Greetings from... WALES!

Yes! I am back in Cymru! This week is the ‘Toussaint’ holidays and is a week off from University. Toussaint is the French name for ‘All Saints’ day, where families pay homage to family members who have died, tending to their graves and visiting Church. The day exists in the UK too but I don’t think it’s celebrated there as much as here in France, perhaps in part to the fact it is out-shadowed by Halloween celebrations the previous day. Connected Día de los Muertos (day of the dead) celebrations also exist in South America and Spain Here in France, the Thursday and Friday are designated as bank holidays and the French ‘faire le pont’ (literally: 'make a bridge') over the weekend to Monday and give themselves a longer time off... The French do treasure their designated days off!

Some of Team GB have gone to Paris, others have gone to Amsterdam and the rest have returned to the UK. As a result, last Thursday morning Catrin and I caught the Aerocar coach from Chambéry to Geneva and then flew to Bristol where I met my dad who drove me back to Swansea. The flight itself was quick (1h20) and there were great views of the mountains above Geneva though the closer to the UK we got, the cloudier it was and it was SO SO cold when we stepped off the plane - it's much colder here than it is currently in France, despite the fact I'm in a region full of mountains! 

A shop full of Lindt chocolate at Geneva Airport!

A view from the plane as we leave the French mainland and cross 'La Manche' (English Channel)

 Since then I’ve spent the past few days in Swansea and Cardiff catching up with family, friends, news and gossip, eating the many foods unavailable in Chambéry and generally enjoying life back home. This week I plan to celebrate Halloween in Cardiff and have good times with all of the friends I’ve missed while in France. The reason I hadn’t mentioned this trip before is that I know my friends read my blog and I surprised one of them at her secret 21^st birthday party – she had no idea I was coming back and it was AMAZING to be able to launch such a surprise on her. I'd helped arranged the party for weeks and she returned home yesterday evening to the surprise. I then slipped out the door and knocked as if I were a random person, she opened the door and then I was, her face a picture! I've told her so many lies about how I didn't know when I'd be home so her face was a picture!

As a result, there’ll be nothing to say about France this week. Instead, I realised I haven’t really shown many pictures of Chambéry itself. Although small, there are tons of beautiful buildings and monuments and so last Saturday morning following my trip to the market, I wandered around with my camera to photograph some of them.

The only bit of news I do have to share from France is that last Wednesday, I could hear siren after siren after siren and saw endless streams of emergency vehicles - I wondered if something bad had happened. Later that afternoon in my Civilisation Française class, the lecture informed us that around 10 wild boars had been seen roaming the streets of Chambéry, having come from nearby countryside and the pompiers (fire service) were patrolling the area in order to round them up. That evening I read a news article that said the man who reported the roamers had to stand on a stone table in his garden to stop them trying to attack him! As a result the animals had to be killed but after being tested, their meat will be offered to ‘Canteen Savoyard’ (though I’m not sure what this is.) One phrase comes to mind: OIF (Only In France!)

The local Boulangerie - The woman who owns/works here is so lovely!

Le Musée savoisien - An ancient convent which became a museum in 1913

A 16th century street (plus Christmas decoration!)

Le Palais du Justice

Hôtel de Ville - Town Hall

France seems to love fountains - 2 examples of many

Château de Chambéry - Castle

Cathédrale Saint-François-de-Sales de Chambéry - Cathedral (The chairs to the left belong to O'Cardinals which I have mentioned several times! Beautiful, especially at night!)

l'Office du Tourisme - Tourist Office

Produce at Saturday's market at Les Halles - Cheese, Vegetables, Flowers, Spices, Soap

 

La Fontaine des Éléphants

The Elephants is the most famous monument in Chambéry and is a 2 minute walk from Arpej. It was created in 1838 in honor of Benoît de Boigne and his successes while in India. The four elephants back onto a Savoyard cross and a statue of Boigne stands at the top. The local population originally hated the statue but is now recognised as the most famous landmark in the area. It also has the nickname 'Les quatres sans culs' (the four without bottoms) as each Elephant only has 2 front legs and a head.

 Being a fairly small place, you can see all of the above and more walking no more than 5 minutes from the first to the last - I'm living in a beautiful area - without evening mentioning the lakes, countryside and mountains!

Bonne fête de la Toussaint et Joyeux Halloween
Happy Toussaint Holiday & Happy Halloween

54 Jours Français/54 French Days.

So today is my 54^th whole day of being in France – crazy! As a result, I thought I’d make this blog post a little different and list 54 words, phrases, places and events e.t.c. that I have come across, learnt, seen or experienced since I have been in France. Firstly though, a quick recap of the past few days!

Thursday evening I finally gave in and agreed to go to choir with Beth & Sarah – I’m so glad I did as it was a great way to meet people! We were singing random songs in English but I just had severe problems reading and pronouncing the words, I think I’m losing my English! The guy next to me, Jacques ,found it hilarious that every time we sang the phrase “robe and crown,” I’d sing something else: Robe and clown, robe and frown, robe and gown, robe and down... you get the idea. I just could not say them! He laughed a lot and his laugh was so funny, I laughed at that and essentially, it was difficult not to laugh! On the way back, we bumped into him and his friend who invited us to go with a drink. Beth, Sarah & I had already decided we were going to go for one but French people inviting US somewhere? Yes please! We sat outside O’Cardinals and spoke French for a few hours and there were 2 guitarists playing and singing latino-esque songs inside – they were amazing and it was such a pleasant evening! J

Friday I stayed in my room, sat down and did quite a lot of work – it almost felt like I was back in Cardiff! I wanted to get things done so I could relax a little on the weekend. That afternoon I went to the huge Carrefour supermarket, a short bus ride away where Hannah, Sarah, Beth & Jordan bought sheets for Pia’s toga party. We then spent 2 hours in KFC chatting and eating – it was just so good to eat something different to the French cuisine we’re surrounded by! That evening a few of the gang went to O’Pogues for an hour.

 

I got up early on Saturday morning to go and visit the weekly market at Les Halles where I bought some fruit and vegetables – It’s all so cheap and much better quality than the supermarkets! I then did a little more work and at around 2pm Beth, Freddy, Charles, Han, Lauren and I went to Café du theatre where I had a chocolate crepe – yum!

 

 

That evening, Beth and Lauren came to my room where we helped each other make some togas for Pia’s 21^st Birthday party. It was such a good night, we had a party at Jordan’s residence (he has a huge room) and everyone had come up with different ideas, designs and accessories – It’s surprising how many different variations can be made from the same sheet!

Jaime, Lauren, Pia, Ailie, Beth, Catrin & Jessie looking chic!

 

Myself & Hannah :)

 

All Toga'ed up

 

 

Sunday was a day of rest and in the evening Audrey came over to watch some British shows on my laptop and we bought a pizza from ‘Pizza Palace’ just opposite our residence. Once again the ‘working week’ had come back around and we’ve been given some assessed pieces of work such as 1000 words on the history of the French language – hopefully this shouldn’t be too difficult. Yesterday we had the weekly 2 hour ‘Histoire Contemporaine’ lecture which I usually dread as we literally sit there, the lecturer speaks at full speed for 2 hours, and then we leave again. However yesterday seemed different as I understood nearly everything that had been said (of course some words I didn’t know but I write them phonetically in hope that I can find them later,) and I made 15 pages of notes – perhaps my French listening skills are improving more than I’d thought! J

 

Monday evening we also had a small buffet-style meal as one of the Italian girls, Olga, is leaving. It was a surprise and I think she was very grateful! We each brought along some food to contribute and it was delicious but clearly very sad! I went to our local Boulangerie and bought 6 baguettes – she literally gave me a sack (similar to the brown type for Potatoes at home) and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so French!

 

 

Sara, Alice & Olga

 

 

SO, 54 days in France, 54 things.

1)      Trains - nobody speaks on them!

2)      Mountains – All around!

3)      Crossing Roads – You just have to walk out and the cars stop for you

4)      Boulangeries & Salons – EVERYWHERE

5)      Administration & Organisation – lacking

6)      Chambéry – beautifully picturesque

7)      Wine – crazily cheap

8)      Lectures – 2 hours long, tiring

9)      Euros – difficult to tell apart the coins compared to pounds

10)  Kebabs – much better than those at home!

11)  Sundays – The entire world shuts down

12)  Things you expect to be expensive are cheap, random things are expensive

13)  Postal Service – Be prepared to wait

14)  Lunch Times – Most places close, even places where you’d need to go to eat...

15)  Hill up to Uni – never complain about the flat roads around Cardiff again

16)  Friends – so many new friends J

17)  Saturday wedding processions with all cars blaring their horns through the streets

18)  Few people know where Wales is, nor that it even exists

19)  Markets – so fresh and so cheap

20)  Emails – and other online information never seems to get to Erasmus students

21)  Many French students like to use a laptop in a lecture - I can see the efficiency but think I'd struggle to find accented letters quick enough!

22)  Heels – French girls wear heels to University (don’t forget the hill) but flats for a night out

23)  General fashion – VERY different to the UK (Gym trousers and a smart shirt, anyone?)

24)  Cheese, Cheese, Cheese galore

25)  Coffee – it just isn’t as good here

26)  A walk up a mountain actually means a life threatening climb

27)  Bouncers at clubs seem to rule the world

28)  Libraries – Not as computer filled as in Cardiff

29)  University Canteen – It’s like being back at school, and there aren’t food places open at any other time

30)  Which leads me on to Communal lunch hour: 12-1.30

31)  2 cards for one account at a French bank – one for cash transactions, one for online

32)  You can never have enough photocopies of your passport/passport photos

33)  Communal recycling bins in the middle of streets

34)  Sleep – I have never ever slept as much as I do here

35)  Being Erasmus doesn’t mean you can be treated any differently to the French students or can have copies of notes

36)  Lakes – beautiful, refreshing and none of that awful salt which ruins everything!

37)  Multiculturalism – I’ve met people from across the entire world

38)  Homesickness is natural and you do get over it!

39)  The weather and temperature can fluctuate even more than in the UK

40)  The French love their fountains

41)  Surviving on 2 hobs can become quite tedious

42)  Hundreds of boutiques = hours of browsing fun!

43)  Buses – cheap! (1.20€ per journey)

44)  Skype, Facebook & Email are lifelines to keep in touch with everyone back home – how did Erasmus students survive in the past?!

45)  2 washing machines and 1 tumble dryer is not sufficient for a building of 100+

46)  ATMs don’t allow you to take out 10€ but if you request 20€, you will often receive two 10€ notes

47)  EVERYONE will want to come and visit you abroad (and have a cheap holiday!)

48)  Lots of students spend their time campaigning to strike against something (Just today a poster was left in my mailbox)

49)  France loves acronymes : BU/Bibliothèque Universitaire... RU/Restaurant Universitaire

50)  There’s no such thing as Dairy Milk or Galaxy, it’s ALL about Milka !

51)  The coffee vending machine on campus makes a roaring trade

52)  The music you hear out and about is several months behind that of the UK

53)  98% of Birthday cards sold are actually just a postcard with no envelope

54)  Before coming, if I had been offered £1 million a day to be here, given a luxury flat and everything I could dream of, I would’ve preferred to have been sent to Spain with 1€ a day to live on. Now, I can’t see how I can ever leave this place J

 

 

Bonne Journée!!