July 2010
4 posts
The Big Goodbye
My very last day in Paris was spent in the Tuileries with the first Parisienne I had ever met. We commented how each of us had improved in each language, how our hair looked slightly different to before and how in due course, we would both be leaving our city.
As I went to pick up the children for the first time, I seemed to be in a dreamlike state. Wandering around the back streets, I seemed not...
The Last Saturday
Just thought I would let you all know that on my last Saturday night in Paris I, the 19 year old blonde with a pretty decent social life and living in one of the most romantic cities in the world, shared my bed with a seven year old, a nine year old and about 7 cuddly toys.
The end of my year here has been pretty fitting so far. I was babysitting all weekend – let me just clarify, all day every...
Late night texts...
« On passé un très bon moment avec plein d’anglais car le mari est anglais ! Les anglais sont top en discours. Vivement ton mariage ! »
“Il me faut juste un beau Parisien pour que je puisse toujours vivre ici !”
« Yyyyyeeeeeessssss !!! »
I love my boss !
Tears
They come from out of nowhere, often when you are least expecting it. Friday was one of those days where the worlds of those around you seem to just crumble in front of your eyes. The plates stop spinning.
Whether it was the seven year old who banged his head against a marble surface, a mum who had a long day, or a friend who was unprepared for a rather big change; it can be hard to know what to...
June 2010
17 posts
The Final Visitor
I have been lucky enough that during my time here I have had my fair share of visitors. Each visit has been for a different length of time, with a different number of people wanting to do a variety of different things but all equally as unique and exciting.
I have loved the fact that each visit seems to highlight the multifaceted place that is the city I live in, and the ways in which I seem to...
3 tags
The not so Bon for me Marche
Today when the sky was ranging from shades of grey to a very bright white, I was somewhat reticent to leave the house. I pondered the idea of going to a museum or a wander through a park, neither of which seemed particularly appealing.
Instead I hopped on the 92 to SFX and wandered down Rue Babylone on my own little secret indulgence trip.
There is something about the Bon Marche that makes it...
5 tags
"oh but I won't be here then..."
The above phrase was something I found myself repeating a lot over the weekend. As friends and I discussed new exhibitions, bands who were coming and things that are going on in the city during the next few months, I realised just how quickly my time is running out. 16 days to be precise.
One of the cultural events that I was really looking forward to was the “Cinema en plein air”...
Sprog
Having lived with someone all your life you sometimes forget the best bits about them. You remember the fact they always play their music just a little too loud, they always use the hot water and they have that annoying habit of being able to throw on your clothes and look even better in them than you would do after three hours preparation.
It is only when you are away from home and your only...
The Great Escape
Do not get me wrong, I love this city. I love its fast moving cars, its faster moving people and the even faster moving metro…But sometimes, after several long days and plusiers long nights it all just gets a bit much. I miss the fresh air, the trees and the space.
So two friends and I decided to do something about it. We piled into a Twingo with a tent, sleeping bags and copious supplies...
Background Noise
As I sit here and type, a ten year old lies screaming in her bed barely even a room away. I am under strict instruction to ignore said ten year old until she stops crying and falls asleep. Her plea ranger from hunger, thirst, to drawn out renditions of her parents names with sobs consistant throughout. After about half an hour, she falls into a peaceful sleep, and her angelic face seems so unlike...
The countdown...
One month today…
May 2010
16 posts
Thursday
In a small room in the 16th, a girl got out of bed. She slid back the curtain and winched open a window. She wondered how much of the day she had missed. She stood watching, as the feet padded by, as the rain met the ground. She took a step back, stumbled and knocked a switch. The sound filled her ears. The voices took her somewhere else; somewhere she had not been in a long time. From 15:52 to...
Un petit mot d'Alfred et Rose a mon pere...
Alfred : bonjour, ca va? J’ai lu un livre avec Emma et il etait tres bien. Bonne nuit. Rose: bonjour Andy,comment va tu ? aujourd’hui j’ai beaucoup travaille parce que j’ai un controle demain et j’espere avoir une bonne note! j’espere que ta journee etait bien .il fait beau a Paris ! bonne nuit et bonne journee demain .xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
These...
There is nothing like...
A good thunderstorm.
After five days of pure bliss, it was all getting a bit too much. The air was hot, the city was struggling. I stepped out of the house today and I felt suffocated after a few steps. Trapped, panicky.
The pleasure I get from being able to just sit by the window, with a good book, a baggy jumper and just watch the rain is immeasurable.
Watch it wash it all off; wash it all...
A little dinner party in the 16th...
After having prepared dinners for more guests than you can imagine, I never thought that I would be the one hosting a dinner party, in a beautiful Parisian maison in the heart of the 16th arrondisement of Paris. More than that, I never dreamed for a second that there would be someone preparing it for me.
When the girls descended on Paris for the weekend, my life here seemed to transform a little....
Teamwork
Today I have spent the day preparing for a dinner party that neither Patricia nor I will be attending. We have spent all day laughing and gossiping whilst chopping courgettes, polishing silver and folding napkins.
It isn’t part of my job description, and I am by no means obliged to do it, but sometimes it is good fun for us girls, who keep this household ticking over, to spend a day being...
Cupidon
Anyone who has ever spent a night in Paris, and has managed to leave the house, will have come across a Rose seller. Usually of some ethnic origin, he weaves his way round the bar stools thrusting his bunch of flowers into intimate conversations and guilt-tripping all men in sight. If there is a significant lack of romance, he may whip out a selection of pirate DVDs promising good quality and...
Flea Markets
Strolling round the flea markets in Paris is something I have decided I will really miss. Not only do I love the feeling of sorting through piles of junk, to find a truly unique and magical little trinket, but I love the fact I get to do it on the banks of Seine or the canal St Martin.
Last Sunday, some friends and I stumbled apon one of these magical treasure troves. I delighted in rummaging...
Spontaneity
I had forgotten how fun it was to just live in the moment. To not regret the 8€ Mojitos, the taxi rides home and the late night exploring of this amazing city. When a friend decided to hop over the channel for 46 hours we quickly adopted the new mantra, made the most of the new freedom.
We spent day one wandering around the city she had last seen covered in a blanket of snow. I was no longer...
Spring
Blue skies, blossom and beau garcons.
You cannot help but fall for this city.
Mothers
Seeing that Sunday is the french version of Mothers’ Day, it got me thinking that sometimes I take mine a little for granted.
She’s the kind of Mum that goes out of her way for her girls. I get more random cards and silly packages than most, more phone calls just to see how I am and more support than I deserve. She listens to me moaning, listens to me laugh and listens to my dreams....
3 tags
Blackberry rudeness
I just need to get this off my chest now before I explode.
I love Blackberries, I do, and I have been begging my dear father for one for longer than he would like.
Despite their allure, their multifunctions and instant messaging, there is one thing I hate about them.
I do not see why people think it is completely acceptable to have a conversation with me whilst staring intently at the blessed...
4 tags
Travel Mayhem
Having been lucky enough to have a father who works in the travel industry, at the age of 19 I have already travelled quite a lot. On top of the all the wonderful sights I have seen, the people I have met, the places I have explored, I have also had my fair share of delays.
From getting to know airport carpets in Kuwait to setting up camp in the departures of Dubai airport I have done my fair...
Paris trouser ban for women
The curious rule was first introduced in late 1799 by Paris’ police chief, and stipulated than any Parisienne wishing to “dress like a man” must seek special permission from the city’s main police station.
This makes the laissez-faire French capital theoretically more hardline than Islamic states like Sudan in the fashion stakes.
But a group of ten French MPs has now...
My boys
Having not seen many of the people I care most about in a very long time, I have this week been spoilt rotten. It was Christmas come early. I was Charlie in the Chocolate Factory.
There is something about the relationships you make with people at boarding school that is very hard to explain, and even harder for other people to understand. Having spent two of the best years of my life with them,...
April 2010
11 posts
A political storm
Having lived in Paris for some 8 months now, I was not really up to date with English politics and had very little clue what was going on. I got my daily dose of BBC news, and important headlines made it into the glossy French pages but I was quite happy floating around in my semi ignorant bubble.
I popped home to the shire, for a well deserved rest in the nest.
After I made it through the dust...
The Jabberwocky
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought — So rested he by the Tumtum tree,...
“I’ll go out there and make my mistakes. I’ll fall down, get hurt, cry, laugh,...”
– Anna Floyd (via quote-book)
Children
Childish Innocence is more effective than any pill. After the shittiest day, more bouts of tears than you can imagine, and about 50 packets of tissues, they seem to know how to make it ok.
The little hug just because they sense you need it makes it all alright again. The dances to make you laugh and the doodoo they tuck under your arm whilst whispering, “he will make it better”, make...
“The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world....”
– Leo F. Buscaglia (via quote-book)
Ordering
Life would be easier if normality was the plat du jour. I think most people would order it under the assumption that it would be what we wanted. We would be enticed by the lost whispered words, the hand reaching out for you, the eyes searching for you in a crowd.
As the server explains to us in more detail, the illusion becomes more advanced. The basic ingreidients being supported by drunken...
Ozymandias by Shelley
I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these...
2 tags
A Bedtime Story...
It is time to go to bed. The Little Brown Hare grabs hold of the long ears of the Big Brown Hare and doesn’t let go of them. He wants the Big Brown Hare to listen carefully. “Devine combine je t’aime,” he says. “Comment veux-tu que je devine cela?” asks the Big Brown Hare.
“Je t’aime grand comme ca!” says the Little Brown Hare whilst...
A thought...
It’s a funny thing about comin’ home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You’ll realize what’s changed is you. - Benjamin Button
A Sunday
After forty days of sacrifice, a few friends and I assembled in a kitchen at the heart of it all. For the first time during my time here, I felt that today was the day I felt like I lived in Paris. It had nothing to do with the weather; it had nothing to do with the day. It was an ideal collision of combining coincidences that made it the perfect way to spend a Sunday in Paris.
I took over a...
In the wilderness
To live in a city can mean many number of things.
You can justify your existence there by making the most of what the city has to offer; frequent museums more than your friends. You can dwell in a place and call upon it for inspiration, taking your time as you look around and absorb the world around you. You can spend days, cooped up in a nest in a city that seems so wild and ferocious compared...
March 2010
14 posts
1 tag
You would not believe your eyes...
When I first arrived here, a cup of Yorkshire tea and some good Hovis and marmite were hard to beat. Coffee was only bearable with a pint of milk and roast beef was a Sunday ritual. I listened to the best of British music and nothing much else. I went out with holes in my clothes and my hair in a mess without even flinching. I would spend money on life’s little luxuries without much thought to the...