Guten Morgen!

Aston and I are having tons of fun so far. We saw lots of great stuff in London although it was FREEZING cold. Especially after it was really getting warm in Narbonne. I have some super fun pictures I can't wait to post up but that will have to wait for now. We got up so early this morning to get our flight to Berlin that we hardly slept at all. Now we're just waiting for our room to be ready at the hotel (we saw it and it's so nice!) I don't feel super coherent (so tired) so I'll leave it at that. The weather in Berlin is colder than London (snowing a bit) but it doesn`t feel so bad I think because there's less wind. have lovely weekends! tschüs!!

Leaving for London

Steph's driving me to the airport in Carcassonne in about 40 min then I'm off to London to meet Aston. Posting will be....unpredictable for about the next 2 weeks.
Feb. 20th arrive in London
Feb. 25th arrive in Berlin.
Feb. 28th back in London for one night
March 1st arrive in Carcassonne; meet Dad in Toulouse that night
March 2nd arrive in Valencia that afternoon.
March 5th arrive back in Narbonne that night.

Hiking in La Clape Part 2

Steph and I had a really nice walk yesterday and it was actually warm enough to wear tank tops!



Otalia has gone to Toulouse for the weekend. It's Sunday morning and Steph and I have been hanging out in our pyjamas watching the olympics and drinking tea (v. nice). I should be frantically getting ready and I will be. Tomorrow night I'll meet Aston in London. I really hope our hotel is ok. We had a really tough time finding one that was sort of in our price range and not a crack den.

Did I mention that I seriously LOVE the O.C.?

I just watched the last episode of the first season. So amazingly good. I cried through the whole ending. For all you non-believers, I was like you too. You just have to watch it from the beginning. It's not just a 90210; it makes fun of itself. It's actually really funny. Allison's parents sent her the whole first season set and Louise had the second season set so all us English assistants in Narbonne are going crazy watching it. And we're not alone.

BTW, survived the vine growers greve yesterday. I only saw one smashed van window. so, pretty calm apparently. Can't believe it's almost vacation time. yay!

France has a wine crisis

I'm no Reuters news, so grain of salt and all, but according to conversations with my French friends, there's a serious wine crisis going on in France. The price of wine has gone down 33% in the past 2 years, according to Christophe, who works in the industry. New French wine comsumers just don't drink wine every day. They still might have a nice bottle of wine with a big Sunday lunch but nightly dinners are mostly wine-free.
Today there is a strike planned by vine growers to protest the current situation. In the south of France that can be quite dangerous apparently. All the teachers in my schools have advised me to avoid going out of my house during the 'procession' because people often break windows and get violent. I've noticed tons of shops and stores are closed in solidarity. Imagine that in Canada....the local beauty shop closed in solidarity for a strike?

I love you Aston

Amy's birthday, where the sparks first flew

Camping, our first kiss

You visited me in Vancouver; I visited you in Victoria

We spent time together until I had to leave for France.

Surprising everyone including ourselves, we stayed together.

You came to France for the Christmas holidays.

We had an amazing time. I can't wait to see you in London in one week and I can't wait to come home to you at the end of my contract. Happy Valentine's Day!

Hiking in La Clape

Allison, Steph and I went walking in the unfortunately named wilderness 'La Clape'. Allison took some pictures.




Then we went to Narbonne Beach. Isn't Allison a great photographer?

Nude woman spotted in local public swimming pool.

Sorry no pictures. ;) Stephanie and I have got into the habit of going swimming at the year-round outdoor pool here in Narbonne. It's heated and quite enjoyable on a sunny day, which is most days. Walking in one's swim suit out to the pool is torture though, so we try to jump in quickly. This Tuesday we were there and about to descend the ladder into to the pool but something was stopping us. That was a young woman hanging on to the ladder who had pulled her red one piece down to about her waist, presumably wanting a little soliel on her bosoms. (!) Stephanie solved the problem by just jumping in the side of the pool and I followed her. The woman looked like she was getting out like that but perhaps the surprised looks on our faces changed her mind and she pulled up her suit before returning back inside. Now, I know topless suntanning is the norm on French beaches, but public pools ?! Another oddity: the changing rooms and showers aren't divided into ladies and men's. Just one mass area with lots of little booths to actually change in and people (I believe!) just shower in their swim suit. The showers are sort of divided into men's and ladies but they are open rooms that you can completely see into. What an experience going to the local public swimming pool in France!

You've Got to Hide Your Danny Glover Away

Why is this so funny?
I know, I'm just goofy.

Tonight Steph will sleep in an igloo (actually Sat. night)

Prev. post which Aston sent to me so I could post it again:

It's Saturday morning; it's a beautiful sunny day. Last night we had a big assistants' dinner at Rahel's apartment. There was tons of yummy food and afterwards those so inclined went out clubbing, which didn't include me or Stephanie, who is off for a mountaineering weekend of igloo building and snowshoeing. It's with a walking club she belongs to. Otalia has a male friend visiting her, so maybe this weekend I'll finally be productive and get things done. It's all about the trip planning right now. Aston arrives in 2 weeks. We were going to go to London then Dublin, but as it turns out there is a massive international rugby tournament the weekend we planned on going to Dublin and all the hotels are either a) fully booked or b)charging 3x their usual rate. So, we're thinking we'll try and change our flight. It's actually cheaper than staying in Dublin, besides neither of us has a strong interest in rugby. Then on March 1st Dad arrives. I still need to do more trip planning for our trip too. I'm so happy to have Aston and my Dad coming to visit. I haven't seen my Dad since September....My mom will be coming to visit for the next vacation time I have after this which is 2 weeks at the end of April, beginning of May. We're going to Italy. Don't I have a ridiculous amount of vacation time? Ahh the life of a teacher in France. Too bad I have zero desire to stay and live here.

This is a test

I wrote a post yesterday and it seems to have disappeared. WTF Blogger!!! Aston saw it on his RSS feed so I know it did exist. Let's see if this posts.

Things that are new & fabulous

My new coat...that's a start....

YAY! our new roomie, Stephanie.

Otalia is still here, of course, but our apartment is ridiculously huge (we had 2 spare rooms) and Steph got sick of living in the boonies so she's decided to live here in the metropolis that is Narbonne til she goes back to England. Welcome Steph!!!
In other news....3 weeks til vacation time. Aston is coming back. (yay!) We're going to London and Dublin. I haven't been to London since I was 17 and I've never been to Dublin so v. v. exciting. Then if that wasn't enough fun traveling and visiting, my dad is also coming for 2 weeks after that. Originally the big plan was for my dad to come and visit during my 2 weeks vacation time. Then, due to scheduling concerns, he couldn't come until near the end of my holidays. No problem, we decided; we could still have lots of fun during the 4 vacation days and anyways, I only work 15 hours a week, so still lots of visiting time while I'm back at work. Dad and I will hightail it down to Spain as soon as he gets here (March 1st) and spend time in Barcelona. So, 3 countries in one holiday, I will be busy!