I’m now on the train and we’re underway.
The customs man helping X ray my bags thought I was Spanish, not sure what that says.
The space of a few days has given me some perspective on my time in the south of France. I’m feeling better about my French language skills. OK I’m not a level B2 expert but I’ve learned alot over the last two weeks, and I’ve improved greatly compared to when I was here six years ago.
On the other hand, I can’t believe I described last weekend as the best of my life. Did I really say that? I blame the adrenaline from the near death experiences.
Strange things about France
There are dogs everywhere, although no “French” poodles to be seen. You see dogs in restaurants and public transport but they aren’t allowed in the sea anywhere in Summer. This makes no sense to me at all. Apparently if the police catch you, you have to pay a big fine.
Plastic bottle tops have to remain attached to the bottle by a little flap to reduce the amount of small plastic rubbish. This is a legal requirement which I expect might make its way down under sometime soon.
The timetable for the little local tourist train makes a note that it won’t go ahead in the event of mass protests (manifestations). It seems this is more common than bad weather as a reason for cancellations .
NZ isn’t as tiny as you think.
They have underground caves with amazing limestone structures like in NZ, but they don’t have glow worms. Trying to explain to a fellow student on the tour with me what glow worms were was a real test of my French.
My French friends gave me the leftovers of a little bottle of a local delicacy, it’s a licorice flavoured drink concentrate that you add to water to make it yummier. You only need to add a few drops, which is probably why this bottle has lasted so long. The date on the cap is 2016, I’m hoping that was the date of manufacture.
Public transport is free for all locals in Montpellier.
A last note is probably only of niche interest to those with an interest in anatomy. Anyone? The small structure of connecting arteries at the base of the brain which is known as the circle of Willis in English, is known as the polygone de Willis in French. And if you look at the diagram, that’s probably quite fair. Although you could argue “circle” conveys a bit more of the function as well as the structure. Well, I told you it was niche.
