Saturday 7 February 2009

We woke up very early, intending to drive to Verdun, almost in Germany, then to Belleau Wood (WWI battle sites). We headed north on 1/4 tank of gas.

We were trying to get to Troyes, a rather largish town north of us, but the distances to it on the signs kept changing. About the time the sun came up, we stopped at a medium-sized town and I tried to get euros out of a bank machine, then another one. We also tried using a credit card to get gas. All were refused. We were astonished.

I couldn't figure it out: I had transferred $800 from Todd's account the night before using Mme Silvestre's laptop computer (the only one in the village, I think) which was using dial-up and was v-e-r-y slow. But nothing worked.

The empty tank light was on but Todd kept going to the next tow, and the next. I just knew the farther he drove, the farther I'd have to walk when we ran out of gas. And it would be me walking, because he couldn't walk and he couldn't speak French.

Finally, we stopped about 10k from Troyes and waited outside the only bank until it opened at 9:00. While we were waiting, I tried calling our bank with my numbers, but even the toll-free-from-France number wouldn't work! Then it was my job to go in to the bank and ask for help. The lady was very kind, but could only suggest I try the Poste (post office). I duly went there and waited in a long line. I had 3 questions for the Poste person: Could I get euros from my credit card here? Could she change dollars to euros? Could she buy back the postcard stamps? She could do neither of the first 2, but she was ready to help me with the 3rd. Then I couldn't find them!! She suggested the Bureau de Tabac & Presse, but it was closed.

We drove on.

At Troyes, running on the grace of God alone, we got to a Carrefour (which translates to Crossroad, sort of a strip mall) and tried again to use a cc to buy gas. No dice. I tried at a bank inside, but was informed that if I was not a member, she would not help me. I went across the street to a (larger) Poste and the lady said she could exchange my dollars, she would just need help to do it. I could live with that.

I didn't dare hope this would work. I had Todd's $130 in 20's and a 10.

She and her supervisor went through a laborious series of steps, which resulted in them giving me, after a 5 euro fee, 91.87 euros.

We were saved!

I thanked them profusely, and we made tracks back across the street to the Carrefour and looked fora way to pay with cash. The lady in the box directed me to the last pump, which I was able to start without a credit card. We filled up. At the pay box, we noticed the lady ahead of us paying with a cc, so we tried with my Mastercard.

It worked! Seems you have to slide it through a different part of the machine if you don't have the microchip.

Now we had a full tank of gas and 91.87 euros as well.

Since it was so late, we decided we did not have time for Verdun, but might have time for Belleau Wood plus Paris. We we had our usual hard time finding the tiny town of Belleau, and then spent quite awhile there,            looking into shell holes and foxholes,      sighting along cannons, and looking for family names among the list of people who could not be found after the battle(4 Murphys and 1 Olsen, no Haddens, 2 Johnsons), that we didn't have time to see Paris either, so we wended our slow, winding, backroads-of-France way home.

I right away drove down to the pay phone in Quemigny-sur-Seine and called the bank (8pm France time, noon Utah time). The nice lady informed me that when you withdraw funds from overseas, it automatically takes it from your savings! Oh-ho! That was why I could only get 200 euros and Todd could only get 40 euros. She transferred our funds to our savings, so I hope that will be all right.

I also called Muriel (you see how well my phone numbers were working now!!) and found that she was feeling better and we could come visit her. Also, Pere and Mere Rougon (her parents: Pere Rougon was my drawing instructor when I lived in Beaune, 1979-1980) would be joining us for dessert tomorrow. Yeah!

When I drove back to our little cottage in Cosne, the news was on. It had rained on us, but it had snowed buckets on Paris, not a city used to quantities of snow!! We would have been stuck in a terrible traffic jam. So all those problems this morning were to protect us from a worser fate!

I'm having very little trouble with the language, and Teancum and Todd are picking up lots of vocabulary. Todd's pronounciation is still terrible, but what do you expect from somebody who speaks English and Spanish, and who still says "heli-cock-ter"?

Muriel & Patrick Seichon-Rougon
49, route de Savigny
Beaune, France 21200

M. & Mme. Silvestre
4, Chemin de Buisson
Quemigny-sur-Seine 21510

Pictures to be added later.

Friday 6 February 2009

    
    

I slept in til 9:00 am (Cosne time). Do you blame me? We had chocolate chaude and pain francaise for breakfast (and certain of us had chocolate cake . . . ) Mme. Silvestre came to do the paperwork.  We looked at our little cottage in the daylight.                

Then we set off with a much better map that she had given us, plus suggestions of things to see.

Our first stop was a chateau, since we hadn't had time to see the one near Geneve yesterday. We went to le Chateau de Bussy-Rabatin, but we got there just after noon, and lunch for them is 1200-1400, so we only got to take pictures of the outside. We were planning to come back.

Next we went to the ruins of an ancient Gallo-Roman town, then called Alesia, now called Alise-Sainte-Reine. The ruins date from 4000 B.C. when it was a townful of Gauls. Much later in its history, there was a battle between the Romans (led by one of the Cesars) and the Gauls (led by none other than Vercingetorix) in August and September of 52 B.C. Alesia was a forfitied town and was situated on top of the tallest hill in the area. Vercingetorix let his 80,000 Gauls to Alesia for refuge against the 60,000 Romans that were after them. We could have visited the different Roman camps, because they were all documented. I don't know if we know exactly what happened during this battle, but the end result was that despite the Gauls superior numbers and excellent positioning above the Romans and in a fortified city, the Romans won. Todd thinks it was because of their superior tactics and armor. Those nasty old Romans took Vercingetorix prisoner back to Rome and kept him in prison until Julius Cesar was made Emperor of Rome. On that same day, Julius Cesar had Vercingetorix killed. After this battle and execution, the Gauls went downhill steadily. It was a pretty sad story.

We procured lunch from a supermarche in Venarey-les-Laumes, and ate it near a statue of Vercingetorix himself, complete with moustaches.

After that we went north to the ancient (but not as ancient) Abbey de Fontenay-- from about the XIth century. It was in much better condition in a pretty valley with a goodly stream running through it. The original ceiling beams and supports of the church, made of maple, were still intact and doing their jobs. We also saw the dormitory, the chapter room (where they read a chapter every morning), a writing room, a heating room, the forge, and the gardens. Very quiet and beautiful.

On our way home, we went through Villaines-en-Duesmois and found the 4 towers of a castle built before 1005 A.D. Small Son was ecstatic. We climbed down into the bases of the towers, and up into the tops, peeked through the archer slits, traced the moat and discussed the defenses with arrows or crossbows. Gunpower hadn't been invented yet.

We took the truck route toward Dijon instead of the car route and disscovered it was a much shorter way home, as we nearly drove past our house.

A fun day.

Thursday 5 February 2009

Today dawned even earlier than yesterday (for people who were used to getting up 8 hours later than this) in Geneve, Switzerland. Going through passport control, I got to go through the EEC line (nobody was in it) while Todd and the kids went through the US line (long). When I started to show the guy my red European passport, he just said, "Oui. OK" and waved me through without even looking at my pic (and without stamping it, either, dang it!)

Adventure #1
I collected the one bag; Todd rented the car, and our next job was to get Todd's AmX card. The old one had been compromised and they had a new one waiting for us in Geneve. The address he was given for the AmX office in Geneve was 15, rue de l'Aeroport. We drove around looking, and asked several hotel clerks around town, and some people on the street. They all directed us to the same general airport area. Finally, Todd set off on foot to find the address and told me to follow him. But he was walking very slowly, so I had to double around and I lost him. I learned from another hotel clerk that there was an AmX office IN the airport, so I parked the car back in the Avis rental place and walked into the office IN the airport, where I learned that Todd had already picked up his card. They paged him, and a few minutes later he walked in the front door. (He says he never heard the page.) It was a very stressful 2 hours for us both.      
 
Adventure #2
Our next job was to get to France. We started driving west, but instead of finding the autoroute, we ended up on a small national route through the Alps. It was pretty exciting! We saw some peaks that were very high and pointy, but couldn't get the pic because it was across the car and through the window, and the road was twisty and trees kept getting in the way.
     
Adventure #3
Finally we got to Dijon, France, determined to get some cash and some lunch. We found an IKEA and lined up for lunch, but when we tried to pay, none of our credit cards would work. Todd had to drive to a nearby establishment, get 20 euros, come back and pay. The kids and I sat there, embarrassed, waiting. I apologized to the clerk, and she apologized to me. Next we found a supermarket and got some euros, but mostly from my account. Todd could only get 20 euros. I got 200 euros, but we needed 216 for the house we were renting. Hmmm . . . .

Adventure #4
We needed to telephone our proprietaire, Claudine or Alain Silvestre, to let them know we were at Dijon. I was sure I could dial from any phone with the access numbers for France that I had, but Todd was sure I needed a phone card. So we tried at several places to buy a phone card, but could not find anybody who sold them. Between times of trying, we drove west from Dijon, realized we needed to go north, and turned off into rural roads. The map we had was not very detailed, we had no compass, and the town names all started to sound the same. Plus, it was now pitch black.
          

Finally we pulled into a small town called Source de la Seine that WAS on the map. It also had a pay phone. I convinced Todd to let me try calling from it with my numbers. It worked (good news) but the line was busy (bad news). I was trying for the third time when a young guy drove up in a camionette, parked, and prepared to enter the building we were next to. I asked him if he could tell us where the Route Nationale N71 was, we were lost, we were trying to find a town called Quemigny-sur-Seine. He invited me in and we talked to a young lady at a computer in a dark room. I explained the situation again to her, she pulled up a map program called Mappy, the guy explained turns and things, to get to N71. I thanked them profoundly. They told me their town was called Blessey up until Jan 2009. Now it is called Source de la Seine (probably for obvious reasons), and it is the smallest village in France. Which is saying something, having seen lots of teensy villages that night, and since.

They were very kind.

We found the town without much trouble after than. Next problem: how to find our lodgings. It was a teeny village (another one). One building on the route had a street light and a pay phone. I think it was city hall. I tried the Silvestre's phone again and . . . IT RANG!! Mme Silvestre came on the line, I introduced myself, and she was very happy to hear from us (2.5 hours after we were supposed to be there). I apologized several times and explained what had happened. She was very kind and very understanding, told me to wait right there and she would come over and lead us to our cottage.

She and her husband came and led us down the route a short ways (to the next little village called Cosne) where they opened the gates to a little cottage and told us to drive in. Then they opened the door of the tiny house and showed us around. It had a kitchen, a living room, 2 bedrooms, a shower room and a WC. She had made us a chocolate cake (no frosting) and apple juice (home made, I mean) and some orange wine. She wished us good night and said she'd come back tomorrow and we could do the paperwork. We got settled quickly and . . . . zzzzzz

Wednesday, 4 February 2009 SS's 10th Birthday

Today dawned earlier than usual for us Utahns who were now watching the sun come up in New York City, two hours earlier than it would normally come up over Salt Lake City.  But we were hyped--especially SS.  We rented a car (blue!) and drove off down Long Island, since we had 7 hours to kill before our flight to Geneve left.  We did a tour of Teddy Roosevelt's house in Oyster Bay, "Sagamore Hill".  We'd all seen in before, but never in the 3" of snow that had fallen while we were flying (this snow thing will be a theme).

        

We tried to find HH's childhood house, school and chapel from when he lived in Smithtown.  We succeeded in the house part, but the other two ended up being neighborhood tours.  I learned the story of Smithtown:

In 1665, Joshua Smith wanted some land to farm, so he approached the leader of the local Indian tribe and asked.  The Chief told him he could have as much land as he could ride around in one day on a bull.  Unluckily for the Chief, Mr Smith either had a compliant bull or was a good bull rider, cuz he covered a lot of ground, and the result today is known as Smithtown, NY.  

After not finding a few more things, and finding the Hall of Science but it was already closed, we gave up and went back to the airport.

I (get this) dropped them off at the departing terminals, went and returned the rental car, then came back to join them by the airtrain.  I never got lost once!

We spent the late afternoon strolling through the duty-free shops.  We got 4 seats together on the flight, but they were squishy seats and my backpack did not fit under the seat ahead of me, and so had to go in the overhead bin.  My TV didn't work, so after dinner (not too bad) I got to sit in business class where the TVs also didn't work, and slept.

Tuesday 3 February 2009

We are going to Euope with our youngest two kids, Daughter #3 and Small Son.  We have several goals on this trip:  We want to expose them to another way of speaking, eating, paying for things, and living that is different from our way, but still a good way.  Just Different.  Handsome Husband wants to see Belleau Wood and Verdun, the sites of WWI and WWII battles.  SS wants to see a real castle (with ghosts, preferably), D#3 wants to see Paris (specifically Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre); I want to see my friends in Beaune and also see the Louvre since I have been an artist for decades now, lived in France for a year and never seen it!  These next 10 entries w

ill be chronicling our trip.

This was Prep Day.  I was off work.  I collected last-minute things, organized, cleaned house, and generally worried about things.  Our flight to JFK was wide open, Daughter #2 got us to the airport in plenty of time, and we had only aisles and windows to choose from.  I tried to sleep, but it was just too uncomfortable.

Recital 1/31/09

It seems like some recitals are cursed, and everybody messes up. This was not generally one of those recitals. Everybody seemed to do pretty well. Poor Sande, just having had surgery on her right knee, couldn't stand up and missed lots of parts just trying to keep her balance.

I was not nervous. Not until 2 minutes before I had to go on.

The Group Lesson bunch, of which I am a part, played first, and we got Brogues almost perfect. I don't know who messed up on one note, but I don't think it was me. There ended up being 4 of us: Sande, Lee, JohnO, and me. So that was good.

Ten minutes later it was my turn. I remember Erin M nodding encouragingly to me as I walked out on stage. HH was there in the back of the audience, not really providing emotional support, but being there. Small Son was required by Erin M to be there, so he was present under duress. We had discussed the people playing and tunes and abilities and techniques in whispers up until I went backstage. Hopefully that helped pass the time for him. It did for me.

So there I was, center front, all eyes upon me. I had Dugald Gillespie in my head, and I struck in and started right up. I stared fixedly NOT at the audience, just as Jason had recommended 10 minutes earlier for the group. I picked a brick on the back wall and stared at that.

I got through the first part very well. I must have gotten the 6/8 rhythm, because I could see people nodding in time, and dancing was happening in the back. Even though I wasn't looking at the audience. Not looking . . .

I got through the second part very well. Missed one note. Nothing big.

I remembered to play the third part. Dunno if I played it twice or not.

I got through the 4th part, ended well. Gave a small bow, turned smartly and walked backstage.

I did it!

No terrible mess-ups. No reeds dying (although mine had good reason to, with the chunk taken out of one corner; it's been like that for months). No forgotten parts. No squeaks or missing notes (maybe it hasn't been me squeaking in all the group lessons). No shaky legs or trembling fingers, causing me to play something entirely different.

HH, bless his heart, noticed the lack of squeaks and missing notes. He then took us all out to a Scottish restaurant for lunch (McD's; he's got the penny-pinching part of his genealogical selection).

I went home and took a nap.

I played through a recital with no errors!

Another one of life's little victories. . . Medium-sized victories. Controlling your--my-- nerves is no small feat.