PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

If I had a third leg, I would kick myself with it.

 I can not BELIEVE I have been back in Canada for three months now, and literally only written four words about Paris in the blog.

 IMAGINE THAT?!

Just threw my entire life in Paris for 2 years, and then BAMMMmmm, not a word outta me about the CITY OF LIGHT.

Hey, I am a designer.  I love to write about design.

 There is life in between :) after all, and I like to celebrate it.

It is all about designing the life we want to live, isn’t it?

Life is never about ONE thaaang.

Fontainebleau France...not technically Paris, but I still love this pic :)

For Paris, it is one of those cities that can make something look pretty even when it is in the “not so puuuurty” stage of reno.

Just for kicks, I thought I would take a trip down memory lane.

~ PARIS ~

It is after all, the CITY OF …..

Vin Rouge

A glass of red wine will set you back for less moola than a glass of cola.

No kiddin’.

And the city of

DELICIOUS-NESS

Why, oh why, have I not said 4 words about Paris since my return ?!!!

Because I am convinced that I am still dancing for joy that I can now write and speak in ENGLISH.

 It may be ‘Lynne-ified English’, but hey, I am cool with that.

 Making up my own words ~ and all.

Don’t ever let anyone convince you that the small things in life can’t bring INTENSE HAPPINESS.

Because they can.

Like speaking a language that you can ACTUALLY SPEAK, and understand, on a daily basis.

That, my friends, is

~ INTENSE HAPPINESS ~

After all…..

Holy %*&#@*  !!!!  (Mom, that was not really a BAD WORD…)

It is hard to learn French !!!!

I had moments like this

*Screaming in my head*

“I would like to buy this bread!!”

But do you think a word came out of my mouth ?! NOT !

I settled for drooling. Damn it.

My iPhone saved my life on a regular basis.  No exaggeration there :).

When push came to shove, and I was REALLY STUCK for words, I used my app called Translator.

Imagine that, I typed my sentence in English, and it translated it to French.  I simply held my phone up to the french guy with the perplexed look on his face….

and suddenly our worlds made sense.

 He understood me.

*bliss*

My version of a happy dance.

Eventually, the words came to me.

I reached a point where I could actually KINDA speak french and actually order food, wine and yummy

de-lish-ous-ness.

Muffin top does not appear from NOWHERE my friends.  It is earned.

All kidding aside (yes, that is hard for me to do),  COFFEE BREAK FRENCH saved me in Paris. They have free podcasts. They also have a paid version with PDF’s and I was happy to hand over my first-born child if it meant I could learn french.  I paid for the upgraded version.  Worth its weight in gold.  Loved it.

Coffee Break French was my Parisian game changer.

It made me believe I could SPEAK FRENCH.  I DID IT.

I could even shop the retail stores.  Just for friends, of course.

Ahhmmmmhh, I know you are reading this oh lovely budget guy husband Michael. xo

IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

Well, truth be told, first I fell in love with the Eiffel Tower.

 Confession : It is seriously so pretty.  You really won’t care what language you speak.  It is worth just standing there and staring at it.

 A “pinch me moment“…..you will have.

I took every chance I could to just go and STARE at the Eiffel.

I did a lot of staring.  Little talking. Very social, huh?

My camera became my friend.  I could deal with that.

I was still a bumbling idiot in so many respects, but at least the Parisians could finally (sort of) understand me.

Well at least they pretended to understand me.  Surely to shut me up.  I loved Paris in so many ways but you are not going to get the warm and fuzzies from most Parisian people.  Just sayin’.

Your odds of getting a ‘warm and fuzzy’ reaction from a Parisian go up about a trillion percent if you just try to tweak out a word or two in French.

Any attempt will do.

 I promise.

When I managed to blurt out full sentences in French….

~ I felt so proud of myself ~

~HAPPY DANCE~

Yes, I know I look like a goof ball :)

See, I could even fly mid-air, cape on, and not drop my iPhone (my child).

Do you suppose other bloggers post pics of themselves looking like an idiot ?

Couldn’t help myself.

Image courtesy of Fresh Minds Matter

Ok, all that WAS more than four words about Paris, but seriously~

THE CITY OF LIGHT IS EYE CANDY

Almost as sweet as looking at George Clooney.

Just sayin’.