I can walk the walk ...not sure about the talking the talk bit though...

I’ve found paradise in my own back yard! (Well ok, I’ve found a very beautiful place not far away from where I live.) It’s called Presqu’ile de la Caravelle – a nature reserve on the peninsula which goes out into the Atlantic Ocean. I went up there last week to see the view from the lighthouse and it was stunning, awe inspiring, breathtaking, dizzying, and any other cliché from that family of clichés you can possibly think of. You can see the whole of the Atlantic coast, as well as MILES and MILES of ocean and sunshine. And, I’m sorry if this sounds a bit wanky, but I felt humbled. It was as if every negative feeling that I could possibly have suddenly became insignificant, and I felt very, very small, like a tiny speck in a vast expanse of jaw-dropping beauty.

I was so excited about my find that I decided to go back again the next day and hike all around the reserve. So, I packed myself some sandwiches, grabbed a big bottle of water and slapped on a load of sunscreen ready for my trek. And it was amazing ...if a little exhausting... It took about three hours. There was a lot of scrambling up rocks and climbing steep trails through the woods, and in the hot sun this took quite a lot of effort to achieve. But it was very much worth it. So much worth it in fact that I did it again on Wednesday, only this time I went round the other way. I think I’m hooked. I’m going to have to go back again at the weekend.

Last night was sociable night. I was invited to an evening of crêpes at Nelta and José’s house, which was very enjoyable. We played a game called Brainstorm (in French of course) and ate crêpes with all kinds of fillings, from smoked salmon and cream cheese, to roast vegetables and goat’s cheese, to strawberry jam. And I didn’t get home ‘til 2 am! I actually feel a little bit better about my French recently. I feel like I’m getting more fluent, although still making millions of mistakes. A woman last night told me I express myself well. I’m not sure if that was a polite way of saying, ‘ahhh, you’re doing your best *pat pat*’ but I decided to accept it as a compliment anyway.

School again tomorrow and I’m testing the CM2s at the moment. I did oral tests last week – some of which went amazingly well, and some of which were frankly quite painful – and this week I’m doing a little reading and writing test. Well, it’ll make a change to have them quietly working away on their own rather than me prancing around all over the place making funny faces and generally looking like a twat...