Bastille Day Thursday was my much anticipated day off, thanks to the French National Holiday – le 14 juillet. In a manner similar to the last public holiday I spent in France (Parc Asterix) I decided that a day off mid-week should not be wasted. The 14 juillet is often nicknamed Bastille Day by those of us who studied some basic French history as this celebration takes place on the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789…
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…
According to Tuenti it’s been 110 days since I last updated my status: “En Paris – nuevo trabajo, nuevo piso :)” Almost a third of a year has flown by and both the job and the flat no longer seem all that new. The problem was that around 100 days ago all that happiness of finding a new job and flat was shattered in an instant: An evening which started out better than average, ended in tears. I didn’t feel…
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…
There are many times over the course of just a year that we have the chance to re-define ourselves and start a new page in the story of our lives. This year I have had several occasions to do just that: New Year, new job, new flat, new experiences and new friends… but perhaps it is fitting that I choose Easter weekend to re-start the blog. Traditionally a celebration of re-birth. Although this entry marks the debut of my account…
I know it’s a cheesy song lyric but it’s actually very fitting for what I want to write about: My final few days in Manitoba before the long flight back to the world of antiquity on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I believe that no matter where you are in the world you should always find something beautiful to appreciate, regardless of whether you are right where you want to be at that time, or not. In Manitoba,…
Coming from the U.K. pretty much the only time we eat a roast turkey with all the trimmings is on Christmas Day. We don’t have Thanksgiving so, not being Canadian, I hadn’t anticipated doing anything special. A newfound friend invited us to spend the afternoon in the company of her family and friends whicch certainly made the holiday weekend a little more lively than dinner for two. It was a lovely way to spend my first Thanksgiving in Canada and…
There’s nothing like a rush of exercise-induced endorphins to lift the spirits. Actually in reality the day seemed to drag on much longer than usual and I was worn-out before I even started the fitness ‘class’ this evening but it seemed only fair that I should do some form of exercise today after watching the kids do 10+ laps of the field for Terry Fox and practically (in some cases literally) fall over each other just for a sip of…