Tag Archives: France

The Paris Apple iwatch thief (Rousse)

Posted on January 19, 2026 by Dreamaticus

When we rented a one-bedroomed studio holiday apartment in Paris, we didn’t expect that it would be open to other visitors day and night, and completely insecure. The thief who stole my iwatch cleverly replaced it with another watch of … Continue reading →

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Dressing secrets of the French royal family (Rousse)

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Dreamaticus

The curator passed me the tiny fitted eighteenth century jacket. The solid gold buttons, along with the hand-stitched trimmings in precious threads, stood out against the beautiful dark blue velvet. ‘Check the silver embroidery on the seam of the sleeve’, … Continue reading →

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Seal in a sand dune (Rousse)

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Dreamaticus

A free woman again, I was making up for lost time. My first assignation was with EF, a French engineer. We shared a white tandem ride along the East Lothian coast, comparing the beaches that we passed with others that … Continue reading →

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Monkey in a motorhome (Rousse)

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Dreamaticus

With my sister at the wheel of our motorhome, we were driving south through France to the drop off my niece A and her partner D at a ski resort. It was a wonder that we weren’t killed en route. … Continue reading →

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Butter rent and Alice the drunk in medieval France (Rousse)

Posted on December 26, 2021 by Dreamaticus

I arrived in medieval France very late for the third year of my degree programme.  All of my fellow students had arrived on time and already found cheap accommodation. I pitied them, sleeping sardine-fashion along the gutters of the village … Continue reading →

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A return to University after lockdown (Rousse)

Posted on May 26, 2021 by Dreamaticus

I was so excited to be returning to university after the pandemic lockdown, and very much looking forward to seeing my 4th year friends. Of course, we all ‘saw’ GK on a regular basis now that he was famous. Usually … Continue reading →

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Belle and Aitch on the ball

Posted on May 10, 2020 by Dreamaticus

I tried to buy cigarettes in Paris but got distracted by lavender and mango bath salts which cost €52.50. Later the rapper Aitch and I started a wildly successful YouTube channel (‘On The Ball’)  in which we taught each other … Continue reading →

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A sacrilegious faux pas in France (Rousse)

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Dreamaticus

“Let’s go,” I said, “I’ve had enough of this ridiculous Catholic tourist trap”. I spoke rather too loudly, clearly upsetting many of the faithful who were visiting this French holy site of pilgrimage. I back-tracked in admitting that it was … Continue reading →

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Lost underwear in Lyon (Rousse)

Posted on September 24, 2019 by Dreamaticus

I joined a French language trip for school children, with RG as my companion. Our base was Nantes. We also took up the option of a side-trip to Lyon. The latter was a big mistake. When RG checked us out … Continue reading →

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Diamond disappointment (Rousse)

Posted on August 5, 2019 by Dreamaticus

Three decades after graduating with our first degrees, several of my peers were once more taking rooms on campus. I had two sets of accommodation to organise: (1) at the University of Birmingham; (2) in France. In Birmingham I showed … Continue reading →

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