I finished up my extra lazy holidays in Aix and headed to Poitiers. You may remember that I spent 6 weeks there last summer as part of my studies at Middlebury. 6 weeks of cramming in a full semester worth of graduate studies. Can you blame me for not going back to Middlebury this summer? I needed the break. Not to mention that I didn't need the added expense. Anyway, a few months ago, the co-director of the program Jeanne (who is actually about the same age as me) contacted me saying that I should come down for a visit to Poitiers. After a quick look at ticket prices, I readily agreed to go.
I was there just a short time, but it was a blast. After two long train rides (and a major blond moment), I dropped my things off at Eileen's (massive thanks to her for letting me crash there), before running off to meet Jeanne, her boyfriend, and my cinema teacher from last summer. Back to the blond moment, Jeanne texted me while I was on the train asking if I wanted to grab a coffee with her, her boyfriend, and Francisco. I did a double take at the text. Francisco? How did she know my good friend Francisco from Val? Oh, yeah, because she doesn't. Francisco is also the name of the cinema prof. In my defense, my friend was also down in the area for the weekend, so it wasn't that far of a leap for my mind to make. Luckily, I realized this quickly enough before any actual embarrassment could occur.
I met them all for a coffee at a newer place in town, and we all had a nice time catching up. Jeanne and Francisco teased me for being trilingual in English, French, and Ch'tis (not too far from the truth). Francisco is still the same crazy cinema obsessed guy from last summer who is quick to make a joke about anything and everything, so we were all laughing the entire time. Although despite the fact that he is now one of the directors of the program, he can be slow on the uptake. It took him basically the entire time before coming to the realization that if I was there, I obviously wasn't studying this summer. Ding ding.
Before long, we were joined by two of my former suite-mates from the summer I lived in Middlebury. It was so nice to see them! I did get some jealous stares from them though. Francisco is basically loved and adored by all the students in the program. Not only have the two of us slipped into the familiar "tu" in French (that started sometime last summer) but as he was leaving he offered them a "Salut les filles" (bye girls) before leaning in to do the bise with me. It's not a far stretch for Jeanne to treat me as an equal, but I noticed that I wasn't treated at all like a student (as the others, even those much older than me, were) but like a colleague/friend by not only her but Francisco and another one of my profs that I saw later that day. I was also much more relaxed and casual with them.
Later that evening, there was a soiree at a prof's house out in the countryside about a 30-40 minute drive from Poitiers. This is her first summer with the program, so I didn't know her at all, but she was nice to invite me to come. I got to catch up with a lot of others that I knew (I basically knew everyone in the Poitiers program this year unlike last year where I only knew like 2 to begin with). It was a lovely evening filled with good conversation, food, and drinks. I seriously missed these people!
The next day, I wandered around Poitiers and saw the changes (the main square had been completely re-done!), treated myself to a nice dinner complete with dessert, and went out for drinks with my former suite-mates. All and all a pleasant day and a great trip.
Sunday, I took two TGVs back up to lovely Valenciennes where I almost immediately went to look at another flat my landlords own. But that's a story for another post. If I post about it at all, because I'm basically 99% sure that I will not be taking it and will be staying where I am.
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