"Septante" or "soixante-dix"? (France at a glance)

For anyone who doesn't know, French numbers are confusing.  For example, the word for 80 is "quatre-vingts" (literally, "four-twenties") and the word for 90 is "quatre-vingt-dix" (literally, "four-twenty-ten").  Fortunately for me, the Belgians have abandoned this system for the number 70, where they use the word "septante" instead of the word "soixante-dix" (which is reserved for the French).  So before leaving for France, I made sure my brain was ready to handle the extra stress and I studied up on my counting :-P

The final destination of my trip was a medieval town called Gordes, which is a popular tourist destination among the French but also among many foreigners (the British influx was particularly evident for me).  The town, however, is located in the south of France (not particularly close to Belgium), so I had the chance to see a lot on the way there (and also a lot of time to sleep).  So, some pictures:

This is a view overlooking the wine country of Burgundy (in other words, some very expensive grapes).  We stopped here for a quick lunch on our way to Nyons, where we spent the night before finishing our journey to Gordes.  Nyons is particularly famous for its olives, which they use to make all sorts of products, including soaps, jams, and, of course, olive oil.

On our way to Gordes after spending the night in Nyons, we drove up to the top of a mountain called Mont Ventoux.  This is the view from about 1909 meters.  A lot of people prefer to bike up the mountain (about 20 km of a pretty steep pitch), but, for me, driving was just fine...

This is another view from the top of the same mountain.  The pictures don't do it justice, so I tried to add a few of them.  Note the completely cloudless sky.

This is looking back at the mountain during the drive down.  The earlier pictures were taken from about the level of the little white spot at the top, which is actually a pretty tall building.  Of interest here is the fact that there is no vegetation at the top of the mountain (just rocks).  This was the first time I have ever seen something like this in person.  Also of note is the pole in the right of the picture, which is used during the winter for vehicles to know where the road is with all of the snow.  Even during the summer it was kind of chilly at the top.

This is a picture of a place where we ate lunch near Gordes.  You can see the landscape in the background, and there is a large building to the right of the picture that you can't see in this photo.  Where we actually ate lunch was down the hill a bit closer to the trees you can see on the left.

At the restaurant, there were pigs running around loose (or sleeping...) and also free goats.  It was very easy to see that our food was locally raised.  And now is a good time to talk about some interesting foods I have tried since I arrived in Europe, and what I thought about them:

• Foie gras:  In case you didn't know, this is the liver from a fattened duck or goose.  I thought it wasn't bad, it tastes kind of buttery.
• Raw oysters and mussels:  I thought that these tasted pretty good, although the texture is a little slimy.  They taste mostly like sea water in my opinion, and they are good with lemon.
• Frog legs:  I thought that these were delicious, with a consistency kind of like fish but a very buttery taste (since they are soaked in butter when they are served).  The presentation is unique:  you are given the backbone of the frog and the legs with the bones still in them, so eating the legs is a little messy (kind of like ribs) but completely worth it!
• Fromage de tête:  This was another one of my favorites.  Literally, the name means "cheese of the head" - I will let your imagination do the rest of the explanation.  Basically, it is some coarsely chopped "meats" from either a pig or a cow put together into a patty.  I tried this at the open-air restaurant above (so my meal was probably an "ami" of one of those pigs in the photo...).
• Cheese:  The cheeses here can be made from unpasteurized milk, which makes for some delicious varieties.  In particular, I have tried a number of different goat cheeses that I thought were really good.

 

Having finally arrived at Gordes, this is a vista from the city.

This is the castle in Gordes.  The city has medieval roots, and this castle is one of the remnants of those times.  A little ways outside the city you can actually find medieval houses (which look kind of like mounds of rocks), but we were only in Gordes for a short time so I didn't get the chance to see the houses in person.

 

This is a fountain in the middle of the town.  It is famous - apparently it was used in a movie.  (Please leave a comment if you know which movie it was.)  You can also see all of the tourists and the style of the buildings in the background. 

This is an abbey near Gordes called Sénanque Abbey.  There are many lavender fields near Gordes, such as the one in front of the abbey here.  Unfortunately, the lavender was harvested sometime around late July, so I didn't have the opportunity to see it in full bloom, but I did see a few pictures and it looks really beautiful.

And now I am finally back in Belgium after a grueling ten-hour car ride.  And it's quite a bit cooler here - I think my shorts are away for good!  I am visiting Liege later this week, so more updates are soon to come.

P.S. The song of this post is a tribute to my host father:  "Salade de Fruits" by Bourvil http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOP0jDBlBys  Before the Wiggles, there was Bourvil!

To be, or not to be (a look at Belgian government)

The Belgians are still working hard to get a government put together, but in the mean time I had the chance to visit the Federal Parliament building (called the Palace of the Nation) in the capital of Brussels.  I also had the chance to see the inside of the Royal Palace (twice), but no pictures are allowed inside so unfortunately I have nothing to show for it.  The system that Belgium has (or had?) is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy, with a bicameral legislative branch and a very complex bureaucracy (I was told that they have the greatest number of ministers in the world, even more than China).  There are multiple political parties in the country, with corresponding parties for each language community.  (For example, there is a French-speaking liberal party and a corresponding Flemish-speaking liberal party.)  About 60% of the population speaks Dutch (Flemish), 40% speaks French, and less than 1% speaks German, and the political system takes very much into account these cultural and linguistic differences.  The two legislative bodies are the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives, and the executive head is the prime minister; although, the national figurehead is actually the king (whose power is almost completely limited - in fact, he doesn't even have the right to vote).  The legislative branch is voted in using open-list proportional representation, which in effect makes the country's system more party-based and less candidate-based.  The way that the system works forces opposing factions to work together, which is basically the problem right now with getting a government put together.  And to complicate matters even further, there are various levels of government each with their own legislative bodies and bureaucracies.  For example, there are three regions (Brussels, which is bilingual; Flanders, which is mostly Flemish; and Wallonia, which is French and German) and three communities (French-speaking, Flemish-speaking, and German-speaking) each with their own administrative divisions.  (And the region of Flanders has merged with the Flemish-speaking community.)  And that doesn't even include the local levels (provincial and communal) or the international level (European Union).  For a small country, it is quite a complex political system.  So, that's Belgian government in a nutshell, or at least my interpretation.  Now for some pictures:

 

This is a pretty blurry picture of the inside of Brussels' City Hall.  (Many of the government buildings are rather dark on the inside so it was difficult to take decent quality photos.)  Brussels is the bilingual capital of Belgium, part of both the French and Flemish communities.  It is, however, its own separate region.

This is the outside of the Federal Palace.  Note the Belgian and European Union flags.  Pretty much everywhere you see a Belgian flag at a government or corporation building, there is a European Union flag, too.  You might find a regional flag, too, in some places.  By the way, all Belgian laws are written in both French and Dutch.

These two pictures are from the inside of the Belgian Senate.  The Belgian Senate has a total of 71 senators:  40 elected directly (15 by the French Electoral College and 25 by the Flemish Electoral College), 21 chosen by the community parliaments (10 by the French parliament, 10 by the Flemish parliament, and 1 by the German council), and 10 chosen together by the first 61 senators.  The princes and princess are also senators "by right," but in practice they don't cast their votes.

These two pictures are from the Chamber of Representatives.  Belgium has 150 representatives, who are elected directly by 11 constituencies (proportional to population).  Right now, the political parties in the Chamber are:

• PS:  French-speaking socialists (26 seats)
• sp.a:  Flemish socialists (13 seats)
• ecolo-Groen!:  French-speaking and Flemish ecologists (13)
• MR:  French-speaking liberals (18)
• LDD:  Flemish, libertarian direct democrats (1)
• Open Vld:  Flemish liberals (13)
• Vlaams Belang:  Flemish nationalists of the Right (12)
• N-VA:  Flemish nationalists (separatists) (27)
• CD&V:  Flemish christian-democrats (17)
• cdH:  French-speaking humanists (christian-democrats) (9)
• and one independent

I think (I hope) that I got it right :-)  Belgian government is very different from that of the United States.  And more confusing.  Instead of one year in government like we have in the United States they should probably have five here.

P.S. "Listen to the Music" by The Doobie Brothers (Yeah, you better listen!)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVgMzKMgNxw

Some local pictures, history, and folklore (and a video!)

In case you didn't know, the region of Belgium where I am staying is called the Ardennes, which covers parts of Belgium, Luxembourg, and France.  This region is particularly well-known for its role in World War II, about which I will try to add more information after visiting Bastogne.  The affect of World War II on the region is still very apparent in the houses that were built for soldiers and also in various monuments that praise the Allies for their victory.  In terms of industry, there were a lot of quarries in my town for a number of centuries, though that stopped in the 1970s.  Currently, the most visible industry is farming (particularly dairy and meat cows), but there are also a lot of shops around.  Some pictures (and a video!) of places near where I am staying:

 This is a vista of the region where I am staying.  It is difficult to see, but mostly the region is composed of towns, surrounded by houses, surrounded by farmland, with a rather hilly topography.  On the left of the picture you can see some of the cows that I talked about earlier.  From what I have seen, it seems that all of the cows in my region are free to graze.

Here are the remains of a quarry that has been closed for some time.  The rock is typical for this region.

 This is most of what remains of an old castle.  Currently, the castle is privately owned and opened a few times a year to the public.  There are a lot of remnants of the property around this piece, particularly the bases of towers and stone walls.

This is another, more modern castle as seen from inside the graveyard of a church.  It is also only opened a few times a year.  The white wall that you can see on the left of the castle used to stretch around a large garden, but I am given to believe that the property is not particularly well-tended at the moment.

This is the church from whose graveyard the previous picture was taken.  Many small churches have closed in the region with a reduction in the number of Catholics attending Mass.  This one is only opened a few days of the year.

This is one float from a parade that I attended in a town called La Gleize.  All of the floats were horse-drawn with horses similar to the one seen here.  It is adorned with local plants, and there is a little girl on the float in a traditional dress.

This is another float from the same parade.  You can see the traditional dress of the Ardennes of blue garments and a red necktie.

One of the floats embraced the farming heritage of the region with a man hand-shearing a sheep.  The wool from that sheep was being used by some women on the float to spin into yarn.

This is a video clip of some traditional music of the Ardennes region.  The quality is rather poor, but at least you can get an idea.  Note the traditional dress of the band.

This bunch of rocks is called the "Faix du Diable" - literally, "The Devil's Burden" - and it comes with a story.  I will try to recount it as best as I can from what I could understand of the French.  In a town called Stavelot, there is an abbey built by St. Remacle.  The Devil was not happy about this abbey, so he decided that he would walk his way over to the abbey and crush it with a rock.  But, the rock was very heavy and the Devil had to walk for a long time before finishing his journey.  So, when the Devil came upon a human, he asked him how much farther it was to the abbey, not realizing that the human he was asking was St. Remacle himself.  St. Remacle knew that the Devil was tired, and of course he did not want his abbey destroyed, so he told the Devil that Stavelot was much farther away, even though it was really only a few miles from the spot.  The Devil decided then that he was too tired to continue, and dropped his rock right there, hence the enormous pile of stone.  Quite a clever saint if you ask me!

I'm planning to add more local information in later posts as I learn more about my region, particularly about its role in World War II.  Feel free to leave questions or comments!

P.S. A terribly under-appreciated Beatles song is the subject of this post-script:  "Her Majesty" from their album "Abbey Road"  (It's their shortest song, by the way!)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb4uGHGUZMs&feature=related

It's been a week and all is well (except in Brussels)

I went to Brussels a few days ago with my host mom and sisters, and I got to see a great deal of interesting things (continue reading for pictures). It has, however, taken me some time to get to downloading the pictures, since I've been busy and also somewhat lazy. Primarily, Friday night (or Saturday morning?) was the going-away party for my older host sister, where I got to meet a lot of people who have graduated or who will be in my year at school. Also, I have been reading some stories in French: "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery and "Les Aventures de Tintin" (a comic book) by Hergé. Anyway, it is a good thing we went to Brussels when we did because since then a terrible storm hit the city: five dead at a music festival and lots of flooding. You can read more here: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2011/08/19/storm-leaves-five-dead-at-belgian-rock-fest/ It is a surprise given that the weather when I was there just a few days before was blue and sunny. So, finally some pictures:

Like every city has, this is the "if you touch it you will have good luck" token of Brussels. I don't know if having touched the lady will cancel out with the bull in Milan...

This is THE statue of Brussels, and it's called Manneken Pis. It's a rather odd symbol for the city, since it is a little boy peeing into a fountain. There are references to him in all of the tourist shops, and he has many different outfits that he can be dressed in from time to time, particularly for different holidays or special occasions.

This is the royal palace (for business matters - the king actually lives in a different part of the city). The flag is up or down depending on whether the king is present in the country or out of state. Belgium is a constitutional monarchy, so the king still plays an active role in resolving the country's problems, which right now include the worldwide economic issues and getting a Belgian government put together (read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13725277). The royal couple is Albert II and Paola, and they have grandchildren about my age... William may be gone, but there is still hope! :-P

These buildings are the headquarters of the European Union.

The "Arc de Triomphe" of Brussels.

The "Atomium" (looking up from the bottom) is a building built for a world fair that took place in the city. Like Manneken Pis, it is another landmark found in all of the tourist shops.

An excellent example of art nouveau architecture, which is actually a museum of musical instruments. Just down the street from here I tried my first truly Belgian waffle, which was delicious, by the way.

On my next trip to Brussels later this week, I will be visiting the Belgian senate (maybe they will have a government by then?) and a few days later I will be taking a vacation with my host family to southern France. More updates soon to come.

P.S. Another great song to add to your collection: "Another Morning" by Moody Blues from their concept album, "Days of Future Passed" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufHN9ag-JRE Better yet, listen to the whole album from the beginning, since it is a concept album after all. (You probably know the last song - "Nights in White Satin".)

I've landed and I'm settling in

It's been a while since I've written because I have had some trouble with my Internet connection in Belgium.  Right now I am mooching off of a neighbor's (thank you!) but there is quite a bit of distance and the signal is low, so I should finish quickly before the connection disappears.  I'm really enjoying Belgium so far, my host family is great, and I have had the chance to meet quite a bit of extended family here too even though I have only been here for a few days.  I learned that when Belgians greet each other, they touch cheeks and make a kiss in the air, so "bisou" to you and "bisou" to Belgium!  It has been really cool to see all of the old stone buildings in my town and through the country, and I will be going to Brussels soon - I will update with another post (with pictures!).  Also, the food here is REALLY good, at least the meals I have had so far.  Hopefully I can learn to cook a little so that when I get to college I can make myself some good meals.  On another note... it seems like people here seem to like skinny jeans a lot - it's a good thing I packed some!  More updates coming soon...

P.S.  My favorite song (not Belgian but still awesome) - "Mr. Blue Sky" by E.L.O.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjPqsDU0j2I

About a week to go

I still haven't become proficient in French yet (just scratched the surface at 50 pages into my workbook...) but I have started packing.  It still doesn't seem real that I'm going away, but I'm excited to meet the people I have been talking with over the past few weeks!