29th October, Laval, France

 Word of the Blog: Flasher sur qqun.

This describes the moment you see someone and you think they are hot. I love the fact that the French have a verb for this...

I learnt the above word whilstonce again at the Irish pub. The Irish pub is like the Foyer's spoons and it's almost inevitable that if you go out in the evening you will end up there. This has nothing to do with the fact it's Irish or that the drinks are fairly cheap, but because it's a ten minute stumble door-to-door from the foyer (so a two minute walk on the way there). I've had some great evenings there, but I hope to discover some of the other bars in Laval as I want to make the most of the time I'm here.

Anyway, I do believe in my last blog I promised you a description of Laval's transport network. Well, if you sitting comfortably then I'll begin (and if you get that reference, respect). Laval has a very-widespread bus network, with around 14 bus lines. For a town of about 53,000 inhabitants, you would think this would be enough to get you where you needed to be just by getting on one bus, perhaps changing if you are going out of the main town into of the surburby bits. Not so.Despite having a bus stop roughly 10m, it sometimes feels like you have to take at least two buses to get anywhere useful. Getting to work for example. To get to a suburb of Laval, about 7km from the foyer I live, I have to get a bus, then get a taxi-shuttle service and even then I still have a 20 minute walk. The joutney takes about an hour, and it's rather annoying knowing that in the car it only takes about 10 minutes. In Cheltenham, let alone Bristol, I reckon you could take just one bus to get almost directly to where I work and it would take half an hour, max.

Anyway, I could literally go on for hours about the transport network, so I'll change the subject. I've just started my first, full student stage here. 19 French kids who are taking their BAC (French A-levels) this year or next year have come to the Langue & Nature for a week, in order to improve their English through a week-long immersion. It's only day 1, but they all seem nice and incredibly polite. However, some of their English really needs work. It was acyually quite scary marking some of their tests and seeing what basic mistakes they kept making. If I were in their shoes and taking my BAC this year, I would be afraid, very afraid...