01.28.07
Posted in Skiing at 8:05 pm by tesstess
This weekend is a perfect weekend. Saturday we got up early and took the car to Isola, a skee station about two hours from here. The weather was fantastic with no clouds and quite warm in the sun. There was 40 cm of snow at the top.
There were six other friends and friends of friends skeeing wich was fun. I’m really sorry that we forgot the camer at home, otherwise I would have been able to show you the most fantastic pictures 
At first I was a bit nervous about the skeeing since it was six years ago I went, and all in all I’ve only been skeeing for two weeks in my life. In the begining we did only green and blue ones and I only fell once. In the afternoon I also tried some reds and I was surprised that I didn’t find it scary. Just once I went to fast and when trying to stop I ended upp with my legs out like this:
It hurt a bit but a few minutes later I was on it again. I really enjoy skeeing 
Today we’ve been taking a long walk in the surroundings here, we found a new path just above where we live where there is lots of land with olive trees. Beautiful, silent and sunny. Then lunch in the sun, some removal of leaves from the grass, now some fixing in the appartment including putting up extra glasses in the shelf in the livingroom, and later tonight we will have a couple of friends over for dinner. As I said, a perfect weekend!
01.22.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:09 pm by tesstess
It’s Monday and I should be shopping in Carrefour. Instead I’m sitting here. Reason: the car didn’t start.
Last Thursday we were in the garage to fix Anthonys’ car. On the way back we had two cars. At one point Anthony stopped and I drove up beside him to give him his money before going out on the highway. I rolled down the window on the passenger seat, threw out the money to him, and then, when I wanted to get the window back up, it broke :-/ Just like it did half a year ago. It was a bit cold in my car on the way home…
But, we also ordered the new sofa that day, so in the end it was a very good day
On Saturday we fixed my window, so much easier this time since Anthony has lots of tools for fixing things.
This morning I realized that the key to the car was still in the car since we fixed the window, and that the lamps had been left on. That’s why I’m sitting here now.
Our Saturday was a true fixing day. We finished installing spots in the kitchen which now makes a big difference! We bought curtain rods for the bed and living room and put them up. And we cooked a fantastic meal, as usual when Anthony is cooking.
The Sunday was a climbing day. We met up with Sylvain and Emelie in the Carrefour parking as last Sunday and went one hour to the west, to the Var. I had to be very careful with my foot, I can walk but it still hurts if I hit it just a little bit on the side. I didn’t think I should be able to climb but it turned out to be ok as long as I put down the foot with care each time. Me and Anthony went up on a three section route, which means that Anthony first climbed the first section, waited for me to come after, then he continued up, leaving me on the middle of the wall to secure him from there. The whole route was about 70 meters high. A great view but a little bit scary.
Yesterday evening I was very tired from being out in the fresh air the whole day so we just stayed home and watched a film. It was a French film and I don’t remember the name, but I saw it in French with French subtitles! I had to ask Anthony a few times when I missed something I thought was important for the story, but in the end I actually managed to understand the film! Of course I missed lots of things they said, but it was possible! I’m so proud!!
Today Thomas, the bas player in our jazz band, wrote an email and said he will quit and join another band. I’m so sad for this L I really hope we will be able to find another one. It is the only thing I’m doing on my own down here at the moment, everything else is with Anthony. Which I like of course, but I think it’s important to meet other people as well…
I found an advert for French lessons in the vegetable store, maybe I should call and see how much it is per hour. Could be good if it is in the neighborhood so I don’t have to drive all the way to Nice to see Celine. I didn’t have any French lesson since I came back, but I have begun to ask Anthony about words and sentences and I’m trying to make him speak French to me, and that I can answer in English, as a start.
Now I should try to get something done before Anthony come home, he promised to come and eat lunch with me and use the cables to make my car working.
01.15.07
Posted in Climbing at 4:29 pm by tesstess
Yesterday we went out climbing in L’Esterelle, the red rocks beyond Cannes. In the morning it was cloudy and cold outside but a few hours later the sun was warming us from a almost blue sky.
Emelie and Sylvain was with us out. Emelie is Swedish and he is French, just like me and Anthony, except that they speak swedish among themselves. It was nice to speak some swedish again
First Anthony climbed an easy route in first position, and then I went up on the same in second position. On the way down I didn’t look where I put my feet and sprained my left ankle. It didn’t hurt at once, but I know this kind of thing since I’ve done it lots of times before. Fast down and fast on with the bandage I luckily had in my bag. I allways keeps this one with me nowadays. Then it begun to hurt.
Aj aj aj. It hurt a lot for about an hour, then it calmed down and in the afternoon I could enjoy the wonderful view, and I even secured Anthony when he was climbing, sitting down on the ground with my leg up.
Best veiw one could have at a time when the only possible activity is sitting.
Hurt but happy!
Posted in Garden, Valbonne at 3:41 pm by tesstess
Påskliljor = Daffodills are allready up visible in the garden and the mimosa tree are in full bloom!
We also picked three avocados from our avocado tree!
The avocado three is in the middle of the picture. Unfortunately it didn’t give more than tree fruits this year, but it was very fun to pick them, Anthony up on the ladder with a rake (kratta) to his help to reach.
Lots of leaves to take up.
Luckily it was so warm this day that it could be done wearing just a t-shirt!
Eating lunch outside on the grass with the sun warming our backs, isn’t that just too good to be true! Hey, it’s January!
Posted in Etzling, Hollidays at 3:28 pm by tesstess
On the 29th of December I went with Ryanair from Gothenburg to Frankfurt where Anthony picked me up. From Frankfurt it was approximately a two hours drive to the small village where his parents live and where he also spent all his childhood just a few kilometers from the border to Germany.
This is the street where they live.
Here is the house, fully decorated for Christmas, and it was so beautiful at night with all small lights. I tried to get them on picture but my pictures of this looked more as a black heaven with stars than a house.
The garden was beautiful now in winter so I can imagine how it must look in summer filled with flowers.
We celebrated new years eave with Anthonys parents in their house.
This is the new year dinner. I don’t remember now exactly what all the food was I ate this weekend, and which was at which evening. The reason is that we ate a lot, big wonderful dinners both at lunch and late evening all the days, often with both a glas of champagne before and allways wine to the food.
At twelve o’clock it was time to shoot the fireworks. But, it was raining a lot…
But we stayed happy anyways. The men went out in the rain to fire the things, and just when it was time me and his mom went out to look up at the sky to see the fireworks.
Anthony hurt his thumb on the thing they used to light the fireworks.
We had time to visit both sets of grand parents and some cousins. On this picture we are at the house of the grand parents on his fathers side. Here I remember very well what I ate because it was frog legs! Not so bad as I had feared, but when you start thinking about what it is and looking at them closely the stomach don’t want to have more of them. I would say they tasted like a mix of chicken and fish. And the sauce was very good, people say the sauce is the reason to why they eat them in the first place.
I was so proud here because I managed to speak some sentences in french and I understood when she told me things, and I could ask questions back! I felt it was much easier here to try to speak french when I knew she didn’t know a word of english.
Here are the grandparents on the mother side. These are the ones I met once before when they went down on hollidays to the south of France and came to eat with us in Valbonne one day.
Two of the days me and Anthony went out for long walks.
First we went out in the nature just beside the village where they lived.
We climbed an “älgtorn”, but here they are not for mooses as in Sweden but for rabits and hm. rådjur (bigger brown animals with white on the bottom).
The other time we took the car and visited “Le petit Pierre”, one hours drive from Name.
At some places in the woods there are funny mountains. Here they used the mountain to not have to build all the walls of their houses.
From this village we took a two or three hours walk in the nature.
Another of this kind of rocks.
Here the tree had to struggle to get up to the sky.
And this was how it looked where the tree went around the rock. When the wind move the tree, the tree made a whole in the rock.
Anthony enjoying the veiw and the stillness of the forest. Both of us liked this place very much and could imagine a life close or in such a forest.
View from where we stopped and ate our sandwiches.
Can you believe that we saw blueberries at this time of year! We didn’t try to taste them though.
When we came up to La Petit Pierre again we saw this castle, but only from the outside since it was closed on new years eave.
I just had to take a picture on this sculpture.
So, finally I want to show you the wonderful room where I and Anthony slept. It was newly renovated by his parents.
On the second of January we took Anthonys’ car back to the south. Eric, his girfriend and their cat travelled with us in the car. It takes approximately ten hours to drive down.
Posted in Garden, Valbonne at 2:43 pm by tesstess
I know this post is a little out of date, but I really want to show you some pictures of Valbonne, the village we live at walking distance from. The pictures are taken the 18th of November, and we went out this day to catch the autumn colors.
This first picture shows the shop with fruits and vegetables. Anthony told me about this place before I moved in with him, that it was his favorite store, and now I share this with him. All fruits are as beautifully stapled like those clementines.
All year around it is possible to find all sorts of fruits, but then of course with varying price, for example the blueberries are very expensive this time of year.
Here is a photo taken from where the fruit store, bakery the other small stores are towards where we live. Our house is approximately in the middle of the picture. I have zoomed a bit here so it is not as close in reality as it looks.
Following is some pictures of the old town of Valbonne.
View from the place where the small shops are towards the old town.
The central square in the old town. Notice people sitting outside in the sun with no jacket!
Warm colors
… and narrow streets.
Wonderful autumn colors on the trees.
Me outside one of the many art shops in Valbonne. The name of this one is Carpe Diem. Exactly what we were trying to do this day!
Flowers all year around.
This is the view from the small road that goes to our house towards Valbonne. The village itself is just outside the picture to the right.
And finally a picture of our garden where the leaves are still green on the trees.
I love this place!