"Yes, I live in Paris...since today"

I can't believe I'm finally here. Months of anticipation, my Mum stalking the wrong street on Google Street View and listening to Franceinfo.fr - have all come to this! I now live in Paris. Or as I told the lady in the Metro station - "Yes, I live in Paris, since today". 

Coming to terms with the move via a handy visual aid

My neighbourhood and landlady are thankfully lovely - surrounded by A LOT of Italian bistros (traditional..) and government buildings with a reassuring number of official looking uniformed French people dotted outside impressive gates. We must have walked for miles and succeeded in doing none of our tasks such as getting a mobile phone contract or setting up a bank. French bureaucracy stands firm against aching legs, pitifully incorrect French and baleful looks as we were told to come back tomorrow with all the official documentation. We did however, discover some very lovely things:

The Sorbonne University

A free chalk wall by the Seine

Les Invalides - round the corner!

I'm exhausted but I'm happy & so thankful. The sun peeped through the clouds, I spoke French, I was spoken back to in French. And I'm excited to try lots of new things over the next few weeks - like this 'Gatsby Evening' at the Shakespeare and Company Bookshop by Notre-Dame!

Can't wait to get some sleep!

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

Packing...

Why do all my clothes seem to be stripy, emblazoned with French slogans or plastered with French children's book characters? Evidence A - one of many striped tops and a Petit Prince t-shirt. Just a tad embarrassing when I wouldn't in a million years dream of stepping outside in any kind of Union Jack themed outfit!


I'm leaving on Friday - the day after tomorrow and it's finally beginning to feel real!

Wish me luck...

À Bientôt ! 

x

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