Paris is always a good idea. After visiting Paris with Caroline and her family, I was dying to get back! Thankfully Nia and I had booked our tickets and Vanessa and Luke joined us! Before all of the excitement it was time for the very last "journée de formation" or training day for assistants in Lille. I was dreading it. Thankfully, it was actually a nice experience. I didn't learn all that much, but it was an occasion to meet new friends - shout out to the american girls who adopted me that day - as well as old ones - all my love to Ellie and Jess! Being in Lille always and I mean always results in les 3 Brasseurs - it's our equivalent to Spoons I think...
Thankfully this wasn't too much of a late night as I was staying at Nia's with Vanessa before the early get up for Paris! We took the Ouibus a service I'd fully recommend - the seats are comfy you get USB ports, wifi and plugs..and a nice little toilet - THAT WAS CLEAN! I'm very easily pleased.
Arriving in Paris at around 10:25 we took to the metro to our first stop...of course the Tour Eiffel - I couldn't let Luke, who had never been to Paris, not see the main attractions could I? This time thankfully it was BEAUTIFUL weather!
I'm sure everyone will agree, this made all our Instagram dreams come true! Second on the list of course for tour guide Rushton was the Arc de Tri, where I managed to meet up with my lush friend from Uni of Notts: Zoe! It was amazing to be able to have a lovely catch up, talk about our year abroad best bits/crises and introduce her to my Lille friends! I really hope she'll be in Lille in two weeks time with us all! It was so nice to have a little piece of home with me that day, so thank you again!
You can see in the photo the large tricolore! 11 Novembre is a national bank holiday to support armed forces day, with a parade that literally meant police, secret police and loooooads of lovely flags - EVERYWHERE!
After a lovely McDonalds in the poshest of them all - the Champs Elysees, we headed for our next destination: La Place de la Concorde and Le Louvre! I must admit, I wasn't expecting such a lovely day weather wise so this made the walk down even better. Paris is definitely one of my favourite places in the world, especially during this walk, it gives me all the feels! Baudelaire eat your heart out.
A shock for tout le monde, was the Christmas markets beginning! The really large Parisien Christmas market was open on our way down to La Place and I couldn't have been happier. We went through all the stalls and may have ran across the road a few times for cute photos of the Arc and the national flags!
After visiting the Louvre and meeting with Nia's exchange friend Linda, we went to see the Notre Dame and Shakespeare and Co.
Anyone who knows me best will know this is usually my favourite place on the planet.....
But let me tell you I was even a little bit disappointed. Whether the first time I visited it had taken off the shine, or whether my brain has done a bit of a French backflip I don't know...yet here's why. I began looking at all the copies of Proust - a famous French author for those not in the literary loop yet - and they were all English. Myself being ridiculously stupid at times, forgot that the whole store was an English librarie and not a French one. I was actually really upset by the fact that none of the amazing copies would be in a language I've now become so accustomed to...I actually prefer struggling with Proust and his intellect in French, than just reading the English...
Geek moment over, it was time for a crepe, how can we not?!?! We're in Paris! It was a fantastic way to finish my day being yet again a petite flaneuse in the most beautiful city. Next time I'm desperate to visit the latin quartier and discover where my favourite writers went for coffee!
Thank you so much to Nia who's put up with me the entier weekend and gave me a place to crash, to Vanessa, Luke, Zoe and Linda - It was a really brilliant day.
What's going on now in Jessica's world?
- I'm still tutoring and this seems to have become a permanent thing from now on for the time that I'm here. I'm really enjoying teaching my student - she's very enthusiastic - but also it allows me to flit between French and English with ease - always a plus!
- I'm spending the week helping to baby-sit and be in the company of Caroline and her family, which I cannot wait for! I haven't really had chance (minus Paris) to speak much English so the more time I spend with all these French people the better!!!! (FOR THE LOVE, WINE AND LANGUAGE)
- Next month before I come home I'm going to Belgium again thanks to Luke (hero), Becca and Lauren who asked me! A perfect Xmas market day out for SURE.
- Nia and I have booked Amsterdam for January! Yes more and more trips galore! This is definitely going to kick January blues in the butt!!!!
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