So this week end was supposed to be what I call a "light" week end...

We were supposed to sleeeeeep and not really move and all...

Well you bet we did!!! No we didn't...

Saturday at Gunwharf Quays: (or how to spend all your money in  record time!!!)
In fact, on Saturday, I had to wake up at 8am!!! (all right, I guess you need a bit more than that to pity me...: you just need to know that we went to the pub on Friday night with Marie, Steph, Laura and Elisa until 10:30pm and that after that I went at Marie's to talk... until 12am!!! So now you understand that I didn't get that much sleep for someone who was supposed to REST!!!) so so long for the resting week end...!
But well, again it's not that bad considering we went to Portsmouth to do some shoooopping at Gunwharf Quays, the shopping paradise!!! Have I already told about that amazing place? Yeah, I know!!! Tons of factory outlet shops!!!
Now, I'm not a fashion victim... I love books more than clothes... but hey you need to have something to wear! and you might as well not pay much for it right?!
So we (Marie, Elisa and I) really did spend our day shopping at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, Hampshire!!! And not only did I buy clothes that were at least half-price, I also bought books!!! Because they don't only have clothes shops there, they have libraries!!! And I bought a book £4.99 instead of £16.99! Now if that isn't a bargain then I am the Queen of England indeed! In the end I think I must have spend like £50 but well I did buy 3 tops, 2 books, one notepad from PaperChase (I just love that shop!!) and a gift for my mum's birthday... (I'm not going to say what, just in case she reads that!)



Sunday at Arundel Castle: (or how to become a Duchess...)
"If you have to see castle, it is this one"
That's what Carolyn told me when I said I was interested in visiting the area and that I liked castles... So I took note of her advice and with Marie, Stephanie and Elisa we decided to go there on Sunday... and since it wasn't very convenient to go by train or by bus, we decided to go by car!! (yay! a road trip!!!) It was indeed much quicker and also much cheaper: only £2 per person!
When we arrived, under the rain =( we realised that she was indeed right! The price was a bit expensive (£10.50 for student) but it was SO worth it!!! It is really like a fairy tale castle, and so huge and beautiful! And the rooms were all amazing: the furnitures were splendid and I just fell in love with their library! The only "bad" thing was that we weren't allowed to take pictures in the castle but I bought a little book in the gift shop to make up for it!
We were also able to visit the gardens and Arundel cathedral and everything was truly amazing!



But the most amazing thing I guess, is when you realise that people still live in this castle!!! It is indeed the home place of the Duke of Norfolk and his family...!
Wow! I could easily be the Duchess of Norfolk!!! Any time...!

Aaaand next week end is...... Brighton!!!!!!!

Can't wait! (because I'm meeting my parents there! Yay!)

=)

...

No word can actually describe that week end...
Well alright I might have to use some words such as awesome, magnificent, super, great... but still!

Ah!

Now Oxford is even much better than I imagined it would be! And it's not as if I hadn't prepare myself: I went on so many websites I can't even remember all of them and I had planned every single thing...
And yet I was astonished!

So Ooooooxford!


First day: (or how to understand the City of Dreaming Spires)
After an early awakening (!), Marie and I took the 6:39 train (still can't believe I woke up so early on a Saturday morning! Oh well, that was sooo worth it!) and after being joined by Steph at the next station, we arrived in Oxford at 8:34am!!! Since we had to wait for Iris who couldn't take the same train because of her bus, we decided to go and have a light breakfast in some coffee shop... We ended up in a Coffee Republic, a place I know very well for having spent all my days in one when I was on a exchange with Worcester King's School! I had such a great time with all the other students there that at the end we all decided to take a cup as a souvenir... And well, I couldn't resist doing the same in Oxford!!! I know I'm bad but well... Did you know how much we paid? My hit chocolate was something like £2.20 and my cookie £1.39!!! So I dare say we really earned our cups! (yeah 'cause I was able to lure Marie and Steph into it!!!)

After this thrilling experience, we went to the Tourist Information Center to buy tickets (£7) for the Guided Walking Tour which was beginning at 10:30am and were joined there by Iris who was doing the tour with us, even though she had already been to Oxford. Well, in the end, that tour turned out to be really, really good and our guide was just wonderful! We were able to enter into 2 colleges (Exeter and Lincoln College) to see their chapel and dining hall, something we wouldn't have been able to do if we had been on our own, and we had the best explications ever! Joseph (that was the name of our guide) would give us lots of details about the University or more generally about life in Oxford! Steph and I were taking note, though we stopped once we began moving around in the city...

We then went through the covered market up to High Street where we were able to see St Mary the Virgin Church though we didn't enter because there was a service... So instead we went to see the Radcliffe Camera (the oldest circular library in the world) and the Bodleian library, a magnificent building where students can still go to work and do research! I wish I could be one of these students... =) Then, our guide took us around the city, through the Bridge of Sighs to the Turf Tavern, one of the best pub in Oxford, and then all the way to Magdalen College, the river Thames and the Botanic Garden... And then the tour was over... :( But it was already 12:30pm and we we were beginning to feel hungry so the thought of having some lunch lessened our pain of having to leave Joseph! :)
Just before we went on to find some place to have our lunch, we stopped at Christ Church, where lots of Harry Potter scenes were shot, but we didn't go in it because it was £3.90 to enter and some of the girls didn't really want to... but anyway it was still really beautiful and gorgeous!!! We then went to find a place to have some lunch and ended up in a little sandwich place where they were serving strange circular sandwiches...

After lunch we went back to the High Street and took a look at all the souvenir shops and all: we went into the Oxford University Press shop, an amazing place where you can find all sorts of books, like all the Oxford Dictionary or the Oxford World Classic collections and tons of books on a wide range of subjects, like history! I felt as if I was in paradise or something... =) We also went into the University of Oxford shop but we found out that nearly everything was way too expensive! (except maybe for some shirts which were around £10... I bought one of these because I absolutely wanted my official product!!!)
Since we hadn't been able to go into St Mary the Virgin church earlier because of the service, we decided to go there as our next stop and climb its tower to have a better view of Oxford! Well the £2.50 we paid were worth it because we had a stunning view of all the city and Oxford's nickname, the City of Dreaming Spires, really made sense from where we were standing!!!

After all this visiting and shopping, it was time for some of us to take a break so Marie and I decided to stop at a Costa Coffee in a library (yes, you can find coffee shop in libraries in England! Isn't that amazing?) while Steph and Iris were on for more shopping!!! By that time, it was nearly time for Steph to go back home because since she was working on Sunday morning, she couldn't stay with us for the night... so we went to the station with her and said goodbye to her... :(

And then it was time to see the play!!! We had booked our place to the Oxford Open Air Theatre Festival to see Much Ado About Nothing at the Unlocked Castleyard Stage at 7:30pm and we really enjoyed it!!
Although it was getting colder and colder as the time went by, the play was so well directed and the actors so wonderfully good that in the end we had a really good time!  Marie and I even had the "opportunity" to try our new Oxford University sweaters! The play was at least 2h and 30 minutes long so and with the intermission it was late when it ended so that we directly went back to the hostel... We were so cold we even began running in the streets of Oxford!!!
Back at the youth hostel, we stayed up for another hour to go on the internet (it is at this moment that I left my live-from-Oxford message!), talk and write some cards... and although our beds had spring mattresses we were still able to sleep!

Second day: (or how to relax in Oxford...)
After a good night sleep and a big breakfast (it was a buffet so we were able to eat as much as we wanted!) and since it was just Marie and I for this day, we decided to take it easy and began by visiting Oxford Castle, where the play had taken place the night before. It was £6.20 for a guided tour of the castle and going up the Tower and climbing the mound with its crypt... Not the very best thing we did at Oxford but it was still worth doing it I think...
After wandering about in the city again, we ended up in another sandwich place where we both took a salad... Although had quite a surprise at discovering hers because it was literally just tomatoes, onions and cheese... whereas I didn't even pay for mine because the waitress was so clumsy she didn't notice I hadn't pay! Well so much for me hey! =) I know it's bad but with what we had in our plates (okay mine wasn't that bad) and how amiable the waitress had been, we really didn't want to correct her mistake!!!

After lunch we did our final shopping in Oxford to buy our last souvenir gifts! I bought a wonderful book about maps in the world and through the ages I had noticed the day before... I needed time to think about buying it because I'm not supposed to be attracted by a book about maps (!) but well I really loved it so I guess I am after all... =)
We still had time to do something else and we both agreed to go to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, firstly because I had never been to a museum of natural history and secondly because there was another museum we wanted to have a look at: the Pitt Rivers Museum!
While I enjoyed the Museum of Natural History with all the dinosaurs skeletons, I really loved the Pitt Rivers! Because it is a museum about anthropology and world archaeology and also because of its a bit messy look and the atmosphere in general... I am definitely going back there at one point in my life! Because there are just so many things to be seen and discovered... Just go and see by yourself! And enjoy...
Pitt Rivers Museum



Well I must say that this was the perfect way to end our trip to Oxford!!! After that, it was already time to go back to the station to take our train and after a 2 1/2 hour journey we were back home around 7:30pm, tired but happy! Really happy!!!

Oxford I'll be back!!!

=)

Oh my gosh I'm in Oxford!!! No really, like really in Oxford!!!

I'm on the youth hostel's computers and I couldn't resist leaving a message...
Well, I had an awsome day, Oxford is really beautiful and I just loved the University and the colleges! And I got my Oxford sweaters!!!! (well, alright not the real ones because they were so expensive, like 50£ but still)
I can't put the pics rights now but I'll put them as soon as I'm back!

Oh and the youth hostel really is nice and I'm sure we'll have a great time!!!

=)

I'm Oh-so-proud of my Boule de Gomme!!!



Now I know this doesn't really have to do anything with being an au pair and all but Boule de Gomme (aka Agnès Ferté) is just a so important part of my life that I need to say it!

"Boule de Gomme I'm really proud of you! I knew you would get into Orsay and I had no doubt you would get your driver licence on your first test! (and you're the firs person I know who passed the first time without having done the "conduite accompagnée", so really you should be proud of yourself!)

And I'm also really sorry for not calling you more often and not giving you lots of news... it's not that I don't want to, you know that, but I'm just so busy I don't find the time!
Anyway, I'm going to make up for that right now by calling you!!!"

____________________


Oh yeah, and today is also Marie's birthday!!! So Happy 23rd Birthday Marie!!!
We'll celebrate that tomorrow! (hopefully in that Indian restaurant we talked about... now I can't get my mind of it!!!)



=)

Yay! Walking!

Well since the weather has been really sunny this last weeks and because we all need to exercise a little and because I have to admit that the region is really beautiful Marie (and Steph when she can come) and I decided that we would try and go for walks whenever we can!!!

There are indeed plenty of walks in the area, all apparently more beautiful than the other and I'm sure we'll have lots of fun doing them!!!
We already did one 2 days ago with Marie. Well, at least we tried! We wanted to go on a walk around Wispers School in Haslemere but we didn't really follow the map and ended up doing a shorter walk... (even though we actually did walk for nearly an hour!) and I was running out of battery so I was only able to take 2 photos! That was a shame because there were pictures to be taken... =(
Bah! Next time...

Marie is probably not going to be very happy that I put this pic! but well... I look strange too! =)

So I've studied the Haslemere Visitor and Local Information Center and I found plenty of different walks we can do:
 - Swan BarnWalk: a charming walk from Haslemere High Street, through field, farm and wood.
- Black Down Walk: an unusual circular walk through heath and wood near Haslemere, with spectacular views.
- Sailor's Stone and Gibbet Hill Walk: an attractive and diverse short circular walk from Hindhead, through heath and wood, with magnificent views and historical interest.
- Devil's Punch Bowl Walk: an interesting and varied circular walk from Hindhead, through heath and wood.
- Beacon Hill Walk: a pleasant short circular walk from Beacon Hill with an optional longer extension through woods and heath.
- Heather Hills and Wooded Vales: a delightful circular walk through the Haslemere countryside including Haslemere, Hindhead and Grayswood.

I really can't wait to do them all!!!

=)

Well I was so right to be excited!!!

It was just AWSOME!!!

The first surprise was to see Iris arriving with another girl, who turned out to be Enken, a German girl from Guildford who had contacted me through meetup and that I wanted to meet! Could I be any luckier? =)
So after meeting with Iris and Enken at the station (they had come a little late because they have to take a bus and then the train...) we decided to go to the Historic Dockyard to visit all the ships and the museums (after all, it is what Portsmouth is famous for!) So after taking a ticket (14£ to do everything with some "attractions" unlimited for a year...!) we first went on the HMS Warrior and then we split because Enken and Iris wanted to do a bit of shopping and after taking their number to be able to meet for lunch we continued the visit and went in the Naval Museum to see paintings of Nelson and play little games for kids! We then went on the HMS Victory, Nelson's ship on which he died. We also saw the Mary Rose Museum, a museum about a very old ship called the Mary Rose which sank during the reign of Henry VIII (hence all the "Henry VIII" pictures!!!).
All of that was very funny: we took lots of pictures with pirates and disguised as Henry VIII and all and we even learned a few things! (although I must admit I don't really remember most of them...!)

After all that visiting we were really hungry and so we met Iris and Enken at the bottom of the Spinnaker Tower which is a famous big white modern tower in Portsmouth that goes up to 110m I think and apparently gives you a splendid view of the area... I'm not quite sure yet if I'm going to do it or not because it's something like 6-7£ and I don't think I want to spend them on that.
Anyway! We decided to have a quick and cheap lunch so we went to a Subway (it was my first time!) and we didn't spend more than 4£ which is quite good considering we usually spend around 10£...

We decided after that to do a bit of shopping in Gunwharf Quays (well yeah! Iris and Enken had already done some but Marie, Steph and I, serious as we are, we hadn't because we had been visiting!) and I bought a book that I wanted to read for a long time: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, a book about Afghanistan and "a story of fathers and sons, friendship a,d betrayal, and the casualties of fate". And I've already begun it, which is why I'm now in a hurry to finish this article because I want to read it!!!

After that we went on the Millennium Promenade, which is a walk that took us along the seaside and all the way to the old town and the forts! With all the wind we even got wet by some really high waves but since the weather was really beautiful it didn't really matter! Except maybe for Enken and Iris who were screaming every time the waves were coming!!!

We ended up waling a lot in fact but it was really worth it! The views were splendid and we had quite a lot of pause which enable us to take pictures and simply to enjoy ourselves! We also saw Portsmouth Roman Cathedral which was built in fact during the 90s and wasn't as beautiful inside as we thought it would be but well, it was still fun!

I don't think I would have enjoyed that day without the girls and if I had been on my own, and I hope we can do that again sometimes!!! Because I loooooove taking pictures and because Steph loves that too and also because the more the merrier! but above all because I've met wonderful people...! ;-)

Enken, Marie, Steph and Iris.

Next week end we're going to Oxford, although Enken can't come she's going to a concert in the North and Steph is only staying one day because she works on Sunday... but anyway, I'm sure we'll have fun and I'll make sure we take lots of pictures! Because, I mean, it's Oxford we're talking about here!!!

Can't wait!

=)

Youhou!!! I'm going to Portsmouth tomorroooow! And it's going to be greeeaat!!!
(useless message just because it's 22:40, which actually isn't that late, and I can't wait to be tomorrow...)

=)

All my little escapades and week end away!!!

All the lined things are what I've already done.
(if you want to have a look at this message without going all the way down when there will be more posts, just click on the "what's planned" category...)
Note that the interrogation point means that it's not sure yet...

June:

- Sunday 8th: Portsmouth for the afternoon.
- Monday 9th: escapade in Guildford.
- Friday 14th and Saturday 15th: Night out and Saturday in London!
- Friday 20th: afternoon in Guildford.
- Sunday 22nd: a day in Portsmouth.
- Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th: week end in Oxford!!!

July:

- Saturday 5th: shopping at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth for the SALES!
- Sunday 6th: visit of Arundel castle.
- Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th: week end in Brighton!!!
- Sunday 20th: day in Guildford

August:

- Saturday 9th: Thorpe Park (!!!) with the London Childcarers Meetup Group (London)
- Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th: week end in Bath and Bristol!!!

So, what's that about the title?

Well, that, ladies and gentlemen, is the title of the film I've just seen tonight! Indeed!

You see in Haslemere, they have what we call the Haslemere Hall, which is a place where a lot of events happen and among them, cinema! Every month they having several film for one night of two (or in the afternoon if it's a children film) around 8pm most of the time.
And the funny thing is that there is an intermission! You know in the middle of the film when the screen becomes black and the word intermission is written on it? Well that's it! =) For about 15 minutes I'd say you can go and have a cup of tea, some beer, wine or soft drinks, and even eat an ice-cream or some snacks! (I took the maltesers... couldn't resist!!!)
I really loved it! The atmosphere really makes you feel as if you were going to see some sort of play, and the little pause in the middle is just perfect to have a drink, chat with your friends about the film and then watch the end all calmed and relaxed by that moment...



So now about the film! Well what can I say... It's just that kind of film about life in general, focusing on one single person that I really do enjoy the most! Plus it is taking place in London, somewhere around Camden Town, so, I mean how could I not like it?! And it was sooo funny! Kept laughing all the way through! Now I wouldn't be able to really explain the story, not that I didn't understand, but it's just that I can't really find the words to say it. Especially now that I've just seen it and it's all fresh in my head and I'm still all blblbl and wow and hum! (you know!)
But well, just so that everybody is happy, here is what you can find on the internet:
"The story of Poppy, a 30 year old primary school teacher who with never ending optimism manages to confront the harsh realities of life and deal with them head on, whilst never losing her sense of humour"
Or you can just go on the official website if you want to try and catch a bit of the atmosphere (and here the music!)

Anyway, I just loved that evening and I'm sure I'll do it again!
I'm also quite proud that I could update my blog so quickly! (that's an improvement, isn't it?)

Next post will probably be after my day in Portsmouth on Sunday!
Next week end I'm going to Oxford with Marie, Iris and Stéphanie (but she'll only be staying for a day with us because she has to work on Sunday... poor her!)

Can't wait!!!

feeling happy-go-lucky!
(also an adjective that means carefree or untroubled)
=)

♪ London calling, yeah, I was there, too
An you know what they said? well, some of it was true!
London calling at the top of the dial
After all this, wont you give me a smile? ♫

London Calling - The Clash


Well, well, well !!!

So that's it !
Oh my gosh ! London was just sooo great !!!! There's so much to tell and so much to say...


Friday evening: (or how to party in the cosmopolitan city!)
Friday evening really was the reason why we went to London in the first place... I had found before leaving a meetup group in London which organise lots of different events in London (The London Childcarers Meetup Group) They had this night out on Friday in a bar on Duke Street, The Moose Bar which was beginning around 8pm. So after talking about it with Marie and Marine, we decided to go and to stay the night in London to be able to visit on the next day...! (even though Marine wasn't actually staying with us... she was sleeping at one of her friend's who is working in London for the summer...)

We took the 19:32 train to London Waterloo and arrived in London around 08:20pm, so we should have arrived way before 9pm but Marine and her friend were just so slow and all... Her friend was kind of annoying ! She had just arrived in London and was already all "Oh, this way, no not this line...": I wanted to take the Jubilee which is a direct line to Bond Street but she wanted to take another one (can't remember which one though...) and then the Central Line... I turned out to be right but this made us lose lots of time when we shouldn't have and then they were just walking so slowly! So annoying! So we arrived at The Moose at 9pm!!! I was a bit angry with them but well...
We met incredible people there! Most of them were from English speaking countries, which was very good because we had to speak English!!! There was Dawn, Alex and Elise who were either from England or New Zealand and Sara who was from Slovenia. I really did get on well with them and promised to Sara that the next time I would come to London we would do some sightseeing together!!!
I had such a great night! I even went dancing with Sara!!! I, who barely go dancing! But well... man it's London!!! I was partying in London!!! I think the exclamation points really show how ecstatic I was that night!!!
We didn't stay very long though because we wanted to wake up early the next day to do as many things as possible in on day! So we left around 10:30pm to go at the Piccadilly Backpackers Hotel on Piccadilly Circus: the hotel was relatively nice and we only paid 23£ for a 6-bed dorm.

Saturday: (or how to be a perfect tourist!)
Marie didn't sleep much apparently because of all the noise in the street and all but I must say that I slept quite well (anyway I can sleep anywhere!!!) and we woke up around 7am and took a breakfast in a little Italian restaurant near Piccadilly... I had a real English breakfast (Yes in an Italian restaurant! Don't try to understand, it's London!!!)

Here is what we did on this wonderful day:

- Camden Town and the Camden Market (fiiiinally!)
Well that didn't turn out exactly as I had planned... We arrived here too early (9am isn't that early, is it?) and nothing was prepared yet and since we didn't have much time we decided to go back to the city center to really visit... (because it was Marie's first time in London so we had to do what I call the "incontournables")

- the city center and the "incontournables":
we really saw what a perfect tourist should see! We got off at Waterloo Station so as to be able to see the Parliament and Big Ben from the other side of the Thames (East Side) and then walk over Westminster Bridge to enter West Side and saw Westminster Abbey. After a little dilemma: should we visit Westminster or take a sightseeing bus ? We decided to take a sightseeing bus and maybe do Westminster next time.

Our plan was thus to go all the way to Buckingham Palace and then to Hyde Park to take a sightseeing bus. We arrived to Buckingham Palace through Green Park (where we were able to see some squirrels =) ) and were really surprised to hear music! I immediately thought "Wow! That's the Changing of the Guards! How lucky we are!" but it was kind of early for that (10:30am when it's supposed to begin at 11am) and after a while we saw carriages approaching! In them we saw Camilla, the Princes and other members of the Royal family!!! We couldn't believe it!!! I could hear the people around me talking about the Queen coming and all... We were really excited about that though we weren't really sure she would come... but she DID!!!!!! And so this is how we saw the Queen!!!

I then learnt that that day was the Trooping of the Color also called the Queen's Official Birthday when she "inspects" the guards and all...

- sightseeing bus tour of London:
We then took a sightseeing bus with The Big Bus Company for 24£, the price was a bit expensive I thought but well we also had a cruise on the Thames so...!

The tour was fun: we saw some things that we had already seen but we had the chance to go around the center of London to some places we wouldn't have gone to if we had been on feet. We went all the way to the City and saw St Paul Cathedral as well as Tower Bridge and the Tower of London before going on our cruise!
Just one thing was a little "annoying": at the end we were freezing! Because althoug the weather was nice, there was a lot of wind and we were on the top outside part of the bus... =)

- cruise on the Thames

The cruise on the Thames wasn't really the most thrilling thing I did in my life! I think the cruises on the Seine in Paris are much, much better! But it was still fun to be on the Thames and to see London through a different point of view! And we were warm inside the boat!!!

- lunch at Pizza Hut:

We finally had lunch at 3pm and we really were hungry!!!
We took a special menu where we could have a medium pizza plus a plate of lots of things like chicken wings, fries, salad... and all that only for 12£99!!! Which quite a good bargain considering that the medium pizza we took (pepperoni) was already 10£ something...

We also had the surprise to see a bunch of naked people riding bikes!!! Don't know why they were doing this, but it was still very funny!!!

- Covent Garden:
I really enjoy the famous showmen! It's funny how you can always find them around Covent Garden... I really don't know why... probably because lots of tourists go around there! (just like us!)
Anyway, Covent Garden was the perfect way to end our little trip! We wished we could have stayed longer but I had to be back to baby sit so we took the 17:00 train and I was back home around 6pm! Happy but tired...

The rest wasn't as funny as the trip... I had to baby sit because Carolyn and Peter were going to some fancy party... I was really tired and I had some trouble putting the girls to bed because on the week ends they can stay a bit longer up.
I knew that once the girls were asleep I could go in my room but I wasn't sure whether I could sleep or not... So I stayed up watching TV and struggling to stay awake...

At 1am, since they weren't home yet, I decided to fall asleep in front of the TV, thinking I would woke up when they arrive... but I didn't and I woke up in the sofa at 4:30am!!! I was really tired!!! I went in my bed and slept until 10am because Hettie then came to tell me that they were leaving soon to go on the boat...
I explained Carolyn what had happened last night and she told that she was sorry, that I could sleep... and so I didn't come with them on the boat and stayed at the house to get some rest!!!

At least now I know I can sleep during once the girls are asleep!!!

=)