Happiest Week

Not strictly Paris related - but, I had one of the happiest weeks I can remember this past week. Last Monday, I went to Rome for the first time with my Mum, Dad, sister & bro.. (leaving poor Grandma at home!)

Piazza Navona

What a gorgeous city - the locals were so friendly (we got free pizza from a girl who had lived near Portobello Road) & some free gelato (although I suspect this was probably a fortunate mistake).


We also made instant friends with an attractive cannoli seller who had taken up residence in more or less the same shop where Audrey got her iconic haircut in 'A Roman Holiday', 60 years later. Somehow he managed to make a sly wink as we left the shop totally acceptable & oh so charming.   

Pistacchio e cioccolato gelato - Gorgeous sister with gorgeous cannolo - Audrey's impromptu haircut

The real treasures were Ostia (a preserved Roman port town where you are free to explore ancient houses, tavernas and a gymnasium) & the Castel Sant'Angelo which lets in visitors by night for a concert, guided tour of everything from the prisons & Papal bathroom, and the secret passage where Pope Clement escaped from the Vatican to the Castle during The Sack of Rome. My lil' bro was beside himself with excitement, rushing from The Colosseum to The Forum with all the enthusiasm of an Andrex Puppy. 

Taming a wild dog in Vatican City.

Seven days later, we celebrated my (fake) 21st birthday, as I will be in Paris sans famille for my real anniversaire. We had brunch as a family, Dad bought me some yellow roses & blue irises which showed enterprising thoughtfulness (they were beautiful - love you Dad!) and went to 'Number Twelve' at The Ambassador Hotel for afternoon tea (Grandma was invited this time!) The scones were the best, & I tried Mango Green Tea, tres rafraîchissant! 

It sort of looked like this! I give it 4 **** :)

I got some sneaky early birthday presents which I'm sure will make an appearance soon!

Such a lucky, lucky, happy bunny :)

À bientôt!

x

Prête pour Paris ?

In exactly a month's time, it'll be the night before the big move to Paris for an entire university year...

Terrifying? Yes. Exciting? You betcha. I've downloaded an app (excitingly called French Vocab) onto my phone to try & rapidly recover the French vocabulary that should be on the tip of my tongue. As I write, I'm trying to absorb French via France Info Radio playing in the background. The first few weeks are going to be interesting!

(remarkably useful vocab ^)

So many things to do before I go – finish up my internship at a tiny publishing house, see friends, go on a family holiday to Rome (very excited!), pack & make sure I'm fully armed for tackling French bureaucracy head on. I've been advised to turn up with about 30 passport photos of myself, which gives me some kind of worrying idea about how many forms I might be expected to fill in!

Despite my hopes & dreams I will never look like a yé-yé girl...

I heard this read out yesterday at my family's church:

'Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such & such a town & spend a year there & trade & make a profit” - yet, you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time & then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live & do this or that”. (James 4v13-5).

It just made me think. I'm going to be a very small fish in a ve-ery big pond and I can't guarantee that this year abroad will be an amazing experience. I've just got to trust that although I'm not in control of what is going to happen in Paris - it's part of a bigger plan!

driving home last night with Tommo

I'm thankful that I've got my little room sorted, in more or less the centre of the city. I know (vaguely) of a few people who will be nearby..

The next time I post, I will probably be in Paris – eeeeeeeeek!

À bientôt ! 

x