à Montluçon, etc...: January 2009

17 janvier 2009, grafitti

SATURDAY
Grafitti under le Pont Saint-Jacques (Saint James Bridge) in Montluçon

oui, à la paix et l’amour (yes, to peace and love)
non, à la violence (no, to violence)

16 janvier 2009, sunrise

FRIDAY

Sunrising in downtown Montluçon as I am on my way to teach at École Jules Ferry.

13 janvier 2009, l'Amaron

TUESDAY

Frozen edges of L'Amaron, a stream that flows into Le Cler.

12 janvier 2009

MONDAY

The Cler River from le Pont des Iles (Bridge of Islands).

11 janvier 2009

SUNDAY

The morning sun creating a shadow of the window on my bedroom wall.

10 janvier 2009, Bourges

SATURDAY

I took a morning train to Bourges and spent the day exploring the city with my roommate, Becky, and another English assistant, Victoria. Bourges is located between Montluçon and Paris.

Becky and Victoria examine the map of Bourges

Cathédrale Saint-Etienne

Jardin de l’Archevêché

Église Saint-Pierre

9 janvier 2009

FRIDAY
It was a nice evening, so I took a walk into town and wandered about.

The moon above the houses that border the Cler River

A71, the autoroute that runs through Montluçon

The edges of the Cler are frozen

On my way back from town, I stopped at the grocery store, Intermarché, to do some shopping. I was amused to find Simpsons themed galettes des rois, which are pie-like cakes. They are eaten between the Epiphany and Mardi Gras. A small figurine, fève, is baked inside each galette and in this case the figurines are characters from the Simpsons. Americanization.

6 janvier 2009

TUESDAY

The CM2 (fifth grade) classroom at École Jules Ferry

5 janvier 2009, Bonne Année

MONDAY

Today was the first day back to work after Christmas vacation.

The banner hanging outside Église Saint Paul de Montluçon reads Bonne et Sainte Année (happy and holy/blessed New Year).

1 janvier 2009, Basel to Montluçon

THURSDAY
I caught an eight o'clock train from Basel to Gare de l'Est in Paris, then was able to catch the direct train between Paris and Montluçon.

approaching the Strasbourg train station

31 décembre 2008, Basel

WEDNESDAY

This morning there was a light layer of snow on the ground. I went to the grocery store and ate lunch in the cafeteria of the hostel.

30 décembre 2008, Basel

TUESDAY

Pauluskirche (St. Paul's Church)

Jean Tinguely's mechanical sculptures

Going over the Rhine on the tram.

Taking down the Christmas Market in Basel

29 décembre 2008, Genève to Basel

MONDAY
I took a quick walk around Geneva before catching the train to Basel in northern Switzerland.

Brunswick Monument. Named after Charles d'Este-Guelph, Duke of Burnswick, who was linguist, musician, and investor that died in Geneva in 1873.

The sun rising over Geneva

train ride to Basel

The German-speaking city of Basel

The YMCA hostel I stayed at.

A familiar sculpture in the streets of Basel... "Hammering Man" by Jonathan Borofsky. Borofsky has Hammering Men sculptures located around the world, including in Seattle :).