Exploring Charleville

Just a quick post today - I have lots of free time here as my volunteering tutoring sessions only take up the afternoon and my french classes are only twice a week and we mainly only go on outings during the weekend. So every day I go for a wander around my little town and explore the streets of North-Eastern France! (And yes I have been lost a few times but thanks google maps!)

I took some photos on today's walk to show you all how cute and French it is here! À plus xx

Statue of Charles de Gonzague

Cute little stalls selling crêpes, waffles and ice cream!

The main street

The museum of Arthur Rimbaud

The Meuse River

La Place Ducale, the centre of town 

Soon much yummy chocolate!

ANZAC Day Tribute

So today in New Zealand is the 25th of April, ANZAC day. We use this day to remember and pay tribute to the soldiers who fought in the war to protect our country.

Here in France is where my great great uncle, George Manning Percy, was killed in action on the Somme a hundred years ago. I didn't think that would mean much to me because obviously I never met the man, and I've never been a great fan of history.

But today I got the opportunity to go to the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery in Longueval, which is a memorial site for the New Zealand soldiers who perished here in France in World War 1. It happens to be just a couple of hours away from where I'm staying so we headed over there this morning to pay our respects for ANZAC day. I recorded this video while I was there, to show you all at home what it was like for me. Sorry if the audio is bad, it was windy!

It turned out to be a pretty amazing but emotional experience for me, being at the actual place a war happened, and the actual place where one of my ancestors passed away. I found his name in the booklet at the gate, and wrote my name in the visitors book. I then wandered around the cemetery for a while, looking at all the graves of soldiers, known and unknown. My great great uncle's body was never identified, so he could have actually been there, one of those unnamed tombstones. I know he was around my age when he entered the army and I wonder if he was as excited as me to be going to the other side of the world, and I wonder if he knew that's where he would rest forever more.

I found his name on the wall which read 'Here are recorded the names of officers and men of New Zealand who fell in the Battles of the Somme, September and October 1916 and whose graves are known only to God". I attached a poppy next to his name and said the Ode of Remembrance for him and all the others. I hope this made him and my family proud.

I hope you all have a wonderful ANZAC Day back home in New Zealand - eat some cookies for me! Here are some photos from the day...

A mime in France

Just a quick update today to let you all know how things are going...

So just because communication in a foreign country wasn't already hard enough for me, I've gone and lost my voice! Good one Sophie, always up for a challenge. The past few days I've had a really bad cold (Thanks Agathe), but then yesterday I woke and went to say 'Bonjour' to my family and nothing came out - great.

Day 1 & 2 of 'Sophie the mute' have been difficult as we've had guests over and I had my French class this morning, which as you can imagine was an interesting experience. It's kind of funny though, because I remember so many times throughout my childhood that I wanted to lose my voice - I remember lying in bed the night before a speech competition wishing to wake up with no voice, but I never ever did. Until being here in France that is. And you probably all know how much I like to talk, so miming and writing down just isn't as fun.

On another note, here is a picture a little girl I was looking after drew for me - I particularly like the zigzag pathway. Another great French artist, this piece belongs in the Louvre for sure.

Salut salut :) talk soon xx

Le Château de Bouillon

So today I got to experience the two of the main things about Europe I was most excited about, 1- the culture, and 2- how you can just pop over to a whole different country for the day. 

Belgium is now the second country I've visited in Europe and what can I say, I loved it! So my amazing host family and I took a day trip across the border to go to a medieval castle, Le Château de Bouillon. It was very old and beautiful and gave me a glimpse into the rich history of this part of the world. 

Whilst we were there, we saw a show with massive birds of prey like falcons and owls which was amazing and slightly terrifying! After the show we looked around the castle and went up and down many stairs to various lookout towers, prisons, hideouts etc. It was very very cool. 

After all that we went for dessert at a local cafe where I tried actual Belgian waffles, which put up a pretty good fight against 'theobroma chocolate lounge' ones! 

Here are some photos from today! Sorry I don't know how to put them in a cool layout but yeah. 

À plus!! xxxx

1 week update!!

Salut mes amis!

So a whole week has passed since I got on the plane to come here! Time flies huh? So far I've just been settling into daily life here and meeting lots of people - I have to say I am impressed by how many french people know at least a little bit of conversational English, and how many want to learn more! This has been great for me because it's much less awkward when you're both trying to speak each other's language.

So what I have learned so far?? French people are weird!! I mean they're lovely and everything but man there are some interesting cultural differences. For example, last night we went and had dinner at a family friend's house and afterwards all the adults were sitting around drinking wine after wine, laughing and telling stories about getting old (or at least that's what I understood from it) so I went upstairs to see what the children were all doing, expecting them to be sat in front of the television watching cartoons or something. Instead this is what I found...

So you'll imagine my reaction as I walk into a dimly lit upstairs room and see a very intense poker game unfolding before my eyes. However the players were not your usual sweaty bald men - it was the French kids ranging from about 8 to 14 years old. Maybe it was a 'had to be there' moment but I found it hilarious. Anyways let's just say these seasoned professionals have quite the poker faces. Please let me know if this is a European thing or maybe it was just my family but I sure didn't know how to play poker at 8 years old!!

Having lots of fun and experiencing many new things, like French champagne ooh la la!
Miss and love you all at home <3

I'm in France!

Je suis ici! Here in France, my adventures begin...

1:50pm, Charles de Gaulle airport - I've made it! I have just travelled for around 30 hours to the other side of the world, by myself, to begin the adventure I've been planning for months. 

My lovely host family stands waiting for me at the arrivals gate and even though I was worried that I would not recognise them from our one Skype call a few weeks ago - here they are; big smiles, welcome sign and all. 

I am exhausted after having only a few hours of interrupted sleep on the flight from Dubai to Paris, but meeting my host family and getting outside into the fresh Parisian air gives me an energy boost I desperately needed. We then drive into Paris for the mandatory Eiffel tower photos before heading to Charleville, a town in the North East of France which I will call my home for the next 2 months.

My first night here and I slept for around 12 hours, woke up and felt like I could sleep double that again right away, is this what they call jet lag??? But at the moment I do feel good, of course I miss you all at home already but I know you're just a Facebook message or Skype call away, and hey it's just the other side of the world, no big deal.

But anyway here are just a couple of photos of my first few moments in the city of my dreams. I'll post again soon, à plus xxxx