Days since last round up: 21
Language progress: it‘s been a while since I spoke about this one, mostly because it’s very difficult to tell if you’re gradually improving or not. I still have moments where I question whether I can even communicate in French, but overall in the last few weeks I’ve been feeling much more confident! I’m realising that fluency isn’t some magic turning point where you’re suddenly almost native, but a slow process of learning to imitate the people around you until you feel like you maybe possibly can actually speak this language, just about!
Reading: Le Blanc de l’Algérie by Assia Djebar
Weather: sunshine and showers
It’s been another calm but somehow busy three weeks since I last wrote : the final week in Brittany carried on much the same and since then I’ve been relishing being back in Paris. All the usual stuff, long walks and foodie finds, but this time without the time constraint of Sorbonne classes. I’m looking forward to regaining a little more structure after the rentrée tomorrow, but it’s been nice to have some freedom to enjoy Paris in the good weather.
The latest developments in the government’s COVID policy are overall positive, if a little surprising. Cases are still high but are marginally in the down, so Macron has announced a phased reopening. A bit like Boris’s, just on a much shorter timescale and with very few indicators of critical metrics that will have to be reached in order for things to go ahead. I’m hesitant to get my hopes up too much, but the prospect of the terrasses opening in just over two weeks, perfectly coinciding with the end of my semester, is looking fairly realistic and is certainly one to look forward to. The plan is to take each step as it comes and see any reopening which does happen as a bonus. Curfew still makes things a little inconvenient, and that’s set to stay unti the end of my time here, but will hopefully be pushed back as late as 23h before I go.
The weather has taken a bit of a turn for the worse but last weekend it felt like summer was here, and it was just fabulous to return to Paris in her sun-kissed glory, reading in parks during the day and meeting friends in the Jardins du Luxembourg or sitting along the Seine. My first few days back were filled with brunches, get-togethers, food and drink, before settling into a nice rhythm of reading Djebar in the day (an author for my Oxford course who writes about recent Algerian history and it’s complex relationship with France - would hugely recommend) before heading over to the family’s. The youngest is still as affectionate as ever, and I’d even go as far as to say I’ve mastered bath time now. Friday evening carousel is becoming a tradition which I really enjoy as some quality one on one time with him.
So, sunny days, sunny moods, good books and good food, with some good (mostly English) company has made for a very relaxed and, if not exactly action-packed, memorable Easter holiday. I’m feeling very well rested and ready to go again for the last two weeks of term. This weekend showed me that I haven’t quite done everything there is to do in Paris - alongside a new brunch place and a return to my favourite vegan rolls place, I discovered La Coulée Verte, a once-railway line in the 12th now turned into a park, as well as the Arènes de Lutèces in the 5th. Post 19th May I should have another big project once the museums open, so, with a two weeks of assignments and classes left, followed by the (hopefully!) staged reopening of things, there’s plenty to keep me occupied for the moment.
