skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Bonjour, je suis en Nouvelle Caledonie et "Allo, Allo"!... (2 -3 Feb 2008)
….and English is not spoken here so a linguistic challenge for me – I hope some of my French is left in the language part of my brain and hasn’t been filled with my Spanish! My French vocabulary is still there, I can get the words, and I can understand everything but I feel that the accent needs some work – by the look on people’s faces I think my accent is similar to that of the English Army Officer dressed as a French policeman in “Allo, AlIo”! I am probably saying things like “I am pissing down ze back passage to go from ze coffee” instead of “I am going the back way to the café” who knows. But they all, in that French way, smile knowingly and then answer you in English – just to let you know that they know there is no way you can be French – plus ca change! I knew it would be different here, as I went along the walkway to get on the flight, the usual wide vowels of the Aussies were nowhere to be heard, it was all French. When I arrive, I am wafted through immigration with very few formalities as a citizen of the EU – how strange is that when I am only 2 hours from Brisbane! But a bit of a let down, as I was entering the EU, I didn’t get my passport stamped. The currency here (and it seems I will need rather a lot of it ….) is the French Pacific Franc, but some prices are also quoted in Euros. New Caledonia, an island some 300kms long is an autonomous territory of France, but there is a close connection to the EU (assume they get all the subsidies that the French negotiate), but from what I understand it hasn’t had any effect on keeping prices down! I am in a one bed serviced apartment called the Casa Del Sole – one of the cheaper places I found at a bargain £80 per night, but it is No 1 on Tripadvisor. And “serviced” means it’s cleaned before you arrive, no daily room tidy, so I will have to try and remember what housework is to keep it tidy – can’t remember when I last had to make my own bed – how spoilt am I! It’s very nice and big and clean with a kitchen area (including a dishwasher), bedroom, bathroom and a washing machine in a separate little laundry room. The living room “meubles” are a little French though, only missing a Louis Quinze clock. But the best bit is the huge furnished balcony overlooking the sea with big patio doors from both the living area and bedroom, and an amazing panoramic view of Anse Vata beach, considered to be one of the best on the Island. Assuming the wind drops, it will be a great place to spend time. It’s windy here, like Fiji, as I arrive Cyclone Gene is about 500kms due east of here. On the net, it is shown tracking south and east, so is moving away, but the associated winds are affecting a wide area. But some people are enjoying the wind – the windsurfers and kite surfers are very colourful and going the fastest I have ever seen, around a lovely little sandy island just off the coast. Fiji took a direct hit from the cyclone a couple of days ago and there was widespread damage, so am glad I missed that. It is becoming a habit, I arrive and there’s a cyclone off the coast….. but if the pattern is the same as when I was in Fiji, I can hopefully look forward to some better, more settled weather in a couple of days. My Wifi connection here is from a small café where I am enjoying a café au lait and a large pain au raisin (see pic of view from said unofficial hotspot) – I have just found it and connected. No idea who it belongs to – the girls in the café here were very surprised to see me use it – they didn’t know there was a connection, so it obviously doesn’t belong to them… The internet café two doors down charges £6 an hour but they have a different sign on so it’s not theirs. So if I need bailing out when arrested by the cyber police, please help! It does keep dropping but I just keep reconnecting, so not much good for Skype, but hopefully I should be able to load this blog. What I have seen so far, the place certainly has a very French feel – lots of restaurants and cafes, the people generally are stylish and there are lots of small dogs on leads being led by elegant older ladies with lots of subtle jewellery and large sunglasses, and even though it’s the seaside, black is still a big colour…. Big “promenading” going on of an evening on the seafront, and fast driving and air kissing – not that I am into stereotyping you understand…. Carrefour is here of course and the small supermarket I was in yesterday felt like a mini version of the big one in Calais – except that the wine wasn’t such a bargain. But the bread and croissants – I will need to walk miles to work these off. I am in the beach area about 15mins away from the centre of Noumea, the capital and plan to explore that today. Wasn’t worth doing yesterday as it was Sunday and the whole place was closed. So aurevoir for now!
….and English is not spoken here so a linguistic challenge for me – I hope some of my French is left in the language part of my brain and hasn’t been filled with my Spanish! My French vocabulary is still there, I can get the words, and I can understand everything but I feel that the accent needs some work – by the look on people’s faces I think my accent is similar to that of the English Army Officer dressed as a French policeman in “Allo, AlIo”! I am probably saying things like “I am pissing down ze back passage to go from ze coffee” instead of “I am going the back way to the café” who knows. But they all, in that French way, smile knowingly and then answer you in English – just to let you know that they know there is no way you can be French – plus ca change! I knew it would be different here, as I went along the walkway to get on the flight, the usual wide vowels of the Aussies were nowhere to be heard, it was all French. When I arrive, I am wafted through immigration with very few formalities as a citizen of the EU – how strange is that when I am only 2 hours from Brisbane! But a bit of a let down, as I was entering the EU, I didn’t get my passport stamped. The currency here (and it seems I will need rather a lot of it ….) is the French Pacific Franc, but some prices are also quoted in Euros. New Caledonia, an island some 300kms long is an autonomous territory of France, but there is a close connection to the EU (assume they get all the subsidies that the French negotiate), but from what I understand it hasn’t had any effect on keeping prices down! I am in a one bed serviced apartment called the Casa Del Sole – one of the cheaper places I found at a bargain £80 per night, but it is No 1 on Tripadvisor. And “serviced” means it’s cleaned before you arrive, no daily room tidy, so I will have to try and remember what housework is to keep it tidy – can’t remember when I last had to make my own bed – how spoilt am I! It’s very nice and big and clean with a kitchen area (including a dishwasher), bedroom, bathroom and a washing machine in a separate little laundry room. The living room “meubles” are a little French though, only missing a Louis Quinze clock. But the best bit is the huge furnished balcony overlooking the sea with big patio doors from both the living area and bedroom, and an amazing panoramic view of Anse Vata beach, considered to be one of the best on the Island. Assuming the wind drops, it will be a great place to spend time. It’s windy here, like Fiji, as I arrive Cyclone Gene is about 500kms due east of here. On the net, it is shown tracking south and east, so is moving away, but the associated winds are affecting a wide area. But some people are enjoying the wind – the windsurfers and kite surfers are very colourful and going the fastest I have ever seen, around a lovely little sandy island just off the coast. Fiji took a direct hit from the cyclone a couple of days ago and there was widespread damage, so am glad I missed that. It is becoming a habit, I arrive and there’s a cyclone off the coast….. but if the pattern is the same as when I was in Fiji, I can hopefully look forward to some better, more settled weather in a couple of days. My Wifi connection here is from a small café where I am enjoying a café au lait and a large pain au raisin (see pic of view from said unofficial hotspot) – I have just found it and connected. No idea who it belongs to – the girls in the café here were very surprised to see me use it – they didn’t know there was a connection, so it obviously doesn’t belong to them… The internet café two doors down charges £6 an hour but they have a different sign on so it’s not theirs. So if I need bailing out when arrested by the cyber police, please help! It does keep dropping but I just keep reconnecting, so not much good for Skype, but hopefully I should be able to load this blog. What I have seen so far, the place certainly has a very French feel – lots of restaurants and cafes, the people generally are stylish and there are lots of small dogs on leads being led by elegant older ladies with lots of subtle jewellery and large sunglasses, and even though it’s the seaside, black is still a big colour…. Big “promenading” going on of an evening on the seafront, and fast driving and air kissing – not that I am into stereotyping you understand…. Carrefour is here of course and the small supermarket I was in yesterday felt like a mini version of the big one in Calais – except that the wine wasn’t such a bargain. But the bread and croissants – I will need to walk miles to work these off. I am in the beach area about 15mins away from the centre of Noumea, the capital and plan to explore that today. Wasn’t worth doing yesterday as it was Sunday and the whole place was closed. So aurevoir for now!
