Il fait très chaud – et il y a du soleil !

Summer has made another appearance here with the Olympics, and it definitely feels like July.

Now that I’m spoiled having been to the Opening Ceremonies and an Olympic match of volleyball, I’m hooked! I search for tickets every day, not aggressively, just casually, and I keep reminding myself that I’ve already lived through events above and beyond my expectations this summer in Paris, my favorite city.

Remember, I was only supposed to be here for two weeks.

What good fortune it was to have been gifted those tickets, and to have been able to take my good friend Hélène.

Tomorrow, I’m going to le Petit Palais with friends. We want to view some Street Art, and hang out till evening.

Yesterday, I enjoyed (!) a one-on-one tutor session with a very local French school. Local, as in right behind my apartment. It was 90 minutes that flew by because we were nonstop engaged in conversation.

My plan is to book more of these sessions with my teacher, Blondine, as I want a full-on emersion experience in French conversation. I can no longer do classes, conjugation, tenses, etc. Not that my grammar is perfect, but it is certainly solid at this point. And classrooms situations are awesome, but difficult too, because you only get so much time to express yourself, and have an exchange with the teacher. And, I mean, does anyone like group activities? I don’t. Never did. And when they are in a different language it presents other challenges.

When everyone in the group speaks French with their own accent, I’m almost mis/mal-training my ear. Also, I cannot understand them, which fascinates me no-end. I mean, I can understand English with many, many accents. Right? But French? No.

Alors…

I am excited with this new aggressive approach.

And in the meantime, I will continue to look for Olympic Game tickets! Because I’m a spoiled brat.

I should say that upon arrival, I did purchase one ticket for myself, thinking it might be the only event I would ever get to go to. It’s the gold-medal women’s basketball final. So, there’s that to look forward to. I will remain grateful for what I’ve already experienced – my accommodations, the generosity of friends and Paris itself, and my continued good luck with all things French, especially and always champagne, included. VERY grateful. Beyond belief.

This city is good to me, and for me. It nourishes me.