So much brie it hurts

Bon après-m tout le monde. 

I've just made the tastiest courgette and brie soup, with a swig of wine and eaten so much of it that it hurts, as is evident from my title.

It's now only 3 days until I return to the land of baked beans (even though I did find some this afternoon in Leader Price. I became quickly angered though, when it suggested to cook the beans in a bain marie. What on EARTH are you thinking France? Bung them in the microwave), pubs with English beer, tea time and trains without the SNCF jingle, which will now be ingrained into my memory until the end of time. Which apparently could be just 3 days.

Last weekend I made the brave and treacherous journey to Albert to see Mary. This was made all the more treacherous when I decided to take a liking to the wrong train station, a rather pitiful place called Longueau. Added another hour to my journey, as well as a bus ride, complete with staring cailleras and some rather interesting graffiti. Having arrived in Albert, it was lovely to see Mazzle P and we wasted no time in having a good chin wag and trotting off to the shops to get some dinner (nom moussaka). Although I thought Albert might be quite similar to Nogent, it had a completely different vibe and I came to the conclusion that the statue in the town depicting a woman holding up a child definitely bore a striking resemblance to The Lion King. The next day we shot off to Amiens to peruse the Christmas markets and I ensured that I forked out plenty off euros. Bought a few cheeky Christmas presents, some delicious food (including tartiflette and the classic vin chaud, nom nom NOM) and even a couple of bits and pieces for moi-même. As the evening drew in, we popped to the cathedral to watch the light projections there, something which seems quite popular in France. The long and short of it is, is that they project a load of images onto ancient monuments, in this case, to show what it was like in the "olden days" when each statue was painted. Really quite beautiful and a nice experience.

We headed back to Mary's and got a nice kip before I whizzed off the next morning. All in all, a really lovely weekend, especially good for getting in the old Christmas spirit. 

This evening, I am off to do a bit of tutoring followed by dinner chez la famille. Hooray for no cooking!

I feel like I am really starting to settle in here. Even this week, I have noticed that people at the lycée have been shooting the old bonjours out left, right and centre. Maybe it's because people are feeling particularly generous at this festive time of year but it definitely makes a huge difference to how accepted I feel. I really feel like my French is improving too. Sure, I have days when I feel like I'm communicating in the same way that a toddler would, but I'm mostly pretty proud of my progress. I'm certainly noticing that it's taking less effort to strike up conversations. And perhaps in turn, that has led to a better level of acceptance.

Enough of this self analysis now, I'm off to teach French kids about English Christmasses for perhaps the 40th time this week.

Bisous!

We wiSH you a merry chriSSSSStmaSSSS

Noël is officially here. That's Christmas, and not in fact, Noel Edmunds, before someone gets too over-excited (probably me, let's face it. I bloody love a bit of Noel). Christmas means blasting out Christmas songs left, right and centre until I feel sufficiently festive.

It's been almost two weeks since I last blogged, which to me, sounds crazy. Time seems to be flying by now, and soon I'll be halfway through my brief stay here. Last weekend, some lovely people from Chartres came up to visit and we perused the "Christmas market" in Nogent. I say Christmas market in the loosest term because it was actually just a few wooden huts and the most creepy blue elf thing that insisted on terrorizing us all with a feather and the promise of a hug. Okay, so, doesn't sound too petrifying, but you should've been there! Scarier than the Saw maze at Thorpe Park. Fact. And if you've never been there and enjoy the feeling of shitting yourself in public places, then that's the place for you.

Afterwards we popped to the chateau, which I'm ashamed to say was my first visit there. And what a splendid one it was. I especially enjoyed the fact that from the castle walls, you can see, shining like a beacon in the distance, Nogent's very own Buffalo Grill. Such a beautiful emblem.

So this week has brought along its new challenges and it's safe to say I can't wait to get home now. Heating without worrying about the bills, my own bed and home-cooked food, that I don't have to make. Could it be any more parfait?

Tomorrow I'm off to go and see the beautiful Miss Palmer, and we are going to storm the Amiens Christmas markets. So ridiculously excited about it.

Oh and to clarify the title, I remember when we used to sing Christmas songs at school and we had to stop singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" because we all used to elongate the S's and end up spraying the entire assembly hall with spit. Charming!

Until next time (cheesy wink).

Lemon

It's been another challenging (and at times, rewarding) week. Had a student refuse point blank to play a game, I would've leapt at the chance at that age. I don't think that children know what they've got coming to them at the age of 15. Good luck in the real world! Then, tutoring the little kids who refuse to do anything except play with the MILLION toys they have in their play room and shout completely unrelated and irrelevant words at me. Fabulous.

However, another weekend is here, thank God!

Yesterday I spent an absolutely awesome day in Le Mans.

Toute seule, I tottered off to the train station in Nogent and found myself in Le Mans by half 11. An ungodly hour for the weekend but nonetheless..

Off I set, on my quest to find the tourist information centre, vital for us voyageurs if were going to have any hope of knowing where we are. An hour later (Le Mans is definitely bigger than I thought), I arrived at the Office de Tourisme and hastily found myself a map. The town itself is absolutely stunning. There is a mixture of Roman and Gothic architecture which really is awe inspiring. So much so that I began snapping away at everything in sight. However, it was a shame I didn't capture the most dramatic shoelace tying I have ever witnessed in my life. It really was a sight to behold.

I went into a cute little brasserie for a spot of lunch, tagliatelle carbonara followed by a crème brûlée, don't mind if I do. Slightly concerning however, that my carbonara came with a raw egg just chilling on the top. Delightfully full and glowing with the prospect of the day ahead, I made my way to the Musée de Tessé, which features a recreation of an Egyptian tomb on the bottom floor. Turns out I was the only one there and had no shame in taking a picture of myself doing the best impression of Lara Croft in The Last Revelation that I could. Then glanced at the ceiling to see, in my horror, a little CCTV camera and made a swift exit, carrying my new found shame all over my face.

Following this, I had a holy moment and decided to visit the beautiful cathedral in the city. My first thought was "how on Earth do I get in", followed quickly by "They definitely need to sack the organist", once I had worked out how doors work. I marvelled at the stained glass windows and even took the liberty of lighting a candle, and almost setting myself on fire. Holy moment (and potential burning) over, I headed back out into the fresh air, where I could escape the bum notes of the organist and the possibility of a spiritual discovery.

By this time, my legs were crying at me to stop so I hopped on the train back to Nogent.

In the evening, I ventured out to the crêperie with Ara and Bertrand, sampling a galette with camembert and jambon de pays (kind of like parma ham, all smoky and that) and the classic lemon and sugar combo for afters. Delicious. Following that, we popped along to Vista Verde for another beer fuelled evening, peppered with mockery of me because last week some moustachioed man got all leery and gave me the creepiest bise on the cheek I have ever experienced, complete with a slow motion grope of the neck. Lovely. So now, everyone who works at the bar leers at me with a faux finger moustache, laughing at my expense. Excellent!

All in all, though, a wonderful day.

I've just got back from a trip to the market in the centre of town. Seeing dead rabbits and peasants, complete with head and fur/feathers is enough to make my stomach churn in the morning but in all fairness, the market is pretty incredible. I came home with a bag of chicken wings and more oranges than I could have hope of eating in a year. Not too bad.

So on to today, I'm going to relax on my bed this morning, mainly because its -1 degrees (say waah?) but also because I feel ridiculously lazy and am again popping out to Vista Verde this evening, just so I can be ridiculed yet again. Because I love it so much.

Big bisous from France