Day 23. (Friday)

The aim of today’s class to learn how to ask questions and for homework last night we had to write five ‘quel/quelle/quelles questions, which I thought would be easy but it wasn’t. In English we don’t generally ask many ‘what is’ questions other than stuff like what time is it? What’s your nationality, all of which only require short answers so I really thought about this and came up with questions that I hope will elicit longer responses. I had ‘what is your favourite holiday destination? What is the best bar/restaurant around here? And so on. When it came to asking each other our questions it worked really well and Annick was happy to announce that we were speaking French each other. Then it was Vlada’s turn and she asked Annick ‘what’s the time?’ do you see what I mean? There is no need for this crap! There is no room for a precocious brat with a limited concentration span in such a small group. Alison made the mistake of asking me how many countries I’ve been to and I was chuffed when the French for 117 came to me so quickly. At this point Annick wrote the words ‘magnifique, super, fantastique on the board and lots of English was being spoken but I really tried to keep it French. Annick asked me in which country I had bought my trousers expecting some place exotic and she was quite disappointed when I said Villefranche. She asked me how I can travel so much on a teacher’s wage so I explained that I’m also a dyslexic support tutor, which pays very well and I travel cheaply by staying in grotty hostels.

She then asked us to work in pairs thinking about your favourite country and where we would like to live. I worked with Shanna and we are both total Francophiles – we had to justify our choice, which was easy – we talked about the weather, of course, the different regions of France being so different. You can be on the beach in the morning and on the ski slopes in the afternoon. The food, especially the cheese and wine. We talked about how stylish the French are and how French men can look great in mustard trousers. We agreed that the Italians also have a wonderful look but they seem to try at it while the French seem to do it so naturally. My favourite thing about the French is ‘le shrug’ and I was horrified that there isn’t a word for it, it’s called ‘hasseur les epaules’ how can they not have a word for something that only they can do properly? I also love their attitude, in that if they don’t know something or don’t care, they just shrug and purse their lips with a ‘pffff’.

We finished the class with a listening exercise and I got the phone number after only listening twice – chuffed. I strayed somewhat during this exercise and asked Shanna if she liked Dirty Dancing and she is more than happy to come with me!

I had another very brief conversation in French with William about Anastasia and he said ‘bravo’ about my progression!

Annick and I were talking about places for the others to visit such as Eze Village, St Paul de Vence, Antibes and so on and Annick talked about Monaco and then showed us some images of the most expensive apartment in the world, situated in Monaco.

Monaco Penthouse to Become World’s Most Expensive Apartment

A Monaco based penthouse could sell for an estimated £256 million once completed, becoming the World’s most expensive property per square metre.

Odeon Tower, Monaco

The multi-story penthouse on the top floor of the Odeon Tower will be 3,300 sq. metres of pure luxury. As well as a private terrace with views overlooking Monaco, this plush pad will boast an exclusive roof top infinity pool with enormous waterslide and its own chauffeured limousines.

With seventy luxury apartments, two duplexes and a palatial penthouse, the 170m twin tower located on the Mediterranean’s coastline will be right at home amongst Monaco’s rich and famous. Monaco is home to some of the most opulent properties in the world, attracting wealthy investors from around the globe.

Odeon Tower is poised to take “luxurious living to dazzling new heights”. Luxury Monaco properties like this sell a lifestyle, not just a house. From housekeeping to valet services, everything is catered for to suit Monaco luxury living.

At the tender age of 17 I came to this area with my then neighbour Paul Thomas who studied French in university and a friend of his in Toulon gave him her apartment for two weeks while she was on holiday. Paul knew the area well and we drove up and down the Cote d’Azur taking in all the sights. I remember standing in Monaco looking at the boats in the huge marina and saying to Paul; ‘I’m going to work here one day.’ I was about 25 when I did start working on Yachts in Antibes and Villefranche – so thanks Paul – you radically changed my outlook on life.

I’m so happy it’s Friday, I am not used to these early mornings and definitely not used to learning a language three hours a day, five days a week.

The weather has been really unusual the last couple of days, the mornings when I’m stuck in a classroom have been glorious and as soon as I get home the wind picks up and has stayed most of the evening. I’m wondering if it’s the famous mistral but I can’t remember how to identify it.

As soon as I got home I emailed madam Rosset at ABC happily accepting the job and she quickly replied that she was very sorry but she has given the job to someone else! I’d emailed her last week asking for a week to make a decision, she never replied so I assumed it was okay because Mary had told her as well. Total miscommunication – I was furious. I emailed her back saying I was upset and very disappointed and she replied basically blaming Mary for the miscommunication – that’s right – pass the buck why don’t you! She said she may be opening a new class and if it happens she’ll be in contact with me! 

I left a voicemail message for Anastasia and she rang back a few hours later – she confirmed that she wants 4.5 hours a week at her place in Mont Boron starting next week so at least I have one job for a while. I asked her what time she’d like to meet, saying I can only do afternoons and she said she’d ring me on Sunday to confirm when she knows her schedule. She has three gym classes a week in Monaco that she needs to organise these around her English classes. She asked me how long it would take to drive from Villefranche to her place assuming I have a Porsche or maybe a BMW.

I remembered that there was a shop in Antibes that sold just British food and stuff and Huw looked it up online and it’s still there. We hatched a plan to go to Antibes tomorrow, have a look around the beautiful old town and end the afternoon in Geoffrey’s to buy some bacon and sausages. As much as I love everything French they really can’t do these necessities.

No box.