Je vous souhaite une bonne année 2012

You know that feeling when you return from somewhere and it feels like you've never been away? That's happened to me twice in a month.
The first being - returning back to England before Christmas for a couple of weeks, and the second being a mere 3 days ago, returning back to France after said 'séjour' to England.
(I have also had the complete opposite of this feeling when thinking about blogging. It feels like I haven't been here in ages - oh wait I haven't.)
Going back to England was great, and in some respects it felt like I was never away, (even though i'd been away for about 3 months) however in others it was really weird. Hearing English being spoken everywhere was especially strange, and I of course, took full advantage of Topshop. Having Topshop would make France amazing. Oh and Marks and Spencer Food Hall. And Nandos. And Primark...this could go on a while. Needless to say I definitely enjoyed my home comforts, just a shame that most of them seem to include shopping or food...weird.
When I got home, I was surprised to find that i'd kind of forgotten about Christmas. I know that I was going home for that precise reason, but I was counting down to when I was going home, not for actual Christmas day. So after this revelation I had to dash over to Bournemouth to do all Christmas shopping in a day. Was successful and a much easier way to shop for Christmas so therefore I recommend forgetting about it until a week before.
And then the flight back to France came, and I found myself with considerably more luggage than I had when I left. Hmmm, not sure how that happened. After the comfort and amazing-ness of Terminal 5 at Heathrow, a few short hours later I found myself dragging two suitcases and a handbag through the arrivals gate of Nice Cote d'Azur airport, onto a bus and through the drizzling streets of Antibes. Looked more mental and deranged than most tramps by the time I got to my front gate but none the less I was home. Pretty much everything is the same here since I left, as they still (as i'm writing this on the 5th January) have Christmas lights and decorations up. Why?!
One thing that has changed is that everyone goes out of their way to wish you 'Bonne Année' - normal at the beginning of January, I hear you cry. True. What is not normal are the massive signs throughout the town saying that the mayor of Antibes et Juan Les Pins (insert appropriate French town) wishes you a good 2012. I've been told that people will still say 'Bonne Année' to you in February or later, if they haven't seen you yet this year. I'm hoping this happens and will be sure to report if I get any later than the end of the week.

Not sure who Michel Platini is, or why he and the Renault 12 wishes you a good 2012. 

November - the month of the visitors

This month has been a month of visitors.
Number one was my mum, who came at the end of October (woooah I haven't blogged in a long time, and yes I realise she wasn't here in November thus making the title of this post pointless but I don't care. Sssh.) She bought with her some awful weather but also some treats like magazines and sugar-free jelly. For people that you know me, you'll know that these two things are vital in my life. She visited during the first week of Toussaint, which is like half-term. After working for a grand total of three weeks I got to take a week and a half long holiday. Twas wonderful.  I took her to visit Nice, a city which I have mixed feelings about. Feelings that I may explore through the medium of blogs another time... But as well as Nice we wandered around Antibes, even though she has been here before so I felt I wasn't really imparting my new-found wisdom. But was lovely to see her. (If I hadn't of said that I will get a very annoyed text in about 2 minutes time...)
Mum's visit also taught me about something VERY important. The scandal of the bus to the airport. "Lignes d'Azur" obvs think that all tourists are stupid and make them believe the only bus to the airport is one that costs €8 each way (ALL journeys around here cost €1) so I decided to research and found another bus which uses the exact same stop for €1. I feel I've beaten the system. HURRAH!
This was a discovery necessary for the arrival of Emily Copley. (Visitor number two) Em was here for almost a week and so felt like I had a room mate for a while. A room mate who tidies up after me, it's wonderful! I took her to Cannes (I much prefer Cannes to Nice on the scale i'm apparently making) and we went just before the G20 summit which was held there so the police presence was ridiculous! I also managed to take one of my favorite ever photos, one which i've been wanting to take for a while if you look here. 

We've also found that if you play this song at the same time as looking at the photo it's a sure way to cheer anyone up. Especially me, I start crying every time. Emily's visit also included a Halloween party (dressed as a Red Indian Chief and a belly dancer of course) me falling over and me going off to work in the mornings leaving Emily in bed like a housewife.
Getting her back to the airport on the Saturday was the MOST STRESSFUL MORNING EVER. The weather had been so terrible here that there were awful floods and floods mean closed roads and lots of traffic. It also meant a lot of running in between terminals and we finally arrived at the right place 7 minutes before her gate closed, barely time for a goodbye! Horrible horrible. This gives you an idea of what it was like!
And finally we get to surprise guest number three! Samantha "Wendy" Wynn. An impromptu visit, which experimented with the french covoiturage (car-sharing) scheme. Sam was neither murdered nor kidnapped during the journey from Lyon to Antibes therefore it was found to be a successful and viable travel option. I took her to Cannes once again and got another amazing photograph. If you enjoyed Emily in Pirates of the Caribbean, please welcome Sam in Star Wars!

Music provided here. Enjoy :) Other things that we got up to included drinking cocktails in Monaco and taking part in an accidental club lock-in.
Overall I've had a very exciting and populated month here in Antibes, and am now slightly sad to think that I have no more visitors coming! However, now on the countdown to Christmas and i'll be seeing you in 4 1/2 weeks England!!! Don't worry, i'm perfectly happy here, i'm just excited to be going home for a fortnight!

p.s. Sorry if you don't find the photo/theme song mixes funny. I think they're hilarious. xxx