Prendre un café

So coffee.  It is different here.  Not a surprise to anyone who has travelled in Europe.

Espresso exclusively.  As a demi-tasse or you can get it allongé (bigger amount) or as a latté. Even in those bigger forms, it is still somewhat shorter than a "short" at Starbucks.

Yes it tastes marvellous. Rich, deep, complex flavours.

Always black.  Sugar is optional.

What is an even bigger difference than simply the volume of coffee vs back home, is the whole ritual.

In North America it is about volume and about taking it to go.  Coffee is something we do while doing something else.  We drive, walk, work with it.  Pick it up to go somewhere or bring it home.

For the French, it is truly a moment.  If you want a coffee, you stop what you are doing.  You walk to the café, you sit down with your friend(s).  You chat, you order, it arrives.  You enjoy the coffee and the conversation and then you pay, get up and go on with your day.

The ritual can be as quick as 10-15 minutes or as long as an hour if you want. Totally up to you.  But it is very much about being in the moment.  This moment is also enhanced by the environment.  There are so many terraces facing green space or lovely squares with fountains.  Lots of people walking around, you're separated from the traffic most of the time.  These locals don't seem to exist, in Toronto anyway.  We have very few big open terraces, squares etc in which to enjoy this moment.

The way we enjoy coffee in North America is a real commentary on our lives there.  We are constantly on the go. Rushing from one thing to the other.  Multi-tasking like crazy.  How much of the moment are we missing?

Yes people sit in our coffee shops and enjoy their coffee, but they are the minority. Based on my experience the number of people that come in, get their coffee and go far outweighs those that stay.

At the end of the day, it is what it is and I appreciate the difference.  What does stick with me though, is the true experience it is in France.  In Canada it's a drink.  In France, it's a moment in time.

Small windows on the top floor

On my first day of school here in Montpellier, they took us on a quick tour of the town to get our bearings.  These tours are generally pretty good at giving you some nice little tidbits that you wouldn't ordinarily get just by walking around with a tour book.

One of this tidbit had to do with the lives of the rich and famous, or precisely their staff.  For those of you that have toured France, enjoying the marvellous architecture, did you ever notice the small windows at the top of the buildings?

Servant quarters.

Yes, the owners of those homes enjoyed grand staircases, massive lobbies, high ceilings and brilliant windows and terraces.  However, the staff had to be seen and heard as little as possible.

To accomplish that, much was done to hide them.  In Louis the XIV's case, the staff were had their own hallways that ran between the walls of the rooms to access the entire of Versailles unseen.  Much like the secret interior halls of hotels now.

In the case of the larger mansions in France, the servants were kept up top, just under the roof, in what we now use as an attic.  Enough room to stand, barely, where it was cold in winter and hot in summer.

If you look at my snap below, you can seen the grand windows of each salon and at the very top, the little windows where the staff staid.  I've also included a picture of the grand staircase that the owners of a mansion would enjoy.  The staff had their own, separate, much less grand staircase to get up and down on.

The Goodbye Party

So on April 2nd, days before my departure, Dan organized a goodbye party for me.

It was wonderful!

Dan knows me so well, it is a real blessing.  I would never throw a party for myself.  I feel it is far too self serving.  But, if I didn't celebrate this adventure, it would leave a small gap.  Sort of a catch 22. Yes, I'm crazy. And Dan knows that - another blessing because he's still here in spite of my zaniness.

Dan put so much effort into it. Organizing a location, creeping facebook to ensure he captured as many people as possible to let them know about it, decorating, ordering food, sorting music etc.

I was blown away by how many people came out to celebrate with me.  Dan's family came in from Hamilton, his nephew even flew in from Calgary.  I was so touched!  We even did a shot! (a very non-Kopke thing to do).

My brother and sisters of course came in, but they sort of have too.  It's part of the contract. :)

So many of my friends!  And Dan's friends!  Far and wide you all came in to see me (and him of course). Even his work family!

THANK YOU!!!!

Honestly, the room that he had booked for exclusive use for this party was packed.  It was truly memorable.  I felt like the Belle of the Ball.

I tried to get around to speak to everyone, but for sure I missed some of you.  I'm sorry about that, but please know from the bottom of my heart how much I appreciated it.  Even the emails and cards I got from people that couldn't be there was so thoughtful.

To see the effort that you all made......well, it just made such an impact.

MERCI!  Je vous remercie beaucoup!

My first day in Montpellier (April 7, 2016)

This is  a quick snap shot of my flight over and arrival in Montpellier.

Overnight flight on AC to Paris.  Only half the plane was occupied which meant that I manage to grab a row to myself and could stretch out to "sleep".  I'm pretty sure I didn't really sleep, more like lay there for a few hours with my eyes closed.  But it was better than nothing as I arrived in Paris at 8:45 in the morning, not feeling like a zombie.

My flight to Montpellier wasn't scheduled until 12:45pm so I had time and made my way to the domestic terminal.  The. Longerst. Walk. Ever.  Good grief that was far and made worse due to one stubborn wheel on my luggage which meant I was half dragging, vs rolling my suitcase.

Interestingly, half way to the terminal I came across a wall of people.  Stopped by security as they had cleared a section of the departure lounge as there was an unattended bag.  That was a bit unnerving.  Turned out someone had clearly purchased something last minute, from Gucci of all places, and clearly decided to wear there purchase instead of pack it or carry it on.  so they left the large shopping bag, full of all kinds of garbage, in the departures area instead of throwing it out.  Seriously?  What do people think?

Once in the domestics terminal, it was a whole lot of sitting around. But I did finally get to enjoy my first French coffee.  un café avec du lait.  Or a latte.  4.50 Euros for what would be a "short" latte at Starbucks.  I'll never complain about "5-bucks" again.  But it was good.

Quick flight to Montpellier.  Cab ride to the apartment I had booked on Airbnb and I was officially hear.

The apartment was quite cute, clean, tidy and well organized.  It was a great reminder of the last time I was here in France.

All the old apartments have a main door that leads from the street.  The door opens on a long dark hallway that leads to the staircase that takes you up.  The first thing you need to do is find the light switch which turns on the lights in the hallway and stairwell.  It is timed and will go off after a few minutes.

You then climb the staircase, round and round you go.  At each floor you come across multiple doors that lead to each apartment on each floor. In my case it was three.  Once you find your apartment, in you go.

Once inside I find myself in an apartment that essentially radiates out to a french balcony and the only source of direct light.  The apartment has other sources of natural light, but these come from light wells.  Remember, these buildings were built hundreds of years ago and this was the way of getting natural light into the interior of buildings.  In the modern era, as these buildings were upgraded to provide for our new needs, like bathrooms etc, this is also how plumbing was brought in.  You can see in the picture I provided how all the drains run up and down to each unit, on the exterior of the walls, but inside these light wells.  These light wells also provide me with my first introduction to new grammar.  They are called simply, puits de lumière (light wells).

Introduction

So I'm here. Six months in Montpellier studying French.  Here I will do my best to keep a record with words and photos.  I must admit that I will being doing this in English, but I must endeavour to do it in French also at some point.  All part of the total immersion objective.
Montpellier, France