Le Chat Noir et Une Vieille Fille

Recently I spent the most exciting week of my year abroad yet.  I had been looking forward to it for some time as having sunk into a depression caused by Wales' crushing defeat by South Africa I had become slightly more introverted.  There are just so many what ifs.  What if we hadn't lost three players to injury in the first half hour?  What if the Welsh players hadn't been so dazzled by Leigh Halfpenny's blazing hotness that they forgot to actually score tries?  We will never know.  This despondency is not helped by the fact that it is now less than 20 degrees Celsius here.  It's actually quite cold.  They promised me heat.  Not impressed.

Anyway back to the fun week.  Super-godmother Jane has been on holiday with her mother so when husband Tim had to work in England for a week there was an issue: who was going to look after their cats?  My well-honed cat-sitting skills were required and I did not fail them.  Pallino and Mimi have probably never been so cuddled (unwillingly might I add) in their lives.

But seriously, how are you not supposed to cuddle those two gorgeous beings?  I think this photo conveys what Mimi thought of how excited I was:

Anyway I had a lovely time enjoying cat cuddles, a comfy bed, a warm apartment and a proper functioning kitchen.  And the odd glass of vino.  I mean it rarely gets better than a glass of wine with a cat on your lap.

As you can tell, I probably enjoyed my feline themed week slightly more than is socially acceptable, meaning that my friends have realised that I'm a crazy cat lady who probably needs an intervention.  I suppose it was only a matter of time before they found out - everyone at home has known this for a long time but I was hoping to keep it hidden out here for a while longer.  You know, new country new me kind of thing.  So to save myself from further becoming a massive granny I took to taking pictures of sunsets:

#nofilter
And taking day trips to picturesque Provençal villages such as Vauvenargues:

It seems there is no hope for me.  Faced with my increasingly inevitable spinsterhood I decided to take drastic action.  Or rather my mother took drastic action.  WE HAVE A PUPPY.  I have gone from not wanting to go home at all to wishing I was there.  Spinsterhood is confirmed and I don't even care because I'll have a little cocker spaniel to keep me company.  Along with my cats.  Fab.

Given our new arrival the traditional family arguments about what to call him have started in full swing.  To honour the fact that our beautiful English Setter is called Arwen, I want to call him something Lord of the Rings related, like Frodo, Sam or Bilbo Baggins.  These have all been rejected in favour of................Baxter.  Arwen and Baxter.  Interesting.  However, the potential for Anchorman related jokes is now unlimited and therefore I begrudgingly approve.  Take a look at this cutie:

  And I meant the dog, not little bro.  Jeez.

Back to French related things.  I had my first visitor!  Charlie decided he was crazy enough to try my wine-filled lifestyle and visited for a weekend.  Hopefully I didn't put him off the French forever.  I have also landed my first private tuition job which means that someone actually thinks I'm vaguely competent.  Shocking, I know.  However, spending a whole hour with one little girl uses up most of my teaching ideas within the first 15 minutes, so any ideas to keep her occupied would be much appreciated.  Also, several of my classes seem to actually like me.  When I went to collect my sixième from the playground this week they all started waving and screaming "Katie, Katie!"  Ego = boosted.  Now to convince my beautiful 21yr olds that I'm just as cool as them.  I think telling them about the cats should do it.

Today being the 1st December I have finally relented and let myself listen to Christmas music.  Heaven.  The lights in Aix went up a couple of weeks ago so it has been hard not to turn into a delirious child.  I mean come on, how gorgeous do these look?

   Michael Bublé eat your heart out.  Now all I need is to find some mince pies in this strange country...