This is why I'm sad.

This is why I'm sad.

I'm leaving work, hilarious co-workers, some great kids, a great bunch of friends and the city I've fallen in love with over the last seven months. Can hardly believe it's over, don't think there's anything I would have done differently. Leaving is even harder than I thought it would be but la danse continue...

Quelle bonne année!

Bliss.

Enfin! Spring/summer is upon us! The last 2 weeks in Nancy have been beautiful, I really really really don't want to leave la belle France. I'm so so so happy right now- returning to England just does not excite me in the slightest...

Blog on trip to Champagne region and trip to the Vosges mountains to come soon!

My week

• Work, work, work. I'll miss it when I finish in 2 weeks. Highlights of my working week- filming my 4eme (year 9) students in the sun for the English project I'm doing with them (everyone is getting so involved and it's just so much FUN). Singing Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On with one of the teaching assistants (my new gay best friend) was another highlight.
• Went to the opera on Tuesday evening- found cheap seats (12 euros) so put our glad rags on and saw The Portrait, a Russian opera (luckily with French subtitles, my Russian is not really up to scratch). It was an experience to enter the building alone- right in Place Stan, it is beautiful. The opera was ok- quite strange and a bit morbid at the end. In a nutshell it's about a painter who finds success but eventually goes a bit mental. Enough said. Moved onto new favourite bar Le Berthom afterwards for some Belgian beer :)
Nancy, Opéra.

Lovely.

Been chilling in parks a fair bit this week- temperature has been 25 degrees the last few days. Luckily the gorgeous Parc st. Marie is a 3 minute walk from chez moi- was there with the Irish for 3 hours on Wednesday afternoon chatting and people watching and went for a drink in the park with someone from school this afternoon. Life is chilled. I love the fact that whenever the weather is good the French are out making the most of it. At home a hot weather spell makes everyone turn to the beer....

Last night a few of us traveled from Nancy to Luxembourg to see Stornoway in concert. They're one of my favourite bands, their album Beachcomber's Windowsill is pure perfection and has been the soundtrack to my Year Abroad. A perfect way to round off my time in France I guess! There were only 60 or so people at the gig which meant the band were able to perform some songs unplugged. Amazing! So stripped down, the lead singer has a great voice, felt like everything he was singing came straight from the heart.

Perfection.

2 weeks to go and counting.

Vive la France!

Prague.

Tucked away down a side street we find this. Gotta love Prague :)

After a 5ish hour bus ride where we saw the temperature rise from 3 to 16 degrees, we finally made it to Prague,Czech Republic- last leg of the Eastern European adventure.

Had a great few days sightseeing, climbing up astronomical clock towers, making fun of our shitty free walking tour guide who pronounced Art Nouveau 'Art Noovarr', drinking in Le Chapeau Rouge (cool bar with cheap beer), shopping, and spending copious amounts of time in Tesco! Yes, Tesco is everywhere in Prague- felt like I was at home.

Tesco, Prague's standard supermarket. Get in!

Prague, main square.

Crazy busy!

Prague was full of British much like I had expected. On our last night Emma, Michelle and I went on a 'lads on tour' Prague pub crawl. Lots of Brits= lots of fun. Plus a lot of dancing in Central Europe's largest club Karlovy Lázně. 5 floors. Bit of a bitch when you lose your friends though...

Prague Pub Crawl. Very cultural.

Our final day in Prague was perhaps my favourite- Michelle and I spent the best part of the day wandering around, climbing up to the Castle area for beautiful views over Prague (ice cream in hand I might add). Pure perfection. Great weather, great atmosphere- it was the perfect end to a perfect trip.

Astronomical clock, Prague

Final day in Prague.

I'll leave it there. Finally got back to Nancy, knackered after CouchSurfing in Paris in the same room as a mental cat who kept jumping on us in the middle of the night. Still, can't complain- accommodation for the whole trip had only cost 30 euros or so. :-)

If you ever get the chance to travel around Central/Eastern Europe, then get off your arse and go. It is a LOT of fun- fascinating history, great food and fantastic people (a bit of a cliché I realise). There's so many places to explore in this part of the world that we just didn't have time to do it all. Still, at least I've got a good excuse to go back. The travel bug hath struck again...