Nothing much to report, really. The other day I went on a fantastically boring boat trip around the marshes of St. Omer. This was possibly some sort of part of what must be one of the world's coolest rivers, the River Aa. Heh heh I derive immense satisfaction from living anywhere near the River Arrrrgggh! Apparently some people living in the marshes still have no road access and have to get to and from their homes by boat. Even the postie does part of his route on motorbike and part by boat. Numerous wild birds were pointed out en route, but I must say I couldn't see most of them. There were also allegedly rats the size of rabbits on the banks, which I couldn't see either. It was freezing cold.
Last night we lost another member of the Chateau team, Kathryn, who is off to a new life in Brussels. She did her degree in international relations, and really wants to work for the EU in some capacity, so she's starting off with an admin job for the British representative to the EU and hoping to get her foot in the door and work her way up, which I think is really cool. Hopefully I'll go visit her for a couple of days once she's settled - poor thing has to start a new job on Monday, living out of a hostel, trying to find an apartment and without knowing a soul in the city! In her honour, we had a wee party in the bar after everyone had knocked off for the evening last night - this comprised pizza, booze, a compilation CD of everyone's fav French hits, dancing on the bar and general merriment. Photos to follow!
Now that we're three staff down over the last few weeks the place is feeling a bit empty and there's more work for everyone, which is a bit of a drag. There are new staff starting soon though, which will be exciting. Tomorrow family friends and all-round super folk, Sue and Norm are coming to visit, don't know what we'll be up to but I have Saturday off so should be able to do a bit of sight-seeing of some description, I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
Lille again
The Grand Place aka Place de Charles de Gaulle
And again
Le Grand Squat
My fav painting in the Lille art gallery, The Birth of Venus by Amaury-Duval
Had a day off the other day, and since I woke up early, I adjusted my plans from slobbing around in bed all day to hopping the train to Lille. As my first time on a French train, it was a little nerve-wracking, as I always find to be the case with public transport, but there were no hiccups and I can report that the scenery on the way to Lille is, in common with the rest of the north-east of France, 90% empty fields. I was reading the other day that the north is, outside Paris, the most heavily urbanised region of France, which makes me wonder what sort of barren wastelands are to be discovered in the south...
This same tourist guide (a guide to Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the region where I live, which curiously enough contains a section on South-East England, which has clearly been appropriated by the French) informed me that the Palais de Beaux Arts in Lille was France's second art gallery after the Louvre. All I can say is that it's a distant second. Well, it wasn't that bad, but certainly not a patch on the Louvre for treasures and a bit smaller than I imagined. There was one painting that I really liked though, I'll put it up with my next new batch of photos. Not many 'big names' and items of note, but you know, an okay way to spend a couple of hours.
After the gallery and a stop at Quick, France's answer to McDonald's, which I felt I should sample to 'faire une comparison' between the two (Quick is even worse than MacDo, FYI), it was time for shopping. Instead of shops having sales any old time, in France they all launch on the same day, and I think they run for a month. They began last Thursday or something, so by Saturday there was still plenty to pick from, so I had a fun afternoon rifling through various shops (Lille has plenty to choose from) before buying something that wasn't on sale at all - typical! - although since it only cost 6€ it's okay. It was an emerald-green top from H&M, for those of you playing at home. I've gone all, 'let's buy colours' this season, I have too much black in the wardrobe and am going for some summery stuff.
Then I just wandered about for a bit. There was something charmingly called 'Le Grand Squat' taking place in one of the city squares - this entailed information on jobs and so on for young people and various cover bands. This is one thing I like about Europe - there are always things just randomly going on on the streets or in parks or what have you.
After a stop at a bookshop with English-language books and newspapers (heaven!) and a brief nosy around Euralille, it was back on the train and back to the chateau, well pleased with having had a day out for a change.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Chateau folk
Introducing (most of) the Chateau folk and associated partay people
Me, army guy, Freddy (French guy) and Kathryn at Le Queen Vic
Tom - the eminently appealing guy who asked me out repeatedly (and has since been fired after being punched twice by different staff members, feel half sorry for him, but only half) - and Al at the chateau bar
Alice (my roommate) and Ben in Freddy's flat - you can probably view 90% of Freddy's flat in this photo
A charming photo of Sophia (who starts work in the chateau next month when she turns 18) and Freddy. Who's giving the finger I don't know
Another lovely photo - he's only pretending to grope her, for the record, but that sort of thing is pretty typical for our work environment. Al, Sophia and Mark 2
Mike, Mark and Freddy get their groove on at L'Afterclub
Mike and his (now ex) girlfriend Fleur - French girl and mates with Fredddy
A very unflattering photo of Mark, he'd probably kill me since his ego is the size of a small country
Mike, me and Helen
Me and Benji (aka Ben), whose last day at the chateau (after 9 months) was today
Home sweet home and my last can o' V for the duration
Me, army guy, Freddy (French guy) and Kathryn at Le Queen Vic
Tom - the eminently appealing guy who asked me out repeatedly (and has since been fired after being punched twice by different staff members, feel half sorry for him, but only half) - and Al at the chateau bar
Alice (my roommate) and Ben in Freddy's flat - you can probably view 90% of Freddy's flat in this photo
A charming photo of Sophia (who starts work in the chateau next month when she turns 18) and Freddy. Who's giving the finger I don't know
Another lovely photo - he's only pretending to grope her, for the record, but that sort of thing is pretty typical for our work environment. Al, Sophia and Mark 2
Mike, Mark and Freddy get their groove on at L'Afterclub
Mike and his (now ex) girlfriend Fleur - French girl and mates with Fredddy
A very unflattering photo of Mark, he'd probably kill me since his ego is the size of a small country
Mike, me and Helen
Me and Benji (aka Ben), whose last day at the chateau (after 9 months) was today
Home sweet home and my last can o' V for the duration
'Cosy' living arrangements for me and Alice
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Grotty
This morning was a 6.30 am start, which was not pleasing to me, followed by helping the world's stupidest children make their sandwiches. I had to tell not one, not two, but about twenty of them that it actually helped to open the (cut) baguette up completely to fashion a sandwich, instead of slotting the butter knife into the narrow opening and then trying to insert the fillings in like a letter into a post box. Les enfants terribles! This, by the way, is a judgement in which the teachers wholeheartedly concur. All I heard all day was how terrible the kids are, how they're all looking forward to the imminent end of the year to be rid of them, and how they'd never take them on another trip again...
Apart from that though, I had a very easy day because there were two drivers with the coach, so no navigating duties for me. Even though I would have made a better job of it than the crazy route they took I tells you! First stop was a bakery, not the same bakery we went to the other day, but in fact a superior bakery where I got a free pain au chocolat AND a free croissant. Score! The kids also got to have a go here making their own croissants and pains au chocolat, which I trust were promptly binned on departure. Here I learned that, in France, a crescent-shaped croissant signals it's made with margarine, whereas the straight ones are made with butter. Talking of which, I couldn't see super well over all the kiddies, but his method of making the croissant dough seemed to consist of wrapping a sheet of pastry around a big lump of butter and pounding it with a rolling pin before putting it through the rolling machine. So that's why croissants are so buttery good!
After that it was another two hours down the road (driving time today of 5 1/2 hours, seriously ridiculous) to the Grottes de Naours, which my driver repeatedly called, in what I believe to be a non-ironic fashion, the 'grotties'. The grottes are man-made caves carved out of the chalk rock, which the people of Naours were wont to hide in in times of distress. Originally they were a Roman quarry - for some reason the Romans liked to somehow start down below and dig up, makes no sense to me, but there you go. When the Roman Empire collapsed and the barbarians overran France, the people of Naours got the bright idea to just hide in the old quarry for a spell. It obviously worked, and they decided to carve out over 300 underground rooms over the next 500 years. They would usually only spend a couple of days or a week there, but apparently on at least one occasion they were down there for a month - about 2500 people and their animals, which can't have been fun. And for some reason their toilet was in the sheep pen... As time went on, the grottes were also used to avoid paying the much-hated 'gabelle' or salt tax in the 18th century, and then the ceiling to the main entrance caved in and the grottes were unused and forgotten until 120 years ago, when they were rediscovered. After this, they were used as an Allied hospital in the First World War and by the Nazis in World War Two (nothing in this part of France is untouched by the world wars, seemingly). All quite interesting, and worth seeing, especially since no-one else here has been, so I'm lucky to have had the chance.
Disappointingly, the proposed 'rain-date visit' to Agincourt did not go ahead since today was the first day in forever without any rain, naturally. So instead we spent about an hour herding the kids through the gift shop, fun times.
Apart from that though, I had a very easy day because there were two drivers with the coach, so no navigating duties for me. Even though I would have made a better job of it than the crazy route they took I tells you! First stop was a bakery, not the same bakery we went to the other day, but in fact a superior bakery where I got a free pain au chocolat AND a free croissant. Score! The kids also got to have a go here making their own croissants and pains au chocolat, which I trust were promptly binned on departure. Here I learned that, in France, a crescent-shaped croissant signals it's made with margarine, whereas the straight ones are made with butter. Talking of which, I couldn't see super well over all the kiddies, but his method of making the croissant dough seemed to consist of wrapping a sheet of pastry around a big lump of butter and pounding it with a rolling pin before putting it through the rolling machine. So that's why croissants are so buttery good!
After that it was another two hours down the road (driving time today of 5 1/2 hours, seriously ridiculous) to the Grottes de Naours, which my driver repeatedly called, in what I believe to be a non-ironic fashion, the 'grotties'. The grottes are man-made caves carved out of the chalk rock, which the people of Naours were wont to hide in in times of distress. Originally they were a Roman quarry - for some reason the Romans liked to somehow start down below and dig up, makes no sense to me, but there you go. When the Roman Empire collapsed and the barbarians overran France, the people of Naours got the bright idea to just hide in the old quarry for a spell. It obviously worked, and they decided to carve out over 300 underground rooms over the next 500 years. They would usually only spend a couple of days or a week there, but apparently on at least one occasion they were down there for a month - about 2500 people and their animals, which can't have been fun. And for some reason their toilet was in the sheep pen... As time went on, the grottes were also used to avoid paying the much-hated 'gabelle' or salt tax in the 18th century, and then the ceiling to the main entrance caved in and the grottes were unused and forgotten until 120 years ago, when they were rediscovered. After this, they were used as an Allied hospital in the First World War and by the Nazis in World War Two (nothing in this part of France is untouched by the world wars, seemingly). All quite interesting, and worth seeing, especially since no-one else here has been, so I'm lucky to have had the chance.
Disappointingly, the proposed 'rain-date visit' to Agincourt did not go ahead since today was the first day in forever without any rain, naturally. So instead we spent about an hour herding the kids through the gift shop, fun times.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
I've been sacked
As punishment for some unknown misdeeds, I was sacked this afternoon....
Gasp! Yes, two of my lovely and mature male colleagues snuck up on me with a laundry sack, stuck it over my head and down to my knees, pushed me over into a pile of laundry and then piled the rest of the dirty laundry on top of me. Admittedly, it was a laugh, but you see what I have to put up with on a daily basis! Seriously, I think I must have done something evil in a past life to not only have to work with these guys, but also live with them 24/7. Well, at least life's not boring, eh?
My new group had a spaz at me because some of the teachers had arranged to bring their daughter, who's about 15, along and they wanted a bed moved into their room for her. Firstly, head office didn't pass this information on; secondly, the boss said it couldn't be done for 'safety reasons' so they had a fit about how it had been arranged for 12 months and what were the saftey reasons and they'd done it before. Upshot was we moved the bed but they had to sign a thing saying they took responsibility for the decision. Which made me feel very awkward about interacting with them over the next couple of days. At least when they'd calmed down they said they knew it wasn't my fault, so maybe there's hope for me yet.
Gasp! Yes, two of my lovely and mature male colleagues snuck up on me with a laundry sack, stuck it over my head and down to my knees, pushed me over into a pile of laundry and then piled the rest of the dirty laundry on top of me. Admittedly, it was a laugh, but you see what I have to put up with on a daily basis! Seriously, I think I must have done something evil in a past life to not only have to work with these guys, but also live with them 24/7. Well, at least life's not boring, eh?
My new group had a spaz at me because some of the teachers had arranged to bring their daughter, who's about 15, along and they wanted a bed moved into their room for her. Firstly, head office didn't pass this information on; secondly, the boss said it couldn't be done for 'safety reasons' so they had a fit about how it had been arranged for 12 months and what were the saftey reasons and they'd done it before. Upshot was we moved the bed but they had to sign a thing saying they took responsibility for the decision. Which made me feel very awkward about interacting with them over the next couple of days. At least when they'd calmed down they said they knew it wasn't my fault, so maybe there's hope for me yet.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Why does it always rain on me?
Boulogne Cathedral
Looking up at the inside of the dome
The sadly-damaged frescoes
The ceiling in the Boulogne town hall - I just thought it was cool
I earned my money yesterday once again with some mad navigation skills. Let no-one henceforth question my abilities to be the navigator since I am officially paid to navigate large coaches around the north of France! It is, in fact, one of the few things I'm responsible for on tour, so it was actually quite nice to have a driver who had no idea so I felt like I was making myself useful.
Anyway, the day began with a trip to a boulangerie in the middle of nowhere, which was... longer than expected... Well, it smelt very nice in there and we got a free pain au chocolat which made the ones they serve at the chateau taste like crap by comparison - so light and buttery and chocolatey good! I also learnt that the weird skinny shrivelled looking baguettes you get in French bakeries actually weigh the same as their plump supermarket equivalents, the difference being that the boulangerie products are kneaded for longer and the air gets taken out, therefore they are smaller but denser. So there you go.
After that, we headed to Boulogne, which was nice, although we got caught in more than one heavy shower. By the way, temperature in Boulogne? Highs of 14 apparently, with biting winds from the sea. It's nearly JULY for goodness sake!!! Top tip? You can, in fact, haul 35 kids into the town hall to use the two available toilets, with nary a peep from the staff. Imagine trying that one on in the council buildings at home! The town hall also includes within it a world heritage site! Namely a 13th century belfry, which we had a look around while the kids were taking an age to file through the toilets. Then the kids had to do a 'treasure trail' - traipsing about in the Old Town pedestrian area answering questions like "how much is it for a peck of barley at the fifth shop on the left?" all in the name of improving their French. Meanwhile the teachers and I enjoyed a hot chocolate followed by a squiz at the cathedral, home of some sadly water-damaged frescoes. In fact, the roof was leaking while we were there. The cathedral is (was?) the home of a miracle-working statue of the Virgin Mary, which supposedly fetched up in Boulogne at some point on a pilotless boat. There was a statue of the Virgin Mary in the place, but I don't think it was the genuine article, since there was also a disembodied hand with a card saying it was the hand from the famous Virgin Mary - where the rest is, I know not. Presumably they don't either. Ah, update - the cathedral was deliberately destroyed and the statue burnt in 1793, only the hand survives. Thanks, Wikipedia!
Finally, it was on to the chocolate factory, where I've been before and not much has changed. I was highly miffed that the teachers got a free bag of chocs each and a big box of chocs free for the kids and I got zip. This only increased upon my return to the chateau when I discovered that the groupie who'd toured Beussent in the morning got free choc! Grrr! I made up for it though, by eating most of his ha ha!
Today was a frustrating day - up at 7 to see the group off - they were actually really good kids. Anyway, after that it was a double changeover followed by the lovely surprise that the new group who were meant to be arriving at 9 pm were actually going to turn up at 2.30 for a hot lunch before leaving again until the evening. This meant working through lunch to prepare their building, then doing all the lunch washing up before setting the tables again for their dinner. Thanks guys! Wasn't finished until about 4.30 which is MUCH later than usual. However, I have this evening off and then another group arriving tomorrow, which means unfortunately a long morning of hoovering tomorrow morning.
Anyway, the day began with a trip to a boulangerie in the middle of nowhere, which was... longer than expected... Well, it smelt very nice in there and we got a free pain au chocolat which made the ones they serve at the chateau taste like crap by comparison - so light and buttery and chocolatey good! I also learnt that the weird skinny shrivelled looking baguettes you get in French bakeries actually weigh the same as their plump supermarket equivalents, the difference being that the boulangerie products are kneaded for longer and the air gets taken out, therefore they are smaller but denser. So there you go.
After that, we headed to Boulogne, which was nice, although we got caught in more than one heavy shower. By the way, temperature in Boulogne? Highs of 14 apparently, with biting winds from the sea. It's nearly JULY for goodness sake!!! Top tip? You can, in fact, haul 35 kids into the town hall to use the two available toilets, with nary a peep from the staff. Imagine trying that one on in the council buildings at home! The town hall also includes within it a world heritage site! Namely a 13th century belfry, which we had a look around while the kids were taking an age to file through the toilets. Then the kids had to do a 'treasure trail' - traipsing about in the Old Town pedestrian area answering questions like "how much is it for a peck of barley at the fifth shop on the left?" all in the name of improving their French. Meanwhile the teachers and I enjoyed a hot chocolate followed by a squiz at the cathedral, home of some sadly water-damaged frescoes. In fact, the roof was leaking while we were there. The cathedral is (was?) the home of a miracle-working statue of the Virgin Mary, which supposedly fetched up in Boulogne at some point on a pilotless boat. There was a statue of the Virgin Mary in the place, but I don't think it was the genuine article, since there was also a disembodied hand with a card saying it was the hand from the famous Virgin Mary - where the rest is, I know not. Presumably they don't either. Ah, update - the cathedral was deliberately destroyed and the statue burnt in 1793, only the hand survives. Thanks, Wikipedia!
Finally, it was on to the chocolate factory, where I've been before and not much has changed. I was highly miffed that the teachers got a free bag of chocs each and a big box of chocs free for the kids and I got zip. This only increased upon my return to the chateau when I discovered that the groupie who'd toured Beussent in the morning got free choc! Grrr! I made up for it though, by eating most of his ha ha!
Today was a frustrating day - up at 7 to see the group off - they were actually really good kids. Anyway, after that it was a double changeover followed by the lovely surprise that the new group who were meant to be arriving at 9 pm were actually going to turn up at 2.30 for a hot lunch before leaving again until the evening. This meant working through lunch to prepare their building, then doing all the lunch washing up before setting the tables again for their dinner. Thanks guys! Wasn't finished until about 4.30 which is MUCH later than usual. However, I have this evening off and then another group arriving tomorrow, which means unfortunately a long morning of hoovering tomorrow morning.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
The Navigator
Yesterday when my coach driver got lost on the way to his bedroom, I thought it was a bad sign... Then this morning, he pulled out of the chateau and started driving on the wrong side of the road. Oh dear! I navigated our way into Belgium to the theme park fine, but got slightly confused trying to reverse the directions for the way back. Usually a driver might need a hand getting to a place, but they're quite happy on the return trip - not this time! However, he's a nice guy and we made it back without getting lost or having to turn, just with a couple of wee detours.
Today was a full day at the Bellewaerde (if that's how it's spelt) theme park, which is a pretty good park, pretty big. I went on quite a few rides with the kids, including some water ones, a rollercoaster that went backwards and loop-the-loop and one of those where you get raised up and then dropped down vertically. I never used to get sick on rides as a kid, but felt a wee bit dizzy after some of them today, I must confess. It rained off and on, unfortunately, but I just sat in the cafe whenever it was raining, so that's all good.
They're a well posh boarding school, so all the kids have impeccable manners and do whatever you tell them, and the teachers are all nice, which makes life easy. The head teacher teaches Russian, so I managed to get on his good side by gavariting a little with him - in fact, he told the kids he'd found his soulmate! Here comes a good final report for me, I can just feel it!
Tomorrow I'm not looking forward to - well, the visits should be fun, but there's an issue with it raining again, and more importantly, quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, which should test my navigational abilities to the utmost. We're off to a bakery first (free tasting mmm), then galumphing about Boulogne, then to the chocolate factory in the afternoon (where I've already been). Then a disco for the kids to round off the day. Which reminds me, I have to run crepe making for them this evening, and since my lovely helper doesn't speak any French, I'll have to give the instructions in French, which is proper scary...
Today was a full day at the Bellewaerde (if that's how it's spelt) theme park, which is a pretty good park, pretty big. I went on quite a few rides with the kids, including some water ones, a rollercoaster that went backwards and loop-the-loop and one of those where you get raised up and then dropped down vertically. I never used to get sick on rides as a kid, but felt a wee bit dizzy after some of them today, I must confess. It rained off and on, unfortunately, but I just sat in the cafe whenever it was raining, so that's all good.
They're a well posh boarding school, so all the kids have impeccable manners and do whatever you tell them, and the teachers are all nice, which makes life easy. The head teacher teaches Russian, so I managed to get on his good side by gavariting a little with him - in fact, he told the kids he'd found his soulmate! Here comes a good final report for me, I can just feel it!
Tomorrow I'm not looking forward to - well, the visits should be fun, but there's an issue with it raining again, and more importantly, quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, which should test my navigational abilities to the utmost. We're off to a bakery first (free tasting mmm), then galumphing about Boulogne, then to the chocolate factory in the afternoon (where I've already been). Then a disco for the kids to round off the day. Which reminds me, I have to run crepe making for them this evening, and since my lovely helper doesn't speak any French, I'll have to give the instructions in French, which is proper scary...
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