Blogapalooza, Frenchie Style 2011

A bit blurry but a photo all the same!

A couple of weeks ago I received an invite from the lovely Aidan at Conjugating Irregular Verbs for a lunch get together named Blogapalooza. The only “hic” was that the get together was to take place in Aix En Provence in South of France, quite a drive away from Lyon and that with my bad back and pregnant belly it was unlikely that I would be able to go.

I was delighted to discover that some of the other attendees were going to be accompanied by their husbands so I persuaded Mr Piglet to accompany me if the Doctor gave me the all clear to travel and a week before the get together I had my 8th month pregnancy check up and got the all clear! I was no longer on bed rest and could travel at will. Music to my ears! I was going to get to attend!

I’m quite a shy person and at the moment an insomniac, so was a bit worried about how I would get on with all of these strangers and whether I’d have anything in common with them. Okay, I’d been following their blogs for quite some time, for example I had followed Tanya from before she even moved to France and then there was her wedding and her move to Nice and how could I be worried about not getting on with Sara? I had tried to explain to Mr Piglet who everyone was before arriving, but got stuck on Sara… “she is from Le Petit Village” I said “has a dog called Fifty, is learning French and is a little, well, mad, just like me, or so it seems!”.

But that’s just it, isn’t it? I have been sharing parts of my lives and parts of their lives virtually on the internet now for some time and it was if I was meeting up with a bunch of long lost pals. The fact that we’d all mutually been sharing things and chosen to follow each other out of thousands of other blogs on the internet means something.

The hardest thing for me was dealing with accents in the busy restaurant. When I read blogs on the internet I imagine everyone having an English accent just like me, so lots of American and even Australian accents threw me, and for a while I wanted everyone to come with subtitles as my tired pregnant brain was fogging up on me and I struggled.

But then the restaurant emptied out, as the Aix En Provence people returned to the streets and the shops and suddenly I could hear properly and understand everyone! It was like a light bulb going off in my head, as if someone had taken off the ear mufflers. Either that or the strong espresso coffee woke me up with a jolt!

As Mr Piglet commented on our return journey, it is rare to meet so many people so randomly and get on with them all so well. I think he enjoyed himself as well even though he was a bit taken a back by everyone knowing stuff about our life! Everyone was really great and I am pleased to have met everyone face to face and discover Kirsty’s blog (which I didn’t know before) and also meet B in person and learn so much more about French television and balconies in Cannes!

If you’re not familiar with Aix En Provence, it’s a lovely town, it was my first visit too but I didn’t get much of a chance to look around as I was aching and wanted to get back home. But of course, I could rely on fellow Lyon blogger and attendee Charley to write something and she sure delivered! Have a look at her picture show of Aix en Provence shop windows… makes me want to return for some shopping right now!

So, Blogapalooza for me was a huge success and I hope that after the arrival of Little Miss Piglet I will be able to attend future get together and maybe one day even organize one of my own (maybe with a pole for some pole dancing?). Thank you again Aidan for organizing and for inviting little old me!

About these ads