Friday 28th March

This evening we had a gathering at Liz’ house, us four and Mika and Charlie. I decided to bring the pud so made some chocolate crunch, bought some meringue for Grace and took a few strawberries. At 6pm Mika and Charlie picked me and Grace up from Graces flat - Mika was bringing two guitars so he had his car, and we headed to Route de Darnétal, which is the road Liz lives on. I started getting a bit suspicious when we went on the dual carriage way and then I saw signs for Darnétal. The town! Yep, we were heading out of Rouen. No, not the town, we said, the road, and had to turn around. By this point we had actually reached Darnétal. So thats why they looked very confused when we said we could walk to Liz’ in 10-15 minutes! Anyway, we eventually arrived at the right place and ran out of the car into the flat - it was pouring with rain. I finally met the frog Liz has to look after. It is tiny, about the size of my thumb. Then followed a really good evening of acoustic and electric guitar (I learnt how to play an ‘A’ chord), a delicious meal of garlic and pistachio rice and stir fried veg with ginger. The french aren’t used to ginger at all and Mika didn’t like it. According to Grace you can’t even get ginger beer here. Which was then followed by pud - the chocolate crunch was loved by all, and more guitar. All in all a good time was had by all.

Thursday 27th March

Started the day being lazy, doing some artwork at home. It did thunder though and started hailing so i’m glad I did. Mary rang at lunchtime and said that Habib (one of the students at the art school) was having an exhibition of his work so I wandered over to the art school to meet them. It was actually his examination blanc, which is a practice exam to help the students get ready for the proper one. There were men in suits, a lady who Grace said later had been slating Habibs work big time, and he had to talk in front of about 40 people - scary. After that we went back to the studio and spent the next hour just talking, and eating chocolate and then we parted ways to go and get ready. We were meeting Quentin (aka Mika look-a-like) and some of his friends and going for a japanese meal. We met them at what was supposed to be 7.30 but turned out to be 8.45 out side the irish pub - Mika (we have decided that Mika is much better than Quentin), Charlie (who comes form Corsica) and another guy who I can’t remember the name of - oops. It was a good night. We went to the same Japanese as last time and had the same waiter who definitely remembered us enggliish girls. They all got slightly tipsy on some wine, but my tooth had started hurting again and I took some paracetamol instead. We all had a very disgusting shot of something at the end though. And they came in special glasses where when there is liquid in the glass you can see a picture of a naked man or woman on the bottom, and when the drink is gone so are they. It cause some hilarity - is that even a word? After eating we headed back to the irish pub and managed to cause some mayhem. Somehow Grace learnt to say ‘I want your body’ in french - I think t was Mikas doing, and Mary dared her to say it to the waiter. So when he came over to order some drinks he said ‘What would you like’, Grace replied ‘I want your body’. I was very funny to watch. Then he said he would give it to her for a price but none of us heard what the price was. It was either €5, €50 or €5000. Anyway it was good. Mika found some more friends in the pub and they insisted we went Emporium Galorium so we said, OK, but only for a bit. On the way Grace and Liz managed to trip over a step and both fell into a shop doorway - oh dear. Emporium is a pub with a dance room downstairs. It is really dark with red seats, wooded tables and mosaic tiled ledges. It has the kind of light that makes you want to fall asleep. They was also no-one in there apart from a really cocky french man who kept making fun of Graces french accent so we said goodbye to Mika and Charlie (the other friend had already gone) and went back to Graces for some tea. Then we all parted ways again to go to sleep.

Wednesday 26th March

Rain, rain, rain - it really does make you want to stay inside. However I made myself get out the house and checked out some more car-parking for mum. We’re going to have a big problem with little entrances and her big bus, and a lack of on-road parking. Then I went to check my emails, but on the way I got caught up in some sort of parade. Have no idea what it was for but there were loads of kids, people dressed as pirates and fishermen, african dancing, gymnastics, disco dancing, several different music groups, confetti, balloons and loads of whistles. Lots of other spectators looked just as confused as I was. I even saw the man who had been our waiter at the Japanese restaurant taking photos. Trés interessant. After that the rest of the day was rather boring. Went on the internet, did some work, updated my PdP, finished ‘The Girls’, watched ‘You’ve got Mail’ and spoke to mum.

Tuesday 25th March

The day of the dreaded presentation in French. Got all worked up this morning worrying about it but in the end it was fine. I managed to distract them from me speaking by handing round photographs and the drawings for ‘One Orange Octopus’, so I was kind of talking to myself. I also didn’t need too many corrections which was good. Merci Ségoléne! Oh and my tooth isn’t so sore. So here is my speech:
Mon travail est totalement différent. Je fais des illustrations, du textile, des photographies et des bijoux, et d’utilise différent matériaux. Maintenant, mon travail principal est l’illustration. J’ai juste fini un livre de conte pour les enfants qui s’appelle ‘One Orange Octopus’. Dans les illustrations, j’ai utilisé des peintures, encre, couture, papier, feutre et couleurs vives. Les pages deviennent grosses, alors le nombres devient gros. Toutes les page contiennent un nombre caché et un rimer quel utiliser mots cela commencer avec le premier lettre de le chiffre. Par x, numero un = U. Numero deux = D. Lauren Child, une illustratrice qui ecrit ‘Charlie et Lola’, m’a donner l’inspiration. Dans ses illustrations, elle employe des medias melangés. Un jour, j’aimerais que mon livre soit dans une librairie ou une bibliothéque.
Maintenant, je fais aussi papier images. Je employe des motifs tout autour moi. L’artist Justine Smith m’a donne des inspirations.
After we had finished, and Patricia had given us some dates for private views etc we spent the rest of the day wandering really. First we went to the body shop for Grace and had a chocolat chaud in Flunch. Then we went to Marys flat so she could put some photos on her memory stick. This was the first time i’d been to Marys, so it was really interesting to see another flat. It had a big living, sleeping area, a small galley kitchen and a small bathroom. Spent a while just talking, quite a bit about aspirations actually. Then Grace had the idea of massage by walking on each others backs. I declined and Liz and Mary were worried about breaking some-ones neck by standing on the wrong bone, or simply hurting them but Grace was fearless. Next we went and got some canvas for Liz and Mary and then headed to the big supermarket to do a bit of shopping. I had nothing in my fridge except for a chocolate chicken, some water, half a lemon and some ketchup. After stocking up on food, and some mouthwash for my tooth, we went our separate ways and back at the flat I have basically been writing my blog. I’ve had 4 days to catch-up on. I did find a bit of time though to read half the book Mary had lent me earlier - ‘The Girls’, by Lori Lansens.

Monday 24th March

There was no snow on the ground. Was very disappointed as Mum sent a text saying England had loads. My tooth is still hurting so asked Anne for some more paracetamol, and then I showed her how I do my cut-out pictures. Her craft knife was really heavy so I have a bruise where I was holding it, but I was pleased with my picture. Then we had a really nice lunch of different salads and salmon steaks. It was torture though, as the eating made my tooth ache worse. I just hope its not my dead tooth wanting treatment, not sure I coul face going to a french dentist. Had a couple of hours to kill after lunch so I checked emails, Anne showed me how to cross Paris on the metro and then showed me some photos of Lavendu, museums etc. At 4.30 I said goodbye and caught my train to Paris. Actually it wasn’t my train because they were running late so it was the one which was meant to leave at 4. This meant there were two lots of people wanting to get on and the train was packed. I was standing squashed in a corner. At the next stop, loads more people tried to get on and the train was halted for about half an hour because there was too many people on board. Then another train pulled into the station and several people go off our train and headed to the other one. I didn’t understand properly what was going on so I bravely turned to a nice looking woman and her son and said ‘Vous parle anglais?’ Luckily she did and explained that the other train was also heading to Paris (I think it was the one I was originally meant to get), so I swapped trains. Finally I was on my way to Paris, but running about 45 minutes late. In Paris, I pushed my way through a gigantic mass of people and headed to the RER, which is like a double decker underground train and finally I was on my way to Gare St Lazare. There were two American women next to me and one had definitely had loads of plastic surgery. She looked a bit like Jackie Stallone. At this point it was nearly 6.30pm and my train was leaving at 6.50 so I was very doubtful of catching it. I was right, I missed my train by 5 minutes and ended up catching the next one at 7.30. It was a really nice train with squashy seats, clear luggage racks, curtains all in a pale greeny blue colour and that was 2nd class. In all the trains I’d been on I have learnt that red = 1st class, green/blue = 2nd. I was worried about my ticket though, because it had the previous trains' time on it but it doesn’t seem to matter in France. The conductor looked at my ticket and said merci and that was that. I had planned on visiting Monoprix on my way home because I had nothing in the fridge, but I arrived back in Rouen too late so I settled on McDonalds for supper. Could only manage about half though because of my tooth.

Sunday 23rd March

Got up late this morning. Didn’t sleep to well - I never do in strange beds. Had a breakfast of brioche with a sugar crust and pear jam. The jam was lovely, but I still haven’t worked out how the french eat so much sugar and fat and hardly ever get fat themselves. Then after a shower and a check of emails - I have finally learnt how to get the third symbol on a key. You have to press alt. €€€ - we had a lovely easter lunch of tuna casserole, rice, bread, cheese, and mushrooms followed by a chocolate fondue and fruit. I haven’t eaten that much in all the time i’ve been in Rouen and I was so full. Anne also gave us some easter chocolate - I got a chocolate chicken. In the afternoon we went to Château du Chamerolles. It is a very beautiful but small castle. It looked like it had come out of a fairytale. Inside was a history of perfume, with how they were made, the intruments used, the changes throughout time and finished with a collection of perfume bottles and posters advertising them. Some were very beautiful. Outside was a moat, a little lake, a mini maze, a well with no water, a vegetable garden, a beautiful iron gate, and an arch of roses which I imagine would be amazing in couple of months. After we got back we went straight out again. Anne and Didier were going to supper at some friends and were going to drop me and Ségoléne in to town to go to the cinema. The film didn’t start till 7.30 so we had an hour and a half to wander around. Ségoléne showed me the Cathedral, the old town, the river where we saw a really old boat, and the main shopping street. Then we got a bit cold so we went for a drink in a pub called L’Hendrix Pub. It was really nice, with pictures of Jimmy Hendrix and other famous musicians and singers on the walls, the cocktails all had names like ‘The AC-DC’ and ‘The Joni Mitchell’ and the music was a selection of oldie stuff from Jeff Buckley to Blondie. If only it was in Rouen! At 7.15 we headed to the cinema. It was tiny, and really old looking and suprisingly, twice the price as the one in Rouen. I really like the screen room though. It was long and thin and gave the feeling of sitting in a tunnel with the screen far away at the end. We saw ‘Autumn Rush’ in french. I understood the story but of course didn’t understand most of the dialogue but I really enjoyed the film. Definitely one to see in english. The only bad thing was my tooth started to hurt, and by hurt I mean really hurt so I was in pain for most of the film, but took some paracetamol and by the end it had calmed down a bit. After the film we went to get some food at a lovely restaurant with purple and red chairs. We had to run though because the rain had arrived. I had a gorgeous pizza with parma ham and which was gigantic. Even bigger than Pizza Express pizza’s. Had to eat it really carefully though, only chewing on the right side of my mouth in case I made my tooth worse. And Ségoléne taught me how to ask for the bill. When we came out of the restaurant, it was raining, but really big drops and as we walked it slowly turned to snow. Soon we looked like snowmen and we called Anne to come and pick us up. There was no way we could have walked home.

Saturday 22nd March

Caught the 8.40am train to Paris this morning. It was a double decker which was very cool, but there was an annoying bar across the window at eye-level so I had to either duck or stretch-up to see out of the window. Not that there was much to see, it was pouring again. There was an english family sitting behind me which was quite funny. They kept having arguments and at one point the Dad said ‘I am the head of the family so you have to listen to me. We are not equal.’ And there was a little french boy who kept walking up and down the corridor and falling over when the train jolted - very cute. At Gare St Lazare, I was met by Anne and Ségolène and we went to meet Didier who Anne said was going to be our taxi driver for the day. First stop was the Petite Palais where we had a look at some art. I think my favourite bit was actually the bannister of the staircase. It was beautiful with flowers and swirls all out of black iron. Drove past the Diana memorial, on top of the underpass where she was killed and then we visited the Musee D’Art Moderne. I really liked this museum. There was an amazing room with a massive illuminated painting by Dufy, which I think was 6 metres tall. It was produced for the 1937 World’s Fair and was originally installed in the Pavillion of Light and describes the history of electricity. We also looked at an exhibit who I can’t remember by but will look it up. Some of it was really weird like words made from photos of poo, sculptures made from toffee and stuffed toys, a toilet cubical, and a very large foot which I think was made of cheese. What I did really like though were some pictures made from plastecine, faces, flowers, patterns. They were very cool and could be something you could display in your house rather than a large cheesy foot. By now the weather had brightened up so after having some lunch in the museum cafe we went on a boat trip down the Seine. It turned out the weather wasn’t so nice after all and we got caught in a hailstorm, so we sat inside most of the time, hopping outside to take photos. At one point (luckily at a point when we were inside) a large wave splashed over all the people who were standing at the front of the boat! After the boat ride we drove around Paris, past the Eiffel Tower, a building all covered in plants, the government buildings, where the President lives and finally the Arc de Triomphe. As we were going around the Arc de Triomphe we drove past a yellow mini parked on the side of the road with a couple snogging inside, and Didier honked the horn. The faces of the two people were hilarious and we didn’t stop laughing for a while! And then on the way out of Paris we drove past a large group of tourists posing for a picture and Anne opened the window and shouted the equivalent of ‘Chheeessseee’ and the tourists all cracked up laughing. We then past a petrol garage which was under a block of flats - I have never seen anything like it, and we had a quick look in the Jasper Conran home shop which was amazing and amazingly expensive! There was such a nice desk.
Back in Orléans we had a gorgeous supper and Ségolène and I went to her friends house to a party. I still can’t get use to how much the french smoke (Ségoléne was not I am pleased to say), even the younguns. When I asked it turns out lots of people party smoke, but don’t normally. I tried speaking some french but they told me not too because they could understand me better in english - great! A guy had bought his violin and was fantastic, the girl whose party it was did a bit of piano and lots of them danced so I got taught a bit of ceroc dancing. And then when one of their friends phoned they threw the phone at me and said ‘speak english’. I sorry to say whoever was on the other end put the phone down when i said ‘hi, how are you?’ All in all it was a slightly mad but a good evening.

Friday 21st March

I have been here a month - can you believe it! Time has gone so fast. First today I decided to head to the art school to see if anyone was in. Got caught in a very large group of tourists on the way, mostly teenagers so i’m guessing it was a school trip. Mary was in, so said hello, and then went to fond a present to take to Orléans. Found a lovely antique type shop and bought a white pot with a red chicken on top. It was run by a little old man with grey hair and very large spectacles and it sold some really lovely raffia baskets, jugs, china and some very funny looking sheep made from what looked like straw. Stopped at Monoprix on the way home and bought some Lindor mini chocolate eggs to put in the pot and a golden rabbit for Ségolène. Present sorted. I then headed to the internet cafe where I had a cappuccino - it came with whipped cream on the top, how weird is that! Got a call from Mary saying they were going to Graces for supper, so I sorted out my fridge and took over the last bit of milk, baby tomatos and some crepes for who ever wanted them, and took some Ben and Jerrys for pud. Supper was delicious. Grace had made some sushi, and then we had crepes filled with ice-cream. At 11 we decided to go and have a drink at the Irish bar, and once again our english attracted the attention of some french people. This time a guy with crazy afro hair, who looked a bit like Mika so that became his name. At about 12.30 he came over again and said to come and join him and his friends at their table. We did, but because I had to catch a very early train I decided that was a good time to depart, said hi and bye to the people at the table and headed home.

Thursday 20th March

Started the day hunting for the nearest car-park to the hotel Mum is going to stay at. Found one (they are all underground in Rouen) and spent a few minutes watching the cars go in and out, contemplating the best way of actually driving there. Suddenly there was a loud beeeeeep. Two cars had got a little close going up the hill out of the car park, and the first had rolled into the second. More honking and some loud french followed. It was quite funny to watch, but be warned mum! Mum also wanted me to send a map of Rouen so I walked to the tourist office, and got there just before lunchtime closing. I was looking at the different maps, considering which was the more detailed when a man came up to me a babbled a load of french. ‘En anglais, s’il vous plait.’ ‘We are closing, do you want anything?’ ‘Ah, oui, this map’. So I bought the map and scarpered. The french are very strict on closing times and hate it when they are late for their two hour lunch. What a hard life they lead! So having got the map I headed back to the flat to write a note and to mark on where the hotel, car-park etc were. As I was turning the key in the main door, I got a call from Morgane. She wanted the big pot of paint from out of my room. Finally I have some more shelf space! It took a while to explain that I was a the bottom of the stairs, but she finally understood and came and collected the paint. 5 minutes later, as I was writing the note to mum, I received a phone call from Mary, asking if I knew where the post office was. That’s funny I said, thats where I was about to head to next. Mary was only two minutes away so she met me outside and we went to the post office. They don’t sell nice, cheap envelopes there so after buying some stamps, we went to mono-prix and spent a good 5 minutes standing near the bright yellow post box, putting letters into envelopes, addressing and stamping them. I bet we looked rather strange, especially as it was quite windy too. One woman came over to post a letter, and said something in french that we could not understand so just nodded heads. Back at the flat again, I got down to some work. I still hadn’t found a present to take to Anne, but I figured I would go out again later in the afternoon. Instead, I wrote about 600 words to Shaun. Its probably all gobble-de-gook but at least i’ve written something. Just as was considering going to find a chicken for Anne before the shops closed, I got a another phone-call from Mary saying they were going to the cinema later and would I like to come. Definitely, I said, so I abandoned my shopping task and started thinking about cooking tea instead. At the cinema, we saw ‘Paris’. Its a film about how the lives of different people intertwine and link together even though they may not meet. And this time we were in screen 6. Talk about extreme difference. First you have to walk up a narrow staircase and then you enter a tiny room. The screen was a lot smaller and there were probably only 70 odd seats. One wall was painted red and the opposite one was brick. But it had a really nice feel to it even though it was so small. Oh and I found some blu-tack type stuff. Its called Pate á Fixer, its white, about twice as sticky as blu-tack and I found it in the 2 euro shop of all places.

Wednesday 19th March

After reading some more critical studies stuff, I met Morgane on the stairs this morning and she gave me a package which had arrived from Mum - 6 creme eggs! Fabulous, and just in time for easter too. I also found out that she and Grace (my sister) were definitely coming to visit in about 2 weeks, which will be lovely. I was on my way out to meet the girlies at the internet cafe at the time (I should really note down the name - it begins with a ‘c’) and I got there 10 minutes late but when I arrived there was no sign of them. They had forgotten to tell me we were now meeting 1/2 hour later. It didn’t matter though, had lots to do so ordered a strawberry milkshake and began checking emails. We stayed for about nearly two hours, and I felt a bit bad only having one drink, but oh well. Grace and I had a meeting with the photography teacher at 3pm so after the internet cafe she came back to mine for a drink while we waited. Grabbed some macaroons on the way home to try. I’ve never had them before but they’re really nice. Also went past a chocolatier which had chocolate characters from the film Ratatouille in the window. Very cool. I can’t work out wether the meeting with Florence Chevallier was helpful or not. The problem is I use photography mostly as a base for another project, and its never (apart from the Chapelfields competition, and a project in foundation) been an actual piece of work. This meant I didn’t really have much to show apart from very mundane, everyday life photos which didn’t have a set subject. She kept going on about having a set subject and sticking to it. Up to now i’ve just been experimenting with photography. I tried to explain that my work is very diverse and uses different media but I don’t think she understood. Her english wasn’t brilliant. On the other hand she seem to really like Grace’s work and Grace got lots of ideas on what to do next. Back at the flat I put on some music and had another low moment (why?), but what I thought was funny was at the same time the ‘YMCA’ (yes I have some very cheesy music) started playing and the first verse, apart from the young man bit actually kind of related to me:
There’s no need to feel down,
Pick yourself off the ground,
Just ‘cause you’re in a new town,
There’s no need to be unhappy.
It just made me laugh. Especially as it was followed by Bob Marley’s ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’. Its true, i’m not making it up! That, a creme egg and ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ cheered me up immensely. Yes I am sightly strange!

Tuesday 18th March

Feel a lot happier today. Had to push my way through Cathedral Square on the way to art school this morning. There were loads of school children around and I even caught a bit of english - ‘Monet, ok guys listen to me. Monet painted this Cathedral in an impressionistic style. Anyone know what that is?’ The kids were just staring in to space, shuffling their feet and looking pretty bored. The good old days of school trips! Once at art school I got a phone call from Liz saying they were all going to be late, so I headed up to the painting room to say hi to the year 2’s. Then Patricia arrived and asked if I had met the photography teachers yet. I hadn’t and so she took me down to where one of them was teaching, Florence D-something I think her name is. I stood in the corner of the room while Patricia introduced me and I organised a proper meeting for tomorrow afternoon. Back in the painting room, Mary then Liz and finally Grace arrived, her computer has crashed and won’t turn back on. We had bought food as told last week (none of the french did), so we had croquettes, jaffa cakes, tuc crackers and some biscuits to nibble on while Chloe talked about her work. I found it very interesting. She takes photos and then super-imposes different images on to each other. She is very interested in preserving memory, especially of travel which is what I do with most of my photos too. After Chloe had finished, Patricia had to leave (but not after bringing forward our presentations to next week though - arrggghhh!), and we somehow got around to arranging to go to a concert next week which Helene is performing in. It turns out as well as climbing she also plays the piano, sings and is in a band. I hope we can get tickets - it sounds a bit like a musical evening at Hartismere. Grace also arranged a possible climbing trip with her. After lunch and back at home, I got down to trying to write what i’m going to say about my art work, and then attempted to translate some of it into french. Here it is:
Mon travail est tout différent. Je faire illustration, textile, photographie et bijoux, et utilisation différent matérials. Maintenant, mon travail principal est illustration. J’ai juste fini un livre de compte pour les enfants s’appeller ‘One Orange Octopus’. Dans les illustrations, j’ai utilisations peinture, encre, couture, papier, feutre et vif couleur. La pages devenir grossir, alors le nombres devenir grossir.
It probably makes no sense at all but at least i’ve made a start!

Monday 17th March

Morgane arrived home this morning. Haven’t seen her since Saturday evening. Read more of ‘The Kite Runner’ so i’m now down to the last two chapters. Trying to save them until tonight. Went to the art school at 12 and spent a couple of hours reading critical studies stuff - I think i’m starting to understand it now - and saw Grace and Liz. I sat near the window and must have seen about 30 different people entering the courtyard and taking photos. I read in my guide book yesterday that the courtyard was a burial ground of victims of the plague. I don’t think i’d like to be there at night. Then Grace and Liz went off to get some lunch and I suddenly felt very alone, which I haven’t felt in a couple of weeks. I don’t even know where it came from. So I gave up on reading and decided to have a wander around on my way home, peering into shop windows (its a monday) and finding new streets. It is really sunny and warm again today and there are loads of tourists milling about. Went in to a librarie to see if they had any books in english - nothing, nada. And also had a look in FNAC but they also had nothing. It seems like the only place to buy them is in the Virgin Megastore and i’ve got most of the small collection they have at home already. Stopped to buy a baguette and a couple of croissants at the bread stall and a homeless man seemed very interested in my money. The lady on the stall told him to get a move on or something along those lines in french and he went away. Then she said in english that he always stands there, eyeing up the bread and peoples money. So now its 3pm and i’m back in my room writing this and about to have some bread and cheese for lunch. Then I think i will go to the internet cafe for a cafe frappe and some surfing. Oh what an exciting life I lead!
Later: I did indeed go to the internet cafe. Got some sweets with my cafe frappe this time. A dinosaur shaped one, and two strawberry ones. Spent an peaceful hour checking emails, facebook etc. An email from dad nearly made me cry - what is up with me today? Anyway, when I got home I read the rest of the book sitting in my bed and then just fell asleep. I didn’t even feel tired. I think it was mental exhaustion. I slept for about an hour and a half and when I woke up Grace rang and asked if I wanted to go to the Irish pub for St Patricks day later that evening so I said yes hoping i’d wake up a little. I didn’t feel like cooking and didn’t feel very hungry so I had baguette and cheese for supper followed by a nectarine and a couple of left over croquettes, and then while I was waiting to go out I watch ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ in french while sorting out questions to take to tomorrows english class. We met at 9.30pm at the pub. Well me and Mary did anyway. Rang Grace and she said she would be 20 mins and Liz was just leaving, so we got a beer and waited. There was live music and tents had been set up outside, loads of green and orange balloons and lots of people wearing the big hats, it was a good atmosphere, although a bit chilly standing outside. While we were waiting two guys - one called Raphael and I didn’t get his friends name started to talk to me and Mary which was ok, but when Liz arrived (Grace went with Christophe to meet some other friends) Raphael disappeared and his friend followed us into get drinks. He then bought us our drinks even though we said no and tried to push money in his hand, and stuck with us the whole time we were there asking weird questions about car insurance and similar things. He then (I think he had had too much beer!) dropped his drink over Liz’s foot and my knee and all over the floor, and we decided to pretend we were going home and to try somewhere new. We wanted to stay but needed to get rid of him. After saying goodbye we went to Le vieux Marche to find another pub but everywhere was really quiet, I think everyone was at the Irish Pub. We didn’t want to go to Broite-a-Biere so the other two said they were going to go back to the Irish Pub and try to hide from the guy, but as I was very close to home by now (actually on the right road) and tired I said i’d see them tommorrow and went back to the flat. So here I am writing this. It is now 12.30am and there is a lot of noise coming from the flat downstairs again. Not a big party this time but laughter, door banging and shouting. Time for bed I think.

Sunday 16th March

Well, the party went off somewhere else at about 2.15am only to return and wake me from sleep at about 3.30, where it didn’t quieten again until about 4.15 - wonderful! Amazingly I don’t feel too tired. So today I cleaned my room, polished, dusted (although as soon as I dust something the dust comes back), and even swept the carpet with a dustpan and brush - yep I have no hoover. I felt like I was in the dark ages or something. Then in the afternoon I had a little walk, mostly to get the smell of polish out of my nose, and stopped off at the patisserie to get some croquettes for tonight. Then, on a wim I saw a Tabac open and decided to go and see if they had an english newspaper. I have no idea what’s going on at all in Britain. They had the Daily Mail, so I bought that and spent the rest of the afternoon reading it and doing sudoku. At 7, just before the girls came round I made a fruit salad with strawberries, kiwi, banana, nectarine and mango, it looked so nice. We ate some of the fruit salad and croquettes when they arrived while we contemplated which film to watch. We finally settled on ‘When Harry met Sally’ - Grace and Liz had never seen it, and ate the rest of the fruit salad with ice-cream mush. Yep, my freezer isn’t too good! It was a good evening. When they left at 10ish - we were all felt really tired - Mary borrowing ‘Atonement’ and Grace ‘Elizabeth Town’, I started to read my last book ‘The Kite Runner’. Now I only have 6 chapters to read. I think some book borrowing is in order!

Saturday 15th March

Today was beautifully sunny and warm with a bright blue sky. It is definitely ‘was’ though as now i’m now sitting in my room with the window open listening to the rain drumming on the roof, and dripping off the gutters. Very heavy rain as well and no wind so its falling straight down in a sheet. What I do today? Well, this afternoon, after a morning of art work which mostly involved cutting out delicate pieces of paper with a craft knife, I kept up the arty theme and ventured to the Museum of Fine Art, stopping off to sit in the sunshine on the way at a little park with a pond and two swans. While I was sitting there, a man, who looked a bit trampish to me, allowed his dog to chase the poor swans - how cruel. Everyone was staring at him in disgust. Actually, that reminds me, I haven’t told you about the homeless man who sits near Mono-Prix. He has a dog and ... wait for it ... a rabbit! Very strange. Also, they never ask for money, its always cigarettes. (The rain has just got even heavier!) Anyway, after sitting on a bench for a while watching the world go by I finally arrived at the museum. It is in a c shaped building, very old looking, with a paved area out the front where two grown men were playing with a remote control car and two young boys were kicking balls into passers-by. (Ok, just had to close the window because the rain was coming in - whoops!) Inside was a grand staircase straight ahead, and what looked like marble on the floor. A bit like one of the big museums in London. I paid my 2 euros and ventured inside. Most of it is really old renaissance art and religious paintings, but I found some Marcel Duchamps, and one of Monets paintings of Rouen Cathedral which was beautiful. At one point there was a window in the gallery looking in to the tea room. I had to take a photo because just behind where everyone was drinking and eating was a massive painting propped upside down on the far wall. It looked like they were restoring it. However, it was only protected by a low piece of rope, nothing else, and no-one keeping watch.
After the museum, I stopped off at the Pier to get a couple of cushions. The girls are coming over to watch a film tomorrow and I have nothing for them to sit on! Its weird, because it cheaper to buy home stuff here than at the supermarket. As well as the two cushions (one bright blue strips and the other brown with mulit-coloured stripes) I also picked up a bowl - white with a blue and red check - for 1 euro 15 (I only have one bowl at the moment), making a grand total of 10 euros for all three items! After dropping this bulky stuff back at home, I ventured once more into the crowded streets (its a saturday)and managed to push my way to mono-prix to pick up some fruit and ice-cream for tomorrow. At the same time I also bought some bright pink tulips which look very pretty in my room.
Much Later: Its now 1.45am and i’m still up reading ‘Purple Hibiscus’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (actually very near to finishing it - its a very good book) because there is dance music resonating around the building, screaming, people running up and down the stairs, buzzing of the bell every 5 minutes and slamming of doors making it the noisiest night yet in my room. As well as nearly finishing another book (only one left), while waiting for the party to quieten, I also watched ‘Le Journal de Bridget Jones’ in french which was rather interesting. I’ve watched it so many times before that some of the lines came into my head as english even though I was watching it in french. Then I watched interviews by Helen Fielding and the cast. She and Hugh Grant spoke most of it in french which was very impressive. Oh dear, they are now whooping downstairs. I think i’ll just have to attempt to sleep - I don’t think the party is going to end for a while.

Friday 14th March

A miserable, rainy day again today. Its amazing how much the weather effects what you do in a day. Spent the morning reading again - this time finishing ‘Mercy’ by Jodie Picoult - I need to stop reading or I’ll run out of books! And this afternoon got out my brolly and wandered round the shops. You know, the hardest thing to buy in Rouen in blue-tack or something similar. So far I have found nothing, not even in the art shop. All I can say is thank you Verity for putting some in your card. I had three 3 euro money off vouchers for FNAC so (yes, I know I shouldn’t), I bought 3 new DVDs. I must say I was getting bored of Sister Act! I got ‘Quand Harry Recontre Sally’, ‘Le Journal de Bridget Jones’, and ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ which I have wanted for ages and strangely doesn’t have a french title. I suppose ‘Petite Mademoiselle Lumiere du Soleil’ doesn’t have the same ring to it! The good thing about them is that I can watch them in French. The bad thing is they have given me 6 more vouchers - a DVD or CD anyone? I am so tempted to go back. After FNAC I took a trip to the internet cafe to check emails etc. Kimberley did receive my work so that a relief. Had a Cafe Frappe while I was there which was delicious. It is definitely better than going to Flunch.

Thursday 13th March

I can’t believe how fast time is passing, tomorrow I will have been here three weeks. Had a bad nights sleep last night. Woke up at 4am after having a very wierd dream that involved a fire and a stage. Couldn’t get back to sleep again and needed something else to think about so spent the next hour reading ‘Laying the Ghost’ by Judy Astley. It did the trick and I managed to sleep through until about 9. The dream was still sticking in my head though which was rather annoying. During the rest of the morning I dried some items of clothing in the heater and finished reading ‘Laying the Ghost’ - only have 3 books left to read. Have been very lazy. It started pouring with rain again so I put of going out to get a baking tray (yep, I don’t have one) until about 3. Then I decided to brave the weather and went to Mono-prix and bought a baking tray and some basil which they didn’t have yesterday. And that was my very boring day. Had a lovely supper though of a mini pizza made from what I think is Naan Bread, tinned tomatos, red pepper and mozzerella, with a little bit of sweet potato mash (made from one potato) on the side followed by some melon. The small ones which have a green skin and bright orange flesh - I can’t remember what they’re called.

Wednesday 12th March

Had a strange day today. Woke up to a blue sky which was nice, but had really ache legs. Tried reading some of the critical studies texts and got halfway through one and decided I needed to get out however tired my legs were - there are too many long words in the text for my liking! I wanted to see if I’d had any reply confirming that my work had been emailed successfully, so I went back to the cafe Liz showed me yesterday. I had the most delicious vanilla milkshake whilst there, and it was nice to be somewhere quiet but not alone. I have no reply from the art school. On the way home I walked past the Virgin Megastore and decided to have a look. They had a small english book section, which I was excited about so ended up buying 1984, which I had been wanting to read for a while, along with a postcard with an image of 3 rubber ducks sitting on the edge of a bath on it - I couldn’t resist! When I was paying, the cashier noticed that I was buying an english book and asked if I could understand much French. I said a little, but not a lot, and she gave me 14 cheap entry cinema vouchers and said that watching french films was a good way to learn. It was very kind, but with a student card you can get the same price ticket anyway - 3.90 euros (very cheap compared to the £4.50 in Norwich), so I don’t actually need them. Back at the flat I arranged to meet Liz and Mary at the launderettes at 5.30pm, and sorted out the washing. Then I went to Mono-prix and did a big shop, stocking up on food and expanding my range to olive oil, tinned tomatos, sweet potatos and the like. The two bags were very heavy, but not as bad a carrying 6 bottles of water up to the flat! Then I began reading 1984 and at 5.15 I wandered down to the launderette with two bags of washing (I thought I may as well do everything at once), and got there just in time. It was very busy but there were two machines free. Five minutes later Liz and Mary walked thought the door. I was there for nearly two hours, trying again to read the critical studies text and learning french, waiting for the machine to finish, then waiting for a dryer, then waiting for the dryer to finish, but eventually I got home with lots of clean clothes. However, when I got them out of the bag they were still damp (damn nations), so I had to hang them up along with the stuff hanging up from yesterday, using the ladder rungs as well as the line, and drying socks and pillowcases on the little radiator. What a nightmare. Now my room looks even more like a laundry room, or that a bag full of clothes has exploded! Had gnocci in a tomato and mascapone sauce for tea (makes a change) and finished 1984, then spoke to Mum and Dad while still drying socks. And the rain has started again.

Tuesday 11th March

English lesson time again. This week was the beginning of the french students talking about their work in english. Oh and guess what - its raining again! I think the weather here is worse than in Norwich. So I got to the art school at 11am thinking I was going to be late and only Liz was there. 5 minutes later Grace rang to say she’d be about 30 seconds, and when she arrived she told us Mary had forgotten and was on her way from the internet cafe. We were about to head to the building we were in last week but luckily we bumped into Patricia who said we were meeting in Helenes work space. Once up there, Mary rang Grace to find out where we were and Grace went down to meet her. Then Liz got a call from Mary asking where Grace was. Turned out Mary was outside the wrong part of the art school! Once everyone had arrived Helene went first and told us about her large scale paintings. Her english is pretty good - i’m dreading when I have to do it in French. I feel a lot of planning will be involved! Basically she is inspired by the mountains and rocks on which she does lots of climbing and hiking, and that when hung on the wall the large scale seems like a cliff face. Then another girl went, whose name I didn’t catch. She wasn’t as good at english as Helene which made me feel better, and she told us about her interest in abnormal bodies and how she casts parts of the body in plaster then joined pieces together. After the crit, the girls decided to go for sushi at a japanese they had seen a few days ago. I really needed to email my work across but couldn’t resist some proper food. I had pasta with a tomato sauce again last night. The food was delicious. I had dumplings and avocado and salmon sushi. And then we all had banana splits. After our delicious lunch Liz showed me another internet cafe, very close to me, which was better than Flunch. You could just go and have a coffee and they have computers as well as just wi-fi. Apparently they do really good milkshakes. We had a hot chocolate and I emailed all my work to Kimberley - well I hope I’ve emailed it over, there were a lot of attachments! On the way home I went to see how much the bean-bag things were. 119 euros would you believe. I’m not getting one after all! Back at the flat I finished reading Atonement and tried to learn some french, ate supper and then watched Bride and prejudice again (I really need some more films). Half way through the film Morgane knocked on my door and asked if I was ok. She hadn’t seen me for a while she said and wanted to check on me. I have to admit I have been purposefully going to into the flat when she has gone out. I will have to be braver. She then showed me how to use the washing machine so I did some washing. Not too much because I only have a small washing line. My room looks like a laundry room now! At least I can now use the washing machine for small things such as t-shirts and underwear when I need too, but i’m going to the launderette with Mary and Liz tomorrow which is where I will do the towels and bed linen etc. I could never dry it in this room. Oh and guess what - surprise surprise it’s still pouring with rain.

Monday 10th March

Its raining yet again, and not just spitting either, proper heavy downfalls, and its really windy - nice! Basically spent all day finishing off work ready to email across for assessment tomorrow. I have finished sewing the sea - woo hoo! At lunchtime Grace called and asked if I wanted to go to the cinema. I said yes, I would love to and we arranged to meet at the fountain at 8.00pm. So I spent the rest of the day taking photos of my work and making sure I had everything I needed. As I was getting ready for the cinema Anne rang again and said that now the easter weekend was fine for a visit - Segolenes trip had been cancelled - and said I should look at tickets to Paris where they would pick me up. Got to work out how to buy a train ticket now! At 7.45 I began walking to the fountain, stopping to get some more money and to look in the window of a shop - they have massive bean bag bed things. Will have to go back and see how much tomorrow. So at the fountain I met Liz, Mary, a guy Mary had invited and his friend, and Grace and Christophe and we walked, in the rain, to the cinema where we met two of Christophes friends. The cinema is very strange in layout. If you stand inside the door there are a few ticket booths in the middle of the room in a row and behind them are 6 doors to the 6 screens, 3 of them up some stairs. We went up the left staircase to screen 1 and entered a very large room (almost twice the size of one at odeon) with red seats that looked to me more like theatre seats. They were very comfortable though, with squashy arm rests too. The room was very wide and so the screen was also massive, and filled a whole wall in a slight curve, which meant that you could see easily even if you’re sat on one side. The film, which none of us knew the name of, was a french comedy about a man who gets moved from the South of France to the North by his job for two years. Its all about how he makes friends there and commutes back and forward every weekend to see his wife and son who don’t want to move to the chilly North. His wife gives him a snow jacket and woolly hat so he won’t freeze! I didn’t understand all the jokes but managed to get the gist of the story-line. The french seemed to love it though and there was lots of laughter and even clapping at the end - I have never experienced clapping in a cinema before. I really enjoyed it.

Sunday 9th March

Its pouring with rain again! Spent the morning doing art work and watch ‘Fried Green Tomatos’ again but this time in French. I only have 4 rows of waves left to do - hooray! Was going to ask Morgane how to use the washing machine but she is nowhere to be seen. The weather finally cleared up at 5ish and I decided to go and visit an exhibition of work by artists from Rouen and Norwich. They had a little book there with pictures from an exhibition they had last year in Norwich - at the Bally Factory. There was also a photo of the art school. It was really nice to wander around and the work was very diverse. Paintings, collage, sculpure and paintings. However the silence of the gallery was interrupted by strange grunting, screeching noises from a man who was running around - I hope that he had a mental problem. And now I’m sitting in Flunch having supper and writing this while watching football - so exciting! Oh good, someone else has just arrived with a laptop, now I don’t feel completely stupid. Oh and I was wrong saying all the shops close on a Sunday. The sweet shop is open and so are the patisseries.

Saturday 8th March

Didn’t do a lot today. Did more sewing of the sea, watched ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and ‘13 going on 30’ both in French with english subtitles. Had a little wander up Rue du Gros Horloge - my goodness it was packed. Because all the shops close on a Sunday, everyone was out shopping. It was like trying to walk through Primark when they are at their busiest. There were also a lot of tourists taking photos of the big clock - one Japanese lady was even taking a picture of McDonalds - and annoying people in orange fleeces out in force trying to sell a charity or something. I bought a couple more croissants, and stupidly told they lady ‘deux chocolat chaud’ instead of ‘deux pain au chocolat’ - but she know what I meant. On the way back I stopped at Monoprix again to get a washing line. Morgane has said she’ll show me how to use the washing machine, so I have constructed a mini washing line along a beam in my room. I think I’ll still use the launderette for sheets etc because I have no room to hang them, but at least I can get clean socks when I want to. By the look of her washing, it takes 2/3 days to dry in her part of the flat, and she has better heating. Great.

Friday 7th March

Woke up late - not really surprising - and worked on sewing the sea again - only a quarter to go! Grace phoned and invited us round for supper tonight, so thats something to look forward to. At 2pm I decided to go into art school to see if anyone was about. Not many. Began sewing the sea while sitting there and then I lost the only needle I’d bought in with me - damn. By this time it was nearly 4.30 and we were meant to be going to a private view at 5.00 so I just hung around listening to my i-pod. At 5 I got a phone call from Liz saying they were at the internet cafe and wouldn’t be able to make the private view. So on my way out of the art school I had a quick peek but didn’t stay. I think they are photographs and look amazing. Will have a proper look on Monday. On my way home I finally got round to buying some croissants - I haven’t had one at all in Rouen - and stopped at Monoprix to pick up some fruit and a rose wine to take tonight. Walked to Grace’s a different way to usual and found a post office, a large bookshop which I think sells english books and the museum of fine art. There was also a sign for a library which I think I’ll check out next week. When I finally got to Grace’s I reached for the bell and realised that I didn’t know which name she was under, so I had to ring her instead. Prevost - I have to remember that. The other girls were already there, and we had a chat and played the guitar. Then Grace made a delicious meal, of sticky garlic rice and stir-fried veg in a chilli sauce on some seaweed sheets. I was so good to taste something different to tomatoes! She also turned some of the fruit and the wine into a punch type drink. And then, while Liz, Mary and I spent 15 minutes discussing gold fish and hamsters, Grace made a pudding consisting of a rice cake covered in chocolate spread, fruit, squirty cream and marshmallows. It was delicious, but I was glad I had a walk home followed by 63 stairs to climb! After supper we watched ‘Ghost’, which I’d never seen all the way through before. It was very good. I loved the Woopi Goldberg character, very funny. It also reminded me of not sleeping last night with ‘Unchained Melody’ being played several times! At least it was better than the off-key singing of the party people.

Thursday 6th March

On my way into art school today, I visited the art shop again and bought some coloured split pins to add detail to the orange octopus. To get there I walked through the top of FNAC, and they have an exhibition of some of the original drawings from the Simpsons Movie. They are really cool. I really want to take some photos but not sure if i’m allowed. Might sneak back tomorrow and take a quick pic when the security guard’s not looking. There’s one Martha would love of Spider Pig! Mary and Liz were at art school when I arrived. Made a big boob and asked Mary if Mary was here. I meant to say Grace. I am not awake today. Managed to finish the One Orange Octopus page, and I only have to find a picture of a plant and I will have done Three Turquoise Turtles. The sea is still only half finished! A girl called Ellen (?) came and asked us to a punk concert tonight, and she asked if Simon and Kevin were free too. How does she know we know them?! She even said something about Morgane. I think everyone knows everyone in Rouen. When we got bored of working, Mary and Liz came over to may little room for a cup of tea. They were very sympathetic about the layout of the flat. The kettle is making very scummy water for some reason and we briefly met my neighbour. We didn’t talk to her but she had definitely been painting, wearing overalls covered in paint, so i’m guessing the had just moved in.
Later (12.45am): I am writing this now because there is a party going on in a nearby flat and my whole room is shaking and I can hear some bad singing coming through the walls. I won’t be sleeping for a little while yet! We all met at the Irish Pub (me, Liz, Mary, Grace, Christophe and the two art students who had invited us) for pre-concert drinks. I nearly got hit by a car on the way there - it just backed out of a driveway without looking. In the pub, there was to be some musical entertainment later in the evening and so the band were setting up and practicing before the performance. I think we heard the beginning and end of Bohemian Rhapsody about 7 times. The punk concert thing was ok. It was across the river where we hadn’t ventured yet so that was exciting. The view of the lights in the river are beautiful when you stand on the bridge. When we arrived at the place we were going to it was very quiet and I actually thought may be its been cancelled, but a man with a guitar was standing outside and said go up the stair, and there it was. There wasn’t many people at the concert (and those who were there were outside much of the time smoking). The first band were terrible. It was fronted by a man with a quiff and who strangely reminded me of Scar from the Lion King. Another member of the band wore a white coat and had mad hair, and looked rather like a mad scientist. The second band (called Vomir) were better but very oddly dressed. One as a bunny girl, one as Snow White, one as a nurse and one from a period drama. And they were all male! It was funny to watch! They were friends of Liz (Morganes friend) and she mentioned something about Iceland. Morgane was also there and I recognised a few other faces from the art school. Oh dear, they are now singing Unchained Melody! Anyway, after the concert we decided to go to Boite-a-Beer (or something) which is a pub they have all been telling me about. I only saw the outside tonight. Didn’t go in because we all decided we were tired and would rather eat (i’m eating Mikado biscuits while I write this) than buy another drink. But before we departed into the night I met Graces Christophes friend Christophe (I know, confusing or what), who the others had also told me about. Its nice being able to put a face to a name. Ok, I think its time to attempt sleep, the music has got quieter!

Wednesday 5th March

Went to art school at 11.00 this morning. It was very quiet, with hardly anyone around but I decided to stay anyway. One girl came over to me and stared at my work for about 2 minutes without saying a word and then walked off again. Strange. Finally met Graces Christophe very briefly this afternoon, she was showing him the art school. He seem very nice. I then worked until about 4.30, still sewing the blasted sea, before giving up and going to get some paints. Yep, i’m going to attempt to paint again. I’m surrounded by painters so it seems fitting to have a go too. I want to do a painting of Dad and I arriving at the Euro Tunnel. After buying the paint I dropped off all my stuff at the flat, picked up my laptop and decided to go for supper at Flunch. Spent a good two hours again in there, this time watching the top 20 music countdown. And success, I understood the till lady when she asked if I wanted any hot food. Non, merci. Back at the flat I got down to my painting. First I made a water pot by cutting the bottom of a water bottle and found a temporary mixing palette in the form of a plastic bag. I think its looking ok. Its only block colours at the moment but it still looks like what its meant to. Then I did more sewing of the sea - again!
Oh, and I have another neighbour. I haven’t seen them yet but it sound as though they’re putting up selves and there is a smell of paint in the air. Damn, will probably mean i’ll need to lock the door more often.

Tuesday 4th March

Woke up several times in the night due to the rain, and there seemed to be a really strong wind too. And my gosh it was so cold today. I got to art school at 9am again and received a text saying the others weren’t going to be in until 10am so I went to my space and started sewing again! My hands were so cold but I was so glad I got there at that time. Suddenly the sky went very dark and a hailstorm started up, throwing down tons of hailstones, and it seemed to go on for ages. The others got caught in it. At 11 we went to the 3rd years english class again and talked for a couple of hours about the differences in english and french politics. We found out that they only pay 400 euros a year to go to art school! They were shocked when we said we had to pay £3000. It was very interesting. On the 1st April we have been given the task of doing a presentation on our work in French and in the weeks leading up to it the 3rd years have to do the same but in english for us. A month to prepare - I should know so more french by then! Spent the rest of the day doing work at the art school sitting on a radiator to keep warm. I think i’ve finished about a quarter of the sea now. Had to go and get some more thread on the way home because i’d used it all. Oh why did I start this sewing malarky!

Monday 3rd March

I’m sitting writing this with the sound of heavy rain pounding on the roof. It sounds as though i’m sitting inside a glass conservatory its that loud. I’ve just finished watching ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ which was actually very good, quite cinematic and funny and sad all at the same time. I recommend you watching it.
Anyway, what did I do today. Well I went into art school for 9am, and then I found out that the others were meeting at the fountain at 11 so I went back into town and had a nosey round the shops which were open - not many on a Monday. I sat outside the mini mall for a while from about 9.45am and watched the crowds building up waiting for it to open at 10am. I too was waiting and when it opened bought ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ from FNAC and some more thread from the art shop. By this time it was time to meet the girls so I trundled along to the fountain. Our first stop, the big supermarket to buy stools for the art school. They have hardly any chairs so most people have to provide their own. We got some lovely green and slightly cushioned fold up stools for 4 euros 50. We also bought some lunch - some couscous salad and a packet of Tuc biscuits - and ate it sitting on the Square. We got a few funny looks and a couple of people came and spoke to us and you know why? Because me, Liz and Mary were sitting on our stools. May as well use them! We then decided we needed a hot chocolate to warm up so we went to a lovely little cafe by the square and sat outside at a wooden table right next to a parked car. I think I bashed the car at least 3 times with my stool - oops! Finally we got to art school and stayed there doing work until it closed at 6pm. It so cold in there, but they played some good old fashion rock ‘n’ roll, such as ‘Rock around the Clock’, which was nice. I was sewing the sea for Seven Shiny Ships and my god its taking ages. I’ve only manage to finish three rows of waves today in 4 hours. I just want to finish the book. Then we went home and its been pouring ever since. Oh, and I bought a duvet, a double one, folded it in half and put it on top of my mattress. Its so much comfier.

Sunday 2nd March

I thought I’d continue the night on the right day because it definitely was Sunday at this point. After the Moroccan Cave, Kevin and Simon decided to take us to a club called Kioske which they had free tickets for. Even though my feet were hurting and my flat was just around the corner I thought I’d go along and check it out and come home earlier (ha ha) if need be. Oh my god, it was about a 20 minute walk through streets i’d never been to before, and everything looked the same. I was never going to go back on my own. So there we were in the club, very loud and loads of strobe lights which really hurt my eyes after a while. Not really my cup of tea and by this time my feet were killing me. I could feel blisters on my little toes, and so I went and sat down and watched the others dance. While I was sitting there a man, who could have actually been a cousin of Shrek and seemed fairly drunk, came and sat next to me (no, please leave me alone), and when he found out I was English he called over his girlfriend (phew) who had spent 6 months living in england. They were both pretty good at english and kept testing me on my french, but I just stared back with what was probably a very confused look on my face! Even when i’m not tired with painful feet I can’t understand. I eventually found out that she worked in a bank and that he didn’t like dancing. Wow, what an interesting conversation I had! At 4.45am the club finally closed and I could go home at last. I was so tired and I needed to check out my feet. I probably looked drunk to onlookers because I was limping and swaying so much with the pain. I am never wearing those shoes again. Well not for a while anyway, and not if we are walking a long way. Halfway back we arrived at the area where Mary and Grace and Kevin live so I said goodbye and continued alone. The rest of the limp, which normally would take me about 5 - 10 minutes, took 20 minutes, and it had started to rain. The streets were very busy for 5.15am - I must of past about 25 people on my way back. It was very peaceful and there was even a faint hint of orange on the horizon. After navigating the cobbles I finally I arrived home and could take off my shoes. OUCH, my nail on the little toe of my right foot had been digging into the next toe, so as well as the blisters I also have a wonderfully sore cut as well, brilliant! I eventually got to bed at about 5.45am, and I think I fell asleep almost instantly.
The rest of the day wasn’t very interesting. Got woken up at about 9.30am by a phone call from Grace. Thank you Grace! Went straight back to sleep again and woke up at around midday. Had a shower, did some work, read a book, did some work, had a nap, tried to learn french by listening to a pod-cast about whaling in Japan, did some more work, and then at 5.30pm I started to feel very bored and lonely and needed to hear some other voices apart from mine. So I decided to go to Flunch for some food and to go on the net. It was wonderful. There was only about 8 other people there and two were on the internet like me. I was just nice to see and hear other people, even if they weren’t talking to me. I hadn’t spoken to anyone in over 12 hours. I think I stayed for an hour and half, emailing, face-booking and blogging while watching a french version of ‘You’ve Been Framed’ on the big screen, before heading back to the flat to do some more work and to watch ‘The Holiday’. In english this time.

Saturday 1st March

Went to the launderette today with the girls. Its basically a white box filled with red washing machines and two massive dryers and it smells of powder and clean washing. You could actually get a fully grown adult in one comfortably. Liz and I didn’t have any powder so that was our first stop. Got ariel - it was the only brand I recognised! Then we put in our washing and waited. The washing cycle takes 1/2 hour and the drying 16 minutes so we were there for a while. Grace went and got the guitar from her flat (a few houses away) and so there was a bit of a sing-song, with passers by staring in wondering where the noise was coming from. Washing is very hypnotic. Liz and I spent a while just staring at the washing going round and round. We also got an invite from Kevin (who is a friend of Simon who owns the flat Grace is renting) to go to see his friend perform comedy in a pub. So thats where we’re going tonight. After doing the washing we went and found some canvas for their painting, and some primer. For a while we lost Grace when she went into The Body Shop and we kept on walking - almost to my flat. Then we realised the time - 6.30pm - and all went our separate ways to have something to eat and get ready for tonight. I picked up some daffodils on the way back to brighten up the room. They look so pretty. I have decided to wear my new purple shoes tonight.
Later: We met Kevin (who is half irish and so speaks english with an irish accent but french normally) in Cathedral Square at 9pm and began walking to the pub. I suddenly realised it was down the same road as i’d walked to get to the bedding shop, and hoped it wasn’t as far. Luckily it wasn’t and we soon arrived at the Scottish themes pub, which to me looked more like a diner in the way the tables were laid out. Anyway, we got our drinks - we all tried a beer from Belgium and got ready for the comedy. I could see Gino (the comedian) was very funny but I really could not understand a thing. I think I heard the word fatigue a couple of times and MTV was mentioned but everything else had to be explained. Grace at one point was in hysterical laughter, and I think it was more an effect of the beer than the comedy! We then decided to have another drink - I had an orangina (the beer was really strong) which I evidently spilt all over Liz - and we met Gino who said if he’d knew we were there he would’ve done some jokes in english and did we like cuban music. We said yes and so we ended up at this Cuban bar about 5 minutes from my flat. It was amazing and very odd at the same time. Imagine you’re in a series of caves and that is what is was like. Tiny rooms, with red lighting and low curved ceilings. Whilst we were there found some Americans - it was good to hear the sound of english from different people. We also tried a drink, I have no idea what it was called, which was really strong tasting - practically pure alcohol with a piece of lime in it - and that burnt your throat with the tiniest sip. I didn’t like it, which was lucky because a passer by knocked it over! Obviously not my night for drinks.

Friday 29th February

I’ve been in Rouen for a week, can you believe it, and its the last day of February. Where is the year going too. We met Marinna at 10am and had our first experience of a french bus. We all said it was like being on a roller-coaster. So many corners and the bus was split by one of those concertina things with a round bit on the floor - you know what I mean - which I was standing on! The place we were going to was in the hills so we got a good view over the city when we were on the bus. Finally, feeling a bit ill (well I was anyway), we arrived at the centre where they were setting up the exhibition. We found out later it was only going to stay up for one hour. All that work an its only up for an hour. I think i’d scream. Anyway, this place looked like it used to be a school, maybe it was, I don’t know. Marinna took us into the room where she had to hang her work. It was pentagon shaped, with several people milling around and a huge duck made of clay, with a ‘don’t mess with me’ expression, in the centre of the room. We helped (or rather tried to help) Marinna put up her photographs. They were lovely pictures of school children playing, running, jumping and they all had a pink tinge to them and were slightly blurred in place which gave a sense of movement. We put them up using drawing pins and Grace had even helped to paint the pins white, when the director came over and told Marinna that she need to move them about metre to the right. So we had to move them across which was a mission. Marinna had banged the pins in with a hammer so they were really difficult to get out. After everyone had finished displaying their work we had cheese, crackers and cake. We had a lovely chat to one of the teachers - or maybe it was the librarian - about Rouen and Paris, and we talked to Marinna about not pronouncing the ‘h’ in Helen and Hannah and wether it got confusing if there was a Helen and an Ellen. They all call me Annah here. Oh, and there was a cute and very tiny dog which just appeared and who seemed to hypnotise every one with its cute bark. After lunch we watched a piece of performance art. It was a girl who was covered in clay, and she was moulding the clay but not making anything. We don’t know the meaning behind it. And after that it was back on the bus for another fairground ride. We were all so tired we all went our separate ways to go home and relax. I decided not too! First I went and bought a proper french to english dictionary and then I decided to go and check out the mattress place Christine had told me about. God, I must have been walking for about 20 minutes, down the busiest and windiest street i’ve ever walked before I found it. Several times I thought to myself ‘one more street and then i’ll turn back’ but no, I kept going. Conforama is a bit like a Homebase. It had everything from furniture to lighting to tools, but did it have a mattress topper? Not one. The best they could offer me was a proper mattress for 70 euro plus 30 euro for delivery. So I just left it and bought a 10 euro pillow instead for when I have a visitor to stay.
P.S. I counted the steps today. There are 63!

Thursday 28th February

Woke up feeling really tired this morning and all the smoke last night had left me with a dry throat. We had been told to come to the art school at 11 so we could meet some of the teachers so off I went reluctantly. It was pouring again today, and by the time I got to the art school my shoes were soaked and water was seeping up my jeans - nice. Unfortunately there weren’t many teachers around to meet, so we met the administrator instead! Sorted out a student card which was good. I say cards but they are actually pieces if paper with a passport photo stuck on it and hand written details. So easy to fake if anyone wanted to. Had nothing to do after that until 2.00 when we had been invited to attend a lecture, or conference as they call it, on something which translates as ‘The City Brain’, so we went to the supermarche. I found a kettle for only 17 euros - hooray!!! I can now easily make a cup of tea. Mary and I also got some photos printed while we were there. We then decided we needed a hot drink to warm us up - it was actually quite chilly today - so we went back to the powder paint place. I don’t know why we went back here if we didn’t like the hot chocolate, except that it is close to the art school. It was nice and warming though. At 2.00 we headed to the conference, waited outside the room for about 10 minutes and no-one came or went. Luckily we bumped into a student who said it was at 3.00. Why can’t anyone give us the right time in the first place! At 3.00 we went back to the room and sure enough there were lots of people. The room is quite big with white walls and black curtains again, and a big projector screen in the middle of one wall. There are proper lecture desks with bright red chairs and the little table top that swings over when you’re seated. Although I didn’t understand much at all, only the odd word, the talk started off being quite interesting with birds-eye photographs and film clips. Then the time carried on and I started to feel extremely tired and I could see the other girls feeling the same. The room was so dark and the lecturers voice was very mono-toned. I think Grace actually feel asleep at one point! On and on it went. On and on. Eventually the lights went back on and we all started shifting about, getting ready to leave. But no, the lecturer kept going. By this point it was about 4.30. And hour and a half of french we couldn’t understand - surely there can’t be that much more. And it was really cold in there. We were finally free to leave at about 5.00. Jesus. At least in England we get a coffee break. But just as we thought we could escape home for some food and a sleep, Patricia called us over to meet some teachers. We said hello and Mary answered ‘three months’ to the question ‘where are you working?’ Then Patricia said she would like us to help the 2nd years set up an exhibition tomorrow on the outskirts of town so we then had to organise getting the bus, and after finally arranging to meet a girl called Marinna at 10 tomorrow morning, we were free! Now about to watch ‘Bride and Prejudice’ in french while attempting to do some work. Damn, forgot to buy a dictionary again!

Wednesday 27th February

Met the girls outside the art school at 9.20 this morning. We had been invited to the 3rd year crit to see some of the work they do. We thought it started at 9.30 but it actually started at 10 so we had half an hour to spare. Decided to go for a hot chocolate at a local cafe. Made all the locals in there laugh with our attempt at french, so they spoke english to us after that! We sat outside. It was strange tasting hot chocolate, quite bitter. Grace said it reminded her of powder paint. Presumably brown. It was nice and warming though. They always give you a chocolate, normally dark, with your hot drink in France instead of biscuits which is annoying. Its nice having something to dunk in your drink. At 10 we headed to the crit. It was in the building that looks more like Norwich inside, in a white room with black curtains. Several pieces of art were displayed on the walls and a screen with flashing images was set up in one corner. The teachers looked as us strangely and so we explained who we were. They seen very friendly and willing to speak english. There were not many chairs so ended up sitting on the very hard and cold floor most of the time. It was weird listening to non-stop french and I only understood the odd word, but i’m sure something must of sunk in by the end. Had a break when I received a text from Verity saying that Norwich had an earthquake - how exciting. We’re missing such exciting things. Back to the crit - the guy who owned the video work mentioned the word espace several times so i’m guessing his work is about the concept of space, Helen talked about her paintings (which are massive) but didn’t get anything she said. Sophie talked about her piece of work which was a giant blue cross made of velvet and had the names of different rooms on it such as salle de bains. She told us in english that it is a plan of her parents house and that the heavy dress material both represents the security and imprisonment of living at home. The last girl, whose name i didn’t catch was going to stick a living room on a ceiling! It was all very interesting but we said only handle it once a week at the moment. After that we went and had lunch, and guess what, it wasn’t at Flunch!! No, we went to a proper cafe bar, with murals on the wall, dark wooded furniture, and old looking tiles on the floor. I had a lovely bowl of salmon tagliatelle. Everything was going well, we chatted and payed the bill, got up to leave and CRASH, Mary had knocked a glass of the table. Oops! After lunch we did a bit of shopping to find Grace a new top - she has a date tonight with a man called Christophe - and then went back to Grace’s flat where we had more cake, a homemade mochaccino and a session on the guitar. Had to all disperse at 6pm for Grace to go on her date so here i am back at the flat, after picking up some essentials such as a peeler on the way. Have just finished watching Elizabethtown while eating a dinner of boiled egg, salad, tomatos, mozzarella, tuna and the hottest tasting mustard I have ever eaten and will never eat again! Morgane came into my room a few minutes ago and said she was having a party next door and would I like to come. I’ll pop in for a bit but i’m a bit scared. Now Mum just phoned. Its Marthas 18th and there’s loads of people at the house having a supper party. It was nice to here some familiar voices. Damn I forgot to buy a dictionary. Ok, now going over to Morganes. Wish me luck. Will let you know how it goes later.
Later (1.45am). Had a really good evening. Morganes friends are lovely especially Liz and Patrick. Only intended to stay for an hour but hey ho. Feel a bit funny now though, they smoke so much I can’t stop coughing and my clothes stink. I’m definitely ready for bed. Learnt quite a bit though about the art school and french. They asked to see my work and so I showed them ‘One Orange Octopus’. They seemed to like it but apparently I have to be careful at the art school because the teachers hate anything to do with children and nice. I learnt how to say I do drawing - je faire le dessin, and I told them the word for corkscrew. Morgane then told me a story about a trip to iceland she went on. The ended up in a remote village with no-one around and so slept in a church for the night. The got very drunk and had candles and one girl put her trousers in the candle and it caught fire. I don’t know what happened next. Liz said she would bring me some french books to read, we did a few group drawings and I brought them the rest of my creme eggs to try - they weren’t sure about the orange fondant! If anyone comes to visit, please please bring some more with you. Until tomorrow, Bonne Nuit.

Tuesday 26th February

For some reason, although I had told the other girls that we weren’t meeting Patricia until 10 I went to the art school at just after 9. It was pouring down with rain, but through the rain and in the half light of the morning Rouen looked wonderful. The cobbles hold a lot of water though and my feet got completely soaked. Had a cup of tea and a chat with Christine while waiting for the girls and asked her where I could buy a cheap mattress. Had a bad night of sleep last night. Luckily she told me of a shop where I might find on 10 minutes walk from the flat. I don’t know how I will carry it back though! Then I attempted to read the local paper, didn’t understand much but I know its meant to rain most of the week - brilliant. At 10.30, after the others had arrived and had a cup of tea we headed to the 1st years building to meet Patricia. The inside of this building is more like Norwich. Larger rooms, tall ceilings and windows, lots of stairs. We had a short meeting in Patricias office, which has a mural of trees painted on one side, and got given a list of all the teachers (for a small number of student there are a lot of teachers) and at what times they are in and were basically told that we can come and go as we please. Half way through Morgane came in crying wanting to talk to Patricia - we didn’t find out why but I hope shes OK. After this Patricia took us to meet the 3rd years, all 13 of them. They seem very friendly. One guy looks just like John-Paul from Hollyoaks. That was the first thing we all noticed which was quite funny. We had to introduce ourselves in French and next week we will join in their english class for a discussion on politics. We have to try and speak in french - not the best subject to begin with! Anyway, two students, Arnold (the student rep) and Helen, took us back to the studios to help us find some spaces to work. It was quite hard to do because most of the spaces were being used, but I now have a little corner. That is it - no table of chair, just a corner. They then told us not to leave materials out because there are lots of thieves - great. They don’t have swipe cards so anyone can just walk in, and as I said yesterday there are no lockers. Had a look at the toilets today too. There are three womans toilets set in a sort of outside wooden shack, with no toilet seats, bad flushes and no sinks, only a garden tap. What is it with the french and no sinks!
Went to Flunch again for lunch, and to do some more surfing of the net. Stayed for two hours again, I'm surprised they haven’t thrown us out! Received a lovely email from my Dad which nearly made me cry again, and spoke to Martha on msn which made me smile - she commented on the lack of sinks too! We then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering round the shops, they have the Pier, and helped Mary to buy a camera. I saw a lovely green and blue rug in the Pier for only 10 Euros. Might buy it tomorrow to add some more colour to my room. I also really want a plant. On my way home I did some more shopping at Monoprix where i bought a bright pink hand-towel, a bin, some hooks, two more mugs (in case the girls come round for tea) and some more food. Jesus it was heavy! Tonight I tried to learn some french by writing it down and reading aloud and then watched ‘Calamity Jane’ again - this time in French. It was very odd!

Monday 25th February

Met the girlies at the fountain at 8.30am. It was very strange waking up in the dark, but walking in the streets so early in the morning was wonderful and so peaceful, with the smell of freshly cooked croissants in the air. Arrived at the art school at 8.50am. It didn’t actually open until 9 but the reception was open so we went to tell them we had arrived. The receptionist, Christine, is a lovely, bubbly english woman (english - hooray!) who showed us around the art school, gave us a cup of tea, made properly I might add, and told us to pop in at anytime for a chat. Unfortunately, Patricia Duflo, who is the erasmus organiser in Rouen, isn’t in on a Monday and somehow everyone failed to tell us this, so after arranging to come back later, we had another look around the art school. Its very different from Norwich, not in looks, but in facilities. There are only 150 students in the whole school spread over five years and all the years apart from the 1st share the studios. These are set around a central courtyard and are mostly long and thin, with creaky floorboards, beamed ceilings and peeling walls. There is no sign of any lockers anywhere and hardly any materials lying around. The library is very small - about the size of the photocopying room at Norwich, with only three computers but packed full of books. We introduced ourselves to the librarian. She seems nice but said she would only speak english at that moment - from then on it will all be in french!
After this, we all went back to our own flats to collect our laptops and re-met outside Flunch for a spot of lunch and and internet session. I think we stayed there for about two hours, and and one point it felt like being on a ship because the best signal was in a room with no windows. Its a strange place, Flunch. Bright yellow walls, music videos playing on a big screen, photos on the walls of people eating which have definitely not been taken in Flunch, but the food is so good and the free wireless internet makes it perfect. On the way home I went to an art shop and bought a little wooden mirror, some beautiful bright papers, some felt shapes in bright pinks and greens, and an amazing silver sparkle paper - I have never seen anything like it before. It glows like a glitter ball. I also went the The Phone House and bought a cheap french phone for only 25 euros, which will mean I can contact the girls and Morgane cheaper. Back in my room I decided to decorate. I covered the mirror in some blue paper with pink flowers and hung it by the window - its amazing how something so small can make a difference. Then I put the felt shapes on the wall in a spiral and cut out lots of stars from the glitzy paper to brighten up the dark staircase. Beautiful! And I did all of that while watching ‘The Holiday’ in French, I want to try and get as much of the language into my brain as possible!