Weekend Avec Les Mannequins

This will be my best attempt of describing an event that's slowly fading and being replaced by a rapidly increasing amount of memories, which is why I'm thankful to have had my camera with me - on the second day.

Saturday was the first day of the défilé, which can directly translate to a parade, but the French say it in reference to a fashion show as well.  So anyway, my friend Marion (are you starting to remember names? or is this like the first post you've read...well she's my co worker's daughter who invited me to the first party I went to here, the first person my age I met) picked me up at my house with her friend Thibaut who also knows Alexandre (my friend who was modeling that weekend).

We drove out to a smallish city which is really close to the Rhône river, which runs through Ardèche (the region I live in, for you n00bies), to go to the site of the show, which resembled the ball room of the old community center in Richland.  There were several different booths for people who specialized in providing different things for weddings : meats, candies, music, bounce houses, photographers, hair stylists, jewelers, and even a guy with a horse and cart!

Basically it was a place for people to come who were planning on getting married, and then the wedding dresses and suits that were being modeled were a kindof a special attraction at the end of each day. Actually, there were two per day.  One in the afternoon and one a few hours later, each one lasting about 50 minutes.  There were two different stores, each with their own set of models, who took turns modeling their own song, one store after another.

Those who were modeling for the same store as Alex were: Guillemette (who I met previously), Océane, Charlène, Annabelle, Laurie, and Céline.  The last one was the only girl I didn't actually meet.

We stayed for both of the shows that day, and then later that night Thibaut and Marion headed back to Annonay while the rest of us went out to eat at a buffet-style restaurant.  That's where I ate my first tartiflette - a big mixture of potatoes, cream, ham, and cheese.  I also took a giant slice of crêpes stacked on each other and layered with creme and raspberries because I'm a big fatty.
After dinner we were planning on going to a discothèque, but it was still pretty early, and since we were gonna wait for Océane to join us anyway we drove up to this great lookout point over the city and watched a movie called "Bienvenue Chez Les Chti's (Welcome To The Home Of The Chti's."

It's a movie about a guy who is made to move from Marseilles to Beurges (from the very south to the very north) to work as the director of a post office.  The movie pokes fun at the stereotypes of the Northern French, especially the 'Chti's,' French people with a thick accent, so "ça va?" sounds like "sha va?"  Even though I didn't understand all of it, I did get most of it, even with the accent!  It was hilarious, easily one of my favorite movies.

Anyway, after the movie we drove out to the discothèque "Le Cube" and met up with Océane there.  It was pretty sweet, but there weren't a whole ton of people there.  Maybe a hundred?  With your ticket into the club you get a drink ticket, which I thought was pretty cool.  I don't know if it's like that everywhere, but I don't really get out much...so...

The DJ who we were listening to when we showed up was pretty good, but then the featured DJ took over after about an hour and it was some Jamaican guy and his posse who were stuck in the techno of like 10-20 years ago, so after like half an hour of lame music and the Jamaican rapping poorly we left.  It seemed a little pricey for how long we stayed, but it was still fun!  We all headed back home around 3:30ish I think. Because the weather still wasn't that great on Saturday, I hadn't brought my camera, so unfortunately there aren't any pictures from that day.

The next day was pretty similar, except it was just me and Thibaut who went to support Alex and our new model friends. After the shows Alex, Thibaut, Guillemette, Laurie, and I all went out to dinner at La Paille Courte (The Short Straw), where I ordered the house special - a type of sausage, with the house sauce - a type of mustard, along with a piece of chocolate cake.  Thibaut is super generous and paid for everyone's meal which makes him one of the best people ever.  We all said our goodbyes and headed back home, thus officially marking the end of my 26 day vacation!