FR 311R

This morning I met up with M. et Mme Bourbon, the elderly couple who runs the bed and breakfast where I stayed during my first 9 days in la Vienne. I hadn't seen them since moving into my apartment, but we became friends during that time of apartment and cell phone hunting, so it was so good to visit with them today. They came in for the market at Notre Dame which is the best place to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, meat, flowers, etc. We met up and walked to a café where we got hot drinks and patisseries for breakfast. M. Bourbon said that my French had gotten much better since we last met and it was music to my ears.

We talked about many things, most of which will be applicable to the paper I need to write on the history of Poitiers. (Note: in French, the word for "history" and the word for "story" are the same: "l'histoire.") I asked them about the history of Poitiers and the Vienne, and they responded with enthusiasm about Joan of Arc, Poitiers' roman churches and the architecture, (Notre Dame de Paris is Gothic), the oldest and biggest nearby cities, which ones have good churches and roman ruins and which ones don't. There's a roman bath and amphitheater out by where they live, 20 minutes in the country. Also, they told me a story of when Poitiers was under attack from the English and someone snuck into Notre Dame to ring the bells and warn the people so everyone could escape. They said there are lots of stories like that which I made a note to research. I told them I recently traveled to Tours and La Rochelle. They said Tours is very modern because most of it was destroyed during the war and rebuilt. Angers, La Rochelle, and Limoges however, were not destroyed and therefor have a more classic, older look like Poitiers.

We also talked about the more modern gems of Poitiers: apparently there's a little shop that sells very nice, sturdy umbrellas made in the region. They told me which patisserie shop sells the best macaroons, which are a specialty of la Vienne. We talked about book and hat stores, orchestra, my students, and the Christmas market. Apparently Poitiers, which I think is so beautiful now with the lights, trees, and stables filled with live animals, is normally even more gorgeous. Previous years they've had more lights in more colors, but this year most of the lights are blue because it's more economical. M. and Mme Bourbon seemed to think it was not worth sacrificing the beautiful colored lights for economical purposes, and expressed their disappointment about the mediocre light displays this year. Also, there's usually an ice skating rink at Hotêl de Ville, which I was very disappointed to hear is not happening this year. We talked about other Christmas markets in other cities. Some are better than others. Some have colored little houses, but some, like in Tours, have houses made of wood. Blue lights, colored or wooden houses, live camels, this is all quite a lot more glamorous and magical than Christmases chez-moi, ice skating rink or not.