All things French

I think I last blogged just before my birthday. My brother in law took the day off on my birthday and after we made lasagna and a granadilla cake for a games evening with friends we went to Cirencester for the day in the Cotswolds. Saw some lovely crafts and pretty Cotswolds cottages and things. On the way home we stopped in Cricklade and saw where the Thames River begins. I was briefed on how to play the game Munchkin for the evening but we ended up playing Would I Lie to You. In one of the final rounds I misread the card and so was inadvertently lying on all of them - oops.

On the Wednesday after my birthday my sister, her husband and I went to Warwick Castle. They had impressive displays of jousting, which were used to tell the War of the Roses, and falconry. My personal trainer would be chuffed that I climbed the battlements. Beth and Andrew had booked for us to also do the dungeon tour. It was quite grisly and gory and I nearly had heart failure towards the end when we were in a hall with mirrors and someone just emerged from the mirror in front of me in the dimly lit passageway. On Thursday I hopped on several buses and made my way to Streatham in London to spend the night with my good friend Pippa so I could get on the Eurostar on Friday morning. Pippa kindly helped me get an oyster card which is very useful to have and helped on my return journey.

And so my French adventure began. I found that when I attempted to speak in French everyone was very friendly and helpful - well apart from the waiters (although I did have one that was charming). I got into Paris and managed to get a passe navigo decouverte which allowed me to get on and off buses, the metro and RER trains as many times as I liked for a week. Other friends heading to the wedding in Rambouillet gave me the heads up on where to go to get the train ticket at Gare Montparnasse. I hopped on the train and caught my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower through the train window. Had a momentary panic on arriving in Rambouillet that I had gone to the wrong one (there are two) but it was all good. There was a UCT gathering as everyone assembled to catch the shuttle my friend Gail had organised. Everyone had brought something to contribute to a picnic that evening and we had a pleasant soiree drinking wine, eating cheese, cherries and nougat.

The wedding itself was lovely and we luckily had the rain hold off. Am so glad I managed to go and to have been there. The setting of the Abbaye Vaux de Cernay was a beautiful and very majestic. It was good to reconnect with people too. With the sun going down later I didn't realise how late it was and danced away until 2.30 am. There was a slight confusion with the shuttle the next day as myself and some of Gail's PhD colleagues from Switzerland didn't realise the shuttle was a large bus and couldn't fit through the abbey gates. After piling into a small car with suitcases on our laps and racing to the farm, we thought it had definitely gone without out us and were about to book a taxi when miraculously it appeared.

Had a bit of a challenge finding my Airbnb in Montreuil but when I did it was super and had everything I could need - including my own nespresso machine! The owner was very helpful although we had a slight miscommunication mid-week when I whatsapped her to tell her the lid of the loo had come loose. She thought I meant the entire toilet bowl and came rushing over. Could see the relief on her face when she saw what I meant. My time in Paris was really good. I did a fair deal of walking - the first day I walked from Chtâtelet, past Notre Dame to Les Jardins du Luxembourg and then up to the Opera House and through to Montmatre and the Sacre Couer. I think the place I enjoyed most was Monet's garden in Giverny with all the colours and feast of flowers. I met two friends of a friend back home at Les Halles and then two friends I met in Switzerland on the Youth Encounter on Sustainability course in 2008 at Republique. Was very special to see Damien and Luisanna again and meet Luisanna's family.

The only not so nice experience was that a man followed me home from the metro on my last night in Paris. I decided to do a detour into the supermarket when I realised he had followed me two blocks. He followed me into the supermarket and hovered at the end of my aisle. When he seemed to have gone I quickly went out but he was waiting outside. I managed to dash into my apartment though and lock myself inside. To counterbalance that though I had a very kind man come alongside me in the metro the next day, and pick up my suitcase along with his and carry it all the way up the stairs for me and onto the metro. (Pack light she had said to herself, there will be stairs she said - hmmm).

On returning to England I had lunch with my cousin Carly and caught up on all her news. We also had a look in the Harry Potter shop at Kings Cross Station. Also had coffee with my Cape Town house mate Wendy which was nice, before I caught the bus back to Swindon. Tomorrow I'm going with my sister and brother-in-law down to Devon. OK that was a long spiel.

I brought the sun with yesterday

Mbare

Flew out of Harare on Saturday. It had been quite an eventful week as on the way home from seeing a friend in Hatfield on Wednesday our car's clutch gave out. It started playing up as I drove through Mbare at rush hour. Luckily made it further into town before it completely gave out by the Polytechnic but right in the middle of the road at peak hour - not fun, there was nothing I could do. My mum got a lift to where I was with a driver from the school and our mechanic came. The same friend who rescued me on Saturday kindly came with his tow rope and towed the car home. Cephas the mechanic then had to go in search of parts - not easy. It was still not fixed on Saturday, so the H.I.S. driver took me to the airport. He was late though as there seems to suddenly be a fuel shortage in Harare again and he then took a very circuitous route to the airport to avoid police but I did start panicking when we seemed to be going in completely the opposite direction but I made it.

Boarding the plane in Harare the aircraft was stifling as apparently some charger in the engine wasn't working and therefore the air con wasn't working until we took off. I did hope that the air con was the only thing that wasn't working. In Joburg I had to have my eye and fingerprints scanned. I then had to wait it out for six hours. Missed having my mum and friend Vee with me this time to while away the time with. I must have walked across the duty free area six times and tried not to spend too much. Had a very chivalrous Chinese man next to me on the next flight but he watched movies all night and the flickering light from his screen kept me awake. When we landed at Heathrow the pilot said it was 12'C - pretty much our mid-winter temperature at home, but when I got out it was warmer than that and I had managed to bring some sunshine with me.

I was met by Beth and Andrew and they had quite a day planned. We went to see our friend Mags in Virginia Water and I went with Beth and Andrew to church at Christ Church Virginia Water where Beth and Andrew got married last year. We walked from there to lunch at Savill Garden with Mags and some others. We then stopped via Reading to see Andrew's parents on the way back to Swindon. I did feel a little exhausted by bed time but it was good to maximise on the sunshine. Today is a bit overcast. I am going to go for a walk just now and then will make babotie for dinner. Will go to Beth's pilates class this evening.

Savill Garden

All was well, well except the very end

Thanks for all the encouragement for my first wedding shoot. Once I got cracking the nerves went and it all went really well. I may have to do a bit of photo editing with some of the lighting and see what I can do there. Although it was a little chilly, the sun did come out at key moments in the day. My friend made a beautiful bride and has found her prince.

My camera battery miraculously lasted the whole day - I should really have a spare in future just in case. Some of my night photographs have come out quite well. A few I will have to try sharpen or lighten. There was a photo booth that printed photos at the reception which was a lot of fun and will help to have captured more of the guests.

So it all went swimmingly until I stopped for fuel on the way home at the garage by Classic Desserts on Churchill. I had to get out to go swipe at the kiosk shop and forgot to turn my lights off. When I came back the car was completely dead and wouldn't start. This was now at about half past midnight. The garage attendant and the security guard tried to push start it but still nothing. I then discovered my phone battery had died but luckily the kiosk cashier had a charger and let me plug my phone in. I had to squat down next to cartons of oil and make a phone call first to my mum and then I tried our reliable taxi driver. He didn't answer. I then thought about two friends that are usually still awake at that time on a Saturday or should I say early Sunday. The first's call kept cutting off and when I first tried the second my phone somehow phoned someone else. Luckily I finally reached the second person and they very chivalrously came to my rescue along with the first friend I had tried who happened to be with them. Had to leave the car at the garage but the security guard promised to watch it overnight. The mechanic came this morning and it's the starter switch but he fixed it.

Pre-wedding Nerves

Tomorrow will be the first wedding where I'm the main photographer with another person. Hoping for good light and trying to work out changing the exposure and shutter speed of my camera for night photos. Won't lie, I do feel rather nervous. This afternoon and yesterday afternoon I went to St Michael's, Amanzi Lodge and the Flying Frog where the getting ready, ceremony and then reception will happen. With the other photographer we noted down spots that lend themselves to photos. Just trying to think of when I leave the bridal party getting ready and head to the church to get there before the bride does. Haven't had to think about this before. Planning my route so I avoid the police where possible is another consideration.

This time next week will be my last night home before I head overseas and this time in two weeks I will hopefully have made my way from London via the Chunnel to Paris and then Rambouillet. Will see a bunch of people from my Cape Town days that I haven't seen in a while which will be fun. Have just been looking at how to get to Versaille the following week as there is work being done on the RER line you would usually take.

Am going to miss my doggies while I'm away. Elsie has a habit of going in search of a leaf when we drive in and then bringing it to the fence as a present wagging her tail. Jasper today however decided to find a large rat that he had presumably caught earlier and his welcome was tossing the dead thing in the air - charming, think I prefer the leaf, but I love him nonetheless. Oh, I'll miss my mum too.

Elsie Lu

Jasper

And then there were two

The car is semi-fixed. Our mechanic is struggling to find a part but he has put in a secondhand one for the time being and it seems to be doing the trick - phew. Went along to my Chinese student for the daily English lesson yesterday only to discover it was the last one before he went to China today for the holidays. I did know he was going to China - just not the exact date. When I asked my student what time he flew today he looked at me hard and said it wasn't in the morning, it wasn't lunchtime but it was then just then - ah!

This means I now just have my four year and and grade two home schoolers left. We will finish the term's work for the grade two's correspondence syllabus on Tuesday and I will then do craft with them on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. I will need to peruse Pinterest again for ideas with the materials we have.

Today's the day I don't teach the home schoolers so I spent the morning painting pottery for gifts for when I go overseas. I was quite happy with the glaze effect on a jug I'd painted previously that had returned from being fired but sadly I noticed it had a crack and the potter said it had been over fired. Will keep the jug though as vase or milk jug.

Went round Arundel Village and Borrowdale Village this afternoon looking for things. In one shop people were discussing how tough things are in Zim. In Borrowdale one shop offered a 25% discount if you paid in US dollars. They joked that soon they would be accepting payment in the form of shoes. I thought the EcoCash option of sending money overseas was too good to be true. Today they have announced you are allowed a maximum of US$50 to be sent out a month!

Bond Goats by Lisa Masterson

Went to watch the film Dunkirk last night with friends. It luckily wasn't quite as gory as it could have been. Saw somewhere that they got 5 things historically wrong - will try find the article. My grandfather was stranded on the beaches at Dunkirk but managed to get back to England (I guess that's kind of obvious). There were things I'd never thought of in the film and I wish I could ask my grandfather more about his own experience. Thought it was well filmed and had an interesting intertwining plot.

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