Les Cerfs (Deer)

This morning we met up with a friend of Bernard's who hunts deer so that he could guide us in the forest. The rondez-vous was for 7am, just as dawn was breaking. It was a 20minute drive to get to the forest ( the biggest north of Paris ) and before we were even in there very far and still on the main road, we saw a hind on the side of the road before she slowly moved away. We reached our spot and got out into the crisp morning air with our guide. It was 1deg so very fresh, but such as incredible place to be at that hour of the morning. Dawn was just breaking, the birds were beginning to sing and there was not another sound except for the huge bass tones of stags calling to each other. Their deep-throated roars echoed through the forest as we crept along as silently as possible hoping to glimpse one through the trees. It felt as though we were living thousands of years ago with these massive prehistoric noises booming out through the forest. They were so loud. The only reason I felt relaxed was because hunters aren't permitted in the forest till after 10am!  There were so many stags in our vacinity and after a short while we saw our first one through the misty light amongst the trees. He  looked such a beautiful and majestic creature and obviously didn't sense us as a threat because he didn't bolt when he saw us. Over the next hour we saw another stag then a hind and then driving home, a really small deer that was obviously born last year.  By then, my face was numb and it was light and the roaring had all but finished. Obviously the hormones calm down in daylight!

 

Bernard (on the left) and I with his hunter friend.

 

We stopped at a Boulangerie on the way home for baguette and croissants for brekky - yes, my first croissant since I arrived. Bernard filled his baguette with pate and cheese and true to his ch'ti style, dunked it in his coffee before he ate it!
I then began preparing my lunch for everybody. It is common for extended families to eat together for lunch on Sunday.
My meal was well received with everyone vying for copies of the recipe for Pavlova!  After an afternoon 'rest' we are going in to a nearby village for a walk. I look forward to that.

Shopping and Belgian Pub

At 5pm yesterday, Danielle and I went to the supermarket in Maubeuge. I discovered that it was in a mall that was huge! The supermarket within that was the biggest I have ever seen - much bigger than any mega mitre 10 building I've been in. By the time we'd finished looking at the shops ( and adding to my collection of children's and baby's clothes!), we got to the supermarket at about 7.15pm. It was teeming with people at  that hour on a Saturday night- families with babies as well. It was fascinating looking at all that was available on the shelves though. It's one of my favourite things to do in a foreign country. I had said I was cooking for lunch today so I was trying to find my ingredients for that as well. I often cook when I'm away but end up adapting my usual recipes because I can't find my NZ ingredients. Tinned soup obviously isn't a french thing because I've never found it here or in New Caledonia, so today my recipe has in it pureed peas and asparagus instead of chicken or mushroom soup! The range in tomato size was amazing. they can sure grow them big over here!

 

Oh to be able to have this range of cheeses in NZ!

 



 

 





After returning home we sat and had aperatifs for an hour ( rose wine with grapefruit juice - very nice! ) and then went over to Belgium for dinner in a little pub. We went to the village of Quievrain, about 15 minutes away. Half of the village is in France and the other in Belgium. In situations like this, there is a mayor for the french side and one for the Belgium side! Danielle told me to spot the difference between the two countries once we crossed the frontier. The frontier was just a concrete post in an island in the middle of the road, and as Danielle said, France is sad and sombre but Belgium is bright, happy and extrovert! This was so obvious! In the french part there were just street lamps on, nobody in sight and all very quiet. As soon as the Belgium sector came into view I could see the difference. Once over that frontier there were lots of neon lights flashing advertising various establishments, people were out and about on the street and the pubs were full. We had booked a table at the one we went to but still had to wait 20mins before we were seated. Bernard said it was easy to tell Belgian women - they are large with red faces from drinking too much Belgian beer. I could easily spot them!What a bustling, thriving establishment it was! We waited ages for dinner but I loved every minute watching the clientale come and go and listening to the conversations. This pub attracted a huge range of people of all ages. The meals were simple, influenced by local produce and value for money. I passed on the horse again though - I just can't bring myself to eat it. After hearing how frogs' legs are prepared the other day, I'm not sure I'll hurry into that dish again either!
We were home by 11pm and into bed for an early start. We were to be up on the road at 6.30am for our rondez-vous with roaring deer!

Le Ferme (The Farm)

Just after breakfast this morning I left to go with Danielle to her mother-in-law's place. This house we visited last week and it's a huge old place set back from the road. The ancient farm buildings are lined up between the house and the road and in the middle of the cobbles adjacent to the farm sheds was a large concrete pad I had noticed last week. I was about to find out what it was for!
Bernard was harvesting the maize from his farm today and I thought that meant the maize cobs would be picked. Soon a huge tractor pulled into this utulity area in front of the house, towing a huge trailed full of green mulch. It backed onto the concrete pad which had boards edging two sides of it, and began tipping the contents onto it. Before it had finished another huge tractor and trailer arrived to do the same thing, and  so began the pattern for the morning with five of these tractors and trailers working. Bernard was in one of them, and the others were all neighbouring farmers. Apparently they all help each other at this time of year when harvesting.

I was then invited on board a huge John Deere tractor, for a photo I thought, and then Danielle handed back my camera, the door was shut and we were off!!  The next two hours will stay in my memory always. It was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky that stretched forever. Because this region is very flat, there is nothing to shorten the horizon and to me it seems to make the sky so much bigger than I usually see at home - the horizon is so far in the distance. 

Talk about rocking and rolling with a young french farmer! There is no way you could have a smooth ride on one of those huge machines and my body got as good a workout as it would have using a hula hoop for two hours! We lurched and lumbered along the road for a bit and then turned down a narrow muddy track full of potholes to reach the paddocks the machine was working in. The driver's seat was sprung as were his control panels and the whole machine just bounced and rocked along. I was perched in a little dickie seat next to Xavier and was quite violently thrown from one side of my little space to the other as I tried to clutch onto anything to give me some balance! We soon arrived in the paddock where the going was slightly smoother and I saw the massive mulcher that was cutting the whole of the maize plants, sucking them up and mulching them, then spewing the mulch out a huge funnel at the top. A tractor and trailer would travel along side it to get their trailer filled, then it would depart for the Regnier farm silage store pit, and the next tractor in line would take its place -a relay of the sort I had never seen before.

The mulcher in action.

 

Xavier is an ex-pupil of Danielle's and a lovely young guy - so nice to put himself through two hours in his cab with an old townie from the other side of the world!  We had many laughs - he only remembered a little English from his school days and my french farm vocabulary was almost non-existant so many gestures were used to help get the message across as we asked each other questions and learnt about farming in each other's countries. After our first lap back to the house he backed up the trailer, tipped it, and emptied the maize into the big pit area and then just took off down the road again. This was when I realised I was here with him for the long haul!

 

The pile grows bigger

After each drop-off, another tractor compresses the maize by driving backwards and forwards over it.

 

Danielle had taken to her mother-in-law's a pile of baguettes, pate, camembert, saussice, and a loaf that looked like a terrine. This was for everybody's lunch and when we were eating, Danielle said I had to try this terrine thing. She wouldn't say what it was - I had to eat it first. It was delicious on a piece of baguette and then she told me it was tripe and pig's head boiled together and then made into the terrine! I loved it.

 

 

We returned from dinner in Belgium at 11.30pm and have to be up at 6am for the trip to the forest to hear the deer roar! I will have to blog again in the morning as I have so much more to tell.

 

My new farmer friend!



 



 

 

 



 

 

 



Le Chocolate!

I had a great day today in the Lycee at Notre Dame de Grace.  My classes today were with Terminale - Yr 13 and with a BTS class. They were 20 and 21 yrs old and 1st year University. They were doing commerce, marketing and International Law. They were such fun to be with and had good English. They were very proud of their Ch'ti roots and wanted to share local knowledge with me in all areas. The Terminale classes were great also. Some of them were from the European section, so had been doing extra English classes for some time. In groups they had prepared questions to ask me about NZ life and culture. They asked excellent questions - even concerning our government, economics, cost of living etc.
My highlight today though was popping up the road to Belgium to go to a chocolate shop! They tell me Belgium chocolate is the best in the world and Danielle was visiting a friend tonight and wanted to take a gift of chocolate to her.

 

The smell when you walked in to the shop was so good! The displays were fabulous and the selection amazing!

 

 

We went to visit a friend of Danielle's at 7pm and I thought we were returning for dinner after that, but no......!  We continued on to Danielle's English speaking group that meet every fortnight. There are about 20 people who attend and all just want to practise using English. I was a leader tonight with my own group and it was great. They were very appreciative of the help and conversation with a native speaker.

We got home at 10pm for dinner! What a long day - I was almost past eating but had to force down some of Danielle's pork and herb pie, followed by some Belgium chocs for dessert!!

 

I'm on the tractor in the morning as Bernard starts getting in his maize crop. This will be interesting!

I have an appointment at 11am with the Mayor of Le Quesnoy. I've no idea why he wants to see me as I've already had the tour etc. We shall see tomorrow....

Back into france on way home from chocolate shop.

 



Extra Pics

                                                                  Le Maori!

Plaque on the wall depicting the kiwi soldiers climbing over to surprise the Germans.

 

The Plaque

 

Entry through to the NZ Memorial

 

NZ's own piece of land in Le Quesnoy

 

 

 

Le Quesnoy

Once again a cool showery day and I was hoping for the weather to clear before my afternoon trip to Le Quesnoy.
I spent the morning in the library that serves the College. Well, does that lady ever have an easy life!  She used to teach in a classroom but wanted to do this a couple of years ago so changed. Her role  is to help kids if they need it, when the kids are in there. They have one period a fortnight in the library. No teacher accompanies them and they can read, research on the internet and catch-up on school work. There is a shelf of all the text books they use at this level.  The room is bare looking with few books. She obviously doesn't have to spend time accessioning because she doesn't buy books! I've come to the conclusion that the french don't like reading!  I saw a community library later in the day that was miniscule!

                                                                    Magazine selection

                                                           The entire fiction collection!
Marie-Katrine sets a test for them at the start of their year to ascertain how well they can research.  It involves questions that ask for specific information. She had no-one in the first period so we just chatted about cats - she loves them!

On prominent display by Marie-Katrine's desk!

 

There were four old cream computers in there for student use. A class arrived second period and all sat in silence reading or working while Marie-Katrine marked the tests she'd given last week. She leads a very relaxed life at work from what I could tell.  There was a fire drill part way through the morning when all the Primaire and College section piled out onto the hard court area. After  all classes had arrived out there, the six kids on crutches and two in wheelchairs slowly made their way across the wide court area. As soon as they reached their class on the other side, the siren went and everyone took off back to class. I felt sorry for the injured!

Trooping out for fire drill

 

Lunch in the canteen today was a selection of salads for entree, hamburger and chips or duck with mushroom sauce and chips, then cheeses and bread, then coffee mousse topped with chopped walnuts! There was also a bottle of Bordeaux on the table in the staffroom- must say I haven't seen that before today.

After we'd eaten I went with Anne to her singing practice. A group of a dozen staff members are preparing items to sing at an upcoming fundraiser on in town. They sounded lovely and it wasn't hard to pick up the tunes. On offer here, because it had been the leader's birthday this week, was some cider and chocolate nibbles!

They were going back to teach for the afternoon!

Bonhomie in the music room ( with the help of cider!)

 

At 1.30pm I left with Anne, one of the English teachers, for Le Quesnoy. Anne is Vietnamese by birth but was adopted by a french couple as a toddler and lived in Ireland for some years with them before returning to France. She speaks excellent English with a bit of an Irish accent! She also teaches English at the big Toyota plant in Maubeuge.

 

What a fascinating place Le Quesnoy is!  The town itself has spread outside the old, fortified part, but once you drive through the archway into the old town it is quaint with cobbled roads and narrow streets. We were meeting the Deputy Mayor at 2pm so parked near the beautiful old Town Hall and walked in just as the bells began ringing in the belfry.

Town Hall

I was greeted warmly and taken upstairs to the reception area normally closed except for functions. There is a tradition in the towns around here that they all have a 'geant' or giant, of some sort that comes out for fetes etc. Le Quesnoy has a huge clown but is different from other towns because it has a second geant!  It is an enormous Maori. The artist took some licence I think in his depiction of a Maori warrior as I've never seen moko like it and there is a papillon (butterfly) on his hand! The Deputy Mayor couldn't explain the significance of that.

 

 

Two kiwis

 

These huge models are on wheels and on special occasions, someone gets inside them and walks them around outside. The wedding room was next door so that was unlocked for me to look at as well. It's a lovely room with a large carving in it gifted from New Zealand.  The Mayor's desk is backed by a lovely big 'map' of the town.

 

Mayor's table in the Marriage room

Me standing next to the Tekoteko

 

 

In the foyer next to the marriage room is a glass cabinet with special gifts from New Zealand in. Pride of place is Peter Lee's order of Service from his funeral.

                                 Peter Lee, ex-Taupo boy who was Mayor of Cambridge before he died.

 

St. Peter's Cambridge crest

 

After being shown around the Town Hall, we left to visit the walls and see the plaque dedicated to the NZ soldiers who liberated the town in 1918.

 

 

 

The story is one of bravery and typical kiwi 'let's get the job done'.  There is a small walkway going over what's left of the moat and that piece of land has been gifted to New Zealand in remembrance of what our soldiers did for the town.

                                                       

The visit to the cemetery where NZ soldiers are buried gave me a real link with the past - visiting this place from the other side of the world but feeling very much a kiwi as I walked around viewing the graves of these young men, many of whom were only just out of their teens. Even after all these years, it is still a sobering experience. The cemetery is beautifully maintained with gardens and manicured lawns. It was a privilige to be able to record my name, address and comments in the cemetery register. I have obviously uploaded too many photos as I'm unable to add any more! May try an extra blog later.

Both Danielle and I are at the table in the conservatory working  on our computers and the aroma of pheasant cooking pervades the atmosphere!  Someone in the village shot it out the back and gave it to Danielle. She's slow cooking it with mushrooms......... ..........

Fantastique!

 



 

 

 

 



 





 

 

 







Valencienne

Today was another day of surprises and discoveries pour moi! I had a lazy morning catching up on emails and preparing some work for school tomorrow, and then went out to catch the bus to Valencienne just after lunch.  Danielle had told me to get off at the stop in the centre of town and I would just return to La Longueville from there. So..... off I ventured armed with my bus timetable!
It took 45 minutes to reach Valencienne and we passed through seven little villages on the way.  They are all very similar with the red bricks and masses of flowers everywhere. Even the power poles in some villages had hanging baskets on them with 1-1 1/2 metre long displays of geraniums and petunias cascading out of them. They looked beautiful. The road through some of them was so narrow though, and the bus seemed so huge trying to negotiate corners past the old buildings!  The countryside between each village was as I'd seen everywhere else -  fields of maize growing and acres and acres of ploughed land. As we arrived in Valencienne I realised that this probably was a city and not just a large town. Many buildings were more grand than I'd seen in Maubeuge and it is a very pretty city, well planted out with trees in the streets.

The train station

 

After I got off the bus, and walked down a street to the centre of the shopping area, I stopped to get my bearings. As my family would say, I have no sense of direction whatsoever! I needed to know where to return to! I then began a few hours of leisurely wandering around the shops. It was busy with people everywhere, so I  clutched my handbag nonchalantly ( can you do that??) in case of suspect handbag grabbers, and joined the throngs, trying not to appear like a greenhorn tourist! ( You will notice fewer pics today! The camera didn't come out of my pocket very often - it's a dead giveaway! )

 

The clothing shops were fabulous with a real range of things for everyone, whatever your circumstances. Children and baby shops were prolific and absolutely amazing. Nearly everyone wears scarves tied around their neck here - men included. All the kids' clothes have co-ordinating scarves and sometimes hats, that look so neat. There is an obvious difference in labels with some being incredibly fashionable and just miniatures of adult clothing with the sweater slung over the shoulders and scarf, shoes, socks etc all colour co-ordinated. The little girls' puff ball hemmed dresses I could have bought a dozen of - in fact I could have dressed Heidi for an upcoming family wedding in November for a mere $250! That was just for a dress with matching embroidered cardigan! I refrained, thinking it was a tad too indulgent.

I enjoyed wandering around but it just isn't the same on your own with no-one to share your thoughts with. I have always been with friends or family on overseas excursions, even with Derek (who's not the greatest shopping companion!) ten paces behind me trying to keep up, or waiting patiently outside a shop for me, I still have him to chat to, so it was very different today.

Twenty minutes before my bus was due, I walked back to the bus stop to give myself plenty of time. I still had the last hurdle to overcome - getting home. The bus stop is next to the local train station so it was very busy. My perceived bus arrival time came and went and I stood waiting, waiting.....  After a while a fight broke out on the platform just along from me between a couple of guys in a group of  18 yr olds. I quickly moved along willingly the bus to appear so I could get out of there, but no! The waiting continued. Soon after that, a guy of about 25 walked along towards us and spoke to a couple of girls who looked as though they were ignoring him. I was watching intently thinking this is passing the time well - watching interactions in french in real life situations! It wasn't till he came closer to me that I realised he was intellectually challenged! It takes me all my time to keep up with normal french people, let alone with someone who has difficulty with their own language! I just wanted to get right out of there and fast! It was entertainment for some I guess. He moved on after realising he wasn't getting anything out of me! I had been waiting for two hours by that stage and the chouquettes I had treated myself with at the patisserie earlier were rising in my throat with the apprehension. I knew Danielle wouldn't arrive by train from Paris till 8.30pm and I only had her cell phone number. That was obviously not going to be any help. I decided to ask the driver of a bus that had pulled in ( every bus known to man had pulled in by then, except my one!). He understood my french, which is always a thrill, and explained I was at the wrong bus stop and needed to go a street over! Well, I hoofed it over to the other bus stop, terrified I'd miss the last bus. After another half hour wait I was finally headed for home. What a relief!

Delights in the charcuterie - the third and last time the camera saw daylight.

 

School again in the morning but Le Quesnoy in the afternoon.

Looking forward to that.

 

Il Fait Froid!

Apparently this morning was a typical day up in the North - bleak, showery and cool!  I am starting to feel pleased I'm not going to be here in the winter! Even though it is just autumn here, the kids are all decked out in coats, jackets and scarves. All of them are in long pants now and covered shoes. We do breed them tough in NZ because these kids are dressing warmer than ours do in the middle of winter!
I visited 'European' classes today. These are kids who opt for more English than everyone else and they have an extra three hours of English classes per week. They are also doing German, Latin and often music studies. They were 13 and 14 yr olds! So their week has an extra 5-6hrs more than other kids! It was great to be with them as the teacher said they are fully self-motivated and just want their English to improve. I only spoke in English and just spoke slowly - they understood the lot! The school (as everything is! ) is very old but no maintenance seems to be undertaken! The walk to the  College classrooms showed old facades, some of which were crumbling and when we arrived at the classroom door, one wondered just what would be revealed on the other side!

Classroom Door

Walk to classroom

 

I had lunch in the canteen again and once more was amazed at the choices! It is definitely food produced en masse but is tasty and perfectly edible. Yesterday one of the options was a lamb casserole! How can it be possible to make mountains of that and stick within your budget? Weird to think it's possible here but that it would be far too expensive to do so in NZ!

The entree at this school is a self-help bar. You can serve yourself a bit of everything or just one dish - your choice. There was a carrot salad, a sliced olive and tomato salad, couscous, lentils or beetroot salad. Mains was a choice of, or some of everything if you want, pasta, baked chicken, chicken curry, vege ratatouille, stuffed tomatoes and big slices of champagne type ham! I don't think the french do Woolies shaved ham! You can also put on your tray a plate with a selection of three different slices of cheese and then choose from six different desserts pre-made in small dishes! And of course..... slices of beautiful fresh bread.  You would be happy if your child had a meal like this each day at school!

 

Lining up to scrape plates after lunch

 

Dishing up mains

 

Dessert and fruit selection

 

I had finished before the teacher driving me home this afternoon had finished teaching for the day, so spent some time looking around Maubeuge. I was told it was a city but I have my doubts. It is very spread out but the actual shopping area is smaller than Taupo. It looks very industrial as well, with little colour evident. It is a manufacturing  town with various plants and of late a Toyota plant! Japanese is now being taught in some schools in the area. Coal used to be extracted from surrounding areas and it looks to me like that sort of town! I'm so glad I'm staying in a village some distance away and not in Maubeuge!  I walked over the lock in the centre of town and this river was used to transport the coal out of here to other parts of France.

 

 

This river is still used to transport freight and the occasional leisure boat I'm told.

 

I am pleased I have no school tomorrow so I will take the opportunity to bus in to another neighbouring town, Valencienne and do some exploring. Apparently it is bigger and much nicer than Maubeuge! To my delight I did find some interesting shops in Maubeuge this afternoon though, and enjoyed my meander - interior decor and baby shops! Just up my alley! I am already planning the first parcel home!

 

To close tonight, I just had to include a photo of the staff toilet at the school today! Ugh!!