Week 41

I only have two and a half weeks left… which is why I’ve been super busy trying to fit everything in! So last Thursday I went for a hike with Megan and two other Au Pairs for the lessons we go to. The teacher Florence told us that it wouldn’t be much of a hike, just a walk – but it was definitely a hike!!

We met in Annecy beforehand then Florence drove us to Menthon and we hiked up to the Roc de Chère which overlooks Lake Annecy. The weather was good but not too hot thankfully, as it was a long hike. We stopped for a picnic at the top of the Roc de Chère with some beautiful views! Afterwards we walked back down and through Talloires. Florence said she wanted to show us a little chapel, and gave the impression that it wasn’t far away. It took us about an hour to climb a mountain (at least halfway) to get to the chapel! The views were lovely though – Lake Annecy is so gorgeous it’s hard to believe that it’s real.

Once we were at the top we realised that we were going to have to hurry back down if we wanted to be there to get the kids from school. It was definitely good exercise! I was knackered by the time I got the kids, but I found out that they were doing a late showing of The Incredibles (1) at an open air cinema in Annecy. So I decided to go to that with Becca, Sioned and a couple of visitors from Sioned’s friends and family. I found out that in French The Incredibles is called Les Indestructables which is not a literal translation at all! However in Quebec it’s called Les Incroyable – I don’t know why the French need to change the name.

The showing was in French and Sioned’s visitors don’t speak French so we didn’t last long watching the film, we ended up going back to their flat and watching Love Island (yep judge all you want). On Friday morning I managed to submit my essay and my video to Bristol uni, after a lot of stress with technology issues. In the afternoon I had a nap – what a great way to celebrate my essay submission…! In the evening I took Julian to horse-riding, then Anne came back and we went to Alice’s school to see the artwork she has done throughout the year. Anne and Alice then went to get Julian and I went back to the house. Jean-Michel was in Paris and Anne wanted to go to her music class, so I had to babysit the kids until she got back.

On Saturday morning I had a nice lay in, caught up on Love Island then I went into Annecy for the afternoon to lay by the lake with the others. In the evening I drove back to Cruseilles to do a free exercise class with Megan that was organised by the dance lady Elizabeth. I then showered and got all my stuff ready before driving back into Annecy for the night. We had a few drinks then went out – it was really good fun actually, we found a great bar by the lake with good music and good pizza! I slept on a blow up bed for the night – which was actually not too uncomfortable.

On Sunday morning we got up and went into Annecy for brunch. The best place for brunch had a 2 hour wait, so we quickly headed to a different place. It was really nice and quite modern, which doesn’t really fit into the Annecy vibe, but unfortunately the service wasn’t that great. I would go back, just perhaps with less people – I think 6 was a bit much for them. I then drove Sioned’s sister Anna to the airport, and headed back to Cruseilles. I had a quick nap (yes it’s a common thing now apparently) then got ready to go to the…. Opera!

Yes you read that correctly, I went to the Opera in Geneva with Megan because her host dad gave her two tickets! The price on the ticket was 159 CHF which is about 138 euros. I actually really enjoyed it – it was Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed it, it was funny, entertaining and the music was incredible. I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling rather cultured after going to the opera. Unfortunately it wasn’t in the Grand Théâtre de Genève because there are renovations going on, but it was still nice – the temporary wooden building is right next to the United Nations which was cool to see! 

There was a cash bar, so we had to withdraw some Swiss francs beforehand, but we could only get out a minimum of 50 CHF so in the interval we bought a glass of champagne each and a bagel. The champagne tasted so good – especially with the smoked salmon bagel too! We felt very fancy. We got back to Cruseilles very late and I went straight to bed. On Monday I took the kids to school, then I went into Annecy for my lesson. Afterwards I returned something to Zara in the shopping centre and decided to stay there for lunch. I found somewhere that does bagels… and bacon! It was yummy but very filling – I may have managed to eat a slice of cheesecake too though…

When back in Cruseilles I sunbathed in the garden for a while, then caught up with Love Island. I picked the kids up from school, then I played a board game with Julian for a while. I managed to get to bed pretty early for me, and slept very well. On Tuesday I took the kids to school, then drove to Megan’s house where we did a workout by the pool in the sun. We were so hot by the time we had finished that we dived straight into the pool – ignoring that we didn’t have our swim stuff on! It was heaven. In the afternoon I took Alice to therapy, then we went to the Cruseilles open air pool after picking up Julian from school. It was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be! The kids loved it, and Poppy met us there. She was so lovely and gave me a birthday present – I am so lucky!

I was knackered after that but I made dinner and got the kids showered eventually. I collapsed into bed! On Wednesday I was with Alice in the morning, then I went into Annecy in the afternoon to sunbathe by the lake. I wasn’t planning on swimming a lot but it was so hot that I did a lot of swimming. The lake is so warm now, it’s lovely. Becca and her boyfriend Ollie joined me a bit later, and Sioned went down after work. We were still swimming at 7pm! We made a yummy dinner and then watched Love Island, it was a really nice day.

Funniest Moments
~ The ‘walk’ which definitely turned into a hike.
~ Attempting to watch Les Indestructables with English people who have no idea what is going on!
~ On Saturday evening Sioned drank 4 Tequila shots in a row (Ollie influenced her) and somehow didn’t die? – don’t worry she drank water afterwards.
~ Playing the board game with Julian was fun.

Achievements
~ Completing the hike!
~  Submitting my essay and video to uni on time.
~ I’m finally starting to tan!