Bonne Année

And so, three weeks have somehow come and gone, and I'm here again, in the provencal sunshine, and it seems so strange that I was ever away. Yesterday I made the long train journey between London and Avignon, turning off my data roaming for another two months, emptying my purse of English change and refilling it with euros, and packing up my suitcase with Covent Garden soup, Waitrose sweet chilli hummus, blueberries and peanut butter, and all my other favourite things that France hasn't quite discovered yet. 

St Pancras, Sunday morning in the sunshine

When I left home in September Mum said to me, next time you go back it will be so much easier because you'll know what you're going to, and she was right that there's none of the trepidation I felt four months ago, just a little weariness at having to say goodbye all the time and be separated from the people I love. But I come armed with season 5,6,7,8 and 9 of One Tree Hill to cope with comatose Sundays, swimmers shampoo to cope with the hard water turning my hair to straw, and a cafetiere so I no longer have to make coffee with a sieve. I also come back with intentions and resolutions to make the most of this year- along with my grammar books to kick start some serious grammar revision. I still have a list of places to see- Annecy, Bordeaux, Paris, Barcelona, Morocco, Rome, Venice... and a pile of french books to read that unfortunately hasn't gone down since September. 

No wonder it was hard to leave this lot behind...