Repas des Profs

This turned out to be a hugely entertaining night! One of the teachers that I work with (Gilbert) was an organiser, and he not only shouted me but also kindly drove me and Tessa there.

The restaurant (La Connivance) was really nice (food and atmosphere) and Wilfrid (the guy who
takes the workshops that I do at music school...with the NZ shirt!) and his wife were the musical
entertainment. Although Gilbert also got up and sang at one point.

I kinda got in trouble for not bringing my flute, but I hadn't practised anything so I think I made the right choice!

Tessa and I found ourselves some friends. We had a good chat with them... including Tessa with
Lisiane, despite the fact that Tessa doesn't speak a lot of French, and Lisiane doesn't speak English!

Funny moments there included Lisiane telling Tessa to eat the crust of the cheese (apparently, not very tasty at all) and Tessa trying to teach Lisiane to say 'fork.' I'm sure you can guess
which mistake she made.

The evening started with a Kir (Wikipedia says "Kir is a popular French cocktail made with a measure of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped up with white wine") while we were milling around.

My entrée was a salade lalandaise:

Yes, I was a bit scared of the meat, as I think it may have been 'gizzards,' but I must confess that
it tasted alright. And I had to have foie gras since I'm in the South West.

For the main, steak with morille mushrooms.

Tessa and I both managed to forget to take a picture of the cheese which came along between main and dessert.

Dessert was quite a selection: tarte tatin (more or less apple upside-down tart, I think), some kind of nut nougat thing, some kind of chocolate and coconut thing, a chocolate macaron, fruit jubes and a baba au rhum (A rum baba or baba au rhum is a small yeast cake saturated in liquor, usually rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream... thanks, Wikipedia). Yum!

It was all finished off with a coffee/tea, during which time Wilfrid's wife taught us all an action
song, and then Wilfrid got everyone to join in on an amusing version of 'Que Je T'Aime,' which involved singing the brass stabs and making animal noises, from what I could gather. The YouTube one is, as Wilfrid said, 'en sérieux'... I prefer his more amusing version. Pure brilliance.

Then it was straight to bed (at about 1am) as Tessa needed to get the train to Toulouse at about 7am the next morning!!!!

However, here we are waiting for the train; I don't reckon we look too worse for wear. (We never
worked out quite why the Police officers were there).

Playing the Tourguide in Saint Gaudens: Day 4

Day 4

Good weather... huzzah! Tessa braved it in a t-shirt (and so did I, at some points). We felt like
people were looking at us like we were a little bit crazy.
Re-did the mountain walk so that she could actuallysee the mountains. I was determined to have her see them from Saint Go! Lol.

By the time we returned from our walk, it was pretty much lunch time. Once again, a picnic-style one with bread, cheese, youghurt, pâtisseries and fruit. And mountain (/factory!) views.Here's Kingi with my pistachio micaron.


Then, I thought we should have a nosey inside the Collégiale church, since it's the symbol of the
town. Here's me in the cloister...



Once again, went wandering to make the most of the good weather. From then on, it was all go. Off to music again (orchestra this time) and then out to dinner with some teachers from the lycée.

Playing the Tourguide in Saint Gaudens: Day 3

Day 3

Today was market day... and also, cold, rainy weather! But the market was still there, so we had a good wander around.




Then went in a few of the free shuttles that run between Saint Gaudens and some of the (really, really, REALLY) small surrounding towns. Good thing to do when it's wet... except when the shuttle fogs up and you can't see much!







Went to the crêperie I'd been to with Sabrina for lunch. Great deal, actually. We got the meal of the day (a huge plate with several different kinds of meat, and a salad), a dessert crêpe and a drink for 10E!

For the arvo, went in a couple more shuttles and, later on, I dragged Tessa with me to my music practice. ;p
When we arrived, Wilfrid started taking off his sweatshirt and saying 'look, look!' Lo and behold... something very photoworthy!

Playing the Tourguide in Saint Gaudens: Day 1 and 2

Hm, I feel very behind in my blogging. Anywho, can catch up a bit later on... For now, straight to recounting Tessa's visit.

Day 1
It started on a good note, with one of my classes being cancelled, meaning I could head in to the airport to get her a little earlier than expected. Huzzah!
By the time we got into Toulouse proper, it was dinner time. I totally failed at finding anywhere typically French (and even a cheap kebab place) and didn't want to make Tessa walk for ages, as she had a pretty big pack. So, we did something kinda French and went to the Quick (it's kinda like French McDonalds).Unfortunately, it was dark by the time we got the train from Toulouse to Saint Go, so she couldn't see the scenery.

Day 2

Since I had no classes, I thought we could do a mission somewhere on the train.
Got up for 7.30am breakfast at the canteen, which was quite good actually, as it meant Tessa got the cultural experience of being greeted with a kiss. :)
Had a bit of time before our train to Tarbes, so walked to one of my fav mountain viewing points. The weather decided to foil my plans; it was too foggy to actually see them.
Fortunately, we got some good mountain views while on the train to Tarbes.


I'd never been to Tarbes before either, so was cool to have a nosey.

We liked the Massey Gardens, where we ate our lunch (even had some cheese, to compensate for the un-French-ness of a packed lunch).

Went around being tourists, taking photos of lots of things, checking out a church and the local Galeries Lafayette, and doing a circuit of the centre of town in a free shuttle.

After that, decided it was time to relax for a bit.

After another wander, and a quick stop at the train station bookshop for magazines and postcards, it was time to hop back on the train.
That night, Tessa once again got to enjoy canteen food... and be amused by the random English that staff members sometimes came up with when I told them she didn't speak much French!

That's (My) Life

Brief snippets of life atm.

• Invited to have dinner with an English teacher from the lycée... Very nice evening. I ate so well, and probably drank more in that one night and following day (as I ended up staying) than I had since I arrived in France (not that it would take much as, ironically, I've been almost teetotal!). Also listened to old classic French songs, and some créole stuff too.
• Days that start at 0 degrees, but then get to about 17 in the afternoon.
• Random bike-rides... I set off in the hope of finding somewhere I haven't been to before (preferably on the flat, as my bike doesn't have gears). This often fills a couple of hours. And, forcément, my camera accompanies me. So I probably spend about as long taking photos as I do biking, but who cares?
• Trip to Luchon with people from music school to listen to a dude talk about composing music for films/tv series. We were kinda disappointed that it was more about him and his life than how he goes about the composition, but never mind.
• Once again, chiming in on a family dinner chez my bike owner... and wussing out on trying oysters.
• Getting the train to the next town on a whim, and spending the morning wandering about in the sun, with sweet mountain views, taking photos, and checking out the cute chapel there.
• Promising to lend my 'Great NZ Songbook' CD to the PE teachers here so they can listen to NZ music for PE. One teacher then started planning how they could get all their students to do the haka as a warm-up!
• Monday nights which have suddenly got really full: rock climbing at the collège, and then choir. I'm really popular at choir because they like to see young people coming along. Teehee, it's great. I'm not fully convinced that I'm meant to be a soprano, but I'm happy to stay there 'cos it's an easier part to learn.
• Listening to cheesy French pop CDs that a teacher lent me. Kids, if you haven't listened to Claude François, then you probably should. (Especially you, Lorenz, if you are reading). Even if you're not a French speaker, you may recognise some songs...
  
• Feeling really lazy 'cos Xavier, my flatmate, keeps speaking to me in English, and then I switch into English mode and keep responding to him in English.
• Trying to read a book in Spanish, which results in me occasionally getting confused with French. Eg, the other day étudier became éstudier because I was thinking of estudiar.
• Receiving a combined email from 3 of my friends in NZ, who were drunk at the time of writing. Gold.
• Trying to arrange a way to stay in Europe... this weekend, I meet up with someone about a potential au pair job. So, watch this space (again).

Kiwi in the Mountains

Musical People in Saint Gaudens

Photos from jazz improvisation workshop on Thurs and jazz orchestra on Friday nights!

Mountain Views from School

La Roulotte: Great café in Toulouse

This place is great. For 15€ we got a fantastic brunch! And the decor was cute, and the owner was nice. Also important: it was warm inside!!!!!


The Sunday brunch: scrambled eggs, fig and goat cheese tart, salad with apricots and cheese, a few assorted wee cakes (can't remember what they were, home-made yoghurt, a juice, and a hot drink. = satisfaction!

Tania (Canadian) and Kate (the other Kiwi)... good work on finding this place!

Capturing France

Trying to make the most of the time I've got left here, and seem to have become addicted to biking. So, basically, good times with the bike and the camera.



This is about 5 minutes from my place. I always take pictures when I see things that correspond with the image of France I had in my head. I told that to one lady when I was showing her photos and her response was "You've got France in the 60s in your head."



Near one of my fav Pyrenees-viewing spots on the outskirts of St Go.



Kingi and me posing with the Pyrenees.




Couple of pix taken on a casual Saturday-morning bike ride. Flatmate Xavier suggested this route... it's an established one that runs through several towns so, if I ever got really ambitious, could probably make a day of it!



My bike's owner invited me to this mosaic and patchwork display. Teeny town, expo at the town hall/post office (as you can see, it got a bit crowded), the mayor even made a speech.


2 Kiwis in Toulouse (Pont Neuf in the background). Kate was doing the 'biker gang' face a photo early, I think...


St Go looking gorgeous...

Decisions, Decisions...

I do not like! End of contract is approaching (finish of April) and I have spent some time conisdering the next step. I really considered a lot of things, from renewing my assistantship contract, to doing a working holiday in France or Spain, to au pair work, applying to be an assistant in Spain, or even doing some kind of gap year programme.

I have just recently decided that, unless I find an au pair job within the next 2 months, I'll travel for a bit after the contract and then head back home. It's a shame not to be able to stay in Europe for longer, but I can't deny that I'll be pretty glad to get back to the homeland and see all the folks/friends again!

Basically, visas are super-annoying! So, even if I took the easier option of doing the assistantship thing again, I'd possibly still be visa-less between contracts for a bit (therefore no home base and no right to work and earn myself some more moolah!) and perhaps even have to go back home to renew anyway. Stuff that! I'm not going all the way home just to come back again; I'll at least stay for a while. And, anyway, this year has shown me that I don't want to be a school teacher... so not a lot of point in playing that game for another 7 months. ;p

Unfortunately, that means some more decision-making in terms of career! Come on, Rugby World Cup. Make me a job in Napier that involves hanging around with les Bleus...

+ 2 Essential French Words That I Forgot Last Time

1. Quoi
   Put this at the end of any statement.
   I'm a bit tired, quoi.
   It's not my thing, quoi.
   It's a nice day, quoi.
   She's nice, quoi.
2. Allez.
   I reckon this can more or less be translated as 'right.' It literally means 'go,' which is why I find it so amusing when I hear people say 'allez, viens' to their kids. (Go, come here... or, rather, 'right/come on/let's go, come here'). Another multi-purpose word.
   Finishing a conversation with someone: Allez, I've got to go.
   Announcing a decision: Allez, what we'll do is...
   Giving instructions to do someone: Allez, you set up the tables.
   Getting attention: Allez, let's start again.