“The French, it seems to me, strike a happy balance between intimacy and reserve. Some of this must be helped by the language, which lends itself to graceful expression even when dealing with fairly basic subjects.... And there's that famously elegant subtitle from a classic Western.
COWBOY: "Gimme a shot of red-eye."
SUBTITLE: "Un Dubonnet, s'il vous plait."
No wonder French was the language of diplomacy for all those years.”
― Peter Mayle, Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France
In the last week, I have been reading Encore Provence, which I borrowed from my friend Jessi, who has studied in France a few times. I have also been slowly finishing Julia Child's My Life in France. Mostly, I have been spending time researching what to pack, because I want so badly to blend in while in Aix. I studied in NYC last summer, and it should not be all that different, but somehow that is not entirely comforting. I think I am actually nervous about speaking French, my 14-hour flight, and taking classes, but just dumping this nervousness into perfecting my style. At least it's productive!
“Fashion has two purposes: comfort and love. Beauty comes when fashion succeeds.” ― Coco Chanel