Bordeaux et beaucoup d'eau

I reckon a lot can be said for a place that impresses even in relentless rain. Especially for me - anyone who knows me well can confirm that bad weather has a very negative effect on my mood. The place in question is Bordeaux.

Bordeaux on the other side of the Pont de Pierre

Spending 2 nights in what is commonly referred to as 'Little Paris', I can definitely say it's up there in my top 3 places in France. After arriving late afternoon on Friday with Mike and Sonia, we made our way to our cheap hotel we'd booked, checked in, laughed at the lack of bathroom in our room which was in fact just a frosted shower door that opened straight into the rest of the room, then went to explore Bordeaux's centre. We set out just in time to see the sun going down over the city from the other side of the river, and about 30 seconds after we took obligatory sunset pictures, the sun was gone. 

We arrived at the river's edge just in time to see this gorgeous sunset over the city

Turns out that was our only luck with the weatherman for the whole weekend, as from that point forward the rain pretty much didn't cease. Of course there's only one thing to do when you're out in a city and it's raining, and that is, find a bar or a café. Our watches told us it was most definitely time for alcohol, so we found a cute little place and had an apéro before going to eat in a pizzeria that Mike had recommended from when he had come a few years ago. With 3 courses for 14€ we couldn't go wrong, and my foie gras followed by calzone followed by crème brulée was yummy yummy yummy.

If a calzone is on the menu...I'm having it.

Likewise with a crème brulée

Being in Bordeaux, it would seem illegal not to drink copious amounts of red wine, so we continued to a wine bar, sat down, looked at the wine list of about 500 different wines, naturally chose the cheapest bottle (still 16€...), had a sip each, Sonia and I decided it wasn't too great and we'd propbably had enough wine for the night, and left Mike to finish the bottle. Seeing as Bethan was to be arriving quite early the next morning, we decided to call it a night and walked back to the hotel sporting sexy dark red lips...

Pretty Bordeaux lights on the river at night

Cue the arrival on Saturday morning of everyone's favourite Welsh girl, Bethan... 

...And cue more rain. Saturday was a mixture of shopping, going into cafés to escape the weather, and eating. 

Nutella beignet? Yes please.

Of course, we managed to slip in a bit of sightseeing as well, including going into the Cathédrale Saint-André which was pretty impressive.

The impressive Cathédrale Saint-André with it's humungous organ at the back

The colonnes des girondins

La Porte Cailhau - one of the many medieval gates in the old city walls

Sonia, Bethan and I outside the Cathedral

Being with a Welsh person who is into her rugby, we couldn't not go to the pub and watch the France-Wales game. Having never before liked or understood rugby, I thought maybe this time might be different. But no, I still neither like the game nor understand it. It was quite cool hearing a packed pub sing La Marseillaise together at the beginning though, and was also interesting being the only people supporting Wales...

Having joined up with a few more assistants, we all went for a meal together, where I had one of the most lusciously tender and flavoursome steaks I've ever had, followed by another crème brulée. 

Steak-frites with Bordelais sauce. Oh my God, salivating simply with the memory

With it being Mike's and Sonia's birthdays this week, and Helena's (another Poitiers assistant who was also in Bordeaux this weekend) birthday on Sunday, it only seemed appropriate to celebrate, so the group expanded and we ended up in some cool pirate bars serving daquiri slush-puppies.

Mike, Bethan and I looking our finest

We perhaps chose the worst moment possible to leave, as there was now an insane amount of water falling from the Bordelais sky, so we highly resembled drowned rats when we arrived back at the hotel after a half hour walk.

A rather damp Bordeaux at night

Brunch on Sunday morning was a very exciting affair. We had been recommended to go to a place called Karl, so we thought we'd give it a try, and I think I can speak on behalf of all the others when I say it was literally the best brunch ever. I had the creamiest oeufs cocottes, Sonia had this amazing fruit salad with granola with fromage blanc platter and Bethan had basically a breakfast Italian antipasto. But I would go there again simply for the bread and jam that they kept readily bringing to the table. And I'm going to stop reminiscing about Sunday morning or else I'll find myself back on the train to Bordeaux before I know it.

Fresh baguette, eggs, ham, fruit salad, granola, cheese, salami, sundried tomatoes, freshly squeezed OJ, jam, honey, nutella...aka brunchtime perfection at Karl's

And now, back in Melle, I have a cold. It was totally worth it though - Bordeaux is gorgeous, the company was brilliant, and the food and drink was superb. I will definitely be returning to this city in the future, although it would be nice to see it in sunshine!

Strange things happen when alcohol is involved

To keep my dad happy: A tram in front of the opera house

The night I got into a Frenchman's béret

I've been holding off blogging until I have something vaguely interesting to blog about. This 'vaguely interesting' event is yet to materialise, however I feel the need to write something nonetheless. One of the main factors for the limited excitement in my recent life is the weather. I feel like I am back in England; it has rained and rained. And when it rains I hide away. What's particularly annoying is this morning I was talking to Dominique and she said these past few months have been exceptionally wet. Anyway, I'll stop being English and moaning about the weather.  

In fact, I lied when I said I'd done nothing at all interesting this week. Friday night was fun. It was the monthly 'club' night at the Café, which Mike and I had put in the diary ages ago after having had such a crazy time last time we went (and missing the 2 subsequent months' offerings due to being either in Paris or England). With it having been my birthday the week before, Mike and I saw this as a good opportunity to try and get the other assistants down to Melle for the first time and allow them to experience a night out like no other. Flu sweeping its way through the Niort assistants meant that only myself, Mike, Aurelie, Alfredo and Lewis were present, but this didn't stop Melle from delivering another great night. I think I may have witnessed even crazier dancing than before, and my night year was made when Béret Man not only posed for a photo with me, but LET ME WEAR HIS BÉRET.

I mean, just this photo with the man, the myth, the legend
would have made me a very happy girl...

...but this just surpassed all my childhood dreams.

In other news, Mike and Alfredo have a new roomie in the shape of a Polonaise called Agneshka or Anaiskha or something of that nature. I met her for the first time last week for a drink and she seems lovely and fun. So another young adult in Melle to hang out with and speak French with is a very welcome arrival!

And on that note, I think I'm going to turn in early and read some more French. Buona notte xox

Pros and cons of France, according to me

The Christmas holidays were brilliant. I saw family. I ate. I saw friends. I ate. I saw the London lights. I ate. I celebrated my 21st birthday. I ate. I spoke no French. I listened to no French.

All good things come to an end though, and I returned yesterday to dear Melle. Needless to say, the abundance of English and lack of French that I have been immersed in for the past fortnight made work today pretty difficult. Hopefully I'll be able to get myself back up to speed within a few days though.

It's not that I completely removed France and everything frog-related from my brain over Christmas, however. In fact, I had a bit of a reflection session one afternoon, in which I thought about the things I like and dislike about France having now lived there for 3 months.

1. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about France's plus points is its trains. I know it's something the French pride themselves on, and I'd prefer not to boost their egos any further, but the trains are pretty damn good. TGVs speak for themselves, but even the TERs are nicer than most English trains I've been on. I'll admit I felt a bit embarrassed for England when travelling with First Capital Connect over Christmas.
2. Another thing that I love about France is the fact that it seems that every town or city has a château or overly impressive building that has been there for centuries. And what's more, people just walk past them as if they're nothing special and it's perfectly normal for a town to have a 30ft historical stone monstrosity plonked in the centre. The thought of one in Potters Bar just makes me giggle. But in France it just works.
3. Not sure how this next one ended up third on my list rather than first but, I truly love France for its amazingly-cheap-it-shouldn't-be-legal wine prices in the supermarches. My local Aldi has a bottle of red for 0,99€. WHAT?! It's not even like it's low alcohol. I haven't actually bought this particular bottle yet as I'm a classy bird who splashes out on the 1,50€ bottle, but it would be criminal not to give it a go once before I leave France. So watch this space.

I think 3 compliments are enough. We wouldn't want the French getting too cocky. So, now for the aspects of France that don't please me quite so much.

1. It's something everyone questions, but it's worth mentioning; why oh why are French train tickets so huge?! One third of an A4 page per ticket is just not acceptable in an age where the world is striving to be more green in my opinion.
2. On the subject of train tickets, here is my 2nd dislike. It's not a dislike as such, more something I just don't understand. Composter votre billet baffled me the first time I used French trains. 'Is this some special compost heap especially for train tickets, in order to try and compensate for their ridiculous size' I thought. No, it turns out. Composter simply means 'validate'. So you're validating a ticket that you've just bought for a specific train that you're about to board anyway. Please somebody, anybody, explain this incomprehensible madness.
3. I have been trying to go to Church as often as possible here in France, being a Catholic and all that. The thing that struck me immediately is that the French use the 'tu' form of 'you' to address God. Surely this is totally disrespectful to God...isn't he meant to be the most superior being to us Christians? There must be a valid reason, but once again, I can't work it out. As before, please educate me on the matter if you are able to.
4. Zebra crossings are death traps. For us Brits who have grown up with the knowledge that a vehicle will automatically stop for you if you approach those thick white lines on the road, it came as a surprise when I first started coming to France, to discover that in this country cars are not obliged to stop for pedestrians here. As a result I find crossing roads in this country quite difficult, and am always hesitating as to whether or not to cross, in fear that an approaching car will plough straight into me. Maybe I just need to learn to be more French and just fearlessly stroll over the crossings with that swagger all French people seem to have.

Reunited in Tours

Monday to Wednesday saw my first main excursion of my Year Abroad, and it was a very enjoyable couple of days indeed! I travelled a couple of hours north-east to Tours in the Loire Valley. My very good friend Rachel lives and works there so Morgan and I stayed with her for a couple of nights. I was fairly familiar with the city, having spent a week there doing work experience a few years ago, but this trip confirmed that Tours is one of my favourite cities in France. It's got everything; a big grand station, a huge river, a stunning cathedral, loads of shops, millions of gorgeous churches, an old part of the city where all the streets are cobbled and the buildings are really cute and full of character, a pretty square full of bars and restaurants, and generally a really nice ambiance.

La Cathédrale Saint-Gatien de Tours

The impressive Hotel de Ville, albeit with roadworks all around it

But of course the most exciting part of my mini holiday was seeing my two old housemates and sharing stories of our Year Abroad. Rachel is working in a primary school so it was interesting to hear about the different teaching strategies between her age group and mine and Morgan's.

Despite the low temperatures, we couldn't have hoped for better weather at the end of October. There was not a cloud in the sky as we visited the nearby town of Amboise and had a look at its château. We picnicked on the bank of the Loire eating our way through much too much fresh baguette and cheese. 

Eating al fresco on the banks of the Loire

View of the Château d'Amboise

The next few hours were spent in the grounds of the Chateau d'Amboise, learning about its history and appreciating the spectacular views onto the river. It was interesting to learn that only about 20 percent of the original château is still there, and was hard to imagine what it would have been like in the 13th century.

Château d'Amboise

Perfect weather for a panoramic view from the top of the Château

I realised when we got there that I had in fact briefly stopped off in Amboise with my family years ago as we were driving south for a holiday. I didn't remember the town being so picturesque though.

A typical Amboisien street with its timbered buildings

In our uni house last year, cooking was one thing we all loved to do, so being together again we took the opportunity to make dinner together. The first night we made a courgette, red pepper and mushroom in white wine sauce pasta dish, and day 2 we made red onion and feta tarte tatin. Both were delicious and have made me want to cook more exciting dishes whilst in France. The trouble is, it's difficult when there's just one of you, as you then end up eating the same thing for the next few nights.

Red onion and feta tarte tatin served with a side salad

We then set off for an apparently amazing pirate-themed bar which Rachel had been to before. But in true Rachel style, after walking for 20 minutes, we came to the conclusion that it wasn't where she thought it was, so we walked back to the old part of town and had a lovely drink in an English-themed pub called Sherlock Holmes.

The rest of my time in Tours was spent eating more bread, more cheese, lots of brioche, homemade croissants, gelato, and treats from the patisserie. It's fine, I was on holiday...