Toussaint

Thursday afternoon... after a full morning of classes (finally!) and a visit to the CAF office to hand in papers, feel like I've accomplished quite a lot today. A leisurely lunch consisting of a salad with chevre and a mug of hot coffee... perfect. !

Toussaint holiday was just what I needed... in retrospect I wish I'd gone back to England for a week, now I'm really starting to miss home. All the same I had a good time, visiting people and chilling out. Went to see Chris in Paris the first thursday... Domino's (unfortunately the garlic and herb dip not on a par with that in Egham) and a movie in English (yay!) and it felt just like uni!!

Next day I hopped on the train down to Montpellier to see the RH crew down there. Montpellier was HOT! Felt like summer, it was very disconcerting! Friday night the 6 of us (Megz, Diana, Sam, Kate, Bex and I) went to a bbq that a couple of guys from Chad invited them to. They were friendly... kind of too friendly. Maybe we're just too British and reserved, but they were a little scary! One guy kept asking Megan to tell him 'les mots qui touchent' (the words that touch) ... and another kept saying to me 'Tu est africaine... ca me touche!'. The others left after an hour or so but Megz and I rather stupidly stayed on because we were having quite a good conversation with the main guy... but then they kept insisting that we go to a club with them. When we said no they offered to drive us home... and got really offended when we wouldn't accept! All in all, we were glad they didn't gang rape us, though.

Saturday we pottered around town and watched episodes of Extras on Megan's laptop... TV heaven! Saturday night the group of us went to an australian bar- best place ever. Health and safety regulations, happily seem to mean nothing to the management. Dancing on tables is allowed; nay, encouraged. The bar staff habitually bang on the lights with their ice-shovels in time to the songs, and the piece de resistance: they set fire to the bar! Love Montpellier. !

Sunday I went to have lunch with Diana's church, who were very friendly. We went to 'le musee de desert' afterwards- this little house high up in the mountains (which were gorgeous!)--- a protestant museum documenting the story of french protestants during the reformation. Apparently 50% of France converted to protestantism, and were subsequently persecuted/tortured/killed by the catholics... until 2% remained. Nice one, catholic church! I never knew anything about any of it so it was an interesting day, quite sobering when you realise how much people give up for their faith. On a lighter note... Sunday night Megz, Di and I had an amazing meal of kebabs (my first ever!) and went to see the queen... the film, sadly not her majesty (happily in English) and the day after didn't do much. In the evening we sampled the culinary delights of the uni canteen (very good for the price!) then went back to Diana's room to watch Brice de Nice, possibly the best french film ever made! So that was montpellier. !

Megz and Tall Chris came to visit me the following weekend. Had fun wandering round Blois market, buying pretentious books (by pretentious I mean French) and gazing wistfully in the shop windows of various patisseries. Visited Amboise chateau on the sunday which was awesome- such a beautiful day to see it as well. We decided we'll get rich and buy it one day- it's a very cosy castle and we can totally imagine living there. The walk back to the station was gorgeous! On one side of the river the sun was setting and the water was all golden and blue, and the other side the moon was rising...and it was pink and purple. We felt like such hippies, we kept stopping to take photos and say how pretty it was! Afterwards came back to the house for Bonfire Night... unfortunately sans bonfire, fireworks, or indeed, a Guy Fawkes, since such things aren't commonplace in France. Still, ate some nice burgers and sausages and made s'mores over candles (combining the best of English and American customs!) and played Kings (Ring of Fire) after, though I didnt drink much due to my 8 am start on monday morning!

So that was Toussaint... I feel rested but at the same time I am so ready to come back to England for a holiday, I miss people.