Last day together

Quelle journée!

Alors j'ai décidé d'écrire ce dernier article en Français pour la simple et bonne raison que je veux que tout le monde comprenne cette jolie amitié qui est naît au pays des Anglais!

J'ai aperçu pour la première fois Camille, sur le parking du campus lors de la semaine d'intégration en septembre, mais surtout son papa, Patrick, sortant du coffre de la voiture un meuble en tissu avec tous les produits de beauté et les bijoux de Camille. On s'est regardé avec Daniel et Martin en se disant: "Et ben dis donc elle est bien organisée celle là" et puis on se retourne vers la Mini, prête à exploser: "Bon... ben il faut y aller!"
En deux temps trois mouvement du côté de Camille c'était fait! Après avoir quitter Daniel et Martin la solitude nous a envahi, seules face à nos peurs. Puis petit à petit nous nous sommes rassurées et rapprochées pour finalement être considérés comme un trio infernal avec notre P'ti Suisse, Giorgos! Nous sommes devenus IN-CE-PA-RA-BLES! Entre les cours de Zumba, nos virés à Londres, nos séances shopping et nos diverses escapades dans le pays Britannique, nous nous sommes promis de ne jamais nous oublier!

Avant notre grand retour en France, les parents de Camille ainsi que son oncle, Clément, sont venus la chercher et donc passer quelques jours dans la région.  J'ai donc rencontré Patrick et Marie-Claude, des personnes vraiment très gentilles et qui me font beaucoup penser à mes propres parents! Pour cette dernière journée ensemble, c'était joie, bonne humeur et nostalgie, au programme.
Le matin nous nous sommes baladés dans Canterbury car Clément ne connaissait pas et puis l'après midi, nous avons fait une balade à Whistable, en longeant la mer du Nord ou la Manche (tel était le débat ^^). Nous nous sommes assis au soleil, et Marie-Claude a sorti de son sac magique... un tourteau fromager, spécialité régionale des Deux Sèvres dans le Poitou Charente. Ils m'ont aussi offert des Mogettes au chocolat, que j'ai commencé à déguster et qui sont très bonnes hihi.

 

   

C'est une très jolie balade à faire, on a eu de la chance car il a fait un soleil magnifique! 

Voilà donc Camille, son papa Patrick, Clément, et Marie-Claude, la maman. What a wonderful Family!  J'espère vous revoir dans le Poitou ou vers chez moiii! 

En tout cas ça a été une année riche en émotions, qui nous a permis de s'ouvrir à plus de monde, à avoir confiance en soi et en son anglais, n'est-ce pas Camille? Il ne faut pas douter de tes progrès car même si selon toi ils sont minimes, je me souviens très bien de tes débuts... déjà tu oses parler un peu plus en anglais (épisode Londres avec Martin, tu as parlé beaucoup plus que ce que tu ne le penses) et puis, les examens ont été une bonne preuve de ta capacité à produire de l'anglais sans retraduire ton français. Sache que je suis très fière de toi, et les gens qui pensent que tu vas être bilingue lorsque tu as passé un an à l'étranger, vivent juste sur une autre planète hihi, car qu'on le dise une bonne fois pour toute ce n'est pas possible! on peut progresser mais pas être bilingue. Understand? 

 

Le soir nous avons eu une longue discussion sur la langue française et les fautes des français (que+subjonctif, les "qu'ils voyent" ou bien encore les "au coiffeur") du coup à table, on a fait attention à ce qu'on disait. Puis est venu le sujet du dialecte et des expressions nord/sud. C'est quand même dingue que d'une région à l'autre on ne comprenne pas les expressionsn telles que.... (Camille fait une liste avec la traduction stp dans les commentaires hihi) En tout cas on a passé une très bonne soirée se remémorant les fou-rires d'Ecosse et nos soirées gossip etc.

Bilan: L'année est passée beaucoup trop vite.

N'arrivant pas bien à réaliser qu'on ne se verrait plus le lundi d'après, avec Camille nous nous sommes dit au-revoir mais pas adieu, se serrant très fort dans les bras l'une de l'autre.
Voilà une année colorée qui s’achève mais une amitié qui va continuer à grandir. J'espère que notre trio se retrouvera cet été et qu'à Noël on ira skier en Suisse quelques jours, it could be fun!

Je veux juste vous dire un GRAND MERCI à tous pour cette magnifique journée!


Restez connecté, car le prochain épisode sera NEW YORK!

Love <3

Scotland: Part III... Glasgow

Last day in Scotland, we went to Glasgow by train.
8.00am: Wake up! we packed ou stuffs and we left the Hostel to go to the train station.
We slept in the train because some awful snores woke us up during the previous night... and she can't stop! ARGH!

 D'où les yeux fatigués, mais toujours avec la bonne humeur!

Anyway, we arrived in Glasgow around 10am and we decided to visit the town center first, and to find something to do. (We knew that there was not a lot of interesting things to see so we were guided by our instinct.)

 Our first stop was the Modern Gallery 'Goma' and Karla Black was the main artist exposed in the museum. As you can see on the right picture, she work with plastic and the base of her art is made with different kind of sawdust.... Don't try to understand it's modern art.... but it was funny.
In the front of the museum, it is possible to see the Duke of Wellington statue and his horse with a... coned on its head... so Scottish people have a great sense of humor...

On the left hand side, it is Alasdair's Lanark (1981) is the monster of urban life to which Cromwell is the monster of power and government. When I saw Alasdair's drawing, I made the parallel with the Leviathan. When one of the guide of the gallery saw how interesting I was in this drawing, he explained and shared with me what he knew about Alasdair's Lanark, he showed me different messages that the artist tried to express his point of view concerning war, americans, work and justice... When I said to the guide that this drawing reminds me the Leviathan he said "oh!!! you know the Leviathan?!" and he asked me why and how, so we discussed a few minutes on the question, it was really funny.

Time for lunch! What is this strange pate or... thing?

 

It is called the Haggis a typical Scottish meal which is in fact sheep's offal, suet, oatmeal and seasonings, usually boiled in the animal's intestine, with mashed potatoes in the middle and turnips on the top. Unfotunately, I don't like neither offals nor turnips but I wanted to taste it and............................................... It was sooooooo GOOD!!! Love It! so if you want an advice, don't be afraid by English food and try everything you can, you could be surprised!

  Olympic Games in Glasgow with a beautiful Muse! 

Then we strolled in town, before going to the Cathedral.

    

 

 It is a cathedral dating before the Scottish Reformation, St Mungo is burried in this Cathedral who was the St Patron of Glasgow. There is a legend linked to St Mungo which is told by this street-lamp assembling different emblems of the legend which is the bird, the bell, the fish and the ring.

  

"The Fish is a salmon, which is always shown with a ring in it's mouth. The ring was a present from Hydderch Hael, King of Cadzow, to his wife, Queen Languoreth.

The Queen had given the ring to her lover, who was one of her Knights. The King being suspicious, took it from him one night while he slept during a hunting party and threw it into the River Clyde. When they all returned home, the King demanded the ring from Queen Languoreth and threatened her with death if she did not produce it. The Queen asked the Knight to return it but he, of course, could not. She then confessed to St Mungo what she had done. He sent one of his monks to fish in the river, instructing him to bring back the first fish that he caught. When the monk returned with the fish, St Mungo cut it open and found the ring."

In the gardens of the Cathedral...

 

   

 This is our last picture of this wonderful trip in Scotland! 

Just before spending the night in the coach and be back in Canterbury!

 

 [...]

THE END

 See you later,

Love <3

Scotland: Part II... Trip to Loch Ness

This is our trip! ooooh yeah.

You can see all the lochs that we met on our way.

[ Do you remember of this group of chinese when we visit the Castle? Guess what... They were in the same coach than ours! They were just sat next to us... alalala hihi ] 

Our driver was Chris, a very nice guy, during the trip he told us the history of Scottish and Scotland from the Christianization til the 18th century. He illustrated his speech with some personnal anecdotes and some Scottish musics. We were sat at the front of the bus the best seats that we can have during a trip haha, and sometimes Chris laughed at us because some of us were sleeping "Hey! wake up France!" or sometimes he immitated a big snore to awake the whole coach!

Our first stop was Callander, where we met these wonderful Highland Cows, and I also bought an umbrella because "It's raining todaaaaay... Where is my umbrellaaaa?" I forgot mine and it was raining cats and dogs! So Mum & Dad, I will bring back a very nice Scottish umbrella with green and blue checks.

 

So now, I don't know what to say about these landscapes: just watch my pictures and I hope that you will enjoy them and maybe one day you will go and visit Scotland to take your own pictures.

Glencloe:

 I felt so small in front of these big hills!

You can't see these kind of landscapes in France. 

Loch Ness: Unfortunately, we didn't see Nessie, but we really enjoyed the exceptional brightness and colours which change every minutes giving to the Loch Ness (and also the other landscapes) a new appearance. Emotions, emotions and emotions... What do you think?

   

 The final pictures in front of the Loch Ness, together, smiling and happy!

A moment that I will never forget.

Pitlochry: This was our last stop just 30min, a little Victorian town, very charming. A few minutes to have a last tea and we went back to Edinburgh. 

On the road back to Edinburgh, we saw this fabulous Bridge, called Forth Bridge which connects Edinburgh to Fife at North Queensferry.

 I LOVE this Bridge! 

Picture takes from the coach.

We arrived in Edinburgh around 8pm... EXHAUSTED! so we went back to the Hostel to have a rest and to take a shower before eating and to go to bed very early. Friday morning: grasse mat' (9am ^^).

It was another fabulous day, and I will definitely come back in Scotland 

only to stop when and where I want to take pictures (a little bit difficult when

you participate to an organized trip)

Next and last episode: Glasgow!

 See you soon, 

Love <3

Scotland: Part I... Edinburgh

[ 29th May - 2nd June ]

We left London on Tuesday at 10.30pm, we spent the night in the coache and we arrived in Edinburgh around 7.30am. We went to McDonalds, the only place opened in town early in the morning, which permitted to us to organised our day: we decided to go to our hostel, let our stuffs before walking in the streets of Edinburgh.

On Wednesday morning we went to St Gile's Cathedral:

  

 

Inside, an angel placed at the entrance of the Cathedral welcomes the visitors and moralizing people holding a holy water fount out to them. The stained glass tell us the story of Christianization with heavy colours which brings a lot of brightness in Cathedral's heart, they were installed at the end of the 19th century . St Giles Cathedral was built to edify the memory of St Giles a monk from the south of France, as the patron saint of Edinburgh in the Middle Ages. The Cathedral was built in Edinburgh's Old town.

We continued our visit with the University of Edinburgh, but also the Writer's Museum where we can read on the floor some quotations such as Robert Louis Stevenson "There are no stars so lovely as Edinbugh street-lamps" or also something like "Knowledge is high in the head...but the salmon of wisdom swims deep" and then in the afternoon we went to the Castle!

On our way to the Castle, we saw very weird mirrors and the result is this one...: "Have Fun!"

 

 [...No Comment...]

Here we are: Edinburgh Castle!!!

As we can see on this picture, the castle dominates the whole town, and it was difficult to attack it because it is placed at the top of the volcanic Castle Rock.

This is one of the panorama view that we can have from the Castle: at the back, it is Calton Hill that we climbed the 2nd day in Edinburgh, (I will come back later in the article) at the front? This is Camille... No you can't see her there, because she is came back with me! No, sorry... She is not a statue, she is my friend!!! <3
Inside, it is possible to visit different places such as St Margaret's chapel, the Mons Meg (the most powerful cannon of the castle), the Great Hall, the prison...

   

1. The Mons Meg                      2. Scotland Memorial                       3. Argyle Battery

[ Oh I didn't tell you the anecdote... A group of young chinese people were taking pictures monopolizing the place and the view... As nice as we are, Camille & I began to moan about their attitudes and their poses on the pictures and in particular, a girl who let her handbag anywhere and her plan of Castle blowing away... They spent more than 10min at the same place without apologizing themselves to be so imposing! Anyway, they finally left and we can take some nice pictures... ] ...coming soon: NEXT EPISODE!

 Our 2nd day in Edinburgh (Friday): North Sea, Calton Hill, Arthur's Seat

When we arrived in Edinburgh the first day, we were surprised to see the sea far away from the town. So we took up the challenge to join the North sea by feet. We had no idea how it was far from the center. After a long walk to the north, crossing the streets, tunnels, arriving to an intersection and questioning on which footpaths we should take (Left or Right...) We decided to follow the left one... And....

L'eau m'a appelé pour la toucher,

 Une petite voix me disait "Attention tu vas te mouiller"

Mais enfant je suis restée, et je ne t'ai pas écouté.

Moralité

Je me suis donc fait arroser!!!

After this breath of fresh air, we had lunch to get our strength back to brave the Calton Hill and Arthur's Seat.

Calton Hill is a hill (yes, I'm serious!) where people were executed in the early history. We can see some Neo-classical monuments such as the National monument, the Nelson's monument, City observatory ...

 

 At the back of these pictures, it is Arthur's Seat... 

We went at the top of the hill!

What a walk!

 

 We are the Queens of Edinburgh!

  

It is the main peak of the group of hills Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design" in Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes (1879). Arthur's Seat is often mentioned as one of the possible locations for Camelot, the legendary castle and court of the Romano-British warrior-chief, King Arthur.

   

We got a tan with this fabulous sunshine in Edinburgh! It was a hard ascension (not really good shoes and tired) but we did it!!! However, we had to climb back down... At the bottom of the hill, our legs were shaking haha, but now we had to go back to the center of Edinburgh so, a long walk was waiting for us before arriving at the hostel!

What wonderful landscapes we saw at the top of these hills!

 

On the evening, we went to eat in a pub in which they asked us our ID (we seem to be younger than 20-21y.o) it was a very good night, where a band group were playing to music and we laughed a lot... Fits of laughter... The last one was the worst and just before entering in the hostel:
We didn't drink anything at the pub (just a half pint for me and water). Camille stumbled on the steps and we laughed because she said to me "Don't laugh at me, because if it was you I wish that you loss you teeth..." and I said a wonderful onomatopoeia mimicing someone who loss her teeth "Fafafafafa...FAfaffa" and then, FIT OF LAUGHER which continue when Camille flopped down the door of Hostel which accentuated our laughs, and then, the expression on the other young people's face and receptionist's seemed to be "Waouh! They are drunk..." The receptionist seemed to say to the others, "Don't worry it's sometimes happening in the hostel".... BUT! We were NOT drunk! Just happy to be in Scotland, tired, and we are girls hihi!!!

 Good to know if you decided to go to Scotland:

Lexical Point                                   Food & Drinks
aye: yes                                           Arbroath smokie: small haddock that has been salted, then smoked
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh                    breid: bread
dreich: wet (weather)                       dram: a drink of whisky
bairn: child                                       Irn-Bru: popular soft drink
lassie: a young woman                      tattie: potato
messages: shopping

Don't forget the Scottish accent... but I let you to discover it!



See you later,

Love <3

N.B: Merci à Camille qui a pris certaines photos car je n'avais plus de batteries dans mon appareil photo et devinez quoi?! Je n'avais évidemment pas pris le chargeur! Cheers!