Tortoises

I am a happy owner of a Hermann's tortoise. She is 10 years old, her name is Rachel and actually, it is a male : it takes 6-7 years before differences between males and females are obvious, as the carapace must be at least 10 cm long to be useful in sex determination.

Sewing

I am passionate by sewing, and I sew a wide variety of things, from reusable nappies of my children to my wedding dress. I am mostly interested in made-to-measure pattern designing and couture sewing with plenty of hand-sewing and hand quality finishes. I also do a lot of upcycling. Here is the project combining the both domains : a princess costume completely made from recycled fabrics an old tablecloth, a gift bag and a lace which has been given to me by my grandmother.

Rock climbing and hiking

I like climbing, especially the traditional climbing on sandstone or limestone. I have never been a fan of bouldering, but since I lived in Fontainebleau for a couple of years, I completely changed my mind. However, I'm not a big fan of climbing walls - what I appreciate on this sport, it is the contact with the nature and the fact that (besides the capacities as flexibility, endurance and maybe a bit of strength) it requires a lot of observation, analysing and looking for good holds. I do not really find these aspects on a climbing wall.

Besides climbing, I love (mountain) hiking or simply walking. I sometimes combine walking with Geocaching.

Music

I play the bassoon. I think it is one of those instruments you often do not notice while listening a piece of music, but you would notice if it was absent (although there are many fabulous bassoon solos you definitely should listen to !). I really enjoy this role of a "supporting instrument" in the orchestra, and that's what I prefer.

I also love clasical singing. I've been singing in several choirs, but if I should choose only one, it would definitely be Chorale Prélude of Fontainebleau-Avon.

As a passive musician, I am an unconditional fan of Shostakovich, and I also like Mahler, Dvořák, Tchaikovski and many others classical composers.