Officially Winter

We woke up last Thursday anticipating a snow covered field. As we sat in front of our window having breakfast, we were constantly awed by the images that were slowly revealing with the rising sun. This is one rare occasion when I see cars travel at half their usual speed.

Little Blue was beyond recognition, and I dreaded shoving snow with short arms! But this is much better than  a frozen car door at least.

Even the sun is getting sluggish in winter...it's 8.30 in the morning, can you melt some snow away?

GIF-ing our time away - Our home for the last 1 year

Gif-sur-Yvette is the nearest town to Supélec on foot. I love the walks down to the centre-ville of Gif in fine weather. The downhill walk is beautiful since we have a great view of the valley and the plateau opposite us, of course, the uphill walk later is going to be tedious on a 30% gradient. In any season, the flora along the path is amazing! I find pink, blue and yellow flowers lining the walkway in Spring, wild raspberries and cherries in Summer, chestnuts in autumn and the snow in winter. Coming from sunny Singapore, 1 year could just breeze pass with all these varied landscape every 3 months. I appreciate mother nature now, from within to save Gaia and not from pure media.

It is a crime to be seen without a baguette or a croquise here. The bakery in Gif makes them so good, that I could have them everyday if I can survive the slope on a daily basis. Indeed, I see cyclists holding baguettes in 1 hand and controlling the bike in another. Somebody else will see the Student running with a baguette in each hand like a baton (he likes jogging with them). There are only 2 bakeries here, the one opposite the mairie is the better one that makes delicious pastries as well (I think the shop name is Pineau).

The town has 1 or 2 shops of basic stuffs that people need, no luxury goods. The shops are generally closed for 1 day in the week, and from 1pm to 3pm on weekdays. I haven't really registered this in my mind, since our necessities are available round the clock in Singapore. Dream on about 24/7 convenience shops!

The shortest way to Gif is to take the road - Chemin Du Moulon down to Rue Gustave Vatonne. Time taken for a 1.55m on foot is 20 min one way.

This path is a mysterious one. I've always imagined 3 headed dragons at the end of the path. To Gif, pass by this entrance and take the steep path after the barricade.

We are at mid-hill now, this is a view of the plateau on the opposite side. So when I say we are staying on the "mountain", I really wasn't joking folks.

Our poor neighbours need to walk 200m to access their mail everyday. So what is a 20 mins walk to centre-ville right?

Turn right at the sight of this sign. Continue straight ahead, and  pictures along the way coming soon.....

This is a typical driveway into houses on the mid-hill in Gif. They do have lots more privacy, but it also means that the owners have to walk a long way to dispose off their garbage and get the mail everyday.

The traditional type of housing in this region. Such stones are in the terrain here, so it makes sense for people to build houses using materials that are readily available. Stone houses have thick walls that works well as insulation against heat and cold, plus the look is really fairy-tale like.

There are a couple of stone houses along the road that looks exactly like the ginger-bread house in hansel and gretel. In summer and spring, parties in the garden are common scenes here. What else with such nice weather and atmosphere.

Walk along this road instead of following the sign to centre-ville which brings you to the bassin and a longer way to the shops in Gif.

This is the final landmark, a stone house with a mistletoe tree, with pillars in carved wood. Centre-ville in 2.8 mins time.

We Love GIF!!!!

The Weekend that We Went Back In Time

Had a very eventful weekend last week, with a hike at Saint-Remy with our classmates from ALFAP on Saturday, and a visit to Musee d'Orsay on free Sunday. We are never the arty-farty type, so France has really taught us well in this aspect. I'm not a connoisseur of paintings, but I left Musee d'Orsay with only images of impressionists and post-impressionists paintings. 

The 2 artists etched in my mind are Edgar Degas and Vincent van Gogh, the former with a negative impression, and the later with curiosity. There was a temporary exhibition on the theme of "nudity" by Degas, all was good until the explicit paintings of prostitutes. If my understanding of "impressionism" is right, then I would think that Degas must have visited lots of brothels for his project.  

Van Gogh's works are so distinctive, that I think the non-arty me could probably sniff out his works in future.  The child-like style of his is so unmistakable that I can't help wonder what was going on in his head when he painted those crooked images. Were these the images he saw during the years when he suffered from his mental illness? I'm curious...

Oh well...we ended the day very well at Coutume cafe, based on David Lebovit's  recommendation. Haven't had such a good cup of latte ever since I arrived in France! But I guess this place is really just good for coffee, as their meals are rather sub-standard. Great place to get all kinds of coffee gadgets here, they even have a coffee mill so that you can grind your own coffee beans....cool!

It was pure coincidence that our paths just crossed with these "18th century" beings. I would probably have freaked out if I'm alone in the forest, with these ladies standing in the middle of the woods like that. Turns out that an association is having a party at the château, commemorating French history. They saw us walking past, and wanted to invite us to join in the party...can't believe that something like this can really happen out of the blue, this is my neighbourhood and I'm LOVING IT!!!

In the little town called Orsay...

We had wanted to go to Versailles this weekend, but we just realised on Friday night that there is a 1 for 1 ticket offer, which requires us to order on-line and print it out. Problem is, we can't print at home. And so, here we are in GIF, lazing the weekend away at the valley.

There was a really stressful 15mins at the bank, when we tried to change our pin for security sake. We have never thought that the ATM will not have English. Lucky for us, the counter staff spoke minimal English. Seems that right here, we cannot change our given pin to whatever we want, instead, we need to live with it. Printing our statements via the machine needs admin charge too. But I must say that the bank feels REALLY safe with double layer front doors. No way for robbers to escape without being trapped in between doors!

Had our lunch at teeny weeny Orsay. Euro 25 for 2 persons for a 3 course meal with coffee. Not too bad...delicious panna cotta!

I've never liked macaroons, except for their pretty appearance. But after trying the macaroons here with black coffee, it's never the same again.

Got some macaroons here

This is where the market, town hall and hospital is.

  

Love how this town has the mix of old and new architecture and culture. Even with the presence of Supermarches, the traditional fromageries, boulangeries, charcuteries and poissonneries are still very much visited by the locals.

The Student asked me what is signature about Orsay, and I say this bridge.

The mairie of Orsay

Taking a rest before our walk back home

Landed In Gif-sur-Yvette, France

6th February 2012, Monday

06:00: Touched down at Charles De Gaulle.
07:00: Cleared the customs, no trouble at all.
08:00: A very helpful taxi driver,got us into Supélec, Résidence 3, after a few rounds around the campus.



His Taxi has got a sunroof too! Still wondering what the lighted "C" stands for.

We've arrived!










A decision well made to bring our flight forward by a day, hundred of flights were affected from the strike!
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2012-02-08/Hundreds-of-flights-canceled-in-French-strike/53007548/1

As we exit the peripheral of Paris, we were greeted by plains of white snow. This is the place that we'll call home for now.

View of the carpark infront of our block (8am)

Seems like it snowed the night before, the cars were covered with a fresh layer of snow.

View from our room's window

I was impressed by the cleanliness of the room, not a speck of dust on top of high cabinets. Mais, très petit kitchen!

Unfortunately, we'll not be able to drive the car before we exchange for a French license. A little handicapped to get groceries and sundries, and our calling cards.

Our 1st grocery shopping 

It was really kind of Leonard to drive us to Les Ulis for grocery shopping, we'll be able to hibernate for a few days in this cold weather at least. 

On the 2nd day, we tried taking bus 269.02 from Le Moulon to Les Ulis. Ended up stranded in Orsay, as the last bus departs from Les Ulis at 6pm and not 9pm! So we SOS-ed Leonard, while waiting, we decided to grab a bite at Orsay-Osaka Restaurant (its the only place there to seek shelter from the cold). 

I thought the place is rather queer, Japanese restaurant with Thai decor? And the boss does not seem to speak Japanese either. Thanks to Cantonese, we communicated somehow, and found out that he is actually a Cambodian Chinese migrant. He shared that no sane Japanese will open a restaurant in Orsay! If you ask me what's nice about this place, their service is FABULOUS! The boss was so kind to drive us back to the hostel, otherwise, Straits Times headlines may have "2 Singaporeans frozen in the streets of Orsay" amidst the weather reports of Europe's cold streaks! So, this restaurant is a must-try if you come by Orsay.

3rd day at Supélec. 

After getting lost, we decided it's best to stay put and take pictures before winter leaves us.

The campus comprise of 4 buildings. 1 main building with offices and classrooms, and 3 buildings for residence. Our block consists of studios, specially for couples and individuals needing their own bathroom and kitchen. Small place, only takes 3mins' walk to the main building.