i guess this wouldn't be france without a frustrating strike

Just got some sad trip news- our train to Amboise (in the Loire Valley) has been canceled and there are no trains for the rest of the day there or to Tours, which is a city near it. We could take a train to Paris and then take a train to Tours... but it will cost us a pretty penny to do so. SNCF, the French train provider, has joined the strike full force now (whereas before 2/3 trains were running, they're only running at 50% now... guess our train was in the glass half empty part). They have on their website that they will be striking until the night of the 23rd.... so I'm just praying that they'll stop by the morning of the 24th, making my train trip to Paris on the 25th on-time and on-schedule!

Anyway, I'm still getting up early to at least refund my tickets, if not try to find a cheap alternate route.... but at this point I'm getting a little worried I'll get stuck in Tours/Amboise if I do get there and then I'd be a nervous wreck about getting to Paris on the 25th. So- we shall see.

My day at school was good- lots of Funnybones reading and Halloween vocabulary going on. I have an adorable little boy, straight from Jerry Maguire, in my CP class. His name is Owen and he's always getting into trouble. But I want to tell the teacher, he's so little and so cute with his disheveled hair and glasses! Don't be mean at him!

When I got home I made number people to use when I teach numbers via the song: 1 little, 2 little, 3 little monkeys... etc. Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Brown would be proud of my number people.

Anyway... I need to go attempt to lay out clothes for my bag, just in case something opens up and we do end up going. Send happy thoughts my way please!

Reste cool...

my attempt at explaining the strike craziness

My plans were drastically changed today (from going to meet the girls in Vieux Lyon, to sitting at home) because.... yep, you guessed it- the strikes, the protesters, and the violent rioting. So, because I haven't done much today but enjoy a really fun care package from Victor's sister Valerie, go for a run to the castle, pick up toilet paper, and eat goldfish and ravioli, I'm going to attempt to break down the strike that has turned ugly.

1. Proposed Reform by (right of center) President Sarkozy: Raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, provided one has worked for 41.5 years, and raise the age one can receive the pension from 65 to 67.

2. Why Unions are Striking: Unions (teachers, oil workers, transit workers, trash collectors, postal workers, etc.) are striking and protesting the reforms because it is hard for many people to reach this 41.5 year mark, especially if they have been laid off, taken time off to care for children, or if they work part-time. They are also striking because there are certain industries that can retire earlier, and other industries that may be more physically taxing that must work 41.5 years before retirement. They are striking because they believe the government can raise taxes on the most wealthy to help aid in the pension deficit instead of overworking the "already overworked." And ultimately, many are afraid that this reform will lead to other reforms to their hard-fought for social liberties.

3. How Can the Oil Refineries Strike?: The oil refineries are part of the public sector, and are therefore directly effected by the reforms. They have been blocking deliveries of oil to the refineries, creating blockades in front of the entrances to prevent people from going to work, and they have rebuilt these blockades after the police have forcefully taken them down.

4. What Impact is This Having on Transportation?: So far, 4,000 of the 13,000 gas stations have had to close. People are lining up to fill their tanks, worried that gas will run out. French officials have said, however, that this is almost impossible, that there is a law against hoarding gas, and that there is plenty to go around. As far as air traffic is concerned, many flights were canceled yesterday due to airport strikes. But only some of the long-haul flights have been canceled coming into Paris due to the lack of fuel. The government has said that this will no longer be a problem because of the reserves and because 3 of the oil refinery blockades have been broken by use of swat team-like force. The government has stated that they respect their right to strike, but not when it interferes with those people who want to go to work. *Just out of curiosity, I checked the Dulles airport and Charles de Gaulle airport website to check if any flights into Paris have been canceled, and the 3 that I found were scheduled to leave on time (and one was an Air France carrier).

5. Why Students are Striking: High School students are striking, protesting, and barricading their schools because they are concerned that if older people work longer, they will have less job opportunities (which are already slim). Many students, after graduating from high school or university, cannot find a stable job until their late 20's and must rely on internships and continuing education before finding a job. If they can't begin working until their late 20's, working for 41.5 years will have them working until a much older age.

6. Why are the Student Demonstrations Turning Violent: France has a history of striking for "their rights." Students know that in 1968, young people took to the streets to fight for social change. (This is the revolution that brought about the 35 hour work-week, the 2 month paid vacation, better school facilities, paid maternity leave, etc.) Students chant slogans straight from 1968. But the difference now is that this mindset, mixed with the growing unrest from the banlieue (or suburbs, which in France's case is where the more immigrant, lower-middle class population resides) is creating out-of-hand and violent rioting. Students are egging on police, throwing rocks, over-turning cars, lighting things on fire, looting stores, etc.

7. How is France Reacting to the Violent Rioting: The government is trying to blame the unions for starting this, even encouraging the unrest. The unions are trying keep the 2 cases separate. The socialist party (in favor of the striking) is asking that if students demonstrate, that they walk peacefully. The French Prime Minister has called the acts of violence unacceptable and have asked parents to step in and keep their children home for their own safety. French police have had to arrest hundreds of rioters, throw tear-gas to disperse crowds, and stand guard while firefighters put out fires around the city (this city, btw, is Lyon... Paris is also having similar riots, and other cities around France are dealing with smaller scale versions of the same thing).

8. What's Next?: The bill is supposed to be voted on for the last time on Thursday. High schoolers have already planned demonstrations to be held in front of the Senate building and oil-workers have said that they will continue to strike even if it is passed. The government has made some minor amendments to their bill, but have also said they are not going to back down or slow down the discussion over the reform. Energy companies have also started striking, causing the government to import energy. On the greater whole, most strikers are unhappy, but will return to work after it is passed.

9. How is this effecting Moi (hehe, obviously this is most important): I am supposed to be going to Amboise on Friday morning at 6:30am, for my trip to the Loire Valley. As long as the bus is running by my apartment (which it did all day today even with the other transportation issues) and my train isn't canceled, we'll make it there ok. Even if we have to wait for a later train, we'll most likely make it there. Once we are there, we shouldn't have any trouble with our tour (hopefully the tour bus has gotten gas from one of the open gas stations), and I will hopefully be able to get back to Lyon on Sunday... as long as the train station is open and the metro is working on the way home.

Then, hopefully, Maggie, Thomas, and Heather will have no flight cancellations or delays, and I will leave for Paris on the train without anything being canceled. Even if my train is canceled, they have been running 2/3 trains, so I will get one up there eventually. And finally, hopefully, I will find Maggie+, we will rent our car, and have no problem finding gas stations to get ourselves around France.

I'm kind of asking for a lot.... and hoping that a lot of little details will work out... but I am hoping that because the Toussaint vacation is coming up that at least the rioting teenagers will go off for vacation with their families...

Here's to hoping! Now- I need to get ready for my last school visit with Berliet until after the break (I won't see them again until Nov. 4!).

Reste Cool!

ps- Even though I was stuck at home today, at least it was a pretty evening to watch the sunset. This is the view from my apartment!

La Maternelle... and more striking.... (UGH)

This morning I got ready to go the Simon Signoret school. This is the one that was so unorganized the first time I was there. Thankfully, this morning I a) got to school no problem with the strikes, and b) was handed a schedule upon arrival. The woman who gave me the schedule actually showed me hers and said, "Oh, do you not have a copy?" I was like.... when would I have gotten a copy? I haven't been here in 2 weeks... But, she explained that I'd be meeting with the maternelle first (the preschool), then with her class (CP), the second CP class, the technology class, and 2 CE1 classes. Welp- so much for only having 4 or 5 classes at this school. (My total number of classes is now up to 15). In all honesty though, it's not so bad to have this many classes with only 20-30 minute lessons to plan... and if a class is crazy, I'm only with them for so long. On the downside- for the classes I really enjoy, I only get to see them for the same amount of time and I'll never remember anyones name. (To make it even worse, their names are like Guyard and Aurelien and Aloex.... half the time when I ask for their name, I have no clue what they're saying in response).

Pierre (the director) helped me find the maternelle class (all maternelles are in a different building than the elementary classes). Each maternelle class has about 25 or more kids (there are a lot of little bodies) and they start as young as 3 years old. Most French children start school at age 3, if not age 4... which is why they learn extensive French grammar rules in the CP/CE1 classes... and know how to write in pretty cursive by age 6! Each class has a teacher and a teacher's aid, and these teachers are often seen wearing little aprons, which I think is cute... and very practical when working with germy, glue-y, preschoolers.

The teacher was all in a dither when I got there because the children were arriving at different times. The before-school care workers were on strike, so all the parents were bringing their kids in as opposed to some dropping them off earlier and some at this time. The cantine was also on strike today, so all the parents were asking questions about picking their kids up for lunch. In between talking to parents though, Corinne (the teacher) talked with me about teaching the kids "Hello, My name is..." and maybe a good morning song. So I wrote down the lyrics to the "Good Morning" song I sang with my Kindergarteners.... and tried it out with them (the lyrics were for the teacher, not the kids). Unfortunately, although this song is fairly easy to pick up by 5 year olds who already know English, for 3 and 4 year olds who do not.... it was none-to-easy. They got the first 2 lines, but after that, they were pretty much just mumbling and trying very hard to follow along. So I made a mental note to bring in lots of pictures and easy songs the next time.

In the 2 CP classes, I read Funnybones again, doing the English/French back and forth on my own as both of these teachers know very little English. Actually, the second teacher knows no English, so she had no idea how to help me translate. At the break, the first CP teacher talked about how much her kids enjoyed the book and how neat it was for them to hear English and to have to figure out the story line. The second teacher, however, did not agree. She said it was too hard for even her to understand and her kids told her they had no clue what I had talked about.... lol. Oh well, I tried. Guess I need to bring in big easy pictures for that class too.

I was supposed to have the technology class next, but it was canceled due to someone striking... I'm not sure who... maybe the computer room monitor? So I had a little coffee break teaching Pierre English, and then it was off to work with the CE1's. The first CE1 teacher, Eve, is my favorite at this school. She's the one with the best behavior management ideas, and she has a class pet rabbit. (Funny side note: At lunch, someone was talking about how much they like to eat rabbit and she said she can't bear the thought of eating it anymore now that she has one for a class pet). I talked about Halloween and read Funnybones to her kids. She was very helpful in making sure the kids followed me and watched for context clues. She also had a real Jack-o-Lantern in her class, so they had clearly already worked with some Halloween traditions. After I read the book, she had her kids do the coloring page I made to help learn Halloween vocabulary and colors. It was a great little 30 minutes!

And last, but not least, I went to the 2nd CE1 class. This is the teacher who has to bounce around to 4 different classes to fill in for her colleagues. The class is by far the rowdiest bunch (even more than Carole's class at Les Marendiers), but she is a cute little teacher that has lots of ideas and ways to keep her kids entertained. I'm sure she just has a rough time with them because she only sees them once a week... and it's hard to maintain a routine. Anyway, there are some interesting little kids in this class. There's one little boy that has red hair and a pony tail. He was wearing skull suspenders and walked around like a mummy after I read my story. There's another kid who immediately told me I should say the word "putain" when the teacher had her back turned. I was like, "Ah! I know what that word means. That's not nice." I was shocked! The kid was trying to get me in trouble!

At lunch, I sat and awkwardly ate by myself until the rest of teachers dropped all their kids off. I didn't realize they had to wait for all the parents to come pick them up before they could come eat, so I was practically finished by the time most people started eating! One teacher had no idea who I was and said... "Sorry, but who are you?" It was an interesting morning. And I don't go back until Nov. 9, so I don't have a whole lot of opportunity to get to know these teachers or kids like I do with the Berliet school.

I usually take the tram on my way home, but when I got to the stop it said I still had 17 minutes to wait for the next tram. Stupid strike. So I walked. It was too cold to sit and wait... and it probably took me less time to walk anyway.

I got home and immediately started reading articles about the strike. I'm getting even more anxious about all my upcoming travel plans and visitors. The oil strikers are the most likely to continue striking.... which is bad for people trying to fly here from the United States. They're canceling flights that can't bring enough fuel to get a plane back to where it came from... and of course flights over 6 hours can't store that much extra fuel. Go figure. The high schoolers who are striking are also making a bigger mess because they are getting violent... which is what you see on the news. I haven't seen any violent rioting, but then again, I'm not out there rioting or protesting. But, I think for the most part, there are just a lot of mad people. And for us, it's really hard to understand why they're striking... but because the government runs almost everything, creating a law to say you have to work until you're 62, provided you have worked for 40.5 years affects a lot of people. And the most frustrating part for the French is that there are little loop holes and rules stating that only certain fields have to abide by this... military or police can retire at age 45... teachers who have 3 kids can retire early... etc. So people like the oil workers who have to work 40 years before they can retire are mad that other fields can retire after only 25-30 years. So clearly it's a complicated issue... but still the whole thing is becoming really annoying and frustrating for me. Don't they know I'm here??? Don't they know they're stressing me out?

Hope you're all doing well. Reste cool:)

ouuuaaaai!!!! (waaaaaay!)

It was a Les Marendiers day! This is the school with the most classes and I meet each class for about 30 minutes (6 classes over 3 hours). Today, I got myself ready, with my bus schedule and map in tow.... only to be called about 30 seconds before I left the house by Sabine (who drove me to school last time). She was offering to pick me up! When she picked me up, she said, "It was really cold this morning, so I thought I'd come get you!" How nice:)

I met with the class who has the long-term substitute first. She asked me to read a story about the Loch Ness Monster... which I found funny because, although I speak English, I am not an expert on all things English (or Scottish in this instance). But- I read the book in English and stopped to explain what was going on in French. It was a weird book because it was small, with small pictures, and a lot of factual information- definitely not a book I'd pick to read to non-English speakers (I'll be picking the books from now on though).

In the next class, Carole (the teacher) split the class into 2 groups and I worked with one on pronouncing words used to introduce yourself in English. This class is a little out-of-control for my liking. They're really loud and talk while you're talking and the teacher's way of discipline is "shshing," which is clearly ineffective. But, it was cool to have my own little group and I could use my own mode's of behavior management. The kids were really excited to be working with me, but wouldn't be quiet long enough for me to finish giving an example. So I went into teacher mode, gave my teacher face, and said in French, "I'll wait until you're ready. If you can't calm down, I'll have to ask you to leave the circle." I would never actually make them leave the circle, but this got them to straighten up mighty quick. I was so proud that even with my imperfect French I can still be an OK teacher. The rest of the time working with my group was great! They were so cute waiting for their turn to say "My name is... etc." And next time, the whole class is bringing in postcards to write to my friend Caitlin's class (5th grade in the US).

My next class was with Sabine. She had me explain Halloween to the kids in French, go through some Halloween vocab, and read a little book about witches by candle-light (yes, she actually turned off the lights and lit candles...). The kids were cute when I said spider- "Oh you mean like Spiderman?" Sadly, the time went by way too fast..

After the little pause, I went to work with Sophie's first class. I read Funnybones with them, but this time I was doing all the French/English back and forth. They definitely seemed to enjoy it and got the story. They especially liked when I sang:)

Then, I went to Sophie's next English class (the combined CM2/CP class... the oldest and the youngest level). She had me read a book about a sheep who had lost its sound... and I went through a bunch of other animal sounds before arriving at BAAA. Surprisingly, even the older kids liked hearing the book (I guess even very simple books in English are still hard). After reading the book, we played a little game. When Sophie asked if they'd like to play against each other on teams, they all shouted, "Ouuuuaaaii," which is like saying "Yeahhhh!" But it sounds so adorable and hilarious at the same time. They also raise their arms when they say it, lol.

In this game, they had to make the English sound for the animal shown in the picture. Interestingly enough, we do not make the same animal sounds. Frogs, horses, and pigs especially sound different (wach wach, waigh waigh, snort snort). Sheep say beeeh instead of Baaa. Dog and cat are about the same. Roosters are cookericoo, instead of cock-a-doodle-doo. It was quite the cultural experience.

And last but not least, I went to the CP class to read Funnybones. This group knows practically no English and the teacher knows only a little more. So I was, again, the one doing English to French translating to make sure they understood the story. I feel bad though because I'm sure I'm not conjugating all my verbs correctly... and I'm sure that is something they're also working on themselves in French... so I hope I'm not getting them all mixed up with my broken French! Oh well- we got through the story and they love me:) And I love them, hehe. They all wanted me to sit next to them at lunch... which probably would have been fun.

Like a normal adult, I went to sit with the teachers. Today at the cantine, I had chicken, potato balls, baguette, tomato/cucumber salad, flan, and cookies. After we ate, I showed them the books/materials I had brought in and we got all planned out for my next visit (not until Nov. 8th hah!).

After school, I went grocery shopping.... which is such a pain to do without a car and elevator. I feel so wiped after lugging everything up 5 flights of stairs. But, I did have a pretty delicious dinner, so I can't complain too much (cheeseburger with salad and brie with a pear, yumz).

Tomorrow is the last day of striking before the retirement reform bill is passed. If it is passed, I'm hoping everyone will just accept it and go back to work so that gas stations can open back up and flights don't get canceled (my friends are coming in a week!). But- there is also the chance of another French Revolution, which will ruin everything... so keep your fingers crossed that the French cooperate with me on this one!

Reste cool:) Hope you're having a good start to the week!

Quelle Surprise!

This morning, I got up before the sun was up, on a Sunday, voluntarily. I knew I had a whole list of things to do today and I went to bed insanely early last night (I think I was in a cheese comma). First on my to-do list, LAUNDRY. It is so inconvenient to not have a washing machine close by. Even in college all I had to do was walk down a flight of stairs. Now, I have to walk down a flight of stairs and down the street. And today it is cold and windy. Bleh.

But, on the other hand, I do like being out and about on Sunday morning s. There’s a big market right by my Laundromat, so I decided today I’d stick my laundry in a machine and go take a look around the market. Of course, I ended up buying all of my produce and bread there for the week (adding more bags to carry home with the laundry). But, not only was it cheaper (10 euros for 3 huge apples, 2 pears, 2 tomatoes, 1 avocado, 1 huge and beautiful head of lettuce, a basket of strawberries, and a large pink praline brioche that should hopefully last more than 2 days), but it was great fun! The market people (I don’t know what to call them in English) genuinely want you to have the best fruits and vegetables. One market guy sang everything I ordered and asked when I’d be eating my food so as to pick the perfect ripeness. It was cold and rainy and I walked away thoroughly pleased with my experience.

I got finished with my laundry and back to my apartment. I was starved, and got all the ingredients ready for an omelette au jambon (ham omelet). I had everything ready, from the lettuce and tomatoes cut and ready for my salad, to the butter melting in the hot pan when Laurence called, inviting me to lunch at midi (noon). I had no idea what time it was… I said, huh, well I’m just about to make myself something, but I can leave it for later. She said she’d be there in 25 minutes.

Now, I had a whole list of things to do today- laundry was first, omelet second, cleaning, putting away my laundry, and grocery shopping third, and lastly, a shower. I was looking a little rough, so I ran to the shower, and miraculously got ready in 15 minutes with enough time to put away my omelet ingredients and laundry! The rest can wait, I thought! Here’s my chance at the big French, Sunday meal I’ve always dreamed of (or something like that).

As you can imagine, my insides were a-gurgling at this point. We got to Laurence’s house (her mother in tow), and nothing was ready yet. I thought, my God, I’m going to collapse. (But, not to worry, I survived). Laurence’s mother is hilarious. She’s very theatrical, deaf, and talks non-stop. She knows 2 words in English: Good Morning. Even though I didn’t quite catch all of what she said, she was entertaining nonetheless.

All 3 kids were there and the husband went to fetch his mother, so we were 8 in total for lunch. Laurence made raclette, which is similar to fondue in that it involves melted cheese… but different. With fondue, everyone eats from the same pot of cheese, dipping their meats or breads in it. The cheese is also mixed with wine and cream and spices of some sort. With raclette, everyone is given a mini-frying pan, that has its own spot in a heating device put in the center of the table. In this frying pan, you put a type of cheese, cut especially for the raclette dish, in your frying pan. While it heats up, you take already cooked potatoes and cut them up on your plate… along with various charcuterie (cold cuts). Then, once your cheese is melted, you pour it over your potatoes and meat. It’s delicious. I probably had 8 little frying pans of cheese (they kept giving me more, it’s hard to refuse!). We had this with an appetizer of quiche and salad, and a dessert of almond cake and espresso. OH- it was good. Well worth the disruption in my planned out Sunday.

After lunch, we talked for a while, they asked me about my upcoming trips… gave me suggestions, etc. I told them I was a little afraid the strikes would interfere, but they didn’t seem too worried about it (but then again, this is normal for them). Laurence asked if I wanted to go see a movie with her and Laura, but I told her I needed to get back. But, what’s exciting is that she told me the movie theater in Saint-Priest, located a block away, will be reopening on Wednesday! And! Harry Potter is on the list of films that they will eventually show. Now, I don’t know if it will be in its VO (version originale) or the VF (version française, with dubbed over voices)… but who cares! I’ll go see both!

So now I’m home, ready to explode. I feel like I’m going to wake up with cheese coming out of my ears tomorrow after such a cheesy weekend. But, there are worst things I guessJ

Reste cool mes amis!

More Chambery Pictures

Zee Grand Adventure to Chambery

Despite our 8:41am train being canceled to Chambéry, we made it there!!! However at first, I was a little nervous that we might not make it. I got to the train station at about 8:30, got in line at the welcome station (accueil) and the woman told me the next train wouldn’t be leaving until after noon (which would have made our trip to Chambéry really short). Lindsey texted me shortly after I talked to this woman, saying that she was getting in line at the ticket booth. I found her, and then Helen and Caroline found us. We waited in line, hoping they’d allow us to take the 9:40am coach bus instead of waiting until after noon to take the train. We got up to the lady (a different one than I talked to), and she said, “But of course you can take the bus!” Yipee! So we hopped on the bus and headed out of Lyon for the first time since we've arrived.

Once we got to Chambéry, we found the office of tourism, got a map and a time for a guided tour. From there, we walked through a very colorful open-air market. They had beautiful displays of vegetables and fruits, stands with watches and scarves, sweaters for 10 euros, purses, toys, cheeses, and more! Thankfully, I wasn’t leading the way at this point or I would have stopped to examine the purses and try the colorful fruit. I did manage to take a few pictures of these vibrant displays, and a market man posed for me, while he sang about his veggies.

From here, we continued straight on to the Hotel de Ville. The building itself is very pretty, but has an adorable carousel in front, with huge bunny rabbits and horses going round and round. Already we could tell we were going to like Chambéry. It was so cute! And it only kept getting better. We took several pictures in front of the Hotel de Ville and kept walking our way towards the center of the old town.

We took a little pedestrian-only alleyway towards the town center and found ourselves on a gorgeous street lined with colorful buildings, with overflowing flower boxes in the windows and quaint shutters. There were several fountains and a beautiful clock tower. I felt like my finger never left the button on the camera. Every time I turned around it got prettier and prettier! (And they've already put up their Christmas decorations!)

We knew we’d have plenty of time to tour more, so we all agreed it was time to find something to eat. A specialty of this area is the fondue savoyarde, a type of cheese fondue (Chambéry used to be the capital of the Savoie Dukedom). We looked around at several restaurants until we decided on one that had fondue on the menu that came with a little salad and charcuterie (cold cut meats) included in the price. It was an excellent choice, our waiter man was very attentive and brought out more bread for our delicious fondue. I know adding big clumps of gooey, creamy cheese to bread and ham isn’t the healthiest way to eat, but boy is it good. And, I’ve decided, fondue is just really fun to eat. Who wouldn’t want to spear their food and stick it into a pot of boiling cheese?

After lunch, we made our way through the town again, looking for the Fontaine des Elephants (Elephant Fountain). The fountain is at the base of the street Rue de Boigne and at the other end is the Chateau des Ducs. Although the main part of the village dates back to the 15^th and 16^th Century (or earlier), this particular fountain was put here in 1838. The fountain has 4 elephants (it has something to do with celebrating Boigne’s exploits in India) spouting water from their tusks. It is quite the cool fountain… definitely in my top 10!

We took several pictures and did an about-face to walk to the chateau (now the prefecture). A small group of high school students were on the stairs leading to the castle with a megaphone. How cute we thought, they’re “protesting.” The castle is cool looking; it has a beautiful chapel and tours dating back to the 14^th century. We were excited to go in and see it on our tour (sadly, the protest got a little bigger and we couldn’t go in).

After this, we went to the big cathedral because my guide book mentioned it having beautiful paintings. The outside isn’t very outlandish like some of the other cathedrals I’ve seen, but when you go inside, it’s amazing. There is such detail in the walls and ceiling! And, after a few minutes you realize that it isn’t detailing carved into the stone, but actually painted on there! (On our tour, the woman told us it is called a trompe l’oeil (or trick of the eye). We didn’t know this then, but on our tour, she told us the cathedral had 2 different artists, giving it 2 different feels. At the front, the paintings seem to open the church… because in the arches and windows painted in you see what appears to be columns and more arches in a hallway (which isn’t actually there). In the rest of the church, she said the paintings almost make you feel more closed in.

It’s a pretty dark church as far as cathedrals go… the stained glass isn’t anything too exciting and they’re fairly small. In the back of the church, there is an amazing organ that’s been restored and has something like a thousand different notes (I think that’s what she said). The organist was actually practicing when we came in the first time.

After our visit at the cathedral, we met the tour group (2 hour tour, in French, for 3,50 euros- not bad!). Our guide was very enthusiastic about the history of Chambéry, telling us all about how the city used to be made up with canals and it was encircled by a wall, and it had a mote. It is also very smartly located in the Alps, which doesn’t serve as a barrier, but as a gateway to Switzerland, France, and Italy. The city still has many traces of this medieval era, but it is quite the mix of 14^th-19^th century architecture and influences. Most of the town was also built with wood, so not only was water a main element of this city, but also fire because several parts burned down several times (all restored to original or bigger and better than original in a different era, which gives the mix of eras).

She took us the Cathedrale St. Francois (the one with the paintings). She also took us through many of the city’s covered passageways (similar to the traboules in Lyon). These passages were created so that people could come out of their houses and within minutes reach a street parallel to theirs (these were a nice get-away from the rain). She showed us many different houses, complete with their own individual history. She showed us spiral staircases and little emblems carved into the stone dating back to the 14^th or 15^th century. She showed us the oldest street in Chambéry, a street that used to have a church right in the middle of it (there’s a fountain there now instead), and beautiful courtyards. Then, right near the end of our tour, where we were supposed to be going into the chateau, the protests had grown to hundreds of people. They were beating drums, shooting off flares, holding huge signs, chanting, singing, etc. It was quite the exciting way to end a tour (even if we didn’t get to the inside of the castle and hear the 70 bell chimes of Sainte-Chapelle).

By this point, the rain was coming down a little harder than the light sprinkle from earlier and the temperature had dropped somewhere around hour 1 of our tour. We were frozen! So before we got on to our train, we stopped at a very cute little salon de thé for a hot chocolate. It was delightful.

The trip was a success, we got our train home, and went our separate ways to head home. The girls were such fun to tour with… and I know we will have many more adventures to come!

(More pictures in next blog!)