A Touching Moment

So I’m looking at an apartment.  Thomas, my maybe future roommate, shows me the site of our future flat and where his friends, a cute couple, are currently living.  When we arrive, they are sitting hunched over boxes eating dinner – the regular moving-out scene.  They happily shuffle things around for my walk-through as we joke and converse. 

It’s sunny and spacious.  Equipped with laundry and gas stove, but oddly it does not include a fridge, nevermind Thomas will buy one.  It’s a walk-out -balcony -in- my -bedroom kind of apartment, it’s perfect!  More importantly, I decide these people are cool, and exactly the type of folks I wanna be friends with.  As we’re wrapping up I ask why they’re leaving.  The man, while casually standing over the sink cleaning the grit off the frying pan says they’re thinking of expanding their family.  I should tell you now that everything happens about 30 seconds later for me in French than in real time, so by the time realized the significance of what was said, the women has begin to tear up and flutter her hands around her face, and then Thomas, flipping his head, as though watching a tennis match, between the two of them says:

“ non, c’est pas vrais, oui?”

With an even brighter smile and tear buds now falling down her cheeks she nods and starts laughing.  We all laugh and make rounds hugging.  They are only two months in, so hadn’t told anyone yet. 


I think it’s strange that Thomas then congratulates them by making horns with his hands on his head – 'mocking a bull' he explains.... but then again 30 seconds later it occurs to me that he’s talking about the astrological sign Taurus, as in when the baby is due.  And just like that i was invited into my first tender moment, albeit accidently.  

Taxing

Day one on the job and I had very little time to prepare for my first lesson.  

The school offers boxed teaching plans, all laid out in perfectly organized binders with colour coded levels that correspond to the various sections, but following the British method, and having to use odd phrases like:  “we shall go to the cinema later.” etc... is a little dull, so i quickly searched for something under the same prescribed theme -  vacations -  and ripped a small paragraph from someone’s blog about a vacation gone wrong.  

I didn’t give the text too much thought and subsequently spent my first lesson explaining words like honeymooning, spontaneous, jaunt and shanties.  Basically every other word was an exercise in itself.  Finally at the end of the lesson, I asked them how they were feeling and a women looked down at the sheet, raised her head and with wide eyes said: “ummmmmm taxing”  - one of the many words we’d gone over earlier.  It did make us laugh though, and I was proud that she’d made that connection.  

Picnic

When you’re new in town, and don’t know folks yet, sometimes it’s just nice to take yourself on a picnic.  And on a perfect Sunday afternoon, that’s exactly what I did.  This is a beautiful park conveniently located, so off I went.

Although these swans look sweet and docile, it’s really better to keep your distance.  I witnessed them nearly clobber a kid, though in the swans defence, the little bugger did have it coming. 

Window Shopping

tiny black pucks

I picked this up mostly because I like the packaging.  turns out they pack a powerful liquorice taste into each tiny  black puck.

What does Sabrina have to do with it?

Greg Kinnear, Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford in the movie Sabrina

Okay, so I’ve done it, I’ve gone and moved to France.  Sure one reasons was to develop a sense of personal style. Like most North American women, I think French women are born with fabulousness, and I’m hoping by living here for a year, I might pick up a few tricks.

Do you remember the movie Sabrina? Okay well if you haven’t seen it, rent it. You take a frumpy North American women, give her a few years in Paris et voila – she returns a vixen. But is it really possible? Does losing a bit of weight, a new wardrobe and a haircut guarantee long-term allure? I wonder how long it’ll take her before she’s back to her frumpy ways…. Or maybe I should ask: what habits do you pick up in France that can really last a lifetime? 

In this blog, I hope to share with you my personal journey to becoming my own version of a fashionista. Okay full disclosure, I am anything but that at present. I’m practical, (shoes and clothing must be comfortable) and I’m broke (any addition must be something I absolutely can’t live without). I love sneakers and usually don’t wear makeup, but if wanting and wiliness counts, I’ve got more than enough to make even a small transition. I’ll comment on anything I find interesting, clothing, beauty, humour, music, you name it. If you have suggestions, or comments, I’d be happy to hear from you.

Hope you’re wearing flats, cause this could be one hell of a ride. Are you with me?