Language lesson 1:
I’m at my uncles at the moment (beautiful house in Gignez, Corbonod, close-ish to swiss border and that’s about it), reading my little lonely planet phrasebook and I noticed some funny things in the ‘romance section’.
Not if you were the last person on earth “Jamais de la vie”
Do you have a fetish “Est-ce-que tu as un fetiche?”
Your ego is out of control “Tu es completement imbue de toi meme!” (aromas people use that one on franc for me??)
What star sign are you? “Tu es de quel signe?”
Then, for when things get more, er, intimate:
Oh yeah “Chouette alors”
Easy tiger! ‘Vas-y mollo’
Don’t worry, I’ll do it myself “T’inquiète pas, je fais ca tout seul..”
So now that you are all up to speed on the more important parts of the language of love we can continue..
From Paris to Mulhouse (grandmas) I caught an IdTGV which is a newer faster TGV.. stupid fast and pretty swish inside, especially in comparison to the stupidly slow regional trains! I got a whole four seater to myself and had a nap (sever lack of sleep in Paris!). On the train they hand out little paper packets. They contain a toilet seat cover, 12 pieces of toilet paper, 12 actual tissues and one large napkin. And then on the packet it has descriptions on ‘how to use each paper’… Just in case I’d forgotten. The train only took three hours, the normal train takes over five!
The taxi driver snapped himself lifting my enormous bag, whoops! I would have felt bad except for I warned him and he was all macho and tough and what not… GOT HIM
Mulhouse is basically an alsacian town, (French German) and is overflowing with flowers and goody treats. There is also a great street for shopping and it just so happens the annual sales started the day I arrived… AAALLRIIGGHT
However I spent way too much money on the earlier/frivolous part of the trip and have to start cutting back!! Less coffee… Sad (even if it does tastes like poo)
When I got to grandmas I spent five minute buzzing and grandma couldn’t hear it, could’ve been disastrous had mum and Joelle not turned up at that moment!!
I got to stay with mum and Joelle in the hotel around the corner. It has an awesome little gym and a Hammâm and a sauna. It also had a shower with three different jets of water from different heights. Really really nice if you know how to use it, unfortunately mum managed to turn them all on, full ball and freaked out. They had to get the hotel OWNER and his son the Manager to come turn it off… They both got soaked and where clearly trying to hide their giggles every time we entered the hotel after that!! Sometimes she worries me!!!
We went and had dinner with my mums cousin and his family. His son Laurent (lolo) came with his lady friend and their two MASSIVE rottweilers. Both are girls, and they are both huge but super cute! They have some pretty cute tricks and are really well behaved. I want a St Bernard when I finally settle down (in say… 90 yrs time), they were everywhere in Budapest, almost every third house had one…
SO apart from that Mulhouse was pretty uneventful. We got to visit some people I hadn’t seen in years. We went to ‘the rich house on the hill’. Friends of the family that have an amazing house just outside Mulhouse. I remember going there when I was a kid and thinking it was the most amazing house I’d ever seen!!! I used to get lost in all the different rooms, I remember once I fell asleep in the old school bathtub for hours until mum found me. Sadly the woman who owns it had a stroke a while ago and since then the house has deteriorated severely. Its not what it used to be…
We also had a visit from some friends who we used to know from when grandma lived in Paris and it was really great catching up with them and seeing how vibrant grandma became when there was a bit of stimulation around her.
I’m going back to Mulhouse to live with Grandma for a few months to help out and keep her company. Lolos lady offered me a job already and there is a really cute cheese shop that I’m going to try and suss out when I get back!! Ooh and I’ve applied for a job at the youth hostel as well for something different, I figure it would be a great way to meet people and also a great way to fill in the gaps between visitors…
From Mulhouse we went to my uncles house in the country. It’s a fair way away from everything but in a very beautiful area. Its only about forty minutes to Switzerland from here and a really great region for skiing so I’ll definitely be coming back for ski season!
All we’ve done here so far is eat and walk. I have pretty much slept all day everyday which has been AWESOME! Kind of enjoying being a hermit and not talking to anyone for a change!!
My cousin Remi is in training to be the next Mick Jagger with his new Awesome electric guitar, mum keeps trying to join him on the piano accordian but he keeps 'disappearing' everytime she turns up.... Coincedance, I think not
I think I may have caught up on sleep by now, however I’m going to keep on sleeping coz that’s what you do when your on holidays right!!!
Cheerio leerios
McFlangington
