France

NB, this was written five weeks ago after i had just gotten back from France, however i havent published it yet due to comuptor issues! For more photos look at my facebook!

So i have just gotten back late last night from a full on experience in France! I flew out from Bristol the morning of the tenth to arrive in Geneva, Switzerland! The sun was shining, and the mountains looked absolutely beautfiful. Very picturesque, as if it was all just a big painting. I was staying with Hamish, who you could say is a relative of mine though i dont think we had ever met. Chamonix is where he lives with his partner and son, which is in France, about an hour or so from Geneva. It  is a very popular ski destination, where slopes everywhere it seems to be the place to go. A gorgeous little cobblestreet town was right next to the house so everything is in walking distance. I had to attempt to remember my french from all those years ago, and soon found i started thinking to myself in french, although it would not have been gramatuically correct what so ever! oh and get this, apparently One Driection were there only weeks before me? so yeah i thought i could torment Tess with that one for a while, haha..

Hamish and i went for a walk in the snow with snow shoe things that help you from sinking which was beautiful and sunny but hard... i managed to get my shoe wedged backwards in the snow so i was stuck, as you will soon see in the photos.

Snow walk

snow shoe walking

 

where i got stuck...

 

 

Chamonix town

 

 

 

 I also tried out skiing for the first time! two hour lesson and 122 euros later i was able to slowly move down a slope, but not to a great standard at all. You can pick out the experienced kids at ski school, the five year olds that come down zooming past you with no worries, really makes you feel great. We attempted to go skiing in Italy too one day, however their blue slopes arent quite the same as the rest of ours, and it was too steep for me so i had to get taken back down on the chairlift with an Italian man carrying my ski's and poles, not the highlight of my trip. I managed to gain a bit more confidence with my skiing at the beginners slope in Chamonix which was good, i think i ended up getting my moneys worth, how ever the pain i went through with the boots and my legs was horrendous! i have never felt anything like it, thought i was going to need to get my legs amputated.

 

Pro skiier

 

 

 

 

 

Monday resulted in me being spolit by Grandpa John and Neccy as they paid for me to go up the Aguille du Midi. The particular attraction took you up 3842 m where the view was incredibly amazing. I've never seen anything like it, France one way, Italy the next and then Switzerland. The sun was shining and the mountains just kept going. Looking down below you could see the swerving valley and i even managed to pick out the house i was staying at. Very spoilt, so Thankyou Grandpa and Neecy!

the amazing view, you can see the skiiers heading down

 

 

On tuesday i headed up to Paris by train to see the sights. Got in at about 1.30pm and took a taxi to my hotel. Chucked my bags upstairs and headed out for a wonder. I was in a fantastic location, right in the heart of Paris. A short walk and i arrived at the Galeries laFayette, a huge shopping destination with shops like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry and everything else! I felt rather underdressed walking through with my jeans  and a cardi on. The next day, wednesday, I was up nice and early to jump on one of the tour buses, it was fantastic! a day two pass in hand, got on the bus and set off on the 'Grand tour' of Paris! this took me to all the main tourist attractions, drove past everything! highly reccomend it if you got to Paris. Just a few of the sights included the Lourve, Notre Dame, Musee d'Orsay, the concorde, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe and of course the Eiffel Tower! i got off at many stops to take advantage of the photo opportunities, that was until my camera died just after the Eiffel tower and i then had to go back to my hotel before heading out on another journey. After a very long day on Wednesday i was up nice and early again on thursday to take more advantage off my bus pass. Checking out at nine in the morning to see some more, took me to the Champs Elysees where i entered the disney shop! i must say it was pretty cool, i wanted to buy every toy they had, but i was very strong and managed to just buy a present for little Tilly, as i know she would love it! but then i was stuck carrying around a bright pink disney princess bag all day through Paris. So that bag has done well, seen all of Paris from on top of the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower! The views were amazing and breathtaking, nothing like you could imagine. The whole time i was in Paris it still felt like a dream, i couldnt quite grasp the  experience of  being on the other side of the world by myself but and travelling around one of the most gorgeous cities. The photos dont do the city justice, but gives you a slight indication of its beauty.

 

 

The lourve

 

 

The Seine and the lovers bridge

 

 

Notre Dame

 

along the river

 

 

 

 The concorde

 

Disney shop on the Champs Elysees

 

Arc de Triomphe

 

and the Eiffel tower

 

 

 

 

Back at school now ready to start work again on sunday. Summer term has been promised to be nice to me, after i got super sunburnt in Paris i need to get rid of my farmers tan!

 ill try talk to you all soon!

Molly xx

Family Appreciation post

After my first Easter away from home I feel I must post these photos of my family at Easter Time!! It looks like they had a great time without me...

Miss you all xx

Easter Holidays

Hello all,

So i am still in our Easter holidays at the moment! Now back at school for a couple days after a lovely week in Reigate which included a trip to London! The coldest and most miserable day possible was the day i chose to head on up to the big and infamous city of London. It was very nerve racking catching multiple trains and them when i arrived at Victoria station there was just people everywhere! busy, busy, busy!

I managed to find my way out of the station and onto a street where local tour people hassled you for a 'bargain' whilst i found a map and looked up Buckingham Palace. I met three women from Texas who were also trying to find their way to the palace so we all walked together. We were very close alreday, just a short walk and we arrived at the huge tourist destination. Luck of the draw and the changing of the guard just happened to be on the day i went! So we stayed around for nearly two hours in the freezing cold waiting for a sign that something was going to happen, apart from the enourmous crowds! It took little over an hour before we even saw a guard or a horse. The flag was up on the castle which i believe means the Queen was home, but i expect she was a bit under the hammer as she didnt grace us with her presence outside in the charming weather.

After standing still in the coldest weather imaginable i literally couldnt move! My whole body had stiffened up and it was just horrendous. I ended up getting on a hop on hop off bus tour which took me around the mian sites of London. Saw Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, The London eye and much more. I had a short stop at Oxford street, where i checked out the streets and tried to warm up with some walking. By the end of the tour it was 4.15pm and my train left at 4.30pm so i timed it all very well. The train ride home was peaceful, but nearly too peaceful as i found myself drifting off to sleep!

Buckingham Palace!

                                                                    Cold, Cold, Cold!

 

Changing of the guard

 

Big Ben!

 

Hyde Park

 

Westminster Abbey

 

Today i have packed my bag after talking to the fam for nearly three hours this morning. Half the time there wasnt much talking but rather me sitting on the ipad watching TV with Mum and Tess! Which was great as i discovered i havent seen the whole series of revenge yet. Also i have been on the computor for a couple of hours now printing and reading up about Paris. Trying to work out the metro and RER system is way too difficult for me, but we'll see how it goes! getting excited for Skiing now, just hope i dont break a leg, even though i have insurance, as i will have a very poor visit to Paris if i do!

 

Hope these photos and words from myself have kept you a bit more up to date with whats going on in my world. Will post all about France when i get back!!

 

bye bye for now!

 

Molly xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current location

Hi all!

I'm currently in Reigate, a small city an hour or so away from London staying at an ex army family friends family of friends!! I haven't posted for a while due to complications that are still ongoing on my laptop!

Next week I'm heading off to France for my first attempt at skiing! Very excited but also nervous about travelling on my own once again as I will then head up to Paris by train where I will stay two nights before heading back home to start work again on the 21st!

Ill be sure to take many photos to show you all once I get things sorted out!!

Talk soon xx

Its been awhile…

I'm terribly sorry as it has been quite a while since i have told you what’s been going on! into the third week back at school now after half term and things are going pretty well. We’ve had our superheroes and supervillians disco which involved some creative minds to organise our outfits in less than an hour, some card, scissors and tape.

Kylie and i as superheroes

Mrs Nicky Moulton who is a house parent and such a caring person!

I have also sat my little driving test last week to show i am capable of driving the school cars. This went well and so now i can drive, which meant the day i got them we went for a drive that night to macca’s.

I have been helping out with quite a few netball matches as we have had lots at school the last couple if weeks, and this Wednesday I'm off to umpire some under 13’s at their away game. i also went on Friday night to watch Team Bath play netball in Bath. Team Bath consists of four players who play for England, and one of whom works here at school with the netball sessions each week.

Yesterday was my day to shop! i went on the boarders trip to Clarks Village which is similar to DFO’s at home. Bought a few things here and there, probably too much really but they were all items that i would either wear or use! So it seems reasonable enough! It was good to get out again so as to not feel trapped out here at school! 

This weekend is Exeat weekend so basically we get the whole weekend off! which should be nice and relaxing. i am also in the process of organising my Easter holidays with Kylie, thinking of heading to Chamonix in France, then up to Paris for a night. I am sadly watching my bank account dwindle down as i look at flights and trains but it should all be good!

Happy Birthday to mum on Sunday and also Happy Mothers day to all Mothers!! And Happy Birthday to Alison!! If she is reading this  :)

Talk soon,

Molly xx

Pretty Little Sunset

This post is dedicated to two things. The lovely sunset i managed to catch on camera last night. And the season i started watching yesterday, Pretty Little Liars!!! i now have three seasons to watch in my down time thanks to Tess giving me a great website! so i had a great day lying in bed watching PLL and also reading Bridget Jones’ diary :) i also finally received my parcel containing some rather cheap ugg boots so now i shall have warm feet! i was very excited about this indeed :)

 

Half Term is coming to an end…

Hello Hello,

The last few days have been lovely, but sadly the holidays are nearly over and i return to working tonight. After my day of cleaning on Thursday i was lucky enough to get out of school for a couple of days. Christie picked me up Friday morning and we ventured into Bath. Being 30 mins away Bath is relatively close for a nice day trip. We walked around the shops for a while and i tried an amazing milkshake from this weird shake shop. You can literally choose what you want in it and they will put it all together. New flavours coming soon included cheese, chilli and paprika!. But i went for something rather normal?? The Dave consisted of Ferrero rochers, kinder bueno and topped off with Flake. It was very nice.

The Dave

 

Christie with her Dave

We walked around and went into Bath Abbey. It was huge and beautiful. The ceiling’s were amazing but all of the tombs were a little too freaky for me, but i definitely appreciated the atmosphere. The Abbey was right in the middle of everything, the shops and the Roman Baths.

Bath Abbey

  

The Roman Baths were right next door so we went in to have a look at the naturally warm springs in the middle of the city. They are quite iconic and a huge attraction in Bath so it was great to be able to now say i have been there, and i have the photos as proof! We walked around the baths with our electronic devices that spoke to us of the history of the Baths and the Romans. I was even fortunate enough to be able to taste the water. It was horrible!! i never will taste it again. Warm water that tasted metallic and it was terrible hopefully i live longer now or something, who knows?! The ducks that were swimming in the bath was the main attraction for some, they just wanted to capture the animals swimming, not the Baths at all.

This one is steaming and bubbling

     

The ducks!

Guess what its full of? MONEY!

This was just because of the smell…

I found the whole city to be quite pretty and clean. The sandstone and cobbled streets were lovely and it definitely felt as if i wasn't home anymore. We walked up to the Circus, which was a round circle of apartments.

The Circus

 

The Bath rugby stadium is just behind those trees

 

After our trip in Bath, Christie was kind enough to drop me into Wells where i would be staying the night with Helen, an Australian Teacher fro school. She and her partner Mick, also Australian, had m over for the night. We went to the pub for a drink then headed onto the Indian restaurant, where the waiter believed i was American. This was a but of a shock considering i was sitting with two other Australians who have been here a lot longer then i have! i was very spoilt as they paid, so of course i was very grateful.

Saturday Helen and i went for a walk into town. Wells is classified as a city as it has a Cathedral, yet everything is very close, walking distance. The Saturday markets were on, but as i haven’t been paid yet, I'm a little on the short side of money. We walked in and around the Cathedral which was also amazing and up the cobblestone street, a very old street from the 1100’s if i can recall correctly?, if not, it is extremely old. We also went into The Bishops Palace, which had very nice gardens and i was shown the ‘Well’ that Wells is named after. The Palace was surrounded by a moat and i believe the current Bishop also lives there and the section that was not part of the attraction.

Wells Cathedral

 

Bishops Palace entrance

And now i am back at school ready to start again this afternoon as the boarders return back to school. I have also had a lovely invite to join the Hannah’s for lunch soon, so it wont be another meal of pasta for me today! i also have a number of postcards to write then to find somewhere to send them. Hope you all enjoy this long post, has taken me nearly an hour, i so dedicated!! and i apologise for any spelling, grammar etc, i cant be bothered going back through it all :)

Talk soon

Molly xx