Le bilan et Lyon.

Lyon- Fête des Lumières 2010

Well 2010 in France is coming to a close. 3 months in France and here are the main things I have learned about the French.

1. They have very strange taste when it comes to hats/weird patchwork coats.
2. They will always try and shift the blame.
3. Red wine at lunchtime is completely and utterly acceptable. (Y)
4. Queues just don't exist.
5. Nor does a decent cuppa.
6. Old French ladies aren't very nice.
7. Toilets in bars are kind of unisex and downright weird.
8. Lorraine and Alsace have amazing Christmas markets.
9. French kids have hilarious sounding names- Alibaba and Ch'iti (pronounced Shitty) being just two examples.
10. French music in clubs is generally very poor.
11. French radio presenters are even more annoying, particularly when trying to sing English songs.
12. The French don't tend to give a shit when it comes to checking train/tram tickets, etc.
13. Paul the baker's is EVERYWHERE. (Think of it like an upmarket Gregg's).
14. Vin chaud rules.
15. The French park their cars like complete idiots (are they blind??).

So my final week here in Nancy has been pretty busy- went to Lyon last weekend for the Fête des Lumières, an annual event that sees Lyon and its surrounding suburbs ''light up''. That is to say there are loads of light installations/fireworks/pretty lights. The Fête des Lumières attracts thousands of people from far and wide, thus the weekend was un peu hectic when it came to queuing/ trying to move anywhere. Nevertheless, it was great to see Lyon lit up- the two rivers and the old town are B-E-A-utiful! Ambled round the old town a ridiculous amount, mind you. Love a bit of ye olde France. Also went out in Villefranche-sur-Saône, a smallish town just to the north of Lyon where my friend (and fellow language assistant/ uni housemate) is living. After cooking a ''fajita extravaganza'' we headed to a small club, which amazingly played the best music I have heard thus far in France. Forget Lyon, Villefranche is clearly where it's at. It's almost as good as my much loved favourite Villefranche-sur-Mer near Nice...

So my last week at school has been hassle-free, except for the sweets argument. The youngest year group is split into 2 classes, and I only gave sweets to one of the classes, as the other class were just horrible. Consequence: loads of 11 year olds coming up to me in the corridors asking me why I didn't give them sweets. Bof! Went out for drinks last night in La Quincaillerie, a rum bar which is a definite favourite. Ended up in a club with a load of engineering students before a snowball fight on the way home at 2:30am. Juvenile maybe, but a lorra lorra fun.

At present I am avoiding packing, beginning to think I may not get home tomorrow- heavy snow is predicted ce soir and I'm leaving around 5:30am tomorrow. Stress. On verra....

What a great few months I've had in Nancy. Can't wait for all the adventures to come between January and April. For now though, home is calling. I can't bloody wait...

Nancy- Je t'aime.

Well what a week it's been. Time flies, etc, etc. A week from now, I will be packing my suitcase ready for England. Although I absolutely love it in France, I can't imagine being anywhere other than home for Christmas (American flatmate Jackie in tow this year- I just can't seem to get rid of her....).

Last Thursday I went to Germany for two nights to see my friend Fiona who is currently working as an assistant in Saarbrücken, Germany. Although a short distance from Nancy, the trip toSaarbrücken involves catching 3 trains- taking over three hours. Bof! After having one minute to (successfully) change trains in Forbach, I arrived safetly in Saarbrücken ready for some festive FUN! Walked round the Christmas market, drinking glühwein from mugs as we went along. Saw Father Christmas 'fly' across the sky in his sleigh at 7pm prompt (basically a sleigh with a man inside travelled along a wire from one council building to another. Made for hilarious viewing, particularly the song that went with it). Went for a lovely Italian- pizza and tirimisu washed down with a Cosmopolitan, what else? Was both shocked and dismayed at Fiona's pizza-eating capabilities- she wasn't on top food eating form that night, ha ha.

Santa Claus, 'flying' across the sky at Saarbrücken's Christmas market.

The following day (after a mandatory trip to H+M of course) we headed to Namborn- a village in the back of beyond of Saarland! Getting there proved to be a little tricky due to the snow but after both a train and taxi ride, we arrived at our destination. Amazing! We were in Namborn for a Christmas meal with the other English assistants in Fiona’s department and the house we went to was amaaaazing! I think the snow helped a lot- the street looked like a ski village- chalet type houses and everything. Picture postcard material, fo’ shizzle. After a great deal of cheesy crisps and wine, we sat down for our Christmas Meal. V. nice, apart from the mashed potatoes that one of the assistants had ‘flavoured’ with a whole head of garlic. Je sais pas pourquoi mais c’était pas bon. After a cosy afternoon/ evening of eating, quizzing and chatting, we headed back through the snow to catch the train back to Saarbrücken. Job done.

I returned on Saturday to Nancy ready for the fête de Saint Nicolas, the biggest event of the year in this neck of the woods. And it was definitely worth coming back for.

In this part of France (and Europe), Saint Nicolas is celebrated on the 6^th December. Children receive presents and good food is everywah (think biscuits, spiced bread and vin chaud- mulled wine). Always something to celebrate, I feel. Saint Nicolas is the patron saint of Lorraine (this region of France), so this was a very BIG deal.

The festivities began on Saturday evening in Place Stanislas, dubbed la plus belle place du monde- the most beautiful square in the world (Je suis d’accord). After ‘double-socking’ it up, we headed to Place Stan for the fireworks. We had been told to arrive early, as it gets mental, crowds-wise so we arrived at 6pm, 90 minutes before the fireworks were to commence. Bof! Cold as. After shivering in the freezing cold for a ridiculous amount of time, the fireworks began!

I have never seen anything like it before. I was quite frankly blown away by the half hour display, which did not only feature amazing fireworks but also the story of Saint Nicolas, which was projected onto the buildings in the square.

In case you were wondering/ vaguely interested, here is a synopsis of the story;

· Three children get lost in the woods (never walk alone in the woods being the moral of the story here).

· Cold and hungry, an evil butcher lures them into his shop before killing them all and chopping them into tiny pieces. (There were some kids crying by this point in Place Stan- I don’t blame them).

· When Saint Nicolas hears of the news, he travels to the butcher’s house and somehow manages to bring all three children back to life (a little imagination is necessary).

· Nowadays, if children have been good, Saint Nicolas delivers presents to them on the 6^th December. However if they have been bad, children are told that Père Fouettard will come and whip them all back into order. Ouch!

Quelle histoire! The following day, we waited around in the cold and rain to see the Saint Nicolas parade. Each area of Nancy made a festive float (which was pulled by a tractor, how agrarian) and paraded round the city. Saint Nicolas and the evil butcher appeared at the end of the parade too, which was a nice touch. Really don’t understand why the French don’t show their appreciation for parades, shows, etc. No one applauded or cheered at the end of the parade, nor after the fireworks the previous evening. How bizarre, how bizarre. Seems a bit rude if you ask me.

Et voilà! Can honestly say the light/sound/ video projections of the story and the fireworks were one of the best things I have ever seen. Amazing night- definitely worth braving the cold. I think the 25000 other people in Place Stanislas will agree with me too...

Words really don't do the fireworks justice. See them for yourself here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_pE1ETSjWo

Festive frolics

The time has come again where I write another blog about my 'Fabulous Year Abroad' (no word short of a lie, honest). But where to start? The days have gone by that fast I don't know whether I'm coming or going. All I can say is the last few weeks have been pretty ''dang'' good.

I do, however, seem to be turning American. I blame my flatmate Jackie (let's just call her the 'Chicago Bull'). Not sure whether this is a good or a bad thing. I have replaced 'What are you having for tea?' with 'What are you having for dinner?', 'Yeah, I know' has become 'I know, right?' and 'Dang, girl, dang!' has become a permanent fixture in my vocabulary, albeit an ironic one.

Thankfully, the annoying American sayings I have adopted are coming into their own during games of ''Beer Pong'', basically a team game that involves throwing ping-pong balls into plastic cups filled with beer (harder than it sounds, I was ''well chuffed'' with my 7 in a row the other night.... Dang girl, dang!).

So my inner American and I had a blast last Thursday evening during Thanksgiving. 18 of us English assistants (and one German) had a fabulous evening, eating as much chicken and sweet potato as is physically possible. Preparation for Thanksgiving began the day before chez nous- potato was mashed, stuffing was made and green beans were laid out in dishes. No rest for the wicked, eh? Our efforts were rewarded with a trip to the cinema (Harry Potter, what else? Was highly amused by the French subtitles where I learned the word for wand is simply 'baguette').

Back to Thanksgiving; after our meal of chicken, potato, beans and gluttony, we settled down for a Thanksgiving quiz one of the assistants had prepared earlier, Blue Peter-style. Was a great evening- and not just because my team won the quiz (plus the bottle of vodka that came with it).

The Thanksgiving festivities were accompanied with snow, which has been settling here in Nancy for five days now. The other day myself and someone I work with at school asked for a lift from a complete stranger to the train station as all the buses back from school had been blocked. Thank god he wasn't a pyscho...

The festivities continued on Saturday when myself, Jackie and Michelle went to Strasbourg for the day to see the world famous Christmas market (or markets- there's loads of them). We wandered round the hundreds of stalls, getting as many free cake samples as possible. It turned into a 'grub-crawl'- we had a bit of everything, from soup to sausage to vin chaud (hot wine, for those who comprennent pas). Mmmmmm. This is what I envisaged when I thought of the Year Abroad last year. Had a walk round the cathedral, went to a cosy bar for hot chocolate when we couldn't stand the cold any longer and even managed to find 'New Look'. Strasbourg was even more beautiful in the dark as all the market stalls were lit up, and the lights were just incredible. Definitely worth a visit, despite the crowds. Also an excellent place for comedy photos...

On Sunday, I went for a meal at a French family's house! It came a bit out of the blue, really. Jackie and I had signed up for 'Faim d'Echanges' a while back, whereupon local French families invite foreign students living in Nancy round for a meal. After getting a phone call from a very bossy sounding French lady at some point last week, I was invited for a meal at her and her husband's house on Sunday afternoon. If there's anything Faim d'Echanges taught me- it's that the French don't rush through their meals. We sat down to eat around half one and didn't finish until six o'clock. Ate a ridonkulous amount of Roquefort. Winner. Spoke lots of French too which is always a plus.

Anyway they were a lovely couple, recently retired, etc with the most gorgeous Golden Retriever (Missy) with whom I fell a little bit in love. The couple (Michelle and Yves) have offered to show me round the region- the Vosges mountains, Luxembourg, etc so on verra. I hope I'll stay in touch with them- they told me to phone them whenever I'm ill and they'll look after me (even in the middle of the night, apparently...). Gotta love the French.

So time stops for no man (or language assistant). Off for a meal at an assistants flat ce soir, should be a laugh. We're armed with chocolate biscuits and sangria. I just hope we don't get snowed in...

Ladies of leisure.

I seem to have become a lady of leisure. Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé? What happened? The French and their casual approach to work, that's what happened. Although officially I am supposed to be teaching 12 hours of English per week, last week I worked the grand total of 6 hours. 6 hours. And I got paid a ridiculous amount to do it. Mais comment?

It's mainly to do with the fact that the French have a ridiculous amount of jours fériés- or bank holidays as we would say in ye olde Angleterre. As last Thursday was a bank holiday and Fridays are my usual days off my weekend commenced last Wednesday. Vive la France!

After recovering from the guilt of not working (which didn't take long to get over, quelle surprise), I went and celebrated my youth by attending a party in a forest. As you do.

I should probably mention here that the last three nights out have been pretty memorable as far as nights out go. After inviting all the other English assistants we know round for a pre-lash last weekend (or 'un before' as it is known in France), an assistant proceeded to 'chunder everywah'. After cleaning up sick for what seemed like ages (to be fair, it did take a fucking age), we decided to head out into Nancy-ville quand-même, ending up in the cultural establishment that is le McCarthy, supposed watering hole of the Irish. Memorable.

Back to the party in a forest. My friends from the local Grande-École (friends in high places, clearly) invited me to a soirée their school was holding in a forest just outside Nancy (pourquoi pas??). Obviously our answer was 'Bah, oui!'. 15 euros for a party in a forest with an open bar seemed like a pretty good deal. And no work the next day!

So after hopping on a coach from the Ecole des Mines at 23h30 (very funny coach journey, felt like I was on a bus with a load of football hooligans à la Millwall), we arrived at the Forêt de Haye ready to P.A.R.T.Y! Luckily for us, the party was being held in an old warehouse and was not in fact outdoors as I had originally assumed (it rained every day last week so that would have been disastrous). After spending a ridiculous amount of time waiting for a measly beer, we hit the dancefloor...4 hours later we were still 'busting-a-move' on aforementioned d'floor. Was definitely an experience anyway, perhaps due to the absence of toilets (but maybe that's too much information). Two guys sitting near us on the bus back 'made a little vomcano' which was lovely to watch if I do say so (or not- haha), but apart from that it was a night to remember!

'Livin' it up' was rounded off by a night out in Nancy last Friday, which culminated in a trip to La Friterie, a 'Munchies' type affair if you're familiar with late night takeaways in Newcastle upon Tyne (thought not). This does seem to be a common way to round off an evening- perhaps I should commence the jogging I've been postponing indefinitely for the last month (?).

Et voilà! That's your lot. I should probably get back to work. Who am I kidding?!

The City of Lights

There's just something about Paris isn't there? My fourth visit to Paris and still I get excited about seeing the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre despite all the tourists, pigeon shit and annoying street vendors. I was meeting up with ‘the girls’, two of whom are living in Paris this year (one in Montparnasse and the other close to Opéra) - perfect excuse to keep visiting if ever I needed one!

Perhaps I still get excited about Paris because all four of my visits have been different. I first visited the City of Lights aged 12 with my family, wide-eyed about Parc Astérix and seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time (definitely worth the wait). My second trip was more of a mistake than a well thought out plan- on a school French exchange in 2007 we got on the wrong TGV and ended up in Paris Gare de Lyon, as opposed to actual Lyon. This resulted in six crazy hours, trying to see as many of the sights as possible- I remember pigeons walking all over our feet as we ate baguettes under the Eiffel Tower. Best mistake my teacher ever made! My third visit was rather spontaneous also- I was working in a youth hostel in Brittany and was given four days off ‘pour voyager’. Hence my first thought ‘Sod it, I’m going to Paris’. I spent three (and a bit) days wandering round Parisian streets, and doing as many of the tourist spots as possible. I had completely forgotten just how large a city Paris is and stupidly kept walking between sights, thus ‘knackering myself out’ a treat. So that was an experience, albeit a little lonely at times.

So trip number four was (yet again) rather different to the first three, namely because I went ‘out out’ for the first time in Paris. We all met in a cosy bar near Belleville, a working class district of Paris that is ‘up and coming’ if any of the slightly pretentious magazines and newspapers are to believe. Moved on to Bastille just before the last metro and raved in a bar/club before a quick visit to the Irish bar next door (would have been rude not to really). Other night-time escapades in Paris included a lovely meal near the Moulin Rouge, sitting on the steps with crepes outside the Sacré-Cœur and sipping 11 euro cocktails in Montparnasse. I only had one- you can take the girl out of the North of England, etc, etc.

During the day wandering was high on the agenda- we wandered over to Trocadéro and walked down past the Musée de l’Armée before heading up the Champs-Elysées. Highlight of one afternoon was helping some students do a challenge for charity by leap-frogging up the Champs-Elysées before climbing the Arch de Triomphe just as the sun was setting. Parfait.

Notre-Dame was full of tourists, but I still decided to go in (fourth visit), we went to a gorgeous English bookshop just across the river from Notre-Dame (Shakespeare and Company- check it out if you’re ever in Paris). The top floor of the bookshop has beds, comfy chairs, typewriters to mess around with and even a piano! Books aren’t even for sale on this floor- instead browsers are encouraged to sit down and read (and we did exactly this).

The final day in Paris was spent visiting le Cimetière du Montparnasse- where we stumbled upon the graves of Serge Gainsbourg, John Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir (we didn’t exactly stumble, it was all intentional…) before wandering round the streets of the Marais district around the Latin Quarter. CULTURE!

So after four visits, Paris is still my favourite city in the world (apart from Newcastle, obviously). Clichéd I know, but there really is just something about the City of Lights. Maybe the media has something to do with that- the scenes at the end of Amélie in Montmartre, the Sex and the City finale, the views of the Eiffel Tower at the start of Truffaut’s Les 400 Coups, even the bloody Hunchback of Notre Dame. It’s not just the media though- there’s something special about watching people as they sit reading/eating/etc along the Seine (in a strictly non-creepy way, I hasten to add) and listening to buskers as they do their best Piaf impressions on the metro. Yes, Paris is expensive, full of tourists, litter and ugly souvenir shops, but it’s also got taste, charm- a certain ‘Je ne sais quoi’ if you will (ha ha ha).

Ever since starting university, my course friends and I had talked about meeting up for a Parisian weekend, dreaming about hot chocolates in cosy cafés and tourist pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower. Well the dream came true. Now what??

Striking, protests and good food. How very French.

More protests than hot dinners

When it comes to protesting, the French win every time, hands down. This week marks the billionth (or what feels like the billionth) national strike. 1 in 4 petrol stations have run dry, protesters have blocked all of France's twelve oil refineries, schools have been closed, shops looted (Lyon) and the public transport system is temperamental at best. All because Monsieur Sarko has decided to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full state pension age from 65 to 67. Probème?

Actually, oui. According to my teacher, it's not so much the proposals that are making protesters chant like angry French people who haven't had a cigarette for an hour but Sarkozy's unwillingness to negociate/ discuss the matter. 'Il est trop autoritaire' said someone in the staff room today. 'And history has proved that the French don't get on with authoritative figures. Look what happened to Louis XVI'. Well said.

Aaaaah, the Revolution. I was wondering how long it would take before someone mentioned the French Revolution (23 days, if I'm correct). Can't get away from it. The vast majority of teachers in my school haven't been striking, although one of the P.E. teachers who did strike yesterday chose fishing over protesting. When asked if he travelled far to fish, he replied 'Non- pas d'essence' (no petrol). Ha.

So on a selfish note, I hope these strikes calm down soon (the rents are visiting next week and I'm going to Paris in a week and a half). The novelty of seeing daily protests has now officially worn off, I would like you all to shut up now and accept that Sarkozy is an idiot. That's what we do in Britain.

Food, glorious food

When it comes to food, the French win every time, hands down. On Sunday night, Jackie and I went to a soirée where we had raclette. Basically, everyone has a petit dish which you fill with cheese and put under a grill thing. When the cheese has melted, you pour it over potatoes, meat, vegetables, tomatoes, etc so everything is all mushed up and covered in cheese then eat! Was a proper French experience- very sociable meal and très bon.

Raclette

The food is also très bon at school- all the teachers eat together at lunchtime and it's always a three course meal with bread! It's no wonder there are so few fat French people- the cantine food is fresh- lots of salad and fish/chicken with vegetables. It's so sociable as well. Jamie Oliver would be well impressed. No need to come to France Jamie, they were well ahead of you...

Jackie and I went to Metz for the day on Saturday which (despite the rain) was a good'un. After a couple of hours in the brand new Pompidou Centre, we headed into a lil' café for a tarte de Lorraine and cider. Could get used to this. Also went to the cathedral, the FRAC (modern art gallery) and saw a LOT of protesters. It was like a war zone- flares and lots of angry chanting.

Lessons learned this week: the French protest even more than I had previously thought, Brian will be in the kitchen for the foreseeable future (the teachers even brought it up over lunch yesterday).

Le travail éloigne de nous trois grands maux: l'ennui, le vice et le besoin

Two weeks in France and I'm already quoting Voltaire. Boooooooom! It means 'work delivers us from three evils: boredom, vice and want'. Apparently. Last week, I started work.

My college is like Waterloo Road, only worse. One of the teachers told me the other day that if a student gets expelled, no other school will take them. And a child is only expelled if he/she poses a 'dangerous risk' to fellow pupils and staff. Gulp. Over 80% of the students have unemployed parents and many don't even speak French that well, given that so many of them don't even come from France. Teaching them English should be a hoot then! One of the students has a dog called Sniper for heaven's sake!! I'm glad I haven't seen bad-ass French film The Class, as I fear it would have scared me off this 'assistant business' for good...

Despite all this, I remain (assez) optimistic about le travail. All of the staff are lovely and they always make an effort to talk to me in the staff room at breaktime. I get my own set of keys, photocopying card and a pigeon hole!! I have arrived, clearly. Now all I have to do is plan lessons, as I'm going to be teaching these bad-ass kids for 12 hours per week...

The last week has wholeheartedly reinforced the whole 'Brian is in the kitchen' thing (see previous blog). Bloody Brian is everywhere!! And not just in the kitchen. Today in class 'Brian' was waiting for the bus and last week he was at home doing his homework (pimping himself out, clearly). He's the Myleene Klass of foreign language learning, always popping up here and there-whether you want him to or not!

The French are on strike today. Encore une fois! Is there anything they don’t strike about?? I’ve heard the word solidarité so often these last few weeks I feel like the bloody word will haunt me in my sleep. When a student was asked to take his pencil case out of his bag today, he facetiously replied ''I can’t- I’m on strike''. I had to laugh...

It's not all work though. There's been plenty of time for fun and games. Had a LOT of fun last Thursday at a French house party. Through Couchsurfing, Jackie (my flatmate) and I got in touch with a group of law students at Université de Nancy 2 so we went to one of their parties! The host had made sushi for everyone which was amazing and we played French Ring of Fire 'Gros Poulet' before dancing to a lot of Phoenix and Daft Punk. Woo! French friends! We're going out with them all this Thursday night which should be good- plus I don't have to get up on Friday for work! (Had to wake up at half seven last Friday after getting home at half three-just horrible!).

Seen the other assistants quite a bit too- we all went out on Sunday for lunch and then went to the free jazz festival in the park where we saw lots of French rap, which was an experience (if you know me at all, you will know I have a strange fascination with French rap. I will say no more). Went out with an American assistant on Saturday night who was here last year as well (and he lives in my foyer) so he knows all the good bars! One drink quickly turned into four (quelle surprise), but found some pretty cool hangouts!

Tonight, I'm going to meet some engineering students randomly! I replied to an advert in the American library asking for weekly English-French conversation and some students from the Ecole des Mines have invited me to their petite soirée! We're making crepes apparently. Mmmmm.

I'll finish there- places to go, people to see, etc. I'll leave you with this. There was a fight at school yesterday between two students: the kids have been learning all about violence this week in their English classes. Somewhat ironic, I feel. Definitely puts a new spin on 'active learning' anyway!

Un peu d'humour

Saw a French homeless guy (a.k.a. un SDF) the other day asking for money. The cardboard sign on his back read Pour la drogue et les putes- for 'drugs and whores'. Nice touch.

Not my photo, by the way- that would have been just too cruel.

Where is Brian? Brian is in the kitchen!

In case you were wondering, the title of this post refers to a sketch by Gad Elmaleh (the guy in Priceless, with Audrey Tatou) about learning English in France. Apparently, the same names appear in all the English text books- Brian, Sophie et al, so if you admit to being a native English speaker, it is likely a French person will at some point ask you where Brian 'eez'. Just for your reference!

My first week in the industrial east of France has come to an end and what a week it's been! Can honestly say it has been much more enjoyable than expected. I thought the first week would be a constant stream of paperwork, angst and early nights with only a DVD for company, but luckily Nancy is FULL of language assistants (namely English speaking). In true Brits abroad fashion, we have been frequenting Nancy's Irish bar (La Taverne de L'Irlandais) for the typically French 'demi-pêche'- Stella and peach sirop. Sounds bizarre but it's good stuff!

So the first few days here were taken up by constant shopping (and not the fun kind of shopping). Our poorly equipped kitchen was in need of some essentials so Dan (another English assistant from the best university in the world) and I visited 'Tatti' a few times for cutlery, mugs and pans. The name says it all really- it's a bit like Wilko's but even more, well, tatty! Ha. We did find time to visit the Irish bar and go for a pizza so it wasn't all grim...

BNP MEMBER ALERT!

Yes, today I have joined the BNP. Luckily this has nothing to do with the British BNP (the racist British National Party for all those who don't know), but I opened a bank account with the BNP Paribas! Amazingly I managed to sort out all the bank stuff without any difficulty- I was in there a good half-hour and opened a student account which is freeeeee!! Apparently you have to pay around 3 euros/month with most other French banks, so I wasn't having any of that! It even has internet banking which I'm sure will prove interesting trying to figure out. The lady who opened the account for me was lovely though, as was the lady who sorted me out with a French sim card and phone number, so don't believe all the French stereotypes! So after opening my bank account toute seule earlier, I headed straight for the boulangerie near the flat for a celebratory raspberry tarte. Well deserved (I think).

Les Soirs

Evenings have been pretty busy so far, namely because it takes about 20 minutes to boil a pan of water in our kitchen! My travel kettle has been an absolute life saver (cheers nan and grandad)! Jackie (my American flatmate) and I have been 'creative cooking' with our hob- chicken risotto and home-made ratatouille being the favourites. After going to a French pre-lash on Thursday night (but not going out afterwards), I finally experienced Nancy by night on Friday. And Saturday. Naturally, the Irish pub featured on both occasions. On Friday, we moved on to Les Artistes, a studenty cocktail bar which I feel is going to become another one of our haunts. I opted for a lager-cocktail, merely because I was intrigued. Turned out to be a good choice! Anyway it was a really lovely evening with all the other English assistants (shame we weren't speaking French though- next time perhaps?!). The evening ended with a 'lovely' photo of myself in front of Lyon's team bus, eyes bright with excitement. It's a shame Nancy lost 3-2 to them the following day...

A perfect Sunday

My first Sunday in Nancy was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight. Walked down to Place Stanislas- the main square in Nancy (a World Heritage sight, no less) and it is just incredible! So many people, but the architecture is amazing. Needless to say, a LOT of photos were taken. After eating a heart-attack tarte-fromage in a bag, we headed for the park which has a ZOO! Was probably a bit over-excited about that, in retrospect. Nevertheless, we saw monkies, goats and even an albino peacock! You don't get that in Sleazes Park!

Needless to say, this perfect day ended with a trip to La Taverne de L'Irlandais. A pattern is emerging...

Baguettes, bars and blogging.

Bonjour à tous! Thought I'd better get round to writing something down about the year abroad, given that this will supposedly be the best year of my life, but where to start? I arrived in la belle France on Monday evening, laden with enough white t-shirts to last me a lifetime, not to mention a ridiculous amount of sandwiches. The journey was surprisingly hassle-free, apart from ten minutes of hell in Paris when I had to change stations...Arrived in Nancy just before 10pm and was met by the teacher, Sandrine who will be taking me under her wing this year. She seems v. nice, and made sure I got into my accomodation ok which was helpful.

The foyer where I am spending the next seven months of la vie is fairly basic, but I'm sure I'll get by. Bedroom is pretty huuuge, although they don't turn the heating on until November 1st apparently and it can get proper freezing at night already. Kitchen leaves a LOT to be desired- it's clean and quite modern but literally all we have is a fridge and a hob. Pas de oven, pas de freezer, pas de microwave. I'm gonna have to get creative with cooking- Come Dine With Me with only one saucepan anyone??

Lessons I have learnt thus far about the French:

• They are admin crazy, want photocopies of every little thing
• If it's not their job to do something, they probably won't go out of their way to help you (as I have found in the admin office in my 'foyer')
• French people really do carry a lot of baguettes around
• French people love Irish bars. Excellent news.

I was meant to be starting at my collège this morning, but received a text from my 'responsable' earlier on telling me not to come in because they've had a big meeting this morning (or something to that effect). Don't know if I'm supposed to be going in this afternoon or not- who knows? I'll make like the French and just give a shrug of indifference...