Weekend - 26 Juin

Friday evening was the school fete – Leyna a friend of Hermione’s came to stay. It was due to start at 5:00 with the little children performing then be followed by the middle school. The senior school didn’t do anything but there was a ‘kermesse’ which was little games to play. Cakes and Hot Dogs. However the heavens opened at 4:30pm with a huge ‘orage’ storm. The thunder and lightening was impressive and the amount of rain that fell in such a short time caused major havoc. We even had a flood in our apartment , we came home to find water in the girls bedroom, bathroom and entrance way! Somehow the wind had driven the rain under the closed front door and our drive area was a huge swimming pool!




Unfortunately it really ruined the School Fete as most people hightailed it home very quickly! Hailstones were bouncing in the windows of the ‘preau’ from the court outside. One lightening fork and thunder was directly beside us and it caused the children to scream and cry.
After we had cleaned up the flood I got on to baking a Pavlova for Hermione’s birthday party while the others decorated.

Saturday –
Birthday preparations all in hand and 11 girls turned up! Hermione had a great time with her friends and it was a great way to finish the year.
Late afternoon John arrived to pick us up to take us out to the Football teams end of season BBQ! After the appalling weather yesterday today was a pearler! We arrived and were most warmly welcomed by the football team and their partners. A few drinks and time for petanque! Never shy for games we wanted in! Teams were decided by who got closer to the kitty. Nev naturally was in the team that were all right beside the kitty. I think I was in the 3rd ranked team.
Game on….. teams of 4 – 2 games at once. Well my team had Jean-Luc who is a very impressive player, his job in the team was to clear the oppositions boules and leave it open for me and Christelle to place close. He was a dead-eye Dick! He could throw that boule and it would land on the others and send them flying!
Well we won the first game 13-0!! Right on! This meant we had to play the winners from the other game – Nev!!!!
The captain in Nev’s team was Seb – he is a young guy but he is from the South and Petanque is serious!!!! He too could hit a boule exactly – I had seen him practicing.
However, I take great delight in announcing that we absolutely thrashed them!! Final score 13-4!! Man, it was nice to be on the winning side and Nev on the other for a change! All you ‘cornholers’ out there know what I mean!
So, here I am in France winning Petanque….think I will join the local team on my return.
Aperitif’s and appetizers appeared about 9:00pm, the BBQ, the charcoal type made from a cut down half drum but 2 joined together. It was long. Sitting outside at one big long table was delightful.

Nev presented them with the NZ flag for the clubrooms - they were stoked!

Nev and Seb!

About 10:20 the long table was set, candles included. Dinner was served – a wonderful array of salads, sausages, wines and of course bread! The food off the BBQ kept coming and then we were served New Zealand Lamb! YUM!
Meanwhile next door was a wedding, we had all seen the Bride and groom arrive along with all the guests, heaps of “klaxons” horns sound. The last car to go in the procession from church to venue is the ‘mopping car’ and it is always decorated, usually with a mop attached.
The children entertained themselves by sitting outside the wedding and watching all the games and hiliarities. Hermione has some ideas for her wedding!
Dessert appeared just on midnight – heaps of different Gateaux!
About 1am I drove John’s car home as we had very tired children.
Sunday was hot, we went out to the Fitzpatrick’s about 4:00 for an aperitif, stopped at the park on the way home and then watched half of “The Sound Of Music” on the net as we will probably go to Salzburg. I thought it was important they had seen the movie before we go so they understand some history!

Monday, I spent the day at a Handball tournament with the school. A great game! Unfortunately it was 35 degrees and I got a burnt face but I am sure others are worse. A wonderful day.

We also watched the end of Sound of Music!

Tuesday - Nev and I packed another suitcase, caught up on emails did the final closing of the bank account in town, returned library books and maybe had our last stroll down the Grand Rue!

Merde!!!!

Yesterday Seph fell down the stairs at school and the Dr thinks she has broken a small bone - so 3 weeks in a cast! Had to happen when we have so many plans that involve walking and swimming......will have to rethink everything now!

Had to pick a day where the hospital is on strike!! Remarkable! However we were the only ones in the ER and were in and out quickly - within 1:15minutes.

Interestingly we had to buy crutches at a pharmacy, they don't loan them!

Hummingbird

A quick note to say that in the past few days we have seen our first Hunnimgbirds. It took us a while to work out what they were, they are very attracted to our lavender bushes at the front door.

Can you find me?

Amazing little creatures, they are not much bigger than a bee but are definitely birdlike if you can get a good glimpse of them. So today I have been trying to get a photo of them with mixed results. I love watching them....

Goodbyes...

Well, the girls arrived back at 8:00 this morning absolutely shattered after their very busy weekend. Hermione had a major headache, I think due to lack of sleep – she went straight to bed and woke at 1:30pm. Seph didn’t have to go to school today nor Tuesday because her class went to camp and she didn’t go after all the problems she has had with children bullying her. So she stayed awake till 10am then crashed till 2:30pm. Very unlike our girls but obviously exhausted.
Tuesday – Christine from St Lupicin was here as she has a job for next year at Notre Dame, I met her briefly then headed to my English class – “Oh sorry no more English – we are too busy” – I did however have the very last English Club after school. I found a Dora DVD at the library and we watched English Dora and had biscuit and lollies! The best time I have had with them!!!
Graziella, Me, Isabelle and Christine!

Wednesday – Today was perhaps my last meeting with Graziella and I had invited Christine to join us yesterday, so when I turned up there was a huge surprise as Christine had come with Pierre-Jean and Anne-Flore, also was Isabelle and her 2 daughters that are also at University – WOW!!! It was such a surprise and really nice. We went to a restaurant that I passed everyday beside the CLA and never gone to because it is a bit flash!
I had a traditional local saucisse dish and profiteroles for dessert – YUM! However Christine ordered ‘Brochette d’andouillette de Troyes grillée’ which translated means kebabs of Tripe! I HAD to try one, no seriously I mean I was pushed into it a bit. One was OK but no more thanks!
Christine is also going to take the double bed I bought – Yah!! But, we lose it on Monday and will have to organise something for the next few nights before we leave.
Well after lunch -3pm I wandered into town and recharged my phone as it had run out of money. Amazingly another huge week of sales here – every shop up to 70% off. Shame I have no money but I was a ‘vitrine lecher’ - Window licker in the local lingo.
Tonight was also the last time I would probably see Pascale, she organized a drink with Sylviane, another English teacher from the college. It was lovely!
John called in tonight for a couple of beers while he waited for the school bus to return from camp – I might add 2 hours late!
So today was filled with goodbyes………

La tout framboises!

Semaine 15-21 juin

A week of getting some important jobs done – buying another suitcase, for all those things we have to get home. It was cheaper than sending another box! Also needed to get train tickets and of course plotting our journey for the next few weeks and booking crossings across the channel to London. The hardest part and most time consuming is finding somewhere to park the campervan while in London. I am still searching….part of the problem is the Low Emission Zone that surrounds London and we have no idea if the campervan will comply!
But get this……went to book the train tickets to Paris to come home and ….NO trains that week because of the new train line they are putting in. So…we have no choice but to spend 3 days in Paris before coming home. What a cost…3 nights in a hotel in the middle of summer! It also means we can’t get the train direct to the airport and now have to try and catch metro’s with 8 suitcases, 4 backpacks, computer and handbags! Not an easy task!
Luckily I didn’t wait until closer to book the tickets as this would have sent us into a major panic!

Friday night we went out to a village for a free event – music and a long spectacle of a fire troupe. It was amazing the calibre of performers for a small village and the food and drink was really cheap. A great atmosphere! We ended up getting home at midnight.
Saturday morning the girls were picked up at 9:00am to go to a birthday party, the family lives 40 mins away and they very kindly collected the girls for the whole weekend! Returning them for school on Monday morning!
What to do with a whole weekend to ourselves….first stop, straight into town to the King’s Park Café (very French) to watch the All Blacks play France. In we walked with our Kiwi flag draped around Nev’s shoulders. A few ardent French supporters were up and about to watch the game with their minute sized coffees and mini croissant! Luckily we scraped through but it was a very weird feeling being in a place where everyone is against you – after a lot of butterflies in the stomach the final whistle blew! Whew!!!
Amazingly that night the rugby didn’t make the headlines, unlike the week before and there was only the briefest mention near the end. Luckily for NZ public relations I have seen no mention of the awful way some Dunedin spectators treated the team with their throwing antics nor of the assault in Wellington. New Zealand does not need this bad publicity and surely good sportsmanship is the priority.
After the rugby we met up with Ghislaine and Simon for lunch. We went to a lovely French restaurant that specialises in local cuisine. The wine is all matched to the dishes and they even wouldn’t (strongly advised against) serve us an aperitif as it would spoil the taste for the main meal. In the end Nev and I both chose different duck dishes. Nev's Duck and Potato dish. My duck kebab and quiche.Simon's beef and brain terrine.

We had a great time and hope we can see our dear friends again sometime. It really is hitting home that we are in our final 2 weeks here and is very sad. I wasn’t prepared really for this, I thought I would be so excited to go home and feeling so sad wasn’t in my plans.
Nev and I then went and completed jobs, walked around a bit and headed home to a very quiet house.
Sunday – Fete des Peres
No need to get up, a bit of a lie in and a few chapters read before breakfast.
In the afternoon we then wandered into town for the Music Festival. A bit like Music in the streets, everywhere there were bands playing all different kinds of music, people just wandered from place to place. I must say, in some instances I would hesitate to call it ‘music’. Anyone heard of 'death slammer' as a type of music? Yes..it is a bad as it sounds.

A great atmosphere that was occasionally hampered by a shower. The events were scheduled to go until 1am but Nev and I finally got home at 10pm. We had had enough!

Juin 8- 14

Last week was my last week at the Lycee and on Monday I officially finished at the College. It seems slightly strange and sad. I can’t believe our time here is nearly over and it is only in the past 3 months we have really enjoyed being here. It has taken a while to understand systems and cultures but now that I truly feel part of things it is closing to an end.
Nev hasn’t been well so finally went to a Dr on Friday – our first visit here. Amazingly I played the role of translator and I was very pleasantly surprised at how it went. It felt really good! Turns out he has an infection and he needs antibiotics. €22.
So off we went to the pharmacy, again I was amazed at my language and understanding. €100 later for the months worth of antibiotics, travel sickness pills and paracetamol.

Dimanche 14 juin
This morning we were picked up and taken out to a village, Burgille, about 30 minutes away by Arnold. (We met Arnold in the bus trip to Freiburg in December and he rang last week to invite us to their place for the day.
Arnold and Jesse have 3 children, Elise (9), Antoine(7) and Maxim (5), (they also go to Notre Dame) they are originally Dutch but have lived in France now for 14 years. Arnold in particular is a polyglot, I think he can speak 6 languages – Dutch, French, German, English, Spanish and Italien! Jesse also speaks at least 3 languages. They are organic egg farmers and have 2000 chickens and they lay around 1400 eggs a day. It is all hand work and they do it themselves. Arnold also bakes, bread, quiche etc and sells them to bakeries, epiceries and supermarkets. Arnold holding his brioche.

WE had a terrific time, Arnold has lived a very wide and interesting life, from being a sound engineer for Madonna and Mick Jagger to a chef on an icebreaker, to sailing a super yacht, involved in Greenpeace and it goes on. A fantastic storyteller and we were entertained all day.
Lunch was Indonesian food – rice with a meat/stew, prawn crackers, salad and coconut with peanuts. Finished with ice-cream and fruit salad.YUM!

The time passed so quickly and before we knew it, it was 7pm! Time to hit the road.
A lovely family and again we should have done this months ago!!

Fête des Mères! Mother’s Day!

Inside the church - St Lupicin's remains!

Dimanche –
The girls woke me with lovely cards and presents they had made. Seph gave me a clay duck she had made then framed. Hermione had made me a shopping list notebook. Very nice.
We went for a walk in the drizzle – found some interesting wildlife! Snails which had pretty shells, no wonder they eat them. We also found these things called “limace” the translation is slug – but we don’t have them this big! From wiki-
Les limaces mesurent de 1 à 15 cm. “The slugs are from 1 to 15 cm. Like other gastropods, they have four tentacles, two of which have eyes. The others are used to capture odors and are sensitive to taste. They can be phytophagous or carnivorous.”
Really ugly things!
We returned to have lunch, a friend of Graziella’s also came, Christine – amazingly she is a teacher of 5-8year olds in the local Catholic School. The lasagne was delicious and so too the chocolate cake.
In the afternoon we went with Christine who showed us around her school – the first time I have been in all different classrooms. It was great and I took heaps of photos. We then went to her house and had a tour around it. From the outside it was very deceiving it didn’t look very big however it was a huge place.
Graziella wanted to show us the village she grew up in and then on to a dam where her father and brother worked on the construction. The dam is 130m high and 475m wide. It was also curved not straight - interesting.

It was really nice to drive through little villages and see people meeting and talking in the streets.

We went up the top of the mountain for a great view over the villages. Wonderful!
We then returned to Christine’s for ‘tea’ while Graziella packed her things. When we arrived back her 2 children had arrived to see her, they attend university in Besancon and it happened to be Pierre-Jean’s 23rd birthday so we had a birthday cake and “Charlotte” another type of cake. Another good friend arrived –Isabel. They even convinced me to teach them the HAKA!! We had a great time there and I only wished we had met these people earlier on. Christine has also applied for a job at Notre Dame for next year –It would have been great to have her here this year. Dommage!
About 7:30pm we headed for home and Graziella very kindly took us on a different route.

The Jura

Graziellas apartment - the bottom corner. Our apartment is the back window second storey.

Samedi 6 juin

This morning we went off to the bigger town of St Claude for a look around – Graziella had an appointment here so it gave us time to walk the streets. We actually had been here briefly before at Easter as we drove home from Chamonix, although it was like a ghost town then. However today it was a thriving, bustling centre of attention. We followed people to the local market of fresh produce –WOW! The fruit in particular was amazing! We are right into the summer fruit now – the peaches, apricots etc are really delicious, like I remember as a little girl. The flavour is fantastic! I am also loving the nectarines – these are my favourite fruit but for some reason at home I can no longer eat them as they send my mouth into an itching fit! Something to do with the chemicals they use?
So I am trying to get all my life’s worth in now!
We got 1 kg of cherries for €2!! Needless to say they only lasted on the walk around town!
If only our fruit at home was so cheap…..I can’t believe we live in such a prolific fruit growing area but pay through the nose for fruit and electricity for that matter…..strange how it is cheaper in Auckland than right beside the dam…..but don’t get me started!
All the fruit and veges are at an affordable price – 1Kg onions 29c, 5kg potatoes 1.80, basic food items are generally kept at great prices. However saying that there is another ‘greve’ strike, to do with dairy and fresh produce. I think the growers are getting raw deals!
Back to the wander around St Claude…it is famous for Pipe making, for smoking, and diamonds! It is situated in a narrow valley surrounded by the beautiful, lush green hills of the Jura.

We returned to St Lupicin for lunch, sausages and potatoes. These were the huge sausages we had seen in the charcuturie (butchery) but never sure what to do with them), however Graziella just sat them in a huge pot with the potatoes and threw in some spices and boiled them. When they are served you just chop off how much you want.

After lunch, about 3:30 we went for a drive to a little church situated right at the top of a hill. It was one of the churches that I see perched on the edge with no houses near it and wonder. Why did they build it there? Who wants to walk all the way up there to go to church? How did older people manage? The poor builders lugging all the heavy stone there! The view from the church.
Anyway it was very old….surprise…. 692! Graziella has a beautiful voice and the church had great acoustics so she gave us a little concert. Wonderful!
Just outside the church were stone altars used by the druids.

We then continued to another lake which had boat marinas and holiday houses near it. In the height of Summer I could imagine how many people would be using it. Unfortunately the weather was a bit grey and drizzly so there were not too many people about. At a lookout! The marina in the distance.

We also stopped at a great wooden toy shop, luckily my children are a bit too old for these as you could certainly spend a fortune in there.
I did fall in live with a puppet theatre unfortunately no way to get it home easily!

Returned and I helped Graziella make Lasagne for tomorrows lunch. Graziella is Italian and so I got some italian cooking lessons...how to make traditional lasagne. Yum!

While this was cooking we had tea, the children than went off to bed while I helped make a chocolate cake!

Looking forward to lunch tomorrow!