It's Party Party Party Time!

Exams are over, the semester is done! I'm FRRREEEEEEEEE!! 

In spite of the fact that I sat 12 exams in the space of 12 days, it actually wasn't nearly as bad as I had first anticipated. Especially because "exams" at Paul-Val are definitely not the same as the exams I'm used to. I had invigilators leaving the room multiple times to take phone calls, students hiding phones on their knees to use as a reference in the exam, unchecked notes permitted on the desk, people walking into exams half way though and, my personal favourite, being given two articles, no exam paper, and the instruction "I don't know... Just write a summary or something". So, all in all, it was definitely another learning curve, and further proof that nothing this university comes up with seems to be able to surprise me any more. On the plus side, where it took me two and a half weeks of running around and stress to sort myself a timetable for this semester, I managed to formulate my semester 2 timetable in less than a couple of hours. Clearly practice makes perfect.

Thankfully I was also able to fit some fun in between all the revision. Alex and I decided to profit from the warm weather (still in double figures most days) by taking a December jaunt to the beach to see the sunrise.

I also managed to do an extensive amount of Christmas shopping, and some back street exploration with Helen, which resulted in a few interesting discoveries!

Once exams were over, life just kept getting better! I went to visit Barbara on Wednesday, and during our stroll around the lake, we were lucky enough to come across a "ragondin" (that's a coypu to those of you in England) who was more than a little bold!

Yesterday was our house Christmas meal, and it was spectacular! I became Raphael's sous chef for the evening, and we ended up with a 5 course meal, nothing of which I had ever tried before. Homemade savoury biscuit things for apero, then fish, crab, veal (which is apparently reared kindly in France, for all you concerned animal activists out there) and some sort of ice creamy nut thing. 

And of course, a great deal of wine. A very unconventional Christmas meal for someone so used to the traditional roast, but it was a change that I definitely enjoyed! I even got to witness Raph flambe the meat in spectacular style, without setting anything else in the room on fire. Impressive!

And now just two days before I fly home!

Sarah

xx 

It's (not) beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's December!!! For those of you who aren't aware, I get incredibly excited about Christmas. The second the 1st December comes around I have my advent calendar at the ready and my Christmas Spotify playlist on loop for the duration of the month. If anything, this year I'm more excited than ever, because in 3 weeks I finally get to say goodbye to the stress of exams, get on a plane, and go home to the family and friends that I have missed so much. 

Life has been pretty quiet since Barcelona, with the exception of a couple of loud nights out. The block on campus has finally been lifted, which means that I'm back in lectures full time this week, and on a full timetable of "partiels" (that's a friendly word for "exams") next week. I go from a feeling of calm and controlled optimism to a feeling of panic and dread approximately 5 times a day, although the Christmas spirit is definitely making life much more bearable!

Last week we had snow!

For those of you who are as confused as I was as to why Hugo jumped off the sofa in excitement and Raphael came running into the living room, here is a zoomed version of the above image.

The temperature still has yet to remain below double figures for more than two days in a row, and apparently this sort of "snow" almost never happens. The cultural differences still never cease to amaze me!

But just because it doesn't look like Christmas, doesn't mean it can't feel like it! Because Montpellier has finally turned on its lights and opened "Les Hivernales".

Alex and I took a walk through the stalls, where he confidently informed me that he had tried every mulled wine available, and therefore knew where to buy from. I never try to argue with Germans about alcohol. In addition to all the pretty lights, sparkly stalls and tasty looking food, they've also opened an ice rink!

And I very patiently waited my turn to sit on Santa's knee.

Sadly I now have to stop procrastinating and start planning. There are presentations to be written and exams to be revising for. Hopefully I will emerge on the other side of these next two weeks in one piece, although I can't promise anything!

Joyeux décembre à tous!

Sarah 

xx

Impromptu Barcelona

Nearly two weeks since my last blog post, and I've spent two days in uni. Whether it's a blessing or a curse is getting difficult to tell at this stage. On the one hand, I'm loving all this time off, but on the other hand it is now 3 weeks until my exams, and I'm still feeling almost entirely clueless and confused with regards to what will actually appear on my exam papers and what I'm going to be expected to write. Stress levels are mounting by the day, and I can't say I'm coping with them entirely well. Although I did manage to complete a 4 and a half page essay for my literature history class, which felt like quite an achievement, especially when Raphael proof read it and described it as "très bon".

 * * *

However, this blog will not be focusing on the horrors of work, because I went to Barcelona! Last Wednesday was my first day back in classes after the blocage was lifted, and as I sat in my first lecture feeling that now too familiar feeling of sickness and dread whenever I thought about the exams to come, I decided enough was enough. I texted Helen and she agreed, as did Monique (when she finally woke up :P). I suggested Barcelona and the next thing I knew, everyone was on board, everything was booked, and we left the next day!

For those of you in England, or in France who have not yet tried it, the system of "covoiturage" here is amazing! It essentially entails going on the website with your point of departure and destination, and enables you to book spaces in the car of someone doing the same journey. It's an incredibly cheap way to travel compared to the trains, and it saves you dragging your luggage all around the stations. This was my first experience of it, and it meant that, after a lovely relaxing journey listening to the impeccable music taste of our driver, we pulled up in the centre of Barcelona and were guided to the metro by the 4th covoit passenger.

Our hostel was incredible! They gave us a 12th floor bedroom, which meant that we were greeted with this view upon arrival.

It took us approximately 5 minutes to scrap the idea of a quiet night in. We took a taxi to the hostel-endorsed night at Sutton, but when we realised the queue was approximately 2 hours long (apparently Bruno Mars was due to make an appearance), we crossed the road and went to what ended up being one of the best clubs I have ever been to: Bling Bling. The decor was amazing, the music was perfect, the drinks were affordable, and there was a chocolate fountain!!

We began our first day with a trip to the Sagrada Familia.

This was followed by a wander round the Parc Guell , which celebrates the work of Gaudi. And is situated at the top of a massive hill, which meant incredible views across the whole city!

We got ice cream, which was a strange experience for mid-November! Then after sitting down for some tapas, we may have ended up getting slightly diverted by the shops of La Rambla, and buying what felt like enough to support half the Spanish economy.

On Saturday Barcelona decided to rain, so we spent the morning treating ourselves to brunch in one of the prettiest cafés I've ever been to, called Pudding.

After a massive and delicious meal, it was onwards to the Arc de Triomf.

We then took some very sophisticated shelter in the Picasso museum, admiring art and trying not to give away our total cluelessness. On the way home Helen and I sampled some paella, and back at the hostel we all tried on our massively touristy tshirts.

Then it was off out again, for our last night out before returning home. We arrived at Razzmatazz, which is apparently one of the biggest clubs in Barca, at about 11pm, only to be told they didn't open until 1am. So we took the directions of a total stranger and ended up at a pub just round the corner. And it was amazing! It was so busy that we couldn't sit down at first, and then they had a 3-man acoustic band playing, who played such a good set!

We managed to sit ourselves next to some friends of the band, and by the end of the set we were all on our feet, dancing with the people from all the surrounding tables.

When the pub finally closed we headed to Razzmatazz for an hour or so, which meant that when we finally crashed back at the hostel it somewhere around 5am. This made checking out at 10:30am a very unpleasant experience. Sadly our last day consisted of terrible service at a café, a lack of churros, phone theft (RIP Sulley), an hour and a half wait for our covoit, and some rain. So it was almost good to be home by the time we were finally back!

* * *

It rained all day Monday, and the highlight of my uni day was the walk home, where I saw a man on a bike wobbling around because he had one hand on the handlebar, and the other hand clasped onto an umbrella and a baguette. 

It was probably funnier if you saw it in person.

Sarah 

xx

"On a des cours aujourd'hui...?"

I wasn't expecting to be able to update this blog until at least the weekend, but it seems that students at Paul-Valéry get very angry about money (more details to come), so I have an unanticipated amount of time on my hands!

* * *

Last weekend was a lot of fun, as Raphael had more friends over! David came again, and this time so did Pierre. As a result the house was very loud and very lively all weekend, and multiple games of "Qui N'a Jamais" means we all now know each other better than is probably necessary. We didn't have a great deal of luck when it came to going out, but we made many delicious cocktails, and we even had the privilege of seeing LeffeMan in action on the streets surrounding our house.

Tuesday was very bizarre, because everyone left! With it being Toussaint, the boys went home for the week, so I had the flat to myself... and silence felt very odd. I managed to sleep a lot, host a small cocktail soirée and, of course, go out for Halloween!

* * *

Saturday was one of the best days I've had a long time. Alex had told me a few times about a place called Cassis, which is down the coast just east of Marseille. And when he found out he had the weekend off uni, we decided that it was about time we took a road trip to visit it! We got stuck in a bit of traffic when we lost our way in Marseille, but eventually, 3 hours after leaving Montpellier, we finally arrived!

Cassis is a very small town, and all along the coast it's lined with "Calanques", which are basically just inlets of water. Alex knew where he wanted to go, so I followed him up a very big hill/small mountain (not really sure which!), and the views were absolutely perfect.

We reached the top just as the sun was setting, and the sky went from bright blue to purple, to orange, to pink.

What's more, we got back to the car at 7pm to see this readout on the monitor!

So we sat on the beach for a picnic and some ice cream. A very unexpected way to start November!

* * *

It was amazing having the boys back on Sunday, the house just isn't the same without them! But the impending thought of uni starting back again and the stress of all the assignments and presentations I knew I had for the first week back ruined the fun a bit. However, after a perfectly normal start to the week, I turned up to my lecture this morning, only to find that the building looked like this.

Every lecture theatre and classroom on campus had been barricaded with tables, chairs and barriers, as part of a "bloque" to protest against the austerity measures Paul Valéry is facing. Which meant that, for the second time since arriving, I had a day off! And according to the protest group online, the block will continue until Tuesday, when there will be another general meeting to decide what is going to be done. 

Vive La Résistance! 

Sarah 

xx

It is very "bon" to meet you

IT'S THE HOLIDAYS!!! I have officially survived an entire half semester, and now get to enjoy a week off for les vacances de Toussaint. Over the moon is an understatement.

* * *

The end of last week was pretty miserable and tiring, I was getting to the point of just being quite sick of uni and the constant feeling of being snowed under by work that I have very little interest in, or desire to do. The weekend was good though! On Friday night we all went out to Circus Bar to celebrate the visit of Tara's boyfriend, who is spending his semester abroad in Ireland, so spoke very good English.

We then continued on to RockStore, which is the best club I've been to so far. For those of you who are used to going out in Manchester, it was very similar to a night out in 5th Avenue, except everyone speaks French and the drinks are very expensive. 

I returned home on Saturday to find that both the boys were gone and I had the house to myself for the night! Although not for long, because Alex offered to bring me a crêpe, which I was not going to turn down. And when he arrived with an additional bar of chocolate, crate of beer and pile of James Bond films, I decided I'd made the right decision.

* * *

This week was amazing, because my parents came to visit! It's the first time they've been abroad in 22 years, so I think it was about time. And seeing them was amazing. On Monday I took them on a tour of the older part of town, and we went out for some pizza, which I had to order in my finest French accent to attempt to prove that I have improved since arriving here!

On Tuesday they came to meet me at uni, and were finally able to appreciate just how different university life is here compared to back home! They were also able to meet Helen, and we sat and had lunch together on campus before Helen and I (there you go mum :P) went to our last lecture. I then met my parents back in town and took them down through the newer part of town as far as the River Lez. After that we headed to my house and I was able to introduce them to my flatmates! The language barrier was hilarious for me, but both of the boys did their best to speak as much English as possible, and we all ended up going out for dinner in the evening. Everyone got on very well, aside from the heated debate about rugby!

On Wednesday after uni we met Barbara for lunch, and I took them all to the roof of Corum for a good view of the city.

Lunch was probably the best meal we had together! The restaurant was just behind the Préfecture, and the food was perfect.

And just as we finished eating, the sun finally came out!

We made the most of the last day together with an excursion to Le Lac, and sat out in the sun for hours listening to the world's loudest ducks.

* * *

With my parents gone, the prospect of evil Thursday was enough to make me want to curl up in bed and never leave. However, the day actually panned out very nicely, because I turned up to my last lecture (two hours of talking about the cinema which takes my day through til 7:15pm) only to find that our room had been taken over by another class, forcing my lecturer to cancel the lesson! Then mine and Raphael's decision to buy a celebratory box of beers, instead of the usual bottle, resulted in the creation of the world's new and greatest superhero: Leffe Man.

The world will never be in peril again.

Sarah 

xx

"C'est pas parc' que you are me qu'I am you"

Last week I ticked another thing off the to-do list and went on to the roof of Corum. Corum is one of the big buildings in the centre of town, a couple of minutes walk from Place de la Comédie, and it has a huge staircase at one end so that you can access the top.

Me, Helen and Monique just sat for ages enjoying sunshine, girl talk, and some really amazing views!

* * *

Wednesday was karaoke night with the boys! Raphael spent the afternoon introducing me to Renaud, one of his favourite singers, and later treated us all to an impersonation.

"Hotel California" is another favourite in our house, and one of Hugo's friends was lucky enough to be treated to a rendition over the phone.

The live entertainment definitely makes working a lot more bearable! 

* * *

I had the best evil Thursday ever! I got to experience first-hand another very important piece of the French culture: the strike! We had a "journée banalisée" at university, which meant that there was a huge assembly to discuss budget cuts, and all lessons after 11:30 were non-compulsory, to allow every student the opportunity to attend. Passionate as I am about all such financial issues, I decided it was about time I tried a crêpe!

It was Marian's birthday, so after crêpes we all went to Colombiere for cake! Me and Helen bought him an LED pig which changes colour, which I wanted to keep, but sadly could not. Thursday night was movie night, because Raphael loves Grease, and I'd never seen Back To The Future! 

* * *

Raphael's friend David came to visit this weekend, so we decided to start on the house book of cocktails! This was of course accompanied by yet more karaoke, and some very enthusiastic dancing! 

I was very insistent on the cocktail umbrellas.

* * *

Uni on Monday was horrible and made my head hurt, but thankfully Alex has a car and a love for the beach, so back we went to sit on the rocks with a beer and watch the sunset.

Definitely the best way to make Mondays less evil!

Sarah

xx