Catch Up

I am soooorrreee :( By which I mean sore, but with emphasis.

I burnt my back over the weekend on a trip to Nice (I am ultra careful and reapply my suncream every hour but this was a bit of my back I just couldn't reach :( ) I've put so much cream on but it's still sooooore. And I have toothache. Which is sooooore. Gosh I am such a baby.

The weekend trip to Nice, sunburn aside, was fab-u-lous, lovely to see my tante and oncle and cousins, and wonderful to say 'trois jours, trois villes, trois plages!' We spent the first day in Monaco and saw someone who was possibly famous, spent the second day in Cannes and saw people who were definitely famous (Kate Beckinsdale, Kirsten Dunst, among others) and then spent the last day in Nice, and imagined we were famous. Such a good weekend, it was up to 30 degrees and I really felt like I was on holiday, it was a real escape. Now that I'm back in Avignon I feel a bit trapped again.

Since my last post I've been home (and had to stay an extra week because of the volcano) S had her bday (lovely pizza meal and bbq) we had to say goodbye to a lot of our friends :( we were ill for a while (sadly garlic didn't suffice to stifle it a second time) and then C came to visit and we went to Orange, Nimes and spent some time in Marseille and in Avignon. It's so sad he's not coming back, there was so much more I wanted to show him. Starting to look forward to seeing him properly and not just for a fleeting visit though... a month to go.

Oh yes and I'm still happily vegan. In fact, out of the blue my flatmate Cl said that her friend is hosting a vegan dinner at our house tomorrow, and Cl is making a vegan chocolate cake... I am salivating already!!! I'm not sure there's much that anyone could do that could make me more excited, having vegan food cooked for me is definitely up there somewhere on my 'Ten Things that Make Me Sooooo Happy' list. Along with Chris, and my hippo teddy bear Francis. (He's actually called Kirsti but it's a bit embarassing having a teddy named after yourself so let's pretend he's called Francis. I'm secretly not sure that Francis is actually in the top ten but he's under my arm and can maybe see what I'm writing, so I'll say he is.)

Also last Tuesday we drank toooo much whisky with the obvious unpleasant consequences. But on the plus side we did it to a great 'indie nostalgia' playlist! I think I should just stop drinking. I always hear my idealist fifteen-year-old self saying 'I'm never ever going to drink, it's bad for you. Why would anybody poison themselves?' Of course my usual drinking habit of one glass of wine a fortnight at most is hardly going to kill me (or at least is unlikely to speed up the process of my death that much...) but things like whiskey night should never happen.

I think being in Avignon has really made me change as a person, but (I hope) in a good way. I think I'm more self aware now. Aware of what I want(ish), aware of what impact I have, aware of things I do which I don't like but which I can't seem to stop doing, like being antisocial when I'm tired, or saying one thing then changing my mind three minutes later. And I've learned that I'm rubbish at keeping up with a blog.

Here's hoping I remember to write again at some point before I leave for good.

Oh and I've learned that sometimes I need to force myself to be an optimist. So fingers crossed!