what a crazy crazy ride...

Hi folks and friends alike. (pics of Lara and I)

Please accept my sincere appologies for lack of communication.

I hear its like waiting for the next harry potter novel to appear.. hahah not my words... but that pleases me dearly.. because i do enjoy writing the journals.. its just time and mind that hasnt worked out for me of late.

BUT.. Lifes been one crazy ride and I seriously havent had the time to sit down and jot it all... so what im going to do is try to recall bits and pieces to give you a broad adaptation of my life since the last update...

but... not right now hahah as I have to make dinner.. but I thought id come here and write this dribble.. then hopefully this evening when the little munchkins are tightly tucked away, i can sit here with my coffee and construct a few paragraphs of news and updates.

I appologise from the tips of my toes to the top of my nose....

GROS GROS BISOUS.

Ive done this one too many times now....

Hey hey, its.. welll WEDNESDAY....

Heading to Barcelona on Monday for a short getaway, flying out of Geneva in the monring, staying in some nice looking apartment right by Las Ramblas, and in the Gothic quaters, which excites me greatly.. Just Juliet and I are going. As you know we were going to hit the coast of Italy, but we are very worn out with everything back to school we need a more stay in one spot kinda thing, so we found this. And it suits us just fine. We can travel Italy any weekend, so its no biggy...

Today I finally went to Auberge A L`onde, which is the restaurant Laurences and her family own, aside from the Creperie. The place is in St Saphorin in amongst all the vinyards and cobled streets... its really a truely amazing place. Thats where the pictures above are from today.

I had a coffee and the most delicious tart with Laurences friend Carlo who is a music producer and has produced albums for the likes of Norah Jones (two of her latest songs were recorded in his studio, which is the place NEXT to the restaurant.. and she has eaten at the rstaurent a few times... as you do..), Jewel, Sarah Mclachlan, Madonna, and has written the music for Austin Powers (the first movie), Mortal Kombat, MAGUIVER... Just to name a few...he s a super nice guy and real down to earth... Hes taking care of Athos while we all go on holiday...

Laurence and I spoke about me helping organise some events at the Auberge and having some say in what goes on, they own the building next door which has a cellar that Carlo has renivated and they also have a giant room with an open fire to host events.., Im really happy about this.... I must say. They are also thinking about opening a cafe right by the restaurant, more low key casual kind of affair, serving cuppachinos and tarts etc .. I said id be happy to help organise this also... So once things start happening it will be top notch.

Anywho, Jazzy has just gone to the hospital because her finger is so infected and looks like its about to drop off, so i hope they sort that out. It swelled right up only since this morning to now... poor darl.

Just realised you can click on the pics in my blog if you wish to view them larger!

So the family leave tomorrow for Dubai, so I have thurs, fri, sat and sun night home alone, thinking about having a dinner paty one night and inviting some off my Swisspo friends. But my main clan are on holidays.. some in America and some in the Carribean.. But, i still have some around, so we`ll see if I can sort something out.

Two weeks off from french school, but i do have homework ha ha... its easy as at the minute.. but i dont think ill be saying that for much longer.

Je suis fatigue so im going to go now. Its usually my afternoon off, but with the whole Jasmine thing, I said id be happy to stay and look after the other rug rats.. arent i just the sweetest. YES I AM.

Gros bisous mon petite cheries. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So this is where you are, and this is where I am.

... I know its been a while... but, I am here to salavage the lost time...with one helluva giant post.

To kick off, please note the photo on the left.. this was taken by yours truely on Sunday, its the view over to France and as you can see, the snow is starting to tumble!! but its looks super sweet!...

Now....since i last let you all in on the who how.......

.......I have.......

- been to Lugano, and Milan, that was the weekend of the 19th till the 22nd of September.

The first day we (Juliet and I) got up early in Lugano and just decided to train it to Milan, we meandered around Milan - mainly Duomo for the day taking in some really awesome sights, and sounds ofcourse we fit in a gelati AND a few coffees.. (best coffee ive had EVER).. we also happened to be in Duomo on a day where all hell was breaking loose with protests about racism and equal rights.... Flares going off, people chanting, storming malls... scary to a degree but really quite interesting!! Headed back to Lugano for the evening, had some pasta then hit the hay... the next day was spent roaming through the streets of Lugano and then we boarded a Lunch Boat Cruise on the lake. It was truely super, the views of all the surrounding hills and vinyards and little quaint houses... then as it was a LUNCH cruise, we had some pasta in the restaurant bit, comfy couches, friendly waitresses... was a treat!

We were planning to stay the Sunday night and leave for Lausanne on Monday... But with incomming messages of "please come back and celebrate" from friends in Lausanne and the prospect of missing some of the new metro opening celebrations.. was enough to sway us.. so we got on a train that night and headed back to Lausanne... Went to a concert down by the lake which was awesome and then headed into town to meet some more people and dance the night away. We were very glad to have gone back to Lausanne to experience the mayhem....

what else what else....Oh actually I attended to `Fete Des Vendanges`in Lutry on the weekend of the 27th and 28th. It was a typical swiss fete and it had such a perfect ambience and i could have stayed there forever.. hahaha.. our friend Kristian the Canadian was working at a bar there for his Rugby club, so we didnt pay for anything all night.. they had dancing and bands and fairy floss and food and churros and rides and and everything..... Juliet and I went back the next day to check out the daytime festivities and her kids were in the parade, they went through all the seasons and all the little kiddies were dressed up, swiss day, xmas, easter, spring, autumn, halloween etc etc etc....

So since then its just been normal working week with nothing massive to report... Juliet and I are planning a trip down the west coast of Italy for our break which is from the 17th till the 16th of October... Hitting Amalfi, Positano, Naples, Rome, Pisa, Lucca, Florence, Bologna, Milan. Versy much looking forward to it. Booking our flights tomorrow I believe and then booking hostels over the next few days. We were goign to go on a cruise, which started in rome and hit some wowzer places, greece turkey etc, but for our budgets right now it just didnt work out.. only just.. but enough to sway us away and onto plan B.. which really, isnt anything to turn your nose up at.... just saying....

RIGHT. Hope your not all snoring yet.. but this is as much for you as it is for me.. and my fish brain.... so i can look back and remember what i actually did!!!

Family news... There is talk of going to America for the easter break next year, instead of back to Nice... I shall say now, i dont think its a BAD idea hahah... and am secretly praying it happens.. The plan is to hit New York for 4 days and then Miami for 6 days and then Tampa Bay for a few more days... YES PLEASE.

We all went to the KNIE suisse circus last night. It was tres tres tres bien... there were acrobatics, elephants... not acrobatic elephants... two seperate bits.. sooo many horses... LAMAS (yes, how B-zaaaar.. it jumped round the stage on its back legs... ) and camels.. and i have discovered camels really do frighten me.. and they are just ODD... severley ODD. but anyway. It was so much fun, and being with the kids just made it even better. They enjoyed it so much and my knee was like a musical chair for the 4 of them who all took it in turns to sit on my lap and clap along.. I didnt mind one iota..

Roxane got sort of Braces today, but they arent braces haha, they are to stretch her teeth out to make sure the grown up teeth come down well and then she is to have braces after that. Shes handling it quite well... but I would understand if she wasnt.. 9 years old, foreign mouth piece type thing.. not the easiest thing to deal with.

Chloe has had some monster attacks over the past week which really took their toll on me, but again i remind myself she is 3.5 years old, and these things have happened and will happen and its just a part of her finding herself and etc etc..... But today she was a little angel, and i really really do love the little thing!!

Margaux is havign a bit of a hard time at school, this is the first year of a two year selection process to see if she gets into the college she wants etc... like ive previusly mentioned its really an obscene schooling system.. but she has so many tests every week and they really are difficult, even Chahin last night said some of the questions on her science test he didnt learn till he was 17... let alone 11.... I really feel for her, the pressure is immense and there is no way out...

Jazzy is, just jazzy, plodding along... no dramas there, shes just airy fairy and i just laugh at how she will be half way putting on her clothes and then she is sitting at the piano playing a tune.. and i have to say.. AHH jazz, you might want to put your pants on?? hahhaa... she is the wild child.. she really really is... she can spend hours in the bath... just playing with the toys.. her imagination is something amazing... the oher day she was late home form school and when questioned why.. she finally told us she saw a butterfly and decided to follow it.. HAHHA.. can u imagine....

Halloween season is a looming.... the girls did their pumpkins yesterday and have got all their costumes out already... ofcourse its not for another 3 weeks... ha ha, but they have been talkign about this since i arrived in Nice...

Chloe is still finding things round the house, wrapping them in wrapping paper, putting them in Chahins bedside draw and reminding him to give them to her for her birthday.... Its really a sight to see... I have to remind her everyday to not take anything from my room.. but if we cant find something.. its sure to be stashed in the pressie drawer...

The dogs ran off on me a few times while walking in the forest, which i am LOVING.. (please note sarcasm).. so i am putting his lead on a lot sooner than usual on our walk.. because its not that fun waiting 20 mins for him to show up.... while freezing in the forest....

French class started wednesday gone.. i feel 5 again, learning the alphabet and 1-10 in french... but it really isnt that easy... the numbers i have down pat, no sweat... but the alphabet.. `EEGREC` . for a Y... come on... and ASH for H.... and Airrrrrgh for R... ha ha... crazy talk.... but ill get it... u watch this space.. ill be all Frenchinised in no time.

Thast about it really... well ofcourse there is more.. but Im going to leave it there.

I will be a bit more strict on myself and update more often.... time just flys away from me... but i shall try..

Please let me know how everyone is travelling along...

Miss you all, and sending loads n loads of BISOUS...

Ps. Check the new HAIR... im loving life as a Brunette.

im freee... free falling..

(Lake Lugano.....)

Just a short-ish note to say.

I am off to Lugano tomorrow with Jet, its a 5 hour traing ride. Leaving from Lausanne, changing in Lucern, then straight onto Lugano.

Kristian is joining us Saturday night after rugby and then Sunday he is going Canyoning, which.. to be fair, aint my cup o tea, so Jet and I took a pass and will entertain ourselves..

Either Sunday afternoon or Monday we are going to Italy for a few hours.. (as you do).. just to check it out, and we will be so close, so why not!!!

Then we will head back to Lausanne Monday night. Starting work again on Tuesday.

Its going to be a massive weekend here in Lausanne as the Mtero they have been working on for TEN years is having its opening... so it will be chocca block everywhere. WOulda been cool to see, but.. we didnt want to waste our long weekend.

I have a week and a bit off in October when the family go to Dubai, so I have decided I am going to hit about 4 countries, and just do a country in 2 days and then move on... Jets coming with so that will be cool.

I looked at a holiday in Majorca in Spain, and it was only 694 francs for 7 nights, airfares included and hotel and food... amazingly sweet deal. BUt I think i might keep that for either later in the year or next year.. Im more in the frame of mind that I want to run around and see everything... so this is what i shall do.

Time is flying by... cant believe ive been gone near 2 months. thats just CRAZY.

Im looking into what sort of ski pass to get for the upcomign season... there are SO many to choose from.. evrything is so modern.. you get a card which they either load credit onto or you have an annual pass to everything which you ahve to have on you at all times, like when we drive on the freeway, each time you cross to another slope or what not, you go through beepers that register how much money u have and so forth.. its insain.

Okay, i best be off.

one more thing... there is a multitude of good looking people around here, sometimes the men look so good, i just want to walk past and applaud. HA HA HA...

Ill leave with that.. Grandma will love it...

BISOUS BISOUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

..umm is someones food ringing?

We didnt end up going to Zurich, the weather was atrocious, so we decided it best not to pay 60chf to sit on a train for 3 hours, to just sit inside out of the rain for the day in Zurich.

(Jet, moi & Hannah last night)

Its ohkay, plenty of time for such things.

Instead the girls and I met in town and just chilled at this quaint cafe/bar called Wish Bar, its really cute and cosy, so i think we may have found a new place to frequent.

We also went ot this massive massive bookstore and i couldnt help myself and bought 3 books;

Eat, Love, Pray by Elizabeth Gilbert, I saw this lady on Oprah a while back and i remember thinking at the time, sounds like a good book to read, then Hannah picked it up and suggested i give it a crack. Also picked up A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini, its got some wowzer write ups, so thought id give it a burl. And last but not least, Almost French by Sarah Turnbull. Basically that ones about a lady from Sydney who moved to France, I picked it up and then Jet mentioned she read it and she loved it... so bang, three books, im already a way through Eat Pray Love. Its super.

The girls and I agreed we are losing the capability to speak proper english. (Dad would argue he doesnt think i ever spoke it properly) But I mean, when we speak english to swiss people, we slow it down and take out the words that are not necessary to get our point across and we rearrange our sentences to simplyfy it, and especially with the kids.. but then we get together and struggle to talk properly.. we had eachother in stitches we some stupid stupid sentences at lunch yesterday.. It will be good when we can all string a few french sentences together.

Saturday night went to a new club called Cult, they order 600 Franc bottles of vodka there. Its quite crazy, and they have flames coming out the top so everyone knows when someone is forking out the big bucks. Which is quite a normal occurance I am beginning to find out. I sure as hell wont be forking out 600 bucks for a bottle o vodka anytime in the next..well..ever.

Jet and I are off to Lugano on the weekend, taking the train and staying at the hostel i mentioned last blog. (http://www.montarina.ch/). Kristian is probably coming with us. He is from Canada and plays rugby here, works as an in tern sort of, in a office for a sports federation just doing bits n pieces. Hes here until December and then is going back to study medicine for the next 6 years.. woo. Def not the type youd ever pick to do med, which is what makes him so interesting. He hasnt found many younger people to hang out with, so weve welcomed him into our clan.

Oktoberfest is still in the maybe pile. Its going to be one of those things that will be decided the day before, i just know it.

I am booking a holiday package this week for the week and a half i have off in mid october, Jet and i are going to go to greece or turkey, depending on how good the packages are. Im heading to the travel agent some time through the week. We need to find some sun.. because by the looks of things, last week marked the last week its going to be beautiful.. so heres comes the cold .. woo!

The girls and Kristian and I decided we are going to have a Halloween party, especially for Jet and I as we dont really celebrate Halloween as you all know it isnt that big in Oz. And we all agreed to celebrate eachothers countries big days.. say thanksgiving and independance day and australia day and halloween and some other random days.. Just to keep things fun fun fun.

Im exhausted and very much contemplating SLEEP.

Oh, im on Skype, so if anyone has it, feel free to add the gypsy ha ha. meagan.bignell is my skype name, took me a while to think of, its pretty original.

I love the german channel, its hardcore ha. All the good movies are on this channel, im contemplating german classes, just so it makes watching these movies a bit more enjoyable.

Stay Safe. A bientot, Bisous x

I need your grace to remind me to find my own.

heloooo there.

So, got the net, cha ching.

Lets see the past week has been full of randomness...

I finally got over being sick with stomache ache and flu like symptoms, 2 days feeling peachey keen, then wham, throat issues so bad i couldnt talk... yeah yeah some may think that a blessing, but to me it was tres un cool. So another trip to the pharmacy to talk to the nice Scotish lad and i am loaded up with more drugs...

Anywho, youve got to take the rough with the smooth, so i am ploughing on.

Had some gorgeous weather days and then saturday it poured down, for hourssss.... and that was the day Laurences cousin got married, so safe to say she was high unimpressed.

I have met a further array of crazy characters, from portugal to ireland and back to france.

My friend network is growing and growing.

I stick mainly with my 3 girls, Juliet who is from Brisbane, Hannah who is from Tennesee america and Ashley, Washington state. We all AU Pair for familys, Han has 3 kids, Ash has 2 and Juliet and I have 4.

We have been planning up some trips to go away, Lugano being our main one, found the coolest looking hostel right on the lake and only 25CHF a night.. thats very very cheap! and then Juliet and I are hoping to squeeze in some Oktoberfest, but not too sure if that will happen.

Hannah, Juliet and I are off to Zurich on Saturday, just for the day... have a glance around, we can always go back.. but we have these train passes that get us good rates, so why the heck not!!

At the playcentre the other day i met a lady from Sydney named Louise who has two younguns, so Chloe and I now have another playdate, and on the same day i met Tatiana from columbia who has a 20month old son, so I got her in on our french classes and she is also another new playdate for Chlo and I... so safe to say, we have a decent amount of play dates going on...

Tomorrow Chlo and I are going to the ZOO, i am as stoked as she is... it was a sight to see her and I going through all the animals we may see while im trying to make a stir fry but being coaxed into acting like an elephant around the kitchen ha ha...

These girls sure have their moments, but they are so adorable and just amazing...

As requested, here is some tid bits about the lil ladys.

Margaux - Oldest at 11.. she is kind and gentle, she is the peace keeper between the girls.. which is a massive help to me.. She does, Tennis, Gym, Athletics and Piano in her spare time... but she tells me she secretly wants to be a singer or model... She is well studios and gets really good grades at school, although only 11 this is a massive year for her at school, its her first year at the BIG school and this year decides whether she gets to go into to studies she wants at the school she wants... its a LOT of pressure on a 11/12 year old.... The school systems here are insane....

Roxane - she is 9.. she is quiet, but she is so so beautiful, she is the tidy, OCD child, she likes her bed a certain way and has all her clothes beautiful stacked in her closet, lets just say i never ever have to tidy her room.. and if for one day she doesnt make her bed, she comes home at lunch and appologises profusely for it... She does, circus school, art school, tennis, horse riding in her spare time... she is a really good horse rider and just LOVES horses, her room has posters of horses everywhere.. she is always doing flips and things on the trampoline, will be interesting to see what she decides to persue when shes older... Her and Margaux are very close and love hanging out together.

Jasmine - She is 7.. she is the attitude master ha ha... she is kind of stuck in between not being a baby and not wanting to play with chloe, but then the older two girls kind of exclude her a bit beacuse they play `big girl`games and she just doesnt knwo where to fit... she has the best tantrums and is slightly cheeky, always making things up to get her way, but ive cottoned on quickly and the older two are quick to tell me if she is lying or not.. but she is so so affectionate and likes to ahve one on one time with me... she probably struggles the most with her english, so im going to work on that with her... AThos the dog is her best friend and whenever she has a tantrum or goes into silent mode, you can alys be sure to find her snuggle dup with him somewhere...

Chloe - She is 3.. going on 30... She speaks english so so well it still blows my mind... She is the strongest willed of the lot of them and she knows what she wants and will go through hell and fire to get it... she comes out with the best one liners though which throws me into a laughing fit...
If she doesnt want to do something, most of the time u can forget it, coz she wont do it.. but i am learning the ways around this... ha ha... She loves a good laugh and unless she having her little moments, she will mostly always be laughing at something or other.
I spend the most time with her, but she is just wonderful... I take her down to lake geneva to feed the ducks and play on the massive playground, we go to the local park here, we bake muffins and cakes, we have picnics with ashley and her kiddies... we go to the playcenter... just all sorts really. She loves taping away on the piano and she doesnt just BASH at it, as you would think most 3 year olds would, she actually just hits them and sometimes makes a sweet little tune... She loves it when i vaccum while dancing to a MIKA song and then using the duster as my microphone... a sight to see i tell you...

Her fave line of all time is "ITS ME MEAGAN" which means... Im going to do it, not you...
And she gets into a fit of laughter when i call her a cheeky monkey or a silly goose... so if shes having a moment, those lines usually sway her...

Best line of today was.. "I love you meagan, just like i love this black bead" hahaha she was making something with beads... i couldnt stop laughing.... not the red or pink bead... but the BLACK... how sweet ha!!!

All the older girls come home from school every lunch, like every swiss child... 2 hours in the middle of the day off, its insane... really stupid... but anywho....

Chlo goes to school Mon Wed and Fri mornings, so those are my and laurence time to do other things, some ironing, shopping, walking Athos or other things round the house we cant do while we have kids....

I love walking the dog throug the forrest, past farm houses and fields of sunflowers, with the alps as my back drop in the distance... really really super views.

Well, my fave teevee show here (only program in english) is on so im going to leave it there.

Everyone be sure to write me and let me know how your going.

Ciao for now xo Bisous.

Houston, the problem is solved.

I finally have my internet up and running in my room... but ofcourse it was surrounded by drama... the whole house went out of connection AND phone connection... and some dim wit came over last week for 6.5 hours and made it worse....

so swisscom sent another chap round today who was super stylin and charming to boot.

he was here 3 hours, fixed everything, got everyones pcs a working AND all phone lines..

yeah yeah he left some live electricity wires out and about for small children to suck on... but.. Chahin will sort that out.. a small fee to pay for the lovely internet HA HA... no i am kidding.. well im not there are live wires out.. but it wasnt cool when we found them...

anywho... i will promise to write a lengthy piece in the ensuing days.. right now, its about 27 outside and its near 5.30pm... i must go catch some rays before they dissapear..

A bientot xox

theres about two seconds....

that i have to write until i have to gte these crazy kids to bed.

Met Ashley, got along like two peas in a pod, went out saturday, met up with some of the peoples i met the first weekend i was here, met some of ashleys friends...

had a BLAST.

the week has been crazy... still... shopping through the day for new shoes for everyone for school...

OH i lost chloe for a bit at the shopping mall the other day .... she came back... ha ha... its hrad to keep an eye on four kids sometimes....

and then... i went for a walk in the forrest with AThos.. and he bolts off and i lost him... but the police found him... stupid dog.... he got lost... and ended up at some farm.. as you do...

so im on a roll.... really, last thing i need to do is get lost myself.. which is sure to happen sometime this weekend, as Splash (Ashley) is going away, so ill be fending for myself and navigating myself round...

OH met another au pair, Juliet, she is from Brisvegas.. she is lovely and we get along swimingly also which is just tops....

she just 21 and has only just finished uni... so this is a big adventure for her...

took her out last ngith for her first time out in lausanne, had a good one, even though we all had to leave round 1030ishto make sure we caught out bussses...

the transport here is fabulous... i just gotta get my head round it, but Ash says that will happen in no time...

so i got my bus pass which is great and i start french school on the 10th of september for 6 months, i am loooking forward to it, coy now i ahve Swiss friends it will be so much easier for me to pick up and it makes me want to learn all the more as well..

Juliet and i enrolled in the same class, and then we have wednesday nights dinner dates... where everyone meets us after school to chow down on some good ole swiss cuisine....

sooo i am very sure i ahev done more... but to be fair, i feel like this week is a bit of a blur... so if i do think of something awesome to add that i shall do...

oh one more thing, i got my first glimpse of snow the other day.. hahah summer snow....

oh and i met a snowboard instructor.... PURRRRRRRRRRRFect...

Bring on Verbier...

**Bisous mon amies**

(we are having technical problems and apparently the computer is too kool for skool and wont let me add a picture... but i have a good one.. so ill continûe to try over the next few days..)

chocolate and cheese and bread, oh my, chocolate and cheese and bread oh my...

(picture is the view from Chateau Gryere - go the panorama feature on the camera)

whoaaaaaaaa.. where to start, the beginning sounds dimple, but i ahve done so so much in the past few days i dont even know where the beginning is...

the Australian family came and they are still here mum dad and two daughters..

its been so good having them here, a little piece of home or something like that.

we went to the olympic museum in lausanne which was really really great especially as the olypics are on, i got an audio tour and it was well overload of info but so so interesting....

we went to the puchy creperie, which Laurences father owns.... yum yum.

i have also been on a supr nice sailing boat to Chateau de chillon, which is over 1000 years old and used to belong to the Lords of Savoy.. its an island on the water, so like most castle a moat was not necessary hahah... but it was great glance at some more super history...
the boat went then to Montreax, jazz festival town.. the place was stunning, we got off here also and had some scrumptious Movenpik icecream which was.. heaven in your mouth!!

yesterday was my fave day thus far but the longest and most exhausting... we ad our two cars and we drove to Gryere which is famous for the making of the cheese which is a fave round here... we were going to the cheese factory but there was a massive tour so we headed to the little village of gryere, which was so so quaint and just spectactular, up on this hill overlooking the alps, and the scenery like most , was just breathtaking...

after this we went for lunch right on this ski area, with all the chateaus and they had this tabogan ride which went through the forest and the kids went on this.. there was no snow it was just a tabogan ride like u got pulled up mechanically and then flew down through a half pipe type thing.. the girls love loved it.. and it gave us adults a nice break....

after this we then went on to the CHOCLATe factoRY.. oh yeahhhhh.. Nestle, Callier... etc etc..

yes, there was a room where it was all you can eat.. cha ching, scoreeeee..... but honestly when there is so much in front of you, there is still only so much u can eat....

thennnn after that.... yes this is still the same day... we drove through the alps... to Gstaad, whcih is one of the more ritsy places to stay with all the boutiques and bits and bobs through the streets... but the chateaus here were just outstanding....

AFTER a drink and walk in Gstaad we then drove again round the alps past Glacier 3000 which is a very popular ski resort and the names says it all its about 3000 feet up... then onto Les Diablerets, and had Fondue for dinner.... MmMmMM cheesy goodnesss....

Laurence grandfather owns a Chalet in Les Diablerets so I will be going back many a time to stay in this beautiful town....

So that was our final stop and i can say i was well glad.... i was exhausted and i think everyone was.... but it was a day not to forget... the views.... something i will be happy to see over and over again..

tomorrow is saturdayyyy..woohooo... i am hopefully meeting up with Ashley, another au pair, she called me to go tonight, but i had agreed to stay in and have a Pesto pasta pyjama party with the 5 girls... so here i am... btu its okay, its been fun.... but cant wait for tomorrow and hopefully seeing some Lausanne nightlife..

one more week of school holidays and then its scheduele time.. but i must say i ahve been ^working^long hours.. so school time might actually be a bit easier...

Yawn, time to hit the hay me thinks....

Adios .

one more moment...

ok ok.. so i just wrote the biggest post and then it dissapeared, least to say i am highly un impressed.

here we go again....

yesterday i spent my first day in switzerland with Alex and his friends... like i said in the last post i was going to meet alex in town and then maybe do some sighseeing...

well i did meet alex bout 330pm and we went to this shopping mall kind of like myer or david jones with all sorts of brands and every level has something diff...

we went to the top of this and had cakes and coffeee which was really great and the view was just amazing.

we were chatting away and didnt realise the time so we had no time for any sighseeing and we just went back down and his friends picked us up and we drove to La crox to another friends house for a bbq... the house was fab.. it was an old farm house ocnverted into a 3 story loft i guess you could say... it was cool!!

by about 8pm there was baout 10 of us, and two of alexs friends are djs so they brought their equipement along and played some tuneeeez for us, and heapsa of the music was in english and things like david guettera and bodyrox and sneaky sound system, so i knew heaps!!

so here i was with 10 complete strangers, sitting around, laughing, drinking Mateus (rose wine, sparkling, my new fave) good food, sunshine beaming down, with the view of lake geneva right infront of us... just having a splendid time!!

about 3 -4 of them could speak english, not fluently but ver very well i thought... so i learnt a bit more french and i taught them a bit more english .. and they said they cant wait till i can speak fluent french with them ha ah i said they may be waiting a while... if they were all having a conversation in french alex would explain basically what they were saying but i can also now pick out bits n pieces and words and get the egenral gist of the convo...

Gin and some ofthe others wanted to take me out in Lausanne to dance, but i didnt want to come back late for my first night, so Karine and i swapped numbers and she said she will organise them all for a ntoher night in a few weekends and they will ake me out.. Karine was lovely and she really did speak very good english... she said she would take me shopping and to diff places as well which will be great!!

Alex had to get the train back to his village so GIn drove me home and he speaks about as much english as i do french, but its funny how you can still find that commond ground whcihw as music with us, and then with explainign other things we both just tried and tried and eventually we understand.. hahah but it was a real laugh and its good coz we can just laugh at eachother...

but all i can say is lucky he had GPS in his carha ha, coz explaining hwo to get back would have been a truggle because i was hardly sure and then with the whole french english barrier, i could have ended up anywhere.. but alas i got home safe and sound and about 1130pm which is actually earlier than some nights i have been up with the girls...

today was spent with me having a little sleep in and then i went on a solo trip on foot round a few streets to try and get some bearings... i unfortunately (fortunately) found the local bakery..hahaha bought myself a little pastry... which are to die for, they really have got the tastefactor covered ... yum yum..

then just before i took the girls to the park, it is my day off but i didnt mind and it got them out for a while.. even thought they have a decent back yard, i knew they wanted to go...

the weather is just amazing, but apparently its going to get worse over the next few days, which is unfortnate as we have a family from australia arriving tomorrow for a week, parents and 2 kids... so i will have 5 to look out for ha ha... coy roxane is going to horse camp for the week...

$so laurence and i will have to think of some things to do inside if it rains etc... fun fun fun...

i start french school in 2 weeks, i have to do a test to see how good (bad) i am and then they put me in an appropriate class..hahah chuck me at the bottom i say..

anywho..hhahah thats my dear diary for the day... hope everyone is doing great xoxoxox

i`m walking on sunshine whoaaa... for the minute.

helloooo from Switzerland.

well i made it... my new home, my new room, my new bathroom...

let me start with the end of the Nce adventure...

Laurence took me to see ST Pauls village in Nice which is where Picasso lived... and there are his paintings everywhere you go.. i ahve some pics of that which i will put on facebook or somewhere when i get more than 5 mins..

Margaux and i spend the day in Antibes also one fo the days.. we took the train and justspent the day wandering around and looking at the shops and the amazing beach...

the weather got hotter and hotter as the days went by... yesterday it reached 38 degrees as we were leaving....

so yes here i am... in le mont... lausanne...

we went form the airport to Chahins parents house last night in Ouchey which is the town right on lake geneva... i sat out on the balcony for a while and took in the sights... it was so clear you could see all the way across to the French side... just amazing... so thats where my picture is from..

this afternoon i am having a guided tour round Lausanne with a friend of a friend ha ha... should be good.

and then i think he is taking me to a bbq tonight which should be good.. good for me to have time away from the craziness of it alll...

anywho i better go.. larence is shopping and i have to keep my eye on miss chloe!!

love and kisses xox

speaking in a poxy french accent does not make you cool...

hahha... i havent been but just incase u were wondering...

so here i am in the south of france at cote de azur.. NICE..

its so amazing.. the house here is out of this world.. its huge and the views are just amazing.. as you can see form this photo even..

i left the uk on not the best note as i was late for the plane, only due to the fact some moron geezer took his sweet time in th eline and left a few of us racing for the planes..

so i was practically chasing the plane down the run way... it was horrribleeee.. i had to jump a barrier that practically sid i was too late to board.. but trust me i was not hvaing that..

the girls and laurence greeted me at the airport, all very excited.. and then yesterday we played games and then had a swim in this amazing swimming pool.

today we played games and then took roxane and jasmine to horse riding. and we watched them for a while and then came back here and went in the pool and i`ve just beeen playing with the girls and cards... we just had dinner and the girls are tentively wtching a french movie so i have some time to email.. but can hear chloe crying so i better keep this short now.

tomorrow i am going to explore nice by myself while laurence stays with the girls.. so hopefully that goes all well and i can see some of this fine city i can see form my window.

its sooooo warm here.. like i would think about 28 every day..

i miss you all like crazy..

this place is amazing but i cant wait to get to switzerland and have aroom where i can put everything.

love love xoxoxo

mamma mia..here i go again...

So the UK stay is coming to an end.

I've had a lovely time with Emma and her family and friends.

Yesterday, emz, cris, me and carmelina spent the day at Regents Park innocent village fete. It was brilliant. They had stalls and food and a PIMS bus and they had different tents with different acts on. They had the village green which had 'welly wanging' and old school Morris Dancing, they also had duck herding which we didn't get to see but i could only imagine how funny it would have been. We saw ferret racing and they had live music in the 'farm barn'. It was run by the people who make 'innocent' smoothies. So they also had all ways to keep carbon emissions down and just general green keeping!

After that Cris and Ems and I went to covent gardens for some dinner at this quaint little italian joint where i had the bets lasagne ever!

Today after a much needed sleep in Ems and I went to Waldon Essex to joing about 25 of her family for a 'family fun day' for her Gramps birthday. Most of the kids made cakes up and there was cake judging. There was also badminton going on and we all played rounders in which i proceeded to fall over after a miss strike hahaha i blamed it on the foreign territory... my knee hurts! ha ha ha.

Waldon was a gorgeous place, and the drive there was lovey, passing through old villages and bits n pieced. Waldon was founded in 990 and had the first vikings and is the one of the only towns in england that can claim a heritage of over a thousand years... or so i hear ;)

Tomorrow I say goodbye to Emma (but thank god its not a proper goodbye as i know i will be seing her more often than not).. and I am flying out to France (Nice) to meet up with Laurence and the girls...

I'n not nervous, i think i am just looking forward to it and looking forward to starting my new life with the family... come what may!

I hope everyone is having a ball.

Miss you all heaps xo

and its London calling.

Hi Team.

Well I made it to London, after a day or so of flying. Had an awesome flight from Korea to Heathrow, i made friends with Sam and Tania, both travelling solo and both from melbourne. So we all just kept swapping seats and chatting and then playing in flight tetrix against eachother. It made the 11 hour flight go so much quicker. I had 3 seats to myself, so that was brilliant and so did Tania so we were all at eachothers seats for most fo the time! Sams moving to london for 10 months or so and his mrs is already here. Tania is going to Dublin for a while to catch up with mates and may get work and stay a while. We all got on swimmingly and swapped numbers for future catch ups, so whats tops!

Its stiffling hot here! Would you believe... got off the plane and nearly melted... 29 degrees at like 6pm.. crazy town! I met Em in town and we then went back to her flat in Bellview... and i was explained WHy its called bellview... but shame, we didn't spot any of the 'Ladys of the night' parading last night....

Ems and i went into southend and got a bite to eat and then by the time we did that and got home its was 10:30pm and i had been up for a VERY long time, so i crashed out in emmas bed while she slept on the sofa. what a darl!!!

I woke up at my own leisure this morning and got the train to town and then went down to Tower bridge and did a spot of sightseeing and wandering down the bank of the thames. Grabbed a late lunch and then went to Borough Market which was cool to wander.

I also found the oldest Gothic Church in london in Southwark which was pretty cool, got a snaperoo of that to add to the pile!

I now find myself just a few spots down from London Bridge station waiting for miss Emma to walk from work, then we are heading to WAGGA MAMMAS for dinner.. its liek a japanese food chain store, its pretty shwoittt!!!!

THEN the most exciting.... I will be seeing DARREN later this evening down at Canary Wharf for a bevoir or two!! I am so stoked to see him.. (for those of you who don't know, Darren was one of the cool kids from Contiki last year, he's from South Africa and has just moved to London working for Barclays bank..) he's a legend!!!!

Tomorrow Em and I have the day at our perel, so who knows what we will do... But Friday night we are going to a pub with Cristina and some of the other gals. so that should be sweet.

Saturday Em, Cristina and I are going to a fete at Regents Park, its like all traditional and old school with stalls and fairy floss and fun things!!! so can't wait.... then Sunday is Family day with Ems family for her Gramps b'day.. we are heading to some giant park for a day of fun and games.

Emz and I are hoping to catch a theatre show Sat night, so i've got the guide to look at whats on... theres only about 8 i want to see ha ha... grease, hairspray, phantom, ... i wish we will rock you was still on, coz i know for sure ema and i would see that, but whaddaya know its NOT!!!

So i've got a fun filled few days in front of me. Laurence has already text me and is excited for my arrival on Monday! My flight to Nice is at 1.40pm.. for arrival about 4pm france time i think!

Well its been nice to just sit here and crap on.. hahahaha

Hope you are all doing peachey keen and don't forget to leave a comment or facebook or email.. whatever floats your boat!

love me xo

the air is a whole lot warmer out here!

I"M HERE!

in Korea, its hot as buggery, 30 degreeeg celcius to be exact!!

Can't say i planned for this, but alas, the random top i chucked in my bag that i didn't mean to worked out a treat!!!

I'm at the HYATT, its posh as, and has all these fandangled things liek a GIANT FLURO robot.. i had my pic with it, so don't worry you will all get to see.

I met this girl named Tania who is flyign on the same flights as me, so we just sat down to a nice late dinner, hyatt style... it was not too shabby, didn't try the Korean specials as i didn't like the thought of burning a hole in my mouth nor spending the night trying to not get shot in the butt with the bidea... ha ha....

Flight over was fine... ohkay just got the hurry along from the lady in this business centre... so... i better call it a day.

Catcha in LONDON.. or you'll catch me....

either or.

And emz.. if you read this, got your message, and what do you knwo i am having issues with texting out form my phone... so hopefully i have that sorted quick snap... otheriwse... i'll be ahoying some random londonian and using their phone.

Peace out space cadets xo

Crave the dawn, waiting to come to life.

Right.

6 hours till i have to be up.

Let the NEW journey begin.

Stressed to the max today, but sold my car AND got a sweet tax return. BONUS.

I guess i'll see you all on the other side then eh?

I'll miss you.

Wish me luck!!!!!

Hours pass and she still counts the minutes.

3 sleeps to go.

Excited? YES
Ready? NO
c'est la vie? INDEED

Its all on like donkey kong.

bring . it . on .

I've packed my bags i'm good to go!...

....Okay so not quite! I'm just wiating on the packing fairy to come help...

But in one week today I am up up and away.

I depart Oz-Vegas on the 29th of July, then I have a one night stay in Korea and then onto LONDON BABY. London till the 4th of August, then to Nice (to meet the family), then on the 9th (i think) I fly to Geneva.

So I though, heck, why not start another blog.. because i figure, i KNOW i will have internet frequently, as in IN MY ROOM. So there should be no reason WHY i can't keep it updated. Even if i am so exhausted as to just write a one liner.. that should suffice.

I do ramble, i do spell things wrong and, generally I don't have the best memory. But I will try my hardest to keep it updated. Just so you all get the general GIST of whats going on.

The good the bad, the happy the sad. Its probably going to be noted down.

Don't worry, I won't be going all EMO on you. Ha ha, It's more just so the folks and people can see what I'm up to. Its by no means my DEAR DIARY! so don't fret!

And you can check it at your own pace. Its just a better way than emailing etc etc. IF you want to look at what i'm up to, then just whack it in your browser, if not. DONT! simple!

So thats it.

Follow my next.. year or so.... if you wish :)

Love and pretzels

Meagan