Salut everyone! So sorry that it seems to have taken almost a decade for me to write a new blog post. As you can imagine, this week has been very busy meaning that my time has been limited. I am currently back in Paris, and have been home (where I call home now) for the last week. After New York, I headed down to London to attend a conference (which I am also in en train de writing – some present progessif for you) and arrived in Paris on Sunday. Unfortunately I had the train journey from hell from the Airport to the house, taking me nearly 3 hours to get home! Normally it only takes an hour, so you can probably understand my frustration. Basically, the trains decided that they would not continue to my stop, despite leaving me stranded at the station just before mine. And to make it worse, it was raining cats and dogs, so you can imagine that along with two heavy suitcases, the last thing I wanted to do was walk home. Then, to top it off, the rail company had organised a coach to pick us up and drop us along the route home – yet, after waiting nearly 45 minutes (when they said it would be 20mins), the driver spoke no French or English and had no idea where he was. What!? Never mind. I managed to get home, and all was fine. Well nearly. During the chaos that was my journey I actually fell down the escalator with my heavy bags, and ended up hurting my leg pretty badly.

Anyway, moving on from all that (and sorry for ranting!), this week has been busy yet really enjoyable. It’s been really nice to get back into the daily routine of the Au Pair life again. I am back at school, which is going really well. My French has improved so much within the last few weeks. Although I am still really nervous and timid speaking French, my reading has vastly improved. I think I may even take some extra individual classes that the school is offering, because I really want to make the most of my time here. I’ve also been hanging around with friends, having nice coffee, exploring the local Primark (that experience really does deserve a whole blog post by itself. Probably one of the most extricating experiences ever. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Primark in Paris was MUCH worse than any other one I’ve experienced in the UK. Top marks to them!). Last night I also went for a lovely Indian meal – the first one I’ve had in Paris – for a friend’s birthday. And this week also saw me attending the International Medieval Society’s aperitif which was really interesting – more on that in another post. Below are a few of the pictures that I have taken around Paris this week!

Boats on the Le Grand Canal, Château de Versailles

Le Grand Canal, Château de Versailles

A little house in the Jardin de Château de Versailles

Arc de Triomphe

Place de la Bastille, July Column

Graffiti on a van found in Bastille

The Tree of Jesse, Notre-Dame Cathedral