EXPLAINING THIS BLOG

I created this blog in 2010 to prepare a group of Université Inter-Ages en Dauphiné (UIAD, Grenoble France) students for a trip to the American West.  At the same time, students, families and friends who stayed in France were able to take the trip also, "traveling" in front of their computers, discovering a little something every day about this magnificent place.  The key to this blog is in its organization.  You need to return to January 1st, 2010 Day 1, which explains the blog that then follows our itinerary.  You click Blog Archive 2010 to choose a month/a day to look for a particular part of our trip that you might be interested in.  Some of the links are no longer available, but I hope that you can find pleasure in reminiscing about this trip which you may have done yourself, or that it can be of some help in preparing your trip to this part of the USA.
Bons souvenirs or Bon Voyage!
Jane Baile

131 (D-0) [Day 16 = Day 1] La boucle est bouclée! BON VOYAGE!

131 (D-0) We're on our way! To be with us, you can start reading this blog again, beginning at January 1st, Day 1!

Day 16 = Day 1

"La boucle est bouclée." = Difficult to translate; perhaps "We've come full circle."

...in the preparation. Now it's time to discover what we've learned and share it with everyone when we return.

Bon Voyage to the group of travelers!

Calamity Jane!

130 (D-1) CALIFORNIA HERE WE COME

130 (D-1) THE BLOG ENDS:

I left my heart in San Francisco (Tony Bennett)


http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Kee9xdQbQ4s&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=ryF9p-nqsWw&feature=related

The loveliness of Paris
Seems somehow sadly gay
The glory that was Rome
Is of another day
I've been terribly alone
And forgotten in Manhattan
I'm going home to my city by the bay.

I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me.
To be where little cable cars
Climb halfway to the stars!
The morning fog may chill the air
I don't care!
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco,
Your golden sun will shine for me!

OUR TRIP BEGINS:

California Here I Come

(Old-fashioned: Lucille Ball)
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=YK0gLBqRIG0&feature=related

(Modern: Phantom Planet)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asiyu-wnYOo&feature=related

AMERICA: This is where we are going TOMORROW:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YYzIWTE1L4&feature=related

BON VOYAGE à ceux qui partent et j'espère que ceux qui ne partent pas avec nous ont aimé ce long voyage (131 jours!) par internet! (Don't forget to look at the blog tomorrow, 131 (D-0)!


Calamity Jane, signing off. It's time to go and pack my bags!

129 (D-2) Calamity Jane / almost time to sign off

129 (D-2) Calamity Jane

One more day to go! (and we don't need to worry about the ash cloud...do we?)

Just a quick word to tell you all how much I have enjoyed preparing this blog and I do hope everyone has found bits and pieces of interesting things...even if we don't remember everything!

Jane ...Calamity Jane!

_________________

Martha Jane Cannary Burke, better known as Calamity Jane (May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903), was a frontierswoman and professional scout. Her reputation comes from fighting Native American Indians and from her relationship with Wild Bill Hickok (fact or fiction?). She was a woman who exhibited kindness and compassion towards others, especially the sick and needy. This contrast helped to make her a famous and infamous frontier figure.

Read more at http://www.essortment.com/all/calamityjanebi_rdal.ht

And watch and listen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=086qObheBDE

You can also listen to some songs about her:

1. A new song (April 2010) by Camélia Jordana: Calamity Jane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6HOCjvZMQ4&feature=related

Tant de vallées, de prairies, de rivières
Et la joie des plaines
La chance, la déveine

J’ai croisé des cactus, des coyotes
Des roulottes à la chaîne
Et des fantômes à la pelle

J’ai dévalé tous les mondes
Mes bottes foulaient la poussière
De bonheurs et de peines

J’ai bravé cent dangers
Traversé les terres chères aux Cheyennes
J’en ai déçu des Sioux même

Calamity Jane (x4)
Calamity Jane (x4)

J’ai tant laissé derrière moi
Abandonné mon coeur au désert
Soumis mon corps aux tempêtes

J’ai misé sur demain
J’ai flambé mes dollars au poker
J’ai tout brûlé mes amulettes

J’en ai pisté des canailles,
Des terreurs, la nuit à cheval
Sous la chaleur sans éventail

J’ai croisé des prêcheurs, des païens,
Des hommes sans lois ni armes
Et un héros sans défauts, sans faille
Que j’aime

Calamity Jane (x4)
Calamity Jane (x4)

Tant de vallées, de prairies, de rivières
Et la joie des plaines,
La chance, la déveine

Si le ciel me faisait des cadeaux
Rêvés d’une vie nouvelle
Sans hésiter je revivrai la mienne

Calamity Jane (x4)
Calamity Jane (x4)
Calamity Jane (x4)

2. The film with Doris Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXSkVK4sFLQ (trailer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yv8deMXZqY&feature=related (photos from film)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_Lksad4usI&feature=related (first 9 minutes of the film)

3. Another song by Alain Bashung: La Ballade de Calamity Jane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKlKBLioYX8

http://sites.radiofrance.fr/chaines/france-culture2/emissions/acr/fiche.php?diffusion_id=71823

128 (D-3) California State Song

128 (D-3) California State Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOFw5M7EPgo&feature=related (1913)

I Love You, California

I.

I love you, California, you're the greatest state of all.

I love you in the winter, summer, spring and in the fall.

I love your fertile valleys; your dear mountains I adore.

I love your grand old ocean and I love her rugged shore.

Chorus

Where the snow-crowned Golden Sierras

Keep their watch o'er the valleys bloom,

It is there I would be in our land by the sea,

Every breeze bearing rich perfume.

It is here nature gives of her rarest. It is Home Sweet Home to me,

And I know when I die I shall breathe my last sigh

For my sunny California.

II.

I love your red-wood forests - love your fields of yellow grain.

I love your summer breezes and I love your winter rain.

I love you, land of flowers; land of honey, fruit and wine.

I love you, California; you have won this heart of mine.

III.

I love your old gray Missions - love your vineyards stretching far.

I love you, California, with your Golden Gate ajar.

I love your purple sunsets, love your skies of azure blue.

I love you, California; I just can't help loving you.

IV.

I love you, Catalina, you are very dear to me.

I love you, Tamalpais, and I love Yosemite.

I love you, Land of Sunshine, Half your beauties are untold.

I loved you in my childhood, and I'll love you when I'm old.

127 (D-4) All Things American / Which one isn't?

1.These are American:

Baseball

Tailgating

Pick-up trucks

Cowboy boots

Stars and stripes

Hollywood

Apple Pie

Rock & Roll

Faded jeans

State fairs

Hot dogs

Independence

Rodeos

Superheroes

Country roads

2. Look at the photos. Which one is not American?

Jane

126 (D-5) A little practical information: TIME / MONEY / TEMPERATURE

126 (D-5) Some practical information.

1. TIME: You remember that there are 9 hours difference between Grenoble and Los Angeles. They are 9 hours BEHIND us. Their workday begins when ours finishes. So, that means when we arrive at 16h (4 p.m.) local time, it will in fact for our weary bodies be 1 a.m. the following day. So we'll probably go straight to bed as soon as we arrive at the hotel!

____________________________

2. MONEY: Today's rate of exchange shows that $1 = 78 euro centimes.

If we round off the number to 0.75 we can remember that, roughly:

DOLLARS

$1 = .75 €

$2 = 1.50 €

$3 = 2.25 €

$4 = 3.00 €

$5 = 3.75 €

$6 = 4.50 €

$7 = 5.25 €

$8 = 6.00 €

$9 = 6.75 €

$10 = 7.50 €

COINS: (again, approximately)

5 cents (a nickel) = 4 centimes

10 cents (a dime) = 8 centimes

25 cents (a quarter) = 20 centimes

50 cents (a half dollar) = 40 centimes

_________________________________

3. TEMPERATURE

Celsius / Fahrenheit

10°C = 50°F

11°C = 51.8°F

12°C= 53.6°F

13°C = 55.4°F

14°C = 57.2F

15°C = 59°F

16°C = 60.8°F

17°C = 62.6°F

18°C = 64.4°F

19°C = 66.2°F

20°C = 68°F

21°C = 69.8°F

22°C = 71.6°F

23°C = 73.4°F

24°C = 75.2°F

25°C = 77°F

26°C = 78.8°F

27°C = 80.6°F

28°C = 82.4°F

29°C = 84.2°F

30°C = 86°F

STOP!

Jane

125 (D-6) Exercises...for speaking!

125 (D-6) Articulation exercises! Have fun!

What a riot! What a scream!

Go get a mirror! (Why?)

The solution to all your pronunciation problems! Start practicing! Click on the video or at this site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Vlk1CZBbQ

VOCABULARY:

What a riot! What a scream! = This is hilarious! (acceptable slang)

Jane

124 (D-7) How do you know you are in San Francisco?

124 (D-7) One week to go!

YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN SAN FRANCISCO WHEN...

-Your co-worker tells you she/he has 8 body piercings but none are visible.

- You earn over $100,000 and still can't afford a house.

- You take a bus and are shocked at two people having a conversation in English!

- You can't remember ... is pot illegal?

- You have a very strong opinion where your coffee beans are grown and can taste the difference between Sumatra and Ethiopian.

- A really great parking space can move you to tears.

- You are thinking of taking an adult education class, but you can't decide between a Yoga, Channeling or Building Your Web Site class.

- You realize the only Republicans you know are your Aunt and Uncle in Georgia.

-You know that anyone wearing shorts in June is just visiting from OHIO.

Jane

__________________________

VOCABULARY:

--can't afford = you don't have enough money to buy something

--pot = marijuana

--move you to tears = makes you very emotional; makes you cry

--channeling = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_channelled_texts

123 (D-8) American Accent / L'Accent!

123 (D-8) Listen. I couldn't have said it better myself!

(OR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7kU3a8-Bck )

Go to the next American Accent lesson after listening to Fernandel.

One more lesson for you. It's MY American accent and I am as proud of it as Fernandel is of his Provençal accent!

What a pity! We can no longer watch this video. Sorry. (17.06.10)

You can listen to the poem here: *

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNarSZjPn8

Jane

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwgEY2JJXV8 )

« De L’Accent! De L’Accent! Mais après tout en ai-je?
Pourquoi cette faveur? Pourquoi ce privilège?
Et si je vous disais après tout, gens du Nord,
Que c'est vous qui pour nous semblez l'avoir très fort
Que nous disons de vous, du Rhône à la Gironde,
"Ces gens là n'ont pas le parler de tout le monde!"
Et que, tout dépendant de la façon de voir,
Ne pas avoir L’Accent, pour nous, c'est en avoir...

Eh bien non ! je blasphème! Et je suis las de feindre!
Ceux qui n'ont pas d'accent, je ne puis que les plaindre!
Emporter de chez soi les accents familiers,
C'est emporter un peu sa terre à ses souliers,
Emporter son accent d'Auvergne ou de Bretagne,
C'est emporter un peu sa lande ou sa montagne!
Lorsque, loin du pays, le cœur gros, on s'enfuit,

L’Accent? Mais c'est un peu le pays qui vous suit!
C'est un peu, cet accent, invisible bagage,
Le parler de chez soi qu'on emporte en voyage!
C'est pour les malheureux à l'exil obligés,
Le patois qui déteint sur les mots étrangers!

Avoir L’Accent enfin, c'est, chaque fois qu'on cause, Parler de son pays en parlant d'autre chose!...
Non, je ne rougis pas de mon fidèle accent!
Je veux qu'il soit sonore, et clair, retentissant!
Et m'en aller tout droit, l'humeur toujours pareille,
En portant mon accent sur le point de l'oreille!
Mon accent! Il faudrait l'écouter à genoux!
Il nous fait emporter la Provence avec nous,
Et fait chanter sa voix dans tous mes bavardages
Comme chante la mer au fond des coquillages!
Ecoutez! En parlant, je plante le décor
Du torride Midi dans les brumes du Nord!
Mon accent porte en soi d'adorables mélanges
D'effluves d'orangers et de parfum d'oranges;
Il évoque à la fois les feuillages bleu-gris
De nos chers oliviers aux vieux troncs rabougris,
Et le petit village où les treilles splendides
Éclaboussent de bleu les blancheurs des bastides!
Cet accent-là, mistral, cigale et tambourin,
A toutes mes chansons donne un même refrain,
Et quand vous l'entendez chanter dans mes paroles
Tous les mots que je dis dansent la farandole! »

122 (D-9) What they said about San Francisco

122 (D-9) Read one or two; read them all: you choose.

Georges Pompidou said : This city is remarkable not only for its beauty. It is also, of all the cities in the United States, the one whose name, the world over, conjures up the most visions, and more than any other, incites one to dream.

Mikhail Gorbachev said: You are fortunate to live here. If I were your President, I would levy a tax on you for living in San Francisco!

Robert Kennedy said: I love this city. If I'm elected, I will move the White House to San Francisco.

William Saroyan, author, said: No city invites the heart to come to life as San Francisco does. Arrival in San Francisco is an experience in living.... San Francisco itself is art, above all literary art. Every block is a short story, every hill a novel.

Edward Duke Ellington said: San Francisco is one of the great cultural plateaus of the world ~ one of the really urbane communities in the United States~ one of the truly cosmopolitan places and for many, many years, it always has had a warm welcome for human beings from all over the world.

Gary Snyder, poet and essayist said: I don't know of any other city where you can walk through so many culturally diverse neighborhoods.

Benjamin F. Taylor said: San Francisco is a city where people are never more abroad than when they are at home.

Joe Flower said: Somehow the great cities of America have taken their places in a mythology that shapes their destiny: Money lives in New York. Power sits in Washington. Freedom sips Cappuccino in a sidewalk cafe in San Francisco.

H.L. Mencken said: What fetched me instantly (and thousands of other newcomers with me) was the subtle but unmistakable sense of escape from the United States.

John Steinbeck said: While others were being a lost generation in Paris, I fledged in San Francisco, climbed its hills. slept in its parks, worked on its docks, marched and shouted in its revolts. It had been home to me in the days of my poverty...

Rudyard Kipling said: San Francisco has only one drawback. 'Tis hard to leave.... It's a mad city, inhabited by perfectly insane people whose women are of remarkable beauty.

Norman Mailer, author, said: San Francisco is a lady.

Jane

VOCABULARY: You can do it; just click here at:

http://www.wordreference.com

http://www.thefreedictionary.com