Nogent Le Rotrou- Home Sweet Home?

My street
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I have been living in Nogent Le Rotrou for over a month, and I now feel I can finally and confidently describe the town as a true resident, rather than a jet-lagged, discontented American. However, although the town and I have shaken hands and cordially but slowly become accustomed to each other, there are still bits of Nogent’s personality that pop out and surprise me on a daily basis. Nogent le Rotrou has definitely inherited France’s sense of humor (some people call it culture), and it is not lacking in quirky oddities, but then again, most would agree neither am I.

My Street
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Place St. Pol

We dubbed it the Bee-langerie, and now refrain from buying goodies there for fear of a rabid bee with a sugar high popping out of a pain aux chocolate mid-bite!

Nogent le Rotrou, is a series of small winding roads that spread out starburst-like from the city center: Place St. Pol. Place St. Pol is a stately square with a large white municipal building, adorned in fancy flowerboxes, a couple of gurgling fountains, two supermarkets (that happen to be conveniently next door to each other), a one-screen cinema that shows four movies a week (changing the lineup every Wednesday) and a handful of bars and restaurants that take all their pleasure in life in confusing patrons. How do they confuse patrons you ask? Well, each bar and restaurant in Place St. Pol makes their own hours- meaning you never know when the heck they are going to be open. I have decided they make their own hours to amuse themselves. What is more entertaining than to see the shock and awe on people’s faces when they happen upon a bar that is actually open, or one that has decided close early for kicks and giggles- keeps us thrill seekers on our toes. The bars sometimes close at 8, or, if feeling quite generous, they will entertain pods of local night-owls until 10.

Place St. Pol
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Place St. Pol also has a free public toilet (a rare commodity in Europe) and a large phone booth that smells as if it has been used as a public toilet. Place St. Pol is overall quite lovely and I usually have to walk through its epicenter each day to find a surrounding store, bank, restaurant or boulangerie.

Manger

Nogent le Rotrou has 3 types of restaurant: a boulangerie, a pizzeria, or kebab. A boulangerie is a traditional French bakery, specializing in baguettes, pastries, and sometimes lunch items- usually something eggy like a quiche or omelette. French people love bread. It is not just a stereotype, well actually it is, but this one is based on fact. The first week I was here I was amused and fascinated by how many little old ladies were walking around town with long thin baguettes. At first I thought, maybe they use them as a walking stick if they are having a hard time up a hill or to beat away stray dogs or unruly children, but then I realized that old men, young men, young women, kids, babies, and once a donkey, all carried baguettes. They buy them fresh for lunch. They buy them fresh for dinner. They buy them for snacks. Baguettes are carried as an accessory like a handbag or umbrella. I think if France ever ran out of baguettes, the earth would come to a complete halt and we would all fly into the deep dark abyss of space. Flour to France- STAT.

Pedestrian rue off Place St. Pol
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One of the most amusing boulangeries is just off Place St. Pol. The first time I went in, I noticed an enormous, bulbous bumble bee rolling around in the candy case. It would dart in and out of the candy, getting a sugary fix and disappear under various bonbons. It was a very happy bee. I thought it a bit bizarre, but I shrugged it off. The next time we went in to buy a small pastry tasty, I realized there were two more bees in the main case. My friend kindly pointed out to the owner there were a slew of bees buzzing around the chausson pommes and éclairs and she waived it off saying, “It’s hot, we have sugary things, bees are attracted to sugar.” Umm. Ok. If you say so, thank you Madam Wizard, we meant it was odd to have bees molesting your pastries. Well, thinking third time’s the charm we went in once more. That time, it had at least six new residents and a bee actually flew out from under the lovely pastry I had been eyeing, and I realized, this probably isn’t the best place to buy a snack. We dubbed it the Bee-langerie, and now refrain from buying goodies there for fear of a rabid bee with a sugar high popping out of a pain aux chocolate mid-bite!

Orangina! Avec Pulpe!
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If the people of Nogent did not have bread, they would happily eat pizza. There are literally more pizzerias in Nogent le Rotrou than there are people. I believe there are around 12,000 people living in Nogent le Rotrou, and there are at least 12,001 pizzerias. Not to mention the Italian restaurants that serve pizza. But I guess it is a natural evolution for the French, being as pizza is at its root just bread and cheese, but I wouldn’t have expected it. The pizzas are excellent, the are about 10 inches in diameter, with a very thin and crispy crust, fresh cheese, fresh toppings (sometimes including things that scream FRENCH like a fried egg or fresh cream).

Donkey for Sale. His name is Pepe and he loves stale Baguettes!
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One of my newfound favorite meals is traditionally considered the “Wataburger” of Europe, mainly because it is open at all hours and serves intoxicated people greasy sandwiches. But being that it is a new and wonderful experience for me, I would have to say Kebabs are on the top of the list for newfound fun. It consists of a soft baguette- similar to something you may find at Subway, but ten times better, salad, a mystery meat that is shaved off a roasting stick, mayo, hot sauce, and fries right on top. The word on the street though is that the Kebabs in France are much better than they are in England or the U.S. Lucky me. Sadly though, we only have three mid-quality Kebab restaurants in Nogent le Rotrou, but that is intimately better than none, especially when you can get a Kebab and soda for 5 euro on a Sunday night when nothing else is open.

Smallest washers on Earth, but will fit an amazing amount of clothing inside- Like clowns in a volkswagon!
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The lack of variety in restaurants really doesn’t affect me. Why, you may ask… because I have Guy (pronounced Geeeee). Guy is the lively resident chef extraordinaire at Arsène Meunier (the college where I live) and I believe his entire goal in life is to please me- or so I have convinced myself. With a crooning French song and a spring in his step he masterminds delectable dishes daily- medleys of France and hard evidence that the French are allowed to be as cuisine-centric as they please, because it never fails to be amazing.

Church behind my home. It has many bells. Many bells very early.
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Persons

There is a blatant generational gap in Nogent Le Rotrou. There are five elementary schools, three middle schools, one high school, and the closest university is in Tours- about 100 kilometers to the south. Therefore, there are children, people under the age of 18, middle-aged, and elderly. You rarely find people between the ages of 18 and 30, and if you do, they work here, but do not live here. Most of the people my age I have met are teachers or workers living in other (usually larger) areas. The younger people that do live in Nogent le Rotrou full-time have moved back after a stint in Paris or larger metropolis to settle down in the ‘country’ or their hometown and have children to populate the 5 elementary schools (four of which I work in.)

Bell tower...it has bells.
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Although there is an obvious lack of people my age, I still find the people of Nogent le Rotrou to be charming and amusing. Everyone I have encountered has been generous and patient, curious and tolerant. Although some accept and tolerate me better than others, no one I have met has been blatantly rude or outwardly judgmental. What they say when I walk away is their business. They are innately curious and that curiosity tends to be stronger than whatever assumptions they have about my character or my country. I think they also understand that I am here because I am curious and in that, we immediately find something in common (or it could just be that I look constantly lost and just a bit pathetic.)

If I had to describe the people of Nogent Le Rotrou physically, I would have to say, for the lack of a better description, they are… normal. I was pleased to find all shapes and sizes here, and even though there is a distinctive style about them, they are more like Americans in physical appearance than I expected- short, tall, dark, fair, jeans and sneakers. Of course there is a factual basis for the stereotypical physique of the French- slender, petite, and athletic, especially when describing the younger men. The men here are significantly smaller than American men, they are wiry, and lithe, and seem to be perpetually attached to a loud two-wheeled motor vehicle, moped, motorcycle, Vespa, you name it.

The older ladies in town are especially interesting. As they age, they all seem to be steadily going square. Square? No not square as in strange, even though some of them probably are, but square like the shape. Boxy. Ok, yes, I agree, square is better than round, touché. But with the elderly ladies in Nogent le Rotrou, it is as if they go to sleep on the night of their 64^th birthday, and wake up 65 years old… and square. They all wear black or brown knee-length skirts, nude knee-high stockings, black or brown nurse shoes and an oversized black or brown thigh-length overcoat with massive shoulder pads- hence the quadrangle shape. They are also about a foot shorter than other women, totter about on ankleless legs, and highly enjoy staring at the freakish foreigners- there are only three of us, so they must get an eyeful when they can. But in general, they are pleasant, very active, and usually only stare for a couple of minutes without blinking. I think of the wonderful stories their memories hold, but it is hard not to imagine the same for each of them. They have a strange kind of uniformity, so much that you can actually tell which of the older ladies are from Paris or from another part of the country because they may have on boots, or pants, and are gallantly fighting the loosing battle of the square.

I also find myself constantly surrounded by teachers. I live in a school, eat with teachers, work with teachers, and socialize with mostly teachers or friends of teachers, and luckily, thanks to my mother being a teacher, I am naturally comfortable around teachers. The teachers are funny, passionate and enthusiastic, and have been a real asset to getting used to the daily life and culture of Nogent Le Rotrou, and although I feel like I am becoming acclimated, I know I still have a long way to go before I really feel a part of the community. I hope to join an art class or volunteer to make new friends and contribute to the town, but for now I will continue to explore and share my impression of Nogent Le Rotrou and France with you, internet access allowing.