VOYAGEUSE

Hello Bromeos, Romeos, and Juliettes,

Thanks again for reading!  I'm writing to you from Brussels - on vacation again and won't be back to Toulon and blogging til March 12 or so.

All my love,
Samantha

Check out my photos!

Hey all!

Just wanted to let you know, I've been tweaking my blog a bit and there's now a section exclusively for photos!!  You can find it by clicking the "Photobook" button at the top of the page, or by following this link: http://samanthatakesfrance.blogspot.com/p/photobooks.html.  Feel free to peruse at your leisure, to leave me comments, etc.

xoxo
Sam

Bandol

Hello family, lovers, and friends,

Thanks again for checking out my blog, and feel free to share my blog with anyone you know and love!  :)

Last weekend I took a day-trip to the nearby town of Bandol.  It's 15 minutes away and a 5-Euro roundtrip ticket, not too shabby!  Bandol is known for a few things: being home to Johnny Wilkinson, a very attractive and very talented rugby player (who plays for RCT, the Toulon team!), as well as its many wineries.  Although we couldn't afford the steep prices of winery-tours and tastings, we did find a cave that offered us some free tastings... After taking advantage of that, we spent our day wandering around the city and shoreline.

xoxo,
Samantha

Wack Weather

Hello my fabulous friends, 

As you know, my life is pretty amazing.  I'm living five minutes from the beach in an amazingly beautiful climate.  Today it is 55 degrees and sunny (but I'm stuck in bed sick).  One week ago, it was 32 degrees and snowing, so I walked the five minutes to the beach to take pictures of the snow on palm trees.  It snows 1.5 days/year on average in Toulon, and the last time the snow STUCK to the ground was in 1986!  Couldn't let a picture-taking opportunity like this pass me by!

xoxo,

SAM

Photos: Domestic Diva Adventures

Courtesy of the wonderful roomie, Kasondra:

Making a beautiful confused-frustrated face

Florent hard at work (check out that wrench!)

Success! 

Domestic Diva Adventures, Cont'd

Hello Family, Lovers, and Secret Admirers,

Thanks again for checking out my blog !!

As you may remember, gas and I are not friends, which is good when I want a bean burrito but not so good when I have to fix the gas tank in my kitchen.  A few months ago, our gas tank (used for three burners on the stove - the fourth is electric, as is the oven) ran out.  But then my roommate moved out, and with just me, I didn't really need more than one burner and the oven worked.  So I was in no hurry to spend money and replace it.

Anyhow, in January, a new roommate moved in.  And now that we've held a welcome party for her, replaced her bed, and re-arranged the living room furniture, we figured it was about time to replace the gas tank so we would no longer have to stagger our cooking.  Seeing as I only work for two hours on Thursdays, I was the designated gas-replacer.  And here begins the story....

I went down the street to the Monsieur Bricolage store (Mr. DIY) and attempted to buy a new bottle of gas.  They informed me that I had to bring back my empty bottle to do so.  So I returned home and examined the under-the-sink cupboard with the gas tank.  Just to be extra careful, I turned off the gas for the entire apartment (since I now know how to do that!)  But I still didn't know how to detach the gas tank from the pipe.  So I consulted my ever-reliable authority on everything, Google, who provided me with a video of how to do it.  Wishing someone was around to see how awesome and domestic I was, I detached the gas tank. YES!  Call me Mademoiselle Bricolage!  Booyah.

However, the video also mentioned that the rubber pipe connecting the stove to the gas tank should not be outdated - mine expired in 2011.  So I needed to replace that as well as the gas tank.  Whatever, should be a minor setback, I thought. Plus, if I could take apart the gas tank, I can totally replace the tube!  After all, I was Mlle. Brico ... I thought.

I returned to Mr. Brico, made friends with the salesperson, who complimented DC as a beautiful city many times yet did not give me a discount on any of my products. Once home, I commenced taking apart the entire kitchen, pulling the counter and the stove away from the wall so that I could replace the tube.  I very quickly realized that I am NOT like Popeye, and despite a quick spinach snack, I was not strong enough to disconnect the pipe from the stove.  I'd need a wrench.  So I called my French friend who said he'd be by in a few hours.... clearly, Mlle. Bricolage and her friend had the situation under control.

In the meantime, I cleaned the back of the stove and then went to wash some dishes.  Only, I had turned off the gas to the whole apartment.  Which includes our hot water heater.  Everyone knows that dishes must be washed with hot water, and since I didn't have any, I'd have to re-ignite the pilot light.  Should be easy enough, I watched the guys do it when I had a gas leak. (You'll also notice that I have not consulted my parents at this point, only Google). I'm Mademoiselle Bricolage!  I can do it!

... HA HA HA NO I CANNOT.  This setback caused about two hours of internet searching as I watched videos on how to re-ignite the pilot light (thanks again Google), tried to figure out the buttons (only "marked" with worn-off symbols, no words, MERCI BEAUCOUP LA FRANCE), then tried to decipher the model of my hot water heater (there are lots of numbers on the side), and finally find a manual on how to use it.  At this point, I did consult my father (well, I told him that I was fixing the gas and needed a wrench which caused some minor panic on his end), and he eventually found a manual for my hot water heater - in Italian.

After about thirty more minutes (I kid you not), I managed to decipher the manual as well as the symbols on the hot-water heater, and re-light it.  Florent, my French friend, arrived soon after with his wrench and together we successfully replaced both the pipe and the gas tank.  DAS WHASSUP.

However, the stove was no longer lighting automatically.  We needed to use a match.  Odd, but we decided that instead of worrying, we'd get a drink instead.  Thus, it wasn't until the next day that I discovered that not only did we need to use matches, but neither the electric burner nor the oven were working.  WHAT?  HOW DID THIS HAPPEN. THE ELECTRICITY AND GAS ARE NOT CONNECTED.  Madamoiselle Bricolage, foiled again.

Sunday night, after another hour of searching for instruction manuals online, I found one (in Italian and Russian) for my stove.  I found a diagram of the power input and pulled the stove away from the wall to "examine" the potential problem.  And that, friends, family and admirers, is when I realized that the stove was unplugged.  Oy vey!

I'm unsure if I've now truly earned or truly ruined my DIY credibility by this point, but everything is in working order so I'm over it.

Later lovers,
xoxo
Samantha

My Life is Awesome, pt. 2

Hello favorite blog readers,
This is a post I wrote about a month ago but due to my inability to manage technology, it has taken me quite awhile to post this for your reading pleasure.  Without further ado...

I cannot get over how amazingly lucky I am to be living in the south of France this year.  It's January 11th, and today it was 55 degrees.

My friend Amanda and I made paninis (fresh bread, fresh tomatoes, spinach, mozzarella: 3 euro), got some champagne (2 euro vin mousseux... real classy I know), and walked out to the beach to bask in the sun and enjoy our lunch.

In case you forgot, the beach is a 5 minute walk from my house and looks like this:

Afterward, Amanda and I walked around my neighborhood a bit.  We decided it that, four months into our stay, it was high time to investigate some of architecture.  This resulted in my perhaps overzealous attempt to scale a wall (I didn't get very far) and discover the secrets of a potential rooftop garden!  

Actually, from above, the roof looked like this:

Ah, well. 

Thanks for reading lovers! 

xoxo

Sam

Ha Ha, Real Life

So, in case you were wondering how funny my life actually is (and I know a lot of you were, based on the responses to my last few posts), I am here to confirm to you that my life is indeed, hilarious.

Here's a recap of my past week:

• I went to school on Monday to find a big sign reading "ANGRY HIGH SCHOOL".  And that I had no students.  The government is making budget cuts, resulting in the removal of teaching posts (40% of the professional high-school posts, in favor of sending students to internships).  My high school is a combination regular and professional high school, so many teachers were on strike.  
• I went to school on Tuesday and to find the same situation - continuation of the strike.  The teachers had blocked the school entrances with trash cans.  
• I don't work on Wednesdays.  
• Friday I am going on a field trip.  
• Thursday (today) I only have two hours of class.  I went in.  One of my students gave me his phone number.  

JUST TO RECAP Y'ALL, ALL OF THIS IS 100% TRUE, I AM NOT EVEN EMBELLISHING THE TRUTH HERE.  

xoxo

Sam

Edit: Update.  On my way home from the post office today, I walked past a group of 60-70-year-old men playing pétanque, a French version of bocce played on sand.  One of the men gave me the finger.