I talk too much my mouth hurts

For awhile now, I've been relocating to quite a number of cities. It'd been a constant cycle of :

• arrive at a new city, 
• find accommodation/open bank account/get a new sim card, 
• explore the city and new surroundings, 
• find new friends, close bank account/get apartment bond back, 
• say goodbye just made friends, leave... 

Over and over and over again.

In Bordeaux, I've been a lot happier than most other 'temporary' cities I have called homes in the past. It helped that I already knew I had a really good friend close by to help me out whenever I needed to.

Thanks to T, I'd been able to stay at his place for the first month while looking for an apartment. Very fortunate, since apartment hunting had taken longer than is usual for me. He didn't live in the city, but I spent many wonderful hours with his family on weekends when I was still alone and friendless in Bordeaux. Even after I had found groups of friends, he still picked me up to cook me dinner from time to time.

When I wasn't at T's house eating up a feast and drinking ti punches, or drinking wine with my friends after work, I was usually spending time with my housemate. My housemate and I got along so well. We would cook for each other, go grocery shopping, work around each other's schedules. The only thing I annoyed him about is that I wouldn't lock the front door, I think. I got in the habit of not doing it in Melbourne, so I had to undo that habit in Bordeaux. I make sure the door is locked every night, now.

Back in Auckland, I've thought about why I had loved Bordeaux so much, especially as the long distance relationship began to take its toll. How could I replicate it into my new life in Auckland?

The train approaches and I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry. Remember that first time I had to leave La Rochelle and France, ten years ago? I had cried my eyes out, then. Years of travels and constant hellos and goodbyes had made me stronger, I guess. Regardless, I will miss this city so much. You had been almost perfect,  Bordeaux, I really thought I could settle here for a while. Thank you for the souvenirs. A bientôt ♡

We are on our way down South from Paris to Bordeaux. In our train coach everyone is in a tired slumber while the rain beats past our fast moving carriage. Everyone except some young kids who won't go to sleep just behind my dad, who can't fall asleep with their chatter.

All I hear is people deep breathing and the big black lady next to me lightly snoring with her eyes half shut and dad sighing in exasperation from the lack and want of sleep, from time to time. Poor daddy, still jetlagged from the long flights from the other side of the world. Wait until you get your grandchildren visiting you for the holidays. Though that won't be for a great long while.

We pass greenness after greenness on grey canvas of wet drizzles. These lush plains are the French countryside I know and love. I have spent recent weeks travelling around Italy and the UK, and coming back, I realise just how much France feels home to me. The kids chatter are familiar, the train system is familiar, there is no time wasted trying to figure out each coloured coin's worth at counters.

I just showed my parents around my old street from four years ago. My old Metro stop has cleaned up. It has blue lights now. There are shops on 'my' street I don't remember. The scary church with the weird Michael Jackson memorial apparently is no longer a church. It has shut down, its cross taken down. Coming back to a place that once used to be home, and seeing it with a different eye, aged eye, experienced eye, is a weird experience. I think I crossed an old acquaintance at my old supermarket. Should I have said hi? Maybe she wouldn't have recognised me, any way.

Slumbering in and out of consciousness towards Bordeaux. In a few years' time, this little city I learnt to love will surely have changed, too. The next time I will have come back and see it in a different eye, at my old neighbourhood that is still as familiar as it is newly unfamiliar. Not just yet, though..

Finally got to spend the weekend in Arcachon, France, and got to see the tallest sand dune in France! Blue blue skies, blue blue waters, white white sands.. The wind was still a bit chilly, but good weather is definitely on its way!

L and I finally found a weekend where both of us were free, and headed to Nantes, France. It's a 3.5 hour ride from Bordeaux. L had always wanted to visit the city, so I said, why not.

My only condition was that we needed to walk heaps, since we would be missing out on our usual Saturday run session. Luckily, there was a well marked circuit we could follow to get a broad overview of the city. Literally. The circuit is marked as light green on the tourist map, and there is actually a green line on the roads that you can just follow. Super easy.
The weather was.. warm at first. At least it didn't rain. We were so happy to see new flowers blooming again. First definite signs of Spring!
My favourite part of the city of Nantes was the Public Gardens, just across the road from the train station. It's got birds, obese goats, art works, and colourful flowers. I am so glad it's getting warmer and sunnier finally in France. I've been in preparation mode for the Summer months, and I don't really want to leave France until it's time to get back home to my loved ones...

This month until Easter, I am giving up coffee. Gasp. It's a personal Lent thing, where I give up one thing as a small challenge. Think of it as a sort of a cleanse session.

Everyone who is from Bordeaux and knows Bordeaux really well will tell you that:

• Malabar has been open for ages
• Malabar has nice Indian food

Malabar
7 rue des Ayres
33000 Bordeaux
Ph. 05 56 52 18 19

So sweet. Been having quite a few brunch sessions with girlfriends lately, and it feels so good, like I'm really settling into this place.

Le Parlement by Alex is a tea salon, but the hot chocolate here is heaven.

Le Parlement by Alex
3 place du Parlement
33000 Bordeaux
Tel. 05 56 52 92 86

It's been six months since I've arrived in the South West of France, already, and there are still quite a few places I haven't yet been to, but need to.

• Arcachon
• Cap Ferret
• Dune du Pylat
• Lourdes
• Biarritz
• Blaye
• Cognac

For Europe's Best Destination 2015,  I'm voting for Bordeaux, my current hometown.

I've lived in several cities around the world - Paris, Auckland, Christchurch, Melbourne, Seoul - and visited many more, but Bordeaux I'm really loving right now. I really wouldn't mind staying put in this charming city for a few years, and that from me is a real big deal!

#EBD2015
Vote for the best European destination - Europe's Best Destinations

(Photo credit: European Best Destinations site)

You would think that being in France, I wouldn't have any cravings. But oh, dear, here are some food things I miss from NZ:

• Tacos from Mexico Britomart. They have the best tacos all around. 
• Kumaras - NZ sweet potatoes are so much sweeter, with many more varieties.
• Moustache cookies. Or Cookie Time cookies. You know, with those big chunky chocolate bits inside. Probably just as butter filled but not as thin and floppy as others seem to be. 
• Tim Tams. I know you can get them here. I've gotten them in Monoprix in Paris when I used to live there. But either it's only available in Paris or I am blind, because I can't see them at my local supermarkets in Bordeaux. Yes, Tim Tams are actually Aussie, but I still miss them.

Music has been a constant backdrop in my life. During my teen years in Christchurch, I used to listen to the radio constantly, a habit which my younger sister quickly picked up.

I got used to working with the music turned up loud in my laid back office back in Auckland. Once in Melbourne, I still had the music on to drown the silence as I worked alone in my home office.

Now in Bordeaux, I try to listen to French radio and TV shows to help me immerse in the culture and language.

Some of the music are not French at all, sadly, but here are my three radio stations:

• Virgin Radio New - There are several web radios available, but I like the New best. You have to change the setting by clicking on the icon next to the play/pause button.
• Radio Nova - I know a few French friends of mine listen to this radio station. 
• Fip Radio - Ditto. They play a lot more variety of music, from classical to classic to world to modern... 

In central Bordeaux, three kebab places in close proximity to each other fight for the title of the best kebab shop in town. The three places were recommended to me by current and past residents, only these three names were ever mentioned.

Half way into my third month (already!) in France, I'm having a heart attack (again) on what I have come here to do, and what I have achieved so far.

My French goals 2014-5:

• Improve my French language skills
• Improve my cooking skills
• Improve my fitness skills
• Continue blogging
• Keep in touch with family and boyfriend regularly

I went and got a bit sick the last few days of last week, so now I have a very husky, sexy voice to show off. Husky, sexy and sick with a sore throat, keeps making me think of that one Friends episode where Phoebe is trying to catch Monica's cuties so she can have a sexy voice, too. There is no such Phoebe around me, but hopefully I'm not spreading my germs to those nearby me, unintentionally, either. 

I'm cooped up inside this week because of the chilly wet weather outside. Last night I started craving for a hot gourmet burger, with meaty sauce oozing out of the local made-in-France beef pattie and some seriously good smelly cheese. I don't even know why I get occasional burger cravings, I know it's going to be messy with the inners falling out the other end; my mouth is never big enough. My housemate J says I'm like a pregnant woman all the time, jumping from one craving to another. But... it's so cold outside! While it may be one of the top burger places in Bordeaux (I had a specific place in mind, see), is it worth the long walk and back?

Burger, or... bubble bath?

It was the last night of having the apartment to myself - J was out of town for work. Shouldn't I make the most of the alone time, run a hot bath, enjoy some time away from the computer screen, maybe read a bit?

... I think that's a better plan.

But you know what? I just need to finish this one little thing on the laptop. Oh, but why isn't it working? Grrr... Then two-three hours pass, too late for a bathtime. Drats. No burgers and no baths.

Maybe tonight. J, do you feel like burgers? with beer?

Insects I hate include: