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

Déménager/Emménager

I realise it's been a while since I updated this, but things just keep happening and days fill up too quickly! 

On the Wednesday before last me and Helen went to see Barbara for a meal, and it felt like I'd never left! A glass of white wine, a good catch up, a 4 course meal, and two new cheeses for us to try!

There was a hard cheese called Cantal and a soft one called Chabrol, both of which were mild and very delicious, and thus my cheese education continues! We also watched a comedy called Dinner des Cons, which I would definitely recommend.

* * *

Last Friday my suitcases finally turned up! After having lived out of a suitcase that was intended to last two weeks for a full month, I was over the moon to finally have my stuff. Unfortunately "Productive Friday" wasn't quite as productive as me and Helen had hoped, in spite of the efforts of "Le Bol" of tea.

We were both feeling pretty ill and very unmotivated, so we decided to do the only sensible thing: put all our work away and go for a night out at Panama.

It probably goes without saying that I wasn't feeling particularly rosy that Saturday morning, when I woke up with virtually no voice whatsoever. But by the time I got up I found that my new room, which Mickael had vacated earlier that week, was full of furniture and ready to move in to! However, I ditched unpacking for a while in favour of a shopping trip with Helen, and it was onwards to Odysseum, the huge shopping centre outside of town. I bought a bin, some birthday presents and some cocktail sticks, and we managed not to get to our respective homes until past 8 o clock. I then finished all my unpacking and wall decorating and am thrilled to say that, after a full month in this country, I finally have a room to call my own!

Raphael and Hugo were both away that weekend, so Alex came and housewarmed with me instead, and I introduced him to the wonder that is Mean Girls! 

Sadly a night in was nowhere near enough to save my health, and I spent all of the week just gone blowing my nose and croaking like a squashed frog :/ In spite of this I managed to have a lot of fun, including a very long sing along courtesy of Hugo and Alex on Tuesday night, a movie night and CROUS sleepover on Wednesday, and an impromptu shopping trip (which included a glimpse of my first student protest) and night out on Thursday! 

Friday was bed day, but I did get to witness my first giant thunderstorm since arriving here. By about 4pm the entire sky was as dark as night, it poured with rain for about 4 hours, there was so much lightning and the thunder was so loud!! It was really beautiful :) Yesterday Alex I went back to the beach for the first time in a while, intending to go for a run. But by the time we got there neither of us could be bothered, so we just walked until the sun went down and the stars come out, which was gorgeous! 

And I'm still just happy to finally have my own bed!!

Sarah

xx

Grenouille for three

I'm trying to be good and post more often, because the last 72 hours have been a lot of fun!

On Sunday I managed to get the necessary amount of work done (just), but by the time I had finished it was definitely too late to go to the beach! Fortunately for me, Alex finished at a similar time, so we decided that instead of going all the way to the beach, we'd go to the lake. My sense of direction is very poor, so in spite of my map we managed to get very lost before actually happening upon the right way! I'd never seen the lake at night before, and it was gorgeous. It was completely still apart from the "ragondins" (the little nocturnal creatures that live there), there were hundreds of stars, and the moon was so bright it reflected in the lake and gave both of us shadows!

Apparently "The moon looks like an egg with the face of a panda bear... in pain." (Alex, 2013)

After finding (and playing extensively in) a few playgrounds, we decided to take a stop in town for some gourmet French dining.

* * * 

Monday would have been better, were it not for my first lecturer informing me that one of the courses I had enrolled in required me to attend an extra 2 hour lecture that I knew nothing about. Thankfully I had a 3 hour gap in exactly the right space, otherwise chaos could have ensued! And Monday was brightened by a sing-along with Hugo. Having asked me to help with his English, I suggested he sing in English to improve his pronunciation. Rather than sing an actual English song, he spent the next 20 minutes setting all of my blog posts to music and singing them to me, which was highly amusing! Then Mickael froze some beers, and we all stayed up talking (and doing no work) until somewhere around 11. Oops!

* * *

Today was a momentous day. It's almost exactly a month since I moved here and I have managed to achieve one of this year's primary goals! After a day of not feeling well at uni, Helen looked after me with a cup of tea and some very athletic games of table tennis (particularly on Monique's part!). On the way home, I met Raphael at Picard (a local supermarket), and we bought snails and frogs' legs!

Raphael cooked everything in authentic French style, and made sure that I threw some salt out of the door to make sure the meal was good (don't ask, I have no idea!). He also taught me to pour wine correctly.

And here it is! And, almost surprisingly, it was gorgeous!

Hugo did not want to eat with us, but here's a picture of him anyway.

Now I should really go and get some work done!!

Sarah 

xx

Entdecken

I apologise in advance if this post is very long, but a week's worth of events could fill up quite a bit of space. I'll try to keep it brief!

Last Saturday I spent the afternoon in the nearby city of Nimes! Having woken up a little late after our night at the beach, I missed the 12pm train with the others, and went later on at 4. When Alex met me there he excitedly informed me that we were going to watch a bullfight, which was taking place as part of the festival that was going on in the city at the time. I was also very excited, as it meant I got to go right up to the top of this building!

The bullfight itself was an experience, but maybe not one I'd want to repeat! But for the views over the city, it was more than worth it.

We also explored the city a bit afterwards, and found some gorgeous fountains, gardens, and a really big tower! 

* * *

On Monday it rained for at least 5 minutes, so winter is practically here. I spent the first couple of days of this week very determinedly combing through every possible module combination available, which meant that by Tuesday night, two and a half weeks after starting my battle with the apparent non-system of this university, I have FINALLY managed to create a timetable! I still have to check it with my tutors at both universities before the arrangement is final, but I'm hoping that will be relatively straightforward. As it stands Thursdays are pure evil, with an 8:15am start, through to a 7:15pm finish. But to make up for it, I get Fridays off! 

* * *

I celebrated my triumph over my first ever evil Thursday with a night out!

We couldn't go to Cargo Club because they were having a dentist-only party, and apparently it's very obvious that we aren't dentists. So we headed round to Panama Café, got given free champagne by some friendly strangers, danced until 4:30, wandered around town realising that nowhere in Montpellier seems sell kebabs at 4:30, and got the first tram home at 5. Longest Thursday I've had in a while!

Needless to say that our original plan to go the zoo on Friday was unsuccessful. But later in the afternoon me, Helen and Monique spent a couple of hours lying on the beach before me and Helen went to Felicity and Gaspard's (couple from the church that I met on the beach a couple of weeks ago) for dinner. It was lovely just to be able to relax and be looked after for a night, and to be able to switch from French to English all night as we needed. And to be able to sit down with a cup of tea and an episode of Downton Abbey!

* * *

Saturday was zoo day!! The zoo in Montpellier is free to get in to, and it's MASSIVE! Me, Helen and Monique arrived at about 12:30 and didn't leave until 4, and I don't think we got round the whole thing. But we got to see all my favourite animals, most importantly, THE CAMEL.

It was a gorgeous day out, I really love the zoo. I took the girls back to my house for the first time, and I cooked my first meal since I arrived in Montpellier, which went down rather well! The boys met us at my house afterwards to finish off the leftovers, then we all wandered back to CROUS for cookies and a super snuggly film session! 6 people sat on a single bed is do-able, apparently! 

Doubtless I've forgotten something important, but I have procrastinated for far too long now, and should really start looking into getting some work done. Sadly it no longer feels like Erasmus holidays.

A bientôt! 

Sarah 

xx

Pompette!

It's getting quite difficult to remember what I've done the day after I've done it, this whole week has been so manic! Wednesday was another couple of lectures, including more philosophy, and not including Italian. I got home and had a cuppa with my flatmate Hugo, who happens to not only like tea, but like it with milk and no sugar! He also likes the Arctic Monkeys and plays the guitar, so I think we're going to get on well this year. The boys then took me to Carrefour for the alcohol run, and we had a lovely meal sat around the table in the garden while they both laughed at me for my "funny English accent" and taught me many new words which I will doubtless forget.

Then it was night out time! After a quick change and a few rounds of Never Have I Ever, we headed out to what seems to be one of the more popular clubs here, called Point Zero. It was almost entirely English music, so it didn't feel that different from clubbing in England! 

Within half an hour of arrival we had abandoned all plans to catch the last tram home at 1am, and ended up staying til 3 and walking home. Which was definitely worth it, until I woke up the next morning to the realisation that my lectures started at 9:15, and didn't finish until 7:15. 

Thankfully life is kind and so are my flatmates. When I got to the kitchen there was orange juice in the fridge and Hugo made me scrambled eggs for my breakfast while I was in the shower! So I managed to not be late for my first lecture, and (with the help of coffee and baguette) made it all the way through the day in a much better state than I anticipated. I have a feeling this meal will become a standard feature of evil Thursdays.

Back home Raphael gave me curry and laughed at the way I ate cheese, which apparently I need to learn to do in a more French way.

Friday was my favourite day of uni, mostly because I turned up to my first lesson and found out the class doesn't start until next week, so I decided to give myself the rest of the day off and went shopping instead. Shopping was followed by another trip to the beach, bien sûr. And it was exactly what I needed. After such a stressful and tiring week trying to navigate the non-system of this university, being able to just sit and watch the sunset on the beach with wine, bread and cheese, playing Never Have I Ever (Qui N'a Jamais) with people who were total strangers this time two weeks ago... Just makes me realise how lucky I am to be here, and how happy I am to have had this opportunity.

I think this blog is getting cheesier.
Sarah 
xx

Pampelmusensaft!!!

I'm already getting lazier with updating this, but life continues to be a massive blur of busy and français that I've still not even slightly got my head around! 

I spent the weekend ignoring all the advice from my tutors by making friends with Erasmus students, all of whom speak English! A few of them are German, and on our three hour long excursion round Ikea on Saturday I realised that my German is laughably terrible. But I am being taught new words all the time, so who knows what the year will bring! And I bought a kettle, so my life is basically complete.

Saturday night was like stepping into a time machine. Sitting in a big communal kitchen with people I've known for anything from a week to an hour, watching a game of beer pong, teaching everyone the rules to Ring of Fire (which apparently is not a traditional French activity!), getting kicked out of the kitchen just after midnight, and finishing the night with 5 of us sat around in a bedroom playing Never Have I Ever until somewhere past 6am. Thankfully the next day was spent being equally as English, sat around a table in Maccies enjoying a McFlurry and some free WiFi. The only difference is that you can sit on an outdoor table here without it being a near-death experience. 

I didn't take any photos of the actual night, but here's the street sign I walk past to get home that always makes me laugh.

I christened my new kettle when I got home, and introduced Raphael (the flatmate who loves Elvis) to the joys of tea. He drinks it in a very small cup with a LOT of sugar, but it's a start. And in return he made me fajitas, so I'd say it's a fair swap.

* * * 

Monday was my first official day of uni! I had signed up for Italian for beginners at 8:15am, but when I woke up at 7 I realised that Monday mornings are not for me, so I hopped online, rescheduled the class, and went back to sleep. When I finally made it into uni, I sat through a Greek history class (VERY difficult), a maths class (which was more like a vocabulary lesson), and a translation test (in which I made up many words). The day as a whole was better than I expected, and after translation I ran into Helen and Monique, who said it was time for a beach trip, and who was I to refuse? 

The sea wasn't too cold, and the Baywatch running that followed our swim was unrivalled as far as I could tell. The sunset was beautiful, as was the fry up that Helen and Monique made when we got back.

* * *

Today was just more lectures, more timetable confusion, and the realisation that me and philosophy are definitely not friends. I learnt how to use a French washing machine, and found out that the guy who is currently in my room won't be moving out until the end of the month.

Luckily, nothing seems so bad when you know there's a cup of tea waiting for you at home.

Sarah

xx