A Year in Villefranche sur Mer - Moving to France

  Day 2070 (Monday) 30 th November Shock horror it was quite overcast this morning and a lot cooler than yesterday but it’s still not coat weather, just a jacket. Huw was very disappointed because he had planned on going up to the villa to make a start on the gardening so he did some odd-jobs around the flat. I, of course, caught the train to Monaco. Just as I was leaving the flat two white vans were on our super narrow street and Huw got very excited to see that they were workers from Orange hopefully laying the fibres to increase our rather slow internet – here’s hoping. I used the lift down to Fontvielle and it cuts down on my walking time. Eduard and I worked on more phrasal verbs and a lesson on puns and humour. He tells the most inappropriate jokes usually sexist or racist but at least he makes fun of his own Jewishness as well. As usual I had a 5-minute break on the balcony before moving into the kitchen to work with Olga. We practised using the conditionals (If I hadn’t come t

  Day 2069 (Sunday) 29 th November It was warm and sunny this morning so all is well in the world after our cloudy day yesterday. I had a bit of a lazy day again reading in the sun then doing my jigsaw. We walked up to Barmasa to see Olivier and Audre who have very kindly offered to help me with my paperwork to see if I’m entitled to benefits for the lack of earnings during lockdown number one. This is their view – pretty special   Olivier tried to access my account but as always there is one more number that I need to apply for and as soon as I get it he said we should go back to their home and hopefully sort it out. We had a coffee and some chocolates and had a nice chat talking about all sorts of things. We really must start talking to them in French!  I asked him if he knew my football playing student in Monaco and he said ‘of course’ because in his day he was very famous, he payed professional football for over 17 years so he must be pretty rich. He’s such a nice unassuming bloke

  Day 2068 (Saturday) 28 th November As of today we are allowed to travel 20 kms and can be out for three hours, some small shops are open but no bars or restaurants. I was so disappointed when I woke up this morning – it was cloudy and quite cold and I’ve got the weekend off. We’ve had sunny warm days for weeks and weeks when I’ve been working! So after doing some chores and lesson planning I spent the afternoon doing a jigsaw loaned to me by Kevin and Angie. I forgot to tell you yesterday about a famous footballer who is in my class. He’s a lovely man called Sebastian and his friend Maxime told me yesterday that Sebastian used to be very famous especially when he played for Arsenal. I asked Sebastian about his experience in London he threw his head back and said in perfect English and pronounced beautifully and said; ‘ I was s••t when I was playing for Arsenal!’. I Googled him last night and found this… Guest on the  D + 1 show on  Sunday evening, Sébastien Squillaci took advantage