This Week in La Roche Sur Yon

Oh wow have we done a lot since the last post. I will do my best to capture the essence of this amazing week, but it will be hqrd, especially trying to type on this French keyboard.

For our last full day in Paris, we split up into two groups: one went to the Centre Pompidou and looked at disturbing art (according to Rebecca), and the other went to Montmartre and visted the oldest and last vineyard in Paris, and I especially enjoyed the really good hot chocolate.

La Roche Sur Yon was a welcome change from the busyness of Paris. Saying we were pleasantly surprised with the activities for the week is a grand understatement. The people we have met, the places we have been and the things we got to do were absolutely incredible. Jaky, an environmentalist and naturalist and retired youth guidance counselor, has been our guide. His nickname is Le Gros, which says a lot about him. He wears red coke-bottle glasses , has the most expressive eyebrows and mustache of all time, has a farm and a little forest, likes offroading, playing the French horn, nature, hunting, strong coffee and making fun of people. He had a lot of trouble pronouncing Esmees name, so she became oos-muh for the week. He is pretty amazing. We got in contact with him through Pierre, who was the French intern at Bush a couple of years ago. Pierre likes to drive fast and make fun of us a lot, but we like him anyways.

Monday, we went fox hunting. Seriously. This was with a pack of 25 hunting dogs and on foot. This was a little bit confusing to us because we thought Jaky was an environmentalist, but this was just one of the many French paradoxes we have encountered. Jaky then explained that the foxes would eat everyones chickens, so it was actually neccessary to monitor and hunt them. The French have the amazing ability to look stylish no matter what they are doing, and the hunters were a perfect example of this. The hunters were a bunch of older French men with cigarettes in hand, all wearing tall boots and varying shades of green. There was a lot of standing around, piling in and out of the van and cookie-eating, but finally the hunters and their 25 dogs cornered a fox into a bois - a small forest, and we were positioned around the perimeter and instructed to remain silent and listen for the fox. After seeing two foxes escape, we got to see the dogs corner a fox into its den. After the hunters were sure of the location of the fox, they began to dig and dig and dig. Once a hole had been dug into the den, another smaller dog, a fox terrier, was put into the hole to exhaust the fox. The digging up of the earth was another strange paradox, we thought these guys were environmentalists! After the chase was over, the hunters played their French hunting horns out of respect for the fox.

Tuesday we drove for an hour and a half to the coast, to a road that only exists at low tide. We parked along the road and spent the moring raking for clams, and investigating the other interesting sea creatures. It felt as if the whole area had been drained of water just for the pleasure of clam-digging. And it was warm and sunny for once! After digging, we drove to the island the road lead us to, and had our usual delicious lunch of baguettes, fromage, saucisson and cookies in the grass near a 11th century chateau and church. We then went to the beach, the most beautiful, pictureseque beach. Jack, Colin and Pierre played a game of tossing big rocks-petanque- on the beach. Our lives are so hard.

We also got to spend a whole day in groups of two or three on farms, some, organic, some regular, all had cows. Cows do a lot of things, and a lot of those things do not smell very nice, especially when you have to walk behind them. Colin really liked this. That makes the day sound miserable, but actually it was fascinating being able to finally comprehend what exactly organic vs. regular farming means. Rachel, Joanna and Claire were lucky enough to witness the artificial insemination of a cow. There was also a little scare with the dog who lives on the farm where our gite-rustic accomadations on a farm like ours. Some of us decided to go for a walk and the dog followed but did not return. We all felt terrible, but were making dinner anyways, when alas! Who shows up at our door shortly after we put the cheese on the pasta but the little doggy of the farm! It was a busy day.

We have done so much this week, but when we have a free moment, it is relaxing just to take in our surroundings. We never hear planes out here, you have to wear boots all the time, and when the sun sets it is DARK. The people look like cartoon characters; they are so expressive. Everything is comfortable and lived in. It is a good way of life.

Sometime next week, when there is internet access, Rachel will write a post. Everyone will have to be patient for pictures because we have not found a place where we can upload any here, and we do not always have access to the internet.