weekend in Chambery...

Saturday market and relaxing...

I was excited to finally have a weekend of not traveling so I could catch up on sleep, relax, and enjoy Chambery! After trying to sleep in on Saturday (the sun rising so early made it hard), I went to the market in downtown Chambery. Just like every Saturday it was a huge, exciting an energy-filled event! Vendors everywhere were shouting prices and enticing offers, inviting us to try samples of everything. Yum! As always, there was tons of fresh bread and butter, every (French) cheese you could imagine, fresh, organic fruit and vegetables, lots of fresh and meat, chickens, eggs....etc! There were also a few clothing and odds/end vendors, too. I really love the atmosphere of the market and how energetic everyone is all morning for it. The food isn’t bad either.

After a big brunch (French toast from an old baguette and lots of fruit), I read some more Harry Potter and soon fell asleep for a long nap. After waking up revitalized and inspired to take on the town, I went and grabbed a delicious cappuccino at a place called Café Folliet, and went a little window shopping in downtown (old town). Since nearly everywhere is closed on Sunday, Saturday is a really fun time to go out and walk around town with all the locals. I’m not a huge fan of the clothes here, surprisingly, mostly because they have very strange cuts and fits. This is probably a good thing! For the past two weeks, however, I had my eye on a really nice purse that I wanted to invest in. Unfortunately, upon returning the store (called Le Tanneur), I found out that it had just been sold! The employee that I was asking about it was convinced I had made this purse up because I had used the wrong color to describe it (“pink” instead of “violet”), but when he finally realized what I was talking about he apologized for having sold it – haha. Unfortunately the purse was THE last in the line, so there is no hope of seeing it again! More money for the patisserie I suppose!

Renee and I closed out the day with a yummy dinner of pasta and watermelon – a little bit of American-ness to celebrate the 4th!

Random observations
- Most everything is closed (daily) from about 12-3 for lunch breaks. Ah! This means that on the way home from class we can’t stop at the grocery store or any store because everyone has gone home for lunch. While we have gotten used to this, it is still a little frustrating! It’s really interesting, though, that the French still hold fast to this tradition. My teacher is pretty much horrified to hear that we only have about 30-45 minutes (or sometimes less) for lunch. Their meals, particularly lunch with family, are really part of their culture! And of course nearly everything is closed on Sundays except for a few restaurants.

- The post office has its own bank. Cool!

- If you don’t bring your own bags to the grocery store you have to buy some there. I think this is really smart and we should adapt it at home!! It makes it much easier to remember to bring your bags because you are forced to. I have been using my backpack and big purse and have had no complaints so far!

- The train system is so, so good. I don’t think we could ever have something so precise and well-planned in the US simply because of how big the country is, but would definitely be worth it if it were possible... I can get to Paris in 3 hours from the south of France, but I can’t get from Virginia to Raleigh in less than 6 !!

- Free bread and water are required at all sit down restaurants in France, by law! This is really sweet. After a few meals with expensive mineral water (which the waiters offer first, of course), I soon learned the word un pichet d’eau - a FREE pitcher of water! They usually bring it out in a really nice glass bottle so it feels like bottled water anyway...

- Everyone bikes. And half the people that we see (specifically on trails) are wearing the really intense bike outfits that you see in say, oh the Tour de France. Intense!

- The food packaging is a constant reminder to eat “balanced meals” and limit portion sizes. Nearly everything (I have noticed especially on the cereal, yogurt and granola bars) gives you suggestions of what to eat as a snack or a meal with the packaged item. Boxes of cereal, for example, will suggest to have the cereal with cold milk, a fruit and a hot drink. It’s not uncommon, either, for the boxes to suggest physical activities for you to do. It’s interesting that they are so avid about these suggestions.

- Peanut butter is apparently “a Netherlands thing.”

- Unemployed people get discounts to places like the pool and movie theater (!!).

- There is no air conditioning...anywhere. Maybe in a few of the groceries stores, but that’s it! It doesn’t get that hot here, but hot enough that it does make shopping uncomfortable and annoying sometimes... But the country is probably saving tons of money in the process!!

- The owner of a store always says bonjour or bon soir when you enter their store and au revoir, merci, bon journee or bon soiree! when you leave. It’s pretty formal, but it’s very nice and I really like it! You are expected to respond in the same manner, too. Apparently the trend towards politeness is returning and becoming more popular.

Sunday

Today I finally made it to the musee savoisien here in town. The museum was in a smaller, but it was in a really cool building - a Fransican convent from the 13th century. It had lots of cool artifacts and maps from the area dating back to the first century. It's especially cool to know Chambery so well now, and to see all this historical stuff relating to it. The town (and therefore the museum) were extremely quiet today, so that was nice. I also got to take some nice pictures since the weather was really nice (great clouds!) and no one was out.

Getting ready for more business this week and then next, my last week in Chambery!!