Week 14

I didn't have a good title for this post, so out of curiosity, I counted up how long I'd been in Aix, and hence the title. Unless my counting is really off, I only have 11 more weeks left here in France. Anyway, here's what I've been up to during week 14.

On Monday night Mme G and I had had frogs legs for dinner. They're actually much smaller than I imagined, which is why they come in bags of forty pairs of frozen legs. And the legs are still intact, too: you have to bite the meat off from the tiny thigh and shin bones, which wasn't the most appetizing prospect. That aside, I liked the legs, but they're definitely not something I'd eat on a regular basis. The taste is halfway between pork and fish, and ours bathed in a garlic butter sauce. Tasty, but not habit-forming.
Like I mentioned, the program office just wasn't big enough for some of our new classes, so now two of mine are held in a building belonging to the church in the Place de l'Archevêché. I'm not exactly clear what else the building is used for, although on one side is a café and on the other is Aix's tapestry museum. The rooms aren't anything special—there's a table, some chairs, and lights—but they're quieter and cooler than those at the program office. Unfortunately, they're farther away from my apartment and, ironically, quite close to the homestay I lived in all of January.
It's really been noticeable how spring is arriving in Aix. Firstly, there are steadily-increasing numbers of tourists, whether in big mobs trailing through the backstreets behind a tour guide, or stopping every 15 feet to consult a guide book and take pictures. The markets, too, are busier than ever. It's funny that after living here for only three months I've become enough of a local to be frustrated by these outsiders.

Similarly, trees are sprouting leaves and flowers are blooming all over town. Aix was never unattractive even in the depths of winter with barren trees, but it now looks positively like a postcard as greenery emerges. Better yet, the temperatures are consistently over 15ºC—59ºF!

Coming from Michigan winters that still bring cold and snow in April, I'm thrilled about the temperatures. But the locals still wear big, thick coats and jackets as if 60º is still too cold for them. That being said, everyone keeps warning me that the height of summer reaches over 90º. In fact, the locals have a specific word for this heat: le cagnard.