Tuesday 10t of June. Nothing of much consequence really happened today except for a visit to the home of Marie Francoise, an elderly lady here in Aix who has volunteered to read to a bunch of us students every week. The twist on what would undoubtedly be an extremely boring and tedious visit (it takes 20 minutes just to walk there...uphill!) is that she only chooses books that are about cooking and then afterwards, she also gives us a little cooking lesson on some of the foods that appear in the chosen book. So imagine my surprise when I walk in and the first thing I think is: Why the hell does this French septuagenarians home smell EXACTLY like my grandmothers back in Lucknow, India! We make the perfunctory introductions Hi Im so and so I ... read more

Alright so the bloody Internet at the Mirabeau Apartments decided to pack up about and French efficiency dictates that it will take at least eight working hours to repair... which translates to about 3 days and counting. So, before I forget everything I decided to bite the bullet and head down here to Carrefour Cafe just down my street Rue Roux Alpheran. Very nice outdoor seating with one hour of free wifi as long as you buy something. So, a couple of glasses of local red wine down the hatch, here I am. So lets begin right where I left off - start of last weekend about to head to Nice and Monaco. So we had the choice of taking the bus or the train and I was really glad to have chosen the former. They ... read more

As predicted, I'm useless at updating this shit as things happen. As a result, I'm going to have to rely solely on my memory to recount the last 4 or 5 days, which have unfortunately been blurred in several places and times due to far too many pre-outing gin and tonics. Anyways here goes: Tuesday 3rd of June was the second day of classes. To be honest, these classes are a little dull and its far too hard to actually concentrate for 4 hours straight, especially when Mme Calvet could probably recite all of Shakespeare's works in one sitting without ever pausing. Obviously if she's talking I get to improve my listening skills but as far as trying to become more lucid orally there hasn't been much opportunity. I actually became a pseudo-hero for the class ... read more

So here we are. The first time I have actually sat down to pen my thoughts in god knows how long and in all honesty, I'm pretty excited to see what will emerge! I was actually hoping I would get around to doing this a few days ago so I guess I'll make up for it by providing a quick executive summary of the past week. I arrived in France on the 29th of May, ready to embark on a 2 month long immersion around the south in the beautiful Provencial town of Aix-En-Provence. However, no sooner than had I stepped off the plane at Marseille airport did I realize that my precious, priceless and all-important Green Card was nowhere to be found. That one insignificant little piece of plastic that was permanently nestled safe and ... read more