Christmas Is Coming

I write my blog posts on Microsoft Word before publishing online and as I write, I can see that since the very post in July, I have written over 25,000 words. Wow. A lot has happened and there has been a lot to say!

There isn’t much to say this week as not much has happened. After weeks and weeks of trips, events, birthdays and other fun things, I’ve had to sit down to make notes, revise and sit exams. Monday afternoon we had a second grammar exam, as snow poured down outside. Unfortunately there hasn’t been any snow since. I thought the exam was OK but we were all a little annoyed as the lecturer had told us the exam would be a dictation (she speaks and we write down what she says.) However there were actually 2 of these and lots of Grammar questions which seemed a bit weird as the topics were exactly the same as those we were examined on merely 2 weeks earlier. We had our Histoire De La Langue exam at 8am on Thursday – I thought it went quite well but I later discovered that nearly all of the French students in the class were cheating, whether it be with notes or using their phones to research but despite this, many still seemed to be unsure of what to write. One thing is for certain – Exams are a much more serious affair in the UK. Otherwise, my time has been spent working for the 2 exams I have this week: Perfectionnement and Civilisation and I think both shouldn’t be too bad.

Over the last few weeks, I had been arranging for everyone to go for a Christmas meal together, along with organising Secret Santa between us all. 2 weeks everyone picked a gift tag out of a bag with a name on and since then, everyone has been on the hunt for the perfect gift. Sarah’s idea was to have a random budget to really challenge everyone and make them think of how they could spend as close to that sum of money as possible – The amount was 5.74eur. Yesterday evening, 23 of us made the journey to La Taverne, near the train station, for our meal.

 

Presents!

After ordering our meal, I, in the role of Santa Claus, distributed out the tons of presents to everyone and we went around the group opening them, seeing what had been given and guessing who had bought it. My Secret Santa was Alex who had bought me a set of 365 post-it notes (due to my organisational nature) for each day of the year. Each one of them has a proverb or famous quote written in French and I thought it was a truly thoughtful idea! I was Beth’s Secret Santa and I had bought her some chocolate and also a small piece of jewellery that is attached to the two corners of a collar on a shirt to add a decorative motif – I knew she already have one or two and so I thought it’d be the perfect gift for her. There seemed to be 2 types of gift: something funny or something thoughtful and there were lots of laughs as some people opened their gifts. The food was wonderful and everyone had a lovely evening and it was a great chance to see everyone before we all head home for Christmas.

Me with Lauren & Alice

 

Beth, Han & Alex

 

My last exam before Christmas is 4-6pm on Wednesday and then I will travel to Geneva airport on Thursday morning to fly back to Bristol. I’m so excited to go home for Christmas, to see friends, see family, eat so many good foods, to go back to work for some shifts and to enjoy a bit of British Life though I don’t think I’ll be happy to see the rain which will no doubt fall, it’s a rarity here. After Christmas, I have 2 weeks in Chambéry with 2 exams, 2 weeks back in the UK to unpack and repack and then... ESPAÑA.

 

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année à tout le monde!

 

 

PARIS!

Bonsoir,

Sunday evening, drained and exhausted, I returned from my weekend in Paris and I had such a fantastic time!

 I didn’t sleep very well Thursday evening and so it was quite difficult to get up at 7am, get myself ready and ensure I had everything packed for Paris. I left Arpej at 7.50am and it was freezing out, stopping at the Boulangerie on my way to the train station. I caught the 8.25am TGV to Paris Gare du Lyon and only moments after leaving Chambéry, all I could see from the windows on either side of the train was snow. Indeed, soon after my departure, Alex informed me of how the snow was bucketing down in Chambéry and while I was sad not to be enjoying it, I was on my way to Paris! While these trains can travel in excess of 200mph, it had to travel at a slower speed due to the ice and snow as even more fell from the skies. This meant I was 20 minutes late into Paris but I wasn’t stuck to a strict deadline and so it was no problem. Upon arrival, I got a little lost on the Metro but soon figured it out and made it to Montmartre to check into my hotel. The first thing I saw when I came up from the Metro was a Starbucks – I knew this would be a good weekend!

 

After checking into my hotel room, I had 2 hours free before Cat arrived in Paris from Cardiff. Due to the little sleep I’d had on Thursday night, an early start and knowing it would be a long weekend; I took a quick nap to recharge my batteries, showered and changed clothes and went to meet her at her station. We then came back to the hotel to drop off her luggage and ventured off into Paris!

 

Our hotel was rather central and a few minutes’ walk from Sacré Coeur in Montmartre. Although it had been raining when I had arrived, the skies were clearing which was perfect luck as Naomi (who had visited the previous weekend) recommended seeing the sunset from here, the highest point in Paris (except from the Eiffel Tower summit.) The Christmas lights through the cobbled streets were enchanting and there was a small Christmas Market around the Church which was flooded with tourists.

 

Cobbled Streets - Montmartre

 

Sunset, with the Eiffel Tower to the left

 

                                                                     Sacré Coeur

 

 

From here, we walked through Montmartre and caught the Metro to the Avenue des Champs-Élyseés, one of the most famous and expensive streets in Paris. There was a HUGE Christmas market with decorated wooden huts lining the boulevard, tons of lights and a huge wheel at the Place de Concorde. It was SO cold and I had some Churros (long, thin, doughnuts) and chocolate. We then walked along the Seine for a look at the Eiffel Tower. By now we were both exhausted and so caught the Metro back to Montmartre and had dinner in an Italian Restaurant before getting an early night as it was going to be a long weekend!

 

 

Eiffel Tower

 

Wheel!

 

 

 

The next morning we had a bright an early start in order to make the most of our full day in La Ville-Lumière (the city of lights – a nickname for Paris.) We firstly went to the nearby Starbucks as I spent many hours of my life in the UK in Starbucks, Costa and other coffee establishments – I’ve missed them and so didn’t want to pass up this opportunity! We then walked the 30 seconds from our Hotel to see the Moulin Rouge where there were crowds and crowds of people who had come just to have a photo outside – Cat and I were probably two of them too.

Moulin Rouge

 We then walked back up to the Sacré Coeur to see it in daylight and on one of the cobbled streets was an awesome band playing, so much so that Cat decided to buy their CD as a memento of our trip and I definitely have to get her to send me the songs! I bought some postcards and we wandered around the surroundings of the church, took some more photos and took in both the views and the atmosphere. We spent the rest of the day being typical tourists, walking around and stumbling on places along with purposely visiting sites.

 

 

We walked along the Seine looking at some incredible buildings and eventually came across the Notre Dame Cathedral which was surrounded by queues of people wanting to go in. We used this Cathedral as a market point to find the Pont de l’Archevêche (The Bishop’s Bridge,) which is one of three Bridges in Paris that have been turned (by Tourists and lovers alike) into a lovelock bridge. This apparently goes back to ancient traditions where two lovers would ‘lock their love’ onto a bridge (using a lock,) and then throw the key to the lock into the river that the bridge crossed. These days however, everybody adds a lock of love, whether it be with friends or a partner. Naomi and her Boyfriend had visited the weekend previously and had given me directions as to where I could find their lock – I counted along to the seventh panel, saw the red ribbon and voilà – there it was J Cat and I had prepared a lock and I attached it to the bridge and we threw the key into the River Seine.

Cat & I - Notre Dame

 

Our Lock

Pont de l’Archevêche

 

 

We stopped in a small café where I had some pasta for lunch while Cat had a crêpe. I was then contacted by Anya who was at the bridge adding her lock and so we popped back to see her and AK, her boyfriend, and take a few more photos together and of our three locks together! Cat and I then made our way along the Seine, stopping at the Eiffel Tower for some photos and then decided to take the Metro back to the hotel for some food and a rest before going back out that evening.

 

Happy to be in the warmth!

 

All Three Locks!

 

Eiffel Tower (By day, this time)

 

 

 
At one point there was an entire orchestra playing in one of the corridors of the Metro while on several of our journeys, random people would get on our train, play their instrument for a while (whether it be guitar, saxophone or even trumpet.) OIF!

 

After a rest, that evening we decided to return back to the HUGE Christmas Market at the Champs Élysées, sufficiently wrapped up in protection from the freezing conditions (It was around 0 degrees at 9pm in the evening.) The decorated and lit huts went on for miles with everything you could imagine being sold from expensive jewellery to cheap novelty items, wines, soaps, books, toys, decorations, everything! Every so often there were a cluster of food huts – hotdogs, burgers, burritos, pizza and there was a scent of mulled wine drifting through the freezing air. Walking to the end of the market, we then continued along past some of the world’s most famous shops before arriving at the Arc de Triomphe.

Christmas Huts

 

 

 

 

After checking out on Sunday morning, we left our luggage at Gare du Nord, the train station where Cat would catch the Eurostar back to London and then went to visit the Louvre museum, perhaps equally as famous for the glass pyramid at its entrance as to the artwork kept inside, including the Mona Lisa. We spent a few hours wandering this incredible building and, of course, battling through the crowds of people surrounding the Mona Lisa to get a glimpse.

Louvre complete with Pyramid

 

 

 

Mona Lisa

 

 

Later that afternoon, we went for ANOTHER Starbucks and I bought myself a ‘Starbucks Paris’ mug – It’s big and I think its’ size will come in hand with all the work I’ll have to do in fourth year, and we then wandered around the area stumbling upon a great brass band who where playing on the steps of the music academy.

 

 

 

 

We then returned to the Gare du Nord and collected our luggage before stopping to have something to eat, I said goodbye to Cat and then made my way to Gare de Lyon for my 7pm train back to Chambéry.

 

I had a wonderful time in Paris – Christmas was certainly in the air and it was beautiful to see everything lit up. Another thing I liked was that Parisians must be very used to hearing many different accents speaking French and so respond, naturally, in French. Sometimes in Chambéry for example, people can reply to me in English even though I’ve spoken French as they can hear that I am British.

Nevertheless, when I got to Valencia after Christmas, Beth will be leaving Chambéry for an internship in Paris – I’ll definitely have to go and visit her, plus I have Metro tickets that still need to be used! :)

Advent, Visits & Snowfall

After weeks of planning to do so, I finally decided to treat myself to the 10eur Lindt advent calendar which had caught my eye every time I had gone to Monoprix. Low and behold, they had all sold out. For weeks I had wanted to buy one and now that I had finally given in to the chocolaty temptation, there were none left! Nevertheless, I settled for a huge Milka calendar. While not exactly cheap, the size of the chocolates are great and with a 15cm long (and very thick) Santa Claus to be eaten on Christmas Eve, it’s definitely worth the investment!

 

Milka Goodness!

 

 

On Thursday evening, a large group decided to go out. As I hadn’t been out in several weeks, I decided to go to! Pia’s friend Sian (also a student in Cardiff) had come from Grenoble for a few nights and after drinks in her room, we then went to O’Pogues. Before even getting there, Catrin and I had decided we were both hungry and wanted to go and buy some chips – we knew places would be closing soon. Later in the evening when O’Pogues closed, most people went on to Opera but with friends coming the next morning, I decided to go home and get some rest.

 

Alex and I

 

Pia and I

 

Alice and I

 

Sian, Catrin, Pia, Jessie, Beth, Sandra, Alex & Charles

 

 

On Friday morning I did some work before going to meet Rach and Beth at the bus station, two friends from home who had just flown into Geneva and were coming to visit for the weekend! It was sooooo good to see them and have visitors and we had a fun weekend planned! After coming back to Arpej to drop off their luggage, I then took them for a tour around my little town with an important stop at the Boulangerie for the first of many pastries that were bought over the weekend. I showed them restaurants, monuments, huge castles and cathedrals along with ancient passage ways. We also popped to the SNCF boutique to buy train tickets for our trip to Lyon the next day. Using my rail card, I paid 8.80 each way while they both paid 13.50. However once again, the price was more expensive online (17.50) and I’d have thought it would be cheaper online as there are no personnel involved, no buildings to pay for e.t.c, but that’s obviously not the case! I also took them on the trek to University to see the view of the town from up there. As it was November 30^th, all of the shops were putting up their Christmas Decorations and displays – Chambéry was finally welcoming the arrival of the Festive Period!

 

In the evening we went to La Taverne, the restaurant everyone from Cardiff had visited when our lecture came to visit a few weeks ago. I had the same meal again – Caesar salad, duck and potatoes, chocolate fondant cake and ice cream: Delicious!

Rach & I

Saturday morning was an earlyish start as we caught our 9am train to Lyon, which took 1 hour and 20 minutes. The previous week had rained and rained after there being no rain for several weeks previously. Luckily, prayers were answered and we were presented with beautiful blue skies and sunshine although it was a freezing 3 degrees. During our 2 week intensive course we had spent a few hours in Lyon but somehow had remembered my way around the main part of the city. We spent the day exploring the town – churches, monuments, buildings, cobbled streets and shops. We had lunch at the same Italian restaurant we had visited in September (Salmon pizza again yum!) We also climbed the hill-come-mountain to visit the Fourvière Cathedral which sits high above the city and offers amazing views.

 

 

Fourvière Cathedral

Place Bellecour - The wheel has been situated in preparation for the 'Fête des lumières' taking place next weekend. Everyone is going apart from Anya and I who will be in Paris!

 

The River

 

STARBUCKS! A Coffee To Keep Warm

 

 

 

A Look Over Lyon

 

 

Upon our return to Chambéry that evening, we were all quite tired and spent the evening watching Christmas Films – it was lovely to get into the Christmas spirit a little!

 

On Sunday morning I woke up and checked my phone. I saw on Facebook that an Italian student had posted (in Italian) a status about snow, I opened my shutters and it was SNOWING! We quickly got dressed and went out to enjoy the first snowfall of December and the first I had seen in Chambéry! We walked the short distance to Buisson de Rond park, near the ice rink (and which I never knew had existed until Lauren had told me that morning!) We walked around in the snow (which was falling heavily) and enjoying an hour of fresh air after an evening at Arpej. An hour later, we returned for a hot chocolate and watched another 2 Christmas films all wrapped up as snow poured down – very Christmassy!

Snowfall From My Balcony

 

 

Enjoying The Snow

 

 

Beth, Rach & I

 

 

That evening the three of us went for dinner at Le Hatien, a Chinese restaurant Naomi had recommended to us. Anya had been working on her history essay all weekend and so I thought it’d be a good idea to come and take a break from it all along with having food cooked for her. It was good food and even came with a free apéro of some disgusting alcoholic drink too. Following this, Anya went back to continue work and we went to O’Cardinals for a few drinks.

Beth & I

Monday morning came and we went for a quick look around the Christmas marked which had opened the previous Saturday. While lovely, it was FREEZING cold and I didn’t have enough layers on at all. It was also very quiet and I think it’d be much better to go back one evening or on a weekend when I’m sure there’s a real buzz around the area. We then went for a hot chocolate, back to Arpej and then I took them to the coach station for their connection back to Geneva airport. It was SO nice to visit and we had such a great weekend together J!!

 

Now that December is here, the Christmas lights have been switched on and Chambéry is in full ‘run up to Christmas’ mode. The lights are so pretty and really add to the atmosphere when you walk around in the evening and there’s an aroma of mulled wine floating through the freezing air – I definitely need to go and take some photos and properly experience the market before I go home for Christmas. I have 2 exams next week and 2 the week after, and then 2 exams after Christmas. As a result, I find myself using much of my spare time making notes and revising. However, the next exciting thing to look forward to is... PARIS!

 

Naomi went last weekend and brought back a map and tons of information for me and so her, Anya and I (Anya is also going to Paris this weekend) are going for coffee/hot chocolate tomorrow to catch up and get all of the useful information. Cat, one of my flatmates from Cardiff will be travelling down to meet me for the week as a late celebration for her Birthday and I plan to do as many of the Touristy things as possible – I just hope the weather isn’t bad for us!!

 

Last night I placed my deposit for accommodation in Valencia. Friends from Cardiff there had recommended a company and I found a great room in a flat of four that comes with its own little conservatory with a desk to do work and a window seat looking out over the city. I’ve also recently heard from the University with regards to modules and so now it is time to begin the whole process again for Spain – I will be living there 2 months today which is a crazy but exciting thought, more to follow of course!

 

Until the other side of Paris,
À bientôt!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Week Over

Yet another chilly French week is over (in fact, the next has already started.)

Last Sunday was the final evening in the “Come Dine with Me – Chambéry” series and it was our time to cook! (‘OUR’ being Alex, Hannah, Beth, Chris and myself.) With Hannah as head chef, a feast was prepared that would have filled the largest of armies. The menu was as follows:

Entry Apéritif: Tequila Shot + Nacho Crisp
Starter: Nachos plus cheese, guacamole, sour cream and salsa
Main: Burritos and Fajitas
Dessert: Chocolate brownie and vanilla ice-cream

I think it’s fair to say that everybody loved it and as Ailie mentioned, had it been a proper competition, she said we definitely deserved to win, bless her J!
With the food theme of ‘Mexican,’ the clothing theme was naturally ‘Mexican,’ and as hosts, it was imperative that we set the standard. We all made colourful ponchos (using the sheets we had used for Pia’s toga party – 2 costumes from one sheet, money well spent!) and drew on some rather think and imposing moustaches with Charles and Lauren equally putting in great effort.

 

 

HOSTS: Chris, Han, Beth, Me & Alex

Alex and I - Our Mexican Versions

Myself & Lauren

 

Otherwise, the week was fairly uneventful. We had a Grammar test on Monday which I think went fairly well and the rest of the week was filled with lectures and not much more. This weekend, the majority of the group went to Val Thorens, about an hour away, for the opening weekend of the Ski season. I decided to stay in Chambéry and use the opportunity to do some of the pieces of work that are due in the next few weeks so that I can enjoy my friends visiting and Paris without deadlines looming over me.

 

Earlier in the week Anya and I had taken some books from the library to research and find some quotes to use in our essay. We knew it was on Napoléon and subsequently took out several books on this topic. However, it was only when I sat down to begin reading that I realised Napoléon had died before the date of the speech we had to discuss (which he had made...) We realised that the speech was by another Napoléon – indeed we’d been ignorant enough to think that there was only one Napoléon (I’d never heard of any others until now.) It turns out that the speech was made by Louis-Napoléon Bonapart, Napoléon’s nephew (and who eventually became the third ‘King Napoléon.’) So, there’ve been at least 3 Napoléons in France (perhaps even more?!) As a result, we popped back to Uni on Friday afternoon to swap the books over.

The essay was quite difficult in the sense that we had been presented with a source (in this case a speech) and that was it. No question, no guidance of what we needed to do or what was expected of us. Nothing. After spending Friday evening (and into the early hours of Saturday) reading books, selecting possible useful information and putting together an essay plan, I spent Saturday writing the essay. It was a slow, slow process. Not only did I need to ensure that the Historical facts were correct but I also had to ensure I was expressing myself correctly and using the correct past tenses. I was so pleased with the work I’d done by the end of the evening and just hope it’s worthy of a good grade. The French students have to present theirs as a 30 minute presentation – at least we are spared that task, at least!

Saturday evening, after completing my essay and having been in my room for practically 2 days, I felt I deserved a quiet drink at O’Cardinals. Ailie had a friend visiting for the weekend, Leonie, and so the three of us walked the short distance for a refreshing (in my case) Desperados. She is such a lovely and hilarious person and it was great to meet her and Alice and her boyfriend, Andrea, came to meet us there a little later. My particularly favourite moment was at the bar when Leonie ordered her drink (in English,) to the utter bemusement of the guy behind the bar. Kindly, I translated her request for a ‘diet coke’ to ‘coca-light’ and a disaster had been averted! She talked to me about how amazing it was to see Ailie living abroad and how fun we must have and what an incredible experience it must be and how everyone must want to be in our shoes. She asked me if I would recommend it. My response? Definitely. It was quite refreshing to hear this as this is now life for me and I sometimes forget that I am living and studying in a foreign language, using it to get by in life and improving it while making some amazing friends, visiting some beautiful places and having some awesome experiences.

 

Leonie, Me, Alice & Ailie

 

 

Outside O'Cards :)

 

I did another piece of written work on Sunday and a few History notes, but felt quite mentally exhausted from the previous two days History. That afternoon, Ailie, Leonie, Sarah, Lauren and her boyfriend Jake decided to go to the patinoire (ice rink) for an hour. As I have mentioned numerous times before, nothing ever opens or goes on in Chambéry on a Sunday. Well, it does – EVERYONE seems to go to the ice rink! The place was ridiculously busy with some people clinging in terror while other Olympic-standard individuals glided across the ice and through the tiny gaps between the multitude of people. Sometimes there was a loud announcement (which I couldn’t understand) and everyone would suddenly change direction. Seeing 100+ people coming towards you at speed can be.. daunting. Like last time, there was music and lights (as if it were a night club... on ice) and sometimes songs would come on and several people would stop in the centre of the rink to dance – Lauren, Sarah, Ailie and Leonie joined in with ‘The Macarena’ – OIF! (Only In France!)

 

Lauren & Sarah showing the French how the dancing is done

 

This week will be another where I’ll aim to do some work, mainly revision notes as exams are only a matter of weeks away. However on Friday afternoon 2 friends from home, Rach &Beth, will be coming to visit for the weekend and I’m soooo excited to see them and show them my little French life! I have an itinerary of places to go, things to eat and things to see and I think it’ll be a beautiful weekend! It hasn’t rained for weeks here until this evening, I just hope the weather isn’t too bad for the weekend J

 

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