what i did

during my holidays in France

 

persons i saw:

-my parents of course

-my sister who joined us on monday

-my grandmother who is gonna be 85 in january

-Steph -who is now a primary teacher- and Cat -who is still studying to work in comunication in the music industry- my friends from high school who were also in Clermont Fd with me but not at the same university

-Justine who was in Cork with me as an erasmus student and who is now living in Switzerland and organising festivals

-Emilie who was at university with me and is now living in Paris and studying journalism at La Sorbonne

-my auntie and one of my cousin who are living in Moulins

 

food:

salmon+ fresh pasta+ nice white wine-herbs salsa+ nice french pastry 

blanquette de veau

tartiflette (well without the nice reblochon though)

seafood: salmon, prawns, mussels and oysters with cheese grilled in the oven

pears+ blue cheese+ chestnuts

foie gras

duck+ nice sauce with apricots, grapes, onions, armagnac

linguine allo scoglio (pasta+seafood)

raclette

mousse aux deux chocolats (dark and white chocolate)

 

movies:

indigenes

l'auberge espagnole

gad elmaleh

jamel

radiohead gig

 

cities:

Roissy

Moulins

Saint Hilaire

Clermont-Fd

 

landscapes:

frozen nature

white, green grass and blue sky

rivers and ponds

quiet countryside

lights of the city

 

houses:

my childhood house

a new house that my father is building

i saw my last house in Moulins as my aunt lives next to it

i passed by my sister's last flat in Clermont Fd

and my uncle's flat in Clermont Fd

 

cafes:

cafe du commerce: we went inside and i smoked too much

cafe Pascal: we stayed outside and i smoked less, i went inside for a few minutes and i realised it is not the odour that is horrible as i am a smoker but the smoke itself! we couldn't see a thing inside. fortunately the law already existing in Ireland, England, Italy etc is gonna be applied in France on the 1st of january. your clothes are not gonna smell cigarette anymore, you're gonna smoke less and you can even meet people while having a smoke outside.

 

france:

even for holidays, i find it really hard to adapt myself, speak french all the time; i was getting bored because i'm not learning anything, and struggling when surrounded by most of french people in the streets bumping into you and not saying sorry, judging the way you dress/ look/ behave, and not looking like they are open minded and eager to discover different people with way of life/ jobs/ look/ culture/ language etc. (i said most of them, not all of them!!!). but it was nice to see there is still some french culture and identity present, and france inter is really a good radio.