So apparently 3 days work means two weeks holiday here, fine by me!
Met up with Ally, a friend from Exeter who's working out here in Nîmes, on Saturday. We wandered around Avignon and played some board games in the street as there was a free board game festival going on all over the city. There was also a science fair happening at the town hall so we randomly went to have a look and came across a wedding being followed around by a huge camera crew. Turned out they were filming what appeared to be the French equivalent of Don't Tell the Bride so we might be appearing on French TV soon!
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| Le Pont d'Avignon |
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| Salads and Monacos |
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| Filming the newlyweds |
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| Playing shuffleboard on the street |
Found an Irish bar to watch the rugby and drink Monacos - beer, grenadine and lemonade - before jumping on the last train to Nîmes where we went out for an evening of tapas, live music and more Monacos. There's not loads to do on Sundays except hang out in restaurants and enjoy the sunshine, so we did exactly that!
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| Nîmes |
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| Ally in Nîmes |
Back in Vaison the next day I started my first official day at school. After a beautiful weekend I woke up to torrential rain and waited for Vera, the lovely German teacher, to give me a lift to Malaucène. The kids at all the schools are super cute and the teachers are very friendly. I started out with the basics - 'What is your name?', 'How old are you?' and 'How are you?'. Afterwards in the playground lots of children could be heard running around shouting "I'm HAPPY!", although I think I'll have to thank Pharrell Williams for that one. With about 12 different classes and 3 different schools I have a LOT of names to learn. A couple of them are easy to remember though - a boy called Mario has a Mario Bros. pencil case.
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| Even in the South of France it rains sometimes! |
On Thursdays I also take a special needs class who are adorable and asked me loads of questions about England: 'Have you met the Queen?', 'Do you really eat eggs and bacon for breakfast?' and 'How are you finding the commute from London every day?'. After explaining that I was living in Vaison they were reassured and told me Vaison-la-Romaine is 'the best town in the world'!
After three days of hard work teaching I was clearly in need of a break, it's October half term! Since I've got the next two weeks free I've booked to go to Corsica for a week away in the sunshine with some other assistants! Hard life out here...
At the sudden realisation that I'm going to be on the beach in a bikini next week having been indulging myself with French cheese and wine I thought it would probably be a good idea to get some exercise - also a great way to see a little more of the town. After my run I met up for a crêpe with Jeremy and he's suggested some good running routes to do round here. I've also found a gym here which has an amazing student deal so I'm looking forward to starting when I'm back from holiday.
My bank card has FINALLY arrived! Dropped off my details at the department of education in
Avignon on Friday before grabbing a BlaBlaCar to Toulon where we spent the night before getting the ferry to Corsica the following morning. Had another successful journey with a nice guy called Jeremy and his 4 year old son who slept for most of the way.
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| Views from the BlaBlaCar |
Stayed at an Airbnb with fellow assistants Amy and Cece and met up with the other girls for drinks in the evening in Toulon. It was an early start to catch the ferry the following morning but we've made it, let the holiday commence!
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| Amy and Cece in Toulon |
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| Santé ! |
Katie x
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