la bigorne in chauvigny
I appear to have stumbled into some kind of medieval fantasy parallel world, and I for one am a big fan of it. La Bigorne in Chauvigny is a creperie with the kind of interior design that would put a renaissance fair to shame. Located in the medieval town of Chauvigny, about 20km from Poitiers,…
an autumn photography ramble
Bonsoir tout le monde! Autumn is in full swing here in Poitiers, and while fiddling around with my camera last night I realised that I hadn’t yet had a walk along the riverside, which quite frankly is shameful. It’s gorgeous here, especially with all the autumnal colours gilding the landscape right now. I do tend…
a day in the life of an international student at poitiers
Hello all, as this week comes to a close I thought that a day in the life might be useful for anyone who stumbles across this blog looking for information on what it’s like to be an exchange student in Poitiers. I’ve laid it out from morning to evening, I hope it’s useful for anyone…
back to school: a look back at my first week
Bonjour à tous et à toutes! It’s Sunday the 14th of September as I write this, which means that 1) I have officially been living here for over a month and 2) this marks the end of my first week as a proper student here in Poitiers. Serious business now ensues! Well, semi-serious. I am…
blowing bubbles in the rain
A little poem of a scene outside my window: Bubbles in The Rain One of my new neighbours blows bubbles in the rain. I do not know her title, I do not know her name. She blows them in the downpour, then goes inside again. I raise my hand to wave at her; she raises…
a night at the opera: Nabucco at Sanxay
Bonjour all! It’s been quite a while, eh? Well, as I write it’s the end of my first week in Poitiers, and it’s been a week of many contradictory emotions: excitement, boredom, loneliness, joy… but I’ll get to those in another post. This one is about something extraordinary that I experienced on Wednesday night: Verdi’s…
Lusignan and the melusine
One stop away from Poitiers on the train to La Rochelle lies Lusignan, a town with a magical history. According to legend, the town was created by a Mélusine, a mythical fey creature. Half serpent and half human, or half fish and half human in some versions, the Mélusine is to be found in fresh…
place de la liberté
In the quiet leafy streets of Poitiers lies the Place de La Liberté, a small square with a scale replica of La Liberté éclairant le monde – or the Statue of Liberty as she is more commonly known. In her hand she holds a sheaf of stone papers with “07.1789 – 07.1903” chiselled into the…
Saying Yes
Life is about saying yes. I guess. That feels like the sort of thing you start a blog by saying. I am not always a person who says yes. I am often a person who says “no” or “mmm I’ll think about it”, or “maybe if I’m well enough”. But this blog is about one…
J'ai Dit "Oui" 