Toussaint Goals

It's now the holidays, and high time I looked forward to what next term is going to be like. It's nearly two months since I arrived in Paris and I've had a brilliant time - but I've got so much more to learn! Here are my new goals:

After trying macarons, loving them, and nearly spitting them back out on seeing the ridiculous price tag, I think I'd like to give this notoriously difficult recipe a go myself! Crossed off the list is finding a gem of a local shop, which I've happily discovered in 'Da Rocco', an Italian deli in the 7th. Apart from their delicious take away foods such as pizzas and focaccia, they do the cannoli that I waxed lyrical about in this post, back in Rome. The icing sugar on the cannoli (haw haw) are the cheerful owners who wave at me as I walk by. It was made to be!




Crossed off my list are the visit to Les Deux Magots (see my post here, and a concert (remember Olly Murs here?)  

Added are a visit to the Île St. Louis - one of two remaining natural islands perched in the Seine (the other being the famous Île de la Cite, home to Nôtre Dame, and Disney Land - a bit of a pipe dream but a girl can dream!

I've gone far past answering simple questions in class (although this is still terrifying!), and have now taken my first test. Over the holidays I face the task of writing a commentaire – certainly a big challenge! Eek – wish me luck.

À Bientôt !

x

Setting My Sights

Before I hop across la Manche to begin my adventure, I decided to write a list of goals to get me out of my little Paris garret in the first few weeks & into the heart of Paris. Some are easy - like swimming which is just to hopefully kick start some kind of exercise routine, some are longer term & more wishful like making lifelong friends or becoming a little bit more fluent in French.

The idea came from my Mum who wrote a list of "50 things to do" now that she is 50 *cough* 25 years old (sorry Mum!) as a way to keep excited about life, challenging herself and discovering new things.  

As I tick one of the list I plan to add another on to make the most of my time à Paris!

So here goes :)

When the temptation to hide out in my room is strongest, I'll remind myself I have "all" the sites to visit...with some words of wisdom from Le Petit Prince:

"J'ai des amis à découvrir et beaucoup de choses à connaître"
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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