Birthdays, Surprises and Fun Stuff

The twenty firsts and have started coming thick and fast now so I've been busy having parties here and remembering to send cards to those back home too. First was Luke's and we all enjoyed the opportunity to dress up properly for the first time since coming to France. My dress and heels had been sat in the wardrobe for 3 months just wanting to be worn! Wearing heels for the first time since August was not a nice experience though :( 

Then on Thursday night we celebrated Katy's birthday by throwing a massive surprise party with all the gentlemen, including a scrap book which everyone wrote in. I really can't think of a better and more meaningful present to remember celebrating your 21st on a year abroad. This was an amazing night, which included my decision (influenced by alot of wine) of staying in the club til 4 before running off to pack and catch a bus to the airport at 5am with a slice of pizza and red bull in tow. Surprised myself by staying awake for an impressive 37hours! Ace weekend in Amsterdam being entertained by Holly's fun facts!
One thing that always baffles me is the lack of security in European airports. With most of my airport experiences taking place in England I am used to being stopped every 5 minutes for my passport but it amazes me how laidback the Europeans seem to be. Not one person looked at my passport on the way to and from Amsterdam yet on booking my plane home for Christmas I learnt it will take me 90minutes to transfer at Heathrow due to all the checks. Baffling!

In other news...

Since I last blogged France threw its first stupid drunk bitches on us, which ended with a friend being kicked in the mouth, I nearly got followed home by a creepy french guy and also mugged in Amsterdam and after 3 months I actually have to start doing some work now as I have a presentation on Monday that i am completely unprepared for :( 

In happier news, I recieved the best post ever today! A letter from my grandpa (takes a while to decipher his writing) and an amazingggggg advent calendar from my dad and sister :D eeeeeeeek not stopped smiling all day.

Ciao for nowwwww <3

Quel temps fait-il ?

Theres a hugeeeeeeee storm happening right now so it seems like the perfect time for a weather post. Being from England I know how to complain about the weather, but this post is for the complete opposite (minus the scary storm.)
It is now the 27th of November and being from the north of England this to me means hat, scarf, gloves and freezing temperatures and I kind of expected the same here. How wrong could I be! 4 days away from December (when i feel I can officially start listening to Christmas or Aixmas music) it was 18 degrees today. I'm gonna absolutely freeze when I land back in England :(

Back to the storm, I have just learnt some storm related words.
le tonnerre et la foudre - thunder and lightning both of which are in full flow right now

I've lived through a few of these storms now and the thunder and lightning doesn't get any less scary :( I've also learnt that the mistral (strong wind) often follows for a few days after so the cold might be on its way soon :( 

The positive of this is i might be able to use my new hat i bought in Amsterdam! Which however stupid i may look is really cool!

Diwali

So yesterday a friend suggested we have a mass curry cooking session to celebrate diwali and it was amazinggg!!!!! 

4 delicious curries shared by about twenty people all for 2.50 each accompanied by lots of wine and of course a night out (complete with live band) for afters, couldn't ask for anything better.

Catch up :)

Soooo since i havent blogged in a while this one might be a long one :) and ive been doing lotsss of things 

1. I went to a lebanese birthday party.



My uni friend Carey invited me to her lebanese flatmates birthday party, fun and a good place to practise french because her landlady wouldnt let us speak any english.

2. Went to my first ever rugby game (they lost)

I went to see the aix rugby team, le parc, bargain compared to seeing sport at home. 5Euro for a ticket! They were winning until i went to the toilet, came back and they were twenty points down, and the really famous player from Lyon didnt even get on the pitch.



3. Had a lush roast dinner cooked by Australians (my first Yorkshire puds in over 2 months!)

Roast Lamb, potatoes, roast veggies, broccoli and most importantly Yorkshire puds and GRAVY. What more is there to say?




4. The thunderstorms and cold weather have arrived :(

I have never seen it rain like it does here! And when it rains, it doesn't stop for hours! in fact its raining right now :(

5. First family visit, Dad and sister :)

I had never gone so long without seeing any of my family, it was 2 months since they waved me off and Manchester airport and even though its been a fun filled 2 months I can't describe how happy I was to see my sister and dad come through those doors at the airport after a 5 hour delay. Every time the doors opened and it wasn't them my excitement grew a little bit more. I had such a fun few days with them, working our way round every cafe/bar in Aix with a little trip to Cassis and a paddle in the sea thrown in :) 

Can't wait to go home and see them again for another hug like this :)



6. First ever french concert! TRYO

So a friend suggested we go to see a band. I'd never heard of them but thought why not and it was soo good. We payed 30 euros to see an amazing band who played for 3 hours!!!!!! To say the French know the meaning of an encore would be an understatement. This itself lasted for 45 minutes and the bass/violin player was pretty hot! 
They did a bit of everything,  a french version of the aristocats and even some poledancing. 

 

7. Second family visit, Mum and Grandma

Finally this week i had my second visit! It was lovelyyy to see my mum and grandma after 9 weeks! Think they brought the cold weather from England with them but we had a fun week, with trips to Marseille and La Ciotat and a spot of shopping and some yummmmy chocolate cake haha. Seeing my family after all this time just makes me so much more excited to see everyone at christmas for a massive catchup!

8. Finally went out for toussaints (the day after halloween)
One friend had a pink wig, the other a blue. it was amusing :)

bit late...

Eeeee totally kept forgetting to blog and I've been up to so much this month!

Firstly and i cant believe its a whole month ago but i went to Croatia with 15 other Erasmus students and it was amazingggg! If like me you had never even entertained the idea of going to Eastern Europe then you HAVE to go! I have simply never been to a more beautiful place, and I would highly recommend Zadar. We stayed in a hostel about 20 minutes walk from the old town, which was just perfect for us. At the time i had only just moved out of one hostel into my house and wasn't too keen on going back to one so soon. However.. The Drunken Monkey hostel has totally changed my view on hostels in general and highlighted to me just how bad the one in Aix is. The staff were so welcoming and immediately helped us plan our weekend by booking a meal out and hiring minivans so we could drive to the national park. Starting with a very early getup on the Friday morning to get to the airport and ending with finding an Australian to cook us a barbecue on the last night this weekend was jampacked with everything including lots of swimming, drinking, dancing, laughing and very little sleep, although a quick nap by the sea organ sorted everybody out :) http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om24550.html Watching the sunset at the sea organ then watching some of the group jump into the sea surrounded by Japanese tourists (complete with their cameras) really was a perfect last day.


This weekend was perfect and i couldn't have asked to spend it with lovelier people. Very little planning and the number 16 couldn't have worked out any better. Oh and before i forget the beer costs less than the water!

NEXT STOP AMSTERDAM :D

Words can just not describe how ace this weekend was so here are a few pictures. 

Bien contre le mal

So the good news is that I finally moved in this week! Week 6 and I am no longer homeless woooooo! So happy to finally have my own space and not have to live by the stupid rules at the youth hostel :D I'll stick some piccies up of my new room later on. 

Unfortunately the good stops there. All things French are completely getting on my nerves this week and I cannot wait to leave for Croatia (albeit at 4am) in the morning!

Things annoying me this week.

1. French people

2. French university - I now feel so lucky to go to an English university as however bad the organisation there is, it's a million times worse than here and the staff are even more unhelpful.

3. Mosquitos. I am literally been eaten alive resulting in not been able to walk due to a swollen ankle from a bite and spending stupid amounts of money in the pharmacy.

4. French houses don't seem to have ovens???

5. Credit is ridicously expensive

6. The French seem to require ID or about 3 passport pictures for EVERYTHING!

7. French men are creeeeeepy

8. The fridge smells funny ( think its all the cheese :/)

9. In lectures you are just talked at for 3 hours straight, with no PowerPoint or apparent structure to the class.

10.  The teachers are rude. There isn't enough classes for all the erasmus students so a teacher just told 3 mature students they had to leave. have they heard of ageism?

However I did discover the amazingness of a freshly baked croissant from the bakery for breakfast!

Eeeeee complaining done... Best go pack for Croatia!!! :D 

Let's go to the beach beach

Eeeeee loving life in the south of France! Been to the beach twice this week. Cassis (pictured) is a stunning place and marseille today was lovely and good at turning people into lobsters! I cant quite believe I live no more than an hour away from all these amazing places now! Just want to explore them all, got the travelling bug now and have just booked to go to Croatia for a weekend with a big group of Erasmus students I've met here. Actually cannot wait! Off to bed now, going to watch ironman triathlon tomorrow! Will explain all later :)

On a last note, I just can't get enough of all the amazing crepes they make here :D

Good news or bad?

After 3 weeks of searching and possibly some of the worst luck ever I have finally found a place to live for the year, however the bad news is I can't move in til the end of the month so I'll be living out of a suitcase for another 2 weeks :( damnnnn. 
However the room I have found is rented by a lovely French lady and has a proper French feel about it so I'm excited for moving in day! 

Not had the best few days so hopefully I can have some fun on my last week before I start classes :)

Who the **** is Alice

I also discovered I cannot escape my song anywhere I go! 

Day 8... Still homeless

So appartement hunting is hard enough without having to talk to a whole load of frenchies on the phone! No luck yet but I have seen some interesting (to say the least) places so far. Just met two lovely french guys in the perfect place but I have to wait a week to find out, which is kinda rubbish cos I'm staying with a friend and dont want to be a nuisance. Also i cant enrol properly until i have a fixed address... Nightmare!!! On the upside we did get invited to a party on Thursday which sounds fun with a tonne of frenchies!! 

Loved my first week in Aix met some lovely people all doing Erasmus, there's a distinct lack of french people at the moment cos they don't start uni for another few weeks. Looking forward to meeting lots more people and hopefully understanding them a bit more. 

13 unlucky for some...

I'm in room 13 at hotel du globe, A very nice hotel with a rooftop terrace that has a view of the entire city. Definitely going to take photos of that tomorrow!

Started my intensive French course today, it's a bit overwhelming but hopefully will be fine in a couple of days. Had totally forgotten the frenchies pronounce my name as aleeeece and it took 3 attempts for the lecturer to get my name right, after which he made a joke and everyone laughed. I have no idea what he said but in England I'm used to Alice in wonderland or Alice who the **** is Alice, so maybe there's some sort of French equivalent?! 

Tonight I went to a picnic in the park with lots of other Erasmus students, which was a great way to meet lots of new people, even managed to keep up my amazing track record of finding someone from Yorkshire wherever I end up! Also managed to be as classy as ever by climbing over the park fence as I left cos all the gates were shut :(

Managed to get lost again today but it's only day 2 so hopefully will know my way round sooon and have lots more to say! 

Au Revoir

So after months of planning, the suitcase is packed and I'm off in the morning!