So yesterday, I headed down to my favorite place in all of France... Picardie! Yes, I am a crazy one. My friend Denise joined me since she had never been there (or most places in France) before. Plus, she now works with someone who also used to be in Chauny.
Fresh off the train and basically falling asleep, we went to La Rotonde for a coffee. Nothing new there! We all know it's my favorite cafe ever. Of course, the half sunny weather quickly changed to rain while we were there. Ah, bienvenue en Picardie!
After a short stroll through the town, we headed up to the lycee for a class with the PL1. I knew a few of the students, and they made comments that it was too bad that their former classmate was no longer at the school, because he would have loved to see me. So sweet. Of course, during the first two seconds of class, I succeed in putting my foot in my mouth while speaking French, but I think this broke the ice a bit with the students who didn't know me. We had a good hour, and I tried to get the students to explain (unsuccessfully) Plasturgie to Denise. The students were super nice though, and they complimented the way I acted in front of them compared to the new assistant. Claude said it was because I had gone from being a student to being a real teacher. Aww! Then, Claude being Claude ran out of class right after, but I made plans with him to meet because I needed him to correct something for me.
On my way out of the lycee, I ran into surveillant Sn. I hadn't seen him since the beginning of June. And wow. He's really starting to look his age. It's like he's aged 10 years in 8 months. But it was nice to see him, and he was genuinely happy to see me and catch up briefly.
The new assistant Mike joined us for a not at all healthy lunch of kebabs. The family is there is always so happy to see me, and they asked about Roxy as well. I then showed Denise around town (in the rain) and told her some of the history. I know my Chauny trivia!
We arrived back at the lycee to meet Claude, and he brought us both jars of his honey. He definitely talked Denise's ear off about being a beekeeper. Luckily, he quickly corrected my letter (only one sentence needed changing!) and then spent the next hour torturing Denise in French. Ahh... remember "Torture Shannon Time"? It felt good not to be under the gun. Instead, he kept complimenting my French. He even invited us both for dinner whenever we're in Chauny for a night. So nice of him!
Leaving the lycee, I ran into another former student who just lit up at the sight of me. He ran over to do the bise and talk to me. He's such a sweetie. He asked if I could come back to the lycee and then said that his class has never so much as seen Mike.
We had a drink with another new assistant and her visiting boyfriend before heading off to take the train to St. Quentin for a few hours. Once there, we met Erika for Chinese and then a coffee at my favorite cafe there before running off to take the very last train home. Of course, we rushed for no reason as the train was late.
We decided to chill in the station for a bit instead of waiting on the cold platform. Denise was sitting down and texting while I was just meandering around when I looked over at someone who just walked in, had that "wait a minute" moment at the same time as he looked over, and it was the reunion of the century! It was my good friend C.! He was coming to meet his brother, and was beyond thrilled to randomly see me there! He gave me one of his half hug/bise. I yelled at him for never responding (I had texted him earlier), and today he slept until 6pm. LOL. So him. And then when I was texting him the last time (when I visited Erika in December), he was in La Rochelle because his grandfather died. Oops. I felt like an ass.
We caught up a bit when Denise noticed that I had disappeared and came over to see who I was talking to. Unlike everyone else who shook her hand, he actually did the bise with Denise and she was like "What? Who is this guy?". I gave him a Reese Cup, and he full on ate the paper around it, so I mocked him since it wasn't his first time having one. But in keeping with true C. fashion (along with standing inappropriately close and never letting me go), he can not go without me getting mocked in return. I guessed something wrong he wanted to ask in English to Denise, I got mocked. The machine wouldn't compost my ticket, I got mocked. Ah, it was so good to see him. The meeting was brief, but I promised him we would catch up soon. As in Friday soon. We said our goodbyes, and Denise and I hopped on the train home.
I had been debating going on Friday as well, but was pretty much convinced I wouldn't. However, after a few minutes at the lycee, my mind was made up. How could I not return? Running into C. only served to reinforce my decision. Plus, I didn't even get to see my friend A.! So tomorrow, I will be making another batch of Rice Krispies Treats (A. would whine too much if I took them on Tuesday and not on Friday as well), and then hopping on a train early Friday morning. Ah, Chauny.
And I don't think our visit to Picardie and some crazy Frenchies scared Denise off too much.
Also, I am so long winded in my Chauny posts. Prepare yourselves for another one after my Friday visit!
Bring on those long posts.
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