January 2025
January went by so so fast. I’m late in writing this (oops) because I just didn’t make the time for it in between everything else that happened. It’s nice to be back home for a while (February and March are equally as busy but in different ways).
All things Paris
I feel like I’ve hardly been in Paris this month, because I’ve done a lot of travelling. But here are some of the Paris highlights.
I went ice skating at the Grand Palais! It was a fun experience even though I suck at ice skating. I went in the final week, after the school holidays and I think that was the best decision. It wasn’t busy which was one of my fears.
I went to the cinema for a solo date and watched Wicked! I really enjoyed the movie, and I’m happy I got to see it.
And I went to see the Notre Dame! The renovations are beautiful but inside was definitely overwhelming because of how many people were there. Some people were just there to take photos and to say they’ve been, others were there to experience it from a religious or spiritual purpose. I think a lot of people share the feeling of being a overwhelmed inside.
I went to see an exhibition at the National Archives. I’ve been here for 8 years yet never actually been to the National Archives. I loved this exhibition and I’m so happy I got to see it (I should really stop leaving exhibitions until the final week. Maybe I’ll learn? maybe not.). I came across it a few weeks before while walking through Le Marais.
Travel
This month, I got to visit Austria, Czechia, (briefly Switzerland so it doesn’t count), the UK and Belgium. In total I’ve taken 12 trains this month.
I took a night train from Paris to Vienna, it’s not my first time doing this journey but every time it’s a new experience (is that a good thing? You can tell me). You can read a more detailed journey here.
Once I arrived in Vienna, I had around one hour to get my connecting train to Prague. This is my first time actually spending time in Prague and I loved it. Last year, I made a very quick stop there after my night train was cancelled from Vienna to Paris because of a German train strike. To get back to Paris, we took a bus from Prague to Paris which was actually a pretty good experience.
I spent two nights in Prague, including a day to myself before a friend from Belgium flew over. We were meeting to go to a hen party of a friend we made while living in Germany.
The saturday morning was an early start with an 8am train into the countryside, to a station called Zdar nad Sazavou. We met everyone else here and then drove to a house where we partied!
The Sunday we took a train from Zdar nad Sazavou back to Prague and had a final night there.
On Monday afternoon, I parted ways with my friend to return home. He was flying back to Belgium and I was taking the train to Vienna so that I could take the night train back on Tuesday. I like to be in the city I’m travelling from for long distance international trains that don’t run often. Just in case something goes wrong (which is often in my case).
The night train back is another adventure, but that’s another story that you can read here. In short, my train was cancelled which meant a quick stopover in Zurich. Switzerland I will be back to see you I promise.
I needed to get back to Paris, because I had train ticket to london to see a friend. But this wasn’t just a regular visit, this was for her baby shower! I am very excited for her, and cannot wait to meet their baby! ahhhh!!
She came to London to meet me, then we took a train to her place. I spent the weekend with her, her husband and her pets. Wonderful. On Monday, I took the train back to London and had a few hours before my eurostar back to Paris.
At the end of the month, I took a train to Brussels because it was my mother-in-laws birthday party! It was a busy weekend but I had a great time.
Books
I didn’t read so much in January, because I was busy but I did read tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow which was so so good! I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it but wow. This book I borrowed from a library in Paris (in English!). I’m sure this is going to be a book that sticks with me.
I finished the audio book of the mine order which I did enjoy, but I felt like there was a lot of set up in the middle which got a bit boring. I definitely preferred the first book. Even though it ended in a way that it leads into the third book, it didn’t leave me wanting to pick up the book.
Movies
January has been a big month for movies. I really don’t watch many movies but this month I’ve seen 8(!!). This might be a record for me, and non of these were short movies.
At the start of the month, I went on a solo date to see Wicked. I’ve never seen the stage version or read the books, but I really enjoyed the movie.
Next, while at a friends, we watched Thor. My attention wasn’t fully on it, but I still enjoyed it. Bonus points because my friends cat was sat on me and that makes everything better. We had leftover pizza for dinner while it was on, and it was a much needed chilled out evening.
We finished our at home movie room (our spare bedroom with a projector on the ceiling), and we’ve watch all three of the Lord of the Rings movies and all three Hobbit movies. Had a great time!
Journalling
I took my journal with me on holiday but hardly picked it up. I was busy doing other things, or just wanted a bit of quiet time without doing anything.
However, I did pick up my journal on the train back from London and spent over two hours of that writing. I had a great time with it. I was on a table with one other person so had lots of space. I can’t remember the last time I journalled for so long.
And a friend gifted me a year of journalling book (the name is escaping me right now…) which I love. Every day I get to sit down and write something based on the text.
Home
In December, I spent a lot of time painting one of our spare rooms, in preparation of fitting a new floor so that hopefully it’s less cold in winter. At the start of January my partner and his mum did the hard work of fitting the floor. It’s definitely not a three person job, so I mostly spent my time away. Good news, the floor looks great and it’s definitely warmer! Bad news is that we need to have our door altered to account for the extra height on the floor (hopefully that can be done in February).
In January, we finished (mostly) the spare room/cinema room, and it’s been great! We have our projector on the ceiling. There’s still a few changes to make, but it’s looking good!