Days since last round up: 21
Doses of vaccine received: 1
Best bit of vocab: re-vouloir (I’m quite sure this isn’t standard, but because with a lot of French verbs you simply add the prefix ‘re’ to mean ‘do again’, the kids often say something like ‘Je reveux de la sauce’ which literally means something like ‘I rewant sauce’, i.e. they would like another helping of sauce)
Language progress: getting to the end of my time here in Paris, we approach the all important question - are you fluent yet? I’d never go that far, and I know I still have an awful lot of French to learn. I’ve accepted that my accent will never be perfect, but I like to think it’s no longer immediately identifiable as English, the difference in my grades from mid-semester and the end suggest that my writing ability has improved, and overall I can definitely say I’ve gained confidence. With everything that’s happened this year, that will suit me well for now!
Reading: Ombre Sultan by Assia Djebar
Weather: far too hot (you can take the girl out of Manchester but you can’t take the Northern inability to cope with heat out of the girl)
The last time I wrote the terrasses had just opened up and life was beginning to get fun again. Museums and cultural attractions are also in full swing again, as are gyms and indoor eating spaces. For the first time since I got here really, there’s actually very little to complain about in terms of restrictions - even the 11pm curfew gives enough time to have something resembling a normal night out! I suspect after-work drinks will become more of a feature, with many many weeks of not being able to visit bars to catch up on. I’ve already discovered some favourite spots, with Montmartre being an obvious favourite, but Friday night wine and apéro snacks at a little bistrot near Pompidou proved a great end to this week.
The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last week, although before the thunderstorms on Thursday night the heat was beginning to get a little unbearable in the city. Sitting on terrasses enjoying the warmth in the shade is one thing, but running errands and chasing hot and bothered children around in the boiling heat is not what I’m built for. After three consecutive weeks of 4 day weeks at the young boys crèche because of strikes, things were finally back to normal, so no extra hours and plenty of time to enjoy my freedom in what feels like a new Paris, or at least Paris as it should be. Convincing both younger ones to go to bathtime is still a daily struggle but it’s very easy to stay calm these days with so much else going on and my last few weeks just around the corner.
With the final two weeks approaching, I am now in serious ticking-off mode, making the most of free time in the day and at weekends to power through the last of the cafes and restaurants on my list, and as many museums and galleries as I can fit in. Check out favourite finds for more, but some highlights were the Musée de l’histoire de l’immigration, and the Atelier des Lumières. Paris is an intensely cultural capital, even in comparison to Munich there is so much to do, and so many famous and canonical works and places. I’m also really enjoying some of the new exhibitions though, where you can notice an increasing focus on female and non-white artists, alongside the overwhelmingly ‘traditional’ permanent collections. Alongside exploring, I’m enjoying the chance, now I don’t have any Sorbonne work, to read some contemporary or recent Francophone literature, including Djebar, but also by other North African and Martiniquan authors.
A visit from a close friend from Oxford currently living in Biarritz as part of her year abroad was the perfect opportunity to tick a few more places off the list (all featured in favourite finds, with the Musée de l’Orangerie being a particular highlight) but also to rediscover and showcase some tried and trusted favourites, as well as see the city through the eyes of a visitor and fall back in love with its charm. Not that I was ever out of love, you just forget how amazing it is when you’re plodding about your day to day life.
The absolute highlight of the visit was a night out in Montmartre, starting off at Bar à Bulles, a classy little bar inside/on top of the Moulin Rouge, where you sit looking up at the windmill. We had to queue but it was well worth the wait, and after one cocktail we headed over to a wine bar I’d discovered the last time I was in Paris. On the way we happened to pass the cafe from the film Amélie, which we’d spontaneously started watching the night before, and the good vibes continued as we arrived at Le Petit Moulin, a tiny little bar who had taken advantage of the good weather to expand by putting their tables out onto the cobbled street. Red wine, checked table cloths, surrounded by French voices, it was a perfect Montmartre evening, which could only be topped off with a visit to the Sacré Cœur. And the best thing was that after such a good night, we only had to walk 15 minutes home in the balmly June evening.
Summer plans are being finalised and the end is very much in sight. As well as getting all my Paris things in, I’m cramming in a final few trips before I leave, with this weekend in a little village called Rouffignac, about an hour from Angoulême and Bordeaux, where my uncle and aunt moved about two years ago. Another lovely escape and a great way to rest and reset for my final two weeks, which I’m planning to make as busy as possible. I’ve still got a pile of books to get through, and Parisian coffee shops and terrasses seem like the perfect location to do that. The numbers of other students here are slowly tailing off, but we still have a big enough group for some good get-togethers, and I’m looking forward to revisiting some old favourites, alongside some new must-dos before I leave. Paris is at her best and I’m living it intensely, I am utterly in love with the city and optimistic about the coming months. We’re definitely at one of the peaks of the emotional rollercoaster that is the year abroad, and I plan to ride it for as long as I can!
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