In what seems like no time at all I'm back on my way to Paris again, this time to spend a few days with BE. Due to a severe lack of sleep the night before I spend the first 2 hours on the train alternating between feeling sick and falling into deep fitful sleeps. I arrive at the gare and make my way north to Saint-Denis where BE meets me at the station. We spend the rest of the day (and night) on his terrace philosophising, eating horseradish and (of course) d...

We decided to invite ourselves (obviously with offers of gifts) to Paris for a long weekend to stay with HU. We had to get up at an ungodly hour to get the 9h30 train, and coupled with an ill-advised purchase of a bottle of Schwepps agrum I spent half the journey feeling sick. When we arrived we spent about 30 minutes trying to find the left luggage area so we didn't have to drag our bags roung with us all day and then headed out along the Seine, taking in the...

A week of culture and sadness. Sunday I went to my first ever opera, Le Nozze di Figaro, and we finally got to see the inside of the renovated Opéra here. As we'd bought tickets from CROUS for 5 euros we were given the 'worst' seats right at the top, but actually they weren't too bad. Apart from the fact that it was in Italian, so I understood about 5 minutes from the first 45 minute act. It was only when I changed position in my seat that I realised the bar ...

After literally a month and a half of asking, waiting, nagging and hoping, I've finally moved into my new studio! I originally asked the directrice at Vert Bois in April if I could move and she said she'd ask Boutonnet and Colombiere and get back to me. This didn't happpen. So after about 3 weeks I went to see her, but I was told I had to leave a note. Nothing. I went back a week later and she told me that she'd sent them an email but they'd never replied, so ...

Last Sunday was the Nimes Feria, which was one of the first trips I had when I arrived last year. We kept well away from the bull fighting again, thank goodness because apparently it took quite a bit of work for them to actually kill it this year. We explored a bit more this year, and watched some tango, African dancing and people that for some reason were dressed as tents. We decided to have dinner (paella and sangria of course) in a square of restaurants, an...