Season's over. My manager gave me some vacation. So I took advantage to go back home and see family, friends and doctors!
I left on the 24th September in the afternoon and thanks to the very punctual railway system we have here in France, I arrived home at 1 am, that is to say almost 1 hour late. I was weird being back home, walking on the sidewalks I used to walk on when I was living there. I think I sort of realized when I was there, that I had left.
Before I left, my manager made me a job offer. It's not going to be really well paid but some things are sure if I accept:
- I will work with a great team
- I have an awsome manager
- I will learn a lot of new things and discover great new places in France (which will make me change my mind about my country)
- I will make lots of contacts everywhere
All this is way much important than just earning money. I can leave perfectly with the 860€ I earn at the moment so with 1200€ it should be way enough (maybe I'll be even able to save!!)
And on the other hand, one has to keep in mind that this is not going to be the job of my life. As a start of career it's great!
So I accepted! I'll end up my internship in November and will start straight away my contract. I haven't signed the papers yet but have no doubt it will come soon.
So here I am, starting a new life in South of France with a little studio all mine, new friends and a new job!! Only the boyfriend is missing (yes, I broke up with Franck) but I don't worry a bit about that! ;)
vendredi 3 octobre 2008
mardi 16 septembre 2008
Adventure you said? Sure!
Last saturday (13.09.08), I draggued Cécilia to a canyoning excursion organized by the hostel were I stayed when I arrived. Franck, my boyfriend, decided to join as well.
We woke up pretty early (6.30 am for me) to get prepared and arrived at the hostel on time. The guide arrived and we first figured out we were the only participants. The guide, Eric, was pretty scary: he was roughly dressed up with a jean and a common T-shirt, had not combed his hair and looked like he just woke up. Ok it was only 8.30 but that didn't give a good impression.
He announced us he had decided to change the destination of our trip. Instead of going to Barbera canyon, we were going to a "more adventurous" canyon always in the same area. Cécilia got a bit scared. She had never done canyoning and she was afraid she wouldn't manage to follow.
The 4 of us left in Eric's car to go Clue de la Maglia canyon. On the way, we stopped to meet the other 3 participants: 3 guys, beginners as well, but older and stronger than us.
Cécilia is pretty little and light, so to be sure she would bear the cold water, Eric gave her 3 combinations.
We walked down to the canyon through a path in the forest and started straight away the canyon by jumping directly in the cold water. I mean... the REALLY cold water!! It wasn't more than 7 or 8 degrees!!
The canyon went on well through water slides and jumps. The higher jump we made was 12m high!! I prayed each time before jumping as I was always pretty scared. But Cécilia and I had really a lot of fun! Franck, on his side, was like a kid: jumping in the water without calculating were he was about to land, sliding without any fear or regret, enjoying his time and the people he was with, wanting to go always further and first...
We finaly arrived in a cave. It was incredible! The landscape so far had been really nice and awsome as, in the canyon, you really felt like being part of the river going down the mountains. I was discovering the water cycle at each step. I was so little in this water path compared to those giant walls!
In this cave, things were even more emphasized. The water was flowing down the walls, there was a small waterfall straight upon my head and we had to go through it, stalactite were decorating the cave everywere... it was just awsome being there, feeling like nothing in the middle of the ice-cold water.
But I am not sure Cécilia really enjoyed this landscape. Short time before, we had to abseil a wall next to a waterfall. Everyone did good... except for Cécilia. She got stucked under the waterfall, the two ropes tangled around her leg, the head upside down... about to drown herself!!
She screamed and struggled... and when we finaly managed to take her out of this hell, her shoulder was really hurting.
We continued the canyon until the next exit (that means for at least another half an hour!) and then we asked Eric to bring Cécilia, Franck and me to the closest hospital (Menton's one).
A doctor saw her, she got some X rays and they determined she got a dislocation of her shoulder (no kidding!).
They anesthetized her and replaced her shoulder. She is now on sick leave for 1 month!
She finaly called her father and he came to pick us up and to bring us home.
When I arrived, after having been worried for the whole afternoon, tired and exhausted of this athletic day, it was already 11pm.
Regarding the guide, let me tell you he was not educationist AT ALL!! What happened is almost all his falt. He didn't look after us, didn't gave us the basis of security... was simply not the guy we needed.
Though Cécilia got this accident and, therefore, appreciated less the activity, we all had a lot of fun and will, FOR SURE, remember this day!
We woke up pretty early (6.30 am for me) to get prepared and arrived at the hostel on time. The guide arrived and we first figured out we were the only participants. The guide, Eric, was pretty scary: he was roughly dressed up with a jean and a common T-shirt, had not combed his hair and looked like he just woke up. Ok it was only 8.30 but that didn't give a good impression.
He announced us he had decided to change the destination of our trip. Instead of going to Barbera canyon, we were going to a "more adventurous" canyon always in the same area. Cécilia got a bit scared. She had never done canyoning and she was afraid she wouldn't manage to follow.
The 4 of us left in Eric's car to go Clue de la Maglia canyon. On the way, we stopped to meet the other 3 participants: 3 guys, beginners as well, but older and stronger than us.
Cécilia is pretty little and light, so to be sure she would bear the cold water, Eric gave her 3 combinations.
We walked down to the canyon through a path in the forest and started straight away the canyon by jumping directly in the cold water. I mean... the REALLY cold water!! It wasn't more than 7 or 8 degrees!!
The canyon went on well through water slides and jumps. The higher jump we made was 12m high!! I prayed each time before jumping as I was always pretty scared. But Cécilia and I had really a lot of fun! Franck, on his side, was like a kid: jumping in the water without calculating were he was about to land, sliding without any fear or regret, enjoying his time and the people he was with, wanting to go always further and first...
We finaly arrived in a cave. It was incredible! The landscape so far had been really nice and awsome as, in the canyon, you really felt like being part of the river going down the mountains. I was discovering the water cycle at each step. I was so little in this water path compared to those giant walls!
In this cave, things were even more emphasized. The water was flowing down the walls, there was a small waterfall straight upon my head and we had to go through it, stalactite were decorating the cave everywere... it was just awsome being there, feeling like nothing in the middle of the ice-cold water.
But I am not sure Cécilia really enjoyed this landscape. Short time before, we had to abseil a wall next to a waterfall. Everyone did good... except for Cécilia. She got stucked under the waterfall, the two ropes tangled around her leg, the head upside down... about to drown herself!!
She screamed and struggled... and when we finaly managed to take her out of this hell, her shoulder was really hurting.
We continued the canyon until the next exit (that means for at least another half an hour!) and then we asked Eric to bring Cécilia, Franck and me to the closest hospital (Menton's one).
A doctor saw her, she got some X rays and they determined she got a dislocation of her shoulder (no kidding!).
They anesthetized her and replaced her shoulder. She is now on sick leave for 1 month!
She finaly called her father and he came to pick us up and to bring us home.
When I arrived, after having been worried for the whole afternoon, tired and exhausted of this athletic day, it was already 11pm.
Regarding the guide, let me tell you he was not educationist AT ALL!! What happened is almost all his falt. He didn't look after us, didn't gave us the basis of security... was simply not the guy we needed.
Though Cécilia got this accident and, therefore, appreciated less the activity, we all had a lot of fun and will, FOR SURE, remember this day!
mardi 26 août 2008
Oh! I missed the plane!
Back with bad news. Well, bad is not exactly the right word but what is definetly true is "news"!
Last Saturday, I had clients leaving from their hotel to the airport to take a flight back to Romania. The bus supposed to take them had problems so I called the hotel and asked to call a taxi for them (which we would have payed back of course).
Unfortunately, these two (stupid) clients had left the reception and were waiting at the corner of the street. This means that when we called the receptionist of the hotel, as she didn't see any clients, she didn't call the taxi.
The flight was taking off at 5.45pm and everyone knows the check in closes minimum 20 min before.
At 4.50pm, seeing that the bus supposed to pick them up was not coming, the clients went back to the reception of the hotel asking to call a taxi because their bus was not coming. Of course the receptionist, understanding what was going on, hurried and the clients left. They obviously arrived too late for ckecking in and obviously they missed the plane.
To show you how dum these two are, instead of looking for the guide and the rest of the group at the airport or, AT LEAST, call the two other guides in charge, these two grabbed another taxi and went back to the hotel were they booked another room for the night.
And there the problems began!
- There are not so many flights for Bucarest
- My manager was on holiday
- We were a Saturday evening so no reservation department open in any hotel
- Who would pay for this extra room booked (and for the ones until they would leave)?
- Who would pay for the extra tickets to Romania?
- Whose fault was it?
All this had to be sort out really quickly, on a week-end, disturbing my manager on her cell phone with bad news (which obviously she didn't appreciated), loosing the less money as possible and facing the bad faith of the clients that kept on repeting they didn't have money to pay 1 extra night in the hotel (while they just payed 1 week there, come on!) and that the guide told them to go at the corner of the street (which she didn't do).
They blackmailed to call the Romanian TV to make scandal and didn't really helped us finding a solution.
Anyway, they left this morning with an early flight and now I am waiting for any feedback (scandal, trial or maybe reporters making a report on how bad services we provide - Maybe I will go online on Romanian TV!!?!! :D).
Last Saturday, I had clients leaving from their hotel to the airport to take a flight back to Romania. The bus supposed to take them had problems so I called the hotel and asked to call a taxi for them (which we would have payed back of course).
Unfortunately, these two (stupid) clients had left the reception and were waiting at the corner of the street. This means that when we called the receptionist of the hotel, as she didn't see any clients, she didn't call the taxi.
The flight was taking off at 5.45pm and everyone knows the check in closes minimum 20 min before.
At 4.50pm, seeing that the bus supposed to pick them up was not coming, the clients went back to the reception of the hotel asking to call a taxi because their bus was not coming. Of course the receptionist, understanding what was going on, hurried and the clients left. They obviously arrived too late for ckecking in and obviously they missed the plane.
To show you how dum these two are, instead of looking for the guide and the rest of the group at the airport or, AT LEAST, call the two other guides in charge, these two grabbed another taxi and went back to the hotel were they booked another room for the night.
And there the problems began!
- There are not so many flights for Bucarest
- My manager was on holiday
- We were a Saturday evening so no reservation department open in any hotel
- Who would pay for this extra room booked (and for the ones until they would leave)?
- Who would pay for the extra tickets to Romania?
- Whose fault was it?
All this had to be sort out really quickly, on a week-end, disturbing my manager on her cell phone with bad news (which obviously she didn't appreciated), loosing the less money as possible and facing the bad faith of the clients that kept on repeting they didn't have money to pay 1 extra night in the hotel (while they just payed 1 week there, come on!) and that the guide told them to go at the corner of the street (which she didn't do).
They blackmailed to call the Romanian TV to make scandal and didn't really helped us finding a solution.
Anyway, they left this morning with an early flight and now I am waiting for any feedback (scandal, trial or maybe reporters making a report on how bad services we provide - Maybe I will go online on Romanian TV!!?!! :D).
mardi 19 août 2008
Athletic resolutions
Walking on the Promenade des Anglais in the morning or in the evening, you can see lots of people jogging, cycling or roller blading. This gave me the impression of walking along Miami beach and, looking at those people, I felt like I was the only one not motivated enough to practice some sport.
One day, talking with Cécilia, we agreed on the fact that we both should exercise a bit and we decided that we'd go jogging after work a couple of times.
Between the day we took that decision and the one we actually did it, one month passed. Yes, the lack of motivation some days, the various activities we both had planned already and the late hours work prevent us from doing it.
But finally we put our jog suits on and went.
1st time: just a rapid walk all along the Promenade - 1h
2nd time: rapid walk for 10 min alternated with a 5 min run - 1h
And here we are now. We planned to do the same thing the 3rd time to get the habit and decided to do this jogging thing twice a week.
Good resolutions and healthy living, here we come!!!
One day, talking with Cécilia, we agreed on the fact that we both should exercise a bit and we decided that we'd go jogging after work a couple of times.
Between the day we took that decision and the one we actually did it, one month passed. Yes, the lack of motivation some days, the various activities we both had planned already and the late hours work prevent us from doing it.
But finally we put our jog suits on and went.
1st time: just a rapid walk all along the Promenade - 1h
2nd time: rapid walk for 10 min alternated with a 5 min run - 1h
And here we are now. We planned to do the same thing the 3rd time to get the habit and decided to do this jogging thing twice a week.
Good resolutions and healthy living, here we come!!!
jeudi 14 août 2008
Time flies away
Back here, under the sun.
I finally managed to bring some pictures to show a bit how my life is here. I can't show as many as I would like to but at least enough for you to have an idea.
On the left:
Here at Cannes' Film Festival on the 24th May.
I saw: Frédéric Mittérand, Dany Boon, Dany Brian, Brigitte Fossé...
On the right:
The main room of my studio. 20m², 3 windows and a comfortable sofa-bed!
On the left:
A good part of my work team. Cécilia, my lovely colleague and friend is the girl with the dark hair. :)
On the right:
Just before spending a great day in Eze Village. Mum and Greg.
On the left:
Mum and I enjoying the time of a picture just after visiting the oceanographic museum in Monaco.
I finally managed to bring some pictures to show a bit how my life is here. I can't show as many as I would like to but at least enough for you to have an idea.
On the left:Here at Cannes' Film Festival on the 24th May.
I saw: Frédéric Mittérand, Dany Boon, Dany Brian, Brigitte Fossé...
On the right:
The main room of my studio. 20m², 3 windows and a comfortable sofa-bed!
On the left:A good part of my work team. Cécilia, my lovely colleague and friend is the girl with the dark hair. :)
On the right:Just before spending a great day in Eze Village. Mum and Greg.
On the left:Mum and I enjoying the time of a picture just after visiting the oceanographic museum in Monaco.
jeudi 31 juillet 2008
Visits and visitors
Still in Nice and still enjoying my busy life under the sun.
Since I'm here, some friends already came to visit me. Some I expected, and some not! Fred, Aurore, Pascale, Daphné, Luca and now it's my mum and my little brother that are at home.
I did so many things with all of them that I'm even not sure to remember everything.
I visited Nice Castle, assisted to Cannes Movie Festival, went to Villefranche-sur-Mer and met Mousse Diouf (I'm not kidding!), went so many times to the restaurant, obvioulsy sunbathed on the beach, visited Sainte Marguerite Island which is part of the Lerins islands, sightsaw in Monaco...
But the most incredible thing I did, I thought I would never have the chance to do, was I went scuba diving. It was amazing!
I went with Cecilia, my friend/colleague, and Daphné. It was only the three of us on the boat (with the teachers of course) and we really took advantage of this. I went first and discovered a world I only saw on TV. I let myself guide by the teacher, keeping my eyes wide open to see the most of everything and it was unbelievable! I loved it. I'm actually thinking of going again and taking the first level course.
Anyway, my life here is fool of surprises and beauty.
I just wish to have a special thought for Thibaut, Romain's brother. He died on 14th of July at the age of 20. He was young and fool of life and success. All my thoughts go to Romain and his family with who I share the pain.
Since I'm here, some friends already came to visit me. Some I expected, and some not! Fred, Aurore, Pascale, Daphné, Luca and now it's my mum and my little brother that are at home.
I did so many things with all of them that I'm even not sure to remember everything.
I visited Nice Castle, assisted to Cannes Movie Festival, went to Villefranche-sur-Mer and met Mousse Diouf (I'm not kidding!), went so many times to the restaurant, obvioulsy sunbathed on the beach, visited Sainte Marguerite Island which is part of the Lerins islands, sightsaw in Monaco...
But the most incredible thing I did, I thought I would never have the chance to do, was I went scuba diving. It was amazing!
I went with Cecilia, my friend/colleague, and Daphné. It was only the three of us on the boat (with the teachers of course) and we really took advantage of this. I went first and discovered a world I only saw on TV. I let myself guide by the teacher, keeping my eyes wide open to see the most of everything and it was unbelievable! I loved it. I'm actually thinking of going again and taking the first level course.
Anyway, my life here is fool of surprises and beauty.
I just wish to have a special thought for Thibaut, Romain's brother. He died on 14th of July at the age of 20. He was young and fool of life and success. All my thoughts go to Romain and his family with who I share the pain.
mardi 10 juin 2008
From the Parisian style to the "Niçois" one
So many things happened since my last post!
First of all, I moved in my lovely apartment. I say “lovely” because it is really cute: 20m², 3 windows in the room, a big bathroom and a lot of cupboard just as I like it! I’m now settled (thanks to my colleague Cécilia who contributed a lot in upgrading my life standing) and it is really good having my own space after 3 weeks in a hostel.
Talking about the hostel, I had a “nice” present before leaving: I was beaten by bedbugs and on top of that I made an allergic reaction to their damn bites. So after a couple of days, I was covered from the head ‘till the toes with red spots. It was a nightmare: it woke me up in the night, I felt like scratching all the time and I looked like a sick to death person. On top of that I had my graduation ceremony 4 days after and I wanted to look good…
Fortunately, I took some medicines and now it’s gone.
I came back to
I spent the week-end with friends and on Monday evening I met all friends from school at the Théâtre des Amandiers in
I finished the evening with my FEGT’s friends in a restaurant close to my place and had fun again.
Then back to Nice the next morning: from the airport directly to the office.
The great advantage of my job is I attend to all cocktails organised by hotels: I spent the first one with a glass of champagne and a magnificent sea view at sunset on the terrasse of a castle where Bono (yes yes, I talking about U2’s singer!) use to come. I saw (from far) Elton John’s villa, went to see an extract of the cabaret’s show of the Casino Ruhl and tasted the delicious pastries made by LENÔTRE at the Hotel Accor’s reception. And I’m not talking about the little presents I receive all the time!
To put it all in a nutshell, my life on the
Inscription à :
Articles (Atom)
