Ok, ready to write; I have a hot chocolate and chocolate croissant (or as they call them in the southwest, a 'chocolatine').
So, I am all moved in! After what almost caused me to have a small nervous break-down, I have found my new place in the center of town. It is wonderful. The building dates back to the 15th century and there are caves below, which then lead to catacomes- no thank you!
After the problems with my on-campus housing, I decided to search for a family or more specifically an older lady that lives by her self and would like some company. Many appointments and frustrations later I found my little get away at the top of a tower. My friend lives in the same buliding, so I asked him if we could ask his landlord if there was another studio available.
Then, I had the honor of meeting his landlady, Madame Henniquin, a legacy in Périgueux. She is awesome; she met Charles de Gaulle- this roughly tells you how old she is (90+). The building has been in her family since her grandfather, a notary, bought it. When he bought the building it was was a huge house, and it was only recently that they converted it into apartments. It has some much history and the tower staircase made out of stone makes you feel like you are walking up castle stairs.
I was just about to give up on the housing situation when I met, Madame. Not only did she have an apartment available, she told me I was not going to have to pay a deposit or the last few days rent in November. As soon as she told me the reason for her generosity, she won my heart and there is no going back now. She told me that she is forever indebted to the United States because of the war and that "we" saved them. Then, she continued to tell me how her brother died in the war and he was only 18 years old.
My dear Madame, she has a little dog who is absolutely insane and I can hear her yelling at him in her high-pitched french voice- "tais-toi, tais-toi!" (shut up, shut up!). When I met her for the first time I entered through her kitchen entrance, and little did I know that the entrance from my side of the building was straight from a history book. I cannot even imagine how old the furniture and art work are, as well as, there value.
My friend, Tyler, who also lives in the building, told me that she plays the piano; to be honest, I didn't think much of it because she has such bad arthritis and a lot of french people play the piano. Well, while sitting in my new place on the top floor, overlooking the sqaure with the city hall, I all of a sudden heard piano music coming up the tower from two floors below. Yes, it was Madame, and she herself later told me she was the vice president of the music conservatory at the young age of 25! When I hear her play, I feel like I should be paying admission and I get goose bumps; it is one of the most moving experiences I have ever had.
When I stop by to say hello or to talk about the apartment, I always need to be sure I don't have a pressing engagement because of the long talks we have. I have never met someone with some much to tell. She told me she would like to write a book, and believe me, if I could understand her better, I would help her. Maybe I could record her.
75 years ago she taught 3 blind people how to play the piano. Also, her relatives moved to Brasil a couple of hundred years ago and and that they moved back to France shortly after because their children died of cholera. Then, on a lighter note, she is always talking about that crazy dog. It's a white and furry little thing that doesn't stop barking and nipping at your toes and hands. She recently lost her reading glasses and then a few days later, she found them in her dog's food bowl.
Basically this woman has won my heart. I will learn so much from her this year. For those of you who are worried about me over here, Madame is looking after me. In a week's time she has told me multiple times, "do not do drugs, they make people crazy," " do not get in the car with someone who has been drinking," and "take your time find a nice young man, because nice girls sometimes pick bad boys."
Tomorrow, Tyler and I are off to buy a tree and decorations to make Madame's place have a little Christmas spirit.
Before this wonderful change of scenery, I experienced the craziest move in day ever. I mentioned in my last blog that I tried to move into my friend's place temporarily until I could find my own nest; but then, we were stopped and essentially escorted off the premises because they live on a high school campus and we might be "terrorists."
Move in day... it was raining cats and dogs.
My friend picks me up at my new place to make my second (and hopefully final) attempt at moving. We pull up to the dorms and the whole parking lot is blocked off because of fire trucks and ambulances- food poisoning in the cafeteria (see, there was a reason why I don't eat there). We then had to park further from the school. We went to use the elevator to get to my room on the 6th floor, but it wasn't working because the firemen cut off the power to it. We then found another way entrance and the elevator worked- thank goodness! Several loads later, as well as very wet clothes and hair and a our new fireman friend, we were off to my new place.
As we pull up to my building, not only is there not any parking, there is a huge moving truck blocking the road! We ask them when they were planning on leaving because I was in the middle of moving. "Oh yes, no problem. We will be done in an hour." Ok, the french seem to have a problem or no conception of time. One hour? Then, they later changed their minds and said it would be ten minutes, which in reality was thirty. They suggested parking in the middle of the square temporarily, instead of driving around in circles. I was a little nervous about this because I could see that they themselves removed the big iron stump in the ground, which is used to prevent people from parking in the center where people walk. But, we did it anyway. Oh yes, one or maybe two minutes later, max, the police decided to drive by! "What do you think you're doing? Do you think you have permission to be here? Did you move the iron stump? This is not allowed." Oops, I totally knew that was going to happen. I think he felt bad once he heard my accent and just told me to move immediately and didn't give me a ticket.
After several loads and trips up and down the tower of stairs, we were exhausted! I kept on smelling a strange smell in the apartment; I looked everywhere but couldn't find where the smell was coming from. I probably said, "where is that smell coming from?" about 10 times before I realized that I had dog poop literally all over the front of my clothes! Like I've said before, it's never a dull moment.
Ok, now life in general...
Before I moved into my new flat, I did not like this city very much; but now it has grown on me. They have put up a little Christmas market where they sell things from different places around the world. They also built the outdoor ice skating rink, which we are trying tomorrow. There are Christmas lights hung on every street and there are live Christmas trees in front of every store- they must have a big city budget for the holidays!
So, answering the question in the title above, is Périgueux cool or "null" (null is french expression for stupid or worthless. I just liked how it rhymed)? Well, I wouldn't say it was either :). There is a lot of history here and it is a pretty place; I just wouldn't recommend it, if you don't eat meat. They put duck liver on everything, including hamburgers.
Well, my friends, I hope everyone is making the most out of this holiday season. I really wish I could be there with you now. I never want to miss a Christmas again. I am thinking of you all everyday.
xoxo
