Update.

The last posts I did on here were during the half term holiday, and although it was nice to have some time to go home and to do a little exploring, what I've realised this week is that I do really enjoy going to work. I can deal with the early starts and the traffic and the feeling that not one single muscle will ever work again when I get home at night, because I know that I have such a good time at school. It makes sense really. I had a great time at primary school the first time around, and this time is pretty similar, with the added bonus that I get to eat my lunch in the staffroom where there are less projectiles. At work is where my French is really put to the test as all of my interactions with my fellow teachers are in French and I can feel it becoming easier and easier each week. There are still obstacles, but everyone is really friendly and even if I make mistakes they don't make me feel as stupid as I probably look. Teaching is also becoming a little easier now that I have just about figured out what it is that is required of me, and the teachers for their part have realised what I require of them. Its still a little shaky but we're getting there. Last week I fully capitalised on 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' and used it in almost every class. With a little imagination you can use the same page of a book to ask a 6 year old to point out the different colours, a 7 year old to use a sentence to say what colour something it is, an 8 year old to remember the names of all the different fruits and a 9 year old to say whether or not they like to eat said fruit. The teachers are helping me to make those connections as well, so I'm not alone! I'm constantly impressed by my CM2s, or Year 6s to you, and maybe I'm just remembering wrong but I'm sure the things I'm doing with them we didn't do until our GCSEs. For example, last week I had to get them to think up all the words they associated with living in a town and living in a countryside, and then talk about the differences between the two. I'm pretty sure I remember doing that in a GSCE French lesson! I'm fairly certain in Year 6 French all we did was say 'mmm c'est bon, ça!' whilst pointing at flash cards of foods. Anyone who was also in 6GB will be pleased to hear that I have in fact used the phrase c'est bon, ça! - I missed out the 'mmm' but I think that was optional - whilst tasting a cèpe (a wild mushroom and a regional delicacy - they can fetch up to 50€/kg) my housemate Valere found in the countryside and it seemed to go down well. So thanks, Mrs Barnett. 

Unfortunately, my new found love of the working life happens to have coincided with the realisation that for the people of France going to work is something which they approach much in the same way as a 14 year old girl approaches the idea of a school swimming lesson. Its not so much that they don't like doing it, but it is somewhat inconvenient, and there are so many possible ways to get out of it if you only stop and think about it that it would seem defeatist to ever actually do it. Thinking up excuses for jour feriés or bank holidays is something of a national pastime and so its only on the off-chance that one of my three work days falls on a date with absolutely no significance to the past 1000 years of French history that I get to actually go.
On the other hand, this means that I do get lots of time to explore what Bordeaux has to offer, and it never fails to disappoint. With Valere's help the other assistants and I have discovered an authentic French bar where karaoke no longer means drunken renditions of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' but rather all-out accordion playing, skinny jeans, striped t-shirt and trilby hat wearing performances of 'Aux Champs Elysees!' and androgynous women singing jazz. We have managed a little French conversation there, and are working up the courage to take over the mic - I'll keep you posted! Yesterday we went to the beach again and this time scaled the largest sand dune in Europe. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it was enormous! Sensibly, we ran all the way to the bottom of it 'to see the sea', before realising that what goes down must, of course, go up, and having to trek all the way back to the top. Still, it was a beautiful view and I wore a sundress on the beach in November so I can't really complain. Also checked off the list of 'experiences' has been accidentally stumbling across a bar full of drag queens, one of whom I actually had a great conversation with in the queue for the ladies toilet (which also answered that question) eating more than my fair share of pastries and realising that Bordeaux feels a lot bigger when the trams have stopped running - thanks again, jour ferié. People watching continues to be an enjoyable experience, although like Ella I have noticed that people really do like to shout out the phrases they were taught in primary school when they overhear you talking on the tram. When I get home I'm going to have to start lurking on the tube listening out for attractive French tourists and then shouting 'OU EST LA GARE?' 'QUEL EST LE DATE DE TON ANNIVERSAIRE??' 'EST-CE QUE JE PEUX AVOIR UNE BAGUETTE???' because apparently that's how to pull. 
Anyway, I'm sorry that I'm so bad at keeping in touch - to all my family: I'm alive, I'm well, I'm keeping safe! 
Lots of love and à la prochaine fois.