The Journey / Le Voyage

We both left our hometowns on Wednesday 29th in the morning, taking the train to Paris International Airport, where we met. Nico D. also joined us there for a last lunch and cup of coffee together, it was really nice to have him there for the last afternoon. One plane for London, 1h delay, 3h layover in Heathrow, and we took off for Kuala Lumpur at 22:00. The 12h flight went fine (Malaysia Airlines stewardesses in their Thai flower dresses feed you continuously!), and after a failed attempt at leaving the airport to see the city (no time and no will to pay extra), which at least enabled us to get a Malaysian stamp on our passport, we spent the night in the "best airport in the world" ("elected so 3 times in a row"), on a cumfy leather couch. 3 more hours to wait, then a 2h flight to Phnom Penh will take us to the 1st leg of our journey, Cambodia!

Nous avons quitté nos pénates respectives le mercredi 29 au matin, pour prendre le TGV pour Roissy, où nous nous sommes rejoints. Nico D. est également venu nous payer un dernier câlin: nous avons déjeuné, bu un café et même pris une pinte ensemble avant de décoller pour Londres, avec 1h de retard. 3h d'attente à Heathrow avant de ré-embarquer pour Kuala Lumpur à 22h. RAS à propos du vol, d'une durée de 12h, mis à part que les hôtesses de Malaysian Airlines dans leur robe Thai vous apportent constamment à manger ou à boire. Après une tentative abortée de quitter l'aéroport (pour des raisons de prix et de temps de transport) qui nous a valu le saint tampon sur le passeport, nous avons passé la nuit sur un canapé en cuir du "meilleur aéroport du monde" ("élu tel 3 années de file"). Encore 3h à attendre, puis 2h de vol pour Phnom Penh nous amèneront à la 1e étape de notre voyage, le Cambodge!

Merry Christmas!! Joyeux Noël!!

Emilie in snowy Britanny

We hope you are enjoying the Holidays, and that you've had a wonderful Christmas. While both Emilie and I are trying to wrap up the work-related stuff we still had to take care of, we are enjoying nice family time in Brittany and Provence, respectively. If Emilie's part of France was a white mayhem (quite the same one England went through I hear), at least she had fun in the snow.

Nous esperons que vous passez de bonnes vacances, et que vous avez été gâtés pour Noël. Tandis qu'Emilie et moi essayons de terminer les projets professionnels qui nous occupaient jusqu'ici, nous passons du bon temps dans nos familles respectives, qui en Bretagne et qui en Provence, comme vous le savez probablement déjà! Et bien que la Bretagne fasse partie de la France qui a souffert des conditions météo, au moins Emilie a pu profiter de la neige à la maison. 

Sevin family's Christmas tree

As for Emeric, Provence being Provence, nothing to declare down there about the weather, so I'll just contribute the Christmas tree picture!!

La Provence étant ce qu'elle est, RAS niveau précipitations donc je contribuerai simplement pour ma part à la photo du sapin!

 

With 3 days to go before the great departure, we're now trying to make sure everything is being taken care of, but it ain't that easy: why is it that however long you have before a trip abroad you always feel like you're going to forget something?...

Plus que 3 jours avant le départ, on est dans les préparatifs jusqu'au cou, mais c'est pas facile: comment ça se fait que quel que soit le temps de préparation avant un voyage, on a toujours l'impression d'oublier quelque chose?...

Anyway, Merry Christmas to you all again!!
Encore Joyeux Noël à tous!

Goodbye Cambridge!!

Well that's it! After 3 years in Cambridge, it's time for us to move on to new adventures. But we couldn't leave Cambridge without throwing a farewell party, could we? Given that the very week-end we were planning to have the party coincided with Halloween, it felt only natural to make it a dressed-up evening.

Group picture!

And that Saturday (30/11) was a great one! So many people showed up (close to 80 we'd say), most dressed with awesome costumes, and there were lots of good stuff to eat and drink. Much dancing too, some pillar climbing (!), balloon popping, neck biting, boozy wrestling, and we even finished with a Feuerzangenbowle courtesy of Kathi. All in all, it was tremendous fun, we couldn't have hoped for a better ending to our Canterbridgian time. Many thanks to Greg again, who allowed us to hold the party in a proper venue, to Marc and Birgit whose help with the catering was essential, to those who cooked delicious food, and of course above all thank you all so much for coming!! A perfect memory for us to take back!!

"Cheers and ta", as they say!