Hockey game, and lots of pictures

Going into this weekend I had very little planned, but it ended up being quite busy. After my successful shopping excursion to Chateaufarine, I took my time getting back and some time finishing Au Bonheur des Dammes in a little park I discovered on the c-v side of the Doubs, facing Pont de la Republique (Republic Bridge). I really enjoyed it at the end... the conclusion wasn't exactly a surprise, but the heroine had overcome such incredible strife that I was quite content for it to end happily ever after for at least one person. I didn't bother with the spoiler alert since I'm confident none of you are eager to read a Zola novel which focuses on the rise of department stores in 19th century Paris...

Then at 5:30pm, I joined some of the Ultimate team members who were going to watch a hockey match! The Besancon Remparts (ramparts) are in Division III and Saturday they played Luxembourg. The match took place at a rink in Planoise and I'd say there was a crowd of about 100 people or so. GuiGui (Jean Guillaume) works with one of the players, and Gaeten, another friend from Ultimate, is a big hockey fan. I got a ride with Fred and his son Benjamin, and Gaëtan's friend Marion came too. I haven't seen a hockey game in person since I went to a Cincinnati Mighty Ducks game when I was about 10, and this one was pretty exciting. There were two fights, but both were brief. We ended up winning 6-5, although I'm not sure we deserved it. The Luxembourg goalie was much better than ours, and their team was much more aggressive. It was pretty funny how riled up the fans got, despite the relatively low-key setting. And I learned some new vocabulary: le palet (the puck), la crosse (hockey stick), and hors-jeu (off-sides). Despite the small size of the "arena" they had a concession stand selling hot wine and hot dogs. Knacki is the brand of hot-dogs which has market dominance in France -- here the name has replaced 'hot-dog' the way Kleenex has replaced tissue (or whatever the real term is). I think it's so funny to see people eating hot dogs in baguette halves... and usually slathered with mayonnaise. French people think ketchup is silly, but I find mayonnaise pretty much revolting, let alone on a hot dog!

Saturday night there was a birthday party for Alex (team captain), hosted by him and his girlfriend Lucie (who also plays on the team). It included everyone from the hockey game, and maybe another 6 or so people. It's a good thing it was a small party because there wasn't any more room in the apartment. I tasted the much-acclaimed Pontarlier Anis, but found it about as appetizing as anything else licorice flavored, which is to say not very much. I had an easier time following the conversation (and contributing to it) on Saturday evening than I did when we went out after practice on Friday. It's really frustrating sometimes because I know I come across as dumb when I can't articulate what I'm trying to say. And usually I know what's being said, I just can't formulate a contribution quickly enough before the conversation changes. Or someone asks my opinion during one of the times I don't know what's going on... I'm sure it will get better, but it makes ordinary conversation a lot more of a challenge.

And sometimes, I find myself getting a little metaphysical about the whole thing. I'll catch myself thinking about how I'm living my life in a different language, and try to catch myself when I'm really fully immersed in it and my thoughts come fluidly, without me thinking. I haven't dreamed in French yet since I've arrived, but I'm hoping it will happen soon.

Sunday I went to church at the Eglise Reformee, which was celebrating the 100th anniversary of the "Scoutisme Unioniste" (what appears to be the equivalent of the Boy Scouts for the Reformed Protestant Church in France). The pastor was wearing his scout scarves and they had past and current members participate in the service. We sang lots of songs, as we did when I went two weeks ago. I think it's interesting too how much other members of the congregation participate in the service. Both this Sunday and the time before, the pastor called upon several adults and children to come forward to read passages or prayers. After the service I was looking at some of the materials, and the pastor came up and introduced himself to me. He told me about the group they have for students (ages 18-25) and gave me the email address of the group leader. Apparently they meet every two weeks or so, usually for a meal. I haven't heard back yet, but I'm definitely going to check it out.

Here's a pic of the church from the outside:

After a long run -- the weather this weekend was spectacular -- I went back to the c-v for a free guided tour of the Musee Beaux Arts et Archéologie (Fine Arts and Archeology Museum). This one was entitled "Chefs d'oeuvres du musée" (the museum's masterpieces) and I was particularly interested in attending because the museum is slowly being dismantled, in anticipation of closing for renovations in 2013. That's sort of a long way away, but apparently the museum's most famous painting, a Courbet, is already gone. So sooner is better! This tour focused on five works: the Mesuda mosaic, which was the floor of a giant Roman domus located on the site of the c-v, a Bronzino which was originally comissioned for the personal chapel of the Medici family of Venice, a painting from the workshop of George de la Tour, a Courbet, and two paintings by Pierre Bonnard, which were commissioned to hang in someone's home facing each other. Here are the pictures:

This picture is to give you a sense of the size of the Medusa mosaic... the whole thing is 6 square meters (64 square feet):

 And it's namesake:

 It's amazing to me that a 2,000+ year old mosaic can be this well-preserved...

Can you spot the anatomical mistake in this representation of Poseidon? (answer at the end of the post)

"Saint Joseph" from Georges De La Tour's workshop (I had never heard of him before this tour, but the lighting in the picture really is quite remarkable -- check out how the glow permeats the young Jesus's hand):

The Courbet. This painting's 'realism' caused a scandal because the pig is in the primary plane and thus given lots of visual importance:

Place Clichy by Pierre Bonnard. I absolutely love this painting, I can't believe someone once got to keep it in their living room:

Oh, the Rhodenbaughs, it was so nice of you to have this picture of B placed in the museum to remind me of home (when I saw it I thought instantly of him):

And finally, here are some pictures from the Ultimate tournament in Vesoul a few weekends ago, as taken by Lucas (pronounced "Lucca" in French), Gaetan's brother. He's a photography major and took some really neat shots -- here are a few.

The whole team (both vieux and jeunes):

"Comtois, rend-moi! Nenni ma foi!" -- our cheer

 

 Fred about to make an excellent catch in the endzone:

GuiGui for the jeunes in our game against the vieux (Gaeten guarding):

 

Face-off in that same match. Bob (real name, Yves, in the blue) is significantly taller than Gaël (in the red), but Gaël has some serious hops. I don't remember who came out victorious in this instance: 

Team Jeunes (L to R: Colin, me, GuiGui, Tete, Erik, Gaël, Thomas in the back)

Okay, time for bed for me. The answer to the question about the Poseidon mosaic -- he has two right hands!