Sad Times.

A sad thing happened yesterday – I bought my ticket home. On the morning of the 8th of May, I will arrive in Paris, climb aboard a Eurostar, and reluctantly return to England.

I really don’t want to, but it’s got to happen. If I could transport family, Frida and friends (‘the three Fs’) to France, i’d be happy to live here long term, but that’s not entirely practical. Besides, England needs me - I leave for a few months, and the country falls into disarray, with elections, and new Prime Ministers popping up all over the place.

So, in a nice end-of-France post, I thought I’d make a list of some of the things i’m going to miss about France. It’s difficult to think of them all off the top of my head, as i’ll probably only realise a lot of them once i’m back in the UK. Still, here’s a few:

• Fresh baguettes - stereotypical, but true
  
• Trams. I actually love them.
  
• Ordering food in a restaurant, and not being entirely sure what it is until it arrives.
• Complaining about the lack of bacon.
• Being a foreigner.
• Learning a few new words every day. Forgetting them the next.
  
• Getting lost in the city, and simply wandering around until finding out where I am.
• Being able to understand people, when they think you have no idea what they’re saying.
• Being a ‘celebrity’ in school, and having every pupil saying “Good morneeng, Gaveen” as they walk past.
• The more relaxing speed of life. England is too fast, busy and grey. France is the opposite.

Also, i'm not sure what is going to happen to this blog once i've left Nantes. I'd like to carry it on, but my life in Reading tends to be fairly dull. It'd just end up being hundreds of Airfix Models and Fimo Fires. And let's face it, who wants to read about that!

Last Week of Lessons.

So, it's over. Today I had my last-ever class. The seven months have gone incredibly quickly, and I don't really want to stop teaching!

A lot of pupils had made me 'goodbye' cards and posters. Some of them were cute and well-written, some of them were a bit last-minute, and simply a scrawled poster. I have a few favourites, though, such as this one, which was done by a particularly inventive pupil. Apparently it shows the Conquistadors invading South America and the Aztec people fighting them off. An obvious choice for an English assistant.


That's maize they're growing in the fenced-area. This is going on my wall when i return to England.

This one, however, is the best of all. It's a joint effort from a class of 10-year olds. It's not artistic, but the message they wrote on it is the best thing i've ever read:



You can zoom in to see the message, which reads:

"For Gavin I go missed you
A feeling which is down at the bottom of l'heart at the bottom of the eyes a good qu it is necessary to have a good qu it is nessecary to give a mistery which give l'friendship. It adore Gavine passes a good voyage."

It does make me wonder if they've learned a single thing this year. Never mind.

With my two favourite classes, it was not a proper goodbye, as i'll be meeting up with them in a couple of weeks in London. They're all going to be there on a school trip, and i'm going to accompany them for a day around various tourist attractions. Apparently they're looking forward to seeing me in my 'native habitat'..!

Spitfire Stop-motion.

A while ago on the BBC, there was a series called James May's Toy Stories, which basically made giant versions of childhood toys. One of the episodes involved building a huge Airfix model. I'd pretty much forgotten that Airfix existed, but felt briefly inspired to build a Spitfire, before quickly forgetting once again.

Then, Frida sent a parcel to France containing an Spitfire Airfix kit for 'a boring day in the shed'. Today, being Sunday, was that day, and so I made my Spitfire. Not content with simply making it, I decided to make a short (very) stop-motion film of the model, complete with authentic Spitfire engine noises.



Like I said, Sunday + France = Suddenly taking up weird hobbies. Probably need to get out more.

Nantes Carnival.

Last Sunday, there was a carnival in Nantes. A french friend reliably informs me that it's the beginning of a festival-week where Nantais people celebrate the end of the winter, and the beginning of the spring. All I know is that it involved an unhealthy amount of confetti, squirting-string and bizarre floats.

There were all kinds of strange things coming down the road, such as a troupe of Sarkozys, Noddy and friends, and some robots with whisk-hand. People were spraying the ones they didn't like with the squirty-string stuff, so the Sarkozys were covered pretty quickly.


Noddy, PC Plod and Big Ears. Interestingly, in French Noddy is called 'Oui-Oui' (yes-yes), and Big Ears is 'Potiron' (pumpkin).


Some of the eleven Sarkozys (Sarkozi?)


Whisky men.


A deep-sea diver with a spider as a hand acting as a puppeteer to the mayor of Nantes. Obviously.


There was a lot of confetti on the floor by the end of the parade.

Now for a blog-first - there should be a video just under here. Apparently Noddy and crew enjoy listening to Muse when they are in procession. How odd.

Salmon Shenanigans.

My trip to Geneva was cancelled, due to an certain Icelandic volcano. This means i've got a whole week to fill. Today, I passed the time by making an overly-extravagant lunch.



I don't know what they're actually called, but never mind. I made a dill sauce out of oil, vinegar, cream, lemon juice, salt and sugar and left it for a bit to make it all dill-y. While I was waiting, I prepared some cucumber, salad, and smoked salmon on a plate, then poured the dill sauce on top.

I'm thinking of trying to make sushi next, but i'm scared I might poison myself. I might wait until i'm back in the UK, where i'm certain of my fish-vocab.