In the middle of the holidays I ventured to Cordes sur Ciel with Abbey and Josh. It decided to rain just as we arrived but still we explored the small town. It’s one of the many Bastides (medieval towns) scattered throughout the Midi-Pyrenees region.
The town used to be known as simply Cordes but, due to its prominent position high on a hill, its now named Cordes sur Ciel. “Cordes on sky”. On some days when clouds sit low to the ground the only thing standing above the clouds is the town.
It’s Spring and I’m on holidays 
This year there has been more rain than usual, so we average 1 fantastic day for every 3 that are cold, windy and rainy. Still, the 1 fantastic day is always great. I’ve been going into Toulouse, partaking in a cooking course and playing the guitar on the side of the river with the other Exchangies. I will have my first guitar lesson ever on Tuesday – it will be in half English / half French.. Should be good
After next week I have five weeks of school, Eurotrip, one week of school and then the July/August vacation. In other words – it already feels like time is going quickly! I re-read this blog with my host mother last night. She told me how my French entry was meant to be written, which accentuated the language barrier somewhat. Still, the language is improving with time more and more.
In summary, it consists of:
A 2 hour lunch
Designer shoes
A leather pencil case – I can only fit three pens, a pencil, whiteout, a ruler, an eraser and a sharpener, but damn it looks good.
Student strikes! Occasionally, teacher strikes! The last three days before the start of the holidays I didn’t have school. The students blocked entry to everyone.. a protest to budget cuts and educational reforms. I mean literally blocked – using furniture, bins, fences from a nearby construction site and their bodies. The French do this really well.
Just testing the insert/edit image function on Wordpress 2.5 (It doesn’t.) You can upload the file, but then you have to open the media library, click on the thumbnail, copy the URL from the address bar in your browser and paste it into the insert/edit image pop up. The bulletin boards are unhappy about this upgrade, so we’ll have to see if they patch it soon. In the mean time, please enjoy this bucolic Parisian scene. Posted by simon.g
This is a picture of school – I’ll post some more later that show more detail, but for now this is the only one I have of it. I took this because of the thousands of flowers that are growing on the lawn. Hours of fun – I’ve now learnt a myriad of ways to play with them. Note the sky – much more like what I’m used to!
This is my house in Pibrac, (My first Host Family). Just out of shot, to the left, are the 8 or so Cherry and Apricot trees that grow in the garden. (I’ll be coming back for those later in the year!)
The weather was fantastic the day I took this photo – Notice the lack of clouds in the sky. Something that I’ve seldom experienced here in France. That said, it’s Spring and the weather is getting better and better all the time
Which I wasn’t, and this isn’t actually Cherry Pie.. but this is a cake made from cherries grown right here in my garden. Its the first thing I’ve cooked in France (with a little guidance). It came out surprisingly well, if I might say so myself.
I failed to mention this earlier but in my first school break here in Toulouse I went and bought myself a guitar (something to distract me). At first I thought I’d leave it behind when I left the country, it wasn’t too expensive. I really like it though, so maybe I’ll have to find a way to get it home (unless I have a better guitar to bring home, in which case this one moves down the food chain) It’s a Steel String Acoustic with a Preamp. Yes, that is a Lord Of The Rings poster behind my head.
On Easter weekend Josh and I went to stay with my 3rd host family who are really fun to spend time with. It was a chance to get to know the family before I move in with them (though that isn’t until September!) and also a chance to see the family’s collection of guitars. (The guitar is something I’ll be trying to learn while I’m here). Sunday morning and Pauline, Camille (my future host sisters), Josh and I were treated to a lot of chocolate. What’s more, it was snowing outside! The snow melted almost immediately though so nothing built up on the ground 
On Monday Josh, Abbey and I went to Albi, a town north west of Toulouse. This is where Josh lives. We went to a new museum for Toulouse-Lautrec and visited a few cafes before Abbey and I had to head back to Toulouse (via Abbey’s host-grandmother’s house where I was given a jar of the honey she collects from her land. Probably the best honey I have ever had).
On Friday the 21st of March my Rotary District hired out a hall for a “Cross Worlds” Celebration at which you could be patriotic and show the best your country has to offer. All the students took a slightly competitive edge to this event, which was really just wasted time. We had Vegemite – so how could any other country compete?
Some French people managed to eat it without wincing – others looked horrified after trying it. We also had a Pavlova, Tattoos of the Australian flags, a couple of books about Australia, a few actual Aussie flags and, of course Anzac Biscuits. What more could a nation need?
