Touchdown

I've been slightly neglectful of this in the last couple of important weeks leading up to my departure from England. I want to say it's because I've been really busy all the time doing tons of exciting things, but that would be a lie. I have, however, been enjoying my last days with my family and boyfriend for a while, before leaving to discover if I am actually as self-sufficient as I apparently think I am.

And now I'm here! I travelled down with my dad, who is staying in Orléans till Thursday so I won't be lonesome on my birthday. It was also nice to not be alone on the plane, as I really do hate flying - although the flight was much shorter than I was expecting so it wasn't too bad really. We flew to Paris Orly and drove down to Orléans - taking quite a bit of a detour due to the complicated airport exit system and my terrible map-reading skills. Test of Laura's French No. 1: asking for directions.

So I arrived at my house at about 1.15 yesterday. My landlady was here to greet me. Her name is Anita, she was very welcoming and she honestly seems really lovely and helpful, which I have to say was quite reassuring on first arrival. After chatting to her to a bit, unpacking, and having a quick chat on skype with my mum, I decided to do something really exciting and - have a nap. Well, I had been up since 4.15 that morning. Later in the evening, I was a bit more adventurous and went out with my dad for dinner, having a bit of an explore of the city at the same time.

Today, Test of Laura's French No. 2: trying to find a phone deal. Fortunately I wasn't on my own for this one - I went with my housemate, Rachael, who arrived last night, so we were able to back each other up. However, one of the conversations still went like this:

Rachael: Bonjour, nous cherchons un SIM prépayé pour faire les appels internationaux... (Hello, we're looking for a pay-as-you-go SIM to make international calls with...)
Phone shop man: ...do you speak English?

Never mind.

I've taken a few photos which I intended to put on the end of this post, but I have just this minute discovered that I have in fact forgotten the cable which connects my camera to my computer. I'll try and sort that out... however, this may be a photo-less blog for a while.

A bientôt!