My last few weeks in France!

My last few weeks here have flown by as predicted and tomorrow I move to Seville! Aah!

The weekend after my last post I went out with a group of friends, we went to the good old Irish bar, where I think it’s safe to say a good time was had by all! And then some of us headed off to an actual club! I hadn't been to one before in La Rochelle since the bars are all good and open until pretty late anyway. But the others said that I had to experience the club ‘L’Oxford’ before I left La Rochelle! When we got there I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was ‘Ladies Night’ so it was free for girls to get in! Although the poor guys had to pay 12€! (although that did include a drink) We were happily dancing away when an announcement came on to say that as part of ‘Ladies Night’ there was a male stripper coming on stage! Which was... an interesting experience! Haha, we left shortly after that, only to find that it was pouring with rain outside and one of my friends had chained his bike up somewhere in the park on the way to the club but we couldn't remember exactly where, and it’s a big park! We spent a good 10 minutes looking for it in the rain while he panicked that his Mum was going to kill him if he'd lost it since it was in fact her bike! Haha, but luckily we eventually found it and headed home!

 In the Irish Bar

 

The last day of my assistantship was a Friday and normally I only work in the afternoons on Fridays but I’d decided to go into school in the morning to make the most of my last day! However when I woke up and looked out of my window I found that it had snowed a little overnight. There was probably less than a cm but on my walk to the bus stop I saw a number of people sweeping their drives, people wearing snow boots and cars driving ridiculously slowly even though the roads were already clear! I began to worry a bit that my bus wouldn’t be running, but luckily I got the to the bus station to find that it was! I arrived to a class full of very over-excited children, since they’re not used to snow!

 

Pathetic amount of snow!

 

At break time the headmaster brought out a rather impressive looking galette from the local bakery as well as another smaller, traditional gateau des rois.

 

Yummy galette!

 

There's no staff room at the school so all the teachers gathered around in the corridor to eat it, while my mentor gave me some leaving presents and I handed out mine too! I got a selection of regional products- two different flavour salted butter caramels, some galettes (little buttery biscuits), some chocolate seagulls eggs which were yummy and did not last long!! And a mug of La Rochelle so I can ‘drink my tea in Seville and think of them!’ I also had a bottle of Pineau, which my mentor said was for my mum because during my assistantship she’s sent various things over for the school such as stickers, the cracker kits etc. However I'm not sure it would arrive in one piece if I posted it to her and I think it'll be too heavy to take in my suitcase to Spain for my Dad to take home, so the challenge is to drink it all before I leave! Just kidding, I think unfortunately it's probably going to end up as a present for my landlord or someone! All of us teachers then had a big photo which involved union jack waving! (see below!)

 

My presents from the school :)

That afternoon I worked with a group of 7 who were the only ones who hadn't yet finished their decoupage boxes (that I talked about before that they were making for mother's day). Luckily they all managed to finish them eventually! At break time four of the children helped me to dish out the Percy pig sweets and biscuits that I had brought back with me from England after Christmas. When they came back in after break they enjoyed their Percy pigs while I handed out the little presents I'd got for them. I got them Union Jack pencils and little notebooks with four different designs- an English policeman, a Beefeater, a Horse Guard and a Queen’s Guard.

Notebooks for the children

They were really pleased with them and I then had to give all of the children my 'autograph' on the first page of their notebooks! After that, all the children gave me drawings that they'd done for me as goodbye presents, they were really cute! And with a bisou for each of them as they left the classroom, my assistantship was over :(

One of my drawings from the children, how cute!

Me with the class and their notebooks!

On Saturday night Heather and her boyfriend were staying in La Rochelle and it was my last chance for a last proper night out, so we did a bit of a bar crawl of some of my favorite places- La Calhutte, Le Mayflower, Mauvais Garçons and ending up in General Humbert's Irish bar as per usual! It was a really good last night out!

 Me and Heather in La Calhutte

On Tuesday I’d planned to go for a walk around the town and take some photos. Unfortunately the weather has been awful this last week with almost non-stop rain and very strong winds, and Tuesday was no exception, but after waiting all day hoping for the rain to die down I eventually decided I wasn't going to let it ruin my plans and braved it anyway! I'm glad I did as it was as nice way to have a last look around the town, despite getting soggy feet and muddy boots from traipsing through the puddles in the park! It was also worth it because when I got off the Passeur (little solar powered boat that goes across the harbour) I looked back across to the Old Port to see that despite the very black sky there was a rainbow right in between the two towers, and almost as soon as I stopped taking photos it disappeared! It seemed like it was fate!

Wednesday I made the trip to see Harriet in Poitiers one last time before I go to Spain as it won't be quite so easy to visit then! Also, it’s her birthday next week so I thought it would be nice to hand deliver her present, albeit a little early! Lizzie who also does French at Sheffield met us there too as she's an assistant near Poitiers. We went for lunch in the usual creperie so I could have a last French crepe! It was a lovely visit, even if it was only short! (4 hours!)

 My scallops, leeks and creme fraiche crepe, yum!

 Lizzie, Me and Harriet

My last day here has been a little hectic and very stressful when pretty much everything that could possibly go wrong with the online check-in for my flight DID! But it was made nicer by going to meet Christine for lunch which was yummy!

And tomorrow is D-day! My alarm clock is set for 5.30am (5 and a half hours time, I should probably go to sleep!) then I’ll have to make my way (half asleep) to the station with two big suitcases, hand luggage and my laptop! It’s times like these that I wish I was capable of packing light! I'm getting the train to Bordeaux and I'm praying that it leaves from platform A so I don't have to try and negotiate any stairs with all that luggage! Then, from Bordeaux station I’m getting a coach to the airport where I fly to Barcelona before finally reaching the last leg of my journey and flying to Seville where I'm meeting my Dad around 7.30pm :) I then plan to go to our hotel and pass out I think: P

And then follows the quest to find somewhere to live! I've been looking online and there seems to be quite a lot of accommodation available in Seville which is promising and I've made an appointment to go and view a flat, although I had intended to have a lot more viewings arranged but I've been so busy I haven’t had a chance! So I think my first week in Seville could be rather hectic and stressful! My dad's staying until Wednesday morning and we're staying in a hotel until then, so in an ideal world I will have found somewhere to live and moved in before he leaves but I don't want to hold out too much hope for that!

I'll try and post again sometime soon to let you know how the nightmare journey and house hunting has gone!

Hasta entonces!