YA-3: finally going out and La Rose 2016!

Bonjour! Las week was absolutely hectic – we went from not having any real plans outside of work to going out non-stop throughout the whole week!

On Monday it was Monika’s 21^st birthday, so before going to my fitness class I left her a little gift on the stairs for her to wake up to. I think it’s important to pay attention to the little details – it can make other people’s day a little bit better, particularly if they are away from home. After working I ran some errands and went out with Moni to do some shopping. We also wanted to go out for coffee but it was pouring outside and most places were closed which was surprising on a Monday morning, so we passed on that one. After lunch I did a bit of YA work before going into the centre for my classes. Once done with work I dashed back home to get changed and ready. Stepfany picked us up at 7 to go for drinks; she took us to a cool bar in the centre which opened not long ago. Then we popped by Moni’s dance lesson to give out some cake she had made and, to her surprise, they all remembered it was her birthday and had got her presents and cake and even champagne! It was so cute! They sang happy birthday and she blew out the candles and everything! At 8:30 we had to be back in the centre to meet Liam, our hosts, and their son and girlfriend before heading to Chez Nounoute for dinner. We had some glasses of champagne to celebrate before heading to the port. Dinner was lovely – I had mussels à la marinière with white wine and they even had a cake with a candle for dessert! They gave Monika  some presents and I believe she had a great time just like the rest of us, which is what counts, especially when you are away from home! I really cannot stress enough how nice people are and have been around here, they have made my time in Fécamp so memorable!

On Tuesday I spent the day working and planning lessons – believe me, it takes longer than I thought it would… And then after I finished I came back home and took a quick shower and got ready to meet with Antoine and Vincent to go out for drinks. We went to the Casino near the beach and then back home we tried a mango and apricot rum they gave Moni as a present. They are super nice guys, glad to have finally met people our age haha

On Wednesday I worked all morning. The babies were being particularly tough with a lot of crying but most children are lovely and it is a lot of fun to teach them, they are always happy to take part in whatever crazy activity we present them with! We also popped to the College near the Abbey where there was supposed to be one of the American students on exchange. It took us a couple of tries before we actually managed to get in, only to me told that there was no assistant this year… However, later in the week they contacted us from the other high school and apparently there is one student who we hope to meet soon. Fingers crossed because we’ve been trying for weeks now! This place is very small so the more people we met the better. In the evening we met with Salomé for dinner. She took us to a restaurant by the beach called Le Reidroc – all the staff were super nice and the food was amazing! We had some fried squid rings as entrée and then I had some parmentier de canard which was basically mashed potato with duck and a thick gravy-like honey sauce and salad leaves on the side SO GOOD. I am legit going to put on so much weight over this year… It was a lovely evening and we got to speak a lot of French which is ace.

On Thursday I got my Erasmus grant pay! Yay! However, there was an error during the currency exchange process and we got over-paid, so it was a stressful time for the office trying to sort out the correct amounts and us having to return money. Anyway, that is now sorted. During the lessons we played Stop The Bus which reminded me so much of my English lessons in Harrow House in Swanage! It is such a fun game – twist for us assistants though, we had to fill the categories in French! After work we had dinner at Antoine’s – raclette. Got to try French dishes, right? It was a lovely evening (electrical problems with the machine included) and we ended up playing cards until quite late.

On Friday it was my day off so I spent the morning doing the relevant house chores and then chilled at home and took a nap. In the evening we went to the Apéro-Rose which was a sort of party organized by the Ladies Circle ’62 of Fécamp in order to raise money and awareness to fight breast cancer. It’s Octobre Rose in the town by the way, so the Mairie is lit up pink and there are quite a lot of things going on if you keep an eye out for them. We had to wear something pink so Moni lent me one of her shirts (I literally don’t own anything pink) and we headed to the party. The party was nice; we had a drink and there was some music and tons of people. However, we were really tired and we unfortunately couldn’t really understand what was being said through the speakers so we left fairly early and had an early night which was much needed after four days straight of late nights.

On Saturday it was my day off but the weather was horrible and I pretty much spent the day in my pyjamas. It wasn’t a wasted day though, working from bed is such a treat ;) It had been ages since I’d spent the whole day in my PJs and it was good to have a day off and just relax. After dinner Moni and I met with Salomé, Stépfany and Liam to go to O’Bailly, which is the bar I’d mentioned earlier. There we met Salomé’s neighbour Adrien and had a great night having a couple of drinks and playing darts. The owner is really nice and it was the first time I played darts – must say I got quite competitive at one point and even won one game! At around 2am we thought it was time to wrap it up since we were running the marathon the next morning, but I think we should definitely do that again!

On the Sunday when the alarm went off it was way too early for us two night owls! However we got out of bed and got ready for the La Rose 2016 marathon. Turns out we could’ve slept in an extra hour but nonetheless our host came over as we had planned and he brought hot croissants to wake us up… The run itself was great – so many people showed up! Over 3k runners and hundreds of people cheering on the sides, the place was packed with people in pink shirts supporting the cause. We joined the foule and did a short warm-up in which we already got covered with powder paint from the Colour Runners… Fortunately, the rained backed off until the end of the race, so the race itself went well and it was even kind of sunny for Normandy :P I ran the 5k in about 25min which was not bad at all! Everybody was just there for the fun! It was a very rewarding experience, not only because I proved to myself that I can run and not pass out at the end but also because it helped with an important cause and it was amazing to see how engaged everybody was. At the finish line it took us a whole hour to find our host, but aside from that everybody there was super happy and there was food, water, music and different stalls at the arrival point. It was a lot of fun!

After the run we headed home for a shower, some lunch and rest. I Skyped with Sara who told me about her Erasmus experience in Dortmund – the ups and the downs. I guess it will sort of be the same when I go to Siena… Fingers crossed the problems will be minimum but I haven’t heard amazing things about Italian Unis’ Administration… Then I took a long, long and well-deserved nap and ate some cereal. After waking up I decided to watch TV and procrastinate like a pro. Turns out, our host showed up at our door at 18:45 proposing us to go to the cinema to watch L’Odysée at 7pm. Impromptu decision but off we went in fifteen minutes – the film was really good, a tad long at some points but I quite liked it – great French practice.

On the following Tuesday our hosts were celebrating their 30^th anniversary so we had some champagne with the adult class and listened to stories of how they met – so hilarious! However, we had to leave quickly since we were having Liam, Antoine and Vincent over for dinner. Moni had prepared ginger noodles with chicken and chocolate mousse. Props to her because the food was AMAZING! The evening was lovely as expected; they are a lot of fun to be with! And then I decided it would be a great idea to make myself a Snapchat and jump onto the bandwagon – let me know if you want my nickname!

And finally, Wednesday was my last day at work before the Toussaint break for two weeks so we had a staff meeting and planned the next ‘term’ and timetables and all that jazz. I spent the rest of the day organizing and phoning up the Housing Agency in Bath (fourth year accommodation business) and talking to Dad on the phone since he was coming to visit on the following day (so excitiiiiiing!). Same for the Thursday. I was alone in the house because Moni left early to go back home to Glasgow so I used my morning to run some errands and do some chores and in the afternoon I met with Liam to go to the cinema. We watched blockbuster ‘Jack Reacher 2’; not bad but not amazing either. Dad’s train had been delayed and his suitcase had been lost, but he finally arrived in Le Havre at half past ten at night after a long and stressful trip and I went in the car with my hosts’ son and his girlfriend to pick him up. It was so good to be with him again! Surreal to reunite in this small corner of France!

Keep tuned for my next post – Dad and I are planning to visit some towns in Normandy and Bretagne road-trip style so the next entry looks promising! Adventures and pictures to come!

xx