On the way back to France: last message in ENGLISH...!

After one month in France I went back to my island. I was a bit afraid because of the Typhoon Morakot, I didn't know what I was be going to see there...

I was happy to take an Air France plane, it was the first time of my life!!! ouais!!

The weather was really cloudy and I was afraid of storm but nothing happened, ouf!

Two indonesians guys sat just besides me but I didn't dare tell them: "slamat malam, saya orang prancis" so I decided to not tell anything...

We can't see very well because of my stupid Sony Ericsson K770i, but some guys were sleeping in the wing's shadow.

And I arrived 22 hours later because my plane had some technical problems so we had to wait for 3 hours in Bangkok... pff!!!

A traditional party in french countryside

I went to a traditional party, or "fête du village" juste next to Moûtiers. You can see Aigueblanche and Moûtiers between the mountains here. The weather was really good but a bit cool, because it was higher that Moûtiers. The place I went with Bernard was Ronchat. It is a very tiny place but very calm and cute. To be exact, the party was the bread party, so some guys made bread all the day in the old baker's oven. It is a public one, it means everyone who lives in Ronchat can use it for free. But if you want to cook only one bread don't use it!! it needs almost an half day to be on temperature with wood burned!! But it's true that the bread is really better made in a baker's oven.

It was funny to meet very typical french guys. The black hat like that is worn in Savoie. This man is washing his hands in the ancient washing machine of the village!!! (I don't know the name in english). In these party everything is organised in the air, outside, in order to enjoy the fresh air of the summer. French people love to have dinner outside when it is sunny. It all the opposide in Taiwan, because it is really too hot ! At that place you can only drink, it is like a bar. There is only alcohol, beer or wine.

I want to show how houses are different in each place in France. This is a typical 'Savoyarde' house with wood. If you compare with Paris suburbs houses, it is really different.An old guy was comparing pictures of the place where he was born: Ronchat. He lives now near Bourges in the center of France and was happy to come back here. He told old stories about multiples fires in 1925 (because of the storm), 1944 (made by nazi soldiers against some resistants) and anothers but I don't remember. That's why the pictures are differents because a lot of houses disapeared.

Some volonteers prepared the dinner for 50 or 100 persons. I am sorry because I didn't think to take a photo of the meal because I am not get used to take picture of my food in France, it is not like in Taiwan. But most of you are happy because so many told me that you are fed of pictures of food on my blog!!

This old gaz machine is for the patatoes.After the dinner, we went to dance some french danses on a "musette" musique made by accordion, piano, and guitar. And in the Bernard's house in the same village we played a game: Abalone. At 4 o'clock we went to sleep!

So now you know what is a traditional bread party in France!

Visiting Dourdan next Paris

After one day in the West of Paris suburbs, I went in the south of the suburbs. A very ancient place with a castle!

Everywhere there are some writings like this which tell that some guys did an heroic action or something like that. Here they say that during the Second World War the Dourdan's priest escaped from the nazi militia running until this door, during the nazi policemen tried to shoot him with their guns.

This is the famous door!! Sorry for the dustbin on the left side....

The morning I was there, it was the market. But you can see the castle, it is the entry.It is a big castle, not destroied!! Not like Taiwan old houses grr!!!

There are a lot of very beautiful houses! Most of them are old.

The end of my holidays in Paris suburbs

I spent one day next Paris in an old little city. With my family we walked in the small streets with old houses. We met a place for the remember of the wars: 1914-18, 1939-45 and 1962 the Algerian war.

In every french city you can see this kind of monument with the names of soldiers died for the nation. Here they precised that the school Le Notre's students are dead during the two wars!

You can see some latin words "pro patria" ( Laureey knows how translate this sentence, hihihi!) at the top of the monument because at that time the latin language were very often used for important writings.

I took this picture because in my previous house there was this little thing too.

Is it not too cute? I love it, it is a small guy who locks the shutter with his body!!

Very useful and funny thing!! But only on old houses!

This is an example of ancient houses at this place.

My holidays in France and french liquor

If you went to the supermarket and you are too lazy to climb the stairs with your stuff, no problem, ask the Bernard's solution!!

 

You just need this thing and you can put all your food in your flat with less energy.

 

Bernard is the king of this sort of strange creations. But this time I can say it is really useful and so convenient!

Just two minutes and all the food arrives in the flat by outside. So cool!

I just want you to see how wonderful is the french lanscape, here you can see the Chartreuse, it is some montains between Grenoble and Chambery. There, I went to buy some liquor, home made! This plant is absynthe, from this plant you can do the very famous alcohol: l'absynthe, but it was forbidden since 1917 because people drunk too much so they became crazy...!! The woman showed us how to do the alcohol. You put the plant with sugar and alcohol in these boxes.

And then you take it back and put it in bottle. This alcohol is really tasty and good. But I don't think that my asiatic friends would be interested in this tradition...

Vietnamese Bouddhism in France: Thich Nhat Hanh

With my best friend I went to see a high school friend in a bouddhist place next Bordeaux. We stayed there two days, and these days were really strange. Few times in a day this bell rings and everyone stopped in order to take time to breath in silence. For my friend and me it was very difficult to respect, because we were not there to do this sort of things...

The garden was very asiatic and the nuns and the monks were vietnamese for the most part of them. It was very funny to hear vietnamese language in France, I was used to hear it in Kaohsiung but not in France like that. With my two friends we go to visit Dieulivol, it is the place where her Plum village stands. The church, catholic this time, is very old and beautiful.Just next the church you can see a very old tree. They put it for the celebration of the end of the first world war in 1918.

In each village (4 villages) you can hear this big bell, and see some nuns and monks with their vietnamese hat. They are smiling all the time and are very calm. When we came back in Lyon we felt a bit bad because after two days in this quiet and serene atmosphere it was difficult to feel where in the huge city as Lyon...

We took the cheapest train, 7 hours to go through France... it was like crossing the country in a tramway... so slowly!

And the train was really small, some persons have to stand up during hours... stupid SNCF!!! 749 km stand up, I coulnd't do that, that's why my fabulous and smart best friend thought to make a reservation. It was a very good idea because we travelled with a cello and a guitar!

Egyptian cafe in Grenoble: The Karkadé

This is one place I really like in Grenoble: the Karkadé. It is an Egyptian café where you can spend time slowly, quietly, hearing some typical music, watching some photos and sometimes speaking about politic. Some musicians friends where there this night and we spend the evening eating the Mahmoud's tajine and listening oud music.

Didi tried to play drums and Hanane sang with her fabulous voice... what's pleasure!!! So great!

If you want to go there and drink some Karkadé tea just go to the number 8 of Servan's street and just enjoy the moment.

Le Karkadé restaurant égyptien

8 rue Servan 

38000 Grenoble

From Aubenas to Grenoble by bus speaking in chinese

After spending the morning in Aubenas we took the bus to go to Grenoble. We passed by the Escrinet's pass and we could enjoy a fabulous landscape.

 It was very funny because we spent a long time to chat in chinese with Nan Yen who gave me a intensive chinese course during few hours, I am so grateful to her for that! The people in the bus thought, as in the Aubenas's market, I was the official traductor of the two taiwanese women hihihi!!! so funny!! My chinese is so poor, that's why it is really funny to think that!! Althought I was so used to take this road during two years, I was very happy to see the ardeche's countryside and to come back here. I was happy to see my taiwanese friends liking very much this place. And I was thinking about Jeff who spent a lot of time to bring me in this kind of places in Taiwan. It is so nice to take the chance to visit very special places of a country... Nan and Shu spent their time in watching the landscape and trying to take some pictures but in a bus it is really difficult. They saw the "Long he" 龍河 that is to say the Rhône, the second most long river of France (I think...). At last we arrived in Grenoble and few days after that， we met for a dinner in the town center of Grenoble.As usual in Grenoble during the summer, there was not a lot of people in the streets but the atmosphere was relly different from Kaohsiung, and the air was so good to breath!! (sorry for my friends who are now in Jakarta or in Kaohsiung...!! ;-)) Grenoble seems to me now, after one year in Taiwan so typically french!!! People take the time to go and to have a talk with friends, or to go in a park or to drink something in a café. I love that!

We eat together at the Grenette place and Nan Yen, who is really brave, decided to try the Ravioles which is a typical food from Grenoble. They took picture of the plates and we gave a chinese name to Mickaël, I can't write it because my laptop here is not in chinese... Now they are both in Marseille with July.
I just want to tell them; thank you very much for the great moments we had together, and I wish you a good travel in Germany and a save flight to Taiwan!! See you there!