ahem...

Right... yep. It's been a while. I left France and went home to Australia for 5 weeks via England, then I came back to France this week via England again.

So, now I am in Dijon, the town of many mustards. I am staying in an adorable hotel for two nights, checking out the city, then getting picked up on Sunday and taken into the unknown to move into my new home and start my new job in Tournus, 45 minutes south of Dijon, next to the river and in the heart of Burgundy's wine country. I passed it on the train and it looks amazing... I hope it stays that way for the 8 months that I will be there!

So, a brief rundown on what I've been doing for the past 6 weeks...

I left Paris and went to stay in Roquefort-Les-Pins in the hills behind Antibes for 2 weeks to write and eat leeks. I must say that by the second day I was enjoying the writing much more than the eating of leeks. I went for lots of walks, read books, wrote a bit, thought lots of thoughts and pondered lots of ponderings.

Then I went to England to stay with Lotte & Stu and eat Walkers crisps and Marks & Spencers ploughman's sandwiches. I also caught up with Melinda who I hadn't seen for over 5 years (the last time we saw each other we were 18 and went on an adventure to Pooh Bridge).

Then I flew to Sydney to get a new visa (don't even get me started). It was so nice to see everyone again though, cups of tea with my mama, rum and cokes with my papa, affogatos with my little sister, walks with the dogs and many trips to the Lass O'Gowrie for scotch and dry with my wonderful mates. Then, being torn between wanting to stay safe with the things I know, and they wonderful adventure that I knew lay ahead of me, I got on a plane in Sydney and flew back to London. After over 32 hours of traveling and hardly any sleep, I arrived to the friendly sights of Tunbridge Wells once again. Another reunion - a trip to Langton Green to visit Mary who I hadn't seen for as long as I hadn't seen Melinda, her daughter.

It was a short but lovely stay, and the next day it was on to France. An easyJet flight took me down to Nice, followed by a bus trip to Roquefort-Les-Pins once more. I had two days of well-needed rest, packed up my belongings, and hauled them into a taxi to Antibes station. It was here that the great bag-hauling adventure began. From Antibes I caught the 5 hour train to Dijon, left my two enormous bags at the train station and set off to find my hotel. The next day I met the other people in the language assistants program and we all hung out in Dijon together until Monday when were were distributed to our various schools.

My school is quite nice. The staff are all really lovely except for one absolutely horrid woman who works in the office, but hopefully I won't have to see her too often. My students all seem fine, not too naughty! And my little flat is quite nice too. It is right beside the school - in fact tacked onto the side of it, but I've decorated it and it is fine to stay in during the week. I think I'll be visiting some other towns in the area on most weekends - right now I am in Chalon-sur-Saone with my English friend Emily. We have been cycling lots (I bought a bike!) and we went to watch the rugby yesterday - I thought Australia would enjoy a glorious victory and that I would bask in it all afternoon... but alas.

So I am off on the train in an hour, back to Tournus.

I like the second chapter of my little French life.