BARF!

Well, two days of severe dehydration and vomiting and here I am back up and running in time for the Christmas and New Year celebrations! I'd hate to miss out on the action but maybe my poor body was trying to say ‘woah horsey, will you just stay still for a minute’. Admittedly, the herbs didn’t protect me as well as they might have but then I was too weak to actually brew any of them. However, the intention was there which is maybe why I’ve only been ill for a few days. Unlike poor Saskia – hope you regain your old come-hither-self soon, Sas! :)

Anyway, before incoherency sets in, I couldn’t not wish you Happy Christmas or as they say in gay Paree: Joyeux Noël!

AH, TO BE IN ENGLAND IN THE WINTERTIME

It was my last game of the season on Saturday and Stade Français kindly obliged by winning 47-28 against Clermont. (SF still have another game to play on Friday against Montpellier but I will just have to cheer them on from this side of the Channel.) Naturally, after such an important game – it is the Heineken Cup after all – celebrations were in order although maybe this was not such a good idea when you still have to cycle home afterwards and then catch the eurostar the next morning. Anyway, here I am back in England and desperately waging a battle against the beginnings of cold. These pesky London germs. However, I think I’m winning as I have all sorts of herby concoctions on my side. Watch this space ...

'ANON' MOVES HOUSE

This last week, I seemed to have spent a lot of time rushing around trying to make sure everything is ‘in order’ before I go back home for the holidays. And then I received an email from my lovely friend to say that she is moving house BEFORE Christmas. This made me stop and take a deep breath and spare a thought (well lots of thoughts, actually) about her trying to juggle her studies, her work, her Christmas shopping, her hectic social life, as well as packing up and moving everything – phew, I’m exhausted just thinking about it. So GOOD LUCK with the move ‘anon’, keep taking the flower remedies and don’t worry, I’ll be back next week to cheer you up (or add to your troubles) ;p

CHRISTMAS CARDS

From time to time, I go with my tutor to the nearby primary school to help teach his little 7-year olds. Today, the little darlings were busy making ‘Merry Christmas’ cards, colouring in the Christmas trees and presents and jolly Father Christmasses in all sorts of bright, clashing colours. Now, I still find it very odd being in such close proximity to these very tactile tiny things but even I can’t help but be won over by their abundant enthusiasm, especially when some of the Christmas cards were hand-made for me!

INTERLUDE

So, the blog had a well-earned break this week-end while I popped back to England for a party with some very special people, one of the highlights of the annual Christmas calendar! Strangely, I seem to have a large number of photos of a certain Mr. R either crooning away or strutting his funky stuff on the dancefloor! Among some of things I realised from this trip were: a week-end is just not long enough to do all the things you plan to do; it’s not just in French where loud party noise is a hindrance to my understanding people; Christmas decorations are just as naff here as in France; I am becoming quite territorial about my eurostar seat; and I do actually come from a small, damp island. Anyway, back to work (this week’s fascinating topic: discussing our habits) but at least it’s the last week of term – yippee!

THE JOYS OF TEACHING ENGLISH

There are some days when you think to yourself: what am I doing here? why am I doing this? how shall I stop myself from killing my pupils? Such existential doubts have troubled me more than once this term. It’s not that I don’t like my pupils nor that they are not motivated, if anything, they try too hard to speak English. It’s just that sometimes it’s not English as we know it and frankly I don’t know how much longer I can go on hearing things like ‘it’s threety past three’ or ‘I every day am loving eat Macdonalds’ before I crack and say ‘Okay I give in, yes, that’s absolutely correct!’ My tutor, who has an excellent command of English, says he often feels like he's pissing in the wind! Maybe I shouldn't take it all so seriously! Or maybe I should just dull my senses with a nice big glass of wine!

BEING ABROAD MAKES YOU DO STRANGE THINGS

Parisian stores have a habit of changing their displays quite regularly so I’ve begun to believe that if you see something you like (and obviously couldn’t possibly live without) you should really get it there and then because the next time you go, it will have disappeared. (I missed out on a bright blue watering can because of my hesitation which I still feel miffed about). However, this new philosophy of ‘spontaneity’ is making me do the oddest things, for example, I recently bought the most childish ruler in the world, just because (a) I did actually need a ruler and (b) it is completely ridiculous. Then I gave money to a busker on the underground just because he was singing so nicely in English and I felt sorry for him. And, one day, on being accosted by a fireman raising funds on the street, I even bought a calendar - something I would NEVER do in London … maybe there’s something in the water here …

DIEUX DU STADE - AGAIN

© stade.fr

Yippee, the new Dieux du Stade DVD came out yesterday so after school, like a sad little kid, I rushed to FNAC to get it! In a vain attempt to disguise the fact that I was buying gay porn (as Tristan calls it) and that I am, in fact, NOT A PERVERT, I also bought The Decameron and a yoga book. Should I be admitting this to you? Anyway, it doesn't matter because my chou chou is there, looking as gorgeous as ever and - gasp - he even speaks! Ah, je suis trop contente!

p.s. That is not my chou chou above - I've only put it on as a treat for you lot! I know, I know, I spoil you too much! :)

VIEW FROM THE GARDEN

As you can see, the Musée Rodin is in a great position. What am I saying? okay, everything's in a great position in Paris! :) but here from the garden you can see Les Invalides (l) where Napoleon is buried and the Eiffel Tower (r) where there is an ice skating rink.

MUSEE RODIN

If you didn't know already, I'll let you into a little secret: I love sculpture, particularly marble, and the Musée Rodin is probably one of my favourite museums. I love strolling around the house where you can really get up close (no touching) and study the work and take pictures if there aren’t too many people in at the time. There is also a lovely garden with outdoor sculpture. They have opened a new wing, ‘The Chapel’, and at the moment there is a temporary exhibition here exploring ‘sculpture in space’. However, my first impression was one of disappointment since they seem to have focussed exclusively on the relationship between a sculpture and its pedestal. Undoubtedly it merits another visit!

CONCERT

I love the intimacy of little Parisian bars: it makes you feel so much more involved when you go to see a band. The one we went to see this week-end had a really good supporting act, which at first I thought might just be there as eye candy for the boys but they turned out to be better than the main act, in my opinion! Unfortunately the beer didn’t match the concert but we more than made up for this lack in a Belgian bar in Montparnasse with some delicious framboise.

In passing, on the way, I was VERY excited to notice the preparation of an ice rink. There is also going to be one at the Eiffel Tower so now I have two to visit – watch this space!

p.s. there was rugby this week-end - SF were away to Pau, where they won 32 - 9 :) but no try from Mirco this week :(

MIRCO

GENDER CONFUSION

I’ve been learning French for more years than I care to remember but one of the things I still can’t quite get the hang of is masculine and feminine. In terms of nouns, I mean. Okay, I know the general rule that if it ends in a vowel it’s usually feminine and if it ends in a consonant, it ought to be masculine but still it defies commonsense to call things ‘a male book’ or ‘a lady apple’! So, every time I ask for ‘un baguette’ I nearly end up with several of the damn things, it, of course, being UNE baguette. On the other hand, it never ceases to amaze me that I actually get what I want when you take into account my sometimes questionable vocabulary and funny accent! However, I sometimes suspect that they change gender on a whim just to fox me. Oh hold on, some men in white coats have just arrived …

LONELY HEARTS

A friend has let me know about a great website she’s found full of all sorts of useful things, including people offering conversation exchanges. Intrigued, I was soon browsing merrily and reading all sorts of other meanings between the lines of ‘French/English swap’. Eventually, (naturally) I came across the ‘lonely hearts’. Now I am far from being a lonely heart but even in England I am fascinated by these adverts. What struck me, however, was how much more open and honest French lonelies are in comparison. For example, I was astonished to see things like the one from the lady who, finding married life somewhat lacking, was seeking male and female companions to provide a bit of ‘zip’. There were also typical French guys stating ‘don’t bother to reply if you’re ugly’. And there were NUMEROUS couples looking for young people to join them in a ménage-à-trois … (somehow, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there is no real English translation for this phrase) … however, if you’re really tempted, the website is www.ki.... ;-p