Saturday
During the day we all just got jobs done really- Reading critical studies text, cleaning my apartment, grocery shopping and such like. I also continued to read a book about conjoined twins. It’s getting very sad as the mobile sister who has carried her sister around on her waste her whole life now has a brain tumour and needs a wheel chair as she can no longer hold her sister. They’re joined at the head. Anyway on a brighter note….um la. I got a call from Grace asking if I wanted to go to Flunch to use the internet. I took my tap top but sadly the connection was down. Liz had left her mobile in the internet on Friday so she wasn’t contactable. We’d just finished our chocolates when Grace said ‘I feel like going out dancing’. I was easily persuaded so we ventured over to Liz’s house. Luckily some one had left the gate open so we didn’t have to sing her out of her apartment as we’d planned. Liz too was easily persuaded so we walked all the way back into town to go to grace’s for some wine and to get ready. By this point it was about 9ish. We spent the night doing ridiculous hairstyle and taking copious amounts of photos of them, playing the guitar, singing songs from our childhood-Grace seemed to know the line of every thing Disney film ever written. We didn’t leave the house until 1.00! This by far the latest time I’ve ever gone out.
First stop- Emporium Galorium. We hadn’t been there since our night out with Pap and Eddie. The wine we’d drank at home must have had an effect on us as Liz spilt a drink and Grace accidentally bit a glow stick and spat the contents out at one of the bar staff. She was not pleased to be luminous. I thought it looked pretty. At this point we thought it would be a good time to leave before we made any more enemies. We moved onto to the kiosk where Simon and Kevin had taken us last Saturday. In there we befriended an English girl who’s a Erasmus exchange student at Rouen university. Unfortunately in the club they make you hand your bag in at the cloak room so no one had their mobiles or remembered their numbers or paper to write them on. If it’s meant to be we’ll meet again.
Hmm also I asked for water but I just said leu in stead of d’leu so that caused some confusion. Chaos all around.
Sunday was spent in bed. Well we only returned home from the club at about 5 so it’s not surprising.
Monday Monday so good to me
I met the girls at the fountain at about 10 and we ventured off to the art school. Got a faire bit of painting done. In fact I finished my painting. Here is the finished product. I’m not entirely happy with it as the colours are a bit too bland.
That evening we went to the cinema to see a French film about the differences between the north and the south of France. Well apparently this was what it was about. Unfortunately I fell asleep for the majority of it. I did you proud Mum! I awoke occasionly to hear the sound of Grace laughing in hysterics. I guess the divide between the north and the south of france is funny.
Tuesday
I went to the new internet café we’ve found called cher café to use the net and have some hot chocolate. It’s a lot nicer and more sophisticated than flunch. Sorry Flunch! we still love you, just cheat on you de temps en temp. After this I went to the art school to take part in the group crits we have on Tuesday. I’m going to have to do a presentation in French about my work in a few weeks. Today I was sitting in on two French girls doing their presentation in English. One of the girls did very large scale abstract paintings of mountains and the other had done a casting of a foot attached to a head. We were supposed to ask questions so I asked if she wanted her work to have an open narrative. There was lots of discussion over what this question means. They were all very impressed. I felt clever. We also had some Caramel tea which was very tastey.
Apres this we were all starving and we’d a few days before we’d passed a Japanese restaurant and someone had the crazy idea of going right there and then for sushi. This was by far the most show biz moment I’ve ever had in my life. I said I felt like one of the girls from sex and the city. Grace and I had the vegetarian option non poison pour moi! We finished it off with some bananna splits and went back to the studio to paint.
Wednesday
Liz and I went to the studio earlyish. Grace, I don’t know what she was doing and Hannah was working at home je pense. Simon and Kevin came into the studio for a little rendez vous and Kevin invited us to his that evening for a party. We willingly obliged.
During the day we all just got jobs done really- Reading critical studies text, cleaning my apartment, grocery shopping and such like. I also continued to read a book about conjoined twins. It’s getting very sad as the mobile sister who has carried her sister around on her waste her whole life now has a brain tumour and needs a wheel chair as she can no longer hold her sister. They’re joined at the head. Anyway on a brighter note….um la. I got a call from Grace asking if I wanted to go to Flunch to use the internet. I took my tap top but sadly the connection was down. Liz had left her mobile in the internet on Friday so she wasn’t contactable. We’d just finished our chocolates when Grace said ‘I feel like going out dancing’. I was easily persuaded so we ventured over to Liz’s house. Luckily some one had left the gate open so we didn’t have to sing her out of her apartment as we’d planned. Liz too was easily persuaded so we walked all the way back into town to go to grace’s for some wine and to get ready. By this point it was about 9ish. We spent the night doing ridiculous hairstyle and taking copious amounts of photos of them, playing the guitar, singing songs from our childhood-Grace seemed to know the line of every thing Disney film ever written. We didn’t leave the house until 1.00! This by far the latest time I’ve ever gone out.
First stop- Emporium Galorium. We hadn’t been there since our night out with Pap and Eddie. The wine we’d drank at home must have had an effect on us as Liz spilt a drink and Grace accidentally bit a glow stick and spat the contents out at one of the bar staff. She was not pleased to be luminous. I thought it looked pretty. At this point we thought it would be a good time to leave before we made any more enemies. We moved onto to the kiosk where Simon and Kevin had taken us last Saturday. In there we befriended an English girl who’s a Erasmus exchange student at Rouen university. Unfortunately in the club they make you hand your bag in at the cloak room so no one had their mobiles or remembered their numbers or paper to write them on. If it’s meant to be we’ll meet again.
Hmm also I asked for water but I just said leu in stead of d’leu so that caused some confusion. Chaos all around.
Sunday was spent in bed. Well we only returned home from the club at about 5 so it’s not surprising.
Monday Monday so good to me
I met the girls at the fountain at about 10 and we ventured off to the art school. Got a faire bit of painting done. In fact I finished my painting. Here is the finished product. I’m not entirely happy with it as the colours are a bit too bland.
That evening we went to the cinema to see a French film about the differences between the north and the south of France. Well apparently this was what it was about. Unfortunately I fell asleep for the majority of it. I did you proud Mum! I awoke occasionly to hear the sound of Grace laughing in hysterics. I guess the divide between the north and the south of france is funny.
Tuesday
I went to the new internet café we’ve found called cher café to use the net and have some hot chocolate. It’s a lot nicer and more sophisticated than flunch. Sorry Flunch! we still love you, just cheat on you de temps en temp. After this I went to the art school to take part in the group crits we have on Tuesday. I’m going to have to do a presentation in French about my work in a few weeks. Today I was sitting in on two French girls doing their presentation in English. One of the girls did very large scale abstract paintings of mountains and the other had done a casting of a foot attached to a head. We were supposed to ask questions so I asked if she wanted her work to have an open narrative. There was lots of discussion over what this question means. They were all very impressed. I felt clever. We also had some Caramel tea which was very tastey.
Apres this we were all starving and we’d a few days before we’d passed a Japanese restaurant and someone had the crazy idea of going right there and then for sushi. This was by far the most show biz moment I’ve ever had in my life. I said I felt like one of the girls from sex and the city. Grace and I had the vegetarian option non poison pour moi! We finished it off with some bananna splits and went back to the studio to paint.
Wednesday
Liz and I went to the studio earlyish. Grace, I don’t know what she was doing and Hannah was working at home je pense. Simon and Kevin came into the studio for a little rendez vous and Kevin invited us to his that evening for a party. We willingly obliged.
After some discussion whether or not to bring the guitar we decided it would seem a bit like ‘hey guys let us play you a song!’ so we opted not to bring it. As the night went on, a few hours after arriving we began to think ‘let us play you a song!’ so we went back to get the guitar and sang a few of our classics. One guy kept wanted Liz to just play chords while he randomly sang. This was very funny. The same guy also wanted me to play ‘I believe I can fly’ on the guitar. I didn’t know the chords so he sung it accapella and the whole room joined it. This too was very funny. It was really nice to socialise with people from the art school. Most of them are around 25 as their art school goes on for 5 years instead of 3. Jai parle un petite peu Francais mais tres mal. Hmm there was also lots of dancing despite the small size of Kevin’s apartment. We returned home a je ne sais pas l’heure parce que I was a little drunk.
Thursday
Liz et moi went to the internet café for some surfing. We ate some lunch in there. I had toast with camembert and Liz had toast with tuna. Tasty. Not the tuna though et puis we went shopping! It was about 3 in the afternoon at this point and you have to leave the art school by 6 so there would barely be any time to paint. I’m in love with a boutique here. The colours of the clothes are actually very dull but I love them. Any one who knows me know I wear lots of bright colours….well not any more! While i appreciate this isn't very interesting...im writing it any way!
Liz et moi went to the internet café for some surfing. We ate some lunch in there. I had toast with camembert and Liz had toast with tuna. Tasty. Not the tuna though et puis we went shopping! It was about 3 in the afternoon at this point and you have to leave the art school by 6 so there would barely be any time to paint. I’m in love with a boutique here. The colours of the clothes are actually very dull but I love them. Any one who knows me know I wear lots of bright colours….well not any more! While i appreciate this isn't very interesting...im writing it any way!
Friday
Paris!!!! Well I met Grace and Liz at our usual meeting place, the fountain. We departed and headed for the station. We decided to take a different route to the one we’d taken before. The stations actually really close! Previously when finding the station, we just walked in a circle in every possible wrong road and direction. We stopped off to buy some nuts. I bought a random dish which was basically mushrooms and unions in a tub. I was advised not to eat it on the train as Grace thought it would smell. Yeah it did when I opened later. Cheers Grace. Also I didn’t have a fork which was a slight problem. Annnnyway we arrived in Paris at about 4 o clock and the station looked strangely familiar. We all started to feel like it was yesterday when we first arrived and couldn’t believe it was a month since we were last standing in that station. Very strange. I was remembering how petrified and out of my depth I felt and now I absolutely adore Rouen, and France in general.
Paris!!!! Well I met Grace and Liz at our usual meeting place, the fountain. We departed and headed for the station. We decided to take a different route to the one we’d taken before. The stations actually really close! Previously when finding the station, we just walked in a circle in every possible wrong road and direction. We stopped off to buy some nuts. I bought a random dish which was basically mushrooms and unions in a tub. I was advised not to eat it on the train as Grace thought it would smell. Yeah it did when I opened later. Cheers Grace. Also I didn’t have a fork which was a slight problem. Annnnyway we arrived in Paris at about 4 o clock and the station looked strangely familiar. We all started to feel like it was yesterday when we first arrived and couldn’t believe it was a month since we were last standing in that station. Very strange. I was remembering how petrified and out of my depth I felt and now I absolutely adore Rouen, and France in general.
The hostel we booked a few days before is actually not in Paris but in Basilique de Saint Denis so we had a long metro journey ahead of us! We brought a carnet to share between us and jumped on a train. In saint denis we didn’t not have a clue where to go, where the hostel was in relation to the station or anything really so we headed for the tourist information to get a map. At this point in our time in France, Rouen feels like a home. Although this is a good thing, we began to feel a bit too comfortable and thought…lets’s throw ourselves in the deep end again! Hence, not planning too far ahead.
With our map in hands, we started to try and find the hostel. After a few wrong turns, we were getting close but got confused and asked in a flower shop. I asked in French and she understood! For some reason I always assume it’s not going to make any sense because of my terrible accent. Je pense tous les films jai regarde est bon idee….
The hostel ‘formular 1’ was in quite a shabby area with lots of lurking men on the streets. There was also a security guard with a dog with a broken leg outside the hostel which I though was pretty strange. The room it’s self was fine. So we got settled in. I ate my onion, mushroom thing, had a shower and then we headed down Paris.
I’d arranged to meet my friend Laura, from home that evening. Her and her friend Jenny had just travelled up from Montpellia, where they are working as teaching assistants for the year. We decided to meet in the louver as it’s as good a place as any. Oh yeah thought we might say hello to old Mona lisa too. After the louver we were all starving so we went in search of some food. Laura had been recommended the food district area qui s’appelle…I can’t remember. Serf ice to say, due to all of our eating, dietary requirements, an authentic French restaurant would not cater for our needs, not too mention our budget so we went to a Japanese restaurant again!
Saturday
Well despite setting the alarm for 8 no one got out of bed until 9.30. After having got ready, we were all feeling very thirsty and decided to get a hot chocolate from the vending machine downstairs. I can honestly say this was the best hot chocolate I have had in France or maybe even ever! It was 1 euro. Anyway enough rambling. –In France instead of the word ‘anyway’ a lot of the French make a random noise, where they grasp they’re lips together and blow. It sort of if they don’t know what to say. It’s pretty funny. Anyway that was more rambling.
So we decided the first and fore most thing we should do it climb the Eiffel tower being in Paris and all. Oh before this we stopped off at the supermarket to get some food for lunch. After eating the lunch that we’d bought, we joined a long and hefty cue for the tower. I felt more like I was in America than France. We heard so many Americans and also Japanese. There was a large group of Japanese in front of us and Liz said she caught them eyeing up a dog. She said she saw all of they’re heads turn as though they’d seen dinner. I’m not sure if this was true but I felt ill. As is turns out we weren’t allowed to climb it the Eiffel tower and had to use the lift. We went to the third floor. The view was alright. No it was beautiful. Oh and I almost forgot the best bit. We saw a woman being proposed too! It was so romantic if not a little clichéd but lovely all the same. He got down on one knee and there were smiles all around. Thankfully!
Once we’d witnessed this there was nothing left to see. We were however allowed to walk down all the stairs the whole way. Believe me I am still paying for this now. My calves ache even if I walk down one step now. It was fun at the time.
Well despite setting the alarm for 8 no one got out of bed until 9.30. After having got ready, we were all feeling very thirsty and decided to get a hot chocolate from the vending machine downstairs. I can honestly say this was the best hot chocolate I have had in France or maybe even ever! It was 1 euro. Anyway enough rambling. –In France instead of the word ‘anyway’ a lot of the French make a random noise, where they grasp they’re lips together and blow. It sort of if they don’t know what to say. It’s pretty funny. Anyway that was more rambling.
So we decided the first and fore most thing we should do it climb the Eiffel tower being in Paris and all. Oh before this we stopped off at the supermarket to get some food for lunch. After eating the lunch that we’d bought, we joined a long and hefty cue for the tower. I felt more like I was in America than France. We heard so many Americans and also Japanese. There was a large group of Japanese in front of us and Liz said she caught them eyeing up a dog. She said she saw all of they’re heads turn as though they’d seen dinner. I’m not sure if this was true but I felt ill. As is turns out we weren’t allowed to climb it the Eiffel tower and had to use the lift. We went to the third floor. The view was alright. No it was beautiful. Oh and I almost forgot the best bit. We saw a woman being proposed too! It was so romantic if not a little clichéd but lovely all the same. He got down on one knee and there were smiles all around. Thankfully!
Once we’d witnessed this there was nothing left to see. We were however allowed to walk down all the stairs the whole way. Believe me I am still paying for this now. My calves ache even if I walk down one step now. It was fun at the time.
Grace unfortunately was feeling very ill and was not up to anything active so we went to a café on the Champs Elise to sit down. so that we didn’t have to go home but grace could be near a toilet decided to go to the cinema. She’ll love me for saying that! We saw a film called 10 000 bc. This was how the conversation went afterwards. Liz to Grace ‘That was abit shit wasn’t it?’ Me to Liz ‘Wasn’t that brilliant!’ I loved it. After this we headed back to the hostel. Liz put a few streaks of Purple in Grace’s hair and I read my book.
Sunday
Sunday
We met Laura and Jenny in town and went to the Ameli café for some hot chocolate. I seem to be drinking a lot of hot chocolate here. I think it’s the new tea. Grace was still feeling worse for ware so we decided to head back to Rouen. Not too mention we all missed Rouen madly! I’ve grown so attached and especially when you see the fast pasted un homeliness of Paris.
That evening we went over to Hannah’s apartment to watch a film. We watched When Harry met Sally and ate lots of ice cream. Yum!
That evening we went over to Hannah’s apartment to watch a film. We watched When Harry met Sally and ate lots of ice cream. Yum!
Monday -Saint Patrick’s Day. Well I went into the art school at about 9.30. I really missed painting that weekend so was eager to get a move on. At about 3 I went on to café cheri to use the internet. I made my hot chocolate last a good few hours probably to their disapproval. That evening we decided to go to O’kalloghans aka the Irish pub. The atmosphere was brilliant. There a was band out side, a beer stand, bag pipe, the hats, all the typical St Patricks day festivities, except everyone was speaking French. We made lots of friends and went back to someone’s apartment with a group of people for some more drinks. I spoke in French all night and they played us some French rock which was interesting! 
Tuesday
Liz stayed at mine the night before as it was too late to walk back. She left to go home at about 10 and the hour seemed to disappear as I was in a rush to get in for 11 for our weekly group crits. We had been asked to bring food in so we brought jaffa cakes, biscuits. Just as Grace had eaten two jaffa cakes she read on the ingredients that they have Gluton in, which I one of the things she’s allergic to! We’re just pretending she didn’t eat it so it can be a placebo hopefully. I guess she’ll let us know tomorrow!
In the crit a girl called Chloe was talking about her superimposed images taken under water. Patricia also informed us that our presentations have been pushed forward to next week. Whoopeee! I spent the rest of the day painting.
Liz stayed at mine the night before as it was too late to walk back. She left to go home at about 10 and the hour seemed to disappear as I was in a rush to get in for 11 for our weekly group crits. We had been asked to bring food in so we brought jaffa cakes, biscuits. Just as Grace had eaten two jaffa cakes she read on the ingredients that they have Gluton in, which I one of the things she’s allergic to! We’re just pretending she didn’t eat it so it can be a placebo hopefully. I guess she’ll let us know tomorrow!
In the crit a girl called Chloe was talking about her superimposed images taken under water. Patricia also informed us that our presentations have been pushed forward to next week. Whoopeee! I spent the rest of the day painting.
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