Ladies Who Brunch

Be prepared for me to sound very hipster for the next several hundred words. Right, now you've been warned I can begin. Today's subject is brunch. I'm currently sat in work, stomach rumbling thinking of all the places I could go and eat this weekend. On a Saturday morning do you really want to drag yourself out of bed any earlier than 10am? The answer to that is of course: NO! Therefore brunch is the only solution. What other meal offers sweet and savoury, alcohol and soft? I've decided to compile my top list of brunching establishments for your perusal so that you never go without. 

HolyBelly

This has to be top of the list. I went before my graduation ceremony and I can honestly say it was the best part of the day. Their slogan "It's good because we care" is an understatement, because it's not just good it is AMAZING. Can you tell I feel quite strongly about brunch? Especially here though because the atmosphere is buzzing, there is always a queue (great sign) and the food is fab. I had pancakes and bacon which I have to say were life-changingly good. My mum had the same as me and Mike had all sorts of things. Tip: when out somewhere new take a bloke with you who will be able to eat the menu! He had bacon, eggs and a sausage meat patty that was flavoured with fennel that was to die for. 

Coutume

I tend to end up brunching here alone, but don't feel too sorry for me! After a cheeky wander around the Musée Rodin I nip in for something different, usually with seasonal fruit/veg and a really interesting coffee. There is a large table at the back which is fun to sit at and watch everyone around you while pretending to read your book! A relaxed vibe and friendly staff make this spot a great place to brunch or lunch for that matter. 

Breakfast in America

Unlimited coffee. Do I really need to say anymore? Probably not but if I do then I'll just give you a tad more information! BIA does what it says on the tin. An American style dinner that provides Parisians with their much needed caffeine and French toast fixes. If you are feeling a little fragile from the night before then this is the perfect place for you. The soul music and perky servers are more than enough to sort your guele de bois out. 

There we have it. My shortlist of establishments for sorting out those Saturday morning cravings. If any of my readers have any top notch suggestions though please send me a message with them, I'm always looking for new spots to explore! 

Water Cooler Thoughts

I've been working in an office now for over a month. It was never really something I pictured for myself, sat behind a desk at a computer. I always imagined myself as someone who would work from home or who would be out and about all of the time. Maybe I just hoped for that. 

I won't lie to you it has been hard. I've been having to work through panic attacks quite literally which is amazingly difficult. Before I started working full-time I could take the timeout I needed to recover but now I have to adapt to it. This means I've been a bit rubbish at keeping up with friends, cooking dinner and doing anything other than sleeping when I get in but it does prove that mental illness is not a barrier to a normal life. Trying to explain why you are struggling to do paperwork or making conversation at lunch time is a struggle when you don't want to let everyone know about your illness. It is the kind of thing you don't want everyone to know about you at work, you don't want them to think you will be worse at your job for it or that you will flake out if things get tough. If anything I find the work I do quite cathartic in terms of my health. I throw myself into it when I'm having a bad day and feel rewarded when I see goals being achieved. I am struggling though, especially with the language barrier. During my worst period earlier this year my level of French really dropped. Luckily I'm getting slowly back up to where I was but it isn't easy when all you want to do is just talk to someone in your own language, or you can't pause and rewind a conversation. All this is normal among language students of course, it just manifests itself in me as stress, anxiety and self-doubt that I have to work out how to deal with it. 

Working in an office has a positive side to it though. I get to practice everything I have been working on in terms of social skills. Saying yes to going for drinks, spending time with people I don't know all that well and having to pluck up the courage to talk to people because it's your job to work with them are all things that have helped me incredibly. We have fun. We laugh together. We moan together. It's just what you would expect from any young office. All in all I'm loving it. The difficulties can seem enormous some days. I just have to remember how far I've come and that this isn't the end of the road. I can still improve. I'm still learning to deal with this so any blip is understandable. 

The benefits of working in a French office are numerous though. I get to practice my language skills and learn lots of new words. Some of the weird things we learnt at school are finally coming in handy. We have discussion about all sorts of subjects at lunch, today's was obesity and health scares! Another benefit is that no one tries to steal my Yorkshire tea so I am safe to leave it wherever safe in knowledge that it will still be there when I come back. We do yoga at lunchtime which is great for my well-being. I hate that phrase but it really is. You need to pause in the middle of the day and reflect on things. My sleep has improved. A thing with people who suffer from anxiety is that you can quite often suffer from insomnia and have panic attacks in your sleep. I've been so tired recently that I haven't even been able of a coherent sentence let alone any complicated worries. 

Being an adult really does have its ups and downs but at the moment caffeine, Beyoncé and my loved ones are helping me to cope with this new stage in my life. 

PS. Ive just returned from the entire office having to go and have a photo taken on Santa's knee. Mum you were right my office is a playground!

One Year On

What can I say? It hasn't exactly been a year of plain sailing since the events of 13 November 2015. I've had ups and downs along the way, a few have even been documented here. I always knew that today would be a difficult day for me mentally, but I found it hard to predict exactly how I would feel. Even as I write this I am trying to assess my feelings.
It is true that I have come a long way since the attacks. There was a time when I couldn't leave the flat without having a panic attack and still to this day I get flashbacks from that night. Nevertheless in the face of all of that I finished my degree, I have now got a job I love and I am in a much happier place mentally. My journey has not finished by any stretch of the imagination and I still struggle. I would however like to thank all of the friends and family who have been such a support in the last 12 months. Without you I would still be paralysed by fear and would have never sought help for what I was going through.
My chest is tight and there is a tear in my eye as I write this but I feel it is important to do so to prove to myself how far I have come. We won't let the terrorists in this world affect how we live our lives. Paris has truly bounced back stronger than ever before and I feel proud to call this city my adoptive home.

Adulting

Recently, I managed to blag myself an internship as a copywriter and community manager which basically means I run social media accounts for companies by writing lots of their posts and responding to angry people on Facebook. I'm just about to finish my first ever week in a full-time job so I thought I would reflect on the difference between this and what I had been doing previously. 

There are quite a few obvious differences. This new job is full-time and I'm sat at a desk typing away as well as chatting to my colleagues about whatever it is that we are currently working on. My old job greeting guests was fantastic and I'm still hoping to continue doing it part-time but there is something to be said for not having to wait around all day for people who never turn up or not accidentally setting burglar alarms off! 

I've titled this piece adulting as many of you will probably already know that this is the term used by us millenials to describe the transition from student or young adult into a fully functioning proper human being with a job and responsibilities. This week has been a culture shock but in a good way, I think. I've been sleeping properly which hasn't happened in way over 12 months. Also I've been feeling fulfilled and I can't remember the last time I had a panic attach. I look back over the past year and I now see how far that I have come. I could never have dreamed that I would be able to start work in an office with people that I don't know and get stuck into the work straight away. Anxiety can be debilitating and I've certainly had experience of that this year. However now I can say that it is helping me to push myself forward and it is making me a better person. I have to thank everyone at my previous job, because they were so kind to me and understanding when I told them about what I was going through that I genuinely wouldn't be where I am now without them. 

We shall see what the next few months throw at me but I am positive in saying that I have certainly grown into a better person because of my mental health problems. It has helped me focus my mind into working out what makes me happy and what I can do to implement that. Hopefully I can blog a little more regularly now that I am in a better headspace so keep posted for more of my ramblings and reviews!

Mid Morning Metro Matters

It has been well documented by many Parisians that the metro is a weird and wonderful place. I thought I would let you all know about a few thoughts I had on this very subject when I was using this particular mode of transport to get to work this morning.

This post first started in my mind yesterday when I was surprised by the man opposite me handing me a drawing he had done of me while I had been engrossed in my book (diamond smuggling truly is a fascinating topic!) Now, I had heard of this kind of things happening but thought it must be urban myth or the kind of thing that happens in the minds of romantics. I had a brief conversation with the man before I had to get off at my stop, in fact the man next to me even applauded this anonymous artist on his piece. So I started to think about this most unique public transport system. Underground rail networks in themselves aren't unique but the Parisian metro has a certain air of intrigue and that isn't just the faint smell of body odour you can't seen to escape.

Considering that the system is over one hundred years old it can't be a secret that it has many stories to tell. Admittedly there are some lines that make you feel like you are entering Dante's Inferno (Line 13 I'm looking at you) but what could be more special than taking the overground line 6 from Passy to Bir Hakeim at just the right time to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle and the faces of the tourists, children and indeed the locals light up with delight.

Even the muscians in the metro can't help but to encourage a smile on the faces of even the mos miserable commuter. Specifically I'm thinking of the band in between lines 1, 8 and 12 at Concorde. The length of the corridor helps to amplify the immense sound that this traditional band produces.You can probably search Youtube and find videos of this ensemble as every time I see them they have a crowd of people videoing them for posterity.

Usually I have my head firmly in a book when taking the daily communte but I find it equally interesting to look up and to observe my fellow passengers, From fashionistas travelling to and from shows to groups of exciteable tourists and all the people in between our common transportation is a poetic leveller in my eyes and one that I can't help but find fascinating.

Self Care

It has been just over 3 years since I started this little experiment to see whether I coul keep up journalling my thoughts and experiences during my time spent here in Paris. I've learnt a lot in the past few years, not just about myself but about the world in general. Of course I've learnt things during the course of my degree but I've always thought that university was for way more than simply learning a few dates and grammatic rules. My journey to this point has definitely not been simple or easy. In fact from the very first day I spent as a resident of this magnificent city I had internal and external obstacles to overcome. Self Care is a buzzword that gets thrown around a lot but for me it has been the best skill I have learnt during this highly formative time in my life. 

I've already documented my struggles with my mental health and while self care helps me to deal with this I believe that it can help everyone in their day to day life. Shall we have an example? A few days ago I had an absolutely nightmare of a day in work which involved me being shouted at in Spanish. I got home feeling low and demoralized but I recognized that I needed to take some time for myself instead of the evening out with friends that I had planned. I cooked myself a comforting meal and curled up watching the Great British Bake Off which has to be one of the best mood-improving programmes out there. Self Care isn't about being selfish. It may seem like I was being anti-social not going out but I needed to work on myself in order to maintain my mental wellbeing. If you tire yourself out by trying to do too many things without keeping yourself healthy then you are doomed to fail. 

I wish I had realised all of this sooner. Moving away from home at the tender age of 18 was difficuly emotionally and I wish that I had tried to help myself improve my mood earlier on. Having said that I would never change the journey that I have been on because it has made me the person that I am today, which is lucky because I can't! I'd like my lasting message in this post to be that you have to make yourself your number one priority and that you have to take time for yourself whether that is by taking an entire day in order to clear your mind of all of the negative energy or just a few minutes with a cup of tea quitely watching videos of corgi puppies. 

The Dead Season

August can sometimes be a bit of a quiet month in Paris. Traditionally all of the Parisians up root themselves and go on their holidays for the entire month. Not a bad life eh? Usually it means that I get rather bored because lots of restaurants/cafes/museums shut up shop for the summer due to the reduced clientele but now that I am working I have less time to be moping about with nothing to do!
However I have decided to put pen to paper and let you know about a few of the places that are still open in this dead season.

What could be better than a coffee with a good book in the shadow of one of Paris' most famous landmarks? Well my first recommendation ticks all of those boxes. Shakespeare and Co is infamous with the Parisian literary scene but their coffee shop with the view of Notre Dame is my favourite place to unwind with an iced chai latte and my newest book.

Speaking of books that brings me onto my next tip for managing summer slovenliness. I am currently working my way through The Man With The Golden Typewriter which was kindly given to me by my kind sister. It's a collection of letters to and from James Bond's biographer Ian Fleming. It's witty as well as fascinating. If non-fiction isn't really your thing then maybe The Night Manager is more your thing. I loved the TV adaptation but I have to admit that the book is so much better it even helped me escape a little from the daily commute. 

It is now three years since I moved to this beautiful city and would you believe there are some places in Paris that I still haven't been to? I decided to remedy this by wandering around Pere Lachaise cemetery the other day. Now this may seem a little bit morbid but I had a wonderful time. There are many famous people buried there from Oscar Wilde to Jim Morrison but I decided not to search for the famous graves but just to soak in the tranquility. A must see for every aspiring Parisian. 

Finally before you all think that I spend my time being cultured I should really write about a bar or two. Recently when my family came to visit we stumbled across a hotel bar that has become a firm favourite. Hotel de JoBo in the Marais is a fantastic place for a girly cocktail or three. You can get the barman to make you something personalised or just a classic favourite. To soak up the booze then you can hop skip and jump along to La Perla which is a Mexicain restaurant on rue Francois Miron where you can get delicious food all night long and did anyone say fishbowls of margaritas?