"This is what we call drum and bass" - but not as you know it...

The weeks have been flying in. Cannot believe we are in February, nor can I believe that I go home this weekend for the winter break. Unreal!

Dijon was amazing, great city, lots to see and do. Journey up there, graciously provided by Alexandrew was however hellish - 4 of us in the back of an averaged sized car = not fun 5 hour journey. Needless to say we got there, found the F1 hotel we were staying in and then set off to explore Dijon, and all of its mustardy promise.

It's a beautiful town, about the same size as Limoges but much nicer, and a lot more to do. Took "la tour de la chouette" - translated as the owl tour where you follow little owl arrows on the ground to see the major sites. It was a freezing cold January day but still lots of fun. We then went to La musée des beaux arts which for a small town like dijon was stunning - some truly excellent pieces in a beautiful building and such a wide variety of art.

Night came and we went to a little restaurant which was "traditionally Dijonais". Great food and wine - I had a homemade garlic sausage with sauerkraut and dijon mustard sauce (naturally) - beautiful, but spoiled by a dirty glass and a really crappy gingerbread crème brûlée. That makes 3 VERY disappointing crème brûlées I have had since I came to Limoges.

Anyway, out for some drinks in a rather strange bar/club featuring "rude boys" break dancing of their own free will. Some were not good. Not good at all. Back out to find somewhere else we were KNOCKED BACK from some other place for not being smart enough. Shocking, and that's never happened in Limoges...

Sunday we went in for some souvenirs (mustard and gingerbread) and then off in the car to the burgandy capital of the world Beaune. Looking for wine tasting, most stuff seemed to be closed because it was sunday, but we grabbed some lunch and walked around really quite a charming little town. Ended up visitng the highlight of the trip by chance - l'hôtel de dieu. It's a religious building, not quite a church, but was really a hospital for the sick of Burgandy in the 15th century. It's a stunning museum, full of amazing artifacts and such beautiful surroundings. The amazing tiled roof is apparently typical of the region.



Back to Limoges, the journey was made an hour longer due to a disastrous wrong turn...

Back at work, another week flex by, and then by Saturday I was off to the provincial town of Tulle, about an hour outside Limoges. We went to see out friends Kathryn and Laura who tempted us with a jazz festival. John and I arrived on Saturday, the girls had been there since Friday, so we were tired by the time we arrived, having walked through the hilly town of Tulle. Thankfully Laura had made a great dinner for us all. Much later, we headed out to the cold streets of Tulle, and towards this strange concert hall/converted warehouse on the edge of the town. Needless to say a long walk and a knee injury later we arrived at a strange warehouse, with booming techno/drum and bass leaking from the main room.



Anyway, we dumped our coats (no real cloakroom) and headed in to see a stage full of 2 DJs, a double bass and a flute creating this bizzare mix of music - which was strangely quite good. The french don't dance, they just sway and clap along, which makes for a surreal experience in many clubs and concerts. It was made all the more strange when the "band" part finished and then the DJ stayed on, playing a bizarre mix of "drum and bass" and salsa. Well, fed up of swaying we started dancing and had a bloody good night all in. Sadly Alex had a slip on the ice and hurt her knee, so was out of it for most of the night but managed to get a lift home from one of our Tulle contingent's friends.

Sunday we leisurely got up for a brisk walk around Tulle and a picnic lunch by the cathedral. Back to the flat, because it was just too cold we got ready and left in the evening.

School has been ticking by, and we are now at Wednesday. Had a porcelain buying session on Monday with Alex and then folk over for dinner in the evening. Friday beckons, when I head off to London to meet up with Katie Jay for a three show weekend, and a few exhibitions. Then on Sunday its up to Glasgow for the February break, which will be great!

It's all go.