Friday, I went to Chauny, so you know what that means! An uber long post about how much I love Chauny! Thus, feel free to scroll on past!
After dragging myself out of bed early and taking numerous trains (including one that had a bunch of German high schoolers and their chaperones drinking beer out of a little keg at 10am), I arrived in Chauny and booked it to the lycee to see my favorite class. Straightaway, I received a warm welcome from them and Claude. They had already told Claude I was coming (Oh, the joys of Facebook... though I also *did* email Claude. He just didn't read it.).
After that class, I ran into A. who about jumped up and down like a little kid at the sight of me. He told me to go wait in the office for him, so I headed there, immediately running into C. That, of course, was once again the reunion of the century. I chatted with him a bit and told him to call me when he had lunch so we could actually talk some.
I met up with assistant Mike, and we headed down into town in search of lunch. We decided on delicious fougasses from one of my favorite boulangeries that I hadn't had since last May. Almost a year ago! We found a bench near La Rotonde to eat them when I noticed another surveillant from the lycee's car. Sure enough, S. soon appeared. I ran up to say "hi", and while I have ran into him since last year, this is the first time we've actually had a chance to catch up. We chatted about what we were both up to, what our future plans were, the lycee, etc. He then came over with me to say "hi" to Mike. The two of them had never met despite the fact that they both work at the same school. While watching Mike struggle to have a conversation with him, I realized how far I had really come since arriving here. I used to have that same problem, but here I was, bantering back and forth with S. like it was nothing.
Having no word from C., I just decided to head to the cantine. I saw A., so I went in to chat with him. We were able to catch up a bit when C. finally called telling me he was in the cantine. I looked around and was like "No, you're not. I'm here" when he popped through the entrance. I was spoiled quite a bit and was able to talk with both C. and A. for a long period of time. It was reminiscent of all of our dinners last year. We were just missing Roxy. I even got to witness A. making a face at his food, complaining about it, and still eating it. Oh, A. Right back to old times. C. and I just giggled over that, because some things will never change. Also, C. loved the keychain I picked up for him in Belgium. Despite the fact that we're so close to the border, he didn't yet have anything from there, so that earned me a "Merci, ma belle" and a kiss on the cheek :-)
Then, I went back into the lycee and joined Mike in on another of Claude's classes. Of course, good times were had. Mike kept telling me how glad he was that I was there, because Claude kept choosing to torture me in French instead of him. Afterwards, while Mike tried unsuccessfully to make a clean getaway, Claude did his thing of teaching us random things in French. Another thing that will never change.
Before we knew it (well, at least in mine and Claude's case), that hour had flown by, and it was time for another class. C. walked in to get Claude to submit some grades he had never submitted, so he asked C. to stick around with the class while he went to do that. Mike sort of stared after him and was like "He's leaving us alone with a class?". I just sort of shrugged and said that usually, I had been left all alone. This time, at least it was the two of us and a surveillant (again, Mike had no idea who C. even was). C. entertained us by using the few words he knows in English to talk to the students. It mostly consisted of "Good afternoon. Sit down. Shut up" and asking me how to translate some other key phrases. Before long, C. and I were up to our old antics leaving poor Mike very confused. Fortunately, Claude soon showed back up, so C. and I said goodbye. Mike and I hung around a bit longer before I said goodbye to Claude and promised to come back in May. I found A., said goodbye to him, and then Mike and I grabbed the other assistants and headed to La Rotonde for a drink. I still love my favorite cafe!
All and all, a wonderful trip to Chauny. On the train, I had a blonde moment, when I realized it would have been better to have waited until next Friday to go, because it's C.'s birthday. Oops. Oh well.
Yesterday, we had gorgeous 70 degree weather here and sun. I took advantage of it by heading to the market in the morning with Denise. We then grabbed sandwiches for lunch and had a drink out on a terrace. In the afternoon, I met up with our friend J. for another drink on a terrace. He took me to "Palais de la Biere". While I have passed this place several times, it was my first time actually going there. My beer turned out to be much stronger than I thought it would be, and I was feeling pretty tipsy when I walked home.
Later, Hannah and I headed over to J.'s, because he had prepared a fondue for us with the cheese he brought back from his hometown. Yum yum! It can't get any better than dipping bread into a pot of melted cheese. After a wonderful evening of conversation, laughs, and delicious food between good friends, we all decided to take a leisurely stroll back to ours since J. thought it was so nice out. It was after midnight and still very mild. Spring has officially arrived! And in true fashion, today it is raining!
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