Paris in July begins!

It's the beginning of July, and that means it is time for one of my favourite blogging events - Paris in July.

Over the coming month, I will be sharing some book and movie reviews and a few other things. I have been reading plenty of books set in France or by French authors so hopefully I will have enough content for the month!

I thought I would share a quote from a book that I read, reviewed and loved last year, Dreaming in French by Vanessa McCausland

We're on the outskirts of Paris. Every city has its ugly parts, its malls and industry, its concrete overpasses and grey apartment blocks, even Paris. But the ugliness is beautiful to me in its novelty - the impenetrable signage, the cars parked on the street touching hood to tail, people on the sidewalks carrying groceries with strange logos.

A woman on a bike sails by with a baguette under her arm; a man in a black beret walks a black dog; a flower stall erupts colour onto a tired street corner; patrons sip coffee outside a small cafe. And suddenly I want to taste the fresh bread, du pain frais, smell les fleurs, hear the man admonishing his chien in French. It feels like a switch has been flicked inside me. Suddenly, I remember how the taste of coffee changes when it's taken en plein air, outside, watching the world pass by.

Je suis en France.

From the very first words learned at school, the language felt sensual in my mouth, mysterious, but also known. I could pronounce the words and they sounded somehow familiar, as though my mind had only been waiting for another way to make sense of the world. But it wasn't just the words, the lilt and jolt of them on my tongue, it was something else Something indelible, that made me feel this as a place that would have meaning in my life That one day I would go there and find something I couldn't find at home.

Unfortunately I can't be "en France" myself this year, but I can be "en Paris in July"! And I am sure that it is going to have me remembering the time I spent there at the beginning of last year and wanting to visit France once again!