I was planning to do a nice, traditional Valentine’s blog post about creative date ideas in Paris. Something romantic, you know. Only then I remembered that, between our 6pm curfew, everything being closed, and the fact that it’s absolutely bloody freezing this week - perhaps the coldest weather we’ve had in the four winters I’ve... Continue Reading →
Joyeuse Chandeleur ! Nope, that's not a real greeting in french, I just made it up - but any day consecrated to the consumption of crêpes is worthy of one, in my humble opinion. And Chandeleur is exactly that.* It falls on the 2nd February every year, 40 days after Christmas. The french name derives... Continue Reading →
Solo travel is a special kind of time to yourself, when there’s no obligation or pressure to do anything specific or productive. How often, in the busy balancing act of grown-up life, do we get the opportunity to spend several (waking) hours in total repose, without any guilt or consequences?
Let’s face it, there’s been a lot more to complain about than there has been to celebrate in 2020. It really was one hell of a year, and I don’t mean that in the good way. For me, among other things, it’s included spending six months jobless, and three of those without seeing another human... Continue Reading →
I know, I know, I've been neglecting my blog again recently. I had such good intentions when I took up my figurative pen again this summer, but I can assure you, I have my best excuse yet for this most recent hiatus - I've been immersing myself in another writing project, one that I'm rather... Continue Reading →
I embarked on another food quest this week, deciding on a whim to dig out one of my (embarrassingly numerous) "to try" lists and settling on a little boulangerie I've been meaning to visit for at least two years now. The boulangerie in question is the Circus Bakery in the Latin Quarter, specialist purveyors of... Continue Reading →
It’s just gone 8am and I’m speeding towards the Channel Tunnel at 221 km/h. I have a whole carriage of the Eurostar to myself - talk about social distancing. The journey marks the end of a two-week trip back to England, the most time I’ve spent in my native country since I emigrated to France... Continue Reading →
Search Google for anything remotely related to repatriating in France and you will find a wealth of accounts whining about testifying to the nightmarish near-impossibility of navigating french administration/bureaucracy. In my mission to prepare myself as fully as possible for my new life, I read many (oh, so many) of these myself before I moved... Continue Reading →
*DISCLAIMER* If you're viewing this on a desktop, the formatting might be a little... erratic. It would appear to be a WordPress bug and I can't do anything about it. Sorry. On to the blog post. There is a genuine possibility that I have just had the most enjoyable Monday that anyone, anywhere has... Continue Reading →
I’m starting to wonder if there’s something wrong with me. We’re 26 days into the official confinement in France, it’s been 27 days since I had a conversation with another human face-to-face, and 29 days have passed since I saw anyone I actually know. Not that I’m counting or anything. But if I was, I... Continue Reading →
