It is crazy to think I've been here for four weeks now! It's the school holidays here now so we haven't had anything to do for the schools except lesson planning but we've managed to do a few fun things as well...
When we visited the final primary school on Thursday we got to sit in on an actual English lesson which was great fun, especially as the teacher 'Mrs Jones' had given all the children an English name for when they learn English. Highlights include Jill, Margaret, Brian and our favourite: 'Tobby' (that will get fun when we start learning items of clothing). It's been beautiful weather here so we've managed to take advantage of it with walks along the Jordanne river and sitting in the park in the town centre. Among the many chocolate ones we've eaten, I tried a liquorice eclair (surprisingly nice) and have tried my hand at making aligot, a local delicacy which is essentially cheese stirred into mashed potato until it goes elastic and stringy. Mine did not get to the elastic stage but the taste wasn't far off the version I had in a restaurant so not bad for a first attempt!
On Monday night we went out for a meal as Sophie (one of the assistants here) had her boyfriend visiting. We meant to go to a riverside restaurant but they are closed on Monday evenings so wandered into a brasserie attached to a hotel which looked quite nice from the outside. When we were lead through to the main restaurant we couldn't quite believe it - it was the poshest place I think I've ever eaten! They didn't have anything veggie on the menu but I still got quite an impressive plate of food - summer vegetables in a pesto dressing on a rosti with a ramekin of risotto and salad... The others' meals looked and apparently tasted amazing too, especially the profiteroles stuffed with icecream and swamped in what looked like a whole bar's worth of melted chocolate. Needless to say it was definitely an evening to remember, and it's likely we'll go there again once we get paid!
http://www.brasserie-flo.fr/index.php/en/
I have been feeling quite homesick now and after toying with the idea of flying back to England (10 hours, at least 5 modes of transport and around £300) I have decided to go and visit my lovely little sister in Paris this weekend. We are also thinking of going to Clermont-Ferrand for a night out next week before my sister and parents come to stay for the weekend, so lots of exciting things ahead. It will also be great to start teaching (finally) on the 4th of November and actually start speaking French on a day to day basis, as Aurillac is severely lacking in 20 year olds we can socialise with (boo).. So far, the year abroad is going great!
No comments:
Post a Comment