four reasons, paris

Grateful Graduate Project: Reason to be grateful 12 of 365 Librarie Galignani I am grateful to have paused at Librarie Galignani, the oldest bookseller of English publications on the continent (since 1520 to be precise). It also houses an interesting range of contemporary French  publications and classic works in the French language. Few words seem…

Quality of life

Grateful Graduate Project: Reason to be grateful 11 of 365 Paris Is Top for Quality of Life par tvnportal Stuck in traffic, on the way to work in yet another two hour daily  commute, i made a vow to move to a city that would allow me to have a life and feel human again….

Franco-Spanish on a Thursday night

Grateful Graduate Project: Reason to be Grateful 10 of 365 The nature of Paris as a global city is aptly reflected in the culinary diversity offered throughout the city, at an equally diverse range of prices. Paris has not yet been completely taken over by the globalisation of tastes – that is, taste has not…

the ‘light’ cliché

Grateful Graduate Project: Reason to be grateful 9 of 365 As the days grow shorter, it is only in a city like this that one walks out of a late seminar, meeting, class onto interestingly lit (and mood enhancing) streets. ‘Interesting’ in that, beyond being the subjects of the ‘City of Light” cliché, there is…

3rd Floor

Grateful Graduate Project: Reason to be Grateful 8 of 36 The third floor of FNAC’s Montparnasse branch, I found, is a little treasure trove of resources for people learning French as a foreign language. To my naked eye, it seemed at first  a simple bookshop section in a gigantic temple to consumeristic spending but as…

Baron Haussman, Space

Grateful Graduate Project: Reason to be grateful 7 of 365   Paris-Vision from Ketchup Mayonnaise on Vimeo. I am grateful for the part of Baron Haussman’s legacy that has resulted in her wide streets and beautiful boulevards.  The video (above) provides a glimpse of the accessible, open spaces that create the impression of a city…

l’épiphanie

Grateful Graduate Project: Reason to Be Grateful 6 of 365 The playfulness and childlike pleasure that surrounds Epiphany in Paris is a welcome respite from the menacing grown up concerns that begin to loom large as work/study life resumes. One does not need to ascribe to the religious precepts that underly feasting around Epiphany, but…

Opéra

Grateful Graduate Project: Reason to be Grateful 5 of 365 Thanks to the emailing list that one can subscribe to on the website of the Opéra National de Paris (click here), it is possible to purchase opera tickets at student friendly prices. The seats may not necessarily be the very best and one has to…

Notre Dame After Dark

Grateful Graduate Project: Reason to be grateful 4 of 365 Walked into Notre Dame last night into a vast sacred space with little lighting apart from the flicker of candles, the gentle glimmer of small lamps and the rays of a projector displaying images of sacred art. The number of visitors was significantly lower than…

Bibliothèque St.Geneviève

Grateful Graduate Project: Reason to be Grateful 3 of 365 This centrally located hub of studious minds, the St Genevieve library, is a great spot to study, become lost in centuries of knowledge, or simply find intellectual breathing space. It is also conveniently close to some of the main institutions of higher learning in Paris….