You may know that Pope Urban II is famous for initiating the first Crusades. What you may not know is that his speech urging the bishops and cardinals to start the religious war took place in Clermont-Ferrand to the Council of Clermont on November 27 1095, in this very town center. The statue was erected in honor of this announcement. (click the link if you aren't convinced)
After this short history lesson, a few of us went to eat at a fabulous creperie called 1513. Any kind of crepe you wanted, they had it. Not just sweet crepes but steak and potatoes, ham and cheese, tomatoes and walnuts...Pretty good.
The highlight of my day came after lunch. As many of you know, one of my goals while living in France is to participate in strike or protest. Guess who accomplished his goal in under two weeks?
I didn't stay too long because EVERY protester was drunk off champagne already and I figured it would get out of hand quickly. Great success.
Needing to tone it down a bit, I traveled to Jardin Lecoq to just wander around a bit of peaceful nature. It was nice, but the swans started begging me for food or money or something. Instead, they ate some leaves and seemed to be happy enough.
Brittany picked up a flyer advertising an Africaans dance show later that afternoon. Hey, why not? I thought it was a bit odd the show was at 15h30 (3:30pm), but why not give it a shot? Haha..... Lesson learned in France: if you have to say "why not give it a shot," it may be a mistake. Brittany, Cheny and I walked in the door, paid our 5euro and waited for the show. We noticed there were a lot of young children....really young children. Then we noticed we were the ONLY ones there without children. Upon reading the flyer more closely, we found out this was a private dance show for preschool children. We stayed anyway.
The opera house in new town center, Place de Jaude, at night. Doesn't do it justice.
The ferris wheel and Christmas tree that was taken down this week. Sad.
LOL... so funny! its strange... we spend the whole day together, so i already know what happened... but ur retelling is very funny! p.s. the swans weren't asking you for money, they were asking for some of those dark chocolate hazelnut cookies!.. when Pousette snorts, on the other hand, she IS asking for money, so she can get her own place and be a bit more independent
ReplyDeleteHaha dude. So google translate rocks. The sign you were standing next to says "freedom it is abusing it sucks".
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what that means but hey, sweet protest picture. You should throw a rock next time.
After this posting I'm officially convinced that swans are dumb all over the world. My extensive travels to Clemson and your blog confirm this.
Oh, and thanks for the history lesson. I refuse to pick up a book so I'll get my history lesson through you.
Je suis tres fier de vous! :)
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