Bonjour everyone

August 24/25, 2008

Leaving the Philippines alone for the first time was an emotionally nervewracking feat. First, I had to overcome my own inhibitions to abandon customs that I’ve been used to in lieu of experiences that I know will become the highlights of my adult life so far.

The start of my journey to the other side of the world lasted 21 hours and left half of my butt cheek numb from all the sitting and waiting. It would have been a very boring trip had it not been for Yann whom Roxy and I met on our way to our stopover in Abu Dhabi. He’s a Frenchman based in IRRI and the Philippines and is one of the most interesting individuals I know. He has a PhD in an agricultural specialization, but he also reads palms and shares love stories in his free time. He told me that I have to work harder so I won’t get bored with what I’m doing. I think he might be right. He’s been everywhere around the world studying and doing research, and he fascinated us with stories of his life on the 8 hour flight.

During our layover in Abu Dhabi, Roxy and I fell in love with a little French boy who had the cutest eyes ever. He was tres mignon, and he spoke to us in French, but slowly so we could understand.

When we arrived in France, I was scared that Max might have not woken up to fetch me because he wasn’t answering his phone. All that fear disappeared, however, when I stepped outside the airport and saw him, his father Thomas, our friend Nico, and Romaine (who was taking a video) standing outside and waving at me. I was very much surprised by the welcoming entourage because I thought I’d be seeing just Max, and felt even more surprised when we were led to a white stretch limo in the parking lot by a chauffeur. It seemed to me that Max put a lot of effort to make my trip special, and greatly succeeded in doing so.

After stopping in front of a castle and taking a lot of pictures with the limo, we headed off to Chantilly to eat in the restaurant of Max’s dad. It was a delightfully gastronomic experience as I tasted a smattering mix of French cuisine for the first time. Just by the end of my raviole foie gras appetizer, I was stuffed. But I had to go on… After all, there was still champagne, some escargot, and tastefully cooked scallops and blood sausages.

A quick kiss goodbye, and we left for Lille to meet Max’s mom and his other friends.

We arrived in the North a little late in the afternoon on the same day. Our first stop was Arras, a quaint city near Lille with very beautiful baroque architecture. We went around the area and took pictures of the buildings and everything else, while the three boys were coercing me to say “Six-deux mefit t’e” which meant that people from region 62 were crazy. And we were in region 62, and they were a little crazy indeed.

We arrived in Lille where I was greeted to a warm afternoon beer in the city center. I met with our friend Gaetan who I haven’t seen in quite a while, and I also met Delphine, Max’s girl best friend, who was so nice to me the whole time.

Finally, we went to Max’s house where his mother was waiting for us with a good dinner and some champagne and other drinks. Her friends were also there to welcome me, and I had a good time practicing my French to be able to speak to everyone. It was a perfect way to cap the night off, and when it was time for bed, all I had to do was put my head on the pillow and I was fast asleep from the combination of jetlag and fatigue.

August 26, 2008

Second day in France and I was already able to cross the border. Max woke me up early so we could meet up with our friends. We went to Brugge in Belgium, the so-called Venice of the North to soak up the culture and admire the beautiful scenery.

Our first stop in Brugge was a vast courtyard with magnificent baroque architecture all around. On our way to this destination, we passed by a myriad of different shops ranging from commercial like H&M to really quaint and homey Belgian chocolateries. After taking a few pictures and scanning the area and pointing out “pauvre types”, the French version of our wonderful Filipino “walang-hiyas”, Max decided that it was time for me to taste some good ‘ol Belgian fries and this mysterious sausage called frickadel. Belgian fries are the best I’ve ever tasted in the world, but they are so fattening. I felt my arteries clog up after a few mouthfuls. The frickadels were a delightful surprise. I was expecting a strong meat taste like so many European sausages, but this type tasted just like kikiam! Yes, it tasted like that ubiquitous street food sold in the UP parking lot, but way tastier and way more expensive as well.

I apologize for my lack of eloquence. There’s so much to share, I find it hard to be bothered by the usual attention to coherence and unity.

Anyway, Brugge was really like Venice of the North. We rode in small boats that went around the city on the shallow canals. The scenery was old and rustic; I was so amazed that some of the buildings were built way before the Philippines was discovered!

After our boat ride, we decided to stop by a waffle place and I ate a really rich plate of waffles with strawberry and Chantilly whipped cream. It was, as every food I ate in Europe, sumptuous. We headed off to check out the stores thereafter and found some ridiculously overpriced mod furniture. When I say ridiculously overpriced, I mean, like, around 50,000 Pesos for a red plywood chair designed by some guy who died a few years back.

We went back to Lille after Belgium and had a few drinks at Delph’s flat before going to a local creperie. I was so stuffed from the day’s feasts; I had to ask Max to finish my salad. And that was the end of the night.

August 27, 2008

Romaine invited us to a barbecue at his beautiful house in the French countryside today. Max and I left his house around noon expecting to be able to take a dip in Romaine’s pool, but the weather was too cold, so we had to wear some warm clothes and settle with an afternoon of no swimming instead.

We had a special someone travelling with us. Max’s first love, his enormous dog Attos, accompanied us to Romaine’s and had a wonderful time running around the fields and taking a swim in Romaine’s lake.

We had a good lunch of barbecued sausages, some baguettes, tomatoes with cheese, and apple pie baked by Rom’s mom. It was an intimate affair which we enjoyed thanks to Attos who we played with for almost the whole afternoon. Later on, we went indoors to play some pool. Being the lousy athlete that I am, I led my team (Max and I) into pathetic defeat against the strong team of Rom and Nico.

Late in the afternoon, we picked Delph up from the city and the five of us decided to go karting. It was then I understood why I am not suited to drive in Manila. I would drive fast in curves and end up hitting my kart hard on the tires. It was so much fun, though! Even if the wind was biting hard into my fingers and my teeth were chattering because of a mixture of cold and adrenaline, I had a blast pushing my foot hard into the accelerator and zooming around the track.

We capped the night off at Delph’s. She cooked some spaghetti for dinner and we spent the rest of the night brainstorming for the travel business the boys are planning to put up soon.

August 28, 2008

Highlights of the day:

1. Mam Joelle’s (Max’s mom) special hot chocolate in the morning

2. 5-hour train ride from Lille to Nantes in First Class with beautiful rolling hills in the panorama

3. Arriving in Nantes and realizing that the city is a couple degrees warmer than Lille

4. Arriving in Nantes and realizing that the city is probably as hot as Manila

5. Going down the wrong station, getting annoyed at myself for not reading the instructions to the house

6. Finding the right station, but…

7. Missing the proper bus stop

8. Being able to go around the city because we missed the bus stop

9. Finally arriving in the apparthotel and seeing that my room here is exponentially bigger than my room back home

10. Going to the commercial center and eating the best god damn burger on this side of the world in Quick with Max

11. Riding a tram and a bus back to Citea to figure out what to do next

12. Walking to Carrefour to buy some groceries

13. Stealing a pushcart because the groceries were too heavy to walk back with

14. Max and I arguing on the way home because I wanted him to return the caddy

August 29, 2008

It was Max’s last day in Nantes, and we wanted to be able to spend as much time as we could together because it would take a while for us to see each other again.

First, we had to run some errands. We went back to commerce to buy some stuff and get familiar with the city. We ate at a real kebab place where I got positively stuffed by delicious Turkish cuisine, and played our little game of “guess which nationality”, making the many passers-by our subjects.

We spent the rest of the morning strolling around the city and headed off to Audencia, my school, a little after noon.

Audencia is absolutely stunning. The interior is very professional and the entire school has an intellectual feel to it. It feels like a proper ecole commerce and I wanted to hit the books as soon as I stepped in. The atmosphere exudes a “smarter than thou” aura which I like because it reminds me of how proud Ateneo’s School of Management can be.

I felt so tired after visiting Audencia and wanted to go home, but Max insisted that we should not spend the rest of the day sleeping because he was leaving in a couple of hours. We then decided to go to Palace du Bretagne, the old palace of the Duchess of the Brittany, located in the middle of the city. It was absolutely stunning. Everything was well-preserved and every part of the castle had a good view of a certain historical site in the city.

Finally, it was time for Max to go. After a few sad tears and a million whines about how we didn’t get to spend a lot of time together, I went with him to the train station and we said our goodbyes.

August 30, 2008

Highlights of the day:

1. Shopping, shopping, and more shopping with Darene.

2. Oh, and the rest of the Ateneo kids arrived from their trip in Paris, so we spent some time doing chit-chat in each other’s houses

3. Oh, and I tried cooking with some beef and it didn’t turn out tragic as I expected

4. Oh, and finally, Ateneo JTA-Audencia was completed tonight.