Back in the French swing of things.

Going back to Germany meant getting back into German and within three weeks I managed to forget almost all of the French vocabulary I'd gained!

I returned to Luc and Nicole's house and they were shocked to find me speaking so much English! I could not, for the life of me, think of the most basic words which I had used just weeks earlier. Nevertheless, as I said, they're patient. I gradually got back into the swing of things and picked up my French again with regular trips to the cinema and lots of conversation.

As I hadn't found any WWOOFing positions for January or February yet, Luc and Nicole kindly welcomed me back. Despite that breaking their no-WWOOFers-over-Winter rule.

However, there was even less work that needed to be done (hence the rule), so when the necessary jobs had been completed, being all the firewood was prepared, the animals had been attended to and the bottles had been labelled, it was time to get creative.

It was Winter and pretty damn cold. I spent a lot of time in front of the fire and knitted and sewed quite a bit.

 

 My Nanna-face. Alright, my normal face.

 It didn't snow a lot, the weather was more cold, humid and windy. On a clear afternoon, I ventured out for fresh air. The farm was beautiful in the clearing snow.

Luc and Nicole renovated this old farm house into a gîte (guest house), such a gorgeous get-away.

The cellar door. Almost always open.

The original main house, where Nicole's lovely parents live. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of Luc and Nicole's place - which is a pity considering the work they put into renovating the barn into a cosy two storey home.

The view from my bedroom window.

As there weren't many jobs on offer at La Ferme du Bout du Chemin and I didn't want to get in Luc and Nicole's way more than I already was, I went to the local organic bakery 'Les Copains' and asked if I could help out there for a few days. I guess they said yes because they knew I couldn't eat anything in the bakery!

Alors... photos of the bakery are to come. Definitely worth the wait.

For now, here is my first attempt at homemade sourdough. It was fantastic!

Again, this all happened in French! I kneaded and baked bread while speaking French, I even went to the market in Caen and helped out... in French.

Luc invited me to join his running group a few times which helped me work off all of bread and chocolate I'd been eating. In front of the fire. With a cuppa.

Whenever the sun came out was cause for celebration. Sunday trip to the beach: you can't go wrong there.

I wasn't far from the coast. I was surrounded by fun and interesting people. But being an Australian in Europe (far away) in January (too cold for a BBQ) who can't eat wheat (no Vegemite or Milo anymore!), doesn't easily equal my ideal Australia Day. My attempt: orange and poppyseed cake... yum!! It helped.