28 octobre 2008 - a map of Washington

TUESDAY

I was perusing through the items at this bookstore/papery located near the train station...

and I came upon a wall with travel books and maps. Located, kind of in the middle, was a map titled Washington, I was surprised and almost expected it to be Washington, DC. I opened it up and was happy to see the state of Washington before me.
(close up... sorry for the poor quality, I was trying to be discret when taking the picture)

It was the only Washington map and I am assuming that whoever ordered the map thought they were ordering a map for Washington, DC and probably still didn't realize the difference.

27 octobre 2008

MONDAY

It was a rainy day in Montluçon.Le Cler River

Pont des Iles at night

26 octobre 2008, Sunday stroll

SUNDAY

After breakfast, I went for what ended up being a two hour stroll through Montluçon.

View from Rue Camille Desmoulins bridge.

Ruisseau des Etourneaux (Brook of Starlings)

A duck eating a baguette.

The Saint Paul Cathedral in the distance.

25 octobre 2008, Fête de la Pomme

SATURDAY

Today, there was a Fête de la Pomme (Apple Festival) in Prémilhat, so I went to check it out. For a town of just over 2,000 people, I was quite impressed and found it a nice little cultural experience.

The Apple Festival took place at a community center.

charts and a display of apples

A short performance of "Blanche-Neige" (Snow White) was acted out, as an apple has an important role in the story.

Outside the community center, a small crowd gathered around two older gentlemen who were planting an apple tree.

24 octobre 2008

FRIDAY
After teaching today, I walked over to the downtown Pat à Pain, a boulangerie/sandwicherie chain in France, and I ran into another English assistant.
There is always a wonderful smell pouring out of Pat à Pain .

23 octobre 2008, road construction

THURSDAY
On Thursday mornings, I teach two classes at École Jean Moulin. Then, in the afternoon, I teach three classes at École Lamartine. (Note: all elementary schools have a two-hour lunch break, in which students either go home or stay at school).

My landlord, with my roommate, picked me up from École Jean Moulin and drove to the CAF office, where we met with a social worker and dropped off our applications.

The below pictures were taken while I was riding in the back from the CAF office. Note how close the machinery is to the car.

22 octobre 2008

WEDNESDAY
Today, my landlord was nice enough to take me and my roommate to pick up an application for the CAF (Caisse d'Allocations Familiales), which would subsidize some of our rent.

21 octobre 2008

TUESDAY
Conforama is the name of a furniture store that I pass on the way to the grocery store. (confort = comfort, therefore it is would be the same as a store in the US being called Comforama, which just amuses me).
Le pays où la vie est moins chère (the "country" were life is less expensive)

20 octobre 2008

MONDAY

Le Cler from Pont des Iles

Fish swimming in the Cler River. I am not sure exactly the specie of fish, but I have seen people fishing off the bridges here in Montluçon.

19 octobre 2008, smoking in France

SUNDAY
There are stickers plastered on the front of cigarette packets warning and giving very good reasons why one should not smoke, but this does not seem to detract the number of smokers... hence the number of empty cigarette packs that I easily found laying on the ground.

Fumer tue (Smoking kills)

A collection of empty cigarette cartons that have gathered up at a water grain along Route de l'Hermitage.Fumer crée une forte dependance, ne commencez pas (Smoking creates a strong dependance, don't begin)

Protegez les enfants : ne leur faites pas respirer votre fumée (Protect the children: don't make them breath in your smoke)

18 octobre 2008

SATURDAY
I went into town just to run some errands and was amazed to see an exhibition of sorts going on in Place Edouard Piquard (the square in front of the castle).

La nature dans tous les sens (nature in all its senses)

It was four euros to look at the several booths there were set up and I was not that curious to pay four euros, as it was just as amusing to look from afar.

Looking down at Place Edouard Piquard from the castle.

The campers in the foreground are part of the Saturday marché vestimentaire (a market where one can find all sorts of clothes) that takes place every week.

Montluçon is indeed beautiful at night, though the lights can be deceiving. One would think that with such light displays as those on the bridges, fountains, and castle that Montluçon is a bussling city , but it is not, though that is what makes it charming.

17 octobre 2008

FRIDAY

Hanging over the middle of the street (Avenue Jules Ferry) is an example of the city Christmas lights, which are already beginning to be hung around Montluçon. I do not when the lights will be lit, but it is exciting to see Christmas preparations are already underway.

16 octobre 2008

THURSDAY

On Thursday mornings, I teach two classes at École Jean Moulin, then I have a three and a half hour break before I teach three classes at École Lamartine in the afternoon. I had packed a lunch and occupied myself around town during the break.

This is the entrance to Boris Vian Médiathèque in Montluçon. The médiathèque (multi-media library) was not open, naturally, but I found some chairs inside the building, thus it was a dry place to eat my lunch and go over lesson plans. As one can see looking south from the castle gates, it was a rainy day in Montluçon.

Another view of the cloud cover from the castle wall.

The next detour on my way to École Lamartine was Jardins Président Wilson (President Wilson Gardens). It was beautiful walking through there with the autumn leaves on the ground.

When I was on my way out of the Gardens, I was stopped by this gentleman. He was trying to ask me where he could find an internet cafe, but then he apologized for his speech and said that he was English. I had to laugh. Unfortunately, I did not know exactly where an internet cafe was, though I had a general idea where one might be located. Despite that we had a pleasant short conversation, then I was off to teach my classes at École Lamartine.

15 octobre 2008

WEDNESDAY

The sign reads: Caution of dog.

On a good number of occasions, I have jumped at the sound of an unexpected dog behind a fence as I walked its house. I think most French dogs are kept in the front of the house, instead of in the backyard, so it is hard for an owner's dog to go unnoticed. Essentially every house is gated.

14 octobre 2008- no advertisements, please

TUESDAY

Walking around I have noticed a decent amount of residents put notices on their mailboxes asking that no advertisements, or rather no junk mail be placed in their mailboxes. Some are just basic like in the first picture or some catch your eye such as the latter.

13 octobre 2008, long-life milk

MONDAY I quickly snapped this picture of the milk selection at Auchan, one of the major grocery chaines in France. Fresh milk is very hard to come by in France, according to several sources, 95% of milk consumption in France is long-life milk.

This amuses me because despite the French facination with cows they do not drink fresh milk. In French cow= vache and there is an adverb vachement, which literally is translated as "cowly" though means "very" or "really."

12 octobre 2008, Clermont-Ferrand

SUNDAY

Place de Jaude

a view of Puy-de-Dôme (the mountain) from the streets of Clermont-Ferrand

Place de la Poterne

Corn fields I saw from the train on the rode back to Montluçon.

11 octobre 2008, Clermont-Ferrand and Vic le Comte

SATURDAY

This morning after having breakfast at the hostel I went out to explore.

Cathérdrale de Clermont

The Office of Tourism was located near the Cathérdrale de Clermont, I went in there to ask about getting to Puy-de-Dôme, a nearby mountain. The lady at the tourism office said that there was no way of getting to the mountain without a car. So, I just left and went for plan B, which was to head to the train station.

Clermont-Ferrand is located amongst the Massif Central moutains and while Clermont-Ferrand is a beautiful city, what makes it unique is its accessibilty to smaller neighboring towns. At the train station I just located at a map and a departure time table and figured out which town I wanted to go to. The train ride to Vic le Comte was only about thirty minutes and for 3.80 euros there and back I didn't feel I had much to loss.

view of the Allier River from the trainVic-le-Comte train station

There was not much in Vic-le-Comte, a town of 4,600, though I spent several hours just walking about taking in the scenery. It was pleasant place to visit. I wanted to walk up some of the surrounding hills, though unfortuately there are no sidewalks along windy, "mountaineous" roads.