On Sunday, it was decided that we would drive to a nearby town, Vernoux-en-Vivarais, to check out their Sunday market, and so that I could buy some French culinary delights to take back with me to the howling wilderness that is Zürich. The drive was along a very narrow, very windy road, so we got out along the way to enjoy the view, as well as to recover from the road.
The market in Vernoux was rather under-whelming, so we went on a wild chase around the surrounding countryside to find another Sunday market. We ended up finding another market in Valence, although it turned out to be a Halal market, rendering our pursuit of various sausages from the region slightly difficult. Although our marketing was rather unsuccessful, the drive was really beautiful!
We returned for lunch with Alex's parents, and then Alex's mother and I sat and talked about children's stories in a mix of English and French, helped along by Aurore's translation. I've found that I'm able to decipher some French, both written and spoken, because of my background in Spanish. Spanish and French are, of course, quite different, but they have some similarities. In fact, when I first moved to Zürich, I read the French or Italian directions rather than the German, since I understood them better. (In fact, sometimes I still do that!) I've also found, the two or three times that I've visited Aurore in France and have really been immersed in French, that I start to pick up more over my stay. It's totally exhausting to be always listening really hard to conversation to try to understand what is going on, but I also think it's probably the fastest way to learn a language: by immersion. I'm not saying that I really learned French this weekend, but, if I wanted to learn, that's probably how I'd do it.
Anyway, we had fun talking about fairy tales and fables, until Charly's cousin, Josie, arrived and proposed a game of pétanque, which is similar to bocce ball. We played for much of the afternoon, until some more of Charly's cousins showed up and it was time to leave for the Spectacle.
The Spectacle was a theatrical performance on the Rhône called Les Aqua-Rhône. Apparently, this show travels along the Rhone during the summer and put on free performances. On boats. I have to admit, it was something I never expected to see during my stay in small town France. The show involved bands on boats, a woman standing in an egg-looking-paddle-boat-float singing opera, a grand piano on a boat, various acrobatics on floats, and a man flying on a plastic horse by means of a crane. It was really windy and hard to hear, but it was definitely an experience to sit as (probably) the lone American with everyone from a small French village.
I'm not quite sure what the boats really added to the merit of the show, other than novelty, but it definitely was unusual (see video clips below).
After the show, we all, including the cousins, went back for dinner at Alex's parents' house. It was really funny to see how this family interacted and how they teased each other. I'm pretty sure I haven't laughed so hard in a while.
After dinner, Alex, Aurore, and I packed up and drove back to Grenoble. We stayed overnight at their place in Grenoble, and then I rode back home with Aurore. She was driving back to Strasbourg and didn't mind the company, and the fastest path between Grenoble and Strasbourg happens to go through Switzerland, which worked out quite well. We drove together until Solothurn, at which point she dropped me off at the train station and I returned to Zürich.
I had a really nice long weekend with Alex and Aurore. I really enjoy it when other people share their family with me, since my family is so far away. It is also quite interesting to see how families are the same and different across cultures. It was a really special weekend, and I've already been challenged to a rematch in pétanque for next summer!
The market in Vernoux was rather under-whelming, so we went on a wild chase around the surrounding countryside to find another Sunday market. We ended up finding another market in Valence, although it turned out to be a Halal market, rendering our pursuit of various sausages from the region slightly difficult. Although our marketing was rather unsuccessful, the drive was really beautiful!
We returned for lunch with Alex's parents, and then Alex's mother and I sat and talked about children's stories in a mix of English and French, helped along by Aurore's translation. I've found that I'm able to decipher some French, both written and spoken, because of my background in Spanish. Spanish and French are, of course, quite different, but they have some similarities. In fact, when I first moved to Zürich, I read the French or Italian directions rather than the German, since I understood them better. (In fact, sometimes I still do that!) I've also found, the two or three times that I've visited Aurore in France and have really been immersed in French, that I start to pick up more over my stay. It's totally exhausting to be always listening really hard to conversation to try to understand what is going on, but I also think it's probably the fastest way to learn a language: by immersion. I'm not saying that I really learned French this weekend, but, if I wanted to learn, that's probably how I'd do it.
Anyway, we had fun talking about fairy tales and fables, until Charly's cousin, Josie, arrived and proposed a game of pétanque, which is similar to bocce ball. We played for much of the afternoon, until some more of Charly's cousins showed up and it was time to leave for the Spectacle.
The Spectacle was a theatrical performance on the Rhône called Les Aqua-Rhône. Apparently, this show travels along the Rhone during the summer and put on free performances. On boats. I have to admit, it was something I never expected to see during my stay in small town France. The show involved bands on boats, a woman standing in an egg-looking-paddle-boat-float singing opera, a grand piano on a boat, various acrobatics on floats, and a man flying on a plastic horse by means of a crane. It was really windy and hard to hear, but it was definitely an experience to sit as (probably) the lone American with everyone from a small French village.
 |
| The egg woman and the man flying on the plastic horse. |
I'm not quite sure what the boats really added to the merit of the show, other than novelty, but it definitely was unusual (see video clips below).
After the show, we all, including the cousins, went back for dinner at Alex's parents' house. It was really funny to see how this family interacted and how they teased each other. I'm pretty sure I haven't laughed so hard in a while.
After dinner, Alex, Aurore, and I packed up and drove back to Grenoble. We stayed overnight at their place in Grenoble, and then I rode back home with Aurore. She was driving back to Strasbourg and didn't mind the company, and the fastest path between Grenoble and Strasbourg happens to go through Switzerland, which worked out quite well. We drove together until Solothurn, at which point she dropped me off at the train station and I returned to Zürich.
I had a really nice long weekend with Alex and Aurore. I really enjoy it when other people share their family with me, since my family is so far away. It is also quite interesting to see how families are the same and different across cultures. It was a really special weekend, and I've already been challenged to a rematch in pétanque for next summer!
