Sunday, 18 December 2011
Les fêtes
It's been really cold and rainy/snowy this week so we've been stuck in the house quite a lot, which is never good. We managed a trip out last Sunday when it was fairly sunny, up another mountain. I have to stop myself from taking it all for granted! Every week we're seeing the most spectacular sights and it's easy to just walk on by and not realise it.
Stu and Max also managed to take some time to see how the RX7 was getting on:
We've had a couple of mini Christmas celebrations with our friends here before we leave for England.
On Friday night we went to Catherine and Eric's house for tartiflette, a traditional Savoyard dish made with lardons, potatoes and reblochon cheese - extremely tasty and something I'll definitely try to recreate soon.
Last night we had a mini party here with Mike, Emily and the boys as well as Catherine and Eric.
Guess where the sun was?
Stu and Max also managed to take some time to see how the RX7 was getting on:
We've had a couple of mini Christmas celebrations with our friends here before we leave for England.
On Friday night we went to Catherine and Eric's house for tartiflette, a traditional Savoyard dish made with lardons, potatoes and reblochon cheese - extremely tasty and something I'll definitely try to recreate soon.
Last night we had a mini party here with Mike, Emily and the boys as well as Catherine and Eric.
Frogs, Rostbifs and Yanks unite
This morning we woke up to a good couple of inches of snow, so we're going to spending today making snowmen and sledging, and tomorrow Stu and Lil are going to go up the mountain skiing again. Their first lesson yesterday was mainly a success although Lily got over competitive with Stu and ended up on her bum a couple of times.
Stu is currently out on his bike. In shorts.
The parties and snow have finally succeeded in getting me into the Christmas spirit. All I need now is a couple of Christmas movies (preferably Elf and The Santa Clause) and I'll be completely ready. By the time we arrive back in Newcastle (IN THREE DAYS) I reckon I'll be as excited as I usually am.
Thursday, 15 December 2011
L'atelier Noël
On Tuesday Max and I went to a Christmas craft workshop in Chambéry (we actually went to one last week too, due to a muddle up caused by my rubbish French but I won't go into that story).
All the children gathered round the table with their mamans whilst the lady in charge explained what we were going to be making. All the kids except one of course. Max has a habit of going deaf and mute whenever we're in social situations at the moment, especially when people speak French to him. After various attempt by various people at getting him to join in, we decided it was best just to leave him to play with the cars on the rug. Which he did for the full two hours, ignoring anyone who spoke to him.
I, however made a fantastic Christmas bauble from thread and old sweet wrappers and a cardboard Christmas tree decorated with feathers and sparkles. Very proud of my work too.
I've noticed that French children in general seem to be a bit less wild than back home. Max's usual toddler group in England can only really be described as chaos, whilst here the kids prefer to sit at a table and get involved with an organised activity. Or maybe it's just the people I'm hanging round with. Either way, Max is still firmly a believer that toddlers equals an opportunity to run wild and play cars.
At the end of the session, everyone joined in singing a French Christmas song. I obviously didn't know the words so just smiled and nodded my head a bit. Then everyone thought it would be a great idea to sing an English Christmas song too for me and Max! So the whole room pipes up with 'Jingle bells, jingle bells jingle all the way'. Lovely I thought. But it seems no-one knew any more words than this, so I had to continue the rest of the song as a solo with twenty people staring at me, smiling and nodding along whilst I got redder and redder until we hit the chorus again. It truly was one of those moments when I wanted the earth to swallow me up.
As soon as we get in the car after the session, Max finds his voice and turns back into his charming old self.
All the children gathered round the table with their mamans whilst the lady in charge explained what we were going to be making. All the kids except one of course. Max has a habit of going deaf and mute whenever we're in social situations at the moment, especially when people speak French to him. After various attempt by various people at getting him to join in, we decided it was best just to leave him to play with the cars on the rug. Which he did for the full two hours, ignoring anyone who spoke to him.
I, however made a fantastic Christmas bauble from thread and old sweet wrappers and a cardboard Christmas tree decorated with feathers and sparkles. Very proud of my work too.
I've noticed that French children in general seem to be a bit less wild than back home. Max's usual toddler group in England can only really be described as chaos, whilst here the kids prefer to sit at a table and get involved with an organised activity. Or maybe it's just the people I'm hanging round with. Either way, Max is still firmly a believer that toddlers equals an opportunity to run wild and play cars.
At the end of the session, everyone joined in singing a French Christmas song. I obviously didn't know the words so just smiled and nodded my head a bit. Then everyone thought it would be a great idea to sing an English Christmas song too for me and Max! So the whole room pipes up with 'Jingle bells, jingle bells jingle all the way'. Lovely I thought. But it seems no-one knew any more words than this, so I had to continue the rest of the song as a solo with twenty people staring at me, smiling and nodding along whilst I got redder and redder until we hit the chorus again. It truly was one of those moments when I wanted the earth to swallow me up.
As soon as we get in the car after the session, Max finds his voice and turns back into his charming old self.
Butter wouldn't melt...
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Perdu dans la traduction
I can safely say my French has vastly improved during the time we have spent here, due to soirées with the neighbours, visits to the doctors, hanging out with the French mammies and general day to day living. However I am still struggling a lot of the time, and continue to make pretty basic errors.
I recently told Eric next door that I like his horses (chevaux instead of cheveux), have been to the sports shop for a chicken instead of a jumper (poule instead of pull), constantly get above and below muddled up (dessous or dessus, not sure which is which and to me they both sound the same), still don't know the difference between my neck and my arse (cou and cul) but I have finally worked out what they've been saying to me in the boulangerie (avec ceci? which means anything else? not ca suffit which means that's enough. I thought it was a strange way of asking if that was all. In any case I've been answering oui instead of non for the last three months).
So my New Year's resolution is going to really make an effort with the language. It would be an absolute waste if I didn't. I've started two books, but failed to finish either so will crack on with those. I'll also make an effort to speak it at length every day with whether it's with the neighbours or with my mate Brigitte the supervisor at the Super U. And I don't just mean just answering yes or no, I mean proactively going out of my way to speak about anything and everything. And I'm also going to try and watch half an hour of television everyday, without zoning out. I will get good at this!!!
The snow arrived on the mountains this week, but unfortunately not enough for the ski. We headed up to Le Revard anyway this morning to do a bit of sledging.
I recently told Eric next door that I like his horses (chevaux instead of cheveux), have been to the sports shop for a chicken instead of a jumper (poule instead of pull), constantly get above and below muddled up (dessous or dessus, not sure which is which and to me they both sound the same), still don't know the difference between my neck and my arse (cou and cul) but I have finally worked out what they've been saying to me in the boulangerie (avec ceci? which means anything else? not ca suffit which means that's enough. I thought it was a strange way of asking if that was all. In any case I've been answering oui instead of non for the last three months).
So my New Year's resolution is going to really make an effort with the language. It would be an absolute waste if I didn't. I've started two books, but failed to finish either so will crack on with those. I'll also make an effort to speak it at length every day with whether it's with the neighbours or with my mate Brigitte the supervisor at the Super U. And I don't just mean just answering yes or no, I mean proactively going out of my way to speak about anything and everything. And I'm also going to try and watch half an hour of television everyday, without zoning out. I will get good at this!!!
The snow arrived on the mountains this week, but unfortunately not enough for the ski. We headed up to Le Revard anyway this morning to do a bit of sledging.
When can I have a go?
Hopefully there'll be a bit more snowfall in the next couple of weeks as Lily is really looking forward to having a go at skiing. I'm slightly nervous about this, given the trouble she has not falling over on snow-free ground but I'm sure she'll love it!
Those skinny legs just look too fragile for skis...
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Les Dimanches
After just over three months here, I'm finally getting used to the fact that none of the shops open here on a Sunday (apart from one boulangerie which usually has a queue tailing out of the door). I've been caught out more than once with absolutely nothing in the house for dinner.
At first it was quite frustrating, but now I've started to really quite like it. Everyone is forced to slow down and spend time with their family and friends.
This Sunday, we spent the afternoon chez les Américains eating Californian burgers and frites. It's so nice to have some English speaking company who we can really relax with, which I find difficult to do when I'm constantly concentrating on speaking French. Although it's always a bit chaotic and noisy when we get together due to the four little boys aged two and under!
It's been raining all of this weekend, which is good news because on higher ground it means snoooooow! The surrounding mountains look like they've all been dusted with icing sugar, and Decathlon is full of people stocking up on ski gear. We're planning on going up to La Féclaz this weekend to do a bit of sledging.
Lily is off to Paris in the morning on a school trip for the day. It's a great opportunity for her to see the city and hopefully she'll have a great time, especially as we have to get up at 5:30am to get her to the station!
Nothing much else to report on so far this week. It's actually taken me two days to write just this much as Stu has started reading my blog back to me in a slow, posh English voice, which makes everything I write sound really stupid. I hear it in my head now whenever I'm typing, a bit like Carrie Bradshaw does. Argh! That sounds terrible!!
Bizzz xxx
At first it was quite frustrating, but now I've started to really quite like it. Everyone is forced to slow down and spend time with their family and friends.
This Sunday, we spent the afternoon chez les Américains eating Californian burgers and frites. It's so nice to have some English speaking company who we can really relax with, which I find difficult to do when I'm constantly concentrating on speaking French. Although it's always a bit chaotic and noisy when we get together due to the four little boys aged two and under!
The lovely Mike and Emily
It's been raining all of this weekend, which is good news because on higher ground it means snoooooow! The surrounding mountains look like they've all been dusted with icing sugar, and Decathlon is full of people stocking up on ski gear. We're planning on going up to La Féclaz this weekend to do a bit of sledging.
Lily is off to Paris in the morning on a school trip for the day. It's a great opportunity for her to see the city and hopefully she'll have a great time, especially as we have to get up at 5:30am to get her to the station!
Nothing much else to report on so far this week. It's actually taken me two days to write just this much as Stu has started reading my blog back to me in a slow, posh English voice, which makes everything I write sound really stupid. I hear it in my head now whenever I'm typing, a bit like Carrie Bradshaw does. Argh! That sounds terrible!!
Bizzz xxx
Friday, 2 December 2011
Décembre, déjà
Um, December?! Where did the last three months go?!
The first of December never fails in getting Lily all excited as she gets to open her advent calendar. I thought she would have grown out of it by now, but she ran down the stairs as soon as she got up to open it this morning. She carefully explained to Max how it works, but he was still sorely disappointed at only opening one of the doors.
The first of December also means happy birthday to my little bro' Andrew, 19 today! Grosses bises xxx
And the first of December this year means I can finally say we're coming home this month!! I can't wait, although slightly stressed I won't get a chance to see everyone I want to as we're only here for nine days. I'm also a bit stressed that I won't get a chance to fit in a Chinese from Yangtze River, an Indian from the Shahenshah, Pantrini's Fish n Chips, a Nando's and a three course Sambuca's over the duration of the visit. I'm finding life tough without a decent takeaway!
It's been a tiring week without Stu here to help with the kiddas, but he's back now. His bag, however, didn't make it back. Seriously. This is the third time in about five months that BA have just totally failed to load his bag onto the plane. We're flying EasyJet on the 21st, so fingers crossed that they're a bit more competent, although you would think that BA would be the experts at that type of thing.
He brought us all a lovely gift from his travels, which he'd fortunately kept in his hand luggage. Mine was some very nice Clarins cream to combat the wrinkles I've managed to develop over the past three months, probably through a combination of stress, sun and sleepless nights.
The cold weather is supposed to be setting in this weekend, which is good and bad. Good because it means the snow will arrive on higher ground so we can start the skiing and sledging, but bad because I hate being cold and it limits what I can do with the boys during the day.
The first of December never fails in getting Lily all excited as she gets to open her advent calendar. I thought she would have grown out of it by now, but she ran down the stairs as soon as she got up to open it this morning. She carefully explained to Max how it works, but he was still sorely disappointed at only opening one of the doors.
The first of December also means happy birthday to my little bro' Andrew, 19 today! Grosses bises xxx
And the first of December this year means I can finally say we're coming home this month!! I can't wait, although slightly stressed I won't get a chance to see everyone I want to as we're only here for nine days. I'm also a bit stressed that I won't get a chance to fit in a Chinese from Yangtze River, an Indian from the Shahenshah, Pantrini's Fish n Chips, a Nando's and a three course Sambuca's over the duration of the visit. I'm finding life tough without a decent takeaway!
It's been a tiring week without Stu here to help with the kiddas, but he's back now. His bag, however, didn't make it back. Seriously. This is the third time in about five months that BA have just totally failed to load his bag onto the plane. We're flying EasyJet on the 21st, so fingers crossed that they're a bit more competent, although you would think that BA would be the experts at that type of thing.
He brought us all a lovely gift from his travels, which he'd fortunately kept in his hand luggage. Mine was some very nice Clarins cream to combat the wrinkles I've managed to develop over the past three months, probably through a combination of stress, sun and sleepless nights.
The cold weather is supposed to be setting in this weekend, which is good and bad. Good because it means the snow will arrive on higher ground so we can start the skiing and sledging, but bad because I hate being cold and it limits what I can do with the boys during the day.
Wish they would entertain themselves like this all the time!
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