The nurse and the nun

A strange sight caught our eyes the other day. We almost thought a British stag do had hit this sleepy French town when we caught a glimpse of a man dressed as a female nurse (complete with low cut mini dress and stockings, the traditional nurse attire) alighting from the hotel opposite. Naturally curiosty overwhelmed us and, as we stared from our windows, into the picture walked a nun....carrying a guitar. She was not a real nun (something I feel may be obvious to you, despite not being an eyewitness), but appeared to be the nurse's fiancée, flanked by her hens. In the hotel, a group of half naked men shouted and cheered to their friend on the street below, throwing a rose to him. Next thing we know the nurse had presented the nun with the rose and he too had a guitar in his hand, ensuing a streetside singalong. It was all very sweet and romantic until the rather fat and greasy French men in the hotel noticed three 20 something girls staring over the road. I can almost guarantee they knew that it was definitely not into their room but onto the street below, but that did not stop them attempting to serenade us, and unsuccessfully inviting us for une boisson in their room. After a few shouts of 'non', it was time to close the window until another day.

To begin at the beginning...(as a wise man once said)

I am an Erasmus student. I currently live in France avec mes amis (beware of random French words in future posts), & will do for another 10 months or so. We found an (unfurnished) apartment in June during a very stressful 3 day journey, and moved in at the start of September. We Our parents assembled a lot of flat-pack furniture and bought a lot of what I now understand to be 'white goods'. Soon after purchasing a TV we realised that peering out of our conveniently located high street apartment is far more interesting than watching trying to watch French dubbed episodes of Malcolm in the Middle. This realisation dawned upon us when we strolled into our living room to a perfect view of a couple on a VERY dirty weekend at the hotel opposite. We were captivated. They didn't breathe for a good few minutes whilst hands were flying about in all directions, in the process proving the theory that you can indeed be seen from outdoors at night if you leave all the lights on. They did not leave their room until Monday morning came, after having breakfast, lunch, dinner and much more on their very visible balcony. Theories were born: were they a married couple trying to escape their 2.4 kids lifestyle for a few nights, were they a student & teacher hiding from persecution, were they lovers sneaking away from their partners? Thus this blog arose, 'Life from a French Window'...yes, I thought it sounded much more appealing in French also.