More Stories From France

Day 5
Before leaving Carcassone, we visited a local park, which gave Emerson ample time to expend some of his pent up energy (I never realized stopping at so many parks would become a necessary part of my vacation...). Thankfully, after lots of running around and lots of pushing him in his strollers, he finally fell asleep (and we were able to just carry his stroller right on the train and leave him in it).

Then we spent most of the day on a very long train trip to Avignon. We got there two hours later than expected, as there was fire on the tracks (in southern France, it rains on average only one day during the entire month of July). Alas, it gave Emerson more time to flirt with the other passengers. Once to Avignon, another short train to L'Isle Sur La Sorgue, a beautiful little town with shallow clear streams of water flowing all around it and dozens of water mills. First stop after checking into the hotel: the local bakery. Not a bad dinner. We ate in a local park that gave Emerson the space to run around (again). Then we walked around town a bit and Emerson got his first kiss - from an older French gal that had a fancy for him!

Honestly, this was the first of many cultural encounters that we had that simply would not have happened had we not taken Emerson with us. Traveling with a toddler is a tiring, extra complicated experience, but it most certainly opened opportunities for us to engage with the locals in ways we never would have expected. On numerous occasions, little children just walked right up to Emerson and started chatting with him. In fact, by the end of the trip, he was mimicking the French accent and trying to talk like them!

And now a brief interlude to display the many faces of Emerson Jude:

Day 6
Today totally did not turn out as I had planned it. For starters it was just way too hot (mid 90s). We went to Pont du Gard, the remains of an ancient Roman aqueduct, and Emerson fell asleep 5 minutes before our bus arrived. Then he totally flipped out after he fell headlong into the stream we were wading in. We headed back to the bus stop to make our way to Nimes only to watch the bus roundabout just in front of our stop and drive away. Needless to say, we were not the only ones stranded and wound up calling a taxi and splitting the costs with another couple who happened to get Phds from Indiana State University.

At Nimes, hungry and exhausted, we quickly search for some grub. Our first stop: a strawberry slushie. The lady explained to us (in French but with very descriptive hand gestures) that if we were going to feed the baby (“bebe”) any of it, to use the spoon part at the end of the straw and just give him little amounts so he wouldn’t get a “slurpee tumor” (at least that’s what we called them growing up). Amber and I didn’t think anything of it until both of us got headaches from drinking it too fast! After lunch, we had just enough energy (and time) to take tour of the Arena (like the Coliseum in Rome but far more preserved-they actually had it set up for a bunch of summer concerts.

With all of us exhausted, and Emerson not having had a long enough nap, it was back to the train station - one to Avignon and another to Isle Sur La Sorgue. Knowing a nice sit down dinner wouldn't be possible tonight, we picked up a few things from a grocery store and a sandwich shop. Bought a bottle of Cotes de Rhone red wine and asked the clerk if he had a corkscrew, his friend standing by told us we could stop by his shop down the street and he'd help us out--opened up shop just to open our wine bottle! At the sandwich shop, I ordered a "French original" which turned out to be a Philly steak sub with fries on top of it... Flew around the world just so I could eat at a place like Pittsburgh’s Primanti's!

Once back in the room, Emerson was now full of energy and running around like a madman. At one moment, he grunted and kind of hunched over (a telltale sign), said "oops," and then put his hand over his mouth and nose to say "P-ewww." Then when I shut off the light and said "night night," he sprinted around the bed and flipped on Amber's bedside lamp that she had shown him how to turn on not ten minutes earlier.

Finally, with the kid asleep and a half bottle of wine remaining, Amber and I are flipping between the FIFA world cup and some French reality show akin to America’s Fear Factor.

French Diaries pt. Deux

Day 3
Had a good conversation with two other conference participants on the bus from Ireland and Hong Kong. Actually, today had fewer presentations so a lot of my time was spent chatting and networking(largely on behalf of the Duquesne Press where I work).

I often find myself uncomfortable at these things, as if being on the outside looking in. It's not that people are unfriendly (NALS is far better than SPEP), but more so that the people who have spent a long time and work on Levinas and making him a prominent thinker in continental philosophy in the US have been doing it for quite some time back when it was just a few of them, and therefore, are closely knit.It could of course have to do with the fact that they just don't have the time to give to every single person-especially not when these society meetings are almost like class reunions-not to mention that one does not gain any notoriety in academia until one has published a book.

Nevertheless I'm grateful for those young professors who are willing to associate with us grad students (that NALS doesn't separate the presentations helps lessen the rift but the gulf still persists).

Tonight, I had a wonderful French with nine other participants representing the US, Canada, Bulgaria, Switzerland, and the UK. A number of them knew French so I didn't really have to work to get my order. Regardless, around the table of good food and French wine-and a Spain victory over Germany being monitored inthe background-we conversed and shared our lives with one another. Actually, one of the individuals from Canada had very similar interests as myself, and, it turns out, had published an article that I had found immensely helpful a couple years back.

Day 4
Amber and Emerson get to Toulouse. The buses I plan to take end up taking longer than I planned so I got to the airport late. Amber is on the verge of tears-I'm late, she's spent the whole night on a plane with Emerson on her own, and she can't find her bag (thankfully we found it before we left). Given the fact that I knew how short Amber's layovers were, I'm just glad she made it on all the flights! Emerson actually slept some on the plane, but he's still in a complete daze. I think he's a bit surprised to see Dad in this strange, new place, given that he hasn't seen him in a few days (he cried when I got out of the car at the airport!).

We went straight from the airport to the train station and booked tickets to Carcassone - a well-maintained medieval city with magnificient walls (and was the set for Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves, which makes for two Costner sets I've visited this summer). After settling into our room at the Abbey (which was quite nice), I went on a hunt for diapers.... A rather long hunt. At least it provided Emerson a chance to take a nap. Afterward, it was out to the castle and one a amazing meal - mussels covered with a cream sauce, lamb (Amber got duck), and a half carafe of local red wine for about $50. I could learn to like this life! Emerson woke up in the stroller not long before we arrived at the restaurant, so he was full of energy. We were fortunate that another little boy about his age was also there (and there were very few people there when we first got there, as is often the case as American tourists eat so much earlier than the French!), so they were able to run around the outdoor dining area together.

French Diaries

The last couple weeks, I was in Southern France, first for a conference presentation, and then for some vacation with the family. The next few posts will chronicle the highlights of our journey. Enjoy!

Day 1

Sunday afternoon (July 4th), I left for France (which quickly became Monday on the flight). I had two layovers at one hour a piece for my three flight to arrive in Toulouse at 10am and then figure out the public transportation in time to arrive at the university by 2:30 to present my paper. Needless to say, I had been nervous for several days about how close I was cutting it. Add to that, I didn't sleep for the entire flight so I was going about 27 hrs w/o sleep. Then, in Frankfurt I was getting panicky. In my short layover (thankfully our flight got in 20 min late) I had a long process before I could board the next plane. Once off the plane, I had to board a bus, wait for everyone else to board it, and then ride it to the terminal. Next was a bit of a line at passport control, which then forces you out of the security area even if you have another flight. Either way, I still had to get my ticket for the next flight since it was with Lufthansa and for some strange reason US airways (which I rode from Pgh to Charlotte) couldn't print out for me before I left home. After scrambling to find their ticket counter (which was completely electronic) I had to get the machine to finally read my passport before I could go back through security and find my gate. Surprisingly through all this I still got to the gate time to spare so I wandered to find an ATM and get some Euros. On this plane, I am surrounded by businessmen finalizing PowerPoint presentations for meetings and it seems like everyone here owns at least some kind of Apple product.

Once in Toulouse, I took a bus and then a subway to get to the Universitie. Once out of the subway and noticeably bewildered as to which way to go next, a nice elderly French woman led me to where I needed to go (actually all the French I have encountered thus far have been very kind which leads me to believe either belligerent French only live in Paris or they only appear when arrogant Americans show themselves). The paper went quite well (despite my lack of sleep!) and since then I've considered myself on vacation.

I finally went to my quarters for some rest - a dorm that oddly enough is quite far from the school - and well ... Let's say for 20 Euros a night I'm still not sure I got what I paid for! But I can manage no a/c, communal bathrooms, and morning construction right outside my window for a couple nights right?

After a shower and a brief respite it was back out for a special invitation for all the conference speakers for some amazing hors-d'oeuvre and (free!!) champagne with the mayor of Toulouse (who was just as young and reportedly just as dreadfully inexperienced as Pgh's Luke Ravenstahl) at the very beautiful town hall.

Finally, off to sleep.

Day 2
Today was not nearly as hectic. I slept off and on until 8:30 (2:30 Pgh time) and then went to the conference. There was not a whole lot I was interested in today and spent a bit of my time under a tree in the cool breeze reading a book.

After more conference proceedings and chats with other participants from numerous other countries, I went out for dinner with a couple professors from the communications dept at Duq (nice to have some friendly faces around) for my first French meal - and first legitimate meal since leaving Pgh. Oh wow. I ordered a vin rouge ordinaire (red house wine) that was quite tasty. The entree was a selection of meat cuts and sliced French bread (delicieux!), the plat a medium rare piece of steak topped with foie gras (and yes I understand there are a lot of ethical concerns surrounding this French delicacy... But it was soo good just to try it once!), and for dessert a nice offering of tiramisu. Magnifique!

After dinner I decided to head back (to type this report of course) to my room. Who knows why but my 10-trip subway ticket kept getting refused. So I was off to go ask a store clerk to break a 20 euro bill into change (the ticket machine doesn't take bills and wouldn't accept my credit card) - another chance to practice my French. With my handy Rick Steves phrase book, I'm off. "Je voudrais des pieces." said very poorly, the guy says, "only if I have enough." He opens his cash drawer and says he cannot help me. Next try: "Parlez-vous anglais?" A classic response: "No I speak no English." Okay new tactic: "Vous pouvez casser ca? Je voudrais dix billet et des pieces." Success and then my old ticket suddenly decides to work again. Well at least it was good practice!