This last week was a calm one until the weekend hit; tonight is my first night in since Thursday, hence no blog. So Thursday is where I will start, did you all know that France celebrates something called Beaujolais Nouveau? Nope, well me either till my wonderful host family informed me about it, it simply is a night were French people go out to drink this Beaujolais wine. It's a wine best drunk young apparently (because even drunk young it's foul so I can't imagine what it's like older...) and the night is every third Thursday in November and it us when the first new crop is released. Not one to pass up discovering a new French tradition I obviously had to give it a try. And then three more bottles and some shots. Merde. Fell down the stairs the next morning and now I'm sporting a cracking bruise on my ass.
So Friday day was spent in bed, I genuinely couldn't move for fear of throwing up. Still ever the trooper I am off I went on Friday for some drinks in Place Monge with the lovely Sara and Georges. We had to go early to get Sara's friend from Opera so me and Georges decided late night McDonalds was a better idea then more beer, it definitely was. Had an early start on Saturday anyways, Gemma and I went on an adventure. Only to Porte de Versailles but still... we went to the sewing expo thing there, called make do and mend. Well, it's a good job I didn't take much money because I was in heaven, I could've spent faaarrr too much there. It was super nice to do something different also.
Saturday night involved bucket cocktails, I have not drunk one of these since Magaluf. Me and Cath planned a few drinks, Cath is the one with the Parisian boyfriend, Nico, so she invites all the Parisians she knows too. I was quite squiffy before I even left Nico's flat thanks to champagne and whatever it was in a shot glass. Then in this bar bucket cocktails appeared, no that was a bad idea. It was actually a really good night, these guys are my favourite Parisians, they only correct my French in a nice way and let me teach them Cockney slang and Welsh.
Sunday was chilled out bliss at church, I love the sanctuary there away from noisy Paris and busy lives, although we're all pretty busy there too haha. Then last night was church music and AV team drinks, considering the past 5 days it's unsurprising I woke up today with a horrible headache. Although there aren't many nights I drink excessively these days, 2/3 drinks is so easy to do in Paris and it all adds up.
So something I've been thinking and answering a lot recently is this, have you found a French boyfriend yet? (Or something to that extent and even by mes enfants) I must get asked this question at least once a week and my response is always no. Of course when I accepted a job in Paris I thought of drinking champagne under the Eiffel Tower with a beautiful frenchman, think Lauren Conrad in the Hills.... but have realised it's just not a priority for me.
Paris has been like therapy for me; if you know me at all you know that my years at uni were so consumed by one damaging relationship. It was a first year at uni cliche and it ended badly, scars of break ups run deep but mine ran deeper then what was healthy. Second year was a continuous haze of me messing up, he hurt me so I could hurt others right? No, Kate, so very wrong, looking back if I could go back and not hurt the people I did I wouldn't. Then by third year I was doing fine, until he came back into my life,not enough that you could call it anything but enough that it hurt me again. It was a poisonous relationship at the best of times and I sometimes bored myself talking about it. I made so many mistakes because of it, somewhere along the way I forgot what was important. I also gave up my faith because of it, I was so ready to stop loving God because he didn't, I'm lucky my God's a forgiving one. But now, it's just a story I tell.
Aberystwyth was so small and suffocating at times, everyone knew the situation or liked to talk. Coming to Paris where no one knew what went on before has been amazing. I've realised I've let this relationship and men in general for far too long affect most parts of my life. I am loving every second of not having any attachments, no people I have to avoid and no people whispering about what I did last night. The city of lights has erased scars and given me back my passion for faith and the church. I don't walk into pubs and look around to check whose there because people always talk, I look around for a free table. I've other, more important relationships that needed fixing and healing first. I want to enjoy Paris carefree and footloose, not tied up in a relationship. I have spent the last 3 years defining everything by one relationship, I don't want to do it anymore. So I'm not.
So Friday day was spent in bed, I genuinely couldn't move for fear of throwing up. Still ever the trooper I am off I went on Friday for some drinks in Place Monge with the lovely Sara and Georges. We had to go early to get Sara's friend from Opera so me and Georges decided late night McDonalds was a better idea then more beer, it definitely was. Had an early start on Saturday anyways, Gemma and I went on an adventure. Only to Porte de Versailles but still... we went to the sewing expo thing there, called make do and mend. Well, it's a good job I didn't take much money because I was in heaven, I could've spent faaarrr too much there. It was super nice to do something different also.
Saturday night involved bucket cocktails, I have not drunk one of these since Magaluf. Me and Cath planned a few drinks, Cath is the one with the Parisian boyfriend, Nico, so she invites all the Parisians she knows too. I was quite squiffy before I even left Nico's flat thanks to champagne and whatever it was in a shot glass. Then in this bar bucket cocktails appeared, no that was a bad idea. It was actually a really good night, these guys are my favourite Parisians, they only correct my French in a nice way and let me teach them Cockney slang and Welsh.
Sunday was chilled out bliss at church, I love the sanctuary there away from noisy Paris and busy lives, although we're all pretty busy there too haha. Then last night was church music and AV team drinks, considering the past 5 days it's unsurprising I woke up today with a horrible headache. Although there aren't many nights I drink excessively these days, 2/3 drinks is so easy to do in Paris and it all adds up.
So something I've been thinking and answering a lot recently is this, have you found a French boyfriend yet? (Or something to that extent and even by mes enfants) I must get asked this question at least once a week and my response is always no. Of course when I accepted a job in Paris I thought of drinking champagne under the Eiffel Tower with a beautiful frenchman, think Lauren Conrad in the Hills.... but have realised it's just not a priority for me.
Paris has been like therapy for me; if you know me at all you know that my years at uni were so consumed by one damaging relationship. It was a first year at uni cliche and it ended badly, scars of break ups run deep but mine ran deeper then what was healthy. Second year was a continuous haze of me messing up, he hurt me so I could hurt others right? No, Kate, so very wrong, looking back if I could go back and not hurt the people I did I wouldn't. Then by third year I was doing fine, until he came back into my life,not enough that you could call it anything but enough that it hurt me again. It was a poisonous relationship at the best of times and I sometimes bored myself talking about it. I made so many mistakes because of it, somewhere along the way I forgot what was important. I also gave up my faith because of it, I was so ready to stop loving God because he didn't, I'm lucky my God's a forgiving one. But now, it's just a story I tell.
Aberystwyth was so small and suffocating at times, everyone knew the situation or liked to talk. Coming to Paris where no one knew what went on before has been amazing. I've realised I've let this relationship and men in general for far too long affect most parts of my life. I am loving every second of not having any attachments, no people I have to avoid and no people whispering about what I did last night. The city of lights has erased scars and given me back my passion for faith and the church. I don't walk into pubs and look around to check whose there because people always talk, I look around for a free table. I've other, more important relationships that needed fixing and healing first. I want to enjoy Paris carefree and footloose, not tied up in a relationship. I have spent the last 3 years defining everything by one relationship, I don't want to do it anymore. So I'm not.
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