ORGANISED CHAOS

I know I’m back in the land which laughs in the face of any pretence at queue protocol when, on entering the France Telecom store to try to resolve my broadband problem, there were about eight people all randomly milling about, yet simultaneously waiting to be served in turn.

But it struck me that quite a lot of the daily occurrences I tell you about also happen to me in England too and I wondered: do they seem more interesting and mysterious (to me at any rate) because they are happening in French? Somehow, if I told you about the (undoubtedly neat and orderly) queue in an English telephone store, it wouldn’t seem nearly half as exciting!

Anyway, blog serves its purpose since I'm such a rubbish emailer, so you'll just have to put up with these boring daily occurrences, sorry ..

CATCH-UP

So, what can I update you on about my life in Paris? For a start, I’m faring better than this time last year even if I still haven’t got the hang of all this continental cheek-kissing. But I look in the right direction when I cross the road now. I can also turn left on my bike (most of the time). And I even get asked for directions from tourists. During his brief sojourn while dropping me off, Tristan was, as ever, quite at his ease playing at being French, zooming maniacally around the Arc de Triomphe in the car (twice) (correction: three times, sorry darling! ;p ) and intent on collecting as many parking tickets as he possibly could. (But you know, it turns out cheaper to be given a ticket than to pay for a whole day’s parking but it got me wondering whether the French do actually pay their fines or are they their usual rule-flouting selves and just rip them up on sight?) Anyway, beloved tutor has given me a even better timetable this year and I love my petit coin de Paris - really looking forward to going to the local veggie restaurant LOTS of times! Oh, and to Jean Bouin tomorrow for the match against Albi.

MIRCO

So, here is the latest photo of Mirco, isn't he just lovely! ;p

RUGBY NEWS

While still being driven up the wall deprived of proper internet access, I’ve only a limited amount of time to update you on rugby news, which I know you are just dying to hear about! So, Stade obliged by winning my first match at Jean Bouin this season (41-27 + point de bonus) and hopefully they will win again tonight against Brive (even if Mirco is resting)! Watch this space .. 21-6 for Stade! :)

“QUE LA JOIE EST BELLE”

At the risk of sounding like an old biddie who thinks that policemen are getting younger, I have to ask the question: really, where does the time go? The summer passed by in a blink and I didn’t manage to do half the things nor even see half the people I wanted to. And I didn’t do it on purpose just so you’d visit! But it has to be said mes belles, eurostar is sooo easy!

So here I am back in la belle France and the Parisian adventures begin again! I’m pleased to say that nothing has really changed in my absence and now that I’ve made the new flat my own, I’ve been out and about exploring my new quartier. I am extremely pleased to see heaps of nice restaurants, including a - gasp - vegetarian one just around the corner. I also happened to notice the diptyque shop which will be very useful for a certain somebody’s birthday in November.

I’ve also been re-acquainting myself with old friends like the Tuileries and the Louvre, oh, we have such a lot of lost time to catch up on! However, the absolutely imperative next stop is France Telecom to get myself hooked up to the internet properly as this intermittent thing I have at the moment is testing my usually patient nature to its limit.

Something very cheerful though: for my first game of the season at Jean Bouin, Mirco has been placed at centre. I’d like to think that they knew I was returning this week-end and so did this deliberately just for me but someone will undoubtedly say that I’m being - cough - delusional!

END OF PART II

"PAS PREMIERS POUR RIEN"

Oh, je suis vraiment contente, SF have won the away match against Toulouse (12-16), which was never going to be easy, but they did it and in the most terrible rainy conditions and they are still top of the Top 14 table! :)

DIEUX

© stade.fr

The arrival of the new calendar is imminent: 28 September! I know you shouldn’t judge a book (or calendar) by its cover but .. phew ..

L'AVIRON BAYONNAIS

© stade.fr

Result from last night's game: 48 - 29 for Stade :)

(to note: new jerseys, which have provoked mixed reactions)

Next stop: Toulouse (away) :/

WORKING GIRL

© drew

In order to stop me getting bored and lonely (ha!), or possibly more likely to keep me out of mischief, some kind person close to me enlisted my services to help them with their massively complex and involved project. Effectively, this means that my days are now spent getting up and going to bed with the sun and looking at lots of data and then looking at it again and then cross-checking it with some other data and then migrating that onto a new system to be checked again. And did I mention that it had to be re-checked? Anyway, I hope you’ll excuse me if blog only gets updated for rugby news during the next week or so ..

Speaking of which, the game against Bayonne is at Jean Bouin this week-end and Mirco is playing at centre!

NARBONNE

© stade.fr

The third match within 10 days is played this evening against Narbonne with Mirco in the number 11 shirt! Allez le Stade! :)

Score: Stade Français 33 - 24 Narbonne :)

LA RENTRÉE

Today is the official 'first day back at school' and although I’m not required there for a while yet, the arrival of the first of September means that within a few weeks I’ll be back in Paris, exploring its rues and jardins. But in the meantime, I’ll be trying to come to terms with leaving England again ..