So the Festivities Begin | Blogmas Day 18-20

Hello! Currently writing this on the 20th, although I have no wifi at the moment so not sure when I'll be able to actually post it. I'll get to why I don't have wifi later though, so if you're interested read on I guess!

So, the 18th begin with a morning stroll through the countryside... on horses. Yup, horse riding! Now I haven't been horse riding since I was like 8 I think, and it was a tad scary at first but I think I settled in quite nicely, and we even trotted a bit! My butt had a lot of complaining to do that evening though... The afternoon I FaceTimed the fam again, as they had arrived at my grandparents in England. They also had a chat with Sophie and Bobby, as we're all meeting up in less than a week now! Excitinggg. In the evening Bobby and I watched The Seventh Son but in French, of course, and it was pretty good even though I wasn't really sure what they were saying. 

The 19th was a Saturday, and it began with a long sleep again followed by lunch, after which Zoe and I went for a walk around a nearby lake. I love winter walks so so much and the lake was very pretty because it was so calm and still, and we crossed a bridge over it and snapped some pics, before doing a loop around a field where there were loads of people running with their dogs tied to them! Quite a strange sight! That evening Zoe baked her really cool cake and I attempted to make a malva pudding for the first time, and I'm not sure if it will be alright because we haven't eaten it yet! After that we went to Zoe's friends house for pizza and a movie - bear in mind we left home at 10.30 and therefore only started the movie at about midnight, after eating pizza and making virgin mojitos which were soooo good! The movie we watched was Night at the Museum 3, in French but thankfully with English subtitles!

So this morning, the 20th, it was very difficult to wake up. After quickly packing last night at 3 in the morning we were supposed to leave at 8, which just did not happen. It was about 9.30 by the time the car was packed full and we all bundled in for the 3-4 hour journey to Zoe's grandparents' house, which I spent sleeping surprise surprise. Somehow we arrived right on time at 12.30, at about the same time as the rest of the family which was a loooot of people! After a few glasses of champagne we all settled around the table for lunch, and as we ate the grand giving of all the presents took place. The food was lovely and so are all Zoe's family, and I managed to hold a few conversations in French (mostly just me agreeing and giving one word answers because although I understand quite well now I'm not a great at formulating sentences). We also played that game where you have, in our case, the name of an animal stuck to your head and you have to guess what it is, which was kinda hard because I didn't know what half the animals actually were in French. Nonetheless I managed to formulate questions about my own animal and was actually the first to get it! It was a giraffe, by the way. At about 9 I think we all bundled back in our cars to drive to Sophie's sister's house where we're sleeping, and where I am now. When we arrived soup and yoghurt and, of course, cheese came out, despite it being past 10.30 at night - still can't get over how late they eat here! After the feast everyone trickled off to bed, which is where I am now in a big room in the basement on mattresses on the floor. 

And with that I shall end this incredibly long blogpost, wowza. Guess that's karma for not posting for three days! But yeah, sleep well and I'll be sure to write again tomorrow. 

P.S. We are now playing with a cat in the darkness in bed, because it keeps coming back and playing with Zoe's socks haha. Okay I'm really going now, byeeee. 

So. Much. Food. | Blogmas Day 17

This morning I rose late. Again. Every morning I have an alarm that goes off, and every morning, without fail, I turn it off, roll over and go back to sleep. ARGH. 

But anyway, after lunch I finished writing up my presentation that I was supposed to be doing in the evening and finalised my PowerPoint and all that jazz. Zoe also showed me the video she made of her time time in SA and I love it so much! After that we went to the boulangerie (still love that) to buy bread and also some sneaky treats, of which mine was a Nutella eclair which was very yummy. After all was eaten and the coffee was consumed we decided to paint our nails, and usually I'm absolutely rubbish at that, but they actually went so well and I'm very impressed! My toes, however, are a different matter, but let's not go there. 

This evening we went to Zoe's rotary club for the first time, who are the people my exchange is through, and I was supposed to do my presentation but ended up not, and am doing it in January instead. Nonetheless I met all the rotary people and didn't have too much trouble conversing in French with them - I'm definitely getting much better! We then had a MASSIVE meal. Like, huuuuge. It was literally five courses and I was so stuffed afterwards because everything was so good! Also I think it's a French thing, but we ate so late, like we finished eating at 11pm and then only got home at about quarter to 12. I then faffed around a lot before writing this, and I am now going to bed cos we have exciting stuff planned for tomorrow!

See you then. Au revoir!

So Much Shopping | Blogmas Day 16

Hiiiiii. So today we got up bright and early (by which I mean 10am) to travel to the town of Rouen which is about an hour away by car. 

It was kind of miserable today, although thankfully it only rained a little bit at the beginning, so I guess it was the best day to spend shopping! Rouen is very pretty with its huuuuuge cathedral, and there was a Christmas market right outside which smelt of all good things like mulled wine and crepes mmmm. But yeah, the day was spent shop shop shopping for Christmas presents seeing as it's only like 9 days away now (?!) and I also bought a couple of things for myself including a t-shirt that says "unicorns are real" and a cute little diary, both of which I fell in love with and just couldn't resist. I also ate a crepe with Nutella on which was so so yummy!

I fell fast asleep in the back of the car on the drive home, obviously exhausted from all the shopping, and by the time we got back it was already dark and we spent the rest of the evening chilling before a lovely dinner cooked by Zoe, followed by a game of uno which I actually won woop woop!

So yeah, that was today. See you again tomorrow!

Decorating the Tree | Blogmas Day 15

Yep, today we put up the Christmas tree! Ah, I love Christmas so much. 

The morning was uneventful, and after lunch Zoe and I went for a run. (I know, me, doing exercise. Crazy.) It was actually really nice because it's not too hot, seeing as it's winter and all. When we returned home we starting the decorations of the tree! It began with loooooads of twinkly lights which took a while to untangle, and then baubles galore, and the finished result was great! This evening Zoe cooked this really nice cheesy, potato-y dish that was delicious, and she said it's something they usually eat in winter. Mmmm. After that I just showered and now I'm in bed writing this, soon going to sleep. 

So yeah, that's all for today. Bye bye!

Recuperation Day | Blogmas Day 14

This morning... actually I can't really say that seeing as I got up at about 12. Yes, today was recuperation day which was so nice, considering how sleep deprived we were! So sorry this blogpost is probably gonna be a tad boring seeing as we didn't really do much! 

So I woke up, had a shower and then ate lunch, and then the Christmas decorations came out! Woohoo! So we began decorating the house with santas, a nativity scene and many, many candles. This evening we went out to buy the tree, and the garden centre was completely Christmas galore, including Christmas songs playing! We returned home and just chilled for the rest of the evening, seeing as it was recuperation day and all. 

So there ya go, a lovely lazy day all round. See ya tomorrow!

Not Enough Sleep | Blogmas Day 12-13

Hiya! And yes, I know, I missed a day. All will be explained in a moment. 

So yesterday we had a super chilled morning, and then in the afternoon we made a quick visit to a nearby town to drop off some clothes for charity and then to have a look around some of the shops there. When we got back we began our preparations for Zoe's brithday party, stringing up fairy lights (with difficulty) and rearranging the house to create a dance floor (with even more difficulty). But all went well, and the party was a big success and very fun! Though we ended up going to bed at 5.30am... hence no blogpost yesterday!

This morning when everyone left we drove to a Christmas market about half an hour away, which was really nice. It was in a castle and the whole place just smelled like mulled wine, mmmmm. We also watched this cute little play, intended for kids I think, but I managed follow basically what was going on even if I didn't understand everything they were saying!

We returned home very tired, hence the staying up until 5.30 in the morning and getting very little sleep, but I managed to FaceTime the fam, which was really nice. We then had yummy crepes for dinner, which I may have overdone the Nutella on a bit, and I am now snuggled up on the sofa in front of some weird French drama of which I have no idea what is going on, a) because I'm not really watching and b) because, well, it's in French. 

And with that, I shall love you and leave you. Goodnight!

Winter Walks | Blogmas Day 11

Salut! 

This morning Zoe and I began the day with a short walk to some stables nearby, to ask about a possibility of horse riding sometime next week, which would be really fun! Then while she was out, Sophie and I went on a long walk in the countryside which was sooo nice, because I love the countryside in the winter! We also stopped to buy some honey from a man, who seemed very nice although I didn't understand much of what he was saying! After that I went to the neighbour across the road to play the piano for a little while, as Zoe doesn't have one, which is so nice of them to let me practice! It went pretty well. I then returned home for dinner, and now I'm sitting in front of the TV as I write this. It was a very homey sort of day, which is weird in a good way, seeing as I'm far from home! But it was really nice - which you can probably tell from the number of exclamation marks in this blogpost, i.e. basically every sentence! There's another one. Haha!

Anyway, I'm off to bed now because I seem to be a little delirious. See you tomorrow!