Sunshine and Homelessness

So first things first, the lovely flat was gone. Bummer. This means that technically I'm homeless at the moment, but I'm really struggling to care since I'm having such a lovely time!

I spent Friday morning in the Lycée with Julie even though I don't technically start till Monday, and apparently I'm already a bit of a hit with the students (especially the boys...) so that's nice, I think! Then I spent the afternoon trying and failing to open a bank account. Banks are, of course, closed all weekend and on Mondays, so attempt 2 will have to be scheduled for Tuesday at the earliest. This has stalled progress on pretty much everything else administrative for the moment, but I don't really mind - this is France, I expected nothing less.

The weather's been absolutely incredible though (in England too, I gather) and I spent a lovely weekend at Julie's parents' house enjoying the sun, the food and playing tennis.

OK, I confess - it was swingball.

Julie's also turned out to be a master hairdresser so I've spent the weekend with various different "coiffures" including "La Cascade" and one which started off as "La Déesse Grecque" ("the Greek Goddess") but finished off as "La DSK" (the disgraced IMF chief). This is funnier in French where the two sound rather more alike.

We also went to a birthday party last night for which Julie and I were responsible both for the present and for bringing cake. To this end, we bought a massive football goal (quite a lot bigger than expected actually - 2x3m) and I made rice crispy cakes. Both went down remarkably well, and I seem to have single-handedly changed the reputation of English cooking in at least this small corner of France. Julie's mum even asked for the recipe, and they've rechristened it 'le gateau d'Ely'. Not bad for a recipe consisting only of 2 steps and 4 ingredients!

My other small victory of the week has been finally conquering the pronunciation of the French for kettle - bouilloire. It sounds something like bwee-war (I think). On a related note I am cultivating a caffeine addiction - the French drink (strong) espresso like the English drink tea, possibly even more!

So far it all feels a bit like a holiday (especially given the weather!) but school starts for real tomorrow, and I'll soon be plunging head first into the murky world of French bureaucracy so this may well be the calm before the storm. I'll let you know how it goes!