Ok.... So i know i have been a little slack. This is officially the first post since arriving in France 2.5 weeks ago but in my defence life has been pretty hectic...
As I have found, having work before I arrived makes me very lucky... I have now met people who have been looking for 6-8 weeks... So having arrived around midday on Thursday the 14th, I settled into my hotel and went to find my yacht... The Lady Christine 4.
Around the esplanade I walk, beautiful spring day, slight breeze and people on rollerblades... Yep... Here we go.... As i approach the marina I spot an absolute monster of a boat..... and low and behold written on the side is Lady Christine 4. 68m of white, very shiny motor boat... Whilst staring like a 12 yr old boy on a nudist beach, I smell something... less than nice... I had just stepped in the biggest pile of dog sh*t ever seen..... Crap.... Thongs, dog poop and a brand new boat!!! Not a good mix. Fortunately one of the crew (Ray) was washing the outside of the yacht with a high powered hose.... Lets just say i got a little wet but no more poo!!!
Ray showed me to the galley where i met Shaf..... My sister's boyfriends brother.... Firstly... Wow, the galley was bigger than my old living room and Shaf.... Smiley, happy and looking forward to his holiday. After a swift introduction and tour I went down stairs to the crew area to see my cabin... Well, I could get used to this... My own cabin, bathroom and a flatscreen. Free internet and a fridge stocked with anything you could think to drink or snack on... The staff get all uniform and shoes provided as well as all toiletries and one of the Stew's does all the personal washing... Aaawesome....
Shafiq and Josh (from LC3 next door) inform me that they are going to Antibes to catch up with some friends so I decided to join them.
I got off the train and made my way to the Blue Lady Pub, (got ripped off again by a cabbie) the heart of Antibes and watering hole for the mostly Antipodean yachties... Thank God... i hear English and the wonderful sound of cider straight out of the tap!!!
Julia had arranged for Annie (her BFF) to meet me. That night I met a number of people, all happy to help cause I was JF's sister... I was both very impressed and extremely proud.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday pretty much went wake, eat, drink, die.... Lots of fun, very chaotic and how people do this every night is amazing...
Sunday night I head back to Nice, to LC4 to orientate myself with the kitchen and the boat. I whipped up a nice little Risotto just to take the pressure off tomorrow morning.
Monday the 18th - My first day in the kitchen.... For lunch I prepared gourmet sandwiches, a yummy salad and my risotto. Perfect...
Then my first French shopping experience in 8 years.... Oh how I forgot how random they are and that you can only really get half of what your after... So creativity is a must... Hilarious... there goes my pre-prepared menu.
The next 5 days were pretty cool, lots of cooking. Starting at 8 in the morning i finished mostly at 7 apart from Friday when cause I had to cook food for the whole weekend as well, i finished at 9.30pm. I spent the evenings trying to rewrite my resume and register with the thousands of agencies that have my future in their hands. Feeling pretty wiped out but happy to be back in the kitchen I slept like a baby... on the odd night where I wasn't asleep before my head hit the pillow i got to pick from the library of DVD's (out of the cinema room) to watch either in the crew lounge room or my bedroom.
The boat was amazing and I felt very important hopping on and off whilst people take photos... hehehe.
Saturday the 23rd came and off to Antibes I head... My baby Julia is arriving and everybody i have met is excited... Including her boyfriend who has returned from Canada, 2 weeks early to surprise her...
We're at the Blue Lady (surprise, surprise) and the drinking starts at 12. Julia arrives in a flutter of squeals, hugs and hooker boots... It's the first time i've seen her speechless...
12 hours later I stumble home... oh this is gong to hurt in the morning.
And it did... Both Julia and myself spent until 3/4 trying not to hurl!!! After that we went to Annie's where we had a lovely Easter lunch.
After a great lunch and 1 single beer (just to prove i could) i made my way back to Nice... Work in the morning...
Monday to Wednesday was work focused, days creating yumminess and nights registering with agencies. Wednesday, Shaf came back and we had a a night out in Nice. Ma Nolans and then Waynes... Oh drunkard and disorderly.
I thought I was being good and came home at around 1am, i thanked myself for deciding to do Indian that night... Sooo good!!
Thursday to now has been spent visiting the agencies, walking the docs and sending my CV out to any email I can get my hands on. I have met some of the guys i did my course with back in Aus, it's nice to see some friendly faces.
Well, that's about me up to date, I will try and blog once or twice a month unless something really exciting happens...
Missing my friends and fam at home always...
L XXX
