Les Miserables

I wish it were the popular musical/novel to which I was referring to. What I actually mean though is the immensely lousy weather that seems to have descended upon France and decided to wreak havoc in our happily mundane lives. It has rained like there’s no tomorrow over the entire week. And by that I don’t mean a convincing downpour. I mean an annoying in-between thing which is halfway between a drizzle and a downpour. Something with wind and something with wrath. It has torn down 2 umbrellas of mine, has had me soaked on more than 2 occasions and returned my dreaded cold back to me -- something that prompted my first ever doctor visit in a foreign country (yes including my stay in the US). Add to that we had visitors over the last 4 days, who I am sure have not left with a happy impression of Paris, thanks to the soggy weather, the chilly winds and early darkness.

Add to that I was in Lille on Monday and yes I brought my readers on MindBlogging a soggy postcard from a rain-filled day. This is the main station at Lille.

Gare de Lille Flandres – Lille main train station.

Lille, which is predominantly a University town probably has less to offer in terms of sight-seeing and such. It only boasts of modest sights like a church and an opera, something you can find in most cities in France. Its popularity stems from its proximity to Belgium and the kinds of beers available there.

But every cloud has a silver lining, right? Ours is a long weekend that’s already begun. Bon weekend!

You've been warned!

So if you've even vaguely been following the news, you know that a variety of countries have issued a "security warning" for its citizens traveling to the Europe because of "intelligence" of possible "terror attacks". There. That's the exact language used and description given to us - the people who actually live in the Europe. And tell you what? It neither makes our life easy nor does it do anything at all. Unless there is some level of specificity in these warnings, its really as vague as being told not to cross a street for the fear of a moving vehicle killing you. Seriously. All that's happened in France over the past couple of weeks are a couple of evacuations of the Eiffel Tower and a couple of other Metro stations around the tourist hubs, all thankfully to no avail. The larger level of scrutiny has been seen only today when another couple of countries jumped the bandwagon to warn their citizens. And so our college, for the first time ever, decided to have a one-on-one checking. We had to flash our ID cards for detailed scrutiny everytime we entered the school buildings. Hardly efficient but barely foolhardy, too. 

So as a citizen who has to go about her everyday life in a country supposedly under threat, I just think its prudent for the governments of other countries to share any solid evidence/information with the governments here and issue specific guidelines rather than tell us what we already know - Oh that don't cross the road when the light is red.. or don't bang your car onto a walking civilian. Who does it help really? No one. All its done is to draw attention to the countries and have people sizing each other up with suspicion in a land of touristic bliss. Smart move, USA.

Postcards from Quiberon…

As promised… courtesy the ‘S’ in our SLR… some pics from our visit to Quiberon, a coastal region in Bretagne, the North-west of France.

And one more…

Enjoy!

The rental car and the mental tension

So going out to rent a car in France? Easy-peasy right? However, paperwork rules in this country and for all it's beautiful landscapes you'd better hope you can rent a car to enjoy it to the best possible extent. As we were going to Quiberon, this past weekend and we hoped to take in the coastal views and a lot more with the help of a rental car of course. So we waded down to the Hertz at the Rennes gare, armed with our reservation. There was a short line of 5 people before us. And a "scene" was just starting to unfold in front of us, given away by the exasperatedly angry voice of the front desk lady battling 3 just-arrived tourists from a different country. They had a reservation, a valid driving license from their country but no International license, so to speak of. And that was the problem. For those who've never heard of an International license, it may sound like a strange thing. But the knowledge of its existence in India gave me the slightest jitters. I too, had only an India driving license and no international license. But according to the French government rules, one can drive with the license of a different country so long as they are a student. Or so I believed. And the various car rentals over the past 2 years stood testament to my belief too. However the lady at the counter was real hardcore, unwilling to budge to any threats by the dissed clients and showed them the "rule book" and eventually the door. I pondered only for an instant if indeed they expected US state driving license holders to have an International license as well. It seemed highly unlikely. But I had better things to worry about at the juncture and painstakingly waited while the other 3 people ahead of us in the queue quickly furnished the required documents and sped away with their keys.

Come our turn. Cold sweat was threatening to appear on my forehead. And in the instant before we handed over my papers and our reservation to her, my mind flashed to me the million possibilities in case we too were shown the door - How would we get to Quiberon that was over 150km away? Take a bus/coach/train? Ditch the plan? Cancel the hotel? Camp around Rennes? Approach another car rental agency? However I smiled and uttered the golden passport - Bonjour to her and passed her all my IDs and documents all at once. And in return she uttered the words that held literally held the keys to our weekend getaway - Et voilà - vous avez tous! (There you go... you have everything that's required!)

Relief crept in at first and then filled all of us rapidly. We hadn't realized that we were indeed holding our breaths. Banished were the worst case scenarios. To top it all, we were given a gorgeous brand-new keyless entry, button controlled 7-seater Renault Scenic 2010. It was a bon voyage. On that finishing note, a picture postcard from Quiberon or the adjoining island of Belle Île shall follow soon... Happy sunshine and hello summer!

Le Cirque du Gavarnie

Breathtaking.. the only way to describe it. Here, take a look yourself. The natural amphitheatrical valley between France and Spain.

Tip: Click on the photo for the full-sized panorama.

Lovely Loire

We’d been to a beautiful place in France called Loire. It’s also dubbed the “Val du Roi” or the Valley of Kings. And once you get there, it’s easy to see why. There are literally hundreds of Chateâus, each one prettier than the other. If the weather hadn’t played spoilsport, we could’ve seen a lot more and gotten far better pictures. But here, I leave you with a few sights to behold.

Chateâu de Chambord

Amboise centre ville

Chateâu de Chenonceu

Pretty, rustic and pretty rustic, isn’t it?

Of forks n knives..

Well, we all know that the fork goes on the left hand the butter knife on the right hand. At least that’s how they place it around your plate during a formal meal.  But I’ve never been able to eat that way. The logic behind this arrangement is that the knife would be in your natural hand (predominantly right) to have the strength to cut whatever it is that you were eating while the fork held it down and then once it was cut free, you could use the fork that was still holding it to directly put it in your mouth. Makes sense on paper (at least to me). But while trying out, I’ve always found it bizarre. I switch hands. I use the knife on the left hand to hold the food down while I tear it away using the fork with my right and put it in my mouth. I’ve attributed this to the fact that it’s widely taboo to use your left hand to eat food in India (and we’ve been taught so). Even still, many many people have been able to make the transition to formal dining with etiquette and get it right. I haven’t. Consequently, once the waiters see the cutlery reversed around my plate, they assume I am left-handed and place everything accordingly (the wine/water glasses will go to the left instead of the right, etc). It’s a very subtle change but I’ve been amazed that so many places in France in particular have noticed and attempted to make it “comfortable” for me. For that matter, how many people know how to use the many different types of forks/knives/spoons that are cluttered around your plate during a formal meal? For this one, I can say I do. :D

Le Mont St Michel

This one was planned up in the skies alright... It rained for most part of the day as we got there to the Northwest tip of France. The skies were gloomy and the prospects of seeing the breathtaking Mont St Michel rise up into glorious skies seemed unlikely. But even as we parked our car, the skies parted and the sun peeked out. And this is what we saw -



It's little wonder that this is the second most visited place in France next to the Eiffel Tower. And even as we finished walking the length and breadth of the mountain and the abbey, the rain started once more. It was all timed to perfection. Lucky us.

The 26 year old student

France is a country with many provisions for students/people of the lower income group, etc. But I was really sad to discover that most student benefits end the day you turn 26. It's almost as if they think you shouldn't study past the age of 25 or that if you wish to study past this hideous age, you are on your own and the government doesn't plan to help you. One of the main places this affects me is the railway/metro pass. It costs a steep 90€ a month with a huge variety of places you can go to. Even then! I discovered that students under 26 can get a 50% discount on that. And students above 26? A measly 2%. I wonder why that's even there! And then for most working people, 50% is compensated by their companies in their allowance. Not for us... because you are supposed to be able to get the transport system offered discount. I am a wee bit disgruntled ever since I found out. Hmph. Also in tourist spots... students under 26 can get tickets also for upto 50% off with their IDs. Not if you're over 26. I think it's a national rule that once you cross 25, you'd better be contributing to the household income... or go jump.

Sadly, this affects the highest educated bracket, like us doctorates, or the latecomers who decide to go back to school. Hell, at least the second category had their fair share of bucks before return to academia... I think this is just one of those days, when you can find fault with almost anything. But something tells me I am a wee bit reasonable here.

Visa woes

With the impending wedding to the France-settled groom, the only thing remaining was to get the visa... Sure I have an admission letter.. a grant.. all the funds... the insurance and every conceivable thing on earth. So you would think getting the visa would be a piece of cake, right? Wrong. Its a whole week since I actively started the visa formalities and 20 days since I first did. And finally just yesterday I collected my passport with the visa splashed across its pages. My experience with Alliance Francais forced me to rechristen it as Alachal Francais... I have been there up and down a trillion times.. ok 4 times to be precise and spent no less than 6 hours each visit. Mr S there turned out to be real helpful but even then the stupid online form/system left a lot to be desired. It was forever before I could get the No Objection Certificate - something I believed trivial/unnecessary before I realized that the time I was investing at AF was essentially the time I would be saving at the consulate. And so Pa and I finally set off on Tuesday to Pondicherry where the consulate was situated. Having been told by many sources that the lines start forming at wee hours of the morning, we left the night before and got to a hotel in the hopes of finding ourselves at the start of the line early next morning.

5:00 AM - We were at the locked doors of the consulate, the first ones at the helm of the non-existant line only to be informed by the guard that no person in their right mind was going to come before 7:45AM to the consulate doors that opened at 8:00AM.

7:00 AM- The guard was right.. There wasn't an ee-kaka (housefly/crow) around.. It was the perfect situation to feed the rumbling stomach at Adyar Anand Bhavan.. And off we went.. A sumptuous breakfast later... there were still no people.

8:00 AM- There were 4 of us - the same 4 who made multiple trips to AF.. The consulate doors opened. I was first in and first out - all under 1 minute.. And the result? Visa approved. But pick up the passport the next day.

Nonsense. Multiple Pondy trips and a couple of sleepless nights later, I have my passport with the visa stamped.

A week to go. I am unlikely to blog until afterward.

Working la manière française

The French get on an avaerage 5 weeks of paid vacation per year. But ofcourse I knew that. In fact I thought they all get 8 weeks (according to a trusted source)! So, check this video out. The poor over-worked workforce out here in the US.
http://www.yahoo.com/s/617194