A Butterfly, A Bee and A Snail

It's Wednesday and things are going well this week, though it has not stopped raining since I last blogged. Everyone keeps exclaiming how unlucky I am- apparently this is an abnormal amount of rain for Provence. Yet, it's less than a normal summer in England, so I am not too bothered.

On Monday I forgot my umbrella and came back from school soaked to the skin, only to find a very welcome surprise in the postbox.

...this box of goodies from Daniel

This brightened up Monday immeasurably, and Tuesday wasn't too bad either. Becca and I went out in the morning for a coffee, and to use the wifi in the cafe at Bar L'Aptois, then I tried my hand at a recipe I'd found online and voila!- here is my lunch:

coriander roasted cod and red onion, fennel, rocket and celery salad

Then it was time for school, where we did animals, and the children engaged pretty well because they wanted to tell me what animals they have at home. I went round the class, repeating the question, 'Do you have any pets?' and ended up with a variety of responses, from 'Yes, I have a cat and a dog,' to, 'Yes I have a sheep and thirteen cats,' to one girl, who I think possibly misunderstood the question, 'Yes I have a butterfly, a snail and a bee.'

In my last class I nearly cracked up, because of one adorable boy, who always sits at the front, with thick framed spectacles, always concentrating hard, and calls me 'Maitresse Amy'. I asked him what animals he had at home. He cleared his throat, but someone at the back was talking and the teacher turned to reprimand them. I nodded at him to show I was paying attention to his response, but he held up a finger, rolled his eyes and said 'j'attends' (I'll wait). The answer he was waiting to give was, 'I don't have any pets'. He said it so earnestly and seriously it nearly broke my heart. 

After class I was waiting to do my private lessons outside the class of Madame Vernis, and as always the class always like to say 'bye bye' to me when they leave. One of the boys (who I have a soft spot for) came out of the class and when he saw his face broke into a wide grin, and he came and stood next to me, pointing at my phone in my hand and said 'c'est combien?' I was just trying to work out whether he meant 'how much was it?' which would be the literal translation but a slightly strange question to ask or 'which model of iPhone is it?', when one of the more disruptive boys swaggered out of the class, and cheerily informed this boy 'there's no point talking to her, she can't understand any french' (in french). This made me laugh, but before I could respond (in french) Madame Vernis came out of the class behind him. 'What did you say Imad?' He faltered. 'I was just saying, the english assistant cannot understand french'. Behind him, all the girls in the class rolled their eyes as if they couldn't quite comprehend anyone so stupid (that's their attitude with all the boys in that class and I have to say it's quite fitting). 'Oh but she can understand french,' Madame Vernis said, 'she can understand everything you're saying. So shut up.' He looked at me with horror, and as they filed out of the corridor the girls behind him were hissing, 'she can understand french, and she can speak french because she's spoken it to me...' The boy who had been standing with me smiled and waved, 'good bye Amy'. 

So today is Wednesday and it's Becca's birthday so we're going out for lunch to celebrate. Then on Friday, Alison and a couple of Becca's friends from Avignon are coming and we're going out for dinner in Apt, and then to Aix on Saturday to climb the legendary Mont Saint-Victoire, featured in many of Cezanne's paintings...