The stuff is packed, except for the computer. The surfaces are cleaned. The closets are empty. The dishes are washed. In 10 minutes they'll come by for an inspection, and hopefully to return our deposit. So before I pack up the computer, I'm doing this one final post from Montpellier.
Montpellier is a nice city. It was the perfect choice for us. It's not huge but it's not so small that there's nothing to do. We can walk everywhere rather than take the tram if we need to. They sponsor events constantly. It is vibrant and packs a historical punch. There is nature all around--hiking to the north and beaches to the south. The weather is nice. The people are nice.
Next post will be from Paris!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
ctrl-alt-5
Regular readers will notice that my recent blog entries have a new feature. I have started using the French IME. Here is how I installed it on Windows XP (Tablet PC Edition):
1) From the Start button, select Settings > Control Panel.
2) Double click the "Regional and Language Options".
3) Choose the "Languages" tab.
4) Press the "Details..." button.
5) Press "Add...".
6) Under Input Language choose "French (France)".
7) In the "Keyboard layout/IME" choose "United States-International".
8) Press OK.
After that, I recommend clicking "Language Bar..." in the Preferences group of the Languages tab and making sure "Show additional Language bar icons in the taskbar" is checked.
Now look for the EN in a blue square on the task bar. Click it and change it FR. The current application will take that keyboard method.
Now what? Now comes the fun/frustrating part.
To put a diacritic over a letter, type the symbol, then the letter. Use ` or ' or ^ or ". The first 3 are obvious because they commonly go over vowels in that form. The " isn't so obvious. That is used to put an umlaut over a letter. Like haït. To get just the symbol, type the symbol, then a space. The space won't appear, but the symbol will.
To make the cedilia, you use the ' followed by c. Pollyvous Français?
Since France is close to Spain, they let you make the ñ, too.
And finally, the Euro symbol. Why not =C? or C=? Don't ask me. That would be too obvious. Instead, it's ctrl-alt-5.
Here are the ctrl-alt options for the numbers (note, these all show up on my PC--if they show up as squares or something on your PC, you may want to upgrade):
ctrl-alt-1: ¡ (upside down exclamation point)
ctrl-alt-2: ² (squared)
ctrl-alt-3: ³ (cubed)
ctrl-alt-4: ¤
ctrl-alt-5: € (euro)
ctrl-alt-6: ¼ (1/4)
ctrl-alt-7: ½ (1/2)
ctrl-alt-8: ¾ (3/4)
ctrl-alt-9: ‘ (open singe quote)
ctrl-alt-0: ’ (close single quote)
shift-ctrl-alt-1: ¹ (superscript 1)
shift-ctrl-alt-2: takes my focus to 2nd window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-3: takes my focus to 3rd window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-4: £ (British pound)
shift-ctrl-alt-5: takes my focus to 5th window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-6: takes my focus to 6th window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-7: takes my focus to 7th window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-8: takes my focus to 8th window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-9: takes my focus to 9th window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-0: nothing
There are a few others.
ctrl-alt-w=å (shift for capital. Now you can spell ångström)
ctrl-alt-r=® (registered trademark)
ctrl-alt-[=« (French style open quote)
ctrl-alt-]=» (French style close quote)
ctrl-alt-s=ß (German eszet)
ctrl-alt-d=ð (Not common but I knew a guy online from the Faröe Islands and he used it)
ctrl-alt-l=ø (You see it from time to time. Shift to capitalize)
ctrl-alt-z=æ (shift to capitalize)
ctrl-alt-n=ñ (Español)
ctrl-alt-?=¿ (Español)
ctrl-alt-:=° (Degrees--: is shift semicolon ;)
ctrl-alt--=¥ (Japanese yen)
shift-ctrl-alt-c=¢ (cents)
Seems pretty comprehensive, doesn't it? Is there anything in standard French that you can't type now? Well, languages wouldn't be frustrating if you could do everything. The Œ and œ don't have an easy way. The French word for fetus is fœtus, and work is œuvre, for example. At least in the Collins dictionary. Supposedly, if you press alt and type 0140 or 0156 on the keypad, you can get these characters. But I have laptop with a 'fn' key and when I use it to try to turn on the virtual keypad, the fn-alt-4 where the '4' is on the 'U' key, causes some weird behavior. Some of these key sequences also bring up an ATI Catalyst Control Center for my graphics card.
Anyway, it's not too hard. It's a tad clumsy and takes some getting used to, but it's kind of fun to actually enter all these French words correctly.
1) From the Start button, select Settings > Control Panel.
2) Double click the "Regional and Language Options".
3) Choose the "Languages" tab.
4) Press the "Details..." button.
5) Press "Add...".
6) Under Input Language choose "French (France)".
7) In the "Keyboard layout/IME" choose "United States-International".
8) Press OK.
After that, I recommend clicking "Language Bar..." in the Preferences group of the Languages tab and making sure "Show additional Language bar icons in the taskbar" is checked.
Now look for the EN in a blue square on the task bar. Click it and change it FR. The current application will take that keyboard method.
Now what? Now comes the fun/frustrating part.
To put a diacritic over a letter, type the symbol, then the letter. Use ` or ' or ^ or ". The first 3 are obvious because they commonly go over vowels in that form. The " isn't so obvious. That is used to put an umlaut over a letter. Like haït. To get just the symbol, type the symbol, then a space. The space won't appear, but the symbol will.
To make the cedilia, you use the ' followed by c. Pollyvous Français?
Since France is close to Spain, they let you make the ñ, too.
And finally, the Euro symbol. Why not =C? or C=? Don't ask me. That would be too obvious. Instead, it's ctrl-alt-5.
Here are the ctrl-alt options for the numbers (note, these all show up on my PC--if they show up as squares or something on your PC, you may want to upgrade):
ctrl-alt-1: ¡ (upside down exclamation point)
ctrl-alt-2: ² (squared)
ctrl-alt-3: ³ (cubed)
ctrl-alt-4: ¤
ctrl-alt-5: € (euro)
ctrl-alt-6: ¼ (1/4)
ctrl-alt-7: ½ (1/2)
ctrl-alt-8: ¾ (3/4)
ctrl-alt-9: ‘ (open singe quote)
ctrl-alt-0: ’ (close single quote)
shift-ctrl-alt-1: ¹ (superscript 1)
shift-ctrl-alt-2: takes my focus to 2nd window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-3: takes my focus to 3rd window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-4: £ (British pound)
shift-ctrl-alt-5: takes my focus to 5th window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-6: takes my focus to 6th window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-7: takes my focus to 7th window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-8: takes my focus to 8th window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-9: takes my focus to 9th window in task bar
shift-ctrl-alt-0: nothing
There are a few others.
ctrl-alt-w=å (shift for capital. Now you can spell ångström)
ctrl-alt-r=® (registered trademark)
ctrl-alt-[=« (French style open quote)
ctrl-alt-]=» (French style close quote)
ctrl-alt-s=ß (German eszet)
ctrl-alt-d=ð (Not common but I knew a guy online from the Faröe Islands and he used it)
ctrl-alt-l=ø (You see it from time to time. Shift to capitalize)
ctrl-alt-z=æ (shift to capitalize)
ctrl-alt-n=ñ (Español)
ctrl-alt-?=¿ (Español)
ctrl-alt-:=° (Degrees--: is shift semicolon ;)
ctrl-alt--=¥ (Japanese yen)
shift-ctrl-alt-c=¢ (cents)
Seems pretty comprehensive, doesn't it? Is there anything in standard French that you can't type now? Well, languages wouldn't be frustrating if you could do everything. The Œ and œ don't have an easy way. The French word for fetus is fœtus, and work is œuvre, for example. At least in the Collins dictionary. Supposedly, if you press alt and type 0140 or 0156 on the keypad, you can get these characters. But I have laptop with a 'fn' key and when I use it to try to turn on the virtual keypad, the fn-alt-4 where the '4' is on the 'U' key, causes some weird behavior. Some of these key sequences also bring up an ATI Catalyst Control Center for my graphics card.
Anyway, it's not too hard. It's a tad clumsy and takes some getting used to, but it's kind of fun to actually enter all these French words correctly.
Our Final Dinner @ Le 23
I decided to treat Elena to a nice dinner tonight since it was our last chance to eat out--just the two of us. I had suggested a place near our residence called Amuse Gueule, but looking at the menu posted on their window, they didn't seem to have a dinner menu. So we decided on a place near all the courthouses and the fancy-pants region of Montpellier. It is called Le 23. I call it "twenty three" but I suppose I ought to call it "Le Vignt-trois". They have a special until 8pm, so we got there at 7:30.
We were very lucky. We took our seats outside, then a party came right after us and was turned away because they were full. Actually, there were only 3 customers, but the inside was set up for a banquet--which eventually arrived.
The waiter was very friendly and good natured. Elena got something off the special slate--eggplant caviar and a veal cream sauce dish. I got a beef filet in pepper sauce. For the wine, they had several bottles ranging from only €16 to only €25, but they also had local vin du pays, 50cl for only €6. And it was very good.
The eggplant caviar surrounded by a green called "corn salad" and little rounds of hot bread were the first to arrive--with the wine of course. The little breads were tasty and nice and chewy. The eggplant caviar was yummy and some bits of it had a little kick to it.
We enjoyed our appetizer. The weather was very pleasant--cool and mild. And pretty girls kept passing by our table. We were chatting about our time in Montpellier and how nice it was and how well everything turned out. And we kept drinking wine.
Then, our entres came. My beef was perfect. The sauce was flavorful. There were peas, a cheesy stack of sliced potatoes, carrots, and zucchini. Elena had the same veggies but with veal. Her veal was very tender. We savored our yummy meals and drank more wine. Finally, we finished and were ready for dessert.
We decided on crème brûlée to share and coffee for each of us. They had the best coffee I had in Montpellier. I used my spoon to crack the shell of the crème brûlée. I made Elena smile by saying, "I should buy a blowtorch and learn to make crème brûlée."
We decided to take some pictures. Elena perched the camera atop the waterbottle and set the self timer. Then I tried to get in the shot. This was the result. That's the umbrella stand that my head is popping out from.
Then we decided to change the angle and I came around to her side. We got this nice shot.
Our dinner came to €47. So about US$80. Not cheap, but it was actually our first dinner out alone so it was OK to splurge a little. The food was excellent. Everything went well.
After that, we popped over to the Esplanade d'Europe since they had set up for a rock performance--even moving the large Nike of Samothrace reproduction. When we got there the large semicircular grassy area was 3/4 full. We listened to 2 songs. They were OK, but I'm not a loud music guy so we decided to leave. We felt like salmon swimming upstream to spawn going against the thick crowds coming to fill in the remaining space. The city of Montpellier does a wonderful job keeping the city vibrant. Every weekend is filled with stuff to do. But we had a nice dinner and that was enough for us. So we came home. Elena is reading my l'Alchimiste (The Alchemist) because we sold our TV. And I'm typing up my blog enjoying one of our last 2 beers from the fridge.
It was a perfect evening.
We were very lucky. We took our seats outside, then a party came right after us and was turned away because they were full. Actually, there were only 3 customers, but the inside was set up for a banquet--which eventually arrived.
The waiter was very friendly and good natured. Elena got something off the special slate--eggplant caviar and a veal cream sauce dish. I got a beef filet in pepper sauce. For the wine, they had several bottles ranging from only €16 to only €25, but they also had local vin du pays, 50cl for only €6. And it was very good.
The eggplant caviar surrounded by a green called "corn salad" and little rounds of hot bread were the first to arrive--with the wine of course. The little breads were tasty and nice and chewy. The eggplant caviar was yummy and some bits of it had a little kick to it.
We enjoyed our appetizer. The weather was very pleasant--cool and mild. And pretty girls kept passing by our table. We were chatting about our time in Montpellier and how nice it was and how well everything turned out. And we kept drinking wine.
Then, our entres came. My beef was perfect. The sauce was flavorful. There were peas, a cheesy stack of sliced potatoes, carrots, and zucchini. Elena had the same veggies but with veal. Her veal was very tender. We savored our yummy meals and drank more wine. Finally, we finished and were ready for dessert.
We decided on crème brûlée to share and coffee for each of us. They had the best coffee I had in Montpellier. I used my spoon to crack the shell of the crème brûlée. I made Elena smile by saying, "I should buy a blowtorch and learn to make crème brûlée."
We decided to take some pictures. Elena perched the camera atop the waterbottle and set the self timer. Then I tried to get in the shot. This was the result. That's the umbrella stand that my head is popping out from.
Then we decided to change the angle and I came around to her side. We got this nice shot.
Our dinner came to €47. So about US$80. Not cheap, but it was actually our first dinner out alone so it was OK to splurge a little. The food was excellent. Everything went well.
After that, we popped over to the Esplanade d'Europe since they had set up for a rock performance--even moving the large Nike of Samothrace reproduction. When we got there the large semicircular grassy area was 3/4 full. We listened to 2 songs. They were OK, but I'm not a loud music guy so we decided to leave. We felt like salmon swimming upstream to spawn going against the thick crowds coming to fill in the remaining space. The city of Montpellier does a wonderful job keeping the city vibrant. Every weekend is filled with stuff to do. But we had a nice dinner and that was enough for us. So we came home. Elena is reading my l'Alchimiste (The Alchemist) because we sold our TV. And I'm typing up my blog enjoying one of our last 2 beers from the fridge.
It was a perfect evening.
What To Take? What To Leave?
Our time in Montpellier is almost finished. Now we have to starting packing. Ugh!!! And when packing for an extended backpacking tour through the developing world, you really need to decide what to bring and what not to bring.
My Big Collins French dictionary? I really like this dictionary. It's the only dictionary that actually directs you to the right verb when you try to look up one of the screwball irregular verb exceptions. But it's big. I think I'll head over to Book-in-Bar and get a smaller dictionary for French/English.
The Road/la Route? I'm still in the process of reading these. And I'll spend a lot of alone time in the next several months. I think I have to bring these to maintain my sanity. I'll eventually be able to ditch The Road in some hostel somewhere where future hostellers will be grateful to find such a nice book--then just reread the la Route.
My iPod Touch? It has WiFi and a web browser. But, it's an expensive piece of equipment. Tough call. Not decided.
Fountain pens and ink? I love em. Take them and keep them safe, or load up on Bic Stics? Hmmm....
My Big Collins French dictionary? I really like this dictionary. It's the only dictionary that actually directs you to the right verb when you try to look up one of the screwball irregular verb exceptions. But it's big. I think I'll head over to Book-in-Bar and get a smaller dictionary for French/English.
The Road/la Route? I'm still in the process of reading these. And I'll spend a lot of alone time in the next several months. I think I have to bring these to maintain my sanity. I'll eventually be able to ditch The Road in some hostel somewhere where future hostellers will be grateful to find such a nice book--then just reread the la Route.
My iPod Touch? It has WiFi and a web browser. But, it's an expensive piece of equipment. Tough call. Not decided.
Fountain pens and ink? I love em. Take them and keep them safe, or load up on Bic Stics? Hmmm....
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
French Has Funny Words
Diaporama: The place on OVS where the pictures are
Caoutchouc: Rubber, the substance
Musculation: exercise/working out
Super: super--so 70's
All numbers between 69 and 100, exclusive
Demander: To ask
Caoutchouc: Rubber, the substance
Musculation: exercise/working out
Super: super--so 70's
All numbers between 69 and 100, exclusive
Demander: To ask
Winding Down
It's sad, because soon I'll be on my way out of Montpellier. It's exciting to be continuing my journey, but you can't live in the same place for over 2 months without starting to meet people and to get attached to stuff. Especially, since we found OVS and accelerated our rate of meeting people. I can't stress enough how good OVS to anyone coming to live in France. I wish there were an English version in Seattle and Vancouver.
Anyway, we put up some ads on montpellier.kijiji.fr and in our residence. We sold the TV for 10 euros--a full 2 euros more than we paid for it. We sold it to someone in our building, so we don't have to lug it far. Whew! The residence rents smaller TVs for 20 euros per month, so the 10 euro price tag is pretty good. We have a buyer for our Ikea kitchenware. The buyer is coming over on Thursday to pick it up.
We still don't have a buyer for our Ikea drying rack, wooden shelf we got from the cute German girls who sold us the TV, and the cheap coffee machine.
We're meeting our friends for the last time, telling everyone our plans, and saying goodbye. Actually I don't know Elena's plans anymore. Her friend Philippe from Paris is interested in traveling with Elena for a couple weeks, so she is rearranging her plans again. The funniest part of her plans is to work in Ireland on organic farms for room and board through an organization called WWOOF. Her friend Ashley in Vancouver spent some time traveling from farm to farm with WWOOF and recommended it.
I'm also getting ready for French karaoke. I'm trying to memorize the words to "Les Copains d'Abord" by George Brassens. The guitar player playing for Cafe Riche a few days ago played it and it became an ear worm. I didn't know what song it was, but it seemed familiar. So I figured I probably heard it when we went to Sête to the George Brassens museum. A little searching on iTunes, and voila! So I downloaded it and now I'm trying to learn it. It's helping me to break some of my bad pronunciation habits. I just hope I don't start trilling my 'R's in my spoken French.
I like to have lots of 1€ and 2€ coins. I have a really hard time keeping enough for total liquidity. I just spend them faster than I get them.
Here is a list of observations I made from an unpublished post. I'll post it now.
1) The French are not rude at all. At least not down here in Montpellier. They are extremely helpful, courteous, friendly, and patient. Anyone who experiences rude French people needs to visit the south.
2) Visualize all the images of French people with baguettes. The man walking with a baguette under his arm, the woman walking with two baguettes sticking out of the top of her grocery bag... There are many images of the French and their baguettes. And I've seen all of them. Already. Every conceivable combination of French person and baguette carrying is to be seen.
3) Dog poop. Yep, on the streets which are so paved, there is dog poop. It's not too bad. There is a law that owners have to clean up after their dogs, and there are occasional bag dispensers where people can get a poop bags for free. But you stil have to look down when you walk. Fortunately, most of it is dry by the time we get to it. Only occasionally is it does it have that sickening glistening sheen of freshly pinched loafage.
4) Cafes everywhere. You can't walk half a block without going through some cafe where people are sitting and having a coffee or a beer. Sadly, the cost of these beverages make the casual purchase of them a bit painful.
5) Other very common things: fountains, real-estate offices, banks, wine stores, medical analysis laboratories.
6) Things that are uncommon: convenience stores, rectilinear intersections.
7) Cash register drawers are different. They lift up a stainless steel lid on a hinge instead of having a drawer that rolls out.
8) You can buy milk in the refrigerated section, but the cheaper milk is in the boxes on the shelves at room temperature. As long as you refrigerate it before drinking, it tastes no different.
9) Stuff closes for noon and on Sundays. And it also closes early. I guess that's the 35 hour work week for you. They can't man the stores 24 hours.
10) They use the 'minus' sign to mean 'less than'. So the express lane at the grocery store has a "-10" above it and a TV show for adults might have a "-12" in a circle in the lower right hand corner.
11) They use the 24 hour clock. I wish we did that in the United States. Along with metric.
12) The TV shows start and end at odd times--like 8:50, er I mean, 20:50.
Anyway, we put up some ads on montpellier.kijiji.fr and in our residence. We sold the TV for 10 euros--a full 2 euros more than we paid for it. We sold it to someone in our building, so we don't have to lug it far. Whew! The residence rents smaller TVs for 20 euros per month, so the 10 euro price tag is pretty good. We have a buyer for our Ikea kitchenware. The buyer is coming over on Thursday to pick it up.
We still don't have a buyer for our Ikea drying rack, wooden shelf we got from the cute German girls who sold us the TV, and the cheap coffee machine.
We're meeting our friends for the last time, telling everyone our plans, and saying goodbye. Actually I don't know Elena's plans anymore. Her friend Philippe from Paris is interested in traveling with Elena for a couple weeks, so she is rearranging her plans again. The funniest part of her plans is to work in Ireland on organic farms for room and board through an organization called WWOOF. Her friend Ashley in Vancouver spent some time traveling from farm to farm with WWOOF and recommended it.
I'm also getting ready for French karaoke. I'm trying to memorize the words to "Les Copains d'Abord" by George Brassens. The guitar player playing for Cafe Riche a few days ago played it and it became an ear worm. I didn't know what song it was, but it seemed familiar. So I figured I probably heard it when we went to Sête to the George Brassens museum. A little searching on iTunes, and voila! So I downloaded it and now I'm trying to learn it. It's helping me to break some of my bad pronunciation habits. I just hope I don't start trilling my 'R's in my spoken French.
I like to have lots of 1€ and 2€ coins. I have a really hard time keeping enough for total liquidity. I just spend them faster than I get them.
Here is a list of observations I made from an unpublished post. I'll post it now.
1) The French are not rude at all. At least not down here in Montpellier. They are extremely helpful, courteous, friendly, and patient. Anyone who experiences rude French people needs to visit the south.
2) Visualize all the images of French people with baguettes. The man walking with a baguette under his arm, the woman walking with two baguettes sticking out of the top of her grocery bag... There are many images of the French and their baguettes. And I've seen all of them. Already. Every conceivable combination of French person and baguette carrying is to be seen.
3) Dog poop. Yep, on the streets which are so paved, there is dog poop. It's not too bad. There is a law that owners have to clean up after their dogs, and there are occasional bag dispensers where people can get a poop bags for free. But you stil have to look down when you walk. Fortunately, most of it is dry by the time we get to it. Only occasionally is it does it have that sickening glistening sheen of freshly pinched loafage.
4) Cafes everywhere. You can't walk half a block without going through some cafe where people are sitting and having a coffee or a beer. Sadly, the cost of these beverages make the casual purchase of them a bit painful.
5) Other very common things: fountains, real-estate offices, banks, wine stores, medical analysis laboratories.
6) Things that are uncommon: convenience stores, rectilinear intersections.
7) Cash register drawers are different. They lift up a stainless steel lid on a hinge instead of having a drawer that rolls out.
8) You can buy milk in the refrigerated section, but the cheaper milk is in the boxes on the shelves at room temperature. As long as you refrigerate it before drinking, it tastes no different.
9) Stuff closes for noon and on Sundays. And it also closes early. I guess that's the 35 hour work week for you. They can't man the stores 24 hours.
10) They use the 'minus' sign to mean 'less than'. So the express lane at the grocery store has a "-10" above it and a TV show for adults might have a "-12" in a circle in the lower right hand corner.
11) They use the 24 hour clock. I wish we did that in the United States. Along with metric.
12) The TV shows start and end at odd times--like 8:50, er I mean, 20:50.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Churches In France
One of the odd things about me is that while I don't even believe in any gods, I love going into old churches.
The old churches in France fall into 2 basic categories: Romanesque and Gothic. The typical tell-tale sign is the shape of the top of the arches. Are they round like AND gates? Or are they pointed like OR gates? If they're round, like in the abbey in St-Guilhem-le-Desert, you're probably in a Romanesque church. If they are pointed, like the Saint Pierre in Montpellier, you're probably in a Gothic church. The pointed arch has the property that it converts more of the weight of the structure into vertical force and less into horizontal pressure. That means there is less force pushing the top of the wall out and the church is less likely to collapse. Since it is less likely to collapse, they could build it higher.
How high? Well sometimes too high. Collapses weren't as uncommon as one would want them to be. And the state of mechanical statics and the science of building material properties was probably not as well developed either. It reminds me of an old Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin was in the car with his family and they were crossing a bridge that had a tonnage limit. Calvin asked his dad, "how do they know the weight limit?" His dad told him, "they drive bigger and bigger trucks over the bridge until it collapses and then they rebuild the bridge and put the weight of the last truck that made it across." Then Calvin's mother yelled at the father, saying "if you don't know the answer, just say you don't know the answer!" Well Gothic cathedral architecture seems like it worked more on the model of Calvin's dad.
In addition to building higher, they also didn't need so much structural support in the walls which meant--bigger windows. Romanesque churches are very dark--maybe having slots more than windows. But Gothic churches have large stained glass windows that let in a lot of light. They make the whole thing lighter and airier. Of course, these days there is electric lighting, so the effect isn't as noticeable, but you can still feel the difference between a Romanesque church and a Gothic one.
The old churches in France fall into 2 basic categories: Romanesque and Gothic. The typical tell-tale sign is the shape of the top of the arches. Are they round like AND gates? Or are they pointed like OR gates? If they're round, like in the abbey in St-Guilhem-le-Desert, you're probably in a Romanesque church. If they are pointed, like the Saint Pierre in Montpellier, you're probably in a Gothic church. The pointed arch has the property that it converts more of the weight of the structure into vertical force and less into horizontal pressure. That means there is less force pushing the top of the wall out and the church is less likely to collapse. Since it is less likely to collapse, they could build it higher.
How high? Well sometimes too high. Collapses weren't as uncommon as one would want them to be. And the state of mechanical statics and the science of building material properties was probably not as well developed either. It reminds me of an old Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin was in the car with his family and they were crossing a bridge that had a tonnage limit. Calvin asked his dad, "how do they know the weight limit?" His dad told him, "they drive bigger and bigger trucks over the bridge until it collapses and then they rebuild the bridge and put the weight of the last truck that made it across." Then Calvin's mother yelled at the father, saying "if you don't know the answer, just say you don't know the answer!" Well Gothic cathedral architecture seems like it worked more on the model of Calvin's dad.
In addition to building higher, they also didn't need so much structural support in the walls which meant--bigger windows. Romanesque churches are very dark--maybe having slots more than windows. But Gothic churches have large stained glass windows that let in a lot of light. They make the whole thing lighter and airier. Of course, these days there is electric lighting, so the effect isn't as noticeable, but you can still feel the difference between a Romanesque church and a Gothic one.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Un Diner Presque Parfait
Last night we finally got together at Caroline's place in La Grande Motte for sushi as we had been planning since our first sushi night. Jean-Christophe picked up Cressida, Elena, Elena's friend Philippe visiting from Paris, and me.
We made the trip to La Grande Motte and found Caroline's place. It's a nice house owned by her grandparents. She is quite lucky. She has one cat that's hers and 2 kittens she is nursing to health after finding them abandoned a few weeks ago. The color pattern is quite interesting on her cat. Her face is dark on one side and light on the other. Just like in that episode of Star Trek.
We started out by making the sushi. My first time. After a discussion we decided on a course of action. Jean-Christophe recorded it for posterity for revenge after my jabs at the French for not knowing anything about sushi. ;-) I did the first roll--a kani-mayo roll. Crab meat with mayonnaise.
First make the rice. Then chop in some vinegar. Be sure to add enough.
Then get a sheet of nori.
Lay it out on the mat.
Spread some rice on.
Add the crab. Elena was either trying to show me how to roll it.
Roll it up.
Elena did the rest of the makis while I tried to turn cocktail shrimp into ebi nigiris. They didn't look well formed, but they tasted good.
Voila!
Then we sat down to eat.
We talked in half English half French about all sorts of things and just had a nice time.
Cressida then cooked up a marinated chicken dish. And Caroline made a salad. When all was said and done, we had all eaten and drunk various beers, and wines to our hearts content. We had 6 flavors of ice cream. And finally finished with sake in little cups that showed a naked lady in the bottom of the glass only when there was liquid in it--thus presenting a dilemma: drink or look?
We kept one eye on the Eurovision song contest through the evening. My favorite was Spain. The French guy seemed to be hampered by some really bad camera work. There was apparently quite a controversy because he would sing in English.
After the contest ended but before the results were announced, we went out for a walk in La Grande Motte. We went down to the sea and admired the forces of nature, then walked around where there were still bars and restaurants serving those able to already vacation.
After that, we piled in the car and headed home. It was a very fun party. Our sushi wasn't bad at all. In typical south of France style, we went to bed at about 1:30 am. The French can party!
Here are my Un Diner Presque Parfait notes:
Cuisine: 9 (my roll was too thick and my shrimps were malformed)
Décoration: 10
Ambiance: 10
We made the trip to La Grande Motte and found Caroline's place. It's a nice house owned by her grandparents. She is quite lucky. She has one cat that's hers and 2 kittens she is nursing to health after finding them abandoned a few weeks ago. The color pattern is quite interesting on her cat. Her face is dark on one side and light on the other. Just like in that episode of Star Trek.
We started out by making the sushi. My first time. After a discussion we decided on a course of action. Jean-Christophe recorded it for posterity for revenge after my jabs at the French for not knowing anything about sushi. ;-) I did the first roll--a kani-mayo roll. Crab meat with mayonnaise.
First make the rice. Then chop in some vinegar. Be sure to add enough.
Then get a sheet of nori.
Lay it out on the mat.
Spread some rice on.
Add the crab. Elena was either trying to show me how to roll it.
Roll it up.
Elena did the rest of the makis while I tried to turn cocktail shrimp into ebi nigiris. They didn't look well formed, but they tasted good.
Voila!
Then we sat down to eat.
We talked in half English half French about all sorts of things and just had a nice time.
Cressida then cooked up a marinated chicken dish. And Caroline made a salad. When all was said and done, we had all eaten and drunk various beers, and wines to our hearts content. We had 6 flavors of ice cream. And finally finished with sake in little cups that showed a naked lady in the bottom of the glass only when there was liquid in it--thus presenting a dilemma: drink or look?
We kept one eye on the Eurovision song contest through the evening. My favorite was Spain. The French guy seemed to be hampered by some really bad camera work. There was apparently quite a controversy because he would sing in English.
After the contest ended but before the results were announced, we went out for a walk in La Grande Motte. We went down to the sea and admired the forces of nature, then walked around where there were still bars and restaurants serving those able to already vacation.
After that, we piled in the car and headed home. It was a very fun party. Our sushi wasn't bad at all. In typical south of France style, we went to bed at about 1:30 am. The French can party!
Here are my Un Diner Presque Parfait notes:
Cuisine: 9 (my roll was too thick and my shrimps were malformed)
Décoration: 10
Ambiance: 10
Friday, May 23, 2008
OVS Freezes on the Comedie
I just got back from a cool OVS event. About 150 of us OVSians met at 7pm at the Pavilion Populaire near the Montpellier Tourist Information Office. We then strung ourselves out and walked toward the Polygone which is the mall in downtown Montpellier. Then about at 7:15, all 150 of us froze. Stopped cold in whatever position we were in at the time. We remained frozen for about 3 minutes.
I had noticed a musician and dug out a couple of coins to give him when I froze. So there I was with 2 50 cent coins in my left hand, and my right hand in the pocket putting the money back--frozen for 3 minutes. I wish I had 3 more seconds to actually be in the act of dropping the coins into his hat. Oh well. Two women came by and figured what I was up to, so they took a picture of me. There were a few people with cameras taking video. It's kind of cool because the people who weren't in on it had various reactions. Some stopped and watched. Some just went on their ways. One English speaking person on a cell phone told the person at the other end that there was a flash mob. It was fun to see them wandering around all us frozen people.
I broke character once--cracked a smile for a second. But other than that, I stayed still the whole 3 minutes of whatever it was. And when it was over, I did in fact drop the coins into the hat of the musician.
I'll post You-Tube video if I find it. The OVS link to the event is: http://montpellier.onvasortir.com/sortie_read.php?Id=16919
Hopefully it will bring some more publicity to OVS because OVS is the best events organization I've ever been a part of. The software is excellent (I recently bumped up to a gold star and Elena to a platinum star, btw). And it's nice that an event like this can bring out 150 people on a Friday evening.
Edit: Some YouTube
I had noticed a musician and dug out a couple of coins to give him when I froze. So there I was with 2 50 cent coins in my left hand, and my right hand in the pocket putting the money back--frozen for 3 minutes. I wish I had 3 more seconds to actually be in the act of dropping the coins into his hat. Oh well. Two women came by and figured what I was up to, so they took a picture of me. There were a few people with cameras taking video. It's kind of cool because the people who weren't in on it had various reactions. Some stopped and watched. Some just went on their ways. One English speaking person on a cell phone told the person at the other end that there was a flash mob. It was fun to see them wandering around all us frozen people.
I broke character once--cracked a smile for a second. But other than that, I stayed still the whole 3 minutes of whatever it was. And when it was over, I did in fact drop the coins into the hat of the musician.
I'll post You-Tube video if I find it. The OVS link to the event is: http://montpellier.onvasortir.com/sortie_read.php?Id=16919
Hopefully it will bring some more publicity to OVS because OVS is the best events organization I've ever been a part of. The software is excellent (I recently bumped up to a gold star and Elena to a platinum star, btw). And it's nice that an event like this can bring out 150 people on a Friday evening.
Edit: Some YouTube
Friday, May 16, 2008
Google News, Requiem, and A President of a Corporation
I look at Google News a lot to see what's up in the US. A few days ago there was a story about a helicopter crash that killed the occupants of a medical helicopter. I noticed it because it happened in Wisconsin--at my alma mater, in fact. I was actually surprised that a local story would make Google News. That night, Elena, out of the blue, said she wanted to go see Mozart's Requiem at Saint Pierre cathedral in Montpellier. I had never heard it performed, so I thought it would be good to check it out.
Flashback to 4th, 5th or 6th grade (I'm fuzzy on which it was). Jimmy Carter was President of the US. And we were in class voting on who should be the president of our class model "corporation". It was the year that we learn how the stock market works by making a little "company" and issuing stock for a quarter a share. Then electing officers. And then they would decide on a product to manufacture, and then we would sell the product at the West Elementary Open House. We decided on little keychains shaped like Wisconsin. After we sold our product, a stock buyback occurred and the shares presumably would increase in value (can't remember exactly what the results were--just that I had one share).
Being the class brain (nerd), naturally I ran for president. The results, announced just before recess, were a tie--because for some reason I felt it was wrong to vote for oneself. After recess, a runoff. I lost. Oh well. C'est la vie.
The winner of that election, and president of our model corporation, was Steve Lipperer. I just found out in an email from my parents that he was the pilot of that crashed helicopter. That's my most lasting memory of Steve--a worthy adversary who beat me fair and square mano-a-mano. I've always respected him for doing that. I wish I could say I was thinking about the occupants of the helicopter as I was marveling at the height of the ceilings of Saint Pierre during Mozart's Requiem. I wish I had known someone I knew was killed hours before. I didn't. But from now on, when I hear Mozart's Requiem, I will think of Steve. I can't do anything else for him, but I can at least associate him with a work of Mozart that I first heard in a church in Montpellier just hours after he parted.
Goodbye Steve.
Flashback to 4th, 5th or 6th grade (I'm fuzzy on which it was). Jimmy Carter was President of the US. And we were in class voting on who should be the president of our class model "corporation". It was the year that we learn how the stock market works by making a little "company" and issuing stock for a quarter a share. Then electing officers. And then they would decide on a product to manufacture, and then we would sell the product at the West Elementary Open House. We decided on little keychains shaped like Wisconsin. After we sold our product, a stock buyback occurred and the shares presumably would increase in value (can't remember exactly what the results were--just that I had one share).
Being the class brain (nerd), naturally I ran for president. The results, announced just before recess, were a tie--because for some reason I felt it was wrong to vote for oneself. After recess, a runoff. I lost. Oh well. C'est la vie.
The winner of that election, and president of our model corporation, was Steve Lipperer. I just found out in an email from my parents that he was the pilot of that crashed helicopter. That's my most lasting memory of Steve--a worthy adversary who beat me fair and square mano-a-mano. I've always respected him for doing that. I wish I could say I was thinking about the occupants of the helicopter as I was marveling at the height of the ceilings of Saint Pierre during Mozart's Requiem. I wish I had known someone I knew was killed hours before. I didn't. But from now on, when I hear Mozart's Requiem, I will think of Steve. I can't do anything else for him, but I can at least associate him with a work of Mozart that I first heard in a church in Montpellier just hours after he parted.
Goodbye Steve.
More Sushi
Last night Elena and I went to the house of a guy named Stefane. He invited about 20 people over to his place for homemade sushi. It was a fun and interesting night. Stefane is about to head off to Japan for a vacation, so I guess it was a sort of Bon Voyage party. Elena and I brought wasabi peas and Japanese sembei thingies as a snack. It was fun watching the guests try the wasabi peas--none of them knew what they were in for. Ha Ha!!
The interesting thing is that French people know next to nothing about sushi. When the dinner was served, everyone gathered around it and proceeded to commit every sin in the book. I saw people passing food from chopstick to chopstick (a practice reserved for bones of the dead), people biting the sushi in half (faux pas), people not knowing how to use the wasabi. People not knowing the purpose of ginger (to freshen and cleanse the palate). At one point, one of the dishes of wasabi got empty enough that I could pour some soy sauce into it and mix the remaining wasabi a bit. It was humorous to me. I think more Japanese people need to come to France. It is interesting that there is really a difference between Atlantic migration and Pacific migration. Since Elena and I live on the Pacific rim, we have been exposed to much more Asian culture on a far more regular basis. Anyway, I give the host an A for effort and the cojones to invite OVSians to his place for sushi.
After sushi, the party started. Drinking, chatting, performing kept us occupied. I watched one guy take a bunch of pictures of one particularly attractive woman (he showed them to her later). They were excellent pictures--I'm not sure if it's because he's good at taking pictures or because she just looks so good. Mystery...
We left the party a bit early as our North American bodies aren't equipped to handle the Mediterranean late night party lifestyle. Whew! Those guys can party. And it was a Thursday, no less! The last thing before we left was a woman doing a couple of performance pieces. She did them with sign language as well since one of the partiers is hard of hearing. I wonder how different French sign language is from American Sign Language. I know the Japanese sign language is quite different. Anyway, she did two performances, neither of which I understood very well. I understood enough of the story, but I didn't understand enough to know why the punchlines were funny. Elena tried to explain the second story to me, but even with her explanation I didn't get it.
The first story was about 3 boys each who walks a different way. They went to the beach where they saw a voluptuous woman on the beach. But the sand was too hot for them to walk except for the third guy.
The second story was about a drunk guy who urinated behind a door. An old woman came out but he couldn't stop. She asked if she could hold his balls. He finally agreed. Then she squeezed them and knocked them together and told him not to urinate into her door.
As you can tell from my retelling, I must have missed something. Oh well. I guess the more important part was her telling of the stories rather than the punchline. Maybe it's like the Facebook movie reviews of many a French movie where the Americans say the movie is bad and the French say that you have to be French to understand the movie.
The interesting thing is that French people know next to nothing about sushi. When the dinner was served, everyone gathered around it and proceeded to commit every sin in the book. I saw people passing food from chopstick to chopstick (a practice reserved for bones of the dead), people biting the sushi in half (faux pas), people not knowing how to use the wasabi. People not knowing the purpose of ginger (to freshen and cleanse the palate). At one point, one of the dishes of wasabi got empty enough that I could pour some soy sauce into it and mix the remaining wasabi a bit. It was humorous to me. I think more Japanese people need to come to France. It is interesting that there is really a difference between Atlantic migration and Pacific migration. Since Elena and I live on the Pacific rim, we have been exposed to much more Asian culture on a far more regular basis. Anyway, I give the host an A for effort and the cojones to invite OVSians to his place for sushi.
After sushi, the party started. Drinking, chatting, performing kept us occupied. I watched one guy take a bunch of pictures of one particularly attractive woman (he showed them to her later). They were excellent pictures--I'm not sure if it's because he's good at taking pictures or because she just looks so good. Mystery...
We left the party a bit early as our North American bodies aren't equipped to handle the Mediterranean late night party lifestyle. Whew! Those guys can party. And it was a Thursday, no less! The last thing before we left was a woman doing a couple of performance pieces. She did them with sign language as well since one of the partiers is hard of hearing. I wonder how different French sign language is from American Sign Language. I know the Japanese sign language is quite different. Anyway, she did two performances, neither of which I understood very well. I understood enough of the story, but I didn't understand enough to know why the punchlines were funny. Elena tried to explain the second story to me, but even with her explanation I didn't get it.
The first story was about 3 boys each who walks a different way. They went to the beach where they saw a voluptuous woman on the beach. But the sand was too hot for them to walk except for the third guy.
The second story was about a drunk guy who urinated behind a door. An old woman came out but he couldn't stop. She asked if she could hold his balls. He finally agreed. Then she squeezed them and knocked them together and told him not to urinate into her door.
As you can tell from my retelling, I must have missed something. Oh well. I guess the more important part was her telling of the stories rather than the punchline. Maybe it's like the Facebook movie reviews of many a French movie where the Americans say the movie is bad and the French say that you have to be French to understand the movie.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Evasions: Monaco Plus
The next day, we all headed into the minivan and went for breakfast at Le Regence in the main square of Vence. Then it was off to Monaco.
We arrived in Monaco by passing three customs officers just standing there. I guess we looked OK to them. They probably keep out the riff-raff, though. Not that the riff-raff can cause much of a problem because Monaco was filled with police officers. The police were everywhere. It may be because Monaco was hosting the Grand Prix Historique--an event like the Grand Prix but with vintage cars. It was good that there were lots of police because we used them as tourist information. I guess they don't have much else to do anyway. While I'm sure Monaco is home to criminals, they are white collar criminals committing violations against civil law with the help of the governments of France, Switzerland, and Italy.
We parked and headed up to the castle. I got a bunch of cool pictures of cannons.
Here are some cars lined up for the Grand Prix Historique.
This is a supposedly accurate sundial--certainly hard to use though.
We wandered around Monaco for a while, had a panini and a beer, and then watched the changing of the guard at the palace. It would be more accurate to say that we watched the crowd watching the changing of the guard. There was a band and pomp and ceremony. But I'll never get the whole changing of the guard ceremony.
After Monaco, we went to see a Greek style villa and then a Rothschild villa. I only did the Greek villa. It was interesting. It was made by a guy who had an unhealthy fixation on all things Greek.
Then when we got to Vence, a traffic jam--even worse than your typical Seattle or Houston traffic jam. This time it was a fire in an apartment building. But we got a flyer from a guy who makes pizza right there by the traffic jam--a place called Le Tournebroche de Provence. After making it back to the hotel, we decided to get pizza from him. We ordered 4 pizzas for only 31,00 euros! Then with 2 bottles of wine, we were able to feed 5 people. Very good pricing for dinner. Much cheaper than a restaurant.
Then off to bed. The next morning, we woke up and went to Saint Paul de Vence. It is another small village of old charming buildings--but each charming old building is not an art store or studio. If you win the lottery and want to buy some art, St Paul de Vence is the place to come. There are dozens.
On the way out, I noticed this fan driven by an inverter made by Toshiba. I wonder if it was designed by the people I used to work with...
Here I am thinking. What am I thinking?
Then we headed home. On the way, we suddenly hit a traffic jam. It turned out to be an accident. Wow, I've seen a lot of accidents in France. And it doesn't surprise me because the French leave much smaller margins for error when they drive. They follow too close and change lanes too close, do everything too close. There were signs on the highway all over explaining that you should be 2 dotted lines behind the car in front of you--basically the 2 second rule. But the French ignore them. I guess that's why they have so many of these signs. Anyway, the accident seemed to involve a bus which was empty and a car which was overturned, facing backwards, and had 2 men trying to help someone by going into the back window.
We arrived in Monaco by passing three customs officers just standing there. I guess we looked OK to them. They probably keep out the riff-raff, though. Not that the riff-raff can cause much of a problem because Monaco was filled with police officers. The police were everywhere. It may be because Monaco was hosting the Grand Prix Historique--an event like the Grand Prix but with vintage cars. It was good that there were lots of police because we used them as tourist information. I guess they don't have much else to do anyway. While I'm sure Monaco is home to criminals, they are white collar criminals committing violations against civil law with the help of the governments of France, Switzerland, and Italy.
We parked and headed up to the castle. I got a bunch of cool pictures of cannons.
Here are some cars lined up for the Grand Prix Historique.
This is a supposedly accurate sundial--certainly hard to use though.
We wandered around Monaco for a while, had a panini and a beer, and then watched the changing of the guard at the palace. It would be more accurate to say that we watched the crowd watching the changing of the guard. There was a band and pomp and ceremony. But I'll never get the whole changing of the guard ceremony.
After Monaco, we went to see a Greek style villa and then a Rothschild villa. I only did the Greek villa. It was interesting. It was made by a guy who had an unhealthy fixation on all things Greek.
Then when we got to Vence, a traffic jam--even worse than your typical Seattle or Houston traffic jam. This time it was a fire in an apartment building. But we got a flyer from a guy who makes pizza right there by the traffic jam--a place called Le Tournebroche de Provence. After making it back to the hotel, we decided to get pizza from him. We ordered 4 pizzas for only 31,00 euros! Then with 2 bottles of wine, we were able to feed 5 people. Very good pricing for dinner. Much cheaper than a restaurant.
Then off to bed. The next morning, we woke up and went to Saint Paul de Vence. It is another small village of old charming buildings--but each charming old building is not an art store or studio. If you win the lottery and want to buy some art, St Paul de Vence is the place to come. There are dozens.
On the way out, I noticed this fan driven by an inverter made by Toshiba. I wonder if it was designed by the people I used to work with...
Here I am thinking. What am I thinking?
Then we headed home. On the way, we suddenly hit a traffic jam. It turned out to be an accident. Wow, I've seen a lot of accidents in France. And it doesn't surprise me because the French leave much smaller margins for error when they drive. They follow too close and change lanes too close, do everything too close. There were signs on the highway all over explaining that you should be 2 dotted lines behind the car in front of you--basically the 2 second rule. But the French ignore them. I guess that's why they have so many of these signs. Anyway, the accident seemed to involve a bus which was empty and a car which was overturned, facing backwards, and had 2 men trying to help someone by going into the back window.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Evasions: A Trip To Provence
I'm writing from the famed French region of Provence. We came with Evasions. This morning at 8:40 Elena and I went outside to wait for the Evasions people to pick us up--which was supposed to be 8:45. At 8:55, Elena went back into the apartment to go to the bathroom. And at 8:56, they arrived. What if they were on time? What would Elena have done then...?
Anyway, we arrived later that morning in Vence--as in the second half of the word "Provence". We checked into our hotel. It's funny to say, but it was, I believe, the first time in my entire life I have seen an actual bidet. I walked into the bathroom and saw what looked like 2 toilets facing each other. But in fact one was the bidet. Here is a picture. I have many questions. How do you use it? It has no seat--do you touch it? Which direction do you face while using it? Do you touch stuff you wouldn't want to touch? It's a mystery to me.
Resort hotels are always interesting. They start out with the latest fashions in furnishing and architecture. Then they sit there as a snapshot in time--year by year becoming less and less fashionable. Our Best Western is a sort of snapshot of some decade that I would have to be French to know. To me, the French seem to be a decade behind the US. People here say "super" a lot--which always sends me into a kind of 70's nostalgia spin, as if Greg Brady just came up behind me and said, "Bonjour".
After checking in, we headed out to see some of the nice places in the region. First stop--Tourettes sur Loup. It's a nice little town with a nice little old section filled with galleries and studios. The thing about Provence is that it calls out to be painted. Look at these scenes of Tourettes sur Loup! Amazing!
We ate at a little creperie where I had a curry crepe. Then back in the car to check out the Cascade du Saut du Loup--an absolutely beautiful waterfall. There is one near Mt. Baker, I think, that is almost as nice, but this one is wonderful. There is a rainbow, lots of moss, various falls ranging from high energy loud ones to gentle soft ones. It has to be seen. We had a fun time trying to get in. There is a sort of full body turnstile (what are those things called) controlled by a machine that takes coins. You get one turn of the turnstile thing for 1 euro to get in.
After we got out, I noticed they had some little "koi" cowering in their fountain. The waterfall would impress the Japanese--it's right in their aesthetic sensibility. But the "koi" looked like fat cowardly runt koi wannabees. That's why I put koi in quotes.
Then we headed up a windy and dangerous mountain road to Gourdon--a city so high and so easy to defend, that even the French could do it. ;-) Again, it has the Provence charm. They had a church from the 9th century. We sat near the church and had a coffee. Our waitress wore a shirt with a big neck hole showing her whole shoulder and seeming to only be held up by her breasts. Provence is so charming. Here is a restaurant near the coffee shop. If I ever want to jump from a high place--this place would fit the bill.
I asked Elena what percentage of the charm of France is due to their building materials. She didn't really understand my question, but offered a 30%. I think it's 80%. If Provence was filled with American suburban style cookie cutter houses, it wouldn't be charming at all. But it is filled with all these old houses and buildings made out of stones and mortar--all of various and sundry colors. It's a gorgeous sight to behold.
Anyway, we arrived later that morning in Vence--as in the second half of the word "Provence". We checked into our hotel. It's funny to say, but it was, I believe, the first time in my entire life I have seen an actual bidet. I walked into the bathroom and saw what looked like 2 toilets facing each other. But in fact one was the bidet. Here is a picture. I have many questions. How do you use it? It has no seat--do you touch it? Which direction do you face while using it? Do you touch stuff you wouldn't want to touch? It's a mystery to me.
Resort hotels are always interesting. They start out with the latest fashions in furnishing and architecture. Then they sit there as a snapshot in time--year by year becoming less and less fashionable. Our Best Western is a sort of snapshot of some decade that I would have to be French to know. To me, the French seem to be a decade behind the US. People here say "super" a lot--which always sends me into a kind of 70's nostalgia spin, as if Greg Brady just came up behind me and said, "Bonjour".
After checking in, we headed out to see some of the nice places in the region. First stop--Tourettes sur Loup. It's a nice little town with a nice little old section filled with galleries and studios. The thing about Provence is that it calls out to be painted. Look at these scenes of Tourettes sur Loup! Amazing!
We ate at a little creperie where I had a curry crepe. Then back in the car to check out the Cascade du Saut du Loup--an absolutely beautiful waterfall. There is one near Mt. Baker, I think, that is almost as nice, but this one is wonderful. There is a rainbow, lots of moss, various falls ranging from high energy loud ones to gentle soft ones. It has to be seen. We had a fun time trying to get in. There is a sort of full body turnstile (what are those things called) controlled by a machine that takes coins. You get one turn of the turnstile thing for 1 euro to get in.
After we got out, I noticed they had some little "koi" cowering in their fountain. The waterfall would impress the Japanese--it's right in their aesthetic sensibility. But the "koi" looked like fat cowardly runt koi wannabees. That's why I put koi in quotes.
Then we headed up a windy and dangerous mountain road to Gourdon--a city so high and so easy to defend, that even the French could do it. ;-) Again, it has the Provence charm. They had a church from the 9th century. We sat near the church and had a coffee. Our waitress wore a shirt with a big neck hole showing her whole shoulder and seeming to only be held up by her breasts. Provence is so charming. Here is a restaurant near the coffee shop. If I ever want to jump from a high place--this place would fit the bill.
I asked Elena what percentage of the charm of France is due to their building materials. She didn't really understand my question, but offered a 30%. I think it's 80%. If Provence was filled with American suburban style cookie cutter houses, it wouldn't be charming at all. But it is filled with all these old houses and buildings made out of stones and mortar--all of various and sundry colors. It's a gorgeous sight to behold.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Pique Nique And Maya
Today, I went to a picnic organized by Cressida and Alain. It started at 10am and I was at the meeting point at 9:59. What excellent timing. We met at the small door at the corner of Ferran and rue Aiguelongue or something like that. When I arrived, everyone else what already there and taking a group photo with Alain's mystery camera--it's a mystery camera because it's a mystery as to whether it will take a picture or not.
So we waited a little longer after I arrived and then we went along the Lez. We stopped by a couple of a waterfalls and admired the beauty of nature. Then we found our way at the building that rents canoes and kayaks. Near that is a set of picnic tables and we picked one out and parked there. Half the group waited for one more person who eventually came, and then it was time to eat.
I had a sandwich, some sort of savoury bread with olives and bits of ham. There was tabouli and quiche and salmon salad, but I didn't have any of that. There were 2 desserts--raspberry cake and chocolate brownies. Everything was yummy!
After that we decided to play a game called Maya (sp?). It was a lot of fun. I'll explain the rules because it was the first time I've heard of the game. You need 2 dice and a cup or some way to shake the dice and hide the results from everyone else.
Basically, you arrange the people in a line or circle and there is a first person and a last person. Play proceeds from the first person to the last person.
First, how to read the 2 dice. There are three ranks of dice.
Lowest rank--when the two dice are different numbers, this is the lowest rank. Each die represents a digit of a 2 digit number. The larger number is the 10's digit and the smaller number is the 1's digit. So if you got a 4 and a 2, that would be 42. A 3 and a 6 would be 63. The bigger the number, the higher value it is.
Middle rank--when the dice show the same number. The double numbers 1+1, 2+2, ... 6+6 are all higher in rank than the dice with different numbers. The 2 1's are the lowest value and the 2 6's are the highest value. The lowest value in this rank is higher in value than the highest value of the lowest rank. So the 5+6 is just one step below the 1+1.
Highest rank--the highest value of all is the 1 and 2. If you roll this, it is called a Maya. It's like the Ace in cards--it's a 1, but it's higher than the King.
Each turn works like this. The person with the dice shakes the dice and looks at them. He can say what his dice are or he can lie about what he has. The only requirement is that the rank he says has to be equal to or greater than the rank of the previous person.
So if the first person rolls a 2 and 5, he can say "52" (though he is not required to). Then if the second person person rolls a 6 and 2, he would probably say "62". Then if the third person rolls 2 and 2, he would say "22". Then if the fourth person rolls 4 and 5, the value of his dice are "54" which is less than 22. But he has to say a number at least 22. So 22 or 33 or 44 or maybe even 21--the Maya. So in this case he would have to lie.
Play continues like that. However, at any point, anyone (except the last person) can call the person a liar. When that happens, the dice owner has to show the dice. If the owner is actually a liar, then they go to the end and the person who called them on it goes to the first position. If the owner is not a liar, the person who tried to call them on it goes to the end. In either case, the play starts over from the first person again.
It is a very simple game, but it is a lot of fun. You have to figure out who's lying. We had a fun time of it. Who calls the person a liar? Who doesn't? Who should? Who shouldn't? How do you "read your dice" when the previous person has a really high value like 5+5? Feign relief? Too fun! Plus it helped me practice my French numbers.
Anyway, Elena was on a mountain biking trip for which, as she now knows, she was unqualified. She came to the picnic when we were playing the game. But she was tired from the biking and went home.
It was a fun picnic. The weather was warm but not too hot. It was sunny and shady because we were in a forested park. We got to see romantic waterfalls and play funny games. I could get used to the south of France.
So we waited a little longer after I arrived and then we went along the Lez. We stopped by a couple of a waterfalls and admired the beauty of nature. Then we found our way at the building that rents canoes and kayaks. Near that is a set of picnic tables and we picked one out and parked there. Half the group waited for one more person who eventually came, and then it was time to eat.
I had a sandwich, some sort of savoury bread with olives and bits of ham. There was tabouli and quiche and salmon salad, but I didn't have any of that. There were 2 desserts--raspberry cake and chocolate brownies. Everything was yummy!
After that we decided to play a game called Maya (sp?). It was a lot of fun. I'll explain the rules because it was the first time I've heard of the game. You need 2 dice and a cup or some way to shake the dice and hide the results from everyone else.
Basically, you arrange the people in a line or circle and there is a first person and a last person. Play proceeds from the first person to the last person.
First, how to read the 2 dice. There are three ranks of dice.
Lowest rank--when the two dice are different numbers, this is the lowest rank. Each die represents a digit of a 2 digit number. The larger number is the 10's digit and the smaller number is the 1's digit. So if you got a 4 and a 2, that would be 42. A 3 and a 6 would be 63. The bigger the number, the higher value it is.
Middle rank--when the dice show the same number. The double numbers 1+1, 2+2, ... 6+6 are all higher in rank than the dice with different numbers. The 2 1's are the lowest value and the 2 6's are the highest value. The lowest value in this rank is higher in value than the highest value of the lowest rank. So the 5+6 is just one step below the 1+1.
Highest rank--the highest value of all is the 1 and 2. If you roll this, it is called a Maya. It's like the Ace in cards--it's a 1, but it's higher than the King.
Each turn works like this. The person with the dice shakes the dice and looks at them. He can say what his dice are or he can lie about what he has. The only requirement is that the rank he says has to be equal to or greater than the rank of the previous person.
So if the first person rolls a 2 and 5, he can say "52" (though he is not required to). Then if the second person person rolls a 6 and 2, he would probably say "62". Then if the third person rolls 2 and 2, he would say "22". Then if the fourth person rolls 4 and 5, the value of his dice are "54" which is less than 22. But he has to say a number at least 22. So 22 or 33 or 44 or maybe even 21--the Maya. So in this case he would have to lie.
Play continues like that. However, at any point, anyone (except the last person) can call the person a liar. When that happens, the dice owner has to show the dice. If the owner is actually a liar, then they go to the end and the person who called them on it goes to the first position. If the owner is not a liar, the person who tried to call them on it goes to the end. In either case, the play starts over from the first person again.
It is a very simple game, but it is a lot of fun. You have to figure out who's lying. We had a fun time of it. Who calls the person a liar? Who doesn't? Who should? Who shouldn't? How do you "read your dice" when the previous person has a really high value like 5+5? Feign relief? Too fun! Plus it helped me practice my French numbers.
Anyway, Elena was on a mountain biking trip for which, as she now knows, she was unqualified. She came to the picnic when we were playing the game. But she was tired from the biking and went home.
It was a fun picnic. The weather was warm but not too hot. It was sunny and shady because we were in a forested park. We got to see romantic waterfalls and play funny games. I could get used to the south of France.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Still Jonesing For OVS
Elena and I headed over to the Bibliotheque Americaine or Bibliotheque Anglophone to use the internet so we could connect to OnVaSortir.com. We have been receiving messages from other user who are able to connect, but we are still not able to connect from home. I was hoping that upon our return, OVS would be back, but no.
I sent an email this morning to alliancetelecom.fr which is our building's ISP, but haven't heard anything. Usually, and ISP automatically assigns a ticket number and auto-responds, but maybe this type of CRM software isn't used in France. Anyway, I had heard anything, so I sent another one.
Then I sent a message to completel.fr and explained my situation. Completel.fr is the company that actually runs the gateway. My default DNS is dns1.completel.fr and that is the DNS server that is timing out on the DNS request. Alliance Telecom seems to be a local retail provider that uses Completel's network. The problem is on Completel's DNS server.
Anyway, it is very frustrating to lose access to your favorite website. Especially since it has a self-contained email system that requires you to go to their website to read the email. I hope they fix it soon.
I sent an email this morning to alliancetelecom.fr which is our building's ISP, but haven't heard anything. Usually, and ISP automatically assigns a ticket number and auto-responds, but maybe this type of CRM software isn't used in France. Anyway, I had heard anything, so I sent another one.
Then I sent a message to completel.fr and explained my situation. Completel.fr is the company that actually runs the gateway. My default DNS is dns1.completel.fr and that is the DNS server that is timing out on the DNS request. Alliance Telecom seems to be a local retail provider that uses Completel's network. The problem is on Completel's DNS server.
Anyway, it is very frustrating to lose access to your favorite website. Especially since it has a self-contained email system that requires you to go to their website to read the email. I hope they fix it soon.
OVS Withdrawal Symptom
Ughh!!! Elena and I are addicted to the OnVaSortir.com website, but we can't get to it anymore. Other people we know can and do, but our building is unable to get to it. Everyone we've asked other than our receptionist of our building has no problem at all.
I'm not sure what the problem is. I wish I understood the guts of the internet a bit better. Anyway, here's what's happens. When we type http://montpellier.onvasortir.com into Firefox, Firefox first has to a DNS lookup. That fails. I used nslookup.exe and WireShark.exe (aka Ethereal) to see if I could see what goes on. As nslookup of a working site such as google.com works correctly--it immediately returns the nameserver of the domain. But an nslookup of onvasortir.com timeout after 2 seconds. Our dns1.completel.fr name server can't find the IP of the onvasortir.com nameserver. Damn you, dns1.completel.fr nameserver! Damn you to hell! It also times out on sivit.org, sivit.fr, and juridiconline.com which I found when trying to see if I could find anyone else with this problem on google. It was juriduconline.com because apparently, right after onvasortir.com was made, a cybersquatter registered the .org and .fr versions and the real OVS people were looking for (or giving?) legal advice.
I went to whois to get some more information on onvasortir.com. They use a company called sivit.org for one of their nameservers. Well, it turns out that I can't get to sivit.org either--same problem--can't get the DNS lookup to work. whois also lists the IP of sivit.org and onvasortir.com. I tried to ping those. In all cases, the pings to the nameservers and http servers didn't work. Other people can get to these servers, so I don't know why can't--broken link close to our building, I guess.
We had OVS up briefly yesterday or the day before when I was running WireShark, so I did see a TCP request being answered by the OVS server, but the HTTP GET just died on the wire. So my packets were flowing to some port, but nothing on port 80. We have since restarted the computer, though, so we no longer have DNS information cached, I guess.
A few minutes ago, I sent an email to the support people for our building alliancetelecom.fr, but nothing so far.
So this post is a withdrawal symptom as my addiction to onvasortir.com is not being met.
I'm not sure what the problem is. I wish I understood the guts of the internet a bit better. Anyway, here's what's happens. When we type http://montpellier.onvasortir.com into Firefox, Firefox first has to a DNS lookup. That fails. I used nslookup.exe and WireShark.exe (aka Ethereal) to see if I could see what goes on. As nslookup of a working site such as google.com works correctly--it immediately returns the nameserver of the domain. But an nslookup of onvasortir.com timeout after 2 seconds. Our dns1.completel.fr name server can't find the IP of the onvasortir.com nameserver. Damn you, dns1.completel.fr nameserver! Damn you to hell! It also times out on sivit.org, sivit.fr, and juridiconline.com which I found when trying to see if I could find anyone else with this problem on google. It was juriduconline.com because apparently, right after onvasortir.com was made, a cybersquatter registered the .org and .fr versions and the real OVS people were looking for (or giving?) legal advice.
I went to whois to get some more information on onvasortir.com. They use a company called sivit.org for one of their nameservers. Well, it turns out that I can't get to sivit.org either--same problem--can't get the DNS lookup to work. whois also lists the IP of sivit.org and onvasortir.com. I tried to ping those. In all cases, the pings to the nameservers and http servers didn't work. Other people can get to these servers, so I don't know why can't--broken link close to our building, I guess.
We had OVS up briefly yesterday or the day before when I was running WireShark, so I did see a TCP request being answered by the OVS server, but the HTTP GET just died on the wire. So my packets were flowing to some port, but nothing on port 80. We have since restarted the computer, though, so we no longer have DNS information cached, I guess.
A few minutes ago, I sent an email to the support people for our building alliancetelecom.fr, but nothing so far.
So this post is a withdrawal symptom as my addiction to onvasortir.com is not being met.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The French 'R'
My French is coming along slowly. Yesterday I was watching a news show and there were a few people I almost understood. I'm starting to get an ear for the language--but just starting. Still, most of what I hear doesn't register as words. It isn't until I realize that they said something I would understand that I can even make out what it is they said. It's a slow process--especially with the plethora of 1 and 2 letter words and words that have more letters but only pronounce 1 or 2.
But on top of all those problems, there is something about the way the French make their 'R' sound that stops my internal parser cold. It's like "#pragma error"--just stops any attempts I was making at detecting words. I don't know why a single sound would do that. It's annoying. Even if I was following the sentence, that sound stops everything and flushes my rehearsal memory. Maybe it's still too novel to me. When I hear it, it sounds almost like a caricature of the sound. Like they are making fun of their language by making that sound event though they are just talking normally. I hope it ends soon. The sound is too common for me to continue getting tripped up like that. My favorite website onvasortir.com has that sound at the end of sortir. I can't even say the sound. I've tried, but when I do, it doesn't sound like the French R at all. I might as well try to paint the Mona Lisa.
But on top of all those problems, there is something about the way the French make their 'R' sound that stops my internal parser cold. It's like "#pragma error"--just stops any attempts I was making at detecting words. I don't know why a single sound would do that. It's annoying. Even if I was following the sentence, that sound stops everything and flushes my rehearsal memory. Maybe it's still too novel to me. When I hear it, it sounds almost like a caricature of the sound. Like they are making fun of their language by making that sound event though they are just talking normally. I hope it ends soon. The sound is too common for me to continue getting tripped up like that. My favorite website onvasortir.com has that sound at the end of sortir. I can't even say the sound. I've tried, but when I do, it doesn't sound like the French R at all. I might as well try to paint the Mona Lisa.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Fise: International Festival of Extreme Sports
Montpellier is the host every year to Fise--the Festival international des sports extrêmes--or the International Festival of Extreme Sports. It is pretty interesting. Elena and I first noticed that stages were being constructed on the banks of the River Lez. Over the next couple of weeks, they turned into a full blown extreme sports festival.
At the north end, waterboarders give demos over the dam. Then there is bicycling, skateboarding, rollerblading, and probably other forms of youth extreme sports. The banks of the river are sloped up and the spectators sit all along the banks oooh-ing and aaahhh-ing. There are competitions and some spectacular crashes. There are booths of vendors and pretty spokesmodels handing out free KitKats. The weather cooperated wonderfully. A bit hot for me, but heat+youth=eye candy. The crowds are so thick, you can barely move. They set up an extra footbridge, but it takes forever to get on, traverse, and leave the bridge. At least they have ample bathroom space--about 10 porta-potties.
I sketched this watercolor yesterday (just before heading over to the Shakespeare Pub) and just painted it in today. It's a part of a bike track that the non-acrophobic kids can ride around on.
At the north end, waterboarders give demos over the dam. Then there is bicycling, skateboarding, rollerblading, and probably other forms of youth extreme sports. The banks of the river are sloped up and the spectators sit all along the banks oooh-ing and aaahhh-ing. There are competitions and some spectacular crashes. There are booths of vendors and pretty spokesmodels handing out free KitKats. The weather cooperated wonderfully. A bit hot for me, but heat+youth=eye candy. The crowds are so thick, you can barely move. They set up an extra footbridge, but it takes forever to get on, traverse, and leave the bridge. At least they have ample bathroom space--about 10 porta-potties.
I sketched this watercolor yesterday (just before heading over to the Shakespeare Pub) and just painted it in today. It's a part of a bike track that the non-acrophobic kids can ride around on.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Two More Pictures: Saint Anne's Church & Book-in-Bar
I offer up two more watercolors.
First is a statue at Saint Anne church. The church is in an area too crowded to actually see the whole church from a distance. So I had to pick a part to draw. I chose this angel on a platform being held up on the shoulders of a guy sort of wedged in there. It was fun to draw him because his position was hard to capture. He looked better in monochrome than after I applied the color, though. While I was capturing the scene, several tourists came, saw, clicked, left, and finally scratched Saint Anne from their list of places to visit. Meanwhile, I sat there trying to figure out how to draw the little guy holding up the angel. Thankfully I knew how to do it because my figure drawing instructor is Seattle, Tamara Codor, showed us how to draw extremely foreshortened body parts. I'm really happy I took a bunch of her classes because without them, there is no way I could have ever had the confidence to try to capture statues of people.
The second scene is a well in the basement of Book-in-Bar which has been converted into a display case for books on sale. Elena and I arrived early for their language exchange event because we were downtown anyway and didn't want to go back home. So Elena read a little while I sketched the well. The buildings in this district are all really old, so they all have features that were created at a time when our needs were different. It is interesting to see how the modern businesses that occupy these old buildings adapt these features.
I did the sketches yesterday. Today I filled in the paint and then I went to the Shakespeare Pub to pencil in the lines over a 3 euro John Bull Classic.
First is a statue at Saint Anne church. The church is in an area too crowded to actually see the whole church from a distance. So I had to pick a part to draw. I chose this angel on a platform being held up on the shoulders of a guy sort of wedged in there. It was fun to draw him because his position was hard to capture. He looked better in monochrome than after I applied the color, though. While I was capturing the scene, several tourists came, saw, clicked, left, and finally scratched Saint Anne from their list of places to visit. Meanwhile, I sat there trying to figure out how to draw the little guy holding up the angel. Thankfully I knew how to do it because my figure drawing instructor is Seattle, Tamara Codor, showed us how to draw extremely foreshortened body parts. I'm really happy I took a bunch of her classes because without them, there is no way I could have ever had the confidence to try to capture statues of people.
The second scene is a well in the basement of Book-in-Bar which has been converted into a display case for books on sale. Elena and I arrived early for their language exchange event because we were downtown anyway and didn't want to go back home. So Elena read a little while I sketched the well. The buildings in this district are all really old, so they all have features that were created at a time when our needs were different. It is interesting to see how the modern businesses that occupy these old buildings adapt these features.
I did the sketches yesterday. Today I filled in the paint and then I went to the Shakespeare Pub to pencil in the lines over a 3 euro John Bull Classic.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Bisous
Life is laid back in the south of France. One of the reasons the French are laid back is because it takes so much patience to do the bisous. The bisous are the three kisses on alternate cheeks (left-right-left) they do here. Actually, they don't kiss the cheek--you touch your cheeks and kiss into the air. You can introduce yourself by saying your name quickly between the kiss and the move the other cheek if you're bisousing with someone new. When a lot of people come together, there's a lot of bisous. In fact, the number of bisous is 3*((d*h) + (d2)/2) where d is the number of dames (women) and h is the number of hommes (men). Whew! That's a lot of bisous. And you so them both when you meet and before you depart. Some people also write "bisous" at the end of their emails as a sort of "virtual bisous" goodbye.
Elena doesn't really like all the bisous. But I enjoy them. We both marvel over the time spent doing it, though.
Elena doesn't really like all the bisous. But I enjoy them. We both marvel over the time spent doing it, though.
Hike in Saint-Baudille
A few days ago, 5 of us did this hike. It's in the same general area as the other hikes. There is a mountain with a loop and a transmitter tower for Marseilles. We met as usual by the Malbosc tram station and headed up. It was a bit scary since there are blind turns on one lane/two way mountain roads. But we made it safely. We parked next to a goat cheese farm. Then we headed up toward the transmitter.
The weather was nice, but as soon as we made it up to the tower, there was a cold wind. Very cold. Hung out at the place with a map of the view and then went down onto a rocky plateau for lunch. Elena and I had sandwiches wrapped in aluminum foil (yes, we finally bought some). Jacques had bread and sliced meats, and the other two women has salads in Tupperware.
After lunch, we found the road and went by road for a while until we got to a meadow for a siesta.
Elena tried to tell her joke:
When we woke up, we went back down to the cars, and went to buy some goat cheese. You need to ring a doorbell to call a farmer to buy the cheese. We did and she came and got out a round and sliced it into 8 slices. It was good. We all bought some cheese and then went out to a picnic bench to eat some.
Then, Elena wanted to get some wine. I'm not sure why she had a hankering for wine. In BC she never comes into winerys to taste their wines. We stopped at a coop for Montpeyrou local wines. We tried several wines. All were pretty good. I got 3 bottles.
The weather was nice, but as soon as we made it up to the tower, there was a cold wind. Very cold. Hung out at the place with a map of the view and then went down onto a rocky plateau for lunch. Elena and I had sandwiches wrapped in aluminum foil (yes, we finally bought some). Jacques had bread and sliced meats, and the other two women has salads in Tupperware.
After lunch, we found the road and went by road for a while until we got to a meadow for a siesta.
Elena tried to tell her joke:
A little boy asked his mother "how old are you?" His mother said, "You aren't supposed to ask questions like that to women." The next day he asked "how much do you weigh?" Again the mother told the boy, "that's not an appropriate question to ask women." The next day he asked, "why did Dad divorce you?" Again, the woman responded, "I'll explain it when you're older."So that was Elena's joke. Then we slept.
So the little boy told his friend at school, "my Mom won't answer questions like how old she is and how mucg she weighs..." The friend told him, "All you have to do is look at her driver's license. It's all right there."
So the next day the little boy was riding with his mom and he told her, "I found all the answers to all the questions on your driver's license. You are 42 years old and you weigh 145 lbs. And I also know why Dad divorced you--you got an 'F' in sex."
When we woke up, we went back down to the cars, and went to buy some goat cheese. You need to ring a doorbell to call a farmer to buy the cheese. We did and she came and got out a round and sliced it into 8 slices. It was good. We all bought some cheese and then went out to a picnic bench to eat some.
Then, Elena wanted to get some wine. I'm not sure why she had a hankering for wine. In BC she never comes into winerys to taste their wines. We stopped at a coop for Montpeyrou local wines. We tried several wines. All were pretty good. I got 3 bottles.
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