So I've been sadly neglecting my blog for the past couple of weeks....This is because nothing much was going on. I've been observing classes, grocery shopping, going on lots of walks, and that's about it. Not having a car makes getting around more difficult, because there are lots of small villages around, but no buses to take us there, which is really too bad because they're mostly just a little too far to walk to. Observing classes is going well, I feel like I'm really getting a handle on the kids' level of English (which is not the best, so I will mainly be working on fluency and pronunciation with them!) Tomorrow will be my first day of classes, so I'm working on last minute prep at the moment.
Anyways, now on to the adventure part of the post. Planning on going into Besançon on Saturday, I put a post up on the Franche-Comté assistants group Facebook wall asking if anyone wanted to join. On Saturday morning I met up with Andrea in Place de la Révolution, and we had tea while waiting to see if anyone else would show up. No one did, but we had a great day wandering around the streets of the city and then walking all the way up the hill to the Citadelle, which is a Vauban-designed fortress built mostly in the 17th century. I believe he also had a hand in designing the Citadelle in Québec city. Now instead of a military installation, it's a UNESCO World Heritage site, home to two museums, an aquarium and a ZOO. It was a little surreal watching baboons climb all over the walls of the dry moat. Andrea and I decided that we were far too tired to go into the museums and enjoy them properly, so we just walked all the way around the ramparts and had gorgeous views of the Doubs/Besançon valley. It was also really nice on Saturday, so we decided to "profiter du beau temps". When it's not as nice outside I can go back up there and go to the museums.
On our way out of the Citadelle, we ran into Jack, an English language assistant from her school, along with five assistants and a friend of theirs in town for the day from Montbéliard. It's a mid-size town an hour north of Besac by train. Most of the assistants are American, but one is English and one is Swedish! I ended up going to the main square and having a drink with them all, and then got invited to come and stay with some of the girls that night at their house in Montbéliard. I had to decide pretty quick, since the last train to Morteau was at 6:30. I didn't have anything with me, just a backpack with a camera, water bottle and train schedule, but I really didn't want to go back. It seemed silly to miss out on a chance to get to know my fellow assistants and see another part of Franche-Comté! So I missed my train and went out for dinner with them instead. After a delicious pasta dinner we said goodbye to the Besac assistants and caught the train to Montbéliard.
I spent the night at the really cute little house that three of the girls rent together. The evening itself involved a lot of wine, meeting more assistants from both Montbé and Vésoul, a lot of conversation, and a short visit to the local Irish pub, where the bartender spoke perfect English. It was excellent. Morteau feels a little bit isolated from the rest of the region, and I really hadn't met a lot of other assistants, so it was nice hanging out with a bunch of really cool, like-minded people. On Sunday, Matt, the British lycée assistant, showed me around town before I had to catch my train. I saw the Rhine-Rhône Canal and a really cool astrological clock. I didn't end up getting home until about 8 last night! They've invited me to come back sometime, and I've invited them to come and hang out in Morteau at some point as well, especially when it snows, because then we can all go skiing together. I'm ridiculously excited for skiing! And also for friends, of course :).
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