Beaujoulais and Reims
Trip Start
Sep 25, 2008
1
13
36
Trip End
Ongoing
Laon,
Picardy,
France
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Beaujoulais Nouveau
On Thursday Anne, Merima, and I went out to the le Gibus. One of Merima's French friends had called her earlier and invited her out, becuase supposedly there was a big party. We weren't really expecting much, since the place is usually dead, but when we got there it was packed. We soon found out it was the Beaujoulais Nouveau festival. I guess every third Thursday in November they have a big celebration for it, since it is the first new wine of the season. The bar was packed, but luckily since Anne and Merima know the bartender, he sat us down with some of his friends, so we got to make some new French friends. The place was completely decorated. There were leaves all over the floor, vines all over the walls, and they even had a small brass band playing. It was a really cool night. One of the French guys told us that Beaujouloas isn't really one of the best wines, but the French just want an excuse to party. So we got a bottle of the new wine and toasted. The French girl we met was super nice. She is originally from Lille, and she offered to take us there and show us around one day. I'm really glad we stumbled on this little cultural event without knowing.
Saturday November 22nd
On Saturday one of Anne's teachers offered to take her to Reims, since she had a dentist appointment there, so I rode along. It was nice talking French on the way there. It is basically the same distance by train or car to Reims, 45 minutes. The teacher's name was Nadia. Her boyfriend is from Germany, so she was telling us some interesting differences between Germany and France, so it was pretty cool. She said that in Germany, at crosswalks, people will always wait until the signal is green, even if there are no cars; they always follow the rules. She dropped us off near the city center and it was freezing out. We got there pretty early, so none of the stores were open yet. We had to wander around a bit until some things opened. We basically went shopping for a few hours. I got a new light jacket, since the one I brought is falling apart. I really want to wear my new coat, but now it is freezing here, so I have to wear my winter jacket. There also was a Christmas market going on in Reims. The town was decorated and there were tons of these little chalets selling Christmas goodies. We stopped at one stand selling "tetes au chocolat," which means chocolate heads. They looked too good to resist, so we each got one. They were interesting. They were chocolate covered cylinders and had this flavored marshmallow-type foam inside. They were pretty good, but different. I tried to buy the internet at a store with a contract, because now I had my temporary card, but they still told me I needed my actual card. Who knows if I ever will get it. It is driving me crazy, but anyway, after shopping we met Nadia in the library. We got some coffees there and she had brought some bread for us. She really loves to read and she told us that the library in Reims is her favorite. It was a huge library, and it is right across from the cathedral, so there are some really pretty views. I wish we had a library like it in Laon. Ours is tiny, and there are 2, but they each don't have much. I tried to get a guidebook for Spain before I left, but they basically only had guidebooks for regions in France and a few other random places.
Since it was so cold, we decided to leave Reims after the library. Nadia was telling us about some thrift stores she knew, so we decided to check them out. I found some clothes at the first one. Plus, next to the first one there was a Hypermarché, called L.E. Clerc, which is a really gigantic grocery/everything store. It was the biggest store I think I have ever been in. There was a whole bookstore inside of it, a giant clothes section, and a huge produce section. It was pretty daunting. After that we went to the second thrift store, which didn't have many clothes, but it had everything else you could think of, furniture, exercise equipment, dishes, toys, mattresses, pretty much everything. I would love to get a couch for my apartment, but I don't know how I would transport it, since all the cars here are tiny. We got back around 4ish, and I stayed in. I had gotten sick on Friday, so I wanted to get some rest to feel better.
