“I’m going to Bordeaux this weekend,” I tell my students.
“You go where?”
“I’m going to Bordeaux.”
“What is Bordeaux?”
“Bordeaux. Don’t you know Bordeaux?”
After a bit of trouble, I realize that they don’t understand my accent. This is a hard word to pronounce.
“Bordeaux,” they correct me with a French ‘R’.
“BoRKH-deaux,” I repeat. They all laugh.
“That is a good job,” they tell me between giggles.
“Your English isn’t so hot either,” I remind them. They don’t understand and we move on.
We had Monday off for Easter. It was just a regular weekend for me because I never work on Wednesdays, but my friends were all off so they wanted to travel. We decided we would go to BoRKH-deaux. I wasn’t interested in buying train tickets, though, and I had always wanted to try hitchhiking. I asked Krista if she’d be interested in hitching too, and so off we went. It was a fine experience. We took a bus out to a roundabout that had an exit towards Bordeaux, put a sign in the air, and waved our thumbs around until someone picked us up. We never had to wait more than 20 minutes. Actually, we ran into some guy that Krista knew and he drove us half way to Nantes, stopping at La Rochelle. Four different people picked us up and all were friendly. One guy even asked me to send him a message when we get to Bordeaux so he can know that we got there safely.
Antoine called us while we were eating lunch in La Rochelle to tell us that he was passing through at the time, so we just rode the rest of the way with him. OK, so we didn’t complete the entire ride. We tried it, though, and it was fun.
But I felt like a real loser when we arrived in Bordeaux and met our couchsurfing host, Mathieu. He had been hitchhiking all over the world for years, working odd jobs along the way and setting up tents on the side of the road while in transit. He’d even hitchhiked on boats around the Caribbean up into Florida. This guy was crazy in the coolest of ways. We all got to know each other over some drinks at his house before going out to do a bit of sightseeing and to meet the others (Marco, Teresa, Ivana and their host). We found a bar that appeared closed on the outside but actually stayed open all night. I’ve never seen this in Nantes. We got back at 6am and slept until noon.
The next day we did a bit more of sightseeing and snuck around some closed off ruins of a castle, because we are hoodlums. We ate, drank, and went out again with the others. Instead of staying out all night this time, though, we decided to come back for a late night snack and watched a movie together. I fell asleep in between Krista and a bearded Mathieu. When I woke up, I was only next to the bearded man. He invited me to continue sleeping as he went to the store to buy some bread for our breakfast. I obliged. After having a traditional French breakfast, Mathieu explained to us that something crazy had happened in his yard. We were all curious. “I saw a bunch of rabbits in my yard this morning,” he said. “Like 12 of those damn things. They were jumping around and then they hid and turned into chocolate. It was so crazy. You know I’m an animist, so we need to find these spirits in my yard.” This was adorable and hilarious. We went on an easter egg hunt and eventually found a dozen chocolate bunnies that had been hidden throughout the garden. They were delicious.
We walked around Bordeaux for a bit, trying in vain to find the others but discovering interesting areas along the way. We eventually got hungry and bought food for a picnic, which we had along the river in front of Place de la Bourse. This is a beautiful scene. On one side you have the river, and on the other side a stunning plaza reflecting off a water mirror. Couples, families, and the occasional juggler are scattered along the grass enjoying the perfect weather. Many are picnicking with their bottle of wine and baguette. Many others are rollerblading along the river. We all ate and laughed together, and I thought of how lucky I am. A friend of mine said it: “Fuck, you have the best life right now.” I have to agree. I realized at that picnic that my time was coming to an end and we’d all be saying goodbye soon. This part of my life will soon be behind me, and I may never have anything like it again. I felt a bit like Xavier in l’Auberge Espagnole, only without the beautiful French girlfriend.
On the way back, we stopped at a secluded beach near La Rochelle. We walked around and watched the sun set before returning to Nantes.
I only have 3 days left here before I leave for 2 weeks of vacation, and then another 4 days before my contract is over. While I’m happy to see my family, I’m really going to miss this.
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