When one door closes…

‘Ello, ‘Ello, ‘Ello How are we all? We’re at the end of January already, would you believe it? It’s always a tough month. The cold, the dark mornings, the backlog of things to sort after Christmas – it can often feel a bit ‘bleugh’. Well, for those of us in England anyway. I hate to…

Bordeaux Banquets || Postcards from Pau #6

And just like that, I’m back for Christmas. I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t been counting down the days to come home. The last month has been a challenge, not least because of the political mess dressed up in yellow HiVis vests that’s been gracing the streets of France recently. So…

Pourquoi Pas? // Postcards from Pau #5

When presented with a whole week off University, I decided I was going to make the most of this opportunity and do a spot o’ travelling. When I realised that it was impossible to see the whole of France in one week, I settled for two cities at the top of my ‘To Visit’ list;…

Reality Checks and Reflections || Postcards from Pau #4

I’m into the twelfth week of living the Palois life and i’m really starting to feel it. If my year abroad is like a marathon, or like one my less impressive 5k runs, then I have definitely hit that wall. You know, the wall where any energy you had to begin with has dissipated but…

Peaks, Paella and Positive Vibes (kind of) || Postcards from Pau #3

It’s been too long since I updated my blog with tales of my adventures. Things have been busy over here and i’ve been running primarily on caffeine, adventure and the buzz of being surrounded by all things French. There have been some real highlights, some definite low moments and many a musing about the journey…

La Rentrée || Postcards from Pau #2

Before I set off on my Year Abroad adventure, I had countless people remind me to just take every experience as exactly that, an experience. And never before has the phrase ‘it’s all part of the experience’ been more apt (and vital to prevent me from losing my marbles) than it has been these past…

And so it begins || Postcards from Pau #1

I’m here. I made it to Pau and I can’t quite believe it. For the next five months or so, this little French city at the foot of the Pyrenees is where i’ll call home. And I am already slightly smitten. I sit here with a coffee and some brie (when in Rome…) with French…

What Uni has taught me so far

I move to France in 3 weeks. THREE WEEKS PEOPLE. As I sit here contemplating the magnitude of this next chapter in my life, I can’t help but also be amazed that I have already survived two years at University. I feel like a broken record but that time has floooown by. Whoosh. Just like…

So, it’s been a while…

Sorry about that. I stepped aboard the second year train, not fully prepared for the pace at which we would be travelling. Not long after the engine kicked in and we picked up speed, I realised that I was on board one of those high speed trains and not the gently chugging steam train that…

Guess who’s back, back again…

It’s been a while. A few weeks ago, I picked up sticks and headed back up to the hilly land of Sheffield. It’s been wonderful but as you can imagine, things have been preeee-tty busy. In amongst settling in, beavering around making our new house a home, walking up endless hills and remembering how to…