Pub Quiz in Mulligans

On Monday night we finally went to the quiz at the Irish bar in Le Mans with the Nixes. I say finally because we've been talking about going since September, but until now it hadn't actually happened!

It is an English quiz run by an ESL (English as a Second Language) school, and the questions are repeated afterwards in French. We called ourselves the Eggheads, but the irony was lost.

After each round the scores are updated and put up on the screens around the bar.




Our quiz sheet


The Guinness birds on the ceiling


Ignore my funny eyes - I've had 2 pints of cider at this point!


The scores

 More than 30 teams took part, and the bar was packed. And embarassingly.... we came last. We left in shame before the prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd were given out! No, we actually left early to run to Macdonalds, a rare treat these days but we really did come last!

We're setting off for home at about dinnertime tomorrow (I managed to blag my way out of my lesson 13.35-14.30!), and we'll arrive home tomorrow night, hopefully in time for a drink in le Cardwell!

Please God, make the weather behave itself until we get home!

Lightbulb moment number 2

Thursday night, we went into Le Mans for a Soiree Concert (i.e a band night). I got drunk off cider as it is pretty much the only alcoholic drink I will touch in most French bars. I took Jordan out for a cigarette, and these two French men who were walking past asked us if the music was any good. The second I replied, they asked if I was English (we must have an easily identifiable accent when talking French).

Cigarette finished, went back in. But that was it. We were stuck then. Even though poor Jordan didn't know what he was saying, one of them continued trying to chat us both up whenever he saw us. I felt like Dave was trying to pimp me out, because every time the man said something to me, Dave would his, "go on, talk to him, practise French"!

I didn't feel very fresh when I got up at 7 on Friday morning after 4 and a half hours of sleep. And Dave was taking the mick out of me because I was so drunk off a glass of Asti and 2 and a half pints. But, as I said in my defence, I can drink as much as Jack! :P And to be fair, the only thing I drink at home in France is Martini Extra Dry, and that's like water to me now.

On Thursday day we had recieved a Post Office card for the B's, the people we rent the house off, saying that there was a letter that needed collecting. We needed identification though.

We asked Julie, and she said could we try to collect it, and explain that we live there? So Friday afternoon, we traipsed off to the Post Office. I explained the situation, explained that I had a bank statement, so I could prove that we lived at that address.

But the French love causing hassle where paperwork is concerned! The B's need to ring up the Post Office and get the Post Office to extend the normal 14 days that they will keep the letter before it gets sent away. And in the meantime, we need to get Julie to post the slip back to England so that they can sign the back, saying that we are allowed to collect it, then send it back. Then we can collect it.

But the important thing was (coz I don't give a flying fig about the letter, it's probably just an important bill, that we'll have to pay towards!), that I understood all of this perfectly, and managed to come up with a suitable response each time. It's the first time I've done something like that in France that I haven't felt like a complete and utter idiot. So I feel quite proud of myself!

Other matters - Dave has not had a French lesson since the first once. Technically he owes me six hours of French learning now. But he's very difficult to drag off his football game. The only French he uses is when he goes to the boulangerie and says "un pain s'il vous plait" "merci, au revoir".

And do you like my new layout? I spent ages playing around with new ideas. I think I'll keep this one for a while.

Come on France, get some toilet seats

Sorry for the fact that I haven't posted since last week. I had a really lazy weekend, and I was meaning to post something when we got back from Rennes on Monday, but I had lessons to prepare, and I really need to go to sleep early these days. The same with Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night. Tonight, I'm finally free.

At the minute, Dave is watching Benidorm. We have just spoken to Jack, and we are sharing un bouteille de vin mousseau.

When I get back to my school, I'm going to ask one of the teachers if it's possible to change one of the lessons. At the minute, I have six for 55 minutes, and I'm supposed to practise talking with them, but it's so difficult to keep 5 interested whilst talking to someone. I think it would be easier, and better for them if I had them for 10 minutes each, because at the minute it's one girl who talks all the time (not her fault, I ask someone a question, and they give me two words as an answer, so she feels bad, and says a bit more) I think this way, they would have to talk a lot more. I'll see what she says.

This week was very uneventful. The only slightly exciting thing was, this morning the teacher of my 8.15 lesson was late, and only arrived at 9, so I had a full class of 24 on my own. I split them into four groups of six, and wrote "food and drink" on the board. I said, "In your teams, write down as many English food and drink words as you can. I gave them a point per correct answer, and wrote the scores on the board, then did the same with household items and animals. The teacher arrived, just as I was marking the last round. I put the scores on the board, and everyone cheered and groaned, and then I left and everyone shouted "bye Kim".

Rennes was lovely on Monday. It's the capital of Brittany, and during the summer it's a big touristy place, but now all the tourists have left, and the people who served us in the restaurant were confused as to why we were there! 200,000 people live there, and 60,000 are students, so when we weren't talking, we probably fit right in. There a loads of really old, pretty buildings.



Tomorrow we are going to a big second hand place. I can't wait! My Auntie Louise reckons you can get battered ping pong tables for 20 Euros, so I'm working on Dave to get one to go in the massive basement. It's in Le Mans, so we can have a look around the shops afterwards.

Sunday, we are going to a brocante (car boot sale). We're hoping to find a gas heater for cheap, (they're about 100 Euros new) so that we don't have to use our heating. We;ve got it on now though for the first time, and it's lovely!

Start work tomorrow...

My apron and my tablecloth arrived yesterday from Cath Kidston. I only ordered them on Sunday night, so I wasn't expecting them for another week! There was a bit of confusion, but the delivery person left it with number 1, but it took us ages to read his writing, and then we couldn't find number 1 (we only live at number 4!). The kitchen looks better with my tablecloth covering up the horrible table, and my apron hanging up, but those net curtains still need replacing.

Last night we went to Le Mans with the Nixes, to watch Lyon playing football in the Irish bar we went in last time. Then we wandered out, and found the tacky part of Le Mans, where the takeaways with their neon signs were. We also saw an automated pizza machine - but they were 9 Euros, so we didn't test it out.

Up ealy this morning, got what we needed off Julie, so the bank is sorted. I tried to sort out housing benefit, but I need a social security number first, so I'll have to leave it for a week until my health card gets here.

This afternoon, Jordan has done my nails as she's doing a course at home on acrylic nails. Now I'm sneezing my head off like mad because of the dust from the nails. But at least my nails look much better for tomorrow.

Tomrrow I'm starting work at 8.15 am (7.15 am UK time, send me positive thoughts if you're awake!). So I'm going to go to sleep at about 9 tonight, because I need to be as alert as possible tomorrow. I don't really have much to say, but I'll post back tomorrow with how work went on. Wish me luck!

I've found the shops!

Last night we watched Russell Brand's stand up on my laptop until quite late, so we had a lie-in this morning. When we woke up, it was a gorgeous sunny day - it was 25 degrees this afternoon. Then we set off to Le Mans.



It's about 30 minutes drive to the park and ride, and then you get on a tram which takes you into the city centre. You can also stay on the tram and it will take you to the train staion, where you can get a train direct to Paris which takes about 45 minutes : )

There is a Zara there, and a shop which looks like Miss Selfridge inside. And Dave looked longingly at the Lacoste shop! We looked around a lot of the shops, but we don't dare buy anything really until we've paid for the house and I've started work, because we don't know how much money we'll have left to live on.

Instead of shopping, we went in a café (well technically it was a tea place). Dave had a café au lait, and I had a jus d'orange! Dave was pleased when he was given sugar lumps for his coffee - they don't do granulated sugar in France. I'm quite pleased with the picture because he didn't know I was taking it!