Things kicked off with a party at Anne’s place in Valbonne. It was also a leaving-do of sorts, since she is relocating to Lyon with her kids. All the usual suspects were there, that is, “the cool CIV teachers”. After a slow start, things kicked off properly, with the usual assortment of great food, wine and other drink (a pity I was the designated driver…). I could talk shop as well, since there were a couple of “other half” engineers there as well. It’s funny, it seems that teachers often end up dating/marrying either other teachers or engineers (or maybe that’s just the case for CIV, being in the middle of the “French silicon valley“ and all..). Apart from eating, talking and having a great time in general, I also befriended Marie’s Canon 5D camera. Now that’s what I call a nice toy – if a slightly expensive one… The next day at the office was a wee bit challenging…
The next session was scheduled for Wednesday. Actually, I figured that would be a teachers only night, so I was already mentally preparing myself for a movie night at home, when I got a text message from Mathilde, inviting me to join her at Valerie and Gilles’ place, located in Bonson. I naturally said yes (no self-respecting Finn could possibly turn down free food and/or booze, that would just be rude…), even though I had no idea where the place was. Not deterred, I punched Bonson into my GPS, and hit the road. Turns out it was a bit further away than expected – as the road took me up the Var valley, up past twisting mountain roads, past the more known village of Gillette, until I finally arrived at Bonson. It’s yet another one of those picturesque villages, perched on its little hilltop. A really pretty sight – and what’s nice about it is the fact that it’s not at all touristy.
Gilles and Valerie’s house is one of those stone-built town houses I’ve always wanted to check out. And it is quite a delight, with it’s three (or four?) floors, winding staircases taking us down to their cosy garden. What awaited us was yet another feast of great food, wine and yet more food (finished off with a great tiramisu). This time the occasion was serious, as Antoine, Valerie, Mathilde and Aurelien had planned a bit of a farewell song for Anne (who’s place we were at the night before). They had chosen to reinterpret one of Louis Attaque’s songs. The girls ‘n boyz were a bit shy at first (perhaps since the maestro Antoine wasn’t able to make it), but a few pastises and glasses of rose, they shed all inhibition and really went for it. Success assured! (nonetheless, another planning session was planned for the next day). And I reacquainted myself with Marie’s 5D again – but alas it seems that either me or Marie did something stupid as the lens seemed to be stuck and take out of focus pictures?? (apparently one of us had in fact activated one of the advanced features for short-sighted people, or something!) 
So the next day, it was off for another “sesh” then, this time at Antoine and Claire’s place, at Carros. This time, I was happy not to be the designated driver ;-) Things followed pretty much the same formula as the night before, with drinks, great food and music setting the tone of the evening. Our little band did a pretty good job at perfecting their little dedication to Anne. They really nailed it a couple of times. So inspired were our little group that they even came up with another song for another colleague of theirs who was retiring. Rarely has “Capri, c’est fini” been reinterpreted with such humor, passion and emotion… After finishing the rose bottle, and the tiramisu, it was time to leave… (good thing too, it was hard enough to get up for work as it was!)So it’s been a busy, rather tiring week, but very good week! Now I need the weekend to recover… Whoever it was that once told me teachers can’t party obviously had no clue what he was talking about!
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