COW PARADE

No sooner do I mention how intrigued I am by the cows than what do I discover but ‘cow parade’ (www.vach-art.fr) has come to Paris! I’ve spotted two already: at the Louvre and outside the Opera! I’m in cow heaven!

GOODBYE COLLEGE

So I’ve finally cleared my locker and said goodbye to everyone. The last lesson with the pupils (the 6ème) was such fun (suspect pronunciation, jelly on the floor) and I’ve never had so many bisous in one go in my life. What’s more, they made me laugh because they all queued up patiently in single file, just like English people would! I’ve been asked for my msn address (felt like a famous person signing autographs) however, I don’t expect too many emails since I’ve promised to keep in touch ONLY if they write to me in English ;) Roo, the end of my adventures as a teacher :(

BY THE WAY …

... during this sad week of goodbyes, some good news: Mirco has extended his contract with Stade Français for another two years! Yaaay!

GOODBYE JELLY

I've been saying goodbye to all my classes this week and taking in jelly and cakes so that they can try some real English (children’s) party fare. Unfortunately, there's been no ice cream but they're all amazed at the jelly’s wobbliness and it goes down very well. Then they've all gone off to their next lessons, all hyped up!

A DOOR CLOSES

Today was la rentrée, the first day back after the holidays, a day tinged with sadness for me as this is the last week of my contract
:( There'll be no more having to be at work for 8.15 on Monday mornings, no more funny anecdotes, no more hearing my own accent imitated during “listen and repeat”, no more eccentric headmistress, no more 'beloved tutor' … ho-hum, what on earth shall I do with myself after this week? ;p

PARIS

Yesterday England, today France. It’s the end of the holidays and happily Emmanuel and I are still friends after all that time cooped up together ;) The plants have survived my absence and the ginkgo has even unfolded its leaves. Well, the gallivanting is over and it's back to the serious stuff! Ah, it’s almost as if I’ve never been away.

THAILAND

Yesterday, I had to get up at 4 o'clock (groan) in order to collect a sun-kissed Tristan who had flown in from Thailand. On the journey back from the airport, I was regaled with colourful stories of his holiday (luckily no lady-boys featured) and then treated to the photos (all 397 of them) of the various adventures in Bangkok and Koh Pha Ngan, which were stunning. Hmm, remind me again why I chose to stay in England for the Easter holidays ;)

SALISBURY AND STONEHENGE

Continuing on the 'playing the tourist in my own country' theme, we set off to visit Salisbury and Stonehenge. I always love going to this part of Britain since I was born very near to Stonehenge and consider it a spiritual home. I might add I was born in the same hospital as James Blunt - sorry, it's my only claim to fame. Apart from hugging Mirco. Oh, and I've met the Queen. And Robin Cook shook hands quite vigourously with me once ;)

For once, we didn't have to get up with the dawn chorus which luckily gave me the chance to catch up with my special friend 'anon'. Keep taking those herbs and get better soon 'anon' :)

Anyway, Stonehenge stands on the very exposed Salisbury Plain and so, this being a spring day in England, it was naturally rather windy. Although Emmanuel is blending in quite well at being English (saying 'sorry' a lot, helping old ladies, drinking tea and listening to the The Archers), he still hasn't cottoned on to carrying both sunglasses and an umbrella and wrapping up warmly on a spring day. Nevertheless, we dutifully made our way around the tethered pathway listening to the audio guides and admiring the ancient stones.

Nearby is the little-known Woodhenge but, as it is very old, all the wood has rotted away and had to be replaced by concrete marker posts. Not quite as impressive as the stones, I'm afraid.

We then headed to nearby Salisbury and wandered by the river Avon via the famous cathedral and market square, feeling very at home.

We made our way back for our sunset visit to Stonehenge where we were allowed to get up close to the stones and even 'hug' them if we wanted to according the the custodians. On the photos, Emmanuel can be seen looking rather sceptical at this new 'hugging' experience but it was a very moving (if nippy) experience.

MANCHESTER

We set off at some unearthly hour bound for Manchester as it was one of Emmanuel's dearest wishes to see this famous nothern city. I admit to being rather apprehensive since we were travelling up by train but happily there were no hiccups and everything ran very efficiently (we even arrived in London five minutes early on the way back). On arriving in Manchester, we were first hit by a bracing cold wind but very soon acclimatised although we were still surprised to see people wearing tee-shirts. They must be made of hardier stuff up north. Naturally, we headed to the tourist information to find our bearings and chanced upon the Town Hall where Shayne Ward was giving an open air concert, it seemed especially for us since he started singing as soon as we arrived on the scene. At this point, I don't know whether to own up to not knowing who Shayne Ward is but apparently he is 'the next big thing'. I then spied the '50 years of Miffy' exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery so naturally had to visit - err, along with all the little three-year olds and their colouring pencils. However, I was redeemed when I discovered a grown-up painting by Modigliani! Next stop, the Manchester Wheel with "the best views of the city". Be warned, the pods rock in the wind. This was followed by the obligatory shopping at Harvey Nicks and the Arndale and all the other numerous arcades I can't even remember. We made our weary way back via Canal Street for a final farewell drink, shopped-out but happy :)

BRIGHTON

Due to 'unforeseen circumstances' we didn't spend Easter week-end in Bordeaux as expected. Instead, we enjoyed the pleasures which Brighton has to offer, a much better option, I'm sure you'll agree :) So, after lunching at "Zizzi's" (extremely amusing for Emmanuel due to its French translation, schoolboy humour, I'm afraid :p), we wandered the Lanes and went to see the famous Pavilion (which I'm sure used to be white once upon a time instead of its current muddy brown colour) then strolled along the pebbly beach admiring the skeletal remains of the old burned-down pier before venturing onto the new pier to experience the 'attractions'. It was very interesting!

HAPPY EASTER

Although I wish you a Happy Easter, I would just like to share my sadness that Stade Français lost 15-0 to Toulouse last night :(

LONDON

Well, apologies that yatje-blog has been slightly neglected recently, this is due to playing host to 'beloved tutor' who is visiting England at the moment. It's funny when you're exploring with a 'foreigner' how little things you previously took for granted stand out starkly, for instance: why are we always saying sorry and being so VERY polite?

Anyway, yesterday, we went up to London and, after enjoying a super al fresco fruit salad lunch with the lovely Saskia (très bien, n'est-ce pas?!), Emmanuel went on his merry way to explore the 'delights' of Oxford Street, while Saskia and I did the decent cultural thing and went to view the current Soviet photographic exhibition. In truth, we spent more time catching up on lost gossip and histories than actually looking at the photos but it is actually an interesting and worthwhile exhibition. Naturally sustenance was needed after this so off we headed to the bar with la chère Louise to do what girlies do best. That's another thing I miss about England: sitting chatting with my lovely friends (subliminal message: come and visit soon!)

Emmanuel and I then headed off to Westminster. I have to confess to suffering a rather nasty shock when the obligatory video-for-the-folks-back-home was reviewed and I could clearly be heard saying, in an utterly patronising tone of voice, some ironic-sounding phrase about Emmanuel's acting abilities. Oh well, it gave us a good giggle to say the least :)

THINGS I MISS ABOUT ENGLAND

I’ve been indulging myself in some of the particularly English things I have missed such as baked potatoes and a really nice, freshly-prepared sandwich made with soft, wholemeal bread with the crusts cut off - much as I love their crunchy baguette, really the French must have hardened palates to be able to eat them every day. Another thing I’ve missed is the unpredictable English weather – this morning I woke up to two inches of snow!

HOLIDAYS

Well, here I am back in England for the school holidays and one of the first things I did was to rush out to re-acquaint myself with the garden. So, I’ve been out enjoying the sunshine and the wind in my hair and pottering around, pruning, digging and generally communing with nature. There are lots of things in flower and I was especially happy to see the arnica pushing up its little shoots after the damage done by those slimy gastropods. It’s wonderful to see all this life.

WORDS TO DESCRIBE ME

During a recent discussion about the ubiquitous love-hate relationship between the French and the English, talk turned to how generally cold and aloof the English are. I agreed that, as a rule, the English do indeed like to keep their distance, even amongst themselves, not just with foreigners, but then I nearly fell off my chair when I heard: “Oh, but yatje’s not like that, she’s much more Mediterranean in temperament, much more tactile!” Now, despite my naturally sunny personality, I personally think I am quite shy and reserved and don’t usually reach the ‘huggy’ stage until I’ve consumed quite a large amount of alcohol. In fact, words usually used in relation to me are 'fusspot', 'stubborn', 'cheeky minx', 'calm', 'wilful' and 'elusive'. Ah, how great is the gulf between perception and reality!

ROOM WITH A VIEW

Well I wish I could say that the picture above is the fantastic view I have from my flat but, alas, it isn’t. It is, in fact, the view from one of the many windows of my second home (no, not Jean Bouin rugby ground) but the Louvre. And now that it’s beginning to swarm with tourists inside, the view from the window is just as good sometimes.

IL BEL RAGGAZZO

It’s far too easy to get lost in Venice, but sometimes this can be an advantage as, wandering around aimlessly, we came across this plaque:
Naturally, I waxed lyrical about how wonderful Modigliani was/still is and how I’d have loved to have been his model and how there was a fantastic exhibition on at the moment in Rome dedicated entirely to him and how I couldn’t wait to go to see it and blah-blah-blah. Then, Mr Whimsy-Impulsive suggested that we might as well make the most of being on Italian soil to head down to Rome to see this brilliant exhibition and in almost the next blink, we were on the train! Watching the landscape whizz past, you notice how it gets progressively hillier and sunnier the further south you go. When we got out at Rome, it was to gloriously warm sunshine.

The exhibition has been organised to mark the 100th anniversary of Modigliani’s arrival in Paris and shows about a hundred paintings, watercolours, drawings and sculptures, including 17 never before exhibited in Italy. Bliss! I have one tiny niggle, however: there weren’t enough nudes for my liking! But most definitely worth making the pilgrimage across half of Italy to see it!

GIOTTO

Not far from Venice is the little Scrovegni Chapel where Giotto’s beautiful frescoes can be found. Painted in 1303, they’re still there for us to marvel at the bibilical story and gorgeous blue ceiling. So, after praying to Saint Anthony and dutifully viewing his larynx and other relics, we headed to the lovely park to await our ‘slot’. Before you’re actually allowed to view the frescoes, there is a strict protocol to be followed whereby you are locked in a ‘sterile’ ante-chamber and then fed through, supposedly sanitised, into the Chapel. This is in order to try to protect the delicate atmosphere of the Chapel. ‘Organised chaos’ would be a very kind way of describing this procedure but it was worth it to see the beautiful colours and perspective and ‘plasticisation’ of the draperies.

IL SANTO

VENICE

Well, here I am recovering from an exciting week-end spent in Venice during which time I’ve observed all sorts of things:

a) Venice is beautiful but crumbling.

b) Italians are never quiet, they simply cannot stop talking. Even when they’re alone, they’re either talking on their mobile ’phones or trying to strike up conversations with the person nearest to them. I bet they even talk in their sleep.

c) My concept of personal space is vastly different from an Italian’s.

d) Italian men see nothing wrong with wearing bright orange trousers with stripey green, white and orange jumpers in public.

e) I don’t speak Italian and so I could play at being ‘French me’ and ‘English me’. On the whole, I think the ‘French me’ was more successful!

f) Because I don’t speak Italian, it follows therefore that I desperately need an Italian teacher. Pfff, where’s Mirco when you need him!

g) If I lived in Italy, ice cream could well become my staple food.

h) Italian officials are rather flirty. The passport control man even winked at me. This would never happen at British passport control.

i) Italian sheep have longer bodies.

j) I’ve returned to find Paris covered in cherry blossom and Stade Français first (not second) in the Top 14 table!