Week 19 - Exploring the Region

Making the most of the Provence sunshine!

We've been hit by some b e a utiful sunny weather this week so I've been able to truly appreciate life in Provence. Ally came to Avignon on Saturday and we went for tartines at Ginette et Marcel, the cutest little French bistro just 2 mins from my apartment, and we made the most of the sunshine by eating al-fresco. We spent the afternoon walking over to l'Isle de la Barthelasse, which is just over the bridge from Avignon and has great views of the Pont d'Avignon. Later we stopped by my fave bakery on Rue de la Republique, Edgar's, for Speculoos and Double Choc cheesecakes. We realised pretty quickly that one slice between two would definitely have been sufficient and now I feel like I've eaten my share of cheesecake for the year!

Death by cheesecake

That evening Chelsea and Kate hosted a cocktail party, which was the perfect opportunity to dress up for once - the French like to keep things causal. Ally and I made a vodka jelly (not quite a real cocktail, I know, but still pretty cool) which we actually managed to set properly so was a success! We all then headed for a night out out on the town at our favourite Avignon haunt, Red Zone.

Ally headed back home to Nîmes on Sunday and I met up with Annie and Megan in the afternoon at the most adorable little tea room, La pendule parasseuse, where they make Angelina hot chocolates! Photos stolen from Anushka's Instagram, my Insta game is clearly not that strong.

Monday was another gorgeous sunny day so Kate, Annie and I met up to walk over to Villeneuve-les-Avignon, a really pretty town just across the bridge. We walked all the way up to the medieval fortress, Fort Saint-André (free entry for students, #winning), and enjoyed taking in the views and wandering round the fort. It was seriously windy at the top!

As it's been my last week of school before Feb half term - yes, we're already back on school holidays - I've mainly been doing revision sessions and games covering everything I've taught them so far. We've been playing Charades, or Le jeu de mime, which has been far too entertaining watching children crawling around the classroom pretending to be sheep/pigs/Father Christmas.

My evenings have been pretty busy too - tartines with the British gals on Tuesday and a soirée chez nous last night with the French girls which involved lots of crêpes and dancing to some absolute classics, as well as the odd French tune. Believe it or not there are actually some quite catchy tunes that aren't in the English language!




I've finally managed to get myself organised for half term - off to Barcelona on Monday then going skiing with Niamh the following week. Tough life.

Ciao,

Katie x

Week 18 - Disneyland Paris

Disneyland, Paris and more Provence adventures.

My long weekend in Paris already seems like a dream - I guess we did go to Disneyland. With Fridays off, Annie, Georgie, Brogan and I headed up early in the morning and hit the Louvre that afternoon. I was pretty excited to see Arcimboldo's Four Seasons, as one of my CE1 classes studied his paintings and made their own Autumn collages in November. Later we made it to Angelina's, rumoured to make the best hot chocolates in Paris. I can't say I've tasted every hot chocolate in Paris but this would definitely be hard to beat! One of Georgie's friends lives just outside the city so we met up with her for Happy Hour in Le Marais before the rest of the Avignon crew arrived late that evening.

Saturday was Disney day so we jumped on the RER to Marne-la-Vallée and all met up in the park for an exciting day of rides and magic. We refused to let the cold beat us and stayed until close to watch the lights show and fireworks after a final ride on Space Mountain.

Prime position for Space Mountain

Most people had work on Monday so headed back home the following day but Kate and I stayed an extra night and managed to cover a lot of touristy sites. She used to study abroad there so took me around her local neighbourhood where we got falafel sandwiches from the Marais which were incredible - seriously need to get some falafel stands down in Avignon! After a morning at the Musée du Luxembourg for the final weekend of the Fragonard exhibition, we métroed around Paris visiting all the tourist hotspots: Notre Dame, Sacré Coeur, la Tour Eiffel, la Fondation Louis Vuitton and l'Arc de Triomphe. Breakfast in Opéra the following morning before heading on a train back to reality down south home to Avignon.

School has been much the same. They've been learning clothes this week and we've been playing a game where one student leaves the room and we pick someone to describe (the fact school uniforms barely exist in France is handy for this) then they come back in and have to guess who it is. One boy said that English is now is favourite subject thanks to me, which definitely made my week.

The ESN (Erasmus Student Network) have put on lots of events this week as there are a few new students joining the uni this semester. I went along to their soirée on Thursday evening with Brian, Amy and Chelsea which was fun and a good opportunity to meet some new people.

Today Chelsea and I went outside the Avignon bubble to explore some more of the region. We took the bus to Cavaillon where there we'd heard there was a market on Fridays although this turned out to be slightly outside the centre of town and there really wasn't much there at all. Still, we walked into the town centre and went exploring. It wasn't long before we found a little path up to a church so, despite our inappropriate footwear, we made the ascent and climbed all the way up - it was worth it for the views at the top!

Feeling French

Staying in Avi this weekend and Ally's coming to visit so looking forward to showing her around now I know my way around everywhere.

A la semaine prochaine,

Katie x

British Stereotypes

It's always interesting to discover how us Brits are considered by other cultures. After speaking to French friends, colleagues and my students, here's what I've found out that people this side of the channel think about the UK:

1. It's freezing
Fair enough, it's cold in the winter, but the sun does come out sometimes.


2. It's always raining
It doesn't rain ALL the time in the UK, promise!


3. We drink a LOT
Rather than sipping slowly on a demi, us Brits are known for our love of pints as well as knocking back the hard stuff.


4. We eat a fry up every day for breakfast
Yes, English breakies are amazing and we'll often treat ourselves to a fry up every now and again, however toast and cereal are probably something most of us wake up to day-to-day.

5. We love jelly
A slightly random one, all the Frenchies I've met are fascinated by jelly and want to try it. Can't say I've had it since primary school.


6. We've met the Queen
And we're also bezzies with Will and Kate.


7. Fish and Chips
Our staple diet when we're not tucking into an English breakfast.


8. We all love tea
Ok, so this is pretty-much true for the majority of Brits, so I often get a surprised reaction when I admit I'm not much of a tea drinker myself (shock horror).

Week 17 - Getting Ill Abroad

Surviving sickness abroad, snow and Avignon explorations 

Last weekend was a little less exciting than previous ones as I was cooped up in bed for most of it after coming down with something nasty. Fortunately it was only a 48 hour thing and by Sunday I was back to normal and felt a million times better after my panicked Skype call home. Being ill is never fun but especially not in a foreign country. At least they're big on their meds over here - pharmacies are more common than Starbucks in New York.

I did manage to get out the house on Saturday for an interview with a journalist called Arnaud for La Provence, the regional newspaper. He had found me on twitter (shamelessly plugging my blog) and was interested in what I got up to as a language assistant in the area. We discussed everything from my day-to-day schedule and the cultural differences I've experienced as a Brit in the south of France. Watch this space for the article if it goes to print!

I had to say farewell to Honorine this weekend too as she's off to do a semester abroad in Argentina! Pauline and I were really sad to see her go but hopefully we'll stay in touch, good old Skype and Snapchat eh. As a parting gift she brought round her microwave and toaster so our kitchen is now looking seriously well-equipped.

Although the weather has seriously taken a cold turn - Emma's friend Emily was visiting from the Alps and said it's even colder where we are - the sun has also been shining so we've had some beautiful days. I'm really starting to appreciate where I live, going for walks around the city and enjoying the impressive historical sites. Emma's moved here from Vedène now which is very exciting - even more assistants in Avi!

Me and Kate exploring Avi

The park just outside my apartment

On Tuesday I got a very nice surprise en route to work. After a sleepy start, I changed buses at Carpentras to continue on to my first school in Malaucène. As the bus turned the corner into the town I was quickly woken up by the sight of snow everywhere! Unfortunately by lunchtime it had already melted, but it was fun while it lasted. The town is in the mountains though (it's right at the bottom of Mont Ventoux) so I've been assured there will be more snow to come.

A group of us assistants went along to the tandem conversation evening at Camili Books and Tea on Wednesday, which is always such a great opportunity to speak French. Lots of the regular crowd were there and some of the people are so interesting to talk to - one man knows loads about the area and was explaining the history of Mont Ventoux. I also met a wine expert who passed on some wisdom as to where to find the best wine in the region.

DJ Vessel (Ryan) was playing at Pub Z on Thursday night so the assistant family went out to support him, although as lots of us had early starts the following morning it wasn't quite as an eventful night as last time but was good fun all the same and great to catch up with lots of people I hadn't seen since the holidays.

DJ Vessel

I'm off to Paris this weekend for a long weekend with the girls! We'll also be making a trip to Disneyland which we've all been looking forward to for so long, can't wait!

Bisous,

Katie x

Week 16 - Aix-ploring Aix-en-Provence

Apéro, Aix-en-Provence and Pictionary.

It was Honorine's birthday on Christmas day so Pauline and I organised a belated birthday celebration back in Avignon at our apartment. It was also their friend Claire's birthday happening over the weekend so it worked well as a joint birthday party. Everyone brought along apéritifs and we had a delightful French spread of patés and crudités as well a birthday cake I'd made that afternoon. That night they introduced me to the drinking game Picolo, an app (available in French and English) which was fun to play!

Birthday girls

Early Saturday morning (British) Annie and I met up with Jean-Pierre, our Blablacar driver taking us to Aix-en-Provence. He was super-friendly, chatting away to us for the whole journey, and we arranged to get a lift back with him the following evening. We met up with the rest of the gang and grabbed a quick lunch where we experienced more of France's stellar customer service - despite being served by three members of staff they managed to get our order wrong and nearly overcharged us! After checking into our Air Bnb we spent the afternoon exploring the city and met up with Emma's boyfriend Tom who lives in Aix so was able to act as our tour-guide.

As it was Saturday night we thought we'd better check out Aix's nightlife, so after a few rounds of my new favourite game Picolo we headed out on the town. We'd realised pretty soon after arriving that things are a lot more expensive there and this was especially reflected in the €20 entry fee for the first place we tried. Eventually we managed to find a local hangout with free entry and live music! The following day was spent brunching and browsing the sales before we headed back to A-ville with Jean-Pierre.

Aix-cited for a night out

School has gone pretty smoothly this week - we've been playing lots of games, including Pictionary, which got some of them way too excited at the fact they were allowed to draw on the chalkboard!

Lovely views from the bus

I'm currently tucked up in bed as I've definitely come down with something, although pretty impressed I'd got this far considering how many bug's I've probably been exposed to travelling from school to school up until now!

Ciao,

Katie x