Day 7
It has only been a week since we left New Zealand but, as Holly said before, NZ feels a long time ago. Our life is very different living in our apartment in this old village. Sancerre is built on a hill with amazing views over the local countryside. Everywhere the streets are skinny and cobbled, the roofs are tiled and things taste and smell different. Approximatly 1000 people live here but everyday the town fills with tourists, mainly from the barges travelling the Loire as well as us in the language school.
Today we have visited the épicerie (grocery store) fromagerie (cheese shop) and the boulangerie (bakers). Like the locals we visit the boulangerie each day for our loaf of bread for lunch and croissants/gateaux if we fancy a treat. Its a daily ritual that the locals enjoy and even at the supermarché I couldn't see the cut loaves of bread as you would find at home. We visited the fromagerie with our teacher today to buy the crottin (goats cheese) that is the local specialty. James and Emma couldn't bear the smell of the shop so they stood outside but Holly managed to put up with it and ordered from the shop keeper in french.
The locals are quite friendly and we can understand the simple conversations with the shopkeepers and restauranters. But just when you think you are making progress in the language someone breaks into fast, colloquial french and you feel like a total novice again!
The language school is great, there are 16 students all together and most seem to be taking private lessons or as a couple. We meet the others for coffee most mornings in the shared space and for the pronunciation class at 8.30am. The children thoroughly enjoyed the pronunciation class this morning as their accents are quite good and it amused them that there were adults in our class who struggled with the words that they found easy. We take our main lessons en famille with the four of us in together. It is interesting to see how much James and Holly know and it forces me to be certain of my pronunciation and grammar when I have to help them.
The weather has been wet since Monday and is set to continue until Friday. Not great weather for sightseeing but good for studying as there is little incentive to go outside other than our forays to the local shops for supplies. After the busyness of Paris the children are really enjoying some downtime inside and don't seem to be in a hurry to go sightseeing.
Lovely! I remember not been able to find cut loves in France and was really surprised at that too... But quickly adopted the local custom of walking to get baguettes each morning. It is customary to pull to top off, eat it and then switch the loaf around in the bag so that nobody knows!
ReplyDeleteFreya asks "Please could you tell me how old those building are"
ReplyDeleteFelix asks "were the oreos good?"
Sarah asks "did the oreos look funny?"
Lara asks "when are you going to see the Eiffel Tower?"
Liam asks "how was your plane trip? I hope you didn't eat too many lollies"
Ben asks "How many floors did the medieval tower have?"
Ariki says "I hope you are having a nice time Emma."
Emma C says "I hope you have a really good time"
Maddie asks "What have you been eating there?"
Alice says "I really miss you Emma"
Gus asks "Did you get to play any games on the plane?"
Molly "Did you watch any movies on the plane?"
Rhys says "I miss you Emma"
Lara, Alexi and Hannah says "I hope you're having a nice time"
So many questions to answer. I am happy you are reading our blog.
ReplyDeleteFreya - the buildings are really old. Some parts of the town are 1300 years old. But most of the buildings are just 300-400 years old!
Felix & Sarah - the oreos were delicious but they looked funny. They were square with a smiley face and twice as big as normal oreos.
Lara - we are saving the Eiffel Tower for next week when my Dad arrives from NZ.
Liam, Gus & Molly - the plane trips were good. We were on three different planes and there were lots of movies and games to play. We got chocolate on the Swiss Air planes but not any lollies.
Ben- There are three levels to the medieval tower and we sleep in an apartment at the top. The stairs are made of stone but they are worn and smooth in the middle because so many people have walked on them.
Emma,Ariki,Lara, Alexi and Hannah we are having a lovely time and doing lots of interesting things.
Alice & Rhys - I miss you too. Holly, James and I miss our friends from school.
Maddie- we have been eating croissants and pain au chocolate a lot. Mostly we eat food like in NZ. We did go to a market which sold rabbit meat and horse meat but we did not want to try any.