No pictures still, but hopefully soon...!

(Let me preface this by saying I wrote this post a few days ago, but waited to post it until I was able to put up pictures as well...sadly, that has not yet happened, BUT here the post is for now, and hopefully pictures will be added soon -- where the X's are!)

Much has happened in the last few days since my first post!

My mom and I have been exploring La Bourgogne, which is absolutely beautiful...fields and fields of vineyards, fruit trees, etc...and because it's time for the harvest, people from the towns poured into the vineyards to pick the grapes. Vincent, the son of the hotel owner, took us on a tour of the region for the day, teaching us about wine (Mom and I knew next to nothing about it) and showing us some beautiful places we'd never have known to look for. I'll try and walk through it.

Our first few stops with Vincent were vineyards, some of which, as I mentioned earlier, were in the midst of being harvested. These vineyards are so amazingly precise -- Vincent told us there's usually a meter between two plants in any given line, and then a meter between any two lines...but, at the same time, there's something incredibly sprawling and free-feeling about them.

And beyond simply admiring the sight of them...we got to eat the fresh grapes as well! Vincent would pick big bunches for us -- the bunches that were left behind by the harvesters, he said, because they were too small. But we had no complaints. They were perfect - juicy and sweet.

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After we had eaten our fill of the grapes, we went onwards to a beautiful town called Pommard and walked around a little - beautiful, tiny streets, perfectly French.

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We moved on to a town called Meursault where we did a little wine-tasting .

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...And after that, our culinary outing segued into a historical one, as we explored the chateau at Rochepot. You had to cross the drawbridge and knock at the door to be let in for a tour!

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From here we went on to a tiny town called Orches - so small it wasn't even listed in our guide book. But I'm so happy we went, as it was one of the most beautiful, quaint, lovely places I think I've ever been.

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In Orches we saw a beautiful little church, a magnificent little store (selling one, creme liquers, and mustard - by a woman whose family had been in the town since 1200!) -- and then we moved on to beautiful ruins overlooking the vineyards...but my camera died before I got to cover all that. (Not that you'd know it from this sadly pictureless post...alas...)

~

The next day, after recharging the camera, my mom and I went to a town called Beaune where we saw a hospital known as the "Palace for the Poor." It was started by a monk in the 14th century, and is probably the most lavish and beautiful hospital I have ever seen. And it actually functioned as a hospital until the 1970's!

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Afterwards, we went to the most picturesque, tiny little town called Chapaize - it takes all of 60 seconds to drive through, but luckily we wandered around on foot for a while to take in the view.

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When we walked into the church...there was choir practice happening! We got to listen, lucky us.

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As the day wound down, we went to Brançion, a GORGEOUS medieval town, where we wandered about and took pictures from a church at the top of a cliff whose doors looked out over the Bourgogne's many beautiful vineyards and meadows. Meanwhile, a harpist played within...

All in all, a marvelous few days. There is so much to see here, and so much that is so perfectly beautiful you feel as though you're walking in a fairytale. I suspect that once I start teaching the sensory overload will slow down (and some other sort of overload may set in...!) but for now I'm just trying to take it all in.

...And here I am...

...in France! Incroyable. Just wanted to throw in a quick first post so that the idea of a blog stops feeling intimidating to me. I remember trying to write mass e-mails the first time I went abroad (then it was Paris) and feeling completely at a loss for words...so hopefully this will be an improvement!

I had planned on writing something upon landing, but, as it turns out, my memory from take-off to...let's see...the train en route to Le Havre is an absolute VOID. For those who know what a terrible flyer I am you probably see how this is surprisingly good news...though, with that said, I'm still struggling to accept the fact that there are a few hours that are just completely irrecoverable to my memory. I was completely conked out. I thought I had dreamt about seeing the Eiffel tower from the plane, but apparently I actually did, and I showed it to my mom by grunting the word "tower" and pointing - and it's about the only thing I remember. What a marvelous tourist I am!

Upon arriving in Le Havre we were greeted so, so warmly by the wonderful Nathalie, who has been my contact from the Lycée all summer. A very brief drive to the school proved Le Havre to be far less hideous than I'd been warned -- in fact, the wide streets were quite nice! I'm very, very excited to go back and explore.

That night (yesterday), Nathalie and several other English faculty members took Mom and me out to dinner - it was beyond generous and SO much fun. I feel unbelievably lucky to have such wonderful, charming, funny colleagues.

And this morning we set out for La Bourgogne, taking the train from Le Havre to Paris before renting a car at Orly. Oddly enough, the second I stepped out of the train station in Paris, I felt a surge of stress...being in such a bustling city after the relative calmness of Le Havre was a shock, and as much as I love Paris it made me feel quite relieved to be trying somewhere new.

Also stressful was our quest for the rental car, which took us an hour and several flights up and down stairs in order to find the right garage level. But find it we did - and now we're here in la Bourgogne! As we rolled our suitcases from the car to our hotel (after the three hour drive), the owner tricked us into thinking that the hotel was elsewhere, and we had just wandered into someone's house...clearly he likes to tease. Before we went off to dinner (eggs in red wine sauce and beef bourgignon!) the hotel owner (Jean-Louis) took us to the hotel's wine cellar downstairs...which HAS A JACUZZI. Pictures to follow, bien sûr!

And now we're back in the hotel, and this post is about cooked. Just wanted to get started on this thing after all the inspiration from the many bloggers currently in my life. ; )

Love,

Marina