Taking a vacation from the city can be as short and sweet as a day out beyond the peripherique to visit a neighbouring town or one of Ile de France’s once royal residences. After posting my recent thoughts about Parisian Parks I decided to make the most of a beautiful summer Sunday and the suggestion of some keen friends by visiting the Chateau de Vincennes and the quaint little town situated on the Bois de Vincennes. Being under 26, a visit of…
Summer afternoons in Paris can only really be spent in one manner – whiling away the time in one of the many parks scattered around the city. Whether you prefer large or small, green or gravel, with water or without, there really is a park to suit every taste or activity. I know that for dramatic effect I should build up to my favourite park but I’m going to start with it because if you only visit one park in Paris, make…
No singing though! Nevertheless Friday evening was a pretty memorable and exhilarating experience of dancing in the rain. Last Friday, after work, I rushed off to join a good friend of mine for an outdoor Zumba class on Paris Plage. It had been a fairly typical summers day – neither too hot nor cold, certainly not humid and heavy. As I entered the metro the sky was bright; not an ominous cloud in sight. Less than 10 minutes later, upon…
I read a book last year called Last Light by Alex Scarrow. It’s set in the UK and depicts a scarily possible scene of fast-paced rioting across London and other city centres, although in this case due to a lack of oil and thus all power that is derived from our dependance upon this natural resource. Despite the fact that I found the events in the novel to have been presented as a credible series of possiblities that we could…
So it’s finally arrived, the moment all the Parisians have been talking about – the month of August. Apparently every year the inhabitants of Paris flee the city en masse and descend upon the regions of France. For those in search of sun and sea they flock south, others just keen for a break from the hustle and bustle of the capital choose to go East or West approaching the boarders and finally those with their roots abroad head home for a month in…
After a grey two weeks the weather has finally broken into a rather satisfying storm. The heavens have opened with a crash above Paris, washing away the dust from a three month heat-wave. Given the intensity of the rain this seems like the perfect opportunity to do some studying. I naturally go through the motions of loading up the various relevant articles and wikipedia searches, while taking regular breaks to fuel my brain with chocolatey-snacks and Diet Coke but as…
I am off out to party.. spurred on by the realisation that it’s Canada Day so that’s what all my friend’s and family over there will be doing. I know many people may think it a bit OTT that Canada celebrates a day in name of the country but why not? In the UK we celebrate patron Saint’s Days, the French have le 14 Juillet and the USA celebrates Independence Day; just to mention a few. Wikipedia gives a good…
I usually try and put a positive spin on things but after spending 7 months in the capital there are inevitably a few things which grate on the nerves. In any case I am living in Paris so it should be my perogative to complain about absolutely anything and everything. I ♥ Rien – Je suis Parisienne! I hate the way that supermarkets are closed on Sundays and the way that a coke costs more than the beer, I hate…
Well the essay was at last completed, thankfully not running into overtime with the final score resting at: Essay 1 : Emma 0 Number of hours of sleep accumulated in the last 48 hours: Appoximately 5 Number of meals that were not almost entirely pasta based: 1 All in all an uneventful start to the proceedings with little or no on-screen results, leaving all the action for the second half. A rushed effort around midnight just…
One of the life skills I acquired during my 4 years at the University of Bristol was ‘The Art of Procrastination.’ Before uni I was always very good at getting things done on time… early even and with added extras! I used to be a bit of a perfectionist; now I am just a procrastinator. I used to think of procrastination as an extremely negative habit but that was because I was going about it all wrong! In Bristol I…