Week 28: Puy de Dome, relaxing at the Spa and a special visit

Day 201+202 +203: Exams exams exams. So the start of this week isn’t particularly interesting as it’s just full of exams. Yet exams in France are unlike no other exams that I’ve experienced at home. Here are a list of all the things I’ve witnessed since taking exams in France:

1. Told the date and time of the exam a week before but not told the place or room numbers for some exams until the day of
2. Name not on any of the lists, therefore meaning I have to add my name on the bottom after explaining that I’m an Erasmus student every time
3. Allowed bags in the room down by the side of you during the exam
4. Teachers/invigilators turned up late
5. Question paper is given out whilst people are still talking meaning Lucille and I had time to quickly ask each other a few questions before they finally gained control over everyone
6. Don’t know the weighting or point system for questions on some exam papers
7. No clocks in the rooms so can’t monitor your time
8. Didn’t look in my dictionary meaning I could have hidden notes in there
9. Exams on the same day at the same time and when asked what I should do about this I received no help or a solution
10. People talking during the exam, especially when people are allowed to leave after an hour as everyone rushes to the front causing more noise
11. Teachers/invigilators having rather loud conversations during the exam
12. Someone shouted during the exam to ask a question instead of putting their hand up
13. For one exam there was a powerpoint slide with a variety of questions projected on the wall serving as our exam paper and it went off halfway through
14. People casually turning up 30 minutes late to an exam and are still allowed in
15. Phones went off during the exam and no action was taken

Day 204: Lunch with two ASM rugby players. Caught up with one of our friends Lucille and I met at the airport the very first time we came to Clermont last September. It’s amazing how time flies. Can’t believe that was over 8 months ago. We went to this coffee place called LAG coffee which is actually owned by one of the ASM rugby players and low and behold two ASM rugby players were there having lunch with their wives and child. I felt a little rude asking for a photo and didn’t want to look like a freak trying to take one without them noticing, but you’ll have to trust me on this one they were there. You can always spot rugby players from a mile off because they’re so tall and stocky.

Day 205: DAN’S HERE!! So it’s nearly been a month since I’ve seen my boyfriend and to say the least I was very excited. Long distance relationships are very hard but somehow we’ve managed it so far and haven’t got that far to go either. What a better way to spend the night than getting a Chinese takeout and watching movies. Chilled to perfection.

Day 206: Puy de Dome. Up early and straight up the volcano to a magnificent view. The sun was shining bright, the birds were singing… total serenity. These sort of views really make me want to live in the countryside. I’ve realised this year that I’m definitely not cut out for the city life as its too busy and waking up to concrete blocks is not my idea of living. After a peaceful morning we went back into the city and went out for dinner at this lovely little Italian place. It was so nice to actually sit down and spend some quality time together… it was what we both needed.

Day 207: Spa and relaxation. On today’s agenda was the spa in Royat. There’s just something so relaxing about being in water and surrounded by flowing water. At the spa they have a variety of pools, one of which is very very cold and Dan was brave enough to go in there several times and sit there for a good few minutes too. I only went in and walked to the other side and that was enough for me. Though I felt rather refreshed and rejuvenated after.

So this is the end of the penultimate week in France. I’ve only got one more week to go and then I’m back home for good! No more goodbyes and lots to look forward to. Stay tuned for my last year abroad blog entry next week.

You and Me Roam Free.

Week 26: Lyon take 2

Yes it’s that time again… Lyon take 2 here we come.

Day 187: Spa day. Today was a very chilled day in Royat at the thermal spas. For a whole day it was only 34€ which was an absolute bargain. They had a variety of baths and temperatures, including one called the frigidarium… any guesses what temperature this water was? Absolutely blooming freezing!! As soon as I got in there I did this sort of ooo ahhh noise as it was breathtakingly cold. I ran from one side to the other then hopped straight into the 40 degrees Celsius bath. This crazy man was just sat in the frigidarium for ages, I mean what an absolute loon!

Day 188: Jour férié. The 1st of May marks a bank holiday for France so practically everything was closed all day, university, shops, supermarkets and no buses or trams were running, so Lucille and I decided to go to Parc Montjuzet and do a little exercise session. It’s safe to say we got a fair few looks from people as we were doing our squats and using our dumbbells, but oh well or in French you’d say Tant Pis.

Day 189+190: Translation exam. Not too interesting today but I conquered my translation exam today which was not the easiest. Mainly because one of the articles included vocab such as mortgage and recession, which I have never ever learnt in French. I found my way round it though by describing the word instead, but it did take a little bit of brain power. Well that’s 2 exams down 6 down to go.

Day 191: Lyon Day 1. Been waiting all week to say I’m off to Lyon again! Once we arrived we found ourselves back at the Basilique and discovering the old roman amphitheatres. So much history, great views and gorgeous weather, it really was one of those moments where you think wow I am so lucky to be able to do this. Later on Lucille and I had dinner at a British pub in Lyon called Wallace. Yes I know what you’re thinking, really a British pub in France why don’t you want French food. To be honest we just really wanted onion rings and there was some live music providing some dinnertime entertainment which was a bonus. They were English too but the woman needed to tone down the volume a bit as her voice cut straight through you. We then moved on to our favourite cocktail place called Big Whites. The French don’t go soft with their alchohol as the cocktails were very strong and 2 was plenty enough.

Day 192: Allez Le Lou! Up and out straight to get breakfast at our favourite place Diploid. Now I love avocado but this avocado toast was seriously something else. Not only did it have literally a whole avocado on top, there was also avocado paste on the bread as well. It was pure avocado overload. We managed to waddle out of there after feeling very full and set off to the museum of fine art. I don’t know alot about art but my goodness was the modern art section strange. How is a pure black page art, anyone could do that. I will never understand how that can go for thousands of pounds. People with more money than sense I think would fall for that. Museum finished and it was time to meet up with our friend Lydia back from UEA who is currently studying in Lyon. It was so lovely to catch up with her and see how well she’s doing here. By the late afternoon we were very tired from walking around all day in the sun but there was no time to rest as we had a rugby match to go to. Lyon vs Montpellier. I have always loved watching rugby as the atmosphere is just so electric and chilling, especially since Lyon won! The whole crowd roared and all the Lyon rugby players and managers spilled out onto the pitch with pure happiness and joy. It was a perfect night.

Day 193: Chilling in the Park with friends. It’s our last day in Lyon and we needed a more relaxed day, especially since it was 27 degrees Celsius! We went to Parc de la Tete D’or which has a range of things inside from botanical gardens to mini golf and a zoo with giraffes, lions and a red panda. After wandering round the zoo we headed straight for the shade and caught up with our friends for a little picnic. It’s safe to say I got a little bit burnt after today despite trying to stay underneath the trees, but the problem is the sun moves obviously and by that point my skin was glowing like a tomato. The park was buzzing with people, children and happiness, it was a real picture and I wished my family was here to experience it with me as well. To finish off the weekend Lucille and I went back to YAAFA (the falafel place) and got two falafel pittas and sat by a fountain watching the world go by. Lyon will always have a special place in my heart.

You and Me Roam Free.

Week 25: Exploring botanical gardens, more rum than raisin ice cream and an earthquake room

Back to Clermont for my last month in France and I’m determined to make it a good one. On store this week are botanical gardens and a volcano theme park.

Day 180: Retourner à Clermont. The day has come for me to take my final flight back to Clermont for the very last time. I left a rather cold and miserable England to arrive in a very hot and sunny Clermont. I also just have to point out that the French way of fixing things is very strange to say the least. Duct tape is the material of choice for a variety of things and things that perhaps shouldn’t be fixed with duct tape. Take a car for instance, instead of getting it fixed properly the French use drumroll please… Duct tape! Who needs car servicing nowadays when you have duct tape.

Day 181: Beautiful Botanical Gardens. As it was such a gorgeous day with temperatures of 24 degrees, a day outside was a must. So Lucille and I decided to go on a little adventure to Parc Bargoin in Royat. It was a bit of an unexpected trek, especially with bags full of cheese and bread (a typical French picnic of course), but we made it and headed straight for the shade to cool down. This park was so peaceful it felt like we weren’t in France anymore. It reminded us both of going to National Trust places when we were younger. Every Sunday my family and I used to go for a big long walk somewhere and then come back to a lovely Sunday roast. I didn’t appreciate it at the time as I wasn’t fond of walking then (due to my rather dumpling figure), but now it reminds me of the good ole times.

Day 182: More Rum than Raisin. First proper French lesson today and my goodness was my accent poor. It’s amazing how just two weeks back home can affect my French abilities. It was such a struggle to speak and took my brain a little longer to register what was actually going on. To soothe my brain Lucille and I went to get ice cream after my class. My white chocolate and vanilla ice cream was lovely but I can’t quite say the same for Lucille’s’ rum and raisin, which was definitely 70% pure rum. A little headache developed after that.

Day 183: Law exam in French. Today I had my first exam of the second semester and it was a year 2 law exam. I have never studied law in English let alone French so I can predict a failure already. I gave it my best shot but I’m not going to get my hopes up too much. Though once again upon entering the exam room people were still talking and we were allowed our bags and phones with us but they had to be down beside our feet. I mean that just promotes cheating if anything.

Day 184: Sun sun sun. Another beautiful day in Clermont attracting people outside to the parks, cafes and bars. Clermont is such a nicer place when it’s warm and sunny as there’s actually things going on. What better to do than get a smoothie and catch up with some friends in the park with the sun beaming down us… pure bliss.

Day 185: Volcano theme park. It might be pelting it down with rain but that’s not stopping me from having fun as Lucille and I visited VULCANIA. Of course the region of Auvergne and in particular Clermont is very famous for volcanos and volcanic activity which gives rise to this volcano theme park, Vulcania. From earthquake rooms to a 4D cinema experience with wires that whipped your legs acting like snakes, it was a very weird experience. I had a ride in a self driven car too which was also a rather weird experience, not sure how I feel about them being mass produced in the (near) future. Although perhaps it would’ve helped our bus driver who was clearly a novice at hill starts as he stalled 4 times in a row on one particular hill. I was holding on for dear life to say the least.

Day 186: Chill in the rain. Another day of rain equals a day inside working. I hope the weather picks up again as I didn’t sign up for rainy British weather, come on France get your act together.

You and Me Roam Free.

Week 24: Celebration is the theme of the week

Starting the week off in Clermont with a mountain full of cheese and wine to finishing the week off with a nandos and cheap drinks at spoons in England.

Day 173: Happy Easter. Today I experienced Easter French style for the first time and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Lucille invited me to her grandparents for a proper feast and I don’t think I’ve ever had so many different wines and champagnes in one sitting before. From champagne to white wine to red wine, I had it all. The champagne was particularly special because it runs in lucilles grandparents family, sharing their last name Joselyn on the bottle. It was very good champagne I have to admit. Although I absolutely loved this white wine from Alsace, it honestly tasted like elderflower. Then we moved onto food and nothing beats a good lamb roast with an enormous amount of cheese and a huge cake to finish. Safe to say I was full after that. To help shift my food baby a little we headed to Parc Montjuzet where we bumped into some of our friends. We basically had an hour long conversation about how difficult it is to speak French in France at times. The view never seizes to amaze me though. Crazy to think that 4th September 2017 I was here and seeing this view for the very first time, but now this will be one of the very last times as my year is coming to a close soon.

Day 174: Cooking with friends. Still trying to get this essay done. Writing in French is just not my idea of fun but I’ll get there eventually, je vais le compléter je suis vraiment déterminée! I think the hardest thing is reading journal articles in French, I mean they’re bad enough in English let alone French. Tant pis! Later on Lucia and I made the best veggie sweet chilli noodles all from scratch and it was honestly so amazing. There’s just something about cooking with friends that makes it taste so much better than on your own.

Day 175: Cooking with friends take 2. So I thought yesterday’s meal was good but today’s was also a top contender for the best meal of the week. On the menu today was lemon and herb crusted cod with buttery mash, a side of fresh broccoli and a white berganise sauce. You can’t be a true Brit if you don’t love a good bit of mash. It was a taste of home for sure. Also how cute is my cat! My sister sent me this pic and it made me miss her so much.

Day 176: Grafiti or art? So on the way to my French classes every week I go past this wall covered in grafiti or I like to call it art because you can’t really call this grafiti. There’s some writing on there of course but this drawing of a man with what seems to be a big cigarette and massive glasses catches my attention every time I see it. Plus the fact that he has a half blue half peach face. I wonder what the concept was behind this.

Day 177: Home time again. Oh it’s good to be back at Clermont airport again flying home. No more 3 hour bus journeys to Lyon airport anymore thank goodness! Although the only annoying thing about Clermont airport is because it’s so small they’re not really in a rush to do anything and there’s hardly any staff. All the English people in the queue were huffing and puffing, I’m just used to it now so there’s no point getting irritated anymore. Although it was a little stressful when I landed at Stansted as I had 20 minutes to get through security, get my bag and catch the train. I had to run let’s just say that, but I did manage to make it and off to Norwich I went.

Day 178: Waterfront vibes. Oh it’s good to be back. It was my boyfriends 21st birthday in the week (but I wasn’t there for it unfortunately) so I decided to put together a nice big breakfast for him to make up for it. Donuts for breakfast, yes that’s right, but it is a special occasion! Now I’m back in the UK a nandos was inevitable. Some people don’t get the hype but I’m not one of those. Yes I admit I’m one of those cheeky nandos people. To continue the celebrations we met up with some of our friends for some drinks at spoons and then headed off to the waterfront. I’ve missed the waterfront so much, it always offers a cheap and fun filled night no matter when you go. Just so mad I missed the Philip Schofield appreciation party! Next year next year.

Day 179: London bound. It was very late start to the day, waking up at midday due to getting in at 4.30am. But there was no time to waste as Dan and I are off to London for a few days to continue celebrating his 21st birthday. First class train here we come.

Week 22: Travel nightmare and Brits abroad

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt France from this year abroad is that travelling and public transport are a nightmare. This is why you get a good job so you can afford your own private jet and chauffeur.

Day 158: A nothingness day. I’m not going to lie I didn’t really do much today. Went for a run, did a food shop and got some work done. Sorry to disappoint but we all get those days when you don’t really have anything exciting or interesting to report.

Day 159: Do they understand the word practical? Woke up to such a beautiful day today that spending time outdoors was a must. Inbetween lessons Lucille and I popped to Jardin Lecoq to get some fresh air. We saw some rather interesting sights though… One woman was walking her dog in high heels and a tight glittery dress, not my first dog walking outfit but okay. Then we saw these two girls jogging in ordinary clothes. Why would you wear a checkered shirt and fashion leggings to run in. Beats me! Another strange thing I saw today was this van covered in graffiti parked outside my residence. No idea what it’s doing there but hey do I ever really know what’s going on here.

Day 160: 4 hour French lessons shouldn’t be allowed. Today was a gruelling day. French lessons are bad enough as it is but 4 hours is just criminal. French grammar is something that still to this day I find confusing, even French people find it confusing at times. There are so many exceptions to rules that you can’t keep up with what’s right or wrong and sometimes you’ll ask for an explanation and the response is merely there isn’t one, you’ve just got to accept it. Great thanks for that. I compare learning a language similar to maths sometimes; there is a formula created to make it easier to find the solution, but the difference here is sometimes the formula changes and other times there simply isn’t one at all. I never really got on with maths which might also be the reason why I’m not the biggest fan of grammar either.

Day 161: Caught the Lyon blues. I miss Lyon so much! I’m having major withdrawal symptoms. It’s so amazing how my mood changed instantly when I was there. Now you could argue it was because I was only visiting and not living there or going to uni so I saw everything through rose tinted glasses, but honestly it was the best city that I’ve visited in France. There was just so much to do and see, uh Lyon take me back! Although I will be visiting again in May so Lyon get ready!

Day 162: Brits abroad really live up to their name. After a rather stressful morning with the whole kitchen situation again, yep it’s still dirty shock horror, Lucille, Lucia and I all went out for dinner at our fav place The Salvation Jane pub. The guys behind the bar recognised us from the last time we were there and said that we weren’t the only English ones here this time, but this wasn’t necessarily something to be happy about. These men were loud, shouting and being rather ignorant towards other people. No wonder we get a bad reputation if this is how we act abroad. Loud and brash is not what I want to be known for. But anyway they soon skidaddled and we could finally enjoy our fish and chips and garlic bread in peace. Suprisingly as well the pub had quite a good music playlist going which we could hear once the men were gone. I was so impressed with the fact that they played Mr Brightside by the Killers as it’s mine and lucille’s fav song on a night out and reminds us so much of the LCR (our uni club at home.)

Day 163: I hate travelling and more specifically public transport. This morning was the most manic morning I’ve ever had. Not only did I have 4 hours sleep but my bus decided to break down at Lyon perrache so I didn’t even know if I was going to make my flight. Then when I finally got to the airport oh my the queues were something else; first it was the queue to check in and then it was the queue for security and then finally you think you’re free and they hit you with another queue through passport control before boarding. This was possibly the most frustrating part of my queuing experience as there were 4 flights all going out at near enough the same time and they only had 2 passport control people out of a possible 6. One of the staff members was clearly too busy taking photos of the sheer size of this queue to sort anything out. I mean stop taking photos mate and go get some other staff members! So now my flight was 45 mins delayed! Not a good start to the day. Although I did manage to practice my French alot as I met this girl on the bus and we buddied up, as travelling on your own is not fun when you’re hit with a crisis like this. She even complimented me on my French capabilities which I was very taken a back by. Yet, despite all this chaos it’s good to be back home again even if it is freezing in the UK at the moment. But this weather didn’t stop us from going out on St Patrick’s Day, as a night out was definitely on the cards. With a total of 4 hours sleep and 8 hours of travelling I managed to stay awake.

Day 164: Lazy Sunday. Going out really took its toll on me as I’ve not been out out properly in ages, so today was a total rest day. To help me rest I had my fav meal of all time (if you don’t know by now) Toad in the hole! Wouldn’t be a trip home without at least one big ole filled Yorkshire.

You and Me Roam Free.

Week 20: Discovering weird food in French supermarkets, someone stole my sponge and Chinese New Year

I find myself back in Clermont again, ready to battle out another couple of weeks of French living.

Day 144: Last day in England. Today is my last fun filled day in England before I return to France and it certainly didn’t disappoint. After a rather lazy morning in bed with Chester (my dog) laying on me, it was time to get out of my PJ’s and start the day or should I say start the afternoon. My boyfriend and I decided to take a little trip to Rushden Lakes retail park where we obviously had to stop for a bit of lunch at one of my favourite places… Bills! Bills never seizes to amaze me with their incredibly yummy food and infamous pink lemonade. Would you believe it though despite there being a Primark, New Look and H&M there I didn’t buy a single thing. I was very self-controlled which doesn’t happen often. Later on we went to play a little bit of pool and oh my was I particularly bad today. My objective was to just hit the ball, meanwhile all aim went out of the window. If you can’t tell already, I lost. But I did manage to win ice hockey which I was very proud of… photographic evidence of my success is below.

Day 145: Longest day travelling yet. So today was a bad day. I can tell you now that I don’t think I’m cut out for this travelling life. My journey began on the train at 3pm and I didn’t get back to my room in Clermont till 2.30am the next day. Exhaustion doesn’t even cut it.

Day 146: Getting back into the French groove. Whenever I go back to England it takes me a day or two to adjust to speaking and hearing French again. It’s so strange how my brain needs a little time to get used to it again. As you can imagine my French speaking abilities were very poor today, so by the end of the day I literally crashed in my room and binge watched some good ole British TV with a bag of propercorn, hashtag goals.

Day 147: Kitchen nightmares. So if you don’t know already, my kitchen situation isn’t the best as I share two hobs and a microwave with 40 plus people. As you can imagine cleanliness goes out the window. Today I’d had enough of stains and leftover food on the sides, enough is enough. My brilliant idea was to clean the surfaces myself and then leave a sponge in the kitchen that people could use to at least wipe the surfaces after they’ve used them. But ohhhh noooo you can’t trust anyone in this building. Only 3 hours had passed and someone had already stolen my sponge. Why just why? I was going to write a note to say can you please use this sponge to wipe the surfaces but someone would have probably stolen that as well. I give up. I’ll just clean and disinfect the kitchen whenever I use it and if other people want to cook in a mess then that’s their choice.

Day 148: Discovering weird food. One of the things that has taken a while to get used to is the sheer difference in food offered in French supermarkets compared to supermarkets at home. I honestly don’t get the obsession with canned food here. The fact that you can get a whole meal in a can is just a very weird phenomenon. One jar that I stumbled across gave me the right heebie-jeebies, it’s called Tripoux d’agneau and it didn’t look very appetising to say the least. I’ll let you make your own judgements about what it looks like from the photo below… How can people look at that and go mmmmm yummy. On the bright side they did have a really cool display of oranges spilling out of a hornet type thing and perhaps the most French thing that I’ve ever seen, a bag specifically designed for a baguette. Supermarket tale over.

Day 149: Chinese New Year. Today Lucia and I headed into the city centre as there was a parade in celebration of Chinese New Year (which was the other week I know.) It was such a sunny start to the day with bright blue skies and a tropical temperature of 12 degrees. Not like at home where everyone is currently snowed in with temperatures of -5. I think I’ll stay here in the warm thanks. The parade was pretty cool to watch as a dragon swooped the streets accompanied by a marching band, a very loud one in fact. It was quite interesting though as most of the people in the parade I recognised from my French classes. We didn’t stick around for too long as low and behold it started raining, but it amused us for a few hours and got us out and about.

Day 150: Run day. After suffering with a cold all week, exercise is a distant memory but no more as today Lucia and I went for a run. It was such a lovely sunny morning that I had to take my jacket off and run with just a T-shirt on. Summer is a coming! It wasn’t necessarily the best run today because I’m still recovering from a cold and I haven’t been running in a while so I found it quite hard, but at least I did it. It can be quite frustrating when you perform slightly under par when it comes to exercise but that’s okay because everyone has their good days and bad days; the most important thing is you keep going and preserving.

So that’s week 20 over and out. Nothing too special this week but next week is going to be a right cracker. I’ll be hitting the slopes again and going on a girly weekend away to Lyon, so you better watch this space as You and Me Roam Free.

Week 18: Dementors on wheels, DJ No Breakfast and more snow

Dementors on wheels, DJ No Breakfast and more snow… this week is full of surprises and baffling moments.

Day 120: More snow! From 18 degrees celsuis to -3 and a lot of snow, you literally can’t keep up with this weather. It was definitely time to get my snow boots out today. It’s so funny that as soon as it snows you suddenly lose all walking abilities. The paths become your enemy as you try to avoid slipping and falling on your bum, but secretly snigger when others face the embarrassment of mighty fall. Don’t get me wrong I love the snow in all its magical wonders but Christmas is well and truly over now and it’s time to move on. Where’s the sunshine and the warm weather at! I’m sick and tired of having to wrap up warm and go through packet upon packet of tissues due to my leaky tap of a nose. Roll on summer is all I can say.

Day 121 and 122: Go vegan is back. Started my morning off right with a Nutella crepe accompanied by strawberries and raspberries. Honestly not having a toaster has really taken its toll on me and my breakfast regime so crepes are the next best thing. I can’t wait to have avocado on toast when I go back home. I needed to start the morning off with some chocolate to get me through these long long and even longer lectures. Side note I was in a different lecture theatre today and you remember the ‘go vegan’ person, well they’ve made an appearance again, shock horror. Same font, same colour and exactly the same words with the powerful exclamation mark at the end. At least this person is consistent, or should I say persistent.

Day 123: Translation = the bane of my life. Who would’ve thought that translating would be so trivial. My translation class is one that I must psyche myself up for every time. You can bet that at least once in the lesson someone will disagree with the provided translation meaning that the already snail pace we go at becomes even slower. Translation isn’t really translation it should be called transferring the gist. Direct translation is not the objective, instead you just have to project the general context whilst respecting the grammar of the written language. It’s just very annoying that’s all I’m going to say.

Day 124: British Pub in France take 2. Unfortunately because it’s a new semester and I’m taking new modules this means that more administration is to follow. This morning consisted of me trying to get all this admin sorted, but instead I ended up having a little argument with Yang (you know the lady I could never find last semester when I was trying to get my student card.) Though this time I wasn’t going to back down and I stood up for myself, because frankly if they’re going to talk to me like that then I’ll do the same. Obviously it wasn’t a screaming or shouting kind of argument but I made my intentions clear. In the end I got my way and admin is all done. Last time I’ll have to see her again, thank goodness. So after that whole palaver me and my friends went to another British pub in Clermont. That’s 2 so far that we’ve discovered. Now, I was very impressed with this British pub, mainly because they advertised a SUNDAY ROAST! The fact that they are open on Sundays and offering a Sunday roast is just beyond baffling. But of course for tonight’s main meal I opted for good ole fish and chips with a side of garlic bread to share, because who doesn’t love garlic bread and it’s not like I can pop one in my imaginary oven that I don’t have.

Day 125: Dementors on wheels? Today was the day of the ‘Grand Station de Ski’ festival which was basically celebrating the recent cold weather and it marked the end of the Clermont film festival. Now I don’t know what they think a festival is, but it certainly isn’t that. I couldn’t quite believe my eyes, I mean there were people on wheels playing various instruments wearing fire hats and cloaks that made them look like dementors and a very out of tune band who were clearly very drunk and needed their instruments tuning ASAP. I just didn’t really get what was going on and the concept behind all of this. I’ve found that a lot here, they put on all these shows and events but they don’t really make sense. I guess there’s some charm in left feeling rather baffled. I can also say that DJ No Breakfast needs to A rethink his stage name and B work on his mixing abilities.

Day 126: Everything’s closed. I think my little yellow boat room is starting to give me cabin fever. Sunday’s aren’t really the best day to be in Clermont because literally nothing is open, not even the supermarkets. In an attempt to stay sane I decided to go on a walk to a park where I could just relax and escape the city. But low and behold the park was closed due to the snow which fell last Monday. Why just why! At least it got me out of the house for a little bit and I was able to discover a new part of Clermont.

You and Me Roam Free.

Week 15: Last week in France 2017

My last week in France 2017, can’t believe I’m saying that. From Beaumont Les Randan to Bourges to Harry Potter style bus rides and cocktails, it’s all happening this week.

Day 100: 100 Days in France. Can you believe its been 100 days! It’s gone so quickly but also feels like I’ve been here for a lifetime. Monday was a pretty uneventful day purely because exams and assignments are soon approaching (this time next week should I say.) But of course, I found time to go to the gym with Lucia for my Monday butt kicking. Then it was vlogmas time and chill. Honestly all the YouTube vlogmas videos are keeping me going at the moment because I have very limited tv choices as I’m in France. Netflix is great but we all know that you end up spending ages trying to find something to watch on Netflix and just go round and round in circles until you eventually give up.

Day 101: Delving into deep France. Today I swapped the busy city lifestyle for a slower, more peaceful pace by visiting two small villages, one called Beaumont Les Randan and the other I can’t remember the name of. I went with my EU star class which is a class that is supposed to enrich our knowledge about the Auvergne region. It was definitely a change in pace I’ll tell you that. This place was truly out in the sticks with no supermarket or even a little corner shop. The houses were so spread apart that you’re neighbour could be 100 metres away but they’re the closest thing to a neighbour. At least you won’t have any noise complaints I guess. Great for house parties! So, when we arrived at the first small village (the one I can’t remember the name of), first of all we met these 3 guys who were telling us about their quiet village living life. It was a bit awkward at some points, you know those awkward silences where you sort of look at the ground and hope someone says something. But we were saved with the prospect of food and drink as there was an array of biscuits, squash, brioche, cakes and wine offered to us. I felt like I was back in primary school on a day trip out (perhaps excluding the wine though.) I think for the locals, a group of foreign students visiting their little village was quite spectacular as even a correspondent from the local newspaper La Montagne came to take our photo and write a short piece about our trip. Then we moved onto Beaumont Les Randan which is where our teacher lives and my goodness did he have a nice house. Here we met with some more locals who were telling us about their village lifestyle and all the events and festivals they organise every year. One guy was called Dieu (meaning God in French) and well he was a character. When we were in the local church our teacher asked him to pose next to this figure of Saint Pierre and Dieu was putting his two fingers up (the right way around I must add, like you used to do as a teenager) and he was even dabbing. The humour behind this was that ‘Dieu’ was in his own habitat. Although one thing you can’t knock about village life in France, particularly the Auvergne region, is the spectacular views. Watching the sunset behind the volcanos was absolutely breath-taking (and so was the cold weather.)

Day 102: Take it away Ernie, It’s gonna be a bumpy ride. Today was another trip out, but with my friends this time. We decided to take a spontaneous trip to another French city called Bourges. It was only about 2 hours away on the bus and cost 10€ to get there and back, bargain! Although we didn’t quite anticipate the drop off location which was outside of the city centre, basically on a main road. Despite this unexpected surprise we managed to find a bus to the city centre, but oh my was this bus ride an experience and a half. I don’t know if this bus driver has ever heard of driving at the speed limit and slowly breaking to a hault. He was pelting it down the road and every time he had to stop he performed an emergency break. My friends and I were stood up holding onto the rails for dear life as we were swung backwards and forwards. I was honestly in stitches though when Kate said ‘it’s gonna be a bumpy ride’ like in the film Harry Potter where Harry goes on that really fast bus, weaving in and out of traffic and then suddenly it goes really really narrow in-between two real buses. I literally couldn’t contain my laughter after that. Bourges is a lovely city though and kind of reminds me of the French version of York and Stamford in certain parts (which is ironic as this city is actually twinned with Peterborough in the UK.) The cathedral was absolutely huge and as typical tourists we took A LOT of photos, Lizzie even got her selfie stick out #noshame. It was lovely to get out of Clermont and explore somewhere new, even if there were a few surprises along the way.

Day 103: Last French lessons of 2017. This was the last time in 2017 that I had to endure 3 and a half hours of Français Générale and 2 hours of my other French class. I can’t say I’m going to miss it, especially my teacher who made me cry in my Français Générale class. She laid into another girl today about her presentation and we were all sitting there thinking just shut up. We get it you like to share your very French opinion, but I’m sorry to break it to you sweetheart, we are all different. She did give me my mark today though for my oral presentation, my writing and reading exam which came to 14.5 out of 20. Not bad considering I seemed to have offended my teacher’s Frenchiness with my presentation on food the other week. But this was also the last day that Lucia and I will go to the gym in 2017. I’m going to miss her whooping my ass into shape. Sad times.

Day 104: This is what friends are for. After a rather unsociable day due to studying, Lucia and I had a dinner date again. This time we made this amazing creamy broccoli pasta and watched the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 days. It’s so funny watching films with Lucia because she can just predict what’s going to happen. I guess I’ve never noticed it before, but a lot of American films are very predictable. Oh well it’s still a classic film that every girl can relate to.

Day 105: Cocktail madness. As its Saturday Lucia, Lucille and I decided to do a little bit of Christmas shopping as I haven’t got anyone’s Christmas presents yet. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful because I find everything here is a lot more expensive than at home. There’s no French B&M, Poundland or Primark (which saddens me every day.) So, I think the shopping is going to have to be an online jobby and a manic day next week when I go home, let’s hope I can still find stuff. Later, we met up with Lizzie to go to Au Bureau (the French version of an English pub which is way more upmarket.) This was our last meal altogether, our last supper if you will because Lizzie is going to Spain for her second semester, leaving only Lucia, Lucille and I here. Of course, I opted for the fish and chips again because they were so damn good last time and we also had a cheesy platter to start and my goodness was it cheesy. The waiter seemed quite interested in our French/English capabilities, which was quite the compliment I must say. After a very filling meal we rolled out of the upmarket British Pub and headed to a cocktail bar for a few drinks. An evening filled with girly chats, fruity cocktails and good food, what more could you want to round of our first semester in France.

Day 106: Pancakes with bae. My last morning with Lucia until we come back to France in 2018 and what better way to spend it than making pancakes for breakfast. Nutella pancakes with strawberries and raspberries. That’s what I’m talking about. The reason for cooking round hers is because my cooker and microwave don’t work at the moment, so I can’t cook anything. I went downstairs to tell the someone and the response from the lady in reception was comical. She said oh maintenance people don’t work weekends, so it won’t be fixed yet. I asked her when will it be fixed and she said ummm I don’t know. Okay great, well just as good as I only have two more days left here then isn’t it. A visit to Lucille’s grandparents is definitely on the cards today.

So that’s the end of my first semester in France and my last week here in 2017. There’s been lots of highs and equally lots of lows, but I’ve learnt a hell of a lot. They say your year abroad is the best and worst thing to happen to you and I can definitely agree with that statement. I thought I knew who I was before coming here and I thought I had life figured out but oh I was so wrong. Life is challenging and tests you sometimes, but these are all the experiences which make you who you are today. Even though I moan about how disorganised France is and how difficult it is sometimes, I wouldn’t change anything that has happened because it has allowed me to learn and grow into the person I am now. It’s one of those things that you don’t particularly like doing at the time but look back and think wow that was amazing. This will be my last blog entry of 2017 as I go home next Tuesday, but I will be back in January 2018 with lots more trips planned, from skiing to going to the beach (weather permitted) as I start my second semester again in Clermont Ferrand. I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and see you all in the New Year. Don’t forget You and Me Roam Free.

 

 

Week 14: Wallace and Gromit in French, swimming balls and stuffed animals

Wallace and Gromit in French, swimming balls and stuffed animals. What kind of a week is this?

Day 93: Dauphinoise in England. My last day in England before returning back to France. You know I’m really getting good at this whole travelling thing, airports have practically become my second home. I used to be a little apprehensive when flying but now being in a car is much scarier sometimes. Although I still get a bit nervous approaching airport security, especially nowadays with the augmented army and police presence. But before all that palava I was yet to enjoy one of the best meals my boyfriend has ever made. He made dauphinoise potatoes with honey roasted veg and gammon. Ironic I know, I have French food in England and in France I tend to have every other cuisine under the sun but French. But dauphinoise potatoes are just so good!

My beautiful cat

Day 94: A car ride, plane journey and bus ride later… I always dread the day I have to return to France as its such a long day, because the direct flights to Clermont don’t operate during the winter months. So it was 3 modes of transport on the cards for today. On the plus side no one sat next to me on the plane or the bus, although one lady clearly thought about it for a good 5 seconds but I gave her that look like seriously you’re gonna sit here when there’s so many other empty seats, no empty rows in fact. She decided not to… good choice my love. Though the bus ride back from Lyon to Clermont was a bit hairy to start off with. And why’s that you say? Well the fact that French people can’t drive. I mean cars were blocking junctions, bus lanes and basically driving anywhere they wanted to. At one point the bus had to perform an emergency break, resulting in a flood of peoples possessions to the front of the bus. I put my seatbelt on after that.

You can see the tops of the mountains

Day 95: I don’t miss French lectures. Back to reality which means back to enduring the mind-numbing 2 hour long speeches they call lectures. On the bright side its not just the foreign students who don’t have a clue what’s going on, as a French girl in my tourism class basically asked the teacher to stop rambling and get to the point. She said what we were all thinking. The teachers’ response was yes I’ve been told that before and he proceeded to ramble on about that for 5 more minutes. At least she tried ey. Yet despite my consistent moaning about the French ‘teaching’ system is here, have no fear because I am benefiting in terms of my French language ability. So I just wanted to share with you a few words/phrases that I’ve picked up over the past couple of months.

Mince = crumbs/damn

Quelle barbe! = How boring (very apt phrase in reference to the French lectures)

J’en ai marre = I’m fed up (also another very apt phrase… seems to be a theme appearing here)

Tomber dans les pommes = literal translation is to fall in the apples, but it basically means to faint

Bon débarras = good riddance

Lécher les vitrines = literal translation is window licking, but it actually means to window shop (basically window linking in a figurative sense)

Pas de soucis = no worries (you pronounce this like ‘pad soosee’ because the French like to add extra letters in but oh no you don’t actually say them; their presence is merely for aesthetic purposes)

Now good luck trying to say this tongue twister…

Je suis ce que je suis, et si je suis ce que je suis, qu’est-ce que je suis ? 

( I am what I am, and if I am what I am, what am I ? ooo philosophical)

Day 96: Meatball madness. My friends and I decided to try this rather different restaurant for dinner… a meatball restaurant called Au BDV. They offered a range of different meatball varieties from flexiballs to swimming balls (meatballs in soup). I don’t know whether original or weird was the right word to use. A table of 6 English girls was of course going to attract attention but this time it wasn’t the bad kind. The guy who served us was very intrigued by our bilingual abilities, but he proceeded to talk to us in French, which was a saving grace for both parties as I don’t think we would’ve gotten anywhere with his English. Although communication wasn’t needed at all for the food ordering as we were given these little laminated cards which we had to fill out with our names and what we wanted to eat by ticking the desired options. Very efficient if you ask me. Never thought I would say the word efficient in France but at least someone has their head screwed on. We were also told a lovely back story about the meatball restaurant including details such as how the French banks didn’t think that this place would last very long (even though 3 years down the line they’re still kicking around) and the endeavours to open a restaurant in the UK by which point the conversation ended quite quickly with the topic of Brexit being brought up. At the end of our meatball tasting we played this dice rolling game where you basically had to get all 5 dices with the same number facing up within 3 tries. We were all unsuccessful and every time we were the guy behind the bar squeezed this little toy pig thing that looked like it was meant for a dog. I would definitely go back there not only for the food but for the pleasant/slightly odd atmosphere and hospitality which is rare to find here.

Day 97: Dinner for two. After no social contact for the whole day (due to studying I must add) thank goodness I had a cute little dinner date lined up with Lucia. We made the most amazing veggie stir fry then watched Deck the halls with of course some movie treats… sweets and chocolate. I’m getting right into the Christmas spirit now by jamming to at least 1 Christmas song a day, especially in the shower. You really just can’t beat Christmas, ‘its the most wonderful time of the yearrrrrr.’

Day 98: Christmas shopping. Lucia really wore me out after our gym session in the morning. Upper body day isn’t one that I particularly look forward to. Although to make the morning more magical it did start to snow for a bit but then the sun decided to ruin it for me and shatter my highly anticipated snow day. Oh well it meant that I could get some Christmas shopping done today. I was in and out of the city centre within an hour. I was very impressed with myself. Not too much dithering about, just got on and bought what I intended to get. This won’t be the case come January sales time though. I think I’ll go shopping on my own then.

Day 99: Wallace and Gromit in French. As everyone else was waking up to snow in England, I woke up to windy, rainy France. I think we swapped weather for the day. So it was an indoor activity kind of day and what better to do than to visit some museums, which by the way are free for students. We went to 2 museums, an art museum and an animal museum with an array of taxidermy, which was both fascinating and kind of creepy as they were very realistic (well durhhh they are essentially stuffed animals.) Don’t get me wrong I like museums but I’m more of an interactive sort of learner who likes to touch and feel things, which is why the kids part of the museums appealed to me the most. One museum had a little cave you could crawl into and yes I did crawl into it and no I wasn’t ashamed. To add to my slightly childish nature we then went to see Wallace and Gromit at the cinema, but of course it was in French. Not only did we get to see 1 Wallace and Gromit movie, we got to see 2 for a whopping 3.50€! Translating movies from one language into another must be a heck of a job as some of the translations just don’t work. For instance Wallace’s iconic ‘cheeeese’ phrase whilst shaking his hands (I tried my best with that description) was translated obviously into ‘fromaaage’, but that just doesn’t sound the same. It was definitely a good test of our French skills because the characters mouths aren’t properly in sync with the speech, especially in another language. We had fun nonetheless just like the other kids in the room.

So that’s week 14 over and out. Probably the highlight of my week was going to see Wallace and Gromit at the cinema. Even though it was in French you just can’t beat good ole Wally and Grom. But it’s now nearing the end of the semester before the Christmas holidays and next week will be my last week here in France until January. Have no fear though as it’s going to be an exciting week with a trip to another part of France and more Christmas festivities. Trust me you’re not going to want to miss it as You and Me Roam Free.

 

 

Week 13: Winter warmths and home comforts

What do you usually associate with winter? Where do you usually spend your winter months? What is home to you? For me winter is being at home with the family, eating roast dinners and feeling all warm and cosy with my favourite Christmas pjs on. 

Day 86: Fajitas and friends. Another Monday rolls around with me waking up in my little yellow boat room. Nothing much has changed there. The usual gym session with Lucia at the very small and very smelly uni ‘gym’ and the usual Netflix and chill afternoon. I had some company in the evening though as Lucille came round to make fajitas and nachos as she’d been craving them so much lately. Luckily we managed to dart into the kitchen and cook our fajitas before anyone else came in. I honestly don’t know what some people do in that kitchen; one girl was in there all morning one day. I mean those 2 hobs and that 1 microwave have to be shared between 32 people you know! 

Day 87: I can’t be in two places at once. As if administration at this uni and France in general couldn’t get any worse… well it has. We found out our exam dates and somehow two of my exams are on the same day at the same time. What sort of genius figured that one out. The problem is for French students this will be fine as they study things from the same department, but this is a problem for Erasmus students who have to choose modules from various departments to make up the credits. Not really sure what we’re going to do there, but we will see what magical solution they try to conjure up (if they feel like it anyway.) 

Day 88: Home Time on a very special day!! My day started earlier than usual with a 5.30am alarm to get the bus at 6.30am to Lyon airport. A lovely 3 hour journey to start the day off right ey. When I got on the bus my heart was racing as with every person who boarded the bus I anticipated someone to sit down next to me. I definitely had luck on my side that morning as the bus was nearly fully but I managed to get away with having both seats to myself. I wouldn’t have been great company anyway at that time in the morning so it was for everyone’s safety more than anything. I got to Lyon airport around 9.30ish and then it was a 6 hour wait at the airport until my flight. This day was going to be a long one. Although I was very impressed with Lyon airport. It was very modern, clean and not very busy which was a bonus, plus it even had charging points in the chairs. A guy working for the airport came and spoke to me for a bit and asked me to fill out this questionnaire. Now I mention this because even though I told him I was English he continued to speak to me in French because I was addressing him in French. Anyone who is learning a language knows that this is one of the highest compliments any language learner can get. So I was left feeling rather chuffed with myself, a complete difference from last weeks presentation disaster… welcome aboard the emotional year abroad rollercoaster. Finally I landed in London Luton where my boyfriend greeted me with my favourite chocolates and potato hoops which are my FAV crisps. Today was a special day because 29th November 2017 marked mine and my boyfriends 3 year anniversary and of course what did he get me …. a GIANT UNICORN called Blueberry!

Day 89: Hair Highlights Happy. It’s so nice to be home. Woke up to actual snow falling from the sky today. There was quite a lot of it coming down to be fair but the ground was too wet for it to settle. Although that didn’t mean to say it wasn’t any less exciting and that I wasn’t going to play Christmas music, as everyone knows this is the time of year Michael Bublé emerges from his Christmas cave and spreads his festive cheer. Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas’ is another classic tune that everyone tries to sing but nine times out of ten ends up sounding like a deaf cat when trying to reach those high notes. Dan and I went to the gym after he’d finished work and my goodness it was nice to be back in a proper gym with proper equipment and not even a hint of that hideous BO smell, which I have to endure in France. This gym even had two floors! I was right in my element. Later on it was finally time to get my hair redone. I know it sounds superficial but when I have my hair done I feel complete, I feel like I can function properly again. Side note the photo below is not my finished look and I’m not trying to rock a new hairstyle as I don’t think that would go down very well, though you never know what could be on trend nowadays. 

Day 90: Shopping, sausages and mash and Nando’s. Yes that’s right today was a day full of Christmas shopping and food. Yet before the shopping could commence my friends and I visited a few houses that we would potentially be renting next year as we still have one year left at uni after our year abroad. The end result = a no go on all the houses viewed. Now I knew this before but students are so damn messy. Plates and clothes everywhere, food scattered about and one room even smelt of weed. Come on people it’s not that hard to do some washing up and fold a few clothes away, especially knowing you’re going to have viewings. Oh well the house hunt continues. Sausages and mash were on the cards after that failed house hunting followed by the best brownie ever. Not your typical lunch choice I know but every time I come back to the UK I have to have sausages and mash or toad in the hole at least once. With our bellies full Dan and I headed into the city to do a bit of a Christmas shopping. Although I think men and women have different definitions of Christmas shopping as (I generalise here) women tend to survey the options, take their with browsing and then select what they want to buy, but men on the other hand tend to go straight in get what they want/the easiest opinion then head to the till and the nearest escape route out of the shop. No time to waste with men. With that in mind I didn’t end up getting any presents because I felt too rushed, whereas Dan pretty much got all of his. The Nando’s at the end made up for it. 

Day 91: Early Christmas. So as it’s officially a day into December it was time to get the Christmas tree and start the festivities. We went to Elveden Estate to scout out the perfect Christmas tree and have a spot of lunch in the form of a hearty hog roast, whilst some elves were playing Christmas music and these massive dogs were carting Christmas trees back and forth to people’s cars on these little carts. You can’t really get more Christmassy than that! Tree picked it was time to return home and cook up a Christmas lunch. Yep that’s right turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets the whole Shabang. I did say it was going to be an early Christmas, because why the hell not. And with the usual filling Christmas lunch came the usual feeling of being utterly stuffed to the brim full of food. A lie down was definitely needed after that feast, whilst watching strictly come dancing. 

Day 92: Best hot chocolate ever. Dans mum and I decided to go to Thetford garden centre to have a little wander around and something to eat. I must say this garden centre was something else. Not only was it full of cute little gardeny things and gifts you would expect at a garden centre but the cafe was beautifully decorated and served the most amazing hot chocolate that I’ve ever tasted. This hot chocolate was basically a whole melted bar of chocolate…. a WHOLE one! You can’t really get any better than that. We then popped into Thetford centre which unfortunately is a bit run down and has a little bit of a bad reputation along the lines of crime and an influx of Eastern Europeans. Since moving to France and becoming the ‘foreign’ one it’s interesting how much my opinion has changed on issues such as immigration because I know what it feels like to be the outcast, the one who doesnt belong or fit in. People tend to forget that even though we may speak different languages and adopt different cultures, we are all still human beings; we’re the same species. Of course there are certain things that I don’t agree with and there are still issues, but I have a lot more sympathy for foreigners and I’m not as quick to judge them anymore. 

So that’s week 13 over and out. I keep saying this to people but there’s just something about living in France during winter which doesn’t feel right. I’ve never been in France or let alone abroad in winter before so I automatically associate this time of year with being at home surrounded by the family and loved ones, eating roast dinners every Sundays. Instead I’ve traded it in for a little yellow boat room on my own, eating quiche and salad most Sundays. It’s definitely a change, which is why it was so nice to return home to familiarity and home comforts. One thing that I’ve definitely learnt is that I’m a true Brit, a roast dinner eating, weather moaning apologetic Brit. You and Me Roam Free.