Some pictures from Barcelona

Some snaps from Barcelona - more to follow!

Parc Güell

Me with some creepy Jesus figure @ MNAC
Us, infront of the Sagrada Familia

Yummy Food

I'm hungry so here are some photos of food I'd like to be eating right now.

1. Sushi + Sashimi

2. Bags of Macaroons

3. Korean food (Bulgogi especially!)

4. A funky tie-dye cake

Barcelona

Nous sommes allés à Barcelone pour 3 jours pendant les Vacances de Toussaint. Je dois écrire en Français parce que sinon, je pratique jamais mon français écrit (sauf dans les examens, bien sur).

Nous avons marche beaucoup, presque 50 (!) kilomètres, et maintenant = douleur dans mes pieds. Barcelone est une ville intéressante, mais pas très spéciale... Je pense que si on vit a Barcelone, ça pourrait être fantastique, mais pour une visite courte comme nous avons fait, pas fantastique.

      Donc, les points positifs de Barcelone:

L'architecture - les maisons de Gaudi, Parc Güell, la Sagrada Familia - comme dans un conte de fées. Je me sentais très jeune et libre quand j'étais dans les travaux (oeuvres d'art) de Gaudi. J'aime beaucoup aussi le mélange entre le vieux et le nouveau dans le sens architectural. 

 J’ai sommeil et demain, les cours commencement de nouveau.  xxx

X-Factor

 

The X-Factor has become the guilty pleasure 'du jour' or should I say 'du semaine'. I usually detest reality TV shows (apart from Antiques Roadshow. The X-Factor is in its 6th season and I had only ever watched tidbits of it at school. Now, I am in the South of France and I need my X-Factor fix every weekend - bizarre much? 

    My personal favourite is Danyl Johnson (the male version of Halle Berry... yummy!) He's a good, engaging performer and he pulled off "Feeling Good"... 

Olly Murs is obviously going to do really well, sadly so are the really unoriginal soppy teen heartthrobs (Joe and Lloyd). Actually, Olly's first audition (Stevie Wonder's "Superstition") was incredible and he does have some amusing dance moves. Nah, he can stay! 

    Jamie "Afro" is also good - not so good at singing Bigband material though. I really really like Miss Frank. They are a girl group with attitude... haha. 

Anyway, another unsuccessful hunt for some frames. Why is my face so hard to find glasses for? Just been looking at the Oliver People's (www.oliverpeoples.com) website and even there nothing strikes my fancy. I want some ridiculously BIG frames: 

Vacances de Toussaint

Aujourd'hui = good day. The exams are out of the way and now it's time to enjoy this week. 

      The standard of examination here is horrendous. The liguistics exam was only 35 minutes long - that's 50% of my mark for this semester...! Oh well, it's over now and I am certainly happier for it.

      We're both ill at the moment :-( But, we have to get better soon - off to Barcelona on Tuesday! I can't remember Barcelona at all (in hindsight that's probably because last time I went all I cared about was getting drunk). This time round, I'm planning on

 making the most of it. Day trip to Figueres is definitely in order. 

     And then... Marie and Roisin are coming to visit! We will have to do something super London-esque for Halloween. 

     All in all, it should be an exciting week // I just wish I was feeling better. 

                          

Another thing: 

I see this bag on a daily basis - everyone 10-90 year olds seem to have this Longchamp bag. Methinks it's time to get one to fit in with 'Les Francais'. 

Histoire de l'Art

I am supposed to be in Marseilles right now.  

However, I am still in bed. Revising.

This week I have two exams.  

1. Histoire de l'Art 

2. Linguistics  

These are both subjects which seem easy enough. However, both teachers are extremely unhelpful. Being at uni here is almost like being back at school - there are no small seminars or opportunities to express one's opinions. I miss UCL and London. 

          

('Madeleine' by Donatello) - creepy!

However, being in Provence does have its upsides. Food, the cafe culture and the general excitement of living in the South of France. Next week is Toussaint and hopefully we'll take a little mini-break somewhere - maybe even Marseilles or Montpellier. 

          Anyway - exams. Argh. Rita and I have been manically putting together notes on the paintings and trying to understand what is required for this exam. It's OK though, tonight we've been invited to a real French person's birthday party (at the bar he owns!) 

         The other day, after teaching at the Lycee Frederic Mistral, Rita and I started drinking at 14h (Bar Double V)... We exhausted their stock of Hoegaarden bottled beers! The barman was so friendly, he kept on bringing us food (marshmallows, peanuts and honey toasts!). Anyway, back to friendly faces tonight. 

          I cannot wait until this time next week! Exams will be done and a week of rest and travelling will be in order.

The Mistral

The Mistral is upon us:

Gone are the days where

I care

About my hair

It's not fair

I want to marry the mayor

And eat some pear

As you can see, Avignon is right in the wind corridor of this rather phallic-shaped wind movement.

There are things that one must give up during the season of the Mistral:

a) wearing skirts = a BIG no no

b) lighting up in the streets

c) instantly wind-swept looking hair - could also be classified as a pro

The name comes from the Languedoc dialect of the Provencal language - it means 'masterly'.

Tomorrow is incidentally my first day at the Lycee Frederic Mistral.
Monsieur Mistral (1830- 1914) is somewhat of a legend in this part of the world. He was/is the most revered writer in Occitan literature.
The French are big on quotes so here's one from the man himself -

« Les cinq doigts de la main ne sont pas tous égaux. »

Here's a picture of Adam being shaken by 'Le Mistral'.