Encadrer

To frame.

I found this today, seems to be similar to the postcard I bought a while back!

« Il faut être toujours ivre pour ne pas sentir l'horrible fardeau du Temps qui brise vos épaules et vous penche vers la terre, il faut vous enivrer sans trêve. De vin, de poésie ou de vertu, à votre guise. Mais enivrez-vous! »
One should always be drunk as not to feel the horrible burden of Time, which breaks your shoulders and bows you to the ground, so you must get drunk without cease. Wine, poetry or virtue, as you wish. But treat yourself!
- BAUDELAIRE

In terms of school, things most definitely didn't work out as expected! After rising bright and early to get in for my first class, as I was about to leave I got a text from the teacher I was to work with saying that she wasn't going to be in school so there was no class. Cue rather grumpy Jen, who could have most definitely done with that extra hour of sleep! On my arrival to work with the sixième INTER my mood improved...we were making Christmas crackers, how awesome is that?! As we will be doing the same thing tomorrow with the normal sixième I got to work trying to find terrible jokes to put in said crackers (well, it is traditional!) and it most definitely brought back some great memories. For some reason I really hope that we'll have crackers at the table this year...I don't care how awful the jokes or the toys are, or having to wear the Christmas hat...I would just really like some. So my favourite joke had to be:-

Q: What is Father Christmas' favourite pizza?
A: Deep pan, crisp and even

I know, awful. But somehow really funny!

After this class, I was meant to have another hour but with the troisième INTER (and one later, but they had a test instead)...but somehow I got coerced into swapping that rather reasonable hour to tomorrow morning...cue an 8am start for me tomorrow. I don't understand why I can't say no sometimes!! So my tomorrow will consist of nine hours in school...yippee.

However, this all worked out for full awesomeness as instead of staying in school for a class I got to see Dana instead!! A bit of casual Christmas shopping ended in trying 50c macarons (quite a few of them actually) before deciding that my favourite flavour was caramel salé. Can't wait for Christmas. After having a rather long wander and chat we ended up in Le 101 for a coffee and a bout of photograph taking...the shop has an absolutely massive reindeer in the window which always makes me smile, so obviously I took a photograph of Dana instead. We then meandered down to Tour Solidor to meet up with Becky and Laura and a Christmas Leffe (tasted exactly the same as normal Leffe to me...my palate must not be that sophisticated!) before going to the crêperie with Claire, her boyfriend Michael and Shwetabh.
Note to self: mince, Roquefort, cheese and egg is awesome on a pancake!

Everyone then went home, but I'd promised Thomas that I would come and meet him at Sémaphore...and I am so glad I did! I was going to just stay for half an hour or so...obviously didn't. It was the Christmas party for Melting Pomme, the LGBT society in Caen, so being surrounded by ten or more absolutely lovely, gorgeous, French men who also happen to have no interest in me other than as a friend was amazing. My favourite quote of the night has to be Me: 'Thomas, comment-dit "token female"?' Thomas: 'Oh, like fag-hag?'...it'll do! I can only marvel however at how patient they all are with me when I'm attempting to get on with my slower French and slower understanding of what they're saying. I think I get the jokes about five minutes after everyone else! Such a lovely end to an evening, and I'm so happy that I went.

Early start tomorrow, the only thing I can say is not even a word, more a noise...urgh.