Fête des Lumières

The Fête des Lumières in Lyon is a unique festival of light, celebrating an old myth that the Virgin Mary once saved the town from the plague, and giving thanks. Starting as a tradition of leaving candles on the windowsill, the festival has become a massive international event, attracting millions of people from around the world to see the the city lit up for one weekend only. The installations vary from light sculptures to animations projected on the city's most famous and beautiful buildings. Crêpe and mulled-wine stands line the streets and as the attractions span the whole city, the crowds aren't unbearable (although the Saturday night queue for Place des Terreaux isn't exactly for the claustrophobic.) The métro is made free for one night (and one night only), but surprisingly this doesn't even bring it to the crowd levels of an average morning on the Tube. Highlights included, well, 'Highlights' the short film projected on the buildings around the Place des Terreaux, the Cathédrale Saint-Jean illuminated with crawling gargoyles and stained glass patterns, the last few minutes we caught of Tallis' Spem in Alium performed in the Hôtel de Région in the Confluence and fireworks on the banks of the Rhône.

After all this culture, the two of us who were stuck out in Lyon for the night headed out. We found a lovely restaurant in Vieux-Lyon (cannot remember its name for the life of me) which stayed open until half past midnight for the festival day and served us a fantastic, typically French, three course meal complete with a complementary glass of white wine with cranberry (surprisingly good!) - I had onion soup followed by a Bavette steak with dauphinoise potatoes and a raspberry cake to finish, and all for €20, I seem to recall.

Afterwards we set off for the over-crowded, but brilliantly mock-English, Smoking Dog and the ever-reliable James Joyce, both in Vieux-Lyon. Next, with no idea where to pass the time until the first train at 7.15am, we stumbled across Boston Café on Place des Terreaux (considerable quieter at 3am after the illuminations had finished) while searching for a different bar. A great little pub/club/bar hybrid, it caters to all tastes with decent music (in my opinion, having been in France maybe a little too long...) bearable drinks prices (again, considering it's France) a young, cool clientèle (only one person tried to grope me, which might be a record in this country) and a dress code (!) so no more creeps in trackies. Maybe it was the relief of finding somewhere that would take us for the night (shut at 5.30, managed to linger until 6, chatted outside until 6.30, actually ended up running for the train!) but I think I really like this place.

Overall, staying out for the whole festival was an unprecedented and unexpected success - but even so, next time I want to spend an evening away think I'll get in early and book myself a hotel room!

Bourg, je t'aime

We might complain about being stuck in a smallish town, but I imagine when I move back to Exeter I'll miss a few things about this year in Bourg en Bresse:

• The salary - Not sure how I'll fare going back to life as an impoverished student surviving once again off my parents' generosity.

• The view - Living on the top floor has its perks (almost worth the ridiculous stairs).

Taken from our kitchen today. Which brings me onto my next point...

• The weather - Usually only marginally better than home during the Winter but that makes all the difference. 

• The food - Just incredible (if you know what to avoid...).

• Free time being free time - This sounds paradoxical, but in university a good proportion of my time outside of lectures is spent either reading and writing essays, or feeling guilty for not doing so. Admittedly a few hours a week of preparation are needed for the assistant job, but recycling lessons is perfectly acceptable - even encouraged - in the name of giving every student an equal education... Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité and all that.

• Breaking out of the bubble - Students in Exeter tend to avoid locals, wrapping ourselves in a somewhat claustrophobic net of BNOCs, recognising people wherever you go, being limited to student haunts ("I've never seen this street before...") and knowing everything about everyone in your society/halls, even if you don't know their name. It's actually quite refreshing to meet people of all ages and ways of life, and not to feel like there's only 'one' place to be at any particular time. ("You went to Arena on a Friday?!"; "You've never been to Varsity/Ottery/Cellar Door?!")

• The people - For perhaps the first time in my life I have one solid friendship group, and they're amazing. I've always enjoyed flitting between friends in different groups, but I can only imagine that whatever living situation I end up in next year amongst my various and scattered friends doing a fourth year (probably looking more like a studio for one...) won't live up to this.

Checking in

In my last post I promised myself (and you, lovely readers) that I would actually achieve something this term and - most crucially - enjoy doing so. So, here's a check-in, one week on, to see how I'm doing.

• Learning German from scratch through 'tandems' three times a week with my three German friends
  This is actually going pretty well, thanks to my lovely friends. Although I've been a little slack on homework, I've had four 'tandem' sessions so far and apparently my pronunciation is pretty good (thanks, Bach, you're a dude).
• Improving my French through 'tandems' in Lyon.
  Again fairly successful with one session, albeit brief. Unfortunately it turns out my French pronunciation is pretty poor...
• Snowboarding weekends!
  Two attempts; two failures. I think this one will have to wait 'til the new year.
• Getting a head-start on my dissertation (two books already bought, and one borrowed..)
  Not sure how much I read of David Bellos' Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything* this week before I started dozing off on the train, but that still counts, right? 
• A promise to myself of more nights out!
  A resounding success with three consecutive nights of social drinking in its varying degrees: drinks with the Bourg assistants in the Quinet kitchen; the Irish pub in Bourg with teachers from my flatmate's school; an ERASMUS night in Lyon and a (not) gay (enough) club.
• Getting fit: a teacher gave us a bike for free, so no excuses!
  I managed one slightly precarious trip to Bouvent lake during which I only almost got run over three times... then the rain arrived. 
• A casual interpreting job
  Still to hear whether they need me on Wednesday. Fingers crossed!
• Observing some French literature classes
  Merde, I forgot about this one! I'll ask my flatmate about it tomorrow..
• Lots of travelling
  Only Lyon since my last post, but I did neglect to mention my quick stroll into Geneva whilst waiting for the train after my return flight:

Taking in the lakeside view in what must be one of
the most expensive cities in Europe with an alfresco
lunch of Mum's sandwiches. Capitalism can suck it.

• Volunteering as a project coordinator for UnicefCampus
  Set up a meeting for this afternoon, the guy cancelled... I'm officially signed up, though!
• Getting better at this blog thing...
  Leaving it over a week doesn't really cut it, does it? I'm truly sorry, as I'm sure you're all devastated.

*The book's actually really interesting - in fact, I recommend it - I was just ridiculously tired.

On proactivity

I like being busy. I know this might sound alien to students who conform more closely to the Young Ones stereotype, or even that of University Challenge, but I can't think of anything worse than sitting alone in my room for entire days or evenings.

In sixth form I took four A-levels (don't confuse me with a nerd; I practically failed one of them), had weekly singing lessons for my grade 8 (conveniently a day after my A-level Music practical, also my birthday...), sang in far too many choirs, became a music prefect and worked in a bar... yet I was always first to say yes to a night out ("...but the exams aren't for another week!")

Much the same in university: where others wait for 'the fear' to get an essay done, I have to plan weeks in advance of concert season around jobs, committee duties, auditions, mass, rehearsals and - of course - socialising. The lifestyle has its disadvantages: I don't take well to just sitting and reading for any considerable length of time, which could be seen as a drawback in an English degree...

Therefore, as you might imagine, I had a few concerns about moving to a different country. Language assistants only work 12 hours a week, so to do with the rest? If you read my 'Week in the life' post you might have some idea, and you might also remember that I ended on an optimistic note:

"Sunday
As you might have already known, or read here, the 'day of rest' is very restful here in France. So far - apart from that one time we went to the rugby and the cinema - it's been an opportunity for lie-ins/hangovers, lesson planning and laziness which is gratefully received by my lazy alter-ego, but I'm sure after the holidays I'll be back on form with not a moment spare - or so I hope."

Like-minded friends will be glad to hear that I have begun to fulfill my own prophecy within four days of being back.

So what am I going to take on in the remaining few weeks of term?

• Learning German from scratch through 'tandems' three times a week with my three German friends
• Improving my French through 'tandems' in Lyon.
• Snowboarding weekends!
• Getting a head-start on my dissertation (two books already bought, and one borrowed..)
• A promise to myself of more nights out!
• Getting fit: a teacher gave us a bike for free, so no excuses!
• A casual interpreting job
• Observing some French literature classes
• Lots of travelling
• Volunteering as a project coordinator for UnicefCampus
• Getting better at this blog thing...

All of this along with my two choirs, never forgetting, of course, my actual job.

Two weeks off for some dead saints? I'll take it...

I've missed half term. As a British student you're hardly aware it's happening until you go into town and it's full of kids "who should be in sch—! Oh..." Despite having a holiday in October for the first time in ages, this year's half term actually started off as normal: my parents came to visit. 

We only paused for two nights in Bourg as it doesn't have a huge amount to offer for a holiday. Nevertheless, two nights was enough to pack in a fair amount of excitement:

Early Christmas present.. :)

First try of Poulet de Bresse
(actually quite boring..)

Then to Lyon! We did all the normal tourist-y things but the highlights for me were:

The marionette museum

and a fantastic big band at the famous 'Hot' jazz club.

We flew back together, then parted ways as I headed to Exeter to spend a wonderful week-and-a-half invading my boyfriend's house (sorry!) and seeing my lovely uni friends. I miss student life, and it was difficult being there almost as an outsider, with new freshers I didn't know and changes I hadn't registered (the Long Lounge is now the Kitchen Café?!) Seeing my friends running around with heads full of deadlines, concerts, committee responsibilities and society drama I ruefully said "I miss being busy".

Now, though, as I sit here listening to The Swell Season after a morning at the market, a lovely shared lunch with the girls in the Quinet kitchen followed by a movie (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, if anyone's interested) I'm starting to think it's a good thing that my year out is just that: a year out.

C'est la vie... of an English Assistant

I've realised that my blog posts are a little detached, and don't really give much of a real idea of what I normally do here. So here is a 'week in the life' of the only red-head in Bourg:

Monday
Only 3 hours of lessons, but unfortunately, working at 11, 2 and 4 doesn't leave much room for doing anything interesting in between. I usually use the time to plan lessons to free up bigger blocks of time later in the week. No early start on Tuesday to me means a night out on Monday, but some of the others have shown to be a little disinclined to go out in general. The two other Brits, my Russian flatmate and I have usually ended up in the same bar in Bourg, but a few issues involving some mecs a little too insistent on chatting me up (and there's really nowhere to hide in this tiny place..), a guy who described himself as racist (!) and the fact that my idea of a good night out doesn't really involve playing back-to-back games of pool with this kind of clientele have left me reluctant to continue the habit. Keep reading to see what the future holds for nights out in Bourg... but I don't have high hopes.


Tuesday
My day off! This week I went into Lyon to find out if I could take a course in the university; no luck, but I met up with a girl who was a French assistant last year for coffee and she gave me loads of great advice about France, the job and Lyon. I would advise any assistants past or present to send an e-mail out to all the addresses of past assistants that the British Council send out as I've met and spoken to some really lovely and helpful people (in French!) this way. It's called 'FLA Buddy Scheme', and I received the e-mail around mid-October. I did it because I was worried I wasn't talking enough French with French people, and it's really paid off!

Passarelle Saint-Georges, Lyon

I ended up doing a lot of aimless wandering after the girls I met went back to class, as the train I had planned to take was cancelled due to strike action with no replacement service... No idea how the French get to work on time in the morning!

Wednesday
Every other week I start work at 7.45am in town half an hour's walk away. Give me an Exeter 9am any day; walking to school when it's still dark is miserable! It's also my youngest class, so I really can't be tired, hungover or look like I just rolled out of bed (although sometimes the wind on the way there will do that for me anyway..) The flipside to this is that I'm free from 11am onwards, and that every other week I have another day off. This week I went to the Parc de la Tête d'Or in Lyon with a few of the other assistants:

When we got back we had a meal planned with another French girl I met through the FLA Buddy Scheme in Bourg. We had booked for nine but it ended up being only four! It's occasions like this that I wonder whether it's a case of the individual or the culture; I've certainly never been in the situation where someone cancels on a dinner which has been booked for anything other than unforeseen circumstances, but luckily the restaurant didn't mind and the four of us had a lovely evening speaking almost entirely in French.

On my days off I also usually like to take a walk around Bouvent lake, which is a good hike away but well worth it for the calmness. (I'm slowly but surely turning into my mother, aren't I...)

Thursday

Usually I have lessons 8am-5pm on Thursdays but this week my six hours were reduced to one due to various tests and absences, giving me time to... sleep and do nothing. Good one, Fiona.

In the evening, though, we went Bowling with the Lycée Quinet 'Amicale' (a kind of social society for teachers). I'm not the best bowler in the world (two strikes and two zeros.. what's wrong with me?) but it was good to get to know the teachers in a more social context, and I'm already noticing the difference in the staffroom; no more awkward break-times, I hope.


Friday
A busy but enjoyable one: every other week I have to make two separate journeys to Péronnas (the other school) with a class and a choir rehearsal in Quinet in-between. Technically I shouldn't really have time to go to choir, but if I leave ten minutes early and eat a sandwich en-route it works.

In the evening I have a rehearsal with L'Ensemble Vocal de l'Ain in town (Bourg inexplicably being the capital of its region). I auditioned just to fill some spare time but luckily for me they're a really good choir with a busy schedule which suits me to a T.
(If anyone was interested: the chorus parts of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Gounod's Requiem, Duruflé's Requiem, Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine, César Franck's Les Sept Paroles du Christ sur la Croix and Duruflé's Notre Père.)

Friday is also, of course, an opportunity to go out, but so far early starts for travelling have put paid to anything particularly exciting.

Saturday

So far we've used our Saturdays to go to Annecy and Lyon, with more plans for travelling in the pipe-line (including a festive Paris trip in December). Again, Saturday night is for going out, and we've managed to have one successful night out in Bourg on a Saturday (following a disastrous one in Lyon) involving the almost authentic Irish 'Pub', flaming shots and great company. Hopefully more like that to follow!

Sunday

As you might have already known, or read here, the 'day of rest' is very restful here in France. So far - apart from that one time we went to the rugby and the cinema - it's been an opportunity for lie-ins/hangovers, lesson planning and laziness which is gratefully received by my lazy alter-ego, but I'm sure after the holidays I'll be back on form with not a moment spare - or so I hope.

France does have some good music..

..and you know you're in a fantastic mood when you have this in your head.

Perks of the job; kids are hilarious

Even though most of my pupils are 15+ they still come out with some funny and brilliant things. Here are the highlights of my teaching career (lol) so far:

1. My usually sullen TSTG class getting seriously competitive over a game of articulate.

2. The kids in the collège playground playing three-player ping pong. (It involves running round the table, if you can try to picture it.) Brilliant idea.

3. The two girls who still always say hello to me even though I only take them once every four weeks.

4. The boy who didn't know how to say "I'm supposed to go back and send someone else in after 20 minutes" in English so instead laboured on alone, telling me about immigrant communities in Britain, for the whole hour-long lesson.

5. The looks on my 4ème's faces when I told them about Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

6. The boy who asked if I'd ever been to Aberystwyth, and the fact that the teacher didn't know where that was.

7. Doing pronunciation exercises when the teacher doesn't tell me what topic to cover: 'TH TH TH TH TH' 'H H H H H H'. Just like choral warm-ups, but they find it hilarious. 

8. The girl who, after much deliberation, replied 'Wales' when I asked her to name any country in the UK.

9. The trouble-maker in 3ème who shocked everyone by saying he wanted to join Homework Club. It later transpired that he didn't know what 'homework' meant.

10. The super smart sixteen year old in my Terminale Science who brought up punk rock in my 'What's Great about Great Britain?' class. Ten points to Gryffindor.

Annwyl i mi

Photography from Andrea Paz

This week I'm hoping I started a trend with my three course traditional Welsh meal of Glamorgan sausages, lamb and mint sauce, and Welshcakes followed by drinking games (non Brits absolutely horrified by the dirty pint in ring of fire) and general merriment. A few people have asked me for recipes, so here goes:

SELSIG MORGANNWG / GLAMORGAN SAUSAGES

Not actually sausages at all, but more like a slightly lighter, cheesy version of stuffing.

      

Photography from Andrea Paz

Photography from Andrea Paz

Makes 8

175g breadcrumbs (I just used a packet and that worked out fine)
150g Caerphilly cheese (obviously doesn't exist in France; I used feta)

Half a leek, finely chopped (or a third if you're using enormous French poireaux!)

Small handful chopped parsley 

½ tsp of thyme

2 eggs, beaten

1½ tsp Dijon mustard (you can get it very cheap out here, but English mustard is fine too)

Milk as required (no more than a few tbsp)
Oil
Black pepper to season (the cheese will already be quite salty so no need for more, to my taste)

1. Mix together 150g of the breadcrumbs in a bowl with the cheese, leek or spring onion, parsley, thyme and freshly ground pepper, blending well. 

2. Beat the eggs with the mustard. Set aside 2 tablespoons of this mixture and stir the remaining egg mixture into the breadcrumb mixture. If it seems a little dry add a touch of milk to help bind it together without making it sloppy. 

3. Divide the mixture into eight and shape each portion into a sausage about 2.5cm thick. Put the reserved egg and mustard mixture into a shallow bowl and spread the remaining breadcrumbs onto a plate. One by one dip the sausages into the egg mixture and coat in the crumbs. If you have time, chill the sausages in the fridge for at least half an hour to firm up. 

4. Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan and fry the sausages briskly for about 5 minutes until brown, then reduce the heat and fry for a further 3-4 minutes.

(based on recipe from uktv.co.uk/food)

CIG OEN GYDA SAWS MINT / LAMB AND MINT SAUCE

A.K.A how to make a traditional British Sunday dinner on Tuesday, in France, with only two electric hob spaces and what we like to call the 'easy-bake' oven (cf. right hand picture of the starter).

Photography from Andrea Paz

Serves 8 (as part of a three course meal; bigger appetites might want more!)

8 lamb cutlets

16 small new potatoes

500ml cider or white wine vinegar

85g sugar

10g chopped mint leaves

Vegetables as desired (I used frozen petits pois and the left-over leek)

Salt, pepper and garlic to season (I used garlic granules as we had nothing else, but you might prefer to use the real thing!)

1. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a heavy-bottomed pan and bring to boil. Allow to simmer at a fairly high temperature until syrupy. (This took a fair while on the electric hob!) 

2. Meanwhile, par-boil the potatoes (until you can stick a fork in). I cooked the peas in the same pan due to lack of space.

3. Prick the potatoes with a fork, season with lots of salt, pepper and garlic, then place in the oven at about 200°C/180°C for fan oven ('9' for not so easy-bake...). Roast for about 20 minutes or until golden-brown. 

4. Leave the sauce  to cool for 5 minutes before adding the mint, mixing, and allowing to cool further to room temperature.

5. Fry the lamb to taste - three minutes each side will do for a good medium rare, but a little while longer is needed if you want it "vraiment mort" as my flatmates requested!

6. Decant the sauce into a jug (or in the absence of which, a small bowl) and serve the meat and potatoes with vegetables. 

PICAU AR Y MAEN / WELSHCAKES

Classic and well-loved Welsh delicacy. Eat plain as a snack or with raspberry jam and cream (I mixed some sugar into crème fraîche) for dessert.

Makes 16

225g plain flour

85g caster sugar

½ tsp mixed spice

100g butter cut into small pieces (plus extra for frying)

50g currants

1 egg, beaten

splash milk

1. Mix the flour, sugar, mixed spice, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl. 

2. With your fingers, rub in the butter until crumbly. Mix in the currants. 

3. Work the egg into the mixture until you have soft dough, adding a splash of milk if it seems a little dry.

4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to the thickness of your little finger. Cut out rounds using a 6cm cutter, re-rolling any trimmings. (Lacking a rolling pin or cutters, I just formed them in my hands: worked fine, and less mess!)

5. Grease a flat griddle pan or heavy frying pan with lard, and place over a medium heat. Cook the Welsh cakes in batches, for about 3 mins each side, until golden brown, crisp and cooked through.

(based on a recipe from bbcgoodfood.com)



Here's looking forward to the Spanish, Bavarian, Turkish, English, Scottish, American, Russian and Chilean offerings!

The Job

Sorry for the radio silence this last week - I'd like to say I've just been too busy, but I think laziness might also play its part. So, amongst some interesting nights out (everything is so expensive), yet more bureaucracy woes, choir rehearsals and a shock induction into clothes shopping in France (EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE!) I actually did some work this week.

After some confusion where everyone in the English department seemed to think I would have training on Monday afternoon - even after my frequent assertions that it was definitely only in the morning - students were informed that my Monday 16h was cancelled. I, however, was not.

False starts aside, this meant that my very first day ever in a 'proper' job was Thursday: 8h-17h. I was prepared, and everything went smoothly, but even so, a few things really startled me. Firstly the difference between each class, despite them all being in the same year group, was huge: I taught the same lesson three times in a row and the first class were clever but mute, the second were enthusiastic but inaccurate, and the final group looked so bored I changed the topic. There was also an overwhelming difference with regards to class size. I knew smaller was supposed to be better but I had no idea that five students from a 'technical' (less academic) class would talk so much more than ten from a 'science' or 'literature' class!

Unfortunately it will continue to be like this, as my classes rotate meaning I will only see each group once every four weeks making it impossible to build a rapport. Another few things I'll just have to get used to.

So this is what the French do on Sundays...

Determined to do something productive with our Sunday (despite everything in the whole of France being shut) we took an English teacher's suggestion to go to a local rugby match: USBPA (Bourg) v. Lille.

'Poulet de Bresse': team mascot and local dish. 

Now, despite being Welsh I am no expert in the sport, having in the past only watched with a very vague idea of who's winning and what's not allowed. However, my knowledge was far superior to that of my German and American flat-mates who watched with bemusement and frequent questions, most of which, honestly, I couldn't answer.
The sport is apparently very popular in the area (so everyone knows what/where Wales is, hurrah!) and the crowds were so infectiously enthusiastic that I felt myself drifting towards native-esque Bourg support.

"I like the bit where they jump to catch the ball"

Rugby will never be my favourite thing, but it was a new experience for everyone - in varying degrees - and with student tickets at only €5 it was an exciting way of passing what is normally a rather dull day en France.

Afterwards, those of us who didn't take our 9am "training" quite so seriously (classic British students..) went to see a movie (again for a very reasonable €6.50 student ticket!)

Do Not Disturb, despite the title, is a thoroughly French movie (one has to be careful as dubbed English-language films are seriously annoying) about two men trying to overcome their heterosexuality in order to make an artsy 'erotic movie'/porno. It's an odd premise, and it cast a few raised eyebrows for us - perhaps prudish - Brits ("Why is she still walking around with no knickers on?" "That was annoying me too..") but it was simple, yet still absorbing, so absolutely perfect for language development.

On either a funny or infuriating side note, we got a quick McDonalds before the film (only thing that's open, remember!) and my request for a Happy Meal was met with a blank stare. Only when I asked for an 'Appee Meel' did the girl behind the counter confirm my order: 'Ah, Appee Meel!'
One thing I just cannot get used to is pronouncing English words in a French accent... at least, not yet.

Annecy

The famous Lake Annecy; well worth the ill-advised hike following road signs up a near-mountain*.

*not that mountain.

Our original intention was to go to nearby Macon, but apparently 'Macon' train station is nowhere near centre-ville (or anything at all interesting)... Despite this spanner in the works, our spontaneous decision to board the next train going somewhere vaguely interesting-sounding worked out fantastically. Macon can go suck it.

La Vie en Merde

La Vie en Rose: Upsides to living in France

Du pain, du vin, du snowboarding*

Les fêtes

Being a proper touriste

FOOD.

 *Not actually me... I'm better**

**I'm not.

Assistants go to Lyon!

This weekend two of my flatmates, a friend in Villeurbanne and I went into Lyon to sight-see in the rain. The train was fairly expensive (€23.40 for a return), so we plan to get the French equivalent of the young person's railcard before we go again! The journey took about 50 minutes, and we went into 'Perrache' rather than 'Part-Dieu' as it's closer to the centre.
It's a beautiful city, so we wandered around happily and aimlessly for a while before finding somewhere to eat. After walking past several seriously expensive bistrots, restaurants and cafés we got so hungry that we went into the next place that would feed us, according to the menu, for €6 a piece.

We took a chance on l'Epicerie, as none of us actually knew exactly what a 'tartine' was, but it's basically all that's on the menu. My guess was "something like a quiche?"; what arrived was essentially 'stuff on toast'... but brilliant stuff on toast. A few examples include smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers, a chicken and vegetable mix and, of course, various cheeses. But I know a toastie isn't anything to go on about. For us it was a combinations of some of the tastiest cakes we'd ever had, the traditional, yet seriously cool and very French décor and the fact that it was the cheapest place we'd seen by far in centre-ville that made us promise each other to go back. They also serve the cakes with cute little colourful sweets on the side, which honestly was the highlight of my French gastronomical experiences so far. (Rue de la Monnaie, next to the Théâtre des Ateliers, if you're interested. I marked it on my incredibly touristy map.) 

After lunch we took the funiculaire for 1 or 2 euros up to La Basilique de Fourvière (to the people who actually read this thing, the 'castle in the sky' from a few posts ago). It's a beautiful building, and worth the price of the hill-tram for the views once you reach the top, but the main church is having construction done at the moment, so it wasn't at its finest. I hope to come back, though, to watch a concert or hear a sung mass. They also put on open air shows at the Gallo-Roman theatres (also up on the hill above the city) which could be spectacular.

Maybe in a few months when we go into Lyon we'll feel like real locals, but for the moment I think it's okay for us to be wide-eyed tourists in such a truly fascinating place.

Where I live and work

Six girls - in our variety of nationalities - have slowly arrived to live in the internat (boarding house) where we thankfully have our own corridor, separate from the kids. After a slight hitch trying to access the internet and get past the child-block (no Facebook?!) we've settled in, ready to start work tomorrow. A shared kitchen and lounge area and individual ensuites (not to mention the €40 monthly rent!) make for ideal communal living conditions. Even though everyone speaks English (most of us better than French) we're all speaking French in the flat, so hopefully we will all improve together... or pick up each others' bad habits.

It's raining in France, too.

Before...

...after

'La cuisine'

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.

After a 5.30am start, a 2 hour long flight, two trains and and hour's time difference I finally arrived in Bourg en Bresse at 2.30pm to a very Welsh welcome of torrential rain. I'm still not entirely sure as to whether this made me feel more at home, or more shit because, you know, it's rain.
The journey went pretty smoothly, other than one small hitch in the form of my first big cultural error on the train from Lyon. When the conductor came round he looked at my ticket and told me should have 'composté'. Cue the classic 'je ne comprends pas' look of the unseasoned tourist which I had hoped never to adorn my (actually fairly well travelled) face.
"Err, where I'm from, composting means letting it rot and growing plants in it," ...is what I should have said, but instead I faltered at 'err' and mumbled something sorry-like. Next time I'll prepare a better retort.. or perhaps I'll just learn how to compost the damn thing by stalking someone who looks like they know what they're doing. Hopefully they won't lead me to a nearby garden centre. 

Train and rain

My life in 20kg

Sixteen posts in and I finally come to you from across the pond. I've moved in, and finally have the internet sorted, but firstly let me back track a little to the arduous process of fitting a year's worth of stuff (not exactly, as my parents are coming to visit in the holidays with another suitcase, but allow the hyperbole) around Easyjet regulations.

What I brought:
Clothes (an obvious one, but remember to think about things which are appropriate for work!)
Handbags
Jewellery
Make-up
Perfume
Documents
Gadgets: laptop, iPod, kindle, phone +CHARGERS!
A book of Italian Arias (insert accessory to your hobby here)
Pencil case
Sentimental and decorative stuff (postcards, pages from my yearbook, photos, a panda hat and two packets of penguin bars..)
Lots of DVDs (obviously out of the cases to save space)
Drugs (a good idea when travelling to Europe if you don't like the idea of suppositories..!)

What I left behind to buy in France:
Towels
Most toiletries
Bed linen

What I should have done differently:
I stocked up on a few things like tights and makeup, afraid that things would be different in France, but in a large supermarket you can find all the hosiery and toiletries you could ask for. In a scan through the local Intermarché I noticed familiar brands such as Maybelline, L'Oreal, Dove, Nivea, Always and Radox, to name (or recall...) but a few.
I should, however, have brought a duvet cover since they are sparse and expensive here. I might manage with the blanket until the elder Dakins arrive...

Au revoir to my home town

Cardiff, je t'aime.

French Festivals #1: Rock en Seine

Set in the beautiful Domaine Nationale de Saint Cloud - pronounced 'Cloo', as I discovered to my embarrassment in a Métro station - Rock en Seine is a fantastic Parisian music festival  with all the best aspects of French luxury and Glastonbury style. 

Hoping to end on a positive note, here are my 'Cons and Pros'...

- The After-hours Scene
There isn't so much of a festival night-life as at Glastonbury (club tents, Shangri-la et al). The festival ends when the music ends and back at the campsite there is one bar which was dead on the Friday night, but busy the other two (mainly full of Brits). Next time I'd go with a bigger crowd (or maybe not fall asleep exhausted at midnight on Friday night..)

-The Cost
Drinks were expensive, at €5 a pint, and bringing drinks on site was forbidden. However, you can bring as much as you like into the campsite (admittedly a fair hike from the festival) and there is a Lidl selling ridiculously cheap booze nearby, so it's easy to get by with only a few eye-watering beer purchases.

+The Cost
No, I'm not contradicting myself. With Reading and Leeds charging just under £200 (not including getting there!) for the same weekend, Rock en Seine was a steal: €109 for the 3 day pass, €45 between 2 for camping, plus £46 for the Megabus to Paris, which worked out at around £150 each. That's right, it's actually cheaper to go to a festival in a different country! But that's not even the best bit...

+ THERE ARE SHOWERS!
They may have been cold, they may not have been particularly powerful, but anyone who's been to a festival in the UK knows that virtually queue-free individual 'porta'-showers are a massive festival luxury. Also the toilets don't smell. Incredible. 

+ The Line-up
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Of Monsters and Men, Beach House, The Black Keys, Ed Sheeran, Sigur Ros, Caravan Palace (weird and wonderful French band) and many others. I hadn't heard of half of the bands we most enjoyed before looking them up, so we made some brilliant discoveries. There was some fantastic musicianship from the Orchestre Nationale de l'Ile de France performing with Get Well Soon and the multi-talented bands behind Of Monsters and Men and Caravan Palace (we definitely saw one woman playing a trumpet, a marimba, a bass drum, a synth and singing in the same set). Not one disappointment for the whole weekend - and I'm fussy.

+The People
Everyone was friendly, there were plenty of Brits and most French people we met were willing to speak English. There is so much space per person, particularly in the campsite, since most people stay in hotels or are Parisians with a day pass. There's not much pushing and shoving to get to the front, and nobody threw any piss-missiles; always a bonus.

In short, I'm going again.

Reconnaissance à Bourg: Day 3, Lyon

Highlights included the greatest number of large, ornate churches I've ever seen in one skyline. Wish I'd have had time to climb up to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière which looks like fairytale castle in the sky:

We also went to a great café on the Rhône side of the Presqu'île. Café 203 was teeming with locals – always a good sign – had great atmosphere and, of course, good food. With Lyon as the 'gourmet capital' of France (the gourmet capital of the world?) I think I'm going to enjoy living here. 

Reconnaissance à Bourg: Day 2 in pictures

I love this place.

The Co-Cathedral.
(What is a Co-Cathedral..?)

Town hall

Big lake

Big lake... with a beach!

Brou monastery

Reconnaissance à Bourg: Day 2, au Marché

Communion wafer is a lot tastier in France...

"Cooked Jesus"

Reconnaissance à Bourg: Day 1, Setting up a bank account

Rendez-vous

You have to make an appointment (rendez-vous) in the branch. I was able to make one for later the same day in Banque Populaire and for two days later in BNP Paribas, upon explaining that I was only around for the three days.

Documents
When I made the appointment I asked which documents to bring, which were as follows:
- Passport/Passeport

- I.D/Carte d'Identité (I used my driver's licence)

- Some evidence that I would be living and working in France. (I used correspondence from the Académie of Lyon outlining my placement, and an e-mail from the head of English explaining that assistants usually live in the school which I forwarded to the bank consultant in advance of the appointment)

I didn't need to deposit any money (although I chose to deposit €200) and I didn't need my birth certificate, despite having rummaged around the house for a few hours trying to find it..

The Account

-In France it is normal to pay a fee for the use of your account (compte). I went with the one at Banque Populaire which costs €6.60 'par trimestre' (every 3 months) which appears to be a fairly good deal.

-I have been given a sheet of paper with my bank details on to give to the school on my first day so they can pay me, and I need to come back into the branch in September to collect my card as I don't currently have a French address.

-The whole thing was conducted in French, but my rusty second year level of fluency seemed to do fine. 

Summary

Not nearly as difficult as I was told: the meeting lasted approximately 45 minutes and I didn't need to use a dictionary. Sorted.

Reconnaissance à Bourg: Day 1, First Impressions

Ignoring a slightly odd encounter with a man beeping and shouting at me from his car (perhaps my ankles were on show under my risqué jeans-and-cardi?) I think I could grow to love this place. It's beautiful; there's an old monastery, a cathedral and a park with a huge lake (photos to follow). The town has everything I could possibly need: phone shops, banks, clothes shops, cafés and - most importantly - an Irish bar. There's even an enormous Intermarché a stone's throw from where I'll be living and I've sent an e-mail to the director of the regional choir of Ain requesting an audition.
:)

Goodbyes: leaving Exeter

Today I left the city that has been my second home for the last two years with several heavy bags and promises to return. It's a strange feeling, but it comes with the soundtrack of yesterday's evensong which was helping to sweeten the medicine...

Then I missed my train.

Kindling

I've always been on the traditionalist side of the e-book debate. Economy, environmental conscience and practicality all support the dawning of the Kindle, but I can't shake the fantasy of running a second-hand bookshop or having an enormous library in my future home.


Nevertheless, when moving to a different country with only a 20kg suitcase to one's name, practicality rules. At the end of my freshers year, while moving out of halls, I managed to break a family suitcase after filling it entirely with books. Thus the necessity to wear clothes at some point during my year-long placement and the sudden realisation that French libraries might not have a fantastic range of English literature has necessitated my decision to buy a Kindle. Watch this space to see if I ceremoniously burn it on the instant of my return.

Lonely, lonely Kindle.

Now: Classic or Touch?

Goodbyes: leaving Park Road

After a week of cleaning, tidying and a stressful evening de-frosting the freezer, the tenancy in our student house in Exeter ends today. I'm staying at a friend's to carry on my singing job at Buckfast Abbey - it's not goodbye to Exeter quite yet - but it's a surprising relief to be free of excessive cleaning and awkward co-habitation. I'm hoping the 'assistants' corridor' next year is like this house, where housemates actually spend time together, cooking, going out or sitting around watching tv.. particularly since I won't know anyone within reasonable proximity when I'm in Bourg.


Let's be honest; I just want someone to go snowboarding with.

For my year abroad I want...

...to be Brigitte Bardot.

I feel like if I buy a stripy t-shirt I'm halfway there.

As a tall person with leftward leanings...

...I'm somewhat glad this guy's gone.

Accommodation

My first thought: http://www.appartager.com/
Fantastic (and punny) flat-share website linking together people seeking a housemate and people seeking a house. Great for student-y locations, but few results for little old Bourg.

Then an e-mail from the head of English tells me there's accommodation available in the school for €50 (a month?!) hopefully with the other assistants. At best it'll be like living in halls again. At worst I can move out.

Why I chose British Council

-I wanted something to put on my CV.
-An internship sounds like a lot of work...
-12 hours a week; €800 a month.

Sorted.

Pre-departure timeline

November 2011: Send off application to British Council
22 December 2011: Acknowledgement of application
13 April 2012: Approval from British Council
25 May 2012: Acceptance of application: allocated first choice académie of Lyon; secondary school. (Note this was sent to personal e-mail address! A few of us spent quite a while frantically refreshing my.exeter...)
11 June 2012: Final details sent to home address: allocated Lycée Edgar Quinet, Bourg-en-Bresse and Collège les Côtes, Perronas.

Still to go: insurance, packing, leaving (!)