" with those that didn't by using the handful of French words I've learned these weeks, the handful of English words they knew and the old favorite: hand signals!
Claire and I recalled the old days of being roommates. She remembered some funny stories that involved me that I had completely forgotten. That's what friends are for, right?
I played a game called Badaboum! that involved stacking oddly shaped wooden blocks upon each other. On the box (from the early 1980s at least) was a picture of a very awkward looking family. The father's mustache was hilarious. Made me wish i had mine back again.
Later in the evening, Nico invited me downstairs with his other friends to his father's wine cellar. And he offered me a glass of wine from 1986! Quite good, only I wish it had been my FIRST glass of wine rather than my last. Soon afterwards I went into my bedroom to get something out of my backpack and fell asleep. When I woke up again at 4:30 to find the party still bumping, I felt embarassed when everyone saw me.
Earlier in the day, I took the Metro to La Marais for lunch at a Jewish bakery (pastrami sandwich!). I had had a slow day, tired from the night before. Julian and I had slept at his friend's house, and took the Metro home at around 9 in the morning. After getting a few more hours of sleep, a pain au chocolat and some quality time on the internet, it was well into the afternoon. La Marais was a good place to go then, just to chill out and do some oh-so-refreshing walking.
I'm glad I got to go to a party in the countryside. One thing my trip has somewhat lacked is non-touristy interaction with local people. This was not a problem in Paris or in Poland (and that weekend in Reykjavik with Eva), but still thank you Claire and Nico for having me over!
And again, that dinner was super.
Little did I realize that they did not live in Troyes proper, but in a tiny village outside! And a good surprise it was. I took a train to Troyes yesterday afternoon and watched as they prepared dinner and drinks for a party of about 20 friends they made growing up. This was a striking change in scenery from Paris. It felt far from the city (I could see the stars) and I could vaguely smell trees. Dinner was a delicious stew of sausage, pork stomach and some other unidentified forms of pork and beans which I saw go from raw to steaming hot and delicious. I maybe ate too much, because I felt fool even when I woke up.
There wasn't any actual dancing, but it was an excellent party. Only a few of the Troyens spoke any English, but I had a few "conversations" with those that didn't by using the handful of French words I've learned these weeks, the handful of English words they knew and the old favorite: hand signals!
Claire and I recalled the old days of being roommates. She remembered some funny stories that involved me that I had completely forgotten. That's what friends are for, right?
I played a game called Badaboum! that involved stacking oddly shaped wooden blocks upon each other. On the box (from the early 1980s at least) was a picture of a very awkward looking family. The father's mustache was hilarious. Made me wish i had mine back again.
Later in the evening, Nico invited me downstairs with his other friends to his father's wine cellar. And he offered me a glass of wine from 1986! Quite good, only I wish it had been my FIRST glass of wine rather than my last. Soon afterwards I went into my bedroom to get something out of my backpack and fell asleep. When I woke up again at 4:30 to find the party still bumping, I felt embarassed when everyone saw me.
Earlier in the day, I took the Metro to La Marais for lunch at a Jewish bakery (pastrami sandwich!). I had had a slow day, tired from the night before. Julian and I had slept at his friend's house, and took the Metro home at around 9 in the morning. After getting a few more hours of sleep, a pain au chocolat and some quality time on the internet, it was well into the afternoon. La Marais was a good place to go then, just to chill out and do some oh-so-refreshing walking.
I'm glad I got to go to a party in the countryside. One thing my trip has somewhat lacked is non-touristy interaction with local people. This was not a problem in Paris or in Poland (and that weekend in Reykjavik with Eva), but still thank you Claire and Nico for having me over!
And again, that dinner was super.
posted by Jed at 11:53 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home