Day 1- Southern France!

"The darkest hour is just before Dawn"

Ahhhhh France! I still can't believe I have such an amazing opportunity! Janet made me a massive roast dinner yesterday before dropping me off (in the Mazda, roof down!) at Sam's which was delicious. I was then incredibly spoilt as since my birthday coincided with staying away in France, Sam's family presented me with a pile of presents 'in case I wanted to pack anything or leave some things behind' :3 The wrapping paper was very appropriate, children's pirate themed, I loved it! This produced a late night session of trying clothes on and last minute attempts to cram things into my case!

We then were all up with the birds to drive to the airport~ the flight was uneventful, although the take off was as exciting as I'd remembered since I last flew. The pressure shown in the packets of crisps was exciting though, we weren't quite sure how to open them at first! Clever me packed my camera at the bottom of my hand luggage in a panic, so I don't have any photos upon first arrival in France. The difference in terrain was amazing though! It looked completely different in aerial view as well as driving through it, as we had a 2 hour drive to our accommodation.

On the way we stopped in the french equivalent of a motto for a break and some coffee which was really interesting as all the products were really different! The sandwiches all had very distinctive flavours and the sweets were incredibly colourful without limit! I also saw my very first lizard! Apparently they're very frequent, but it was very exciting seeing them skitter around~ There was also a very cute stray cat that was incredibly friendly!

We weren't allowed into the accommodation till 4 o'clock, but we were able to quickly drop off our bags so there was room for shopping before dropping into nearby 'Carrefour Market', again an interesting experience product wise, we found the 'English' section, of which we recognised little of the products which were being sold expensively~

The accommodation is absolutely gorgeous! I can't believe I'm going to be staying here for the next two weeks! It's very spacious and everything possible has been provided. There's even a pool!

We spent the rest of the day playing Miniature Monopoly!