June 2024
A lot has happened in June yet it feels like nothing it. I think the week in Belgium was good for me - to have some time alone in a different city to Paris. I had an unexpected week in Paris alone when my partner went back to Belgium on a last minute trip. I’m very rarely on my own at the house, but I’ve actually enjoyed it.
All things Paris
This month, with being in Belgium for a week and my partner being ill (maybe exhaustion after his 360km cycle, maybe covid so I stayed home) I haven’t actually done much in Paris. However, the things I did do filled me with joy.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen live music, but this month I’ve been to see two shows which just happened to be in the same week:
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Villagers with Hamish Hawk as the support. I actually didn’t know Villagers before Hamish Hawk announced he was supporting on the tour but I love to discover new music. Hamish Hawk was my most listened to artist last year, and I’ve already seen him live once before in Paris (this was a very different vibe because he didn’t have a band with him). Villagers were great live too - I love the story telling in the songs. I’ve got a feeling that Villagers are going to be amongst my most listened to artists this year. Hamish Hawk also announced that he’s coming back to Paris later this year as a support for Travis so I’ll also be at that show
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The National with This is the Kit as support. I had a lot of fun at this concert despite not knowing that many of their songs. Throughout the show, they made some comments in support of Pride month and the right to have an abortion. There were also some comments related to US politics which felt a bit out of place to me.
A friend invited me to an event called under the umbrella where essentially people read texts that weren’t meant to be published, from journal entries to notes on a phone, to passages written within the chosen theme. I had so much fun, it reminded me of JoClub sessions, the magic of sharing into a room. I loved how interactive the event was, if you choose to read something then the audience gets to rename the people in your story, and the audience clapped and supported throughout. My friend read a passage from 2003 which is so cool to me - I hope that I have journal entries to read back in 20 years time. I loved the atmosphere of people being open, vulnerable and creative. I’ll definitely be going to an event again in the future - maybe even with something to read.
I’ve been to some exhibitions this month:
I got to catch up with some friends too. Between Bastille market where my friend showed me some of her favourite stalls, museums, drinks and lunch. I’m so grateful to have these people in my life.
Travel
I spent a week in belgium, and wrote two blogs posts related to it. The first being an overall summary of the trip, and a second one being about the Bruges Triennial - an event that runs every three years.
All things blog
There are two new sections on the blog, travel and museums.
- I wrote up my thoughts on an exhibition that I went to in May: BNF - la France sous leur yeux
Books
I’m part of a book club where each month we meet for brunch or dinner and exchange books. At the start of the year we picked six books, each bought one and then rotate the books at the end of each month. This month, my book club book was My Government Means to Kill Me which seems very fitting for pride month. It follows Trey, a gay Black man who moved to NYC in the 1970s during the AIDS epidemic. This book was so so good. I really liked all of the footnotes which explains some of the historical context and who the people were. It showed the messier parts of activism, it’s not all successes and there are difficult decisions to make with big impacts. 10/10 would recommend, and I’ve been left thinking about it since.
For our monthly meetup, we had Italian brunch was good and all the staff were friendly. We were almost a full house - only one person from the group wasn’t able to make it, and one person brought their kid for the first time. On my way to the brunch, I wanted to go book shopping but I was stopped by music in Jardin du Luxembourg. They had an orchestra playing a bunch of songs I knew and I ended up listening to the music for over 20 minutes - it was such a nice way to spend my morning.
I’ve had a lot of time on trains, and alone at home so I’ve gotten through the final three books of the a court of thorns and roses series. A court of wings and ruin, court of mist and fury and a court of silver flames. I loved this series, it’s been so much fun reading something different to what I’ve been reading recently. I’ll pick up the next book when it comes out - probably in 2025 or 2026.
According to StoryGraph, I’ve read 1962 pages this month - which is a lot. The 3rd and 5th book in the a court of thorns and roses series are over 700 pages - definitely some of the bigger books I’ve read.
I also know what book I’m going to read next, yellowface which I’m so excited for.
French
I’ve continued taking French classes with Lingoda. When I first started doing classes there were classes available at every hour of the day, but I’ve completed a lot of them so the hours are more restricted - however there are still plenty of classes that I can attend.
I’ve spent a lot of time reading wikipedia pages about French history this month - I’m trying to piece together all of the stuff that I already know - I have a hard time remembering dates which is quite an important part of knowing history. I’ll get there eventually.
Journalling
I haven’t been super consistent with journalling this month, but I do try and pick it up when I can.
Each Friday at JoClub there’s a Things I’d Rather Be Doing session which is session for us to just chat - this month I’ve made it to two of these sessions. We talked about our wins of the week, books and how life is going. I love the casual vibe of these sessions. I haven’t made any of the normal sessions because it’s always clashed with something else.
Work
I signed a contract as a freelancer, more on that next month if all goes well with my first shift at the start of July