No Sun. No Internet. No church.

BUT!!!!  Geneva city.  Woodland Walk.  Right side driving.  Monte Blanc.  Pay Day.

Firstly the sun vanished for a couple of days ( which i actually wasn't to bothered about as those who know me well know that i melt in the sun and turn red!).  The clouds came, heavens opened and the wind came streaming off the mountain at full force trying to blow the house down! Amazing thunder and lighting though (more on that later!)!  However the following day the internet died!!

So you currently find me in a McDee's (which i drove to myself!)  sitting in a corner using their net..Thank you McDee's!!!  (This is actually my second day in a row...i had to let family know that i was alive still first!)  I haven't been able to get hold of anyone!  Which sucks, but now you all know that i am alive and all is well!  The net should be back by the end of the week..I'll be off line off a few more days then.  Because we the net died i wasn't able to get hold of my various possible lifts to get to church!  Not even to find where the local one was!  I better be able to this week!  I need to meet some follow LDS out here, so i can get a lift to institute basically!

Anyway to the little adventures of the past week!  Firstly the lady of the house (who is called Aurelie by the way, i can say all the names...but spelling is another issue!) and her sister, Sophie (who left to go back home on Sunday, but was a massive help in settling me in here) with the little girls took me into Geneva city to see the MASSIVE lake that i saw when i was flying into Geneva airport.  It has it's own water fountain too.  It runs through France, Switzerland and possible somewhere else.

The Lake and Harbour.......

The City really does have a hundreds of watch shops!  Naturally they are ridiculous expensive!

This is the expensive side of Geneva across the lake (as if there wasn't an expensive side start with.)...........

The family are going to take me by boat across the lake some time to see the other side, have lunch and visit the gorgeous looking church there.

This is the random place where you can go swimming in the city...yes its the lake right next to the boats...........

My little trip to the city was good.  I'll get the chance to have a proper look around some time though.  did you know that one of the only two European head quarters is in Switzerland?  The other is is New York.  That would be why the place is such an international city.

With the weather cooling down gradually, still very sunny though Aurelie and i took a little walk with the girls strait form the house.  They live in really in gorgeous place!  For a foreigner it is anyway.  I thin it all looks rather country French.  Not the Paris French, where everyone wears stripes and berets and visit the Eiffel Tower.

This is how lovely it was when the walk started........

And this was the end..........

I'm glad we made it back before the heavens opened again!

 I've got a bunch of photos for you!

This older couple have the most beautiful garden in the village.......

I was desperate to get on of these flowers!!  I'll have to work some magic next time I'm out on a little ganda.........

 Half the people here have a mini orchard in their garden like the one below.  It is my mission to make sure i visit one while I'm here,  a proper one that is........

Lightning!!!! i said that i would get back to that.  We think it split this tree at the back of the orchard....

When i am all grown up with my own house one day i would love one of these!......

To the destination of our walk...a little stream that you can only get down to 3 months of the year, the rest of the time there is too much water or snow.......

Kids just want to run away..............

More destruction from the storm we had.......

A 'fairy tale' or what?! huh?!  My niece has to see this, we love finding little fairy spots.....

So you walk down this little, steep, slippery path to get to the land of fairy's ( as it now shall be called!),  and find sings of a ruin.  there used to be a water mill here where the bridge is.....

This is one for the brother....this guy came tearing down this rocky path (jealous Adam?)

That walk will probly became my regualr walk when i just need to get out the house!

I mentioned last time that you are supposed to be able to see Monte Blanc from the house?  I was thinking, na! it'll be a tiny speck that you can just make out.  Man was i wrong!!!!  It is such an amazing site!!!!  It has to be completely clear for you you to see it.  I took photos the night before the ones that are below, and thought the view was great then, you could se it peeping throuhg the ti of the clouds.  But the next day?  WOW!! in real life it feels like its right there!

Presenting to you.......(drum roll!!!).....Monte Blanc!!......

Okay so this is zoomed in!  but still pretty cool!! this ois what it feels like to me when i see it.

This is the actual view from the garden........

The landscape goes from France to Switzerland to France with the alps going on foreveeeerrrrr and Italy to the side somewhere.  When your driving around here you constantly going across border lines, so always have your passport at the ready!!

I am so glad that i am here!  It has worked out really well with the family.  They are great, people that i would actually get along with on a normal basis anyway.  When Xahavia (the man of the house) took me out for my driving lesson (which didn't go too bad, i only took one silly left turning where there were 4 roads to choose to go down!  and turned in the road...not aloud to do that apprently!).  But anyway, while we were out driving he had a good heart to heart with me saying to just enjoy myself, do things, enjoy the experiecne here basically.  They keep saying 'your not here to just look after our kids, your here to have an experience, we know that'.  so i eat family meals with them, have good chats about films and books and life in general.  Really couldn't have a better family to stay with (unless they were LDS, with would help me with getting to church on Sundays!)  Their gonna help set me up with French lessons at the local language school for the year...which will be intertsing...i want to do them, i was just so bad at French at school that i didn't have to do it for GCSE.  That with a headmistress that's French!

Next week the real work starts, where I'll actually be on more of a schedule, and so can then start going out to see the sites!

Sorry for the long long post today!  But the catch up session had to be done!

So for now i say farewell!  I'll write again when i can!

Bonjour!!

Well it's my first day in sunny France!  yes i did just say France!  Not Switzerland as we all thought.  But i am in the middle of no where with mountains right outside, so you have to go to Geneva, Switzerland to do anything, and that's just a 20 mintue drive away.

I feel like i should update people on how and why i am here in the first place.....here goes....

Ive been at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham studying Fine Art this last year.  To keep it short it just didn't work out.  The course was full on ( i prefer to be left to get on with the work myself) with tutors pushing you this way and that on what is supposed to be your own creativity.  Do it their way to become the artist within or don't do it at all!  So i guess i chose to not do it at all.  I'm taking a year or so out to try some other things, to gain some new experience's .  Once i have enjoyed myself enough I'll be back to the land of education, to sort out a proper career for myself.

So uni aside i went back home where i wallowed in the grief of what to do with my life, then started to look for a job and ended up looking at being an Au Pair, which made me stumble across an Au pair Job in France/Switzerland (near Geneva).

I arrived yesterday evening with all my overweight luggage (they'll be a list of stuff to be sent over too though).  The drive from the airport to the family's house, where I'm staying was like driving to my house back home...fields and fields.  But here some are full of sunflowers!!

This is the house.........

All the shutters are needed because it's so flipping HOT!!!  Keeps the sun out.

So i am staying here for a year as an Au Pair.  The lady of the house has two girls (5 1/2yr and 4...i think) and she has 5 month old twin boys...hence the need for some help.   she'll be around most of the time...so it wont be crazy looking after that many kids.  Right now i can't decide whether the dribbling, hot, pooping baby's or the two little constantly talking in French girls are better.  I would usually say the older girls, but i cant understand half of what they jabber on about. however they are cute when they copy me.

I have my own room and bathroom...the family bought the land and designed the house themselves recently...so no lights in my room yet or mirror in the bathroom...but otherwise it's all good.  here are the real of photos requested by the family.

This is my bedroom.....

Desk to be added soon apparently.

Check out my wardrobe!!.....

Side not to the Mother....how did i bring THREE purple hoodies?!  Can you add in some green or red hoodies with your package please!!
 
The bathroom .............

A little bit swish for just an Au Pair...but i'm not complaining!

The best thing is the view from my bedroom............

The mountain is far more glorious in person, and feels like it's right on top of you!

The downstairs lounge..............

The kitchen..................

I have had some great food here already!  Mountain cheese, filo pastry savory tart things and a put together your own pasta lunch.....the idea to loose weight while I'm here may well go out the window!  And you wont get the 'keep your elbows off the table' song here...it's polite to do that when you have finished eating.

This is the vegetable patch my mum needs.......

The fount garden and another great view!..........

Now i have settled myself into the house i need to get on with the job, get to the local ward here to meet up with some members and take a trip to the beautiful city of Geneva.  Think i'm going to have to take some French lesson along away.....today i learnt the sun, moon and stars, days of the week and some farm animals.  Don't think that will get me too far!

For now though i will bid you all farewell and write again when there is acctually something interesting to say!  Or just to whine!  Sorry!

Au Reviour!!! x

P.S. i have the go ahead to go back home to England for Christmas!! Whoop Whoop!!!