Weekend in St-E

Somehow half the week is gone, and it's already Wednesday! I'd actually meant to go into Lyon today and see if I couldn't nag the OFII office into giving me a new appointment (since it's now been three weeks since I missed my immigration/medical appointment and I can neither get a hold of them by phone or elicit an email response), but an empty pantry and overflowing laundry bin convinced me to put that off til maybe Friday and take care of chores today. Also, the idea of buying train tickets and spending four hours in transit just to probably get turned away was not very appealing, but I also can't afford to wait much longer. If another month goes by without my visa being stamped, it will be invalidated... and a month goes by surprisingly fast in a country so well known for its red tape and bureaucratic hang-ups. Come to think of it, in just another few days I'll have been here two months already... weird.

Going back in time a little bit, I had a really good weekend in St-Etienne. I headed over there on Friday afternoon and met up with Claire. I've been on the lookout for a place to unlock my iphone, so we walked around a bit to shop and keep an eye open for sketchy phone shops. We finally found one such upstanding establishment, but since I unknowingly did the latest update it's taking a long time for them to unlock (and/or hack) it, and it won't be ready til this Friday. After shopping, we headed back to Claire's house, and she and her boyfriend had some friends over for dinner, which was delicious fondue. You really can't go wrong with chunks of meat cooked in hot oil and served with homemade creamy blue cheese dipping sauce and chunks of bread. Claire also made a gratin dauphinois: layers of sliced potatoes, milk, and emmental baked in a casserole, and it was very moist and tasty.

After eating and sampling several red wines, we headed downtown, and I learned that I am surprisingly not awful at darts (though I'd be more inclined to call it beginner's luck). The first bar we were at was fairly small and quickly got a bit too crowded, so we moved on to the group's favorite bar, the intriguingly named "Soggy Bottom." I can't help thinking of DC and Foggy Bottom, so Betsy, when/if you come visit me, I'll have to bring you "au Soggy." It also makes me think of O Brother Where Art Thou and the Soggy Bottom Boys, so I'll have to find out if there's a connection there...

On Saturday the weather was unusually warm and sunny, so Claire suggested we go for a walk/mushroom gathering expedition in the woods near St-Etienne. Either because it's too late in the season or because someone else had already passed by, we found only one non-poisonous variety, but it was still nice to get out in the pretty weather (since it probably will be the last warmth we'll have for a while!). I do wish I'd been more prepared for the walk, since in an effort to pack light I'd only brought one nice pair of boots to wear all weekend, but they made it through the sometimes muddy two-hour walk relatively unscathed.

Saturday evening there was a "black tie" party hosted by some English assistants in Bellevue (southern neighborhood of St-Etienne). I didn't really bring any "black tie" worthy attire with me to France, but it was a great chance to meet new people and further get to know people I hadn't seen since orientation. Also, my friend Kathleen had the absolutely inspired idea to make pigs in blankets using French ingredients... I guess somewhat understandably, you can't find canned croissants here (why bother when you can get them fresh from a local boulangerie?), but puff pastry crust made for a good replacement.

Arg, I have more I want to write about, but I really ought to use my last hour of internet tonight on lesson planning rather than blogging. Topics for the next entry:

- potential of moving to St-Etienne (which if we do, this "last hour of internet" will no longer be an issue!)

- planning monstrous Thanksgiving feast for the lycée's English teachers