23 March 2014

Vive la France!

 

A big step and a fresh start



For quite a while I have wanted to go to France to improve my français. 
Now it has finally come true! I have found a place to work in the west of France, not too far away from Nantes. When I hear about the city, I immediately think of the song Nantes by the wonderful group Beirut. Listen to it below:


What I have discovered so far: 

Western France is the land of wristwatches,a place where women are fit and dress well - they arent all beautiful, but their taste in clothing makes them easy on the eyes. (not all of them, obviously)
It is also the land of salt, and as a matter of fact, salted butter. A country of small boutiques and cute slate roofed houses, where talking enthusiastically and frequently and giving out kisses to friends is perfectly ordinary.

There are apple orchards, vineyards and greenhouses. Rosmary grows all around and pines encircle the sky when you look up. People eat a lot of cheese and like to drink wine with a proper meal - the wine is a lot more acidic and stronger than what I`m used to, the cheeses more pungent, sharper, more flavourful. I have grown to like this goût - this flavour.


The only thing I dislike and cannot get used to is the amount of chlorine in the tap water. It tastes bad and doesn`t agree with my skin at all. I know there are countries where you cant drink the tap water at all, but I was raised in Bavaria and the quality there seems like a sparkling mountain spring in comparison X3

I am on the way of discovering french chansons - so far I`ve bought one CD by Miossec which is pretty good - a smoky voice and clicking, sharp lyrics accompanied by a guitar. What I didn`t know was that Brigitte Bardot had been a singer as well. Daft Punk is a french band. And currently my roommate Célia
is into a band called `Shaka Ponk`