I know you probably thought that I had given up on my blog, having not written in so long, but I assure you that is not the case. I am currently without internet in my charming little apartment, which means my newest past time is reading and drinking all the wine I originally purchased to bring home, but then didn't bring home for fear of it breaking in my suitcase. I am by no means complaining, because let's face it, reading and drinking wine is not a hard past time - many dream of this being their only past time.
So I am back in Paris, gay Paris, the city of lights and love. I am feeling rejuvenated and have found a new love for my temporary home. After being back in Toronto for Christmas and having a break from all the hustle and bustle, and Christmas insanity of Paris, I am planning fun things for the rest of my stay in Paris. I think I have settled on the simple fact that Paris is the perfect city to visit and perhaps a less perfect city to live in. Regardless, the clock is ticking on my amazing year in Paris, so I now have to make the best of it.
The past two weeks have been filled with fun activities. I have been out having drinks with friends, and spent a day celebrating la fete des rois at Thibaut's house (which involved a large gathering with gifts and family and eating a galette des Rois - a pie filled with marzipan with a small figurine hidden in it. The person who gets the figurine is crowned King and picks a queen or vice versa if it's a girl). click on the link above to see more about it - I'm thinking Canada should adopt a holiday like this, it felt like an extension of Christmas!
I have been out to see movies in the evenings, and have been attending events with my Cosmoplus girls, a group of plus sized girls who are working to change the face of the plus size industry in France, who also plan outings like comedy club nights, Salsa dance nights and craft days. We went and saw an open mic comedy night in French, which I must admit I wasn't sure how much I would understand of it, but came out pleasantly surprised, having understood all of it! On top of all that, it was very funny! It's nice to hear people poke fun at the hypocrisy and silliness of daily life in Paris, the unnecessary impatience and rage of many Parisians on their way to work, be it in a car or in the metro no longer annoys me, because I can now laugh at it thanks to all the comedians I saw the other night. What a relief!
Work is back to normal, although very busy, but I am still enjoying it. I will be sorry to say goodbye to it in less than four months time. I love the people I work with and I think will find it hard to find another group of people like that in future jobs, but such is life. This past Friday, we celebrated two birthdays in the office, with champagne, my homemade brownies, and of course a galette des rois. I always feel like I among family with everyone at work, because we have such a great time together.
For the new year, I am going to be going to London in February and am trying to organize a few other trips to keep my weekends busy. I will of course keep you updated on all those things as they happen. For now I am trying to keep my excitement contained for my trip to London, because I love London so much.
I am really going to try and take more photos as well this year, as I feel my blog is lacking in that department a bit - so please forgive me for that.
Before I leave you, I have to tell you about a book that I received for Christmas from my mum, called "A Year in the Merde" by Stephen Clarke. It tells the story of an Englishman who is sent to Paris for work for a year. I have not laughed out loud at a book this much in a long time, and for anyone who is interested in knowing the big truths about living in Paris, I would highly recommend it. I zipped through many a chapter laughing and agreeing with all the experiences that I too had had in Paris that at the time frustrated me but now can laugh about. He has put into words what every foreigner living in Paris has been unable to in the past. You can see more about it here
I will be back soon with more photos and updates, I promise! Wishing you all a happy new year and all the best! Hopefully you are still keeping up your resolutions!
Take care!
Spec.
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