Day 46: Pau, France

Today, it was dreary.  I kinda liked it, actually.  I woke up, and I started doing some free buzzing in bed, and then some mouthpiece buzzing.  My face felt as bad as it looks, and it took me like 30 minutes before I could start playing.  I ended up getting a really good hour in, doing some long tones and lip slurs. 

Class was ok today, but it was a little slow.  We had to do a survey for the Ofice of International Education that took a while, and we had questions on our homework, so it was like an hour before we learned anything at all.

The first thing I learned today is that this type of candy bar is not good.

After class, I went home again to practice.  I did about 1:15.  It was pretty good.  I did some scales and then looked at some parts from the opera.  This evening, I had a rehearsal for the opera.  It went really, really well, and I am very happy with how I played. I felt really strong--a huge a improvement over the last rehearsal.  Hopefully I can keep improving.

This is the poster for our performance.

Apparently, France is in the Rugby World Cup Finals.  You'd never know it if it weren't for the internet.  I have noticed that I see a lot more All Blacks merchandise than I see for Les Bleus.  Apparently it is a big deal to some people.

Day 45: Pau, France

It has been brought to my attention that I may have made some disparaging remarks about Tuesday, or "mardi", as it is commonly known in France.  Well, after some careful consideration, I have decided that Tuesdays(mardis) really suck. 

Haha anyway, I woke up today, and it was really cold in my room.  I only get one piece of coal a night. :/

Class today was ok, but things with my Tuesday teacher always seem a little haphazard, so I don't think we learn as much as we could.  The morning class went by really slowly today.  That is the other 3 hours class I have each week. 

This is the candy bar I bought today.  I have never seen one before, and let's be honest, how could I now buy this?  It was chocolate and wafers and caramel and little bits of rice(or whatever is in a nestle crunch).

After lunch, I went back to class, and it was not really better.  It didn't help that I was having a really difficult time staying focused.  I was spending a lot of time thinking about stuff that wasn't French. (Please note that this is not why I didn't learn as much.)  I then headed to my lit class. Lit was not so horrible today.  Lots more people participated, and it was not quite so boring.  And she cancelled the final hour of class.  Don't worry, she moved the final hour to Friday afternoon.  The last day before our fall break commences.  I think you know my stance on this. 

For dinner, Laura and I both really wanted something different, but we were not willing to walk longer than about five minutes.  While searching for a local hotel for a friend, I heard mention of a Tex Mex restaurant near campus.  Today, Laura and I went.  It was actually really good.  Not the best Tex Mex I have ever had, but it was definitely up on the list.  They also did a pretty good job of decorating it correctly, and putting obnoxious neon lights all over the outside of the building. 

I forgot my camera, so I took one of their business cards.  I'm not sure what is going on with this monkey guy...

After, I went home. and played for about 5 minutes.  Oddly, my family was still up.  They were eating ice cream together.  They were celebrating the removal of oldest son Thom's wisdom teeth.  He is doing pretty well, and seems to be in not too much pain.


Peace out.

Day 44: Pau, France

Today was an ok Monday.  I got up at around 10h and I did some homework, and then I practiced.  My trumpet went ok.  I hate feeling so alone in that.  I went to lunch before class, and it was very good.  Breanna went and ate with me, or, watched me eat.  Class was ok.  It is a three hour class, so it just feels really long. 

I got this candy bar on a break.  It is made by LU, the cookie people.  It is pretty good, and has a fun name.

For the last hour of class, we went to this language lab.  It was pretty cool. We got put in these little cubicles with headphones, and we could do listening activities and then record ourselves with them.  We were then able to listen to ourselves and compare and make our French talkin gooder.

Glass boxes.

Most confusing button array ever.  I think I almost figured it all out.

After class, I came home for about 45 minutes to practice.  I have a double buzz.  I think I am going to quit.

After, I played soccer, and that was fun.  It was nice to just think about playing soccer for a while. Then, I had a lot of homework, and I don't understand almost all of it.  I hate Tuesdays.

Day 43: Pau, France

Today was Sunday, and in keeping with tradition, I didn't really do anything.  I didn't even wake up until almost noon.  This is because I was up until after 4 am watching the Auburn game.  (war eagle.)

Once I got up, I kinda poked around, and then I played trumpet for a while.  It went pretty well, but it was pretty obvious I didn't play yesterday.  Later, I went for a run.  It was nice.  For dinner, we just had leftovers.  It was cool.

That was pretty much it for me.  I didn't take any pictures, but this is where I ran:

Day 42: Nay - Gavarnie, France

Today was our second USAC excursion of the semester.  It was pretty awesome day.

This is Ryan.  He works in the USAC office in Pau and he plans our trips.

We met at 8h 45 and took the bus to Nay, about 30 minutes away.  Here, we visited the Musée du Béret.  Yes, there is a beret museum, and yes, we went there.  All we really did there was watch a movie about berets, and how they fit into different cultures in the region. Berets were first worn in the nearby(to Pau) Bearn region of France.  The factory in Nay has been producing berets since 1819.  They have a new building now, and the museum is in the old.  Now, there are only two beret factories in France, each producing about 500 berets a day.  About 80% of these go to the military of France and other countries who's military wear berets.  More info: Museum Website

This is how big berets are when they are first knitted.  They are then shrunk in hot, soapy water, rendering them (mostly) water proof.  You could say the resist water, I suppose.

After the beret museum, we took our bus to Gavarnie, which is the the highest city in the Pays Haute, which is the neighboring region to Pau's south.  

FUN FACT: The only city in France with more hotel rooms than Lourdes(see day 28) is Paris.

When we arrived, we had lunch at the Cafe Les Cascades.  It was a restaurant that specializes in Garbure, a local stew.  It mostly contained duck, and something that seemed like corned beef, as well as lots of vegetables.  It was VERY good.

It got broughten to us in big pots.

I ate it from this bowl.

Friends eating lunch, and a great view. 

We also had these really delicious pastries for dessert.

After lunch, we hiked to la Cirque du Gavarnie, which is a big circle of rock, at the head of a valley.  It was a really beautiful hike, and it came at a great time.  It was really great to relax, and get away from Pau.  I got to spend a lot of time hiking on my own, and reflecting, or whatever it is you do when you are alone.  It was a really difficult place to prend photos because the sun was pretty low in the sky(relative to the ridge, so the sky was really bright, and the valley was all in shadow. I did get a few good ones:

This is the stream running down from the waterfall at the top of the valley.

This is me, about one third of the way up the valley.

Looking across the valley.

Looking back to the base of the valley from about half way up.

Neat.

I took this as we entered into the main part of the cirque.  The walls are up to 1500 m tall, and the waterfall, La Grande Cascade do Gavarnie is the tallest in France, at 422 m. (I know it looks like it is at the top, but it starts at about half way up.)

It was very cold and windy at the base of the falls.  Here, I am about 10m above the very bottom of the falls, and about 15m in front of the falls.

This is looking back down the valley from the back wall, next to the falls.

There is absolutely no scientific explanation as to why these rocks are strewn about the valley floor.

There is something wrong with the trees here.  They are turning all kinds of weird colors.

We crossed the stream again walking back down.

The trail we took back, went straight down the valley floor, instead of along the side.

Here is most of the town of Gavarnie.  It is very tiny, but they receive about 1 million visitors every year.

The hike up to the falls was quite difficult, and all in all, it was a very difficult hike.  I was pretty exhausted by the end.  Also, my heel hurt REALLY badly.  I don't know what is going to happen to these boots....


I was supposed to go out to the bars with my friends tonight, but I just didn't feel much like going out, so this will likely be my final activity for the night.

Day 41: Pau, France

I have been here for 41 days.  Like the flood.

Today was pretty boring and uneventful, so I will keep it short.

Things I did today:

1. Woke up.
2. Went to class.
3. Went to lunch.
4. Went back to class.
5. Went home to practice. 

At some point in all of that, I found this spot on campus.  I liked it, so I took a picture.

5. I went BACK TO CLASS.  Yes, I had class on Vendredi afternoon! WHO HOLDS AN EXTRA CLASS ON VENDREDI AFTERNOON!?!?!  It was ok.  Except the ill timing.  I actually did well, and the teacher singled me out (how embarrassing) for doing such a good job of participating. (Before anybody gets too excited, it was in the the context of  "Wow! Aaron is doing a much better job of participating! At the beginning of the class he was so bad, but now he has improved a lot!") It's all good...

After class, I went home to change and I went to get crepes with Laura.  We were going to go somewhere different, but that obviously didn't happen. 

In other news: for lunch today, I ate with Jun.  I don't really know what that is short for, but he is Japanese.  He has two boys that are 3 years old and 6 months old.  And a wife.  It is cool, because the only language we have in common is some semblance of French, but we still get to talk. 

I am very concerned about the weather here.  Today, it only went up to like 70 degrees, but it was sunny.  And tonight at dinner, we sat outside, but by the time we finished eating, it was probably in the low 50s.  I don't understand what is happening. :(

Day 40: Tokyo, Japan

Jk.  I am in Pau.

I tried and failed again to do laundry this morning, but that did lead to a good hour on my trumpet, so that was good.  It hurt pretty bad, but my fundamentals felt good.  I THINK I might be getting better. I  kinda forgot what that feels like, so I let everybody know when I know for sure.

Class today was cool.  I had my little acting thing today.  I don't think I learn anything in there, but it is fun, so I won't complain.  At lunch, I went to the store and I bought envelopes, and some delicious candy.  I'm not sure what the candy is, but I can't stop eating it.  It is a problem.  It wont be, pretty soon.

Evil  candy. 

Cassis is like blackcurrant.  I just discovered that id you take all four flavors and knead them into one homogeneous clump it tastes really good.  I think if I eat one more of these candies I will puke.  I bet I am eating another within 90 seconds. 

I just almost ate one.  Literally 20 second later...

Anyway, my afternoon class was ok.  I basically just ate candy the entire time. 

After class, I went home and practiced, a lot.  It went pretty well, but I was a little tired today.  I also wrote out my scale exercises.  I think it will be good.  Also, Sibelius rules.  Way better than Finale. 

For dinner we(just ate another candy) had some vegetable casserole. It was pretty good.