Day After Tomorrow

*Apologies that this blog has absolutely nothing to do with the end of the world, copious amounts of snow and ice, or Dennis Quaid*

Just checking in, because plenty has happened since I poked myself in the eye.

I got a reply from the woman who is giving me accommodation in France and the exciting news is, I have my own gaffe! A small house next to one of the English teachers at the school, with an upstairs and a downstairs (fancy, eh?). So my dreams of being so stereotypically French, wandering my house with a Camus book in one hand and a glass of red wine in the other, can finally be realised!

I popped into the centre of Cambridge the other day, to get a few bits and bobs (onto that later), and to say goodbye once again to a city that has been home for 20 years. And boy, did Cambridge give the farewell I was expecting. I nearly had my foot run over by a lorry down Sidney Street (to anyone who is not native to Cambridge; ridiculous one-way street where it is impossible to walk without getting a cycle bell in your earhole), home to Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Sainsbury's, and the largest group of rude people known to man. Following this, I had an experience with a bunch of Chinese tourists (such experiences tend to be common in Cambridge), in which they proceeded to meander slowly in front of me, without a care in the world for girls like me, who are rushing around like a headless chicken actually trying to shop. All of this with a dose of typical snobbiness from passers-by, when you make an effort to move out of their way and they look you up and down like you are a piece of dog turd on their shoe. And finally, an additional dose of snobbiness (it's basically prescribed to everyone in these parts) from shop assistants in ye olde faithful John Lewis [Never knowingly undersold, always knowingly middle class], where anyone not head to toe in brands such as Estee Lauder or DIOR have been made to feel uncomfortable since 1864 [thanks to Wikipedia for this date]. All in all, just your average, middle class day.

I know I may sound like a miserable old hag but if the truth be told, I will miss it here whilst I am in France. Cambridge does have its fair share of idiotic morons but in reality, it's where my heart lies. I will miss slow Sunday mornings in the town centre, awash with musicians who line the streets. Yes, there is definitely an atmosphere in Cambridge unlike any town.

And now back to my purchases. I decided to spare any blog readers the boredom of reading about every detail of my days in France, luckily for you, whoever you are. But I wanted to record as much as I can, since this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and all.

Below is this beautiful creature, which took me precisely 40 minutes to choose;

Ever since I was a little girl, I was always fascinated by buying stationery. I would spend hours choosing pencils, pens, scissors, felt tips. As you can imagine, this cartridge pen got my heart racing.

Anyway, enough about my sad WHSmith/Paperchase adventure.

I'm off to start packing!!