Admin day

Today was mainly about sorting things out, although that's not to say it was unpleasant or boring. Just after midnight I was awoken by a great deal of crashing, and what I thought was a burglar turned out to be my flatmate, Minda, who comes from Finland and had just arrived from a weekend in Paris on the late southbound train. She's already been living here for two weeks, and seems nice and friendly, although we only spoke briefly before we turned in for the night.

I woke up early and was driven to the supermarket by Monsieur Champeyrol, which means that I now have a fully-stocked fridge (i.e. cheese and Pepsi). On the way back, I spotted a "Pat à Pain," which is like a chain-store bakery. They're pretty much everywhere, and akin to Gregg's in the UK (although much more upmarket). They do lack the romance of the old-style boulangeries, and old Champeyrol regards them with great disdain, but compared to British baking their produce is still delicious, and I found myself returning later in the day for my second chocolate éclair...

After the shopping, I returned home and met the head teacher of my school, Madame Duclos, for the first time. She seems just as friendly as in her e-mails, and invited me to both the school inspectors' meeting and the upcoming parents' night, presumably so that I can have the opportunity to bluff my way through even more French conversation.

After a lunch consisting of my newly-bought salad and some sliced cold cuts, I took the bus into town to buy my SNCF discount card and my bus pass. The latter affords me unlimited bus travel in the Montluçon area, and in addition I get official-looking documentation with my photo on. I'm practically a citizen!

I did a practice run of my trip to school so I could see how long it would take - about 20 minutes, including a change of bus half way through. Not bad! The school itself is very pretty, and it's in a fairly nice area too. There is a beautifully manicured park just down the street, and it seems like a potential lunch-spot during school days.

After that, I made my way back to the city centre, which is where I had my second éclair of the day. I wandered through the medieval old town, éclair in hand, enjoying another day of sweltering heat and cloudless skies. Eventually, I happened upon the Jardin Wilson (pictured), an even more beautiful little park which I had all to myself (almost everything is closed on Monday - apparently one day of rest isn't enough for the French). I sat a while, mesmerised by the noise of the fountain, and then set off to catch the bus back to Périlhat.

Depending on when she comes back, I think I'm going to make dinner for Minda tonight as an ice-breaker, but other than that I've nothing planned so I decided to write today's entry now. Tommorow the "work" begins in earnest, but after two days of conversation with reassuring locals I'm starting to feel much more confident than before.