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Category: Au Pair

Snapshots: London, Sheffield, Edinburgh

Snapshots: London, Sheffield, Edinburgh

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and while I did consume alarming amounts of chocolate I didn’t feel particularly festive considering I was also alone in my room while doing so and thousands of miles away from NC. Both my host parents were traveling so it wasn’t worth cooking anything special, and the only Thanksgiving-ish thing in France is a half-hearted Black Friday. But! This weekend I’m making an apple crumble and having my three best friends here over for a Frenchified Friendsgiving….

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Chateau Chez Moi, or, Proof that France has made me bougie

Chateau Chez Moi, or, Proof that France has made me bougie

I will never stay at a hostel again! (Jk I literally stayed in an 8-bunk hostel room days after the chateau, but you know.) Departure One Friday night in mid-October my host dad came home around 8 p.m. and told us to pack our bags: we were headed to the grandparents’ chateau. As one does. We hadn’t planned on leaving until the next day, but it’s a spontaneous household, so we took off in the night after an hour of…

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Day 2: Solo Travel in Marseille

Day 2: Solo Travel in Marseille

“Marseille is… today the only one of the ancient capitals that does not crush us with the monuments of its past… It is not a city of architecture, of religion, of literature, of academies or fine arts… It is easy-going and jovial. It is dirty and rundown. But it is nonetheless one of the world’s most mysterious cities and one of the most difficult to decipher.” — Blaise Cendrars I read this quote in an exhibit at the MUCEM, and…

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Day 1: Solo Travel in Marseille

Day 1: Solo Travel in Marseille

In Marseille, it’s claimed, the weather is always beautiful: il fait toujours beau. The rains are brief and chased away by the sun. Unfortunately, I caught Marseille’s sun on a rare weekend when it didn’t shine, much less keep bad weather in check. I arrived in the city on a Saturday morning around 9, and by 11 it started raining, and wouldn’t stop for another ten hours.    So my luck was bad, and I didn’t even have someone with…

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Beginning Ma Vie Francaise…

Beginning Ma Vie Francaise…

Instructions for an impromptu 10 euro picnic in France: Buy a baguette, a soft cheese, and a hard cheese. This constitutes your main course. Add a box of Petits Ecolier cookies for dessert. Pick out a bottle of red wine, as you won’t be able to chill a white or rosé. Don’t worry about not having a bottle-opener — it’s France, so most grocery stores have a courtesy bottle opener at the cash register that you can use after buying…

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The Beauty of Life’s Uncertainties

The Beauty of Life’s Uncertainties

Or, the reasoning that led me to my next step: living in France as an au pair The last blog post I wrote here was about a weekend I spent in Lyon, France a year before — at the time of writing, I had no idea that I would return to this city in just 8 short months! Life can be funny that way. I graduated from college this summer — a phrase which still feels weird to say. For…

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