Renaissance

Was so lovely to have a Skype with my parents, and reassure them about how I am. I know my mum in particular has been really quite worried about me...because we have a very close relationship (I speak to her most days) she has known since the beginning how I have been. I think that's both a good and bad thing sometimes...no matter how much I try and act happy my parents always notice straightaway when something is wrong, but at the same time I know that they know just how much happier I am now. Had a long overdue catch-up and saw how things have been getting on in England...I am so lucky to have such great, and supportive, parents.

So a coffee with Thomas at Le Vertigo turned into Christmas shopping, in which we bought no Christmas presents obviously! But we definitely looked. My new absolute favourite shop is Memoranda...an absolute gem of a shop. Now what is it? Well, it's a bookshop. Not just one of those soulless, rather commercialised, places with two floors and open plan shelves...instead a veritable warren of little rooms, and stairways and twists and turns. Not just new books either, and not just pretty old books...we even found a book dating from the seventeenth century. Amazing. Did I mention it also had a coffee and cake shop hidden right in the centre of the shop? And one of the best things about all of the higgledy-piggledy shelves with no real discernible order, is that I found a book that I really hope will help me improve my French...it is a Bilangue book! A collection of Short Stories/Nouvelles by D.H. Lawrence...where the stories are written and in exact translation side by side, complete with a little translation section with key words at the end of each page. Looking forward to start reading it...

And a wander round a bookshop with Thomas then turned into buying goodies from the boulangerie with Thomas, which turned into a let's watch Pinocchio kind of late afternoon...not that I am complaining at all...I feel that my comprehension of French is definitely improving from watching Disney, and I'm so glad I've know someone who a.) also enjoys Disney, b.) is more than happy to watch them with me and c.) actually has a substantial Disney collection. I couldn't have asked for a better afternoon! After watching half of Le Roi Lion, we then met up with Estéban for a wander round the Christmas market...turns out we'd met before at Le Cargo a while back and I didn't actually recognise him (whoops!). Admittedly I had other things on my mind at that time, but I am more than happy to have now re-met him under less loud circumstances! It still frustrates me how tongue-tied I get when I meet new French people, I really wish I didn't.

To end a lovely, busy day Thomas and I met up with Becky, Laura and Kendra at Café Latin for sangria and tapas. Oh, and conversation (plus Kendra had also brought her knitting...I have no words!). We ended up back on the topic of speaking in French, and how sometimes blagging it is the only way to cope, illustrated perfectly by this video, and also buying Christmas presents for everyone...I swear that Christmas shopping is more manic in France than in England, but that might just be that for once all of my presents are already sorted! Will see what the atmosphere is like tomorrow, on one of the only Sundays of the year where the shops open...

Words I learnt today:-
- Ficelle - string
- Des étincelles - sparks
- Gâcher / Bousier - to waste
- Tenir la chandelle - to play gooseberry, "holding the candle"