'Je suis bien tombée'

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm sat at my little desk with the windows and shutters open (view complete with fig tree, church spire and painting shed) and I can't quite believe that my Year Abroad- what has, up until now, been an amalgamation of meetings, paperwork and imaginings- is my reality. Zut alors! 

What a week! I haven't ever spoken so much french- it has probably improved more in the last 6 days than across my entire education [Disclaimer: through no fault of any establishment I have attended...]. Having said that, sitting in a class with 5/6 others listing benefits/disadvantages of various aspects of daily life and expressing our (completely-real-never-made-up, deliberately strong and controversial [gives it a bit of 'spice']) views about the ways of the world is, understandably, not like this. This is real life, people! People actually speak French without having to mention the perks/downsides of the internet and/or any form of coup d'Etat! Crazy.

So, to sum up my week, I have put together some photo montages...

(Cue: music to evoke sense of self-realisation and adventure- perhaps Send Me On My Way by Rusted Root?)-

 Tuesday 24th September- Sylvette and I hit Bordeaux;

1st row (L to R) - a Bordelaise Street, one of the city's many water features, another fantastic rue
2nd row (L to R)-  Miroir d'Eau in la Place de Bourse, Utopia Cinema, BDX birds-eye view from Tour Pey-Berland 

   

some light reading and necessary cadeaux

Wednesday 25th September- Donz'Art 


On this afternoon, Sylvette, her friend and I hopped in the car to a village called Donzac where there is an art installation around an 8km trail (trek option for les braves). It is an exhibition created by the local residents and schools- Sylvette co-created a piece, too (no. 8)!

« Cadre dans le vue » ; ‘L’art est dans la vie, L’art est dans le vue’
« Miroitement »; ‘Les lames d’acier bicolores (noires et metal) suspendues au-dessus de cet ancien lavoir sont les reflets miroitants de ce bassin d’eau…’ 

« La petite maison de la prairie » (this probably is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen)
‘Le feu’ and ‘L’air’ of « Les quatre éléments » 

« La vie affine l’homme qui marche » ; ‘Cette ouvre traite de l’amoindrissement de l’ambition humaine qui s’affine au fur et à mesure que l’homme se met en marche…’

My favourite was the third man- he seems to have the most confidence in his stride...

« Naissance d’un papillon bleu » ; ‘Quel est l’être vivant qui est né ici dans ce nid d’amour ?’

« La bête des Morillons » - this is Sylvette’s work ; she and Anne-Marie used colourful rope to decorate a fallen tree, creating a monster. These rabbit silhouettes are scattered around our garden, too! 

« La source aux coleurs »

 « Chemin des palombières » ; every kid’s dream- some seriously fantastic den potential
« Donza-La »; ‘Notre Donza-La évoque prosaïquement: la forme généreuse et arrondie de notre Terre, les pieds et les sarments de nos vignes, les tuiles de nos maisons, les jeux de nos enfants… un peu de création et beaucoup de recréation.’

... and then to top it all off, we went fig picking in a nearby field because Sylvette wants to make more jam.
Honestly.

Thursday 26th September- day out at Les Dunes du Pilat and Arcachon

I saw some magic this day- it deserves it's own post.
(I also learnt how to use panorama on my camera that afternoon, so you've got some serious photographic excellence coming up...)

Friday 27th September- rendez-vous with fellow Year-Abroad-er in Bordeaux

Mike and I did the Tour Pey-Berland (free for under 25s, people!) and after climbing at least 9839327309 steps this view was awaiting us:

Incroyable.

Saturday 28th September- soirée with Pauline and Stéphane

On Thursday night, Sylvette invited her niece to have dinner with us- luckily, we hit it off and she invited me to spend Saturday night with her and a friend. We went to a bar in Langon, drank cocktails (funnily enough I think my french improved as the night went on...) , ate sushi, played Girls vs. Boy pool (improved in the same manner as the french...) and finished the night with bowling.

super sushi / bowling - it's tiring business this foreign language lark! NB: hip french spelling

I had a great time- thankfully laughter is a universal social tool! Hopefully next time I'll be linguistically equipped enough to share brilliant anecdotes and stories, too!


Sunday 29th September- réfléchir

And this has been my week.
In the words of Sylvette's lovely neighbour (St. Macaire, you spoil me!), I have truly 'fallen well'.

A la prochaine, tout le monde.



aka. 'Libie'