Y1-20: Week 36, visiting France!

Bonjour à tous! Here is my blog post about the few days I spent in France with Amélie before returning home from Bath (weird, right? Flying home from Orly rather than Bristol Airport). Hope you enjoy!

Sunday the 31^st was the last day I woke up in my Brendon room (feel the nostalgia, huh?). I had to wake up pretty early despite the late night we’d had before with the Summer Ball, but I didn’t really mind. I took a shower, got ready, packed the few things I had left and cleaned up a bit, to then bring my stuff down and into the car, and finally close and lock my room …forever…nah, just kiddin’. I did go up again a few more times. Anyway, Amélie and I went to Sports Café, the only place open on that day, and had a nice big breakfast and bought some water and sandwiches for the trip and to spend the last pounds of our catering credit (mission accomplished!). We then returned to Brendon and, in record time, cleaned Amélie’s room, went to Fresh and handed in our keys, while dodging the random people literally sleeping on the floor in the second floor corridors… Weird. Then we finally got in the car and left Brendon, the campus and the University of Bath until next September. Amélie’s dad drove to Dover, where we were to take the ferry to Calais and finally be in French soil. We were so tired we basically spent the whole trip dozing off in the back seats and listening to music. The ferry itself was alright. I was worried it would move a lot and I would get sick but I had nothing to worry about. It did swing a bit but not enough to make me feel unwell. We had lunch in the boat and then we again got in the car and drove to Saint Pathus, a small village where Amélie lives near Paris. It was pouring in France, which was contradictory because you’d expect the weather to be horrible in the UK, not France. But whatever, we kept sleeping and then picked up some Chinese takeaway in Meaux to eat once we arrived at the house. It was a bit weird to be in the car with her parents, because I’d just met them, but they were really nice and made me feel comfortable, despite me having donné ma langue au chat… Nearly twelve hours after we had left Bath, there we were, finally in Amélie’s house, having dinner to then shower and go to bed (where we ended up falling asleep at 3am because we had slept so much in the car we didn’t feel sleepy anymore). Pretty long trip to get to France.

On Monday we got up at nine and were super tired, but a proper French breakfast with coffee, orange juice and actual baguette, pain au chocolat and croissants was enough to wake us up and put us in a good mood. Amélie drove us first to pick up her friend Valérie who was going to join us for the day. It was pretty cool to have a personal chauffeuse since the distances between the towns are incredibly long compared to what I’m used to. We spent a lot of time commuting and driving but it was fine because the fields were really pretty and the weather was lovely. That day we drove to Reims while dancing to French music in the car (can’t get those jams out of my head now, thanks A). In Reims, where Valérie had studied, we first stopped to have lunch: salad and the best ice-cream I’d eaten in a long time. We then visited the cathedral, which was very pretty despite part of its façade being in renovation. I can’t believe that building is eight centuries old! Then we walked through the gardens and tried to find the Basilique de Saint-Rémi. We confused it with a school in the first place, and then we messed up the GPS’ directions until we finally found it. It was also pretty amazing and I loved the light coming in through the stained glass windows and projecting colourfully on the paved floor. On the way back, we decided to avoid toll roads and ended up on a three-hour ride that led us on a detour that took us even through Château-Thierry! The fields are very pretty and even more under the sun, but three hours of the same view… a little bit too much. Once we got back, we dropped Valérie off and drove back to Saint-Pathus. Amélie’s mum had prepared blanquette de veau with rice for dinner which was so yummy! And then shower and off to bed.

On Tuesday we had… Disneyland! *excited squeak* The morning started a bit cold but the day soon picked up and the sun started shining. I was so excited. The last time I’d been to Disneyland I was seven and I was so looking forward to returning and trying out all the rides again. We basically arrived as the park was opening, so we had a whole day to spend there. We first went into the Walt Disney Studios, which was new to me and closed at six (the other park closed at 11pm). Our first ride was the Tower of Terror… it was so good! Then the Rock’n’Roll Coaster with awesome music and high speed, Crush Coaster, later on Ratatouille,… We had quite a lot of luck with the queues, the longest we waited was over an hour for Crush Coaster because there was a technical problem which they had to fix, but it was definitely worth it and nothing like Modern Family to get you through the queue. I must say I was a lot more excited for the other park, because it was my childhood and what I remembered.  We tried everything (except the Space Mountain which was closed for works – gutted): Sleeping Beauty’s castle, Snow White, Pinocchio, It’s a Small World, Conte de Fées,… Peter Pan, of course, which had been my favourite ride when I was a kid :’) Also Alice in Wonderland’s maze, which took us a while to figure out. Indiana Jones, the Robinson Family tree house, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Star Wars,… Nearly everything, considering the park was open till late. 

We geeked with some baby princess dolls at the store, and stopped to rest and have a Starbucks mid-afternoon. We also saw the Frozen parade, with Anna and Elsa on a carriage, being the mass of kids dressed up following them the best of it (and maybe singing Let It Go out loud too…), and, probably my favourite thing of the day, the Disney Magic show, with the most famous Disney songs projected on the castle with cartoons and fireworks and it was just MINDBLOWING! I loved it so much, and it was worth staying until the end to watch it even though we had to run back to the car to avoid the queues and went to sleep really late.

On Wednesday we went to Paris. After having a stack of yummy crêpes for breakfast, we got ready and drove to Mitry-Claye, where we got the train to Gare du Nord (without paying due to an electricity cut at the station). First, we took the metro to Notre-Dame. I was really happy to visit it and go inside since I got a chance to actually focus on its architecture, which I studied last year. It was a really hot day though, and the sun shone so bright! We went around its back gardens, the bridge with locks right next to it and the few artist and book stands along the Seine opposite the cathedral, before getting on the metro again to go to Place de la Bastille, where we had lunch at Indiana. 

We then headed to Montmartre and climbed the hundreds of stairs up to Sacré-Coeur, to enjoy the amazing views of Paris while a lovely retro music group played. We roamed the artist streets of Montmartre and then walked to Moulin Rouge, which I had never seen. We then went to Omaya Vintage for some thrifting in Paris (although I did not find anything, but the shop was amazing! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Omaya-Vintage/289202147281). Afterwards, we headed to the Eiffel Tower and chilled on the grass of the Jardins du Trocadéro under the sun, enjoying the views. Definitely the best part of the day! After the long commute home we treated ourselves to some McFlurries as a prize. And that night we watched Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au bon dieu? I honestly enjoyed the day a lot. I have been to Paris a couple of times already so I didn’t really want to do all the touristy stuff – it was great to just go there for a day and roam around.

Thursday was pretty chill because Amélie was going to a recruitment session, so instead of going to Provin we slept in, had brioches au pain perdu aka French toasts for breakfast (let’s get fat, why not?) and went to Mer de Sable. However, when we got there we had problems because the session had been brought forward and nobody had let Amélie know. It was really frustrating. We then decided to go to the Château de Pierrefonds instead of wasting the day. The castle was amazing; it was a 19^th century reconstruction of a medieval castle on top of a hill in a little village in the middle of the countryside. The day was really hot so we had a picnic under the shade of the trees surrounding the castle and then went inside and explored its halls, catacombs, chapels,… It was amazing and definitely recommendable. It basically felt like going back in time, a feeling enhanced by the opera medieval costume exhibition in its halls. In the midst of our visit, Amélie got a call from Mer de Sable and explained what had happened, and got offered a last opportunity the next day in the morning! That made her day. We then left the castle as it was being closed and walked into the village, where we found some “Italian” ice-cream and then some paddle boats on a lake. We got a boat and had so much fun paddling around (and nearly dropping my iPod in the lake oops!). We did some test-drives in case the water lilies were going to trap the boat, and then literally went all around the lake, under the sun, having an awesome time! On our way back we listened to Disney songs and at the dinner table we had a debate about immigration and rape and the voile, all very serious but interesting. It makes me realize how much my French comprehension skills have improved.

Friday was my last day in France before coming back home. In the morning, while Amélie went to the recruitment session, I stayed in the house sleeping and packing. The day was scorching hot, literally 35 degrees. Even though it was so hot, we decided we would go ahead and visit Versailles because I had never been there. So there we went. It took us three frickin’ hours to get there, because somebody had got hurt in a train and we ended up dumped in Saint Michel when our connecting train got cancelled with no new or alternative options. We ended up taking the metro to Montparnasse where we got handed a ticket to get another train to Versailles, as they were aware of the Saint Michel problem. The day was definitely jinxed and the afternoon had not started great. It was really, really hot, and the commute was horrible, but we finally got to the palace. I found an abandoned selfie stick which still worked, so we made use of that while we explored the palace using our audio-guides (the Spanish one useless because it did not work properly). Versailles is huge and so opulent! Too much gold for my liking but it was great to visit: the Galerie des Glaces, the bedrooms, the paintings,… I did not enjoy the masses of Asian tourists taking pictures of absolutely everything but oh well. Because we had arrived so late though, we did not have time to properly visit the gardens, which was a pity, but we did see the part closer to the palace. Then it was time to go back, and our bad luck attacked again when we were fined at Montparnasse for not validating our tickets. Honestly, just why?! Anyway, we stopped at MacDonald’s before driving to Saint-Pathus and had a little treat to cheer us up and fight the heat, avoiding the storms just in time.

My flight home was on Saturday morning. We got up pretty early, had breakfast and got ready. I finished packing and Amélie’s mum drove us to Orly. It was a Saturday morning and the Périphérique was a little crowded, but we avoided really bad traffic jams and arrived at the airport on time. I had been to Orly before and sort of remembered it, but they both helped me get to the bag drop-off and then accompanied me to the security check. We said good-bye (again, thanks a lot for hosting me and you are invited to Tenerife whenever you want!) and I went through security (quite fast to be honest, the airport was fairly empty). I bought some water inside (nearly four euros for a litre bottle - such a theft!) and waited for my flight. Everything ran smoothly; the plane was half empty, me being alone in my three-seat row, and then the rest of the flight composed of primary school students on their “sexto” trip and elderly people on another trip. I watched Game of Thrones and three episodes of Glee and was in Tenerife soon enough. Mum picked me up at the airport.

Home at last and ready to enjoy the Summer!

Y1-19: Weeks 33, 34 & 35, the end of my Fresher year!

This might turn out to be a long post because it is going to cover three weeks: the exam period and my last few days at Bath before leaving for France, including the Summer Ball. I apologize for that, but I figured I might as well split it like this. And sorry for being so late, but life got in the way ;)

My first three exams were on Week 33: my Europe since 1945, Italian grammar and Italian Cultural Studies exams. I had pretty much studied for them already the week before, so I dedicated the week to prepping my French history notes. I did a lot of this in LimeTree with Amélie, since she was studying for her Psychology exam the week after. I don’t particularly like to study in busy places, because I need to be concentrated to memorize things, but I did enjoy doing my notes there because of the music and people coming and going. Not being on my own helped me not procrastinate, which is awesome. And I literally spent so much time there that I got to work out how the music on the speakers changes during the day, how LimeTree works… 

On Monday we had a meeting to learn how we were supposed to move out of our rooms at the end of the year. The process was pretty easy, but bittersweet because although I really wanted my exams to finish, that meant that I’d have to leave Brendon Court, and I’m going to miss living in halls. It might sound weird, but halls of residence force you to meet people and socialize, which for an introvert person like me is beneficial. And also it is just so convenient to be able to wake up ten minutes before your lesson and arrive on time… I will be posting a blog entry with tips about the first year and Brendon Court, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

I also met with Adalgisa to discuss my essay feedback and exam, and also about my Year Abroad. My degree involves spending at least three months in a French-speaking country and another three in Italy on my third year, and there are different ways to do this. I have to figure out more or less what I want to do during this Summer, but the option of being an English language assistant at a school is out of my possibilities because I don’t meet the conditions, which totally sucks. I wanted to see if there was a similar alternative, but it doesn’t look like it… Oh well, will see what I do.

Apart from running some errands on campus and in town (which also involved purchasing a bulky duvet for next year and three large plastic storing boxes and dragging them back to campus on a hot day), I had my exams. My first one was on Wednesday at one, in Founders Hall aka the Greenhouse aka the Oven. I was quite nervous so I tried to distract myself with Lost before my exam, but I was still quite uneasy. I knew that it was going to be ok because it was literally an exam with previously distributed questions but I was nervous anyway because it was my first official exam of the semester. It went alright, despite the heat. After my test I went to LimeTree to get some food and do some work, but it was so nice and sunny outside that Amélie, Vidushi and I just ended up outside on the lawn sunbathing (it was sunny for once, you can’t blame us). Amélie and I also had a picnic dinner by the lake, and managed to keep the ducks away. They are not scared at all, those feathered bosses of the campus… 

On Thursday it rained all day, which disoriented me. It was dark outside and I felt the time was not right. I worked at LimeTree for most of the day and then chilled for a bit before my Italian grammar exam at half past four. I was feeling pretty confident for that exam, however it turned out to be one of the worst I believe. Some questions were tricky and I managed to finish just on time. But once it was over I decided to just forget about it. Alea iacta est. That night I revised for my third exam of the week, Italian Cultural Studies, which was the one I was most worried about out of the three. The exam on Friday at one went ok I think. I did the best I could, now it is just time to wait for the marks. That afternoon I finished my French notes and started to sort out my stuff in my room, getting rid of unwanted literature and all that stuff. We wanted to go to the cinema to watch Pitch Perfect 2, but there were no seats left, so we left that for Saturday.

I took Saturday as a day off from studying. I slept in and then went into town to run some errands, had English breakfast for lunch (never a bad time to do that) and sorted more junk in my room. I can’t believe I had so much rubbish hauled up in my small B4.17 bedroom.  Anyway, Vidushi, Begoña, Amélie and I met for dinner and then went to the city to go to the cinema. We walked around for a bit and took a couple of nice pictures together since we had arrived pretty early. The film itself was awesome! I think the first one is slightly better simply because this one was kind of a “continuation” of the characters’ lives, but the musical numbers were just as good. I really liked Das Sound Machine, and genuinely recommend the film! Afterwards we felt so pumped we wanted to go out, but it was a Saturday = mature night out. Not our cup of tea, so we went back to campus instead. 

On Sunday I slept in again and was woken up by the sun hitting my face through the blinds and someone playing really loud music. That day I was planning to start studying but ended up procrastinating quite badly, chatting to Lara, having a frappe (omg Starbucks is so good), cleaning and simply sorting out the rest of my week once I realized I was not going to do anything efficient and just gave up.

I did not have any exams during Week 34, but I did have to study for my remaining two exams the following week: La France des années 1930-1981 and French grammar. I also had to run some errands, reply to emails, go by the Medical Centre to pick up some medicine, change addresses, pack,… because I had to prepare my things to leave them stored the following Monday while I studied for my assessments. I honestly procrastinated quite a lot that week. I was quite confident about French grammar and the résumé, only having to revise a little bit but I like grammar so that didn’t bother me, but I was quite worried about the French history exam, as it was made up of two essays and a lot of content to study. I spent a lot of time studying for it, taking breaks in which I watched Lost and Game of Thrones, and then tried to concentrate again on the exam. Really hard because I was already fed up of exams by the second week and just wanted to get them over and done with.

However, I did not only study and pack, I also got my feedback for my French presentation, which was fairly good. I had some pronunciation mistakes and have to work more on my argumentation but I was pretty happy because nonetheless I seem to be able to French à l’aise, so that is really good! We also had some nice chatty and gossipy dinners which meant procrastination but also helped to relieve stress… Although it was only the second week, some people had already finished with the exams and despite the noise rules over exam season, it was certainly a lot more noisy. The walls are so thin that I could even understand and hear all that was going on in Aude’s room one night that some people gathered there… Not that I was going to complain though, so I just put my earplugs on and slept like a log. I also went to Frontline, which is a hairdresser’s in Bath, to try the waxing service. It was alright, very posh and fairly expensive though. I can’t believe it costs so much to go to the hairdresser’s… I would like to cut my hair short but the money I’d spend keeping it up is dissuading me… Any volunteers for giving me hair cutting lessons?

On Friday night the Italian class and Enrico met for dinner. We went to Real Italian Pizza and had a great night. We told so many funny stories and laughed so much! Lots of false friend issues and language misunderstandings… I really enjoyed the night and will miss being all together as the group is apparently changing for next year, but it has been great to have all these girls as course mates this year!

On Saturday I woke up early to do the laundry, which ended up in chaos. The drier in Westwood was not working because the heating was not on, so I ended up spending a lot of money, having to call Circuit Landry, and having to go to the launderette near the Quads to dry my clothes. So basically half a day, a fortune and my nerves spent on washing the clothes. I will never get tired of saying how much I hate Circuit Laundry. Apart from the laundry disaster, I spent the whole day packing all my things. Literally, a whole day because I finished at about 11pm. Three large boxes, a large bag, two Sainsbury’s bags and two large suitcases filled with my things and ready to take to our new house for next year the following Monday. It was very sad to take down all my posters and photos and to have to pack everything (leaving out the things I’d need for the two following weeks before arriving back home). My room was left so empty and impersonal, and it was really depressing. I can’t believe 1)how much stuff one can have in a single room and 2)that I will not be returning to my lovely B4.17, my home #2. I will miss it there.

On Sunday I was genuinely feeling lazy, but I eventually got up, finished packing my luggage, took a shower and went to get lunch (in an effort to spend my credit before I left, thus indulging myself in muffins and frappes). I watched Glee while I had lunch, which has become one of my favourite shows at the moment and then studied for a while until the Brendon residents’ meeting in the courtyard to take a group photo. They came out great and, although a lot of people are missing, it was great to have so many Brendonians together again. We hadn’t been so many since Freshers’… Although I don’t get on with everybody, it will be weird to not be sharing the same hall anymore… I will miss those noisy (and sometimes disgusting) flatmates… After dinner Joel and I did some revision for the French history exam and then went to get dinner with B, A and V, when we finally sorted out our rooms for next year, using the ol’ pick-a-straw method.

Week 35 was my last week as a Fresher in Bath (how the hell did that happen?! So bloody fast!). On Monday I got up, feeling really tired, and did some revision, including a mini-panic attack because I was anything but confident with my knowledge for the history exam the following day. In the evening, Begoña helped me take my things to the ground floor and then Jason, a man with a van I had hired to take me and my things to the new house, came to Brendon. We loaded the van and drove to Beckhampton, with Jason’s son Alexander in the car too. They were really nice to be honest, and Jason reminded me a lot of Jamie Oliver! The way he acted and spoke haha He unloaded the van and stored my things and then drove me back to Uni, which was great.

On Tuesday I again tried to fight the nerves before my exam at half past four (could it not have been earlier?). I got lunch, cleared out the kitchen and watched Game of Thrones, and then went to Founders to sit the exam. I think it went ok. I don’t expect a great mark, but I did my best. Once that was done, I felt like a huge weight off my shoulders. I had a chilled dinner by the lake with Amélie and then watched the second Percy Jackson film, which was average.

On Wednesday I got up early and grabbed breakfast on the go before heading into town to give some things I wanted to get rid of to a charity (decided for Dorothy House this time) and then go to Natwest to change my address there. I took the bus to the hospital from the station and arrived there an hour before my appointment. I didn’t really mind because that way I had plenty of time to update my details and get my weight and blood pressure measured without being pressured by the time. The appointment was fine, I did not get to meet my new doctor because he was on holidays but the doctor who saw me instead was quite nice and clear with me. I had a blood test done (which left me with a frickin’ bruise all along the inside of my elbow) and then returned to campus, which took forever because the 18 bus took really long to arrive. I binge-watched Glee for a while after lunch and then studied French grammar for a bit, with Amélie’s help, and further watched Glee before bed.

On Thursday morning I woke up with a nosebleed for no apparent reason, something which hadn’t happened to me in years! I reviewed some more and then had lunch in Wessex House to spend my catering credit (so yummy and expensive, specially the cheesecake). After lunch I watched some Glee and then had my test at half past four. All of us were simply bored of revision and just wanted to get the exam done and be finally FREE! So once I had finished, I felt so relieved! It was awesome! That night, Amélie, Vidushi and I went out to PoNaNa to celebrate (and I took heels which were killing me but worth it – gave them up half way through the night). Sweet freedom and summer holidays.

I was woken up on Friday morning by a man knocking at my door and opening immediately afterwards, who apparently had made a mistake and confused my room with room 4.17 in Wolfson. Quite annoying actually, as he knocked twice. B and A met me for lunch and then we went to explore the campus (yes, now, after nearly a year, we are still discovering new places). We had waffles at The Edge, visited the art galleries, the pool, bought a Team Bath hoodie, explored the accommodations and then went to Sham Castle and took some pictures together. Oh, we also complained about how fast the year has gone by, #notfreshersnomore. 

That night, some people from Brendon and Management met for Jacob’s farewell party, as he is leaving for two years for his compulsory conscription in Korea. We went to Bridge, and it was nice, although Jacob was nowhere to be found once in the club haha

Saturday was our last day in Bath before leaving to France. I slept in, had lunch and then finished packing, cleaning my room and loading my things into Amélie’s parents’ car. It was a bit awkward at the beginning to meet them, but it ended being ok in the end and, as the post about France will show, I had a great time at Amélie’s house. Then I watched some Glee and got ready for the Summer Ball. The Ball was amazing. A, B, Hannah and I hung out together and were later joined by James. The campus setup was incredible: acoustic music, talking robots, free Pims, a Casino, a chocolate fountain, fair rides… The only downside were the queues and that it chilled up a bit in the night, with some rain included…But we had a great time dancing, drinking Sour Pussies in LimeTree (so good), going on the rides, and listening to Kristian Nairn aka. Hodor in Game of Thrones, and Years & Years. Here is a link to a video from the Ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAsc_xeq6Us A great end to a great year.

Despite this post being quite long, I hope you like it (and excuse it being late). I will post one more entry to the blog about my week in Paris, but I won’t cover the Summer holidays themselves, as the purpose of this section is MyUniversityExperience, and the Summer is pretty much the break between years. I will come back and strong in September to share my second year with you guys, so keep tuned for that! However, I do plan on posting some more generic posts, giving my opinion and advice on studying in the UK, as well as another post about Brendon Court, within the next few weeks, as I mentioned before. I feel they might come in handy for future students. And something else might pop up during the Summer too, but no promises.

Thanks a lot for following me this year, hope you’ve enjoyed my log-blog thus far!