Last week-end I saw one of the guys living in the house I live in harvesting wasp nests located in the house. If you have never been to Reunion Island you don’t know that people actually eat wasps’ larvae here. The guy had a very long stick with a smoking piece of cloth at the end. The wasp don’t like the smoke, once they are gone it is easy to get the nest. Then it is time to fry, sauté or stew the larvae, bon appétit.
The day before yesterday I stumble on this as I got home.
Looks nice doesn’t it? I had no idea lizard liked bear with tequila in it. As soon as I saw them I went to get my camera to take a few pictures. I had left the bottle outside after emptying it so 3 lizards decided to move in. I expected them to scramble as soon as I came close to the bottle but they were completely out of it. I took my shots and left the bottle there expecting them to be gone in the morning but it seems they were stuck in it. I put the bottle on the side so that they could escape and went to work, when I came back 2 were gone and one was dead. R.I.P.
Each time I get somewhere, going for groceries is the first thing I do once I am settled.
When I just get somewhere and go grocery shopping, I almost always buy the same things. For breakfast, I will get some milk, some chocolate to mix with the milk, some biscuits, some Weetabix, some Rice Crispies and some Cranberry juice. For meals, I will get some Farfalle from Barilla, some smoked salmon, some bacon cubes, some sour cream, some bread for toasts, some slices of ham, grated cheese and some juice. I will also get some tea with special biscuits to eat with, some fruits and a few vegetables.
Except for the Cranberry juice and the brand of the chocolate, what I get for breakfast is exactly what I was having for breakfast when I was a kid; Cranberry juice wasn’t available in France at the time. I make croque-monsieur with the bread, the ham and the grated cheese, they would be exactly the way my mother used to make them if I would add some béchamel sauce. I make Farfalle au saumon and Farfalle aux lardons with the Farfalle, the sour cream, the salmon and the bacon cubes. I used to eat that a lot when I was at the university. It is quite fun to be regularly eating those things I liked when I was a kid but I will have to grow up at one point.
When I got to Nantes and opened the fridge to put my groceries I found to bottles of vodka, it is as good way as any to start. Cheers!
This morning I went to the post office to get the debit card my wife sent via express mail. After my workday I went to the ATM closest to my place to get some cash, I would finally be able to pay my rent. I inserted the card, typed the pin code and selected 400€; the machine started working and then displayed that I could only withdraw 200€. I selected 200€ and got them. I inserted the card again, typed the code again and selected 200€ this time. And surprise I couldn’t get any more money. Nothing bothers me anymore so I went home and called my bank. I explained my problem to a woman, she told me that in France I could only withdraw 200€ from an ATM who doesn’t belong to my bank. I knew that my debit card allowed me to withdraw up to 700€ every 3 days in France. She corrected “yes 500€ at your bank plus 200€ at other banks equals 700€!” Can you believe such nonsense? The more things change the more they stay the same. With such a stupid system I will be able to pay my rent in 6 days, thank god my landlord is nice.
No need to tell you that I wasn’t a big fan of banks before but now...
I went back to one of the banks where I could use my American Express card in the ATM. As I still couldn’t get some money from the ATM, I went in the bank hoping I would be able to get some money from the cashier. Hell no! The woman in front of me couldn’t care less about my problem and she sure wouldn’t get out of her way to help me. I called the American Express support line, the operator informed me that I had just withdrawn 200€ in cash and I could only withdraw a maximum of 300€ every 7 days as I was in France. She was surprised when I told her that my request to get 200€ had been rejected by the ATM, I then explained that the card was my only way to get some cash and asked if the withdraw limit could be lifted for the day. She said no. I then asked if there was a bank on the island where I could get some money from the cashier. Again no. What is the point of having this card to withdraw money? She explained that the ability to withdraw money was in case of emergency. When people have money issues, they usually need more than 300€. She couldn’t/wouldn’t do anything. This is a card that will definitely not cost me any annual fee once I get back to France. Thank god I have friends who lend me money!
Thursday was the big day, I had setup a nice week-end in Mauritius Island to go scuba diving. My suitcase was full with what I needed for 4 days of diving, reading on the beach and sleeping. The taxi dropped me at the airport, I gave my passport at the check in counter, the agent looked at it and told me that he couldn’t check me in because my passport would expire in 5 months. I went to the office of Air Mauritius to discuss this with someone, the hostess explained that there was nothing that could be done except contacting the consul of Mauritius to request for a dispensation, the approval for the dispensation would take a day. I had to board the plane the same day, not the next day so I asked her to refund my ticket. “I am sorry sir but this kind of transaction can’t be done in this office you will have to go to the main office in Saint-Denis”. It was like the only thing I had to do in my life was to wait in an office to get my money back, well as I was not going away for the week-end I had plenty of time. The plane ticket would of course not be fully refunded, a 15% charge would be applied and the refund would take a minimum of 30 days. What a bunch of thieves.
On the way back from the airport, I asked the taxi driver to stop at an ATM so that I could get some cash to pay for the fare, it was higher than expected has it was a holiday. I inserted my card, it came out instantly as the screen displayed “card expired”. I looked at the card, my face changed when I saw that expiry date on the card read 10/12 meaning the 31/10 at midnight. The taxi took me home where I got two American Express cards I didn’t want to take with me for the week-end, the expiry of one was 10/12 and the expiry of the other was 10/13. Only a handful of ATMs accept American Express cards in Reunion Island. I tried 2 ATMs with no success, the taxi was starting to get nervous when he drove me back home. Luckily the landlord was around and loaned me the money I needed.
I then went for a walk in the city to find an ATM where I could use my Amex. I felt joy rushing in when I found one but it left me as quickly as it came when the card was rejected because I used the wrong pin code. I rang my was who had travelled back home the day before and asked her to check the pin code, I tried with the right code this time but the card was still rejected. The anger started to rise but I told myself that the ATM recorded that I made numerous attempt with the wrong pin before using the right one so I went to look for another ATM. Lucky for me the ATM of the lask bank had a nice American Express logo, again the good pin was rejected. I called Amex support service and explained my situation, the operator could definitely see my attempt to get some money but each time the pin was wrong. I tried again with the good pin as I was on the phone with him but the result was still the same. I asked if he could reset the card but the only thing he could do was offer to send another card. That was so what I needed.
I walked home hoping I would be able to use my card the next day. Waking up this morning it downed on me that had I been allowed to fly I would have ended up in Mauritius with 100€ and an expired credit card, that would not have been fun.
Today is a sad day, I lost my first tooth as an adult.
Today the dentist extracted one of my wisdom tooth.
I am seated in the dentist chair head backward. He just stuck a needle in various areas of my gum and I gradually am starting to lose some feeling in the mouth. He asks me to describe what I am feeling and when he is satisfied he starts working; he pushes, he pulls, he presses...
I am waiting for him to be done. I look at the ceiling, I look through the window, I look at his assistant then I look at the lamp sending light into my mouth. Thanks to this lamp I can actually see everything that is happening in my mouth. And just like that all the thoughts in my mind vanish and only one remains: I am my mouth. I could be thinking about much more interesting things but no there is only one thing in my mind. I have a lot of work waiting, I could be thinking about how I will manage what I have to do but no I am fixated by what is going on in my mouth. I just can’t refrain from laughing when the dentist takes a needle with a thread and inserts it in my gum. He is stitching the space left by my tooth to avoid any infection, this is the first time that I have stitches and they have to be inside my mouth. When he is done, he asks me if I want to keep my tooth, a picture of me running around with my tooth around my neck flashes but I am not 5 anymore so the tooth will end up in the rubbish bin.
I am not out of the woods yet, when will the pain start? In the meantime I am forbidden to eat anything until tomorrow morning, now this will be easy.
I went to Cilaos with some friends and we spent the night in “Ilet des Chicots”. To get there you have take a very winding road that will take you to Cilaos City (the road has 400 turns) then take a very narrow road. Between the winding and the area of the road where two cars can’t pass each other you have to park the best way you can in the few areas designed for parking. We ended up on a beautiful plateau after walking up some stairs, it was overlooking the road and offered an amazing view of “le Cirque de Cilaos” as well as “le Piton des Neiges”.
In Reunion Island the “ilet” are small villages with very few houses located in a cirque. In “Ilet des Chicots” there is only one house, it has a small dormitory, a kitchen and a dining room. There is no electricity and but there is running water, the owner is using a generator to power the lights and I guess he takes the water from a small river running higher in the mountain. A shower and toilets are located not too far away from the house and there are 3 individual bedrooms looking like wooden tents.
We were in this amazing place frozen in time and far away from the world even though the road was 5 minutes away. People were still living there 2 generations ago. They had chickens, goats and cultivated the land. In the family that owns the place the sons make medicine from herbs. They created terraces around the plateau and planted different kind of plants. When you stay there you get to have a tour and they will explain which plants are good and which ones are dangerous.
This is the perfect place to leave everyday life behind for a few days. Those who are afraid to be cut off completely should know that there is perfect cell phone coverage over there.
I wrote this post a while ago but forgot to put it online.
What happens when culture takes over a city? You have to go to Nantes to find out.
Le Voyage a Nantes is a simple idea: how do you link all the cultural places in a culturally active city? The answer: organize a trip across the city. The organizers of the VAN decided to create a path to follow in Nantes. It would lead those following it through historical and/or cultural landmarks. Creating a simple walk through the city would not be that interesting except for tourists so artists were asked to contribute by placing some of their creations here and there in the city. Not everyone would like the idea but it would give the opportunity to some to discover something else and that is what matters. To follow this path, you just had to walk along the pink line painted on the ground.
I started my walk in “la Place Royale”, the fountain in its centre was covered by a mountain equipped for climbing. It was still possible to see the fountain but the fact that it was now in a completely closed space gave it a completely different vibe. I went through the “passage Pommeraye”, well known by the inhabitants of Nantes. The canopy allows the sun rays inside of the building. Its beautiful staircase is an invitation to strike a pose for someone to shoot or a reason in itself to stay there. I ended up on “la Place Graslin” and its theatre, headed next to the museum of natural history. I walked through alleys, went through a park, a dead-end, a pedestrian street...
I then followed the path to “l’ile Beaulieu”, it used to be only dock on the island, they now left the place to modern buildings. Whether they are for housing, education, leasure or work; the architects got the opportunity to create unique buildings each with its own identity. You must go see the famous “machines de l’ile” as well as the brand new “carrousel des mondes marins”. The ones who like basket will love the basket tree, while some others will go to Crepetown to snack on a crepe, watch some artists work or listen to live music.
I went to “Le Nid” a bar located on the last floor of “la tour de Bretagne”, kind of the Empire State building but for Nantes. This place used to be a nightclub but was abandoned when the club closed. Instead of opening a posh restaurant as it is often the case on the last floor of tall buildings, the mayor decided to open a bar for everyone. You will have to queue between 1 and 2 hours depending on the time of the day to get in but you will be able to have a drink at a very reasonable price while enjoying the amazing panoramic view. A terrace runs all around the building and it is possible to play the guessing game with buildings or simple enjoy the sunset.
I didn’t follow the path all the way to its conclusion but I really enjoyed what I saw. Such a thing in Paris would take days to go through but would be extremely interesting.
