So i'm home now and happily settled in to life in my house. In fact it's been something like 4 months since I should have made this post, so excuse my bad memory!
Since the last entry finished around the 1st of January I thought i'd better do a quick (yes, very quick this time...i can hear those sighs of relief!) catch-up of my last few weeks in France, so here goes...
Tuesday 2nd January:
Unfortunately I have very little memory of this day at all...i'm guessing we slept in really late, had lunch, and then just relaxed all afternoon, but I seriously don't remember, sorry.
Wednesday 3rd January:
Because our students had to start working on their holiday homework (which is nothing compared to our holiday homework I can assure you!), Simone, Monique, Issy, Mia and I (I think that was it) met at 10 to spend the day in Montpellier, shopping, eating and, for Mia and Issy, taking photos. All morning we walked around, visiting various shops and just wandering a lot. Generally I think we just spent the afternoon walking around, doing some shopping, not much really.
Friday 5th January:
Alix and I went out on Friday night with some of her class, who we met in Montpellier. Mia and Issy were there as well, with their correspondents and some others. We wandered around Montpellier and failed to get into anywhere we wanted to go. We spent some time in a games room and then we split up, some of us going back to one of the French peoples houses, some of the others going to a bar I think. I slept over at Mia's correspondents place.
Saturday 6th January:
In the afternoon I met Enzo and we walked around and did some shopping. We visited his flat briefly and I met his mum, who was quite nice. We had a coffee or hot chocolate or something at a cute cafe that was, incidently, just around the corner from Simone's home.
Sunday 7th January:
All I remember about this day is that Isabelle and Cynthia were leaving for Rome. I might have gone somewhere with Alix and he mum, i'm not sure!
Monday 8th Jan:
Back to school for our very last week! It was scary and sad to think we only had one week left before we were on our way home! The last week wasn't our most enjoyable as we were all running out of money and desperately rushing around trying to buy presents and do last minute things. We didn't attend that many classes either.
Tuesday 9th Jan:
I'm not sure if it was this day or tuesday last week but Alix and I went to see Hollywoodland with Eleonore and Remy at the old cinema that showed films in their original version (in other words it was in English!, with french subtitles). It was really good, and those cinemas were so cute! They looked like they were half way through a refurbishment or makeover, but I liked the way they were, like a run-down version of some of Melbourne's art-house cinemas.
Wednesday 10th Jan:
It may or may not have been Wednesday, I'm not sure, but we all wanted to have lunch together (the aussies) so we walked around for a bit looking for somewhere. In the end we couldn't decide so Simone and I had lunch at a cute little creperie while the others went somewhere else. We both had a vegetarian crepe, which was very nice!
Thursday 11th Jan:
Madame Pacaud-Chaptal had invited us to attend one of her English classes in the Prepa today at 2:15. So we all went over there, not sure what it was going to be like. It was actually quite good though. We each introduced ourselves and they were able to ask questions, which they did a little, but shyly. Their english was quite good as they were older and were all focusing on English in their courses. They were all really nice.
On Thursday night we had our farewell night at the Lycee. We had all prepared our speeches and Madame Pacaud-Chaptal corrected them all after her class in the afternoon. Most of us stayed in the town between school and the night to do some more shopping. It took a while for all the families to arrive but once everyone was there we started. We sang the Advance Australia Fair at their request and they sang the La Marseillaise for us. Then we got on with the speeches. Each of us read our speech, with Simone's standing out as the longest and fastest! (no surprises there). We made sure we all thanked the teachers, the school and our families and correspondents. Some of the teachers made speeches too. A few people cried I think but not too many. The principle (I think) presented us with posters of Montpellier. I'm not sure where they are still! Then we tucked into the very cute yummy nibbles provided (and the orange juice!). There was the Bread Surprise things filled with little sandwiches, vegetarian pizza and very mini pastries. There was about 8 varieties of mini pastries, all beautifully presented and all very yummy! There was also some of the cake they eat with the little figures in it for the kids. Overally it was a lovely night. We went home and, to my suprise, had actual dinner a bit later. This was my last night with Alix's dad as he was going away hunting on Friday morning. His hunting friend came over and we had dinner. It was a nice meal and a happy time. I think that was the night I tried some French liqueur as well, something like Les Bois de Boulogne or something like that (or maybe not, I really don't remember). I said goodbye to Alix's dad that night but saw him again in the morning to say another goodbye.
Friday 12th Jan:
Jacques and I went to Sport (for the second or third time) as it was our last day at school. After sport we informed our class of this and I got two wonderful photos of our whole class on the courts below the running track. That day we had lunch with some of the students from Madame Pacaud-Chaptal's class from the day before. We walked to La Brioche Doree at the Polygone, bought sandwiches there and went back to eat them on the grass beside the lake out the front of the Lycee. We sat and chatted with some of the girls until we had to go. They were very nice and interested in Australia and Australian teenagers. One of the girls was obsessed with surfers!
That night we had organised for all the Aussies and their correspondents to go to dinner in the Place de la Comedie, at a cute pizza restaurant. Issy and Cynthia's correspodents came to I think. Alix was unable to come as she was babysitting her cousin/niece again, which was sad. We sat downstairs and had dinner, most of us (including me) forcing our way through a whole pizza each. They were really yummy though! Afterwards we decided to go to Haagen-Dazs for dessert but unfortunately it was closed. Instead we walked to the supermarket and bought 4 or 5 tubs of icecream (most Haagen-Dazs, one Marron) and some spoons and cups. So we ate Haagen-Dazs and walked through the Place de la Comedie making lots of noise and having lots of fun.
Saturday 13th Jan:
Our last full day and night. Jacques and I went to maths in the morning and then after maths (our last class! very sad) we said goodbye to the class, not sure if we would see them again. I then walked down to the market at Les Arceaux with Simone and bought my green stone pendant with the remains of my money. Unfortunately I didn't get to go to the Orangerie or the Jardin de Plantes, which was something I'd wanted to do the whole time! I was unhappy about that but I survived! In the afternoon I went back to Alix's mums place and cooked Choc Chip Cookies as a thankyou gift to them. They loved them, even if they were messy and looked like they wouldn't work at one point! It wasn't much but I hoped that those and some cards would be enough to express my thanks to them for hosting me for 6 weeks.
That night Alix and I again met her class and we went to the movies to see The Holiday. Even in French I got the idea that it was pretty bad and certainly afterwards most of the French students said they hadn't liked it much. Enzo came down to see me just before we went in to say goodbye as he couldn't come to the airport. After the movie, Mia and Thoma and Ashley met us the the class and them came back to Alix's dad's place. Charlotte wasn't there as she was in Paris with her mother where they were attending a prestigious ball! At home we hung around and ate and some people played playstation and cards. Ben played some piano too, which was nice. After a while people started leaving. Jacques and Manuel left, and Mia had to go home. Finally there was just Ashley, Ben, Alix and me left. The boys slept over as Alix's dad wasn't home. They left late the next morning and I had to get stuck into packing!
Sunday 14th January:
My very last day in France was a stressful and sad one unfortunately! Organised as I am (not) I hadn't started packing properly and I hadn't started burning photos onto cds so in the end I was rushing to do that all afternoon. The photos were a problem as neither of us really knew what we were doing, but we sort of worked it out. In the end only a few of the cds worked so I've sent over some cds for the others! Finally I was packed and ready to go. I didn't have dinner as our plane left around dinner time (French dinner time that is) and I wasn't hungry anyway. Alix's mum arrived to take us to the airport. She was late so it was a bit stressful but ok. She brought Eleonore with her but Eleonore wasn't coming to the airport so I had to say a quick goodbye to her. This was the first thing that made me cry, lol!
We got to the airport last, but it was ok as we had heaps of time to spare. We checked in as a group, but Jacques wasn't there as he'd spent his last day in Paris with his family and was meeting them there. Then we hung around in the small area below the staircase that takes you up to security checks. Montpellier airport is really quite small. We hung around for ages then took a heap of photos of families and all of us on the stairs. Madame Pacaud-Chaptal (I think, or maybe Madame Blanc) was there to see us off as well. We then moved to the top of the stairs and actually said our final farewells to our families and the others we knew (for me, Charlotte's mum Christine and Mireille's mum Claire). At this point Alix and I, and many of the others, started crying! Thus was the beginning of our trip home. As we went through security we could see the security staff laughing at our tears, and the people who checked our ticket as we went to board were amused as well. Finally we got on the plane and said goodbye to Montpellier.
The Flight:
The first flight was pretty short but we spent it discussing France and how much we wanted/didn't want to leave. Kasey read the letter her correspondent had given her and cried (possibly about someone else called Louis ; ) We arrived in Paris quite tired already and searched desperately for our flight. We went through security and found Jacques on the other side, already lining up for our flight. It was a relief to see him again but we didn't think we'd be sitting with him. Luckily we were thanks to a kind stranger. So the 6 of us boarded the longest leg of our flight, looking forward to dinner and a long sleep. Surprisingly The flights back were quite good and though the movies weren't great we enjoyed the flights. It was like we were stuck in a wonderful in-between - we'd left France behind but weren't yet back in Australia where homework and real-life troubles faced us. At Singapore we had a few hours spare so I blogged, and we walked around a bit, visiting the outdoors in the cactus garden. Simone had ice-cream and we spent the last of everyones money on lollies and chocolate for the last flight. We got some milka (strawberry yoghurt flavour!?!) and some nougat and other nibbles which we ate in the airport and during the flight. For this one Jacques was further up the plane but it didn't matter much as we mostly slept, watched movies and sat around. We visited Jacques a bit and shared out the chocolate. On one of the flights Mia and I checked out the overnight snacks and had some marina 2 minute noodles, which I ate (believe it or not) with chopsticks. I was quite proud.
Finally we landed in Melbourne. I don't know what the others felt but I was a bit numb and a bit sad. In the corridor we followed to the baggage collection area we stopped and considered a group photo. To our suprise (we were still in French mode) an Australian stranger behind us kindly offered to take our photo. We went down and collected our bags and went through customs (which was compulsory that day for some reason - the straight out bit was blocked off). We were all nervous about that...having followed our race-track lane we faced a happy aussie officer keen to make us feel very intimidated indeed (that's how it felt anyway). I got through ok but Simone had trouble with a massive tub of nutella!
Finally we gathered and made the rather short walk to the 'doors' and found our families waiting happily outside.
Just before school went back we found out we had to make a powerpoint (which we had been eagerly planing) for the first assembly. We converged at Mia's house one day and made crepes and put all our favourite photos together. It ended up being too long and the powerpoint, along with its soundtrack of 'Put on your balaclava' was cut short half-way through! But oh well! It was fun for us.
Monday, 22 January 2007
Monday, 15 January 2007
Back in Singapore again...
Hey everyone!
Here we are back in Singapore again, almost home now.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAM!!!
Sorry I couldn't say it earlier!
Man this is really hard...the keyboard is a normal aussie one and I can't type properly, i'm too used to the French version!
Can't be long because there's heaps of people who want the free internet. Flight has been fine so far, we've got an hour until we board for home now.
Jacques wasn't originally sitting with us on the flight from Paris but one guy sitting next to Kasey agreed to change as soon as Mia said 'we have this friend...' - how nice of him!
We were all pretty tired as we left at night, which was good because after dinner we could all sleep. The movies aren't very good but it's ok because we've got music and each other...
I'd better go so I guess i'll see you all soon (in fact probably before you read this for those coming to the airport).
Lots of love to everyone and a bientot,
Emma.
Here we are back in Singapore again, almost home now.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAM!!!
Sorry I couldn't say it earlier!
Man this is really hard...the keyboard is a normal aussie one and I can't type properly, i'm too used to the French version!
Can't be long because there's heaps of people who want the free internet. Flight has been fine so far, we've got an hour until we board for home now.
Jacques wasn't originally sitting with us on the flight from Paris but one guy sitting next to Kasey agreed to change as soon as Mia said 'we have this friend...' - how nice of him!
We were all pretty tired as we left at night, which was good because after dinner we could all sleep. The movies aren't very good but it's ok because we've got music and each other...
I'd better go so I guess i'll see you all soon (in fact probably before you read this for those coming to the airport).
Lots of love to everyone and a bientot,
Emma.
Thursday, 11 January 2007
Priceless gift-wrapping...
Sorry about the name of this message, but it only just occured to me to use it for the last message because Hors de Prix means Priceless (according to Enzo)...unfortunately I didn't use it last time qo I thought it's use it now!
It actually has nothing to do with this entry, which is about Crepes and Nimes!
Saturday 30th December, 2006:
I got out of bed around 11 or 11:30 this morning because I didn't have an alarm and Alix didn't get me up. I emerged to find the crepes already cooked, which I was a bit sad about because I would have liked to help cook them but such is life. I heated one up and had a quarter with jam, a quarter with butter, a quarter with nutella and a quarter with honey...every single bit was delicious!
After that I think I might have gone on the internet or done something before we had lunch about 1 or 2 pm. After lunch Francoise drove us to Nimes as Alix was going to take me sightseeing around Nimes. We went first to Alix's grandma's house then Alix and I left on foot. We walked to the gardens which are about 3 minutes from the grandma's house (on the top of one of the 7 hills of Nimes). There we visited La Tour Magne (Magne tower), a little Roman tower at the top of the gardens. We went inside and climbed the skinny sprial staircase to the top where you can look out across Nimes and the land beyond. It's truely incredible to be able to see so far from one little tower.
We then walked down through the garden...it's small but very beautiful with little paths going everyone, some wide for everyone and others smaller for the children, and all of it going down the hill. Near the bottom there was some massive Roman staircases and at the bottom of the gardens there is a large area of Roman baths, still in very good condition. They were magnnificent in that romanesque kind of way! The statues around them were very cool too.
We left the garden (where children can take pony rides or hire go carts) and walked through Nimes to Les Arenes (the Arenas), the huge Roman arena that used to be used for gladiators and is now used for bullfighting. We went inside and explored all the corridors around the edges then found our way into the seating area and climbed all the way to the top. At the top you can sit on the wall and look down the outside to the street far below. It's scary and very dangerous as there is no barrier...the stone seating just finishes...
We left there and walked to the Maison Carrere, which used to be a Roman temple or meeting place or something like that I think. Now you can only see the outside of the surviving building, which is beautiful, and inside you can watch a 22 minute movie about the heros of Nimes. We watched it. It's in 3D and it goes through all the different time periods and the brave people in each one. Surprise surprise all the brave people were guys. There was a gladiator, a knight or something, a soldier, some kind of religious revolutionary I think, and a bullfighter. And maybe some others as well. After that we walked around and considered going ice-skating on the outdoors ice-skating rink next to the Maison Carrere but we didn't as it was all little kids and they kept falling over! Instead we looked for something to eat. We went into the shopping centre of Nimes and there bought an entire bag of viennoiseries (mini sweet pattiseries). They were from the day before so were really cheap but they still tasted really good nonetheless. We ate them as we headed back home. We walked past the canels which are also totally cool. We went back up through the gardens (tiring!!!) and returned to Alix's grandma's house. By then it was 5:30 or 6 and at 6:30 Alix and I took the train (I think it was the fast train, the TGV) back to Montpellier. We went back to Alix's dad's house as Francoise was staying in Nimes. The train was dodgy as it was very crowded and Alix and I had to sit separately...but thanks to my ipod, I survived!
Sunday 31st December 2006:
Last day of 2006 and I spent half of it gift-wrapping at Casino supermarket. We were there for another 3 hours or something but made almost no money because no one gives gifts for New Years. It was odd. Turns out that one of the scouts (and Alix's best friend) is going to Senegal I think, this year, to build a library...sound familiar anyone? She's lucky to be able to actually go and help with the building though! How cool!
After the gift-wrappiung I think we just went home and hung around for a while until we started getting ready for our respective parties. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the party Alix was going to as the host said both of us couldn't sleep over but there was no way for us to get home so Alix organised for me to go with Charlotte (Mia's correspondent). That worked well because I was with Isabelle and Mia for the night. Around 8:00 or so we were picked up by Alix's neighbour Lucy's mum as Lucy was going to Alix's party as well. She dropped me at Charlotte's apartment in the centre where I met Charlotte, Mia, Aurore (Isabelle's correspondent) and Isabelle. We were going to Xavier's party which was a short walk from Charlotte's place but we hung around at Charlotte's for ages. They definietly took arriving fashionably late a bit too far as we arrived at the party around 9:30. That party was ok but we had to leave at around 11:15 as they had to clean up. We then returned to Charlotte's place and spent New Years there. It was pretty fun and it was good to spend it with Issy and Mia! I think Alix also had a good time at her party but she was in bed at 12!
I slept over at Charlotte's place and when we woke up the next morning Christine, Charlotte's mum, had searched all over town for the only open bakery and bought us all croissants for breakfast! How nice is that? So Isabelle, Mia, Charlotte, Aurore, Christine, Charlotte's brother and sister and I all sat down for breakfast which included croissants, brioche bread, breadstick, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, a large variety of spreads, Christmas cake that Mia had made in Australia and bought for her family, fruit juice and fruit! We ended up sitting at the table, the kitchen bench and in the study for probably 3 hours (we didn't get up until 10 or 11 am). At some point Alix and Lucy arrived to pick me up but then they sat down, had some food and started chatting too. Finally Alix, Lucy and I left around 1:30 or 2 pm and went back home. We didn't do much that afternoon...we had lunch and then relaxed, and then watched Les Infiltres (The Departed) on the computer. That was an experience I don't want to repeat...the film was good but pretty horrible! That night Alix and I met the others again and went bowling. It was Alix, Charlotte, Aurore, Matt, another guy, Mia, Issy and I. We played two games of bowling and I think I came 3rd and 4th or something. Aurore is a really good bowler and both the boys imrpoved a lot by the second game whilst Issy, Mia and I all went downhill!
Alix and I got home around 11 or 11:30 but we hadn't had dinner beforehand and there wasn't any food at bowling so we were starving. We made some toast and had that with ham and butter and had some left over rice before going to bed.
That's all for now as it's time for bed. Oh yeah, we have internet again at home (woohoo!!!) so hopefully I will be online more often and be able to update this a few more times before I leave (on Sunday night - it's Wednesday night now).
In more recent news, the sales started today here and they are a big deal...most shops have things up to 50% off, some more. It's wonderful, I have already purchased a skirt on sale and hope to get a few more things before we leave! I also bought 20 postcards for my walls today...what can I say, the postcard shop here is incredible.
Tomorrow night is our official farewell so we all have to make a little speach which I have most certainly not finished writing...eek.
cya!
emma
It actually has nothing to do with this entry, which is about Crepes and Nimes!
Saturday 30th December, 2006:
I got out of bed around 11 or 11:30 this morning because I didn't have an alarm and Alix didn't get me up. I emerged to find the crepes already cooked, which I was a bit sad about because I would have liked to help cook them but such is life. I heated one up and had a quarter with jam, a quarter with butter, a quarter with nutella and a quarter with honey...every single bit was delicious!
After that I think I might have gone on the internet or done something before we had lunch about 1 or 2 pm. After lunch Francoise drove us to Nimes as Alix was going to take me sightseeing around Nimes. We went first to Alix's grandma's house then Alix and I left on foot. We walked to the gardens which are about 3 minutes from the grandma's house (on the top of one of the 7 hills of Nimes). There we visited La Tour Magne (Magne tower), a little Roman tower at the top of the gardens. We went inside and climbed the skinny sprial staircase to the top where you can look out across Nimes and the land beyond. It's truely incredible to be able to see so far from one little tower.
We then walked down through the garden...it's small but very beautiful with little paths going everyone, some wide for everyone and others smaller for the children, and all of it going down the hill. Near the bottom there was some massive Roman staircases and at the bottom of the gardens there is a large area of Roman baths, still in very good condition. They were magnnificent in that romanesque kind of way! The statues around them were very cool too.
We left the garden (where children can take pony rides or hire go carts) and walked through Nimes to Les Arenes (the Arenas), the huge Roman arena that used to be used for gladiators and is now used for bullfighting. We went inside and explored all the corridors around the edges then found our way into the seating area and climbed all the way to the top. At the top you can sit on the wall and look down the outside to the street far below. It's scary and very dangerous as there is no barrier...the stone seating just finishes...
We left there and walked to the Maison Carrere, which used to be a Roman temple or meeting place or something like that I think. Now you can only see the outside of the surviving building, which is beautiful, and inside you can watch a 22 minute movie about the heros of Nimes. We watched it. It's in 3D and it goes through all the different time periods and the brave people in each one. Surprise surprise all the brave people were guys. There was a gladiator, a knight or something, a soldier, some kind of religious revolutionary I think, and a bullfighter. And maybe some others as well. After that we walked around and considered going ice-skating on the outdoors ice-skating rink next to the Maison Carrere but we didn't as it was all little kids and they kept falling over! Instead we looked for something to eat. We went into the shopping centre of Nimes and there bought an entire bag of viennoiseries (mini sweet pattiseries). They were from the day before so were really cheap but they still tasted really good nonetheless. We ate them as we headed back home. We walked past the canels which are also totally cool. We went back up through the gardens (tiring!!!) and returned to Alix's grandma's house. By then it was 5:30 or 6 and at 6:30 Alix and I took the train (I think it was the fast train, the TGV) back to Montpellier. We went back to Alix's dad's house as Francoise was staying in Nimes. The train was dodgy as it was very crowded and Alix and I had to sit separately...but thanks to my ipod, I survived!
Sunday 31st December 2006:
Last day of 2006 and I spent half of it gift-wrapping at Casino supermarket. We were there for another 3 hours or something but made almost no money because no one gives gifts for New Years. It was odd. Turns out that one of the scouts (and Alix's best friend) is going to Senegal I think, this year, to build a library...sound familiar anyone? She's lucky to be able to actually go and help with the building though! How cool!
After the gift-wrappiung I think we just went home and hung around for a while until we started getting ready for our respective parties. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the party Alix was going to as the host said both of us couldn't sleep over but there was no way for us to get home so Alix organised for me to go with Charlotte (Mia's correspondent). That worked well because I was with Isabelle and Mia for the night. Around 8:00 or so we were picked up by Alix's neighbour Lucy's mum as Lucy was going to Alix's party as well. She dropped me at Charlotte's apartment in the centre where I met Charlotte, Mia, Aurore (Isabelle's correspondent) and Isabelle. We were going to Xavier's party which was a short walk from Charlotte's place but we hung around at Charlotte's for ages. They definietly took arriving fashionably late a bit too far as we arrived at the party around 9:30. That party was ok but we had to leave at around 11:15 as they had to clean up. We then returned to Charlotte's place and spent New Years there. It was pretty fun and it was good to spend it with Issy and Mia! I think Alix also had a good time at her party but she was in bed at 12!
I slept over at Charlotte's place and when we woke up the next morning Christine, Charlotte's mum, had searched all over town for the only open bakery and bought us all croissants for breakfast! How nice is that? So Isabelle, Mia, Charlotte, Aurore, Christine, Charlotte's brother and sister and I all sat down for breakfast which included croissants, brioche bread, breadstick, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, a large variety of spreads, Christmas cake that Mia had made in Australia and bought for her family, fruit juice and fruit! We ended up sitting at the table, the kitchen bench and in the study for probably 3 hours (we didn't get up until 10 or 11 am). At some point Alix and Lucy arrived to pick me up but then they sat down, had some food and started chatting too. Finally Alix, Lucy and I left around 1:30 or 2 pm and went back home. We didn't do much that afternoon...we had lunch and then relaxed, and then watched Les Infiltres (The Departed) on the computer. That was an experience I don't want to repeat...the film was good but pretty horrible! That night Alix and I met the others again and went bowling. It was Alix, Charlotte, Aurore, Matt, another guy, Mia, Issy and I. We played two games of bowling and I think I came 3rd and 4th or something. Aurore is a really good bowler and both the boys imrpoved a lot by the second game whilst Issy, Mia and I all went downhill!
Alix and I got home around 11 or 11:30 but we hadn't had dinner beforehand and there wasn't any food at bowling so we were starving. We made some toast and had that with ham and butter and had some left over rice before going to bed.
That's all for now as it's time for bed. Oh yeah, we have internet again at home (woohoo!!!) so hopefully I will be online more often and be able to update this a few more times before I leave (on Sunday night - it's Wednesday night now).
In more recent news, the sales started today here and they are a big deal...most shops have things up to 50% off, some more. It's wonderful, I have already purchased a skirt on sale and hope to get a few more things before we leave! I also bought 20 postcards for my walls today...what can I say, the postcard shop here is incredible.
Tomorrow night is our official farewell so we all have to make a little speach which I have most certainly not finished writing...eek.
cya!
emma
Monday, 8 January 2007
Scout time!
Thursday 28th December (yes I know I'm very far behind but here I am catching up!)
So we were back in Montpellier at Francoise's apartment in the Antigone (new quarter). We were to be spending today with the scouts (Alix and her group of scouts...around 7 of them). We took the new tram line (exciting!) to Parc Meric, a random 'espace vert' (green space) where there is a big oval without goals or anything, a small park, some forestry, some benches, a yard for dogs to play in...and met a couple of the others there (Hugo and Charlotte-Anne I think)...We waited for the others to arrive and eventually Laure (Alix's best friend), Joaquin and Fanny turned up (I know they have weird names but hey, this is France!). We wandered around the park for a bit before sitting down at one of the benches. The scouts then each had to say something, I think reflecting on the year or how much they'd helped out at gift-wrapping or something...i didn't really understand and they told me I didn't have to say anything!
We then walked up to the dog yard and played a random game there were there was someone in the middle and the people around the edges have to exchange places without letting the person in the middle take their place. We play it at hockey except you have to pass the ball. It was lots of fun! After that we walked to the end of the park and straight into Hugo's backyard. He actually lives in Marseille I think so it's his holiday house or something like that but anyway. We went around the back and into a little room at the bottom of the house. There was a bookcase, a table, a bed/couch and some chairs. Then the actual scout work began. We all sat around the table and they talked and talked and talked, sometimes writing down things on bits of paper like 'what they value in their life' and activities that they want to do. It was pretty boring for me. At some point Claire arrived as well. Finally we had lunch (Alix and I had bought sandwiches at the bakery below her mum's apartment). My baguette was chicken and eggplant and was quite good. After that Alix and I shared a block of crunch chocolate she'd brought from home (and shared some with the others) and shared a madarin that Hugo had fetched for us. We also got some brioche from Joaquin and some chips that were for everyone. After lunch they did a lot more talking. It was a bit boring for me but I just listened and tried to pick up as many French words and phrases as I could.
Finally they finished and we went outside and started playing tennis. We played tennis for about an hour, which was heaps of fun, except at one point I fell over and bruised my knee. It now has a big yellow and purple bruise on it!
After tennis is was about 5 or 5:30 and getting dark. We went inside and sat at the kitchen table and had some afternoon tea which consisted of a loaf of briche and some blocks of dark chocolate! Yummy!!! We sat and chatted for a while and they took a lot of funny and silly photos (Alix got a digital camera for Christmas so was taking it everywhere and using it all the time!). We left around 6 or 6:30 and returned to Francoise's apartment. We were both really tired so we went to bed basically straight after dinner (although I might have spent some time on the computer, I don't remember).
Friday 29th December.
We got up around 10am and got ready before Lissia, one of Alix's friends from school, arrived. She gave Alix her Christmas present (a huge candle holder with about 10 different places for candles) and we took the tram to the cinema. There we saw Hors de Prix (Priceless) at around 11am. It was all in French but I understood the storyline (which was quite simple) and a lot of what they were saying, which made me feel good. It was very funny but I was constantly reminded of how skinny Audrey Tautou is! The expensive dresses that should have looked beautiful on her looked silly because she had no figure whatsoever.
We returned to Francoise's apartment for lunch, which was salad then some form of roast meat roasted with mini potatos and prunes I think. It was very yummy! In the afternoon Alix and I returned to Casino and did a few hours of gift-wrapping again. I'm not sure why we bothered doing gift-wrapping for New Years because no one gives gifts for new years and we raised very little money after Christmas.
We returned home around 6 or 7 pm and had dinner (I don't remember what we had...) then Alix and I made crepe batter for the morning. It tasted pretty good raw so I was quite excited about the actual things! Then it was to bed!
So we were back in Montpellier at Francoise's apartment in the Antigone (new quarter). We were to be spending today with the scouts (Alix and her group of scouts...around 7 of them). We took the new tram line (exciting!) to Parc Meric, a random 'espace vert' (green space) where there is a big oval without goals or anything, a small park, some forestry, some benches, a yard for dogs to play in...and met a couple of the others there (Hugo and Charlotte-Anne I think)...We waited for the others to arrive and eventually Laure (Alix's best friend), Joaquin and Fanny turned up (I know they have weird names but hey, this is France!). We wandered around the park for a bit before sitting down at one of the benches. The scouts then each had to say something, I think reflecting on the year or how much they'd helped out at gift-wrapping or something...i didn't really understand and they told me I didn't have to say anything!
We then walked up to the dog yard and played a random game there were there was someone in the middle and the people around the edges have to exchange places without letting the person in the middle take their place. We play it at hockey except you have to pass the ball. It was lots of fun! After that we walked to the end of the park and straight into Hugo's backyard. He actually lives in Marseille I think so it's his holiday house or something like that but anyway. We went around the back and into a little room at the bottom of the house. There was a bookcase, a table, a bed/couch and some chairs. Then the actual scout work began. We all sat around the table and they talked and talked and talked, sometimes writing down things on bits of paper like 'what they value in their life' and activities that they want to do. It was pretty boring for me. At some point Claire arrived as well. Finally we had lunch (Alix and I had bought sandwiches at the bakery below her mum's apartment). My baguette was chicken and eggplant and was quite good. After that Alix and I shared a block of crunch chocolate she'd brought from home (and shared some with the others) and shared a madarin that Hugo had fetched for us. We also got some brioche from Joaquin and some chips that were for everyone. After lunch they did a lot more talking. It was a bit boring for me but I just listened and tried to pick up as many French words and phrases as I could.
Finally they finished and we went outside and started playing tennis. We played tennis for about an hour, which was heaps of fun, except at one point I fell over and bruised my knee. It now has a big yellow and purple bruise on it!
After tennis is was about 5 or 5:30 and getting dark. We went inside and sat at the kitchen table and had some afternoon tea which consisted of a loaf of briche and some blocks of dark chocolate! Yummy!!! We sat and chatted for a while and they took a lot of funny and silly photos (Alix got a digital camera for Christmas so was taking it everywhere and using it all the time!). We left around 6 or 6:30 and returned to Francoise's apartment. We were both really tired so we went to bed basically straight after dinner (although I might have spent some time on the computer, I don't remember).
Friday 29th December.
We got up around 10am and got ready before Lissia, one of Alix's friends from school, arrived. She gave Alix her Christmas present (a huge candle holder with about 10 different places for candles) and we took the tram to the cinema. There we saw Hors de Prix (Priceless) at around 11am. It was all in French but I understood the storyline (which was quite simple) and a lot of what they were saying, which made me feel good. It was very funny but I was constantly reminded of how skinny Audrey Tautou is! The expensive dresses that should have looked beautiful on her looked silly because she had no figure whatsoever.
We returned to Francoise's apartment for lunch, which was salad then some form of roast meat roasted with mini potatos and prunes I think. It was very yummy! In the afternoon Alix and I returned to Casino and did a few hours of gift-wrapping again. I'm not sure why we bothered doing gift-wrapping for New Years because no one gives gifts for new years and we raised very little money after Christmas.
We returned home around 6 or 7 pm and had dinner (I don't remember what we had...) then Alix and I made crepe batter for the morning. It tasted pretty good raw so I was quite excited about the actual things! Then it was to bed!
Provence and Nimes...
Wednesday 27th December
Woke up in Nimes and got ready quickly (more of the Surprise Bread basket toasted for breakfast!) before heading off with Alix and Francoise. We left Languedoc-Roussillon (the department that Nimes and Montpellier are in) and entered the region of Provence. We stopped at the site of the Chateau des Baux (castle of the Baux - not sure what that means, I think it might mean castle of the border because it's in the region called Baux-de-Provence which I think means border of Provence or Provencal borders). It's a small Medieval town on the top of a stony mountain that brings the Grampians to mind (but without the bush). The town is still very nice and there are lots of shops and cafés and probably houses too. We walked up through the town and ended up at the entrance to the chateau. Outside the entrance was a mediveal shop, complete with armour, weaponry and jewellery. I love those shops and especially loved this one as it was much less touristy than those at Mont St Michel (those who know France will know what I mean, those who don't, I went there last year with my family). There was a notebook in there with covers made of wood with carved images in them. It was beautiful and I planned to buy it when we finished the tour of the chateau. They also had the helmet keyrings (Laura has one). To my dismay the shop was closed for lunch when we finished exploring the Chateau so I missed my chance to buy those things.
The chateau itself was magnificent, though hardly a chateau. It was more a set of ruins with some surviving architecture and staircases and rooms, but it was wonderful to explore and the views from the top across the landscape of Provence (with olive trees and fields of flowers and mountains and rivers in the distance) were breathtaking. I think Alix and Francoise were a bit bored because I took a long time, exploring every nook and taking a ridiculous number of photos but oh well.
We left the chateau and the town and drove some more. It was now definitely lunchtime (around 1:30 I think) so we were searching for lunch. Francoise had wanted to take us to one particular town but after driving around in circles for a while we decided we couldn't find it and we settled on the town of St Remy. There we found a cute restaurant and sat down. We all had the main and dessert option so I had a veal dish and Alix and Francoise had beef. The veal dish was wonderful...it came with rice and a creamy sauce and was very good. We also got very yummy complimentary bread rolls...i kept the left over one for later! For dessert we all chose the Tarte Tatin which is basically a form of apple tart. It was magnificent! It was warm and very soft and yummy and came served with natural home-made vanilla icecream and a drizzling of caramel sauce. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
We finished lunch around 3:00 I guess and went for a walk through the town of St-Remy, another very old Provencal town. It was very cute and there was lots of lovely little shops and bakeries down the skinny streets. We visited one santon shop and were allowed to visit the creche the owner had created upstairs. It was large and very good - he'd even put the larger figures in the foreground and the smaller figures in the background to create the feeling of depth and distance!
We returned to the car and drove to Les Antiques on the edge of town. They are a set of Roman structures right beside the road. There is a big circular grass area and in the centre are an arch and a mausoleum...that area is very beautiful. Then across the road you can visit the ruins of the Roman town of Glanum. We went in there and explored the area where there is just a huge amount of ruins. They make the shapes of rooms and buildings and baths and temples and meeting areas. It's all very atmospheric and ethereal. The pamphlet explains what each building might have been and what purpose it served in the ancient civilisation. Unfortunately we only had an hour there so we had to be quick, but that was ok because I am sure it was 2° or more colder around the ruins that it was in the carpark!
By then it was 5 or so and starting to get dark so it was time to return to Nimes.
To my surprise I found out that we were not staying the night in Nimes but instead were driving back to Montpellier that night. So we did that and ended up at Francoise's apartment in Montpellier. There we had dinner (I think it was chinese style - a chicken and mushroom dish and fried rice) and went to bed!
Woke up in Nimes and got ready quickly (more of the Surprise Bread basket toasted for breakfast!) before heading off with Alix and Francoise. We left Languedoc-Roussillon (the department that Nimes and Montpellier are in) and entered the region of Provence. We stopped at the site of the Chateau des Baux (castle of the Baux - not sure what that means, I think it might mean castle of the border because it's in the region called Baux-de-Provence which I think means border of Provence or Provencal borders). It's a small Medieval town on the top of a stony mountain that brings the Grampians to mind (but without the bush). The town is still very nice and there are lots of shops and cafés and probably houses too. We walked up through the town and ended up at the entrance to the chateau. Outside the entrance was a mediveal shop, complete with armour, weaponry and jewellery. I love those shops and especially loved this one as it was much less touristy than those at Mont St Michel (those who know France will know what I mean, those who don't, I went there last year with my family). There was a notebook in there with covers made of wood with carved images in them. It was beautiful and I planned to buy it when we finished the tour of the chateau. They also had the helmet keyrings (Laura has one). To my dismay the shop was closed for lunch when we finished exploring the Chateau so I missed my chance to buy those things.
The chateau itself was magnificent, though hardly a chateau. It was more a set of ruins with some surviving architecture and staircases and rooms, but it was wonderful to explore and the views from the top across the landscape of Provence (with olive trees and fields of flowers and mountains and rivers in the distance) were breathtaking. I think Alix and Francoise were a bit bored because I took a long time, exploring every nook and taking a ridiculous number of photos but oh well.
We left the chateau and the town and drove some more. It was now definitely lunchtime (around 1:30 I think) so we were searching for lunch. Francoise had wanted to take us to one particular town but after driving around in circles for a while we decided we couldn't find it and we settled on the town of St Remy. There we found a cute restaurant and sat down. We all had the main and dessert option so I had a veal dish and Alix and Francoise had beef. The veal dish was wonderful...it came with rice and a creamy sauce and was very good. We also got very yummy complimentary bread rolls...i kept the left over one for later! For dessert we all chose the Tarte Tatin which is basically a form of apple tart. It was magnificent! It was warm and very soft and yummy and came served with natural home-made vanilla icecream and a drizzling of caramel sauce. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
We finished lunch around 3:00 I guess and went for a walk through the town of St-Remy, another very old Provencal town. It was very cute and there was lots of lovely little shops and bakeries down the skinny streets. We visited one santon shop and were allowed to visit the creche the owner had created upstairs. It was large and very good - he'd even put the larger figures in the foreground and the smaller figures in the background to create the feeling of depth and distance!
We returned to the car and drove to Les Antiques on the edge of town. They are a set of Roman structures right beside the road. There is a big circular grass area and in the centre are an arch and a mausoleum...that area is very beautiful. Then across the road you can visit the ruins of the Roman town of Glanum. We went in there and explored the area where there is just a huge amount of ruins. They make the shapes of rooms and buildings and baths and temples and meeting areas. It's all very atmospheric and ethereal. The pamphlet explains what each building might have been and what purpose it served in the ancient civilisation. Unfortunately we only had an hour there so we had to be quick, but that was ok because I am sure it was 2° or more colder around the ruins that it was in the carpark!
By then it was 5 or so and starting to get dark so it was time to return to Nimes.
To my surprise I found out that we were not staying the night in Nimes but instead were driving back to Montpellier that night. So we did that and ended up at Francoise's apartment in Montpellier. There we had dinner (I think it was chinese style - a chicken and mushroom dish and fried rice) and went to bed!
Boxing Day where it doesn't exist...
They don't really believe in Boxing Day here...in fact they don't at all. I spent the 26th December driving and sightseeing...there certainly wasn't any cricket or shopping involved!
So we got up sometime in the mid-morning and had toasted breadstick with jam, butter and honey for breakfast, as well as some random round brioche (mmm, brioche! sweet bread for anyone who doesn't know! it's good!). To my surprise it seemed that almost the entire extended family had slept over as many of them were at breakfast. They asked me some questions about Australia and then the obvious one 'what do you normally eat for breakfast in Australia'...considering how casually I was gulping down toasted bread and a little bit of cereal, I would have thought it might have occured to them that breakfast in Australia is in fact very similar to breakfast in France...however it had not and naturally their question was perfectly valid. In reply I said something along the lines of 'the same things, toast and cereal' and then mentioned vegemite - biggest mistake I could have made as I then had to try to explain vegemite to them, in French, without any idea of what it was made of or how to describe the taste. After about 10 minutes of discussion and further questions relating to vegemite and whether it was like jam or honey, sweet or sour, soft or hard, like butter or like paté, I think i'd managed to completely confuse them without getting the point across at all. Oh well. I was finally saved by explaining that Alix could taste some in Australia and tell them all about it. Turns out she tasted some at Charlotte's house not long after that and there's a much dodgier English version too!
So after breakfast we waited around for ages and packed all our stuff up and around 11 or 12 one of Alix's cousins returned to drive us back to Montpellier. From what I understand, those members of the extended family who didn't sleep over slept instead at their own holiday houses in Cornus, so that would explain why they kept turning up throughout the morning, sometimes just walking in the door, saying hi and then leaving again.
So the random cousin drove Eléonore, Alix and I back to Michel's house in Montpellier. I think I fell asleep in the car again! Back home we dropped our stuff and had lunch. I have no idea what but something quick and simple because Alix and I had to repack and get ready to go back to Nimes for a few nights! Françoise arrived and off we went on our way to the Pont du Gard (Bridge of the Guard or Guard Bridge) which is near Nimes. By the time we arrived it was probably 3:30 or 4:00 pm so the sun was just touching the top of the forrest on the other side of the bridge. It cast beautiful shadows through the arches and across the river and fields beyond. I took so many photos of the bridge from every angle because it was a clear day and the lighting was magnificent. There was mist in the air too, which helped to create a very surreal, fantastical feeling. We walked to the bridge and past it then back and across it. It's a massive Roman creation I think, with three levels of arches. The river beneath it probably used to be a great river but now it's small and hardly moves. It still creates beautiful reflections of the bridge though! I promise to post photos as soon as I can but no doubt you can find a thousand on google or on some of the others blogs.
After we'd explored the Pont we returned to the car and drove to Uzes, another cute little town nearby. There we found a creperie and sat down for a crepe and drink. I had a crepe au citron (lemon) and a chocolat chaud (hot chocolate). Both were fabulous! The crepe came out on a plate with a small pile of sugar for dipping and a random little yellow berry that was quite yummy. Unfortunately it was cold, the only downside. After that we walked through the town of Uzes for a while. It was still light but we only walked around for about 30 minutes before it was dark and we returned. We drove back to Nimes and crashed at Alix's grandma's house. We had dinner there, which I think was soup, potato gratin, something else and left-over Christmas log for dessert. Francoise went to a meeting while Alix's grandma, Alix and I watched Le Monde Suffit Pas (I think that was it - The World Is Not Enough, yes James Bond) in French, which was odd.
So that was my boxing day! It was lots of fun but it didn't feel like normal boxing day (which consists of some shopping, lots of cricket and lots of left-overs!)
So we got up sometime in the mid-morning and had toasted breadstick with jam, butter and honey for breakfast, as well as some random round brioche (mmm, brioche! sweet bread for anyone who doesn't know! it's good!). To my surprise it seemed that almost the entire extended family had slept over as many of them were at breakfast. They asked me some questions about Australia and then the obvious one 'what do you normally eat for breakfast in Australia'...considering how casually I was gulping down toasted bread and a little bit of cereal, I would have thought it might have occured to them that breakfast in Australia is in fact very similar to breakfast in France...however it had not and naturally their question was perfectly valid. In reply I said something along the lines of 'the same things, toast and cereal' and then mentioned vegemite - biggest mistake I could have made as I then had to try to explain vegemite to them, in French, without any idea of what it was made of or how to describe the taste. After about 10 minutes of discussion and further questions relating to vegemite and whether it was like jam or honey, sweet or sour, soft or hard, like butter or like paté, I think i'd managed to completely confuse them without getting the point across at all. Oh well. I was finally saved by explaining that Alix could taste some in Australia and tell them all about it. Turns out she tasted some at Charlotte's house not long after that and there's a much dodgier English version too!
So after breakfast we waited around for ages and packed all our stuff up and around 11 or 12 one of Alix's cousins returned to drive us back to Montpellier. From what I understand, those members of the extended family who didn't sleep over slept instead at their own holiday houses in Cornus, so that would explain why they kept turning up throughout the morning, sometimes just walking in the door, saying hi and then leaving again.
So the random cousin drove Eléonore, Alix and I back to Michel's house in Montpellier. I think I fell asleep in the car again! Back home we dropped our stuff and had lunch. I have no idea what but something quick and simple because Alix and I had to repack and get ready to go back to Nimes for a few nights! Françoise arrived and off we went on our way to the Pont du Gard (Bridge of the Guard or Guard Bridge) which is near Nimes. By the time we arrived it was probably 3:30 or 4:00 pm so the sun was just touching the top of the forrest on the other side of the bridge. It cast beautiful shadows through the arches and across the river and fields beyond. I took so many photos of the bridge from every angle because it was a clear day and the lighting was magnificent. There was mist in the air too, which helped to create a very surreal, fantastical feeling. We walked to the bridge and past it then back and across it. It's a massive Roman creation I think, with three levels of arches. The river beneath it probably used to be a great river but now it's small and hardly moves. It still creates beautiful reflections of the bridge though! I promise to post photos as soon as I can but no doubt you can find a thousand on google or on some of the others blogs.
After we'd explored the Pont we returned to the car and drove to Uzes, another cute little town nearby. There we found a creperie and sat down for a crepe and drink. I had a crepe au citron (lemon) and a chocolat chaud (hot chocolate). Both were fabulous! The crepe came out on a plate with a small pile of sugar for dipping and a random little yellow berry that was quite yummy. Unfortunately it was cold, the only downside. After that we walked through the town of Uzes for a while. It was still light but we only walked around for about 30 minutes before it was dark and we returned. We drove back to Nimes and crashed at Alix's grandma's house. We had dinner there, which I think was soup, potato gratin, something else and left-over Christmas log for dessert. Francoise went to a meeting while Alix's grandma, Alix and I watched Le Monde Suffit Pas (I think that was it - The World Is Not Enough, yes James Bond) in French, which was odd.
So that was my boxing day! It was lots of fun but it didn't feel like normal boxing day (which consists of some shopping, lots of cricket and lots of left-overs!)
Friday, 5 January 2007
End of Christmas numero 2...
So back at the grandma's place in Cornus for the after-lunch coffee although by now I think it was around 5:00 or so. Basically for the rest of the afternoon and evening we all sat around in the main lounge room and drank coffee, ate chocolates and such (I presented my box of Chocolate-coated Macadamias) and those who smoked, smoked. In the meantime we had a bit of a music fest...one of Alix's cousins and her boyfriend study music in Paris and so they'd bought the guitar and the boyfriend played the guitar and sang and the cousin did lots of singing. Michel had also bought the keyboard and set it up so people kept having a go on that (naturally the lost requested piece was anything Amélie!).
This was all good for me because the girl has a really good contempary voice and her boyfriend was good on the guitar most of the songs were in english and I recognised a lot of them. Luckily I was not forced to sing either! Also all the family is very funny; and one of the other relatives was a good singer/guitarist as well! It was all very cosy because the area was small (thanks to the massive table!) and it was getting dark and there was coffee and a fire and everything!
Eventually some people left (although they didn't go very far because they were back in the morning...?) and at around 8:30 I think, those of us who were left (maybe 8 of us and the little boys) sat down for dinner. I know, I couldn't believe it either! Michel had already left, I think he was going back to Montpellier, but Eléonore and Alix were still there. Dinner was some more of the same salad (left-overs) and a couple of other random things that I can't remember...it wasn't very big because we were all still quite full. Then we sat and chatted at the table for what felt like years to me because a) i couldn't understand everything and b) I wanted some of the log cake at the other end of the table but was too shy to ask for some!
Eventually I got my dessert and then after cleaning up we sat around a bit more. Some of the adults went to bed but Alix, Manon (her cousin), maybe Eléonore and I stayed up for a while, as did some of the others. Eventually it was off to bed for us too though. Another late night...by Boxing Day I was so tired!
But more about Boxing Day and sightseeing later!
I don't have internet at the moment at the dad's house so I can only get on at the mum's house so I might not be on the internet for a few days!
Lots of love and thanks to everyone who's still reading this and posting comments and emailing me!
Emma.
This was all good for me because the girl has a really good contempary voice and her boyfriend was good on the guitar most of the songs were in english and I recognised a lot of them. Luckily I was not forced to sing either! Also all the family is very funny; and one of the other relatives was a good singer/guitarist as well! It was all very cosy because the area was small (thanks to the massive table!) and it was getting dark and there was coffee and a fire and everything!
Eventually some people left (although they didn't go very far because they were back in the morning...?) and at around 8:30 I think, those of us who were left (maybe 8 of us and the little boys) sat down for dinner. I know, I couldn't believe it either! Michel had already left, I think he was going back to Montpellier, but Eléonore and Alix were still there. Dinner was some more of the same salad (left-overs) and a couple of other random things that I can't remember...it wasn't very big because we were all still quite full. Then we sat and chatted at the table for what felt like years to me because a) i couldn't understand everything and b) I wanted some of the log cake at the other end of the table but was too shy to ask for some!
Eventually I got my dessert and then after cleaning up we sat around a bit more. Some of the adults went to bed but Alix, Manon (her cousin), maybe Eléonore and I stayed up for a while, as did some of the others. Eventually it was off to bed for us too though. Another late night...by Boxing Day I was so tired!
But more about Boxing Day and sightseeing later!
I don't have internet at the moment at the dad's house so I can only get on at the mum's house so I might not be on the internet for a few days!
Lots of love and thanks to everyone who's still reading this and posting comments and emailing me!
Emma.
Cornus to ...
So, Christmas Day we woke up around 9 or so because we were leaving Nimes and going to Cornus for Christmas lunch with Michel's family! We were all ready to go by about 10:30 but Michel, who was driving us there, was late and didn't arrive until around 11:30 or 12 or so. Breakfast had consisted of the bread from the Bread Surprise, the actual bread that made the basket, toasted and coated in jam, honey or butter. Plus a hot chocolate in a bowl of course! Finally Michel arrived and we packed all our stuff into the back of his car. I still had a lot of presents and stuff including the book of photos of Australia for Michel and a massive box of Chocolate coated Macadamia nuts for the whole family (I had presented one to the family the night before too). The drive to Cornus took a bit over an hour. I slept for some of it but as we got higher in the countryside the views of the mountains we were driving up was magnificent so I attempted to take photos out the window. As we approached Cornus, a little village tucked away in the lower mountains somewhere, everything turned white! The trees and fields were covered in a thick layer of frost...not quite snow, but it looked like it! We stopped a couple of times so I could take photos before we arrived in the tiny little town. We entered the house, which was already teaming with people, and I met all of Alix's dad's family. Again they are all very nice, but here there was a lot more little kids (all boys) aged around 10 to 14 and more people in general. Since it was now about 2 or 2:30 pm the pre-meal snacks were already out. They included these little savory scones which I think had herbs and salmon in them, little slices of bread with black olive spread or paté, some chips on the kids table and of course champagne (which I didn't have) and other drinks. The little kids sat down to eat their meal in the smaller eating area while the adults and older kids mingled and chatted in the much bigger main lounge area, which was confined by a very long table in the middle.
Alix showed me around the house, which was filled with old artefacts including a huge and very beautiful tapestry on the wall in the main lounge area. Downstairs was the living areas and kitchen whilst upstairs was lots of bedrooms and the bathroom. Down in the kitchen Alix's grandma and some of her aunts were busying preparing the meal...salads, meats, desserts were all being created there. Finally it was time to sit down and enjoy the meal. It was hardly lunchtime by now but that didn't seem to matter.
As the table was so long the salad came in two or three separate bowls. The salad was very strange - pinapple, grapefruit, mini prawns, lettuce and a few others things all drowned in a creamy dressing - but very nice too! After that was cleaned away it was time for the meat, which I think was wild boar, but possibly that didn't get explained too well. With the sauce that was fairly nice. Naturally there was lots of bread on the table for cleaning one's plate with...I did a lot of that!
Believe it or not it was now time for presents! Before dessert, that's right! So we all got up and shared the presents around. This took ages as there was a lot of people in a small space and lots of presents being given and recieved! I gave my present to Michel, gave some other little cards to a few people and then had to try to give out the rest of my Australian stuff (pencils, koalas and pins) without forgetting anyone! That was very hard and nerve-racking! In the end I had just enough to go around and still had one Australia flag pin spare for Remy, Eléonore's boyfriend. I recieved a clock with lots of different words (in French) to do with chocolate (mmm!) and a top with a cute quote about frogs and princes from Zaza (not sure how to spell that!), Michel's partner.
Finally after all the presents were finished it was time to sit down again for dessert. This we did, gladly, as there was a large variety of very yummy desserts to sample. I ended up with a plate full of small portions of each, which everyone around me thought was a bit funny! There were mini meringues, a tart of those little red beady berries, a Christmas log with glace de marron inside (chestnut paste), little chocolate spidery things, and i'm sure something else that i've forgotten!
Overall it was very very yummy and nice! After we'd finished dessert we decided to go and visit the house that Michel was fixing up. It was also in Cornus, just 3 minutes down the road. Turns out almost everyone drove down to check it out as not many of them had seen it before. Once it's finished (in about 6 months or so) it will be Alix and her family's holiday house. It's a beautiful, big, old house next to a lake with spectacular views of the hills all around. Michel showed us all around inside...at the moment it's very bare and there's a lot of work to be done, but it's going to be fabulous when it's finished. Upstairs are the bedrooms for Eléonore, Alix, Michel and Zaza, and Etienne (i think), Zaza's son and Alix's half-brother. Alix's room is small but very cute with a lovely view. They were all very excited because Alix and most of the others hadn't seen it and had been asking Michel to bring back photos and such. We walked around outside for a while, across the little creek/river to another buidling which I think is part of the same property. Michel showed us around there too, which looks like it will be another beautiful house or building when it's done.
Outside the dogs (there was 4 of them there, including Pollux), played around for a while before we returned to the other house for coffee.
Sorry I have to go so that's all for now!
Lots of love,
Emma
Alix showed me around the house, which was filled with old artefacts including a huge and very beautiful tapestry on the wall in the main lounge area. Downstairs was the living areas and kitchen whilst upstairs was lots of bedrooms and the bathroom. Down in the kitchen Alix's grandma and some of her aunts were busying preparing the meal...salads, meats, desserts were all being created there. Finally it was time to sit down and enjoy the meal. It was hardly lunchtime by now but that didn't seem to matter.
As the table was so long the salad came in two or three separate bowls. The salad was very strange - pinapple, grapefruit, mini prawns, lettuce and a few others things all drowned in a creamy dressing - but very nice too! After that was cleaned away it was time for the meat, which I think was wild boar, but possibly that didn't get explained too well. With the sauce that was fairly nice. Naturally there was lots of bread on the table for cleaning one's plate with...I did a lot of that!
Believe it or not it was now time for presents! Before dessert, that's right! So we all got up and shared the presents around. This took ages as there was a lot of people in a small space and lots of presents being given and recieved! I gave my present to Michel, gave some other little cards to a few people and then had to try to give out the rest of my Australian stuff (pencils, koalas and pins) without forgetting anyone! That was very hard and nerve-racking! In the end I had just enough to go around and still had one Australia flag pin spare for Remy, Eléonore's boyfriend. I recieved a clock with lots of different words (in French) to do with chocolate (mmm!) and a top with a cute quote about frogs and princes from Zaza (not sure how to spell that!), Michel's partner.
Finally after all the presents were finished it was time to sit down again for dessert. This we did, gladly, as there was a large variety of very yummy desserts to sample. I ended up with a plate full of small portions of each, which everyone around me thought was a bit funny! There were mini meringues, a tart of those little red beady berries, a Christmas log with glace de marron inside (chestnut paste), little chocolate spidery things, and i'm sure something else that i've forgotten!
Overall it was very very yummy and nice! After we'd finished dessert we decided to go and visit the house that Michel was fixing up. It was also in Cornus, just 3 minutes down the road. Turns out almost everyone drove down to check it out as not many of them had seen it before. Once it's finished (in about 6 months or so) it will be Alix and her family's holiday house. It's a beautiful, big, old house next to a lake with spectacular views of the hills all around. Michel showed us all around inside...at the moment it's very bare and there's a lot of work to be done, but it's going to be fabulous when it's finished. Upstairs are the bedrooms for Eléonore, Alix, Michel and Zaza, and Etienne (i think), Zaza's son and Alix's half-brother. Alix's room is small but very cute with a lovely view. They were all very excited because Alix and most of the others hadn't seen it and had been asking Michel to bring back photos and such. We walked around outside for a while, across the little creek/river to another buidling which I think is part of the same property. Michel showed us around there too, which looks like it will be another beautiful house or building when it's done.
Outside the dogs (there was 4 of them there, including Pollux), played around for a while before we returned to the other house for coffee.
Sorry I have to go so that's all for now!
Lots of love,
Emma
Monday, 1 January 2007
Wrong timing
In case you hadn't noticed, the timing on my blog is all out so in fact it is still the 31st December 2006 here in France, not 2007 yet. I have no idea how to change the time, which I think might be stuck on Australian time or American time. So just ignore it. It's currently 4:30pm on Sunday here and I just spent about an hour and a half doing that photo post...
ciao
ciao
PHOTOS of the last day of school and first Christmas!
This is, from left, Chloé's friend, Chloé's boyfriend, Chloé, Laure and Alice. This is going back a while to Wednesday 20th December when I had lunch with them on the steps of the Opera/Comedie in Montpellier.I left out of my blog entry the fact that the next night Alix and I went to a Junior Opera show at the Opera that Chloé invited us to. It was like a concert of Opera performed by young singers (probably 16 to 25 or so) and I think Chloé's friend was in it. It was incredible...two of the girls had absolutely magnificent voices, one of them belonged in actual Opera her voice was that beautiful! Alix and Alice both loved it too!
This is all of us at the new Rugby Stadium they're building in Montpellier just for the Australian Rugby Team to train at during the Rugby World Cup next year. We were taken on a tour of it and I later found out it was -2 degrees! It felt like it too! That was Friday 22nd December, last day of term.P.S. I absolutely love Mia's bag!
This is one of the mini models of Montpellier that are on display in the, I think, Town Hall. They were very cool! 
Haha! The new tram Ligne 2 trams with their flowery 70s patterns! Ligne 1 trams are blue, Ligne 2 trams are flowery. So you know which ligne it is (ligne is french for Line). How cute is that?!? The pattern is a bit interesting but all the Montpellierians are so excited about their new tram line I guess they don't mind what it looks like. Plus I think they kinda like it!
Friday 22nd December - We walked down the long arcadey thing in Montpellier's new quarter, the Antigone. And we took lots of photos!
awww! Monique and Simone being friendly! From what I remember Simone told me not to post this one!
All of us at Haagen Dazs outside the Polygone, Friday 22nd December. The end of our afternoon of shopping, as you can see by the shopping bags lying around! 
The random Santa's at school on the last day (excluding Saturday morning). It would seem that some of the students at least got into the Christmas groove! Most of them didn't seem that interested despite the fact that it was three days away! I guess it's because it's not during their long holidays so they don't have time to be excited or something...
This is, from left, Eléonore, Alix and their aunty who took us around Avignon. In the background is Avignon! In the water are some ducks. Woo hoo! It was really cold there.
This is a part of the Avignon town creche. It was a very big creche, and very cute! One of the best creches I've seen I think. Whenever people talk about a creche, this is what they mean, although this is a town one. The creches set up at home have the little people - Santons - but generally not the backgrounds. Some people make their own backgrounds, others just lay out the santons.
This is the window paintings I was talking about before. You can see a whole set of them here, but they're not very clear because it was getting dark and they were down one side of a thin street so they were hard to photograph. Also note the very cool lamp post!
This is the front of the Palais de Papes at Avignon. Unfortunately I didn't get to go inside, but the outside and the door were still incredible. You can just imagine the history surrounding a place like this.Finally Christmas!!!
We had dinner on Christmas Eve at Nimes at Alix's Grandma's house with Alix's mum's family. This is the dining table just before we started, with the dish of oysters and the bread. Françoise had written a short note about each persons name and put it on their plate. It was all very cute. The little cream things on the table are nuts...almonds maybe...I'm not sure what sort of nuts.
These are the 'green' bins we got from the 'Green Santa'...one of Alix's aunts dressed up in a green Santa suit in between the main meal and dessert and brought everyone a bin with little stickers on it. Faustine, the little girl, kept stacking them up and making tall towers of containers before someone would come over and kick it down. It was pretty funny watching them rolling around amid all those bins. 
This is most of the presents just before the unwrapping began. This doesn't include the wheelbarrow of presents for the two children, which had already been opened and devoured. Yes the suitcase was a present too!
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