Yet another exciting weekend!

I'd been looking forward to this weekend for ages! Zoe, a friend from University, was coming to visit Lille! Luckily Caroline had to leave early Friday which meant leaving work at 4pm and not 5pm (THANK YOU!), allowing me to get to Lille to meet Zoe and have a quick stroll around the Grand Place!

We then met up with all my other assistant friends (shout outs to Nia, Jess, Becca, Luke Julia and her boyfriend Khal, Vanessa and Adam!) and decided to go to the famous Spoons: Les 3 Brasseurs - OF COURSE! After a lot of food and maybe too much booze, we headed toward the little Christmas Markets! When you come from Birmingham, these would seem less impressive....yet still lovely to walk round even if there wasn't too many stalls! After more to eat we then decided to go for more drinks - where Lauren and her boyfriend Ross joined us! Except half of us didn't go for drinks....

Jess showing so much sass infront of the wheel

"mes filles"

WE WENT ON THE BIG WHEEL!

I was quite nervous - the seats were swinging in the air! But when we got on the wheel my whole mood changed! I really enjoyed it - much to Zoe and Vanessa's scared looks and clinging on a bit tighter than normal!!

Don't look down.....

                                                                          

The night ended with more drinks and chats before getting the last train back to Douai! Having Zoe was lush, we ended up staying up till 1ish chatting and gossiping - a real girly sleepover! Of course with New Girl involved!

The next day was very cultural and exciting! We went to the Palais de Beaux Arts, a beautiful art museum in Lille for only 4 euros for students! We explored so many different rooms we even got lost at one stage! It's a really good experience for anyone who loves art! 

                                                                               

We then carried on to Nottinghill cafe to have hot sandwiches and cakes! The rest of the day involved wondering around Lille and old Lille showing Zoe some of my favourite spots! We then went to a little creperie for tea, which involved a tartine maroilles - bread, lots of cheese, ham and then a huge jacket potato...so after thinking we we're going to die after this huge meal, they then brought us 7/8 scoops of icecream each!?!?! It's now become my favourite restaurant...but also has given me a food baby I think!

 Sunday involved watching the latest Harry Potter/JK Rowling Film: Les Animaux Fantastique. OK so it isn't Harry Potter, but it was amazing, especially for 6 euros! We did a whooooole lot of walking after more and more French food that Isabelle had kindly left us! We went around the whole of Douai, and if I do say so myself I was pretty proud of my town that day shining its autumn colours!

With watching New Girl, crying together at how funny it was, as well as all our French culture, 89 Malbz did well on tour of Lille!!

A huge thank you to all the assistants and Zoe of course, for a fantastic weekend! I'm extremely lucky to have you all in my life and it's making the year abroad even better!!!! Roll on next week together in Arras and Bruges!

An update on my life in France!

It's been one whole week since I went to Paris - time is flying by! To think next week will mark 4 months in France is crazy how time has gone so quickly. One thing that isn't always accurate on year abroad blogs, is that there are also days that feel long. This is extremely normal, especially in the cold of November but also when you've been living somewhere for a long time - everything is starting to become normal and more of a routine! This is normal working life as my mother would say! I'm extremely happy despite some long days, with Zoe arriving this weekend, with a last full weekend with Caroline and her family the week after and then Bruges before Bloxwich, I don't have any time left before I leave now! My goal is to keep immersing myself in the French way of life!

My job is still lovely! I really would recommend the assistantship for anyone uncertain what to do with their time in France. It allows you to not only be fully immersed in a language, but to meet new friends, colleagues and have enough free time to do as you please - all with a wage at the end of it! My job has given me a lot of opportunities:

• Meeting new people and my assistant group!
• Becoming part of yet another French family
• Travelling with colleagues to Paris and Bruges during October
• Going to a school trip to a Farm!
• Going to a school trip to the Louvre Lens - this is the 9th of December and I'm so excited!
• I've also been asked to a family meal at a PE teacher's house - Who I've only met twice?!?!

Even if I don't see my end goal as becoming a Secondary School teacher, it's a pleasure to teach such well behaved and intelligent pupils! My job has allowed me to take up private tuition, through a teacher wanting her daughter to have extra lessons - which has now lead to a lot of the staff wanting me to teach their kids too!

OK so I'm not a qualified English teacher, but by being able to speak two languages (quite well at the moment) I'm now viewed as a great way for French kids to speak, gain confidence in English and enjoy it outside of the classroom!

Speaking two different languages also has its downfalls at times... 

I'm getting so used to speaking French, that when I now speak English with French people, I accidentally speak with a Frenched-up accent... It sounds a little crazy as when I have phone calls with my Mom or Matt, this isn't the case! Yet sometimes in class, I have to force my Bloxwich accent out...guess I'm spending too much time with French people! Odd but it now doesn't feel natural at all to speak English in the same way!!!!

Another fatal flaw with speaking half English half French in the same sentence is that occasionally you make HUGE MISTAKES that can cause your whole class to go into fits of laughter:

I began speaking about turkeys and how in the past they did not have the same chemicals to preserve the meat, as they do in big supermarkets nowadays. A huge mistake when flitting between two languages very quickly and not considering what I'm saying is that "preservatives" in English DOES NOT mean preservatives in French. Something I've known for a long time, yet my English brain didn't register fast enough...I was saying condoms and making sexual connotations about turkeys.

I also found this hilarious and very embarrassing, especially now every time the class see me they yell condoms at me...well there you go mistakes in other languages happen! Next time I'm going to avoid a "mélange" of the two langs in front of my classes..WHOOOPS. Note: Jess do not speak French when thinking in ENGLISH.... Nobody is perfect and it allows the classes to realise speaking another language is hard - even after 9 years of learning it! Turning everything into a learning curve or a joke really helps me in France, it's the best way forward!

So when I'm not in class what am I getting up to at the moment? I had a second successful trip to the hairdressers today, as well as spent a lot of time in the library! I've done a bit of baby sitting, I've done a bit of tutoring and I'm trying to power through Proust - his work is in the Guinness World Record Book for the longest set of books published - wish me luck! I've also began my Christmas shopping for French and English families so there goes my wage! 

This weekend I'm hopefully seeing Zoe and the other assistants in Lille and then spending Saturday exploring the city centre! Of course dragging Zoe to museums and Christmas markets! LET IT BEGIN!

T-24 days until I'm home in Bloxwich...hope you're ready for me!

JR xxxx

all gifs sourced from: www.gify.com 

Paris 11 Novembre!

Paris is always a good idea. After visiting Paris with Caroline and her family, I was dying to get back! Thankfully Nia and I had booked our tickets and Vanessa and Luke joined us! Before all of the excitement it was time for the very last "journée de formation" or training day for assistants in Lille. I was dreading it. Thankfully, it was actually a nice experience. I didn't learn all that much, but it was an occasion to meet new friends - shout out to the american girls who adopted me that day - as well as old ones - all my love to Ellie and Jess! Being in Lille always and I mean always results in les 3 Brasseurs - it's our equivalent to Spoons I think...

We always have a laugh here, and it was so nice to see nearly EVERYONE there too...Becca and Lauren we missed you!

Thankfully this wasn't too much of a late night as I was staying at Nia's with Vanessa before the early get up for Paris! We took the Ouibus a service I'd fully recommend - the seats are comfy you get USB ports, wifi and plugs..and a nice little toilet - THAT WAS CLEAN! I'm very easily pleased.
Arriving in Paris at around 10:25 we took to the metro to our first stop...of course the Tour Eiffel - I couldn't let Luke, who had never been to Paris, not see the main attractions could I? This time thankfully it was BEAUTIFUL weather!

I'm sure everyone will agree, this made all our Instagram dreams come true! Second on the list of course for tour guide Rushton was the Arc de Tri, where I managed to meet up with my lush friend from Uni of Notts: Zoe! It was amazing to be able to have a lovely catch up, talk about our year abroad best bits/crises and introduce her to my Lille friends! I really hope she'll be in Lille in two weeks time with us all! It was so nice to have a little piece of home with me that day, so thank you again!

You can see in the photo the large tricolore! 11 Novembre is a national bank holiday to support armed forces day, with a parade that literally meant police, secret police and loooooads of lovely flags - EVERYWHERE!

After a lovely McDonalds in the poshest of them all - the Champs Elysees, we headed for our next destination: La Place de la Concorde and Le Louvre! I must admit, I wasn't expecting such a lovely day weather wise so this made the walk down even better. Paris is definitely one of my favourite places in the world, especially during this walk, it gives me all the feels! Baudelaire eat your heart out.

 A shock for tout le monde, was the Christmas markets beginning! The really large Parisien Christmas market was open on our way down to La Place and I couldn't have been happier. We went through all the stalls and may have ran across the road a few times for cute photos of the Arc and the national flags!

Next stop: beautiful fountains, a huge spike to replace a guillotine and beautiful Parisien scenes!

 



After visiting the Louvre and meeting with Nia's exchange friend Linda, we went to see the Notre Dame and Shakespeare and Co.




Anyone who knows me best will know this is usually my favourite place on the planet.....

But let me tell you I was even a little bit disappointed. Whether the first time I visited it had taken off the shine, or whether my brain has done a bit of a French backflip I don't know...yet here's why. I began looking at all the copies of Proust - a famous French author for those not in the literary loop yet - and they were all English. Myself being ridiculously stupid at times, forgot that the whole store was an English librarie and not a French one. I was actually really upset by the fact that none of the amazing copies would be in a language I've now become so accustomed to...I actually prefer struggling with Proust and his intellect in French, than just reading the English...

Geek moment over, it was time for a crepe, how can we not?!?! We're in Paris! It was a fantastic way to finish my day being yet again a petite flaneuse in the most beautiful city. Next time I'm desperate to visit the latin quartier and discover where my favourite writers went for coffee!

Thank you so much to Nia who's put up with me the entier weekend and gave me a place to crash, to Vanessa, Luke, Zoe and Linda - It was a really brilliant day.

What's going on now in Jessica's world?

• I'm still tutoring and this seems to have become a permanent thing from now on for the time that I'm here. I'm really enjoying teaching my student - she's very enthusiastic - but also it allows me to flit between French and English with ease - always a plus!
• I'm spending the week helping to baby-sit and be in the company of Caroline and her family, which I cannot wait for! I haven't really had chance (minus Paris) to speak much English so the more time I spend with all these French people the better!!!! (FOR THE LOVE, WINE AND LANGUAGE)
• Next month before I come home I'm going to Belgium again thanks to Luke (hero), Becca and Lauren who asked me! A perfect Xmas market day out for SURE.
• Nia and I have booked Amsterdam for January! Yes more and more trips galore! This is definitely going to kick January blues in the butt!!!!

Becoming a Tutor and Refusing to "Sink"!

I've become a tutor! I've accepted extra lessons and I'm now tutoring a young French girl English. It's a very exciting experience to literally be wanted "because I speak to languages", as I felt it was necessary to explain I'm not actually a qualified teacher!! Instead, once a week I'll be doing a conversational class to help the student improve her pronunciation and confidence in English. I began today and it's extremely self rewarding - I'd recommend anyone who's been asked to do the same in France to go for it! I'm very lucky to have an enthusiastic and very kind 11 year old! It was a real pleasure sitting explaining things backwards and forwards in two languages fluently and often it helps my French just as much as it helps her English. I've now met another French family through this and hope to continue doing this every Monday. I was really lucky that I was asked to do this, but I think if you've got a lot of free time or need something to keep you busy or simply just enjoy speaking two languages in a French environment, put an Ad up at school/online/in the local newspaper. Why not!

Tomorrow is my day off - I'm really glad as the next 3 days I'll be getting up at 6, looking like a train wreck and trying to function in French...ooooh dear. I've decided I'm going to seize the opportunity to have a bit of sleep but tour Douai, get some confidence back and see if I can squeeze in some me time for reading - I'm sure I can! For anyone who's interested, my brother tomorrow starts his radio show! It'll be every Tuesday (11am-1pm UK time) on http://thecatradio.co.uk/ so I HAVE to be home to catch this!!

Wednesday I'm in Biache for a little bit, then coming home to relax before the "journée de formation" in Lille Thursday. I'm really not optimistic. Other regions of France may have been better, but Lille has been shocking for training. I've felt it's been a waste of time and money ...especially when they make you do the cup song from Pitch Perfect...thankfully it's an opportunity to see friends! Friday means another early get up but for Paris! So this will be totally worth it, even if it is forecast rain!!!! I'm hopefully going to be meeting up with my uni friend Zoe in Paris too, so she can join our mad crew of assistants for the day!!!

Another main reason for me writing today, is that I really need to say a lot of thank you's and mercis. A year abroad cannot be perfect all of the time. This is a fact, they're are going to be things that happen to anyone who moves to a foreign country... sometimes out of our control. In my case, a lot out of my control. What is important, is that in hard times that assistants in France have family and friends. Whatever the weather. I'm really grateful to so many people lately, especially my family - which I see as my close family, Caroline and her family, Marie and her family, and of course Rich, Luke, Vanessa, Nia, Becca, Lauren, Julia, Beth and Jess!!!! Especially as of late, I dread to think where I'd be without everyone's support, help and guidance, facebook chats! SO THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU HEROS. You've made me feel like Jess again.

On a positive note, the French is getting easier day by day. Living in France is like being thrown in at the deep end without your armbands - but I refuse to sink. I've been put into many situations so it's allowed me to really adapt my language! OK nothing is perfect, I have my days where I just need English and my brain feels a bit dead....but this is becoming less and less! Let's hope it just gets better.

ROLL ON PARIS.

JR xxxx

Paris and the end of half term!

I left you on my last blog post just before a really large French meal with Isabelle's friends from the South. We ended up having a traditionally Northern meal...with lots of wine and beer! We had a traditional ch'ti cheese tart called 'Maroilles' which was incredible, I found this good site to explain what I mean if you're interested: http://www.northernfrance-tourism.com/Regional-gastronomy/Recipes/The-Maroilles-Flamiche-tart-ch-ti-recipe-par-excellence

This glass was a really funky beer glass! I don't really enjoy beer - or so I thought. I've tried Northern French beer and it's not half bad! I'm also getting more and more used to having an 'aperitif' before food..but after a few glasses of wine your head feels this more than your stomach! How France has changed me! I had a really nice time at the meal, including a lovely letter a stranger had given Isabelle's friend. When searching for museums in Paris, a kind lady felt too shy to speak to them yet instead wrote an amazingly kind letter in French. I thought it was like something you'd find out of a book!

Friday I went to Biache to visit Caroline's family, who were kindly letting me stay the night before we all went to Paris. This lovely meal also included more wine! What is happening?! I can't complain though, I had the most fantastic time.  I really enjoyed spending my evening playing board games with the kids, as well as the brand new mario kart on the wii...oh how I wish I was still a child.

Me and Nathan on Mario

 After a good sleep in a quilt that was made of duck feathers - it was from Poland and the warmest thing I've ever slept in! - We all got up to go to Paris.


It wasn't too much of an early start as we left the house at around 8, yet managed to get to Paris at 10 o'clock! It was Alain's decision then to park on the Champs Elysees which was convient and even had a few sites to see
too!
The first real shock was that the Champs was pretty much empty. There was a few people wondering around but nothing like the normal Parisien chaos I've seen before. I asked the family and because it's the Saturday of half term, a lot of Parisiens apparently travel and do other things! I wasn't complaining, it was fantastic to be able to walk around the shops and streets that morning not having to worry too much about your bag! The shops all have white signs on this road - it's actually a historical thing, even the McDonald's has a white M. What's also really cool, is most of the really expensive, Valentino Chanel Louis Vuitton shops have security all on their doors, so as you nose into them, you have these stern looking French guys looking back at you like don't you even think about it!




We then decided to walk to the Eiffel tower from here. It's a little far, so I think next time I go I will maybe just pay to use the metro (lazy). It also depends on the weather!

Arriving at the eiffel tower was amazing as we arrived across the river from it and got some really nice photos together.  The kids really decided they wanted to go up it, something that I've never been overly fussed about as I'm often told it takes time and isn't always worth it when you only have one day....however thank god for Nathan who really wanted to go!

It did take two hours of queuing before we took the lift up the eiffel tower. Personally, in life I think it's an extremely good thing to go and do, despite the queue. We arrived at 11am, yet I underestimated how long it would all take. After having been up the Arc de Triomph I naively thought it wouldn't take that long...it's as big as it looks OK... 

Arriving at the second floor we got to wait for the next lift to the top with stunning views. This is the Palais de Challot in the Cité de l'Architechture. It's really magnificent. As I say, it's a long wait but it was worth it even at the second floor.

The top floor had its own champagne bar, witwoo and was completely worth all the time we spent waiting to get there. We took loads of photos and had the most incredible view across Paris. It's something I'm really lucky to have done, especially with a French family by my side.

It was 2pm by this point, as you can see the day goes so quickly! We decided to eat on the first floor of the eiffel tower - a really awesome experience with huge windows and Croque Monsieurs galore. The prices matched the size of the tower I think...

It was still really yummy though!

Finishing the tower with walking on the glass floor was also really cool, couldn't help thinking of what poor Matt's face would have been like though!!!!

Without being extremely dull, I can't tell you too much on here about where my next steps were...I have some birthday and christmas surprises for people at home! But onto the final stop of the day that was COCKTAILS! We managed to find a nice little pub that did happy hour around 4 o'clock so we sat in Paris drinking and laughing.

We had another last stop at the Elysees, the palace/hugeeeee mansion of a place where François Hollande lives. Sadly we didn't get to see him, but we did have a sneak peak inside the gates!

My day finished again on the Champs, after seeing a tiny bit of la place de la concord! We managed to get home just before 8:30pm and had a lovely McDonalds for tea!! Cannot beat chicken nugs! The rest of my weekend lasted in Biache, with lots of "quality family time" and more cake of course!

I start back to work Thursday and have been since spending time with my family in Douai, going out and catching up with each other. Isabelle made an incredible meal and tart which has made my life!!!!

So what's happening next? I'm going back to work for two days then it's the weekend! This weekend I should be hopefully seeing Marie and then resting before the hectic week ahead. I've got my last training day for the assistantship Thursday, and then I'll be stopping at Nia's before going to Paris...AGAIN :D! We booked the Ouibus something I'd definitely recommend at the moment just based on the price! We'll see how it goes!

As for now, it's time to get everything ready for la rentrée, including my brain. It was a really good October half term, and despite missing my family, it's been the right choice to stay. I feel really lucky to have visited to huge cities and to spend some quality time with French people. I guess now its back to the train journeys and early mornings.....

JR

xxx

PS. It's 1 month until December...is it OK to start Christmas songs?

So excited to go home, but good grief I'll miss the decent bread and wine :)!!!!

PPS. I've now not been at home for 2 full months, crazy or what?