July 20, 2007

• I was the only one at French yesterday as Rick is away for a month

  We still continue to enjoy lovely weather unlike the UK which is experiencing more heavy rains.  I keep hoping it will rain every night as quite often dark clouds loom early evening which will save me from watering, but alas this has not been forthcoming. (…)

June 21, 2007

• Back to French class this week

  Yesterday was very hot and unfortunately I had arranged to go walking with Denise and her daughter Lauren, who is now back from her 8 months stint in Gillingham where she was teaching French to primary school children.  We drove to a hamlet just above the Prorel and proceeded to walk up a track until we came to a canal.  It was not only easier from here on but also cooler as it was in the shade.  When we had reached as far as opposite St Chaffrey we then started up again, winding backwards and forward as the road wound itself up the mountain until we came to the Dauphiné path where we turned left and headed back to Briançon.  We were glad to at last be walking downhill especially Lauren, who is a bit out of practise since her stay in England.   We all soon ran out of water and Lauren took the risk of filling up her water bottle as a “source d’eau” which Denise was rather apprehensive but Lauren assured her she had drank water in all sorts of places and was sure it would do her no harm.  On one brief respite, we watched a female pied flycatcher feeding a chick.  This baby bird must have left the nest prematurely as it could not fly at all and its mother was calling out in panic as we were only a few feet away.  We had Cora Chienne with us who might have been too curious also.  This was a long walk for a young dog but she loved it, jumping in every available stream and puddle to cool, chasing insects and playing hide and seek with Lauren.  She is quite obedient but still nervous around other dogs and Denise had to put her on the lead several times.  When we arrived back at the car, the thermometer registered 37º, phew!  I ached a little this morning after this 4 hour hike, the first really long walk I have undertaken this year of about 8 miles. (…)

June 12, 2007

• An art lesson at Le Casset

  This morning I joined Maddy’s nursery school class for a trip to the [tag-tec]Le Casset[/tag-tec] lakes.  The class had been split into two halves and I was there primarily to keep Maddy amused whilst Sue gave this group of 3 year olds a painting lesson!  She chose a scene of sky, mountains, trees and lake, and colours and how to mix them were discussed along with her method of painting.  I thought she was very brave to draw and then paint in front of a group and all in French.  Christine, the leader was quite scary and kept the children all in their places – there was obviously no messing with her!  As children this age only have an attention span of 15 minutes, they were then allowed to let off steam and it was time for drinks and biscuits. 
  The other group had been having a [tag-tec]fishing[/tag-tec] lesson so then it was our turn to fish.  This was demonstrated by Stephan who spoke such good English, that I thought at first he was from the UK but his French accent was also so good that I was rather confused!  He was fishing for minnows using balls of damp bread for bait.  Each child was able to have a turn holding the rod and reeling in a fish which they were able to drop into a bucket of water after Stephan had removed the hook.  I am glad to report that all the fish were returned to the lake at the end of the morning. (…)

June 7, 2007

• Usually we can rely on the Serre Chevalier never to rain more than 3 days in a row

  This week has been depressingly cold and grey with plenty of rain.  We’ve never known it like this before in the 5 years we have lived here.  Usually we can rely on the [tag-tec]Serre Chevalier[/tag-tec] never to rain more than 3 days in a row. (…)

April 17, 2007

• Les Relatifs Simples

  The auditors were in at the Adechod today and after only 5 minutes into the class, we were ousted out of our room.  Unable to find another available classroom, we ended up in the computer space where it was quite noisy to begin with but after a while all the students departed, leaving just one lady working on her computer in the corner.  Peter was all for sitting outside or decamping to a local café! 
  We worked on “Les Relatifs Simples”, i.e., “qui”, “que”, “quoi”, “don’t” and “ou”, all of which I am familiar with except “dont” which means ‘whose’ or ‘of which’ or ‘of whom’.   I also learnt that in French one does not say, for example, ‘the day when I arrived’ but ‘the day where I arrived’, using “ou” and not “quand”.   So the first round of exercises was ‘relatively’ easy.  We then went on to some slightly more difficult “relatifs simples” consisting of “ce qui”, “ce que” and “ce dont” which Rick and I agreed were far from ‘simple’ and something we thought we would never use.   We found these exercises quite hard especially as in English we can use either one or the other in a sentence.  I’m confused just writing about it! (…)

April 5, 2007

• Global warming and effects of industry on our climate

  Again just me, Rick and Peter at French.  I asked Valerie where everyone else was and she seemed to think various reasons like people gone away and the end of the winter season.  More will be joining us soon including a Tibetan and Phillipe the quadraplegic boy who is moving to Briancon. (…)

March 29, 2007

• revision of the perfect tense

  Just me, Rick and Peter at French plus the two student girls.  I am pleased to report that family staying with Valerie had been the reason for the last two weeks having been cancelled.  Today was revision of the perfect tense.  I am fairly up on when to use  “avoir” and when to use “être” but one of the easiest ways of remember when to use “être” (the majority of verbs use avoir) is that it  goes with movement verbs i.e. (…)

March 1, 2007

• extra large toilets

  Well, I had a one to one at French class this afternoon, being the only person who turned up.  Valerie had a lovely holiday in Antigua where she had found she was the only French person and Alfredo the only Italian, amongst mostly Americans and Canadians.  She was upset that the staff in their hotel could not understand her English!   She also mentioned the extra large toilets that had been installed for the extra large Americans – big enough apparently for a small child to drown in. (…)

February 6, 2007

• I shall probably still continue to use “parce que”!

  It’s been snowing off and on for the past couple of days and I wondered if I would get to French this afternoon.  The roads were not too bad and by the time I reached Briancon, they were just wet.  The snow kept all the students away from class this afternoon and it was just us diehard English.  This of cos meant another intense lesson.  We spent the first part of the afternoon studying “les relations logiques”.   This was to teach us other ways of saying ‘because’ instead of just using “parce que” all the time which Rick and I both do.  So, “puisque” is another way of saying ‘because’ but literally means since, and is always used after a comma in written French.  “Car” is another more formal ‘because’, and used when written.  When using ‘because’ at the beginning of a sentence e.g. (…)

February 1, 2007

• Champ du Mars

  Had lunch with Rachel today.  She suggested the snack bar attached to the boulodrome near the Champ du Mars as John had recommended the food there.  Unfortunately it was fully booked so we had to go elsewhere.  I was secretly pleased as it was full of locals and being the only women there, we stood out like a sore thumb.  We ended up at a café nearby and for 14 euros went for the “menu du jour” which comprised a mozzarella tomato salad, bolognaise and a dessert of choice.  Unfortunately I did not have time for the last course as I had to rush off to my French lesson.  Esther, at 11 months, is now crawling and was good as gold during lunch and eventually fell asleep in her pushchair. (…)

January 4, 2007

• 'Les trois anglais' at our French lesson

  We had snow on Monday and Tuesday so yesterday we skied up at Monetier, trying to perfect our powder techniques.  Not all that good if truth be told, but we had fun trying.  It rained in the night last night and then it froze, so there was black ice everywhere this morning until the sun finally decided to come out.  I think there were several accidents first thing as the police and ambulances were sirening up the valley.  It was even lethal on our patio and Chelsea slipped and slid her way across when going for her morning pee. (…)