Reality check

Bayonne

For the last month the assistants and I have been in denial. Last week was particularly difficult, with warm weather and gorgeous afternoons spent on the Boulevard drinking Perrier Menthe. With the first departure from our group of assistants on Sunday evening, my crazy, loveable roommate, reality has hit hard. Goodbyes to friends, students and teachers have been filling the last few weeks and will extend through the next month. A bucket list has been made with last meals and last visits to favorite places. Anyway, let's talk about other things. Here's hoping that this post will be more balanced than my other posts, a problem I alluded to in the last. What I've been up in the last few weeks:

Gâteau basque à la cerise, à la crême et au chocolat

1) Visit to Bayonne in Basque Country. My friend and I took a day-trip to see this cute little city. We went to the Basque museum there and learned more about Basque culture, visited the cathedral, walked around, and most importantly ate three kinds of gâteau basque.

Last time in the Pyrénées

 2) Bike issues. I quickly mentioned it in the last post, but to explain a bit more, my beautiful teal blue bike was stolen a few weeks ago. Someone destroyed the structure it was attached to, taking my bike along with it. The bike problems don't stop there however. Another friend had his bike stolen last week. Two friends have gotten into accidents with cars in the last week and I was "door checked" by someone yesterday (thanks for the term Jenna!). With our luck in the last few weeks I feel like the Palois are trying to tell us it's time to go and that we've overstayed our welcome, haha. In times like these though, you also see the goodness of people. Andor has been absolutely incredible. I've been borrowing one of his bikes which is great, so I didn't have to buy another one with only a bit over a month left. Also, after my little incident yesterday, he quickly fixed the chain and handlebars on my bike. I'll definitely be sad to say goodbye to Andor. He's been like an uncle to me during my time here in Pau and when I come back in the future, he'll definitely be someone I look up.

Bear footprints! And then we followed his crazy path up.

3) Celebrating my birthday in the Béarn! My cousin came to visit for a few days and celebrate my birthday with me here in Pau. My birthday weekend started with one last "sortie en montagne" with some of the teachers at my school. This time we went to the Vallée d'Aspe which was still covered with a good bit of snow as we hiked higher up the mountain. En route we saw some bear tracks as well, which was really cool, because there are only two bears in the whole valley.

After a refreshing, tiring and fulfilling day of hiking, I had dinner with some friends at a Lebanese and Amernian restaurant here for my birthday. It was a fun dinner, filled with good food and funny surprises, haha. It was a great way to kick off my birthday, which was actually on a Sunday, but here in France it's a tranquil day, with almost nothing open and not much going on. Regardless it was a nice day, having crêpes by the château with my cousin, enjoying the beautiful weather, having ice cream in the park and (typically French on Sundays) going to the movies where we saw The Artist. Also, changing it up, in the morning I was surprised with birthday cake for breakfast by friends. A wonderful treat to wake up to. :)

Saying goodbye to a roommate who fills your room with balloons for your birthday, c'est pas évident. :(

4) Understanding the expression "C'est pas évident." So, when I was over in the Southeast side of France, I didn't hear this expression tossed around as much as I have over here. "C'est évident" means "It's clear or obvious," so naturally, a French language learner would take it that "C'est pas évident" means that's it's not clear or not obvious. But oh no my friend, cette explication serait évidente. After hearing "C'est pas évident" used in situations that vary from talking about difficulty traveling to northern Spain to finding an extra job to how hard it is being away from friends and family, my friends and I have had fun hearing all of the various, dissimilar (according to us) ways that the Southwesterners use this phrase. Finally I learned that "C'est pas évident" actually means "It's not easy." After this revalation I felt like the blindfold was taken off. This expression that you could easily hear ten times in one evening at dinner finally made sense. And to me, that's huge news.

Basque style buildings in Hondarribia

5) Visiting la Côte Basque. This past Sunday, a teacher from my school let me tag along on a trip to the Basque coast with some of her friends. We visited glamorous, chic Biarritz which was beautiful even on a slightly cloudy, windy morning. Next up was Hendaye where we took a little boat over to Hondarribia in Spain for lunch. Yes, we went to Spain for lunch on a boat that took ten minutes to cross the river, if that. Even though Pau is far from everything else, some perks like this make it really sweet to live in this corner of France. Last we went to Saint-Jean-de-Luz where Louis XIV was married and where Maurice Ravel lived, a typical, beautiful little Basque town. Just when we arrived, a dance group of little boys and girls were performing Basque dances in traditional clothing. It was absolutely adorable.

Little Basque boys getting ready to bust a move in their berets and espadrilles

Bon ben euhhh, pour l'instant I think that's it! For the rest of the month it'll be soaking up everything Palois and traveling to southern Spain and Morocoo  (i.e. lands of warm weather, yay!!). A la prochaine.