Students dazzle me with a surprise birthday party!

On Monday, June 6, at 8:30 am, I opened my classroom door to find a celebration for my birthday.  My students from English 3B had come in earlier to prepare the festivities--balloons, streamers, hats, horns, beverages and 3 special cakes.  After many photos were taken they presented me with a beautiful basket of gifts.  What a surprise!  I was so touched by such a thoughtful gesture.

Week-end in the Luberon (Gordes and Roussillon)

Gordes

   

                                                                           
 This is the beautiful view we had as we arrived in the Luberon valley of Provence.  It is the hill town of Gordes.  From there we drove to the remote location of the Abbey Notre-Dame de Sénanque.  The still- functioning Cistercian abbey was built in 1148 to recapture the simplicity of the early Church.  It was one of about 500 such abbeys built by 1200 in Europe in reaction to the excesses of the Benedictine abbeys.  I had a delightful tour of the Sénanque church, the small cloisters, the refectory and the rooms where the monks copied books.  This is lavender country and there are huge, rounded rows of lavander plants everywhere.  I have promised myself to make one more trip down to Provence to see these plants in full bloom!

 

Abbey Notre-Dame de Sénanque

Abbey Cloisters

    Our second stop was to another hill town called Roussillon; Europe's capital for ochre production until World War II.  The orange orche is visible when viewing the nearby cliffs and accounts for the color of the buildings in the town.  Even in Roman times the ochre clay was excavated and used to make bricks.  The procedure for extracting the ochre had not changed in 2000 years until ochre mining became industrialized in the late 1700's.  We visited the town, the 11th century Eglise de St. Michel and enjoyed lunch in a most picturesque square.

Roussillon

Ochre cliffs in Roussillon

 From Roussillon we drove a short way to Fontaine de Vaucluse.  We hiked up a short path to the source of the Sorgue River.  The amazing cave can be seen where the emerald green water bubbles up from the cavern below and flows down through the village. 

Fontaine de Vaucluse (Source of the Sorgue River)

Katie, Jared and family come for a visit!

My Fulbright friend Katie is teaching in a suburb near Lyon.  We have gotten together several times throughout the school year and have enjoyed discussing teaching experiences here in France.  Her family has been here with her during the year and her sons have attended the French public school in her neighborhood.  It is great to hear the boys both speak French after a year here in school and playing soccer on Saturdays!  Recently, we all had lunch together here in Grazac and a tour of the area afterwards.

                                         With Katie and family in Grazac

Typical horses in the Auvergne

Beth and Bob's visit from Boston and a trip to Burgundy!

What a wonderful visit we had with my cousin Beth and her husband Bob.  We picked them up at their hotel in Lyon, stopped at the famous Sunday morning marché and then headed out of the city towards Condrieu.  We stopped in Ampuis for wine tasting and were given a great recommendation for lunch at the Auberge du Rozay.  After a great meal we continued on our way towards Grazac, over the mountain, to the Cret de l'Oeillon for a spectacular view.  Cassoulet was ready and waiting when we arrived home.  The next day we showed them around the area and visited the sites in Puy-en-Velay.  The third day we all drove to the Burgundy region to spend the next few days together.  It was a beautiful drive along the national roads with vineyards on both sides.  We stopped in Beaune so Beth and Bob could visit the Hôtel Dieu as we walked the ramparts that encircle the town.  Afterwards we all met up for a visit and dégustation at the Marché aux Vins.  We stayed in a delightful B&B located just outside of Beaune owned by an English couple who have recently retired to France.  We received another great recommendation for dinner at La Table d'Olivier Leflaive where 6 courses were paired with 5 wines.  Following our stay in Puligny-Montrachet we drove toward Dijon.  We were drawn in for another wine-tasting at Château de Corton André and a stop to see the famous Château du Clos Vougeot.  We had a great time strolling the streets of Dijon and settled down for the night in the city.  On our way back to the Auvergne we visited Cluny; the ruins of the second largest original church and monastery in Christendom after St. Peter's in Rome.

Château du Corton André

ChâteauTasting Room

B&B  Domaine des Anges

Château du Clos Vougeot

Apr. School Break to Bordeaux, St. Jean-de-Luz, Rocamadour- Part 3

We had a tour and tasting at the privately owned Château Busca Maniban in the heart of Armagnac country.  It is a beautiful example of 17th century Gascogne  architecture with vineyards all around.  We toured many of the rooms including the castle kitchen.

The last stop on this 7 day trip ended with a visit to Rocamadour; an historic town with a dramatic rock- face setting.  It was one of Europe's important pilgrimage sites.  Rocamadour is divided into three levels:  the bottom level (la Cité Médievale), a pedestrian street lined with shops and restaurants, the second level (Cité Religieuse) including a church and 7 chapels and the upper town with the château and (l"Hospitalet) offering protection and lodging to pilgrims. There is an incredible view over the countryside from the top .

Apr. School Break to Bordeaux, St. Jean-de-Luz, Rocamadour- Part 2

Roger and I  continued our trip through the Pyrénées stopping at a lovely, river town for lunch.  We saw more of the white, chalet style, Basque houses with deep red and green shutters found in the towns and across the lush rolling hills.

On our drive we passed by the 12th century Eglise de l'Hôpital St. Blaise, a beautiful UNESCO site and a stopping point for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. We stopped for a short break in Lourdes and then traveled on to a very interesting old fortified village called Larresssingle; a vestige from the times of Medieval Gascony.  The village was first recognized in 1163-1250 as the property of the Abbots of Condom and a refuge for the people when under threat.  A circular rampart encloses the castle, the church and dwellings.  It was interesting to learn that in 1920 Edouard Mortier, Duke of Thévise, seeing the village in a deplorable condition, lectured in 35 American cities to finally find support in Boson, MA.  The Boston Committee for Larressingle was founded in 1926 and contributed much to the renovation of this charming, historical site. 

The Pont d'Artigue, another UNSCO site, is not far from the village of Larressingle.  The bridge is a 12th century civil construction for pilgrims walking on the path to Compostela. 

Apr. School Break to Bordeaux, St. Jean-de-Luz, Rocamadour- Part 1

This was a whirl -wind tour!  After I taught six classes, Friday, April 22, Roger picked me up and we drove non-stop arriving in Bordeaux six hours later.  Saturday we walked to the elegant downtown and looked at the beautiful Grand Théâtre; the city's leading 18th century monument, designed by architect Victor Louis built between 1773 and 1780.

During the afternoon we drove out to the Médoc wine region for tastings at a beautiful vineyard called Château Lynch-Bages.  On Easter Sunday we went to church at the Cathédrale St. André located in the center of Bordeaux. (11thC-15thC)  The Tour Pey-Berland (bell tower) built in the 15thC. stands separately from the cathedral.

After a quick week-end in Bordeaux we drove along the Atlantic coast, south-west, through the resort town of Biarritz to our destination, St. Jean-de-Luz.  This charming, little port town was once  important for its whaling and cod fishing industries but is now a restful vacation spot. We visited the Eco-Musée, a museum dedicated to the Basque culture.  We stopped in the town of Espelette two days later on our way to the Atlantic Pyrénées.  The famous Espelette red peppers, so prevalent in Basque cuisine, are grown in the area.  An interesting red pepper tasting included a field test, complete with clip boards to mark answers.  Red peppers could be seen hanging to dry on many houses and store fronts.