Written last weekend without the Internet...

I’ve done a couple of little trips at the weekends, I went to Bois de Boulogne last weekend and hired a bike for a couple of hours and just rode around in the park, it was very pretty and relaxing – even if I didn’t have a map and went past the same point 3 times, and I had lunch by the lake :-)

The park has a bit of a reputation at night for prostitutes, and I did have a bit of a ‘culture shock’ to see my first prostitute, not sure whether it was male or female, but if you thought dance competitions required a lot of make-up and false eyelashes, this was a whole new level!

Yesterday I had a really busy day (I try to keep Saturdays busy so that I don’t get too bored or homesick). I went to Fontainebleau, slightly unplanned. Unplanned to the point that on the train going to Gare de Lyon I wasn’t sure whether I was heading to Fontainebleau or Val d’Europe (BIG shopping centre), but the angel in me won and I went to do something slightly more cultural and probably cheaper. The train ticket only cost €7 – special young people’s weekend ticket and you can travel as much as you want for a day across all the zones and it includes using the bus and trams – bargain! It took about 40 minutes to get to Fontainebleau and then another 20 mins or so to get to the chateau.

The castle isn’t as well known as Versailles but it was worth the visit and it’s free for under 26 year olds from the EU (got to love France for that), so I paid just €1 for the audio guide (in French of course) and wandered round the bedrooms, bathrooms, throne rooms, chapel... After that I had a wander around the grounds which were well kept and there were loads of couples wandering around hand in hand (hmmm).

After that I came back to Paris and was on the way home when I decided I’d stop at Chatelet for a bit of shopping after all. It was with the intention of finding Nick a birthday present, but it turned into clothes shopping for myself... I don’t know who said that the French have good fashion, they lied. French shops are terrible, and I never thought I’d have to resort to New Look in France! So mum will have/has a list of things to go and get and bring out to me next weekend :-D and so far Nick has no present...

So that means that today I’m being lazy and watching TV. It started very educational, a programme about a plane, called the Comet that crashed in 1954 with 35 people on board, but now it’s deteriorated to one of those films you get on ‘True Movies’ or something like that, called ‘Le Lit du Diable’ (the Devil’s bed) whilst I’m having a bit of a clean.

This weekend has a bank holiday stuck on it, so no idea at the moment what I’ll do tomorrow, everything will probably be shut knowing France! My internet hasn’t been working, so if it decides to work I can hopefully find out what is and isn’t open and go and do something, if not, I’ll sit and read in the park and get a crepe or something. 

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's off to work I go...

So the routine of work has set in – getting up, taking the metro then the tram, getting something to drink at work and then starting for the day. Still, lessons won’t start properly until September, so a couple of days have felt pretty dragged out preparing lessons hour in hour out. Though me and Kate were given an ‘extra’ task to sort out the library (well, the few shelves of books that are kept locked away) so we got to get out of the open space and I think by now we are both experts on referencing! We finished it really quickly, so I wonder what fun task is next!

Wednesday after work I went to the theatre with Kate and Fred (a guy from work) to see a Moliere play “Le médecin malgré lui”. Which, being Moliere, I would have thought would be really difficult to understand, but seeing some 7-8 year olds reassured me, and the woman behind kept explaining everything to her child, not that I was eavesdropping at all! It was really nice, and the first thing I’ve done with someone French (apart from dancing) since I’ve been here. I hope there’s more to come.

Something I’ve enjoyed doing at work so far are the English/French/Spanish lunches, where we meet up with someone just to have lunch and we spend half of it in English and half of it in French/Spanish, but they can be quite hard work and it doesn’t give you much of a ‘break’ from working me and Kate have decided... So we’re going to try not to have one every lunch!

The girls on reception at work, Laura and Flora, are really nice. Was having one of those “AH I CAN’T SPEAK FRENCH!!!!” days, which I somehow managed to explain and get through in French, and they were both just lovely – meeting people like that makes the year abroad a whole better experience, so thanks girlies!

To finish on a light note – Post-it Wars! It’s a guerre (war) where you make a picture on your window using Post-it notes and the person opposite does the same thing... I took part in this on Friday as it was a quiet day and in Bath’s honour and my own obsession, created a duck! (Before any geeks out there mention it, I know it isn't an 8 bit image or whatever you call it, but I wanted a duck so I did a duck - so there!!) It used quite a few Post-its but they get recycled when you create another image. It’s good fun and a nice break from work. 

One month in...

So I’ve been in Paris for a month now! It’s flown by! Had lots of ‘firsts’ – starting with the first day at work, then my first night alone in the studio, first trip to the market, first lesson, first feeling homesick, first time eating peas that come from a tin (quite a strange concept), first French bank card, first French payslip and I could probably go on. What I mean, is that there are lots of new experiences all the time, and I’m enjoying most of them.

Work is going well, I’ve had three lessons now and August seems like it’s going to be an easy-going month as everyone appears to be on holiday! Food at work is good and I can eat 2 courses for about €2! There is loads of choice, especially if you eat meat (which I don’t, yet...). I think going to work takes away the boredom of living alone and getting paid is always nice of course!

I’ve been filling the weekends with cultural activities – tour of the Opera Garnier in French, Cimetiere de Pere Lachaise, Place des Vosges and Paris Plage, followed by lying in the sun in a park on Sunday. My plan is to do lots of different things that tourists wouldn’t necessarily do, and so far it’s working nicely at keeping me occupied. Ooo how could I forget the wander around Monmartre and seeing a rather cool (linguistically) wall – it has ‘I love you’ written in loads of languages :-)

Skype is amazing. It’s my connection to everyone back home and I can’t imagine having to stay in touch without it (although I have been sending postcards J  ). Chatting to nan and Nick more or less everyday is something nice to look forward to in the evenings and mum will learn eventually... Maybe by the time I’m in Spain at this rate!! (Get a move on mum!!) There have been a few nights where all I’ve done is call people in England and have a chat (which might not be the best thing to improve my language, but it’s a good end to the day)! Of course everyone must get slightly homesick, we are all human, and everyone will miss people and different things from home, be it cheddar, squash or proper frozen peas!

This morning I went to my first market, at 7.45am ish before work. The sky was a pretty powdery blue and it was nice and quiet and I walked to the market listening to Schandefreude (from Avenue Q) and songs from Hairspray, so there was a spring in my step. Surprisingly people were still setting up, so I found a stall that was more or less finished setting up, the guy was very helpful and it’s good French food practice! Came back with a bag full of fresh veg for a little over €3 and a quietly smug smile at realising that I do know some useful French, even if the grammar might be a bit dodgey now and then.

So that’s more or less my month in an A4 page!