Yesterday I arrived in France once again for my annual holiday to visit my family. After a 26-hour flight, I was feeling fairly optimistic about the day ahead. Arriving at 8am meant that I would need to stay awake till at least 9pm so that I could adjust quickly to the time-zone and not waste a single hour. My parents live in St-Germain-en-Laye, a suburb on the periphery of central Paris. To actually live in Paris means to live in one of its eighteen arrondissements where the post code starts with 750 and ends with a number from one to eighteen. My sister lives in Paris, in the ninth on Rue Rochechouart. We headed to her apartment after I collected my bags so that she could pick up a mattress and spend the night with us. The highways, blocked by Monday-morning
bouchon (traffic jams) meant that it took us nearly an hour and half to get to her street - but I loved every minute of it! Driving in Paris is hilarious, I find. For starters, there seem to be no rules. People park where they like, drive where they like and often stop in the middle of the road. They're always tooting their horns and shouting. If there are rules, they could be: disregard pedestrians at all times and no talking, only shouting. After collecting the mattress we circled the Arc de Triomph and drove down the Champs Elysees, always a treat. Once home I did end up in
le lit for several hours before conveniently waking up at aperitif hour, which is anytime from 2pm onwards. Here are some of my most-looked-forward-to things about being in France again:
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| Mum's kitchen |
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| Nescafe machine |
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| French Vogue |
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| Baguette and French wine |
