some good days in france

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:04][music] >> Hi guys, welcome to a new vlog. I'm going to take you on my week, almost, more like [music] the next 6 days because I go back to London in a week.

[00:00:15]As you can hear from my voice, I'm a little [music] bit sick. I think I have kind of allergies, maybe, because my eyes have been hurting a little bit, but at the same time, I've never had pollen allergies, so I don't know that it's that. But also, I was sick at my grandparents the last few days, and there was a lot of pollen there, so I think this might be the case. I'm getting better, but my voice is a little bit sore today. But yeah, I wanted to bring you on a vlog because I don't have enough time to be able to film a reading vlog next. So, this month is going to be mostly vlogs and sit-down videos. I hope that's okay with you guys. I'm having a really busy month of just hopping about.

[00:00:56]The end of March and early April, my brother and my parents were in London.

[00:01:02]>> [music] [music] [music and singing] >> Then, I came back to France, to Paris, for 1 day, and then the day after, I went to my grandparents' house, and I came back yesterday last night. And I go to my other grandparents' place this Friday, and then I come back Sunday evening, and I leave to London Wednesday [music] morning, quite early. So, it's a lot of moving around. And when I'm back in London, I have some academic meetings, but after that, I leave again.

[00:01:52]So, it's been a bit harder to be able to film anything but vlogs, just from moving around so much. Today is the 15th of April, so we're exactly halfway through the month, and I've already read five of the books on my April TBR. I've been sticking to my April TBR pretty well, and I think I'm going to read almost every book on it, except maybe for Death in Spring, because that one just hasn't been calling to me, and I think having read the first chapter and putting it down, [music] it makes you want to go back into the book less, especially because I read that first chapter really recently. If I read it a long time ago, I wouldn't have a hard time trying to read it. So, I think I'm pretty much going to complete it, which is why I decided to reread Funny Story by Emily Henry. I'll talk to you guys about it a bit more as I continue reading, but I just forgot how good it is. I was telling one of my friends this, but there's nothing for me that compares to reading a romance book, and not in the sense that I always love romance books, because I genuinely only really love a few. But, I just get so invested and really happy reading them, and Emily Henry, especially because when I read Beach Read, it's when I started to sort of binge books after or read a lot more than I had before. It will always have the special place in my heart, and the last two years, I didn't read quite as many, and I don't plan on venturing back into the genre quite as much, but honestly reading one of them a month, I think it's a nice thing for me, because A, I read them fast, I get invested, and I love to reread books. I love to reread Emily Henry's books. So, this is my second time reading Funny Story. I'm at chapter 13 right now, so I've read quite a bit, and I'm hoping to finish it pretty soon, hopefully before I go to my grandparents' house, and then I will get back to my April TBR, which I would ideally love to finish before I go back on vacation, because I don't want to bring those books with me, but I'll sit down and talk about Funny Story a little bit later, because I don't want the talking clips to be so long. So, yeah, I'll see you later. Welcome to the vlog.

[00:03:55]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Hey guys, just popping in really quickly because I want to chat a tiny bit before I have to go. My sister and I are going to watch the drama with Robert Pattinson and Zendaya tonight. So, I have to leave in 12 minutes. So, I'm not going to go on too much. So, I just wanted to give a little bit of an update of what I'm about to do right now, especially because I've been really excited about this movie. I really hope it's not disappointing. [music] I think because it's an A24 movie and because of how the trailer felt, it feels kind of close to Materialists and I really did not like Materialists, even [music] though I love love love Past Lives by the same director. That's one of my favorite movies. So, I have high hopes for this one, but I think my hopes aren't as high, which is really unwarranted because I don't think I've seen comparisons between both movies. I think it's just cuz they're A24 movies with popular [snorts] actors. But, yeah, I'm excited. I'll let you know what I think when I come back. I'm about to have a snack before I go.

[00:05:31]Hey guys, sorry for the light in the background, but our apartment gets light on this side only in the afternoon and not that long and then the other side of the apartment barely gets any light cuz it just doesn't go through because of the buildings across. I'm about to make my second coffee of the day, which my first coffee is almost the first thing I do in the morning, like 30 minutes after I've brushed my teeth. I'll just have a pretty strong oat latte, whether it's hot or cold, doesn't really matter. It's more like for my energy, but my second coffee is my fun coffee. And so, I'm just going to explain what I do as I film it. If I'm home in London, I have my Anthropology glasses, and I use three ice cubes because I have these huge ice cubes from Flying Tiger. I love them. I think they're the best ice [music] cubes. Here, I use double the amount of ice cubes, so six, cuz they're a bit smaller. And I do three shots of espresso, cuz our espresso is not that strong, unfortunately, and I like my coffee strong. I only fill my cup up with oat milk to the level that the ice cubes sit at, and then I add my espresso, and then in another cup or bowl, I make cold foam, which I used to make cold foam last year, and then I completely gave it up, but one of my roommates started making cold foam again, and now we're all on our cold foam kick. So, how I make it is I use, obviously, whipping cream. I do salt, quite a lot of salt, actually. Not too much to the point where it's salty, but still enough, cuz I like it a bit salty, and then I do a bit of maple syrup and some cinnamon, and it's the best cold foam ever. It's my favorite part of the coffee. It always looks really nice as well. Okay, now that we've made our coffee, let's sit and chat. I want to talk [snorts] about the drama and funny story. Let's talk about the drama.

[00:07:20]The movie, I think, if you've been considering watching it, I think watching it at the cinema is pretty fun because it gets a lot of reactions out of you, and hearing other people react is really fun. So, if you've been thinking about watching it, I think you should. I actually really liked it. I think I gave it four stars on Letterboxd, but I might bump it up to a 4.5 because the last movie that I watched with Robert Pattinson was Die My Love with Jennifer Lawrence and that one I gave four stars, but I think I liked the drama more. So, I think it's more like a 4.5 actually. I thought it was really interesting and the topic that is discussed was really interesting and you probably can't fathom what it is. So, my sister was spoiled actually. She went in knowing and she was like, "You're never going to guess what it is." And she was right, I didn't guess, but I think in the grand scheme of things it talks about do we need to know everything about the people we love and also can we forgive the people we love and what it means to attach a past action to the present >> [music] >> in terms of someone else. I thought it was really interesting because obviously when you meet someone in life, especially at the age where they meet in the movie, which I think is like 28, there's so many things that you don't know about the person that there's obviously going to be things that are important about them specifically that they'll tell you, but there's also the thing where you're like, "Is it really important for this [music] person to know this considering that I'm not the same person, but at the same time can you really be not the same person if you're not owning up to some of the actions that you've taken in the past?"

[00:08:53]I don't know. I thought it was really thought-provoking and interesting. The actors were amazing, Robert Pattinson especially. I was really pleased with his acting. I think most of the movie revolves around him slowly going into despair and then the day was also really, really great. I hadn't seen a film with her since Challengers. But yeah, I actually have been watching a bit more movies this year than I have in the past and I'm really enjoying it. I don't make enough time to watch movies because I'd rather be reading my book, but I would like to watch a bit more movies. Tonight I would like to watch the Sense and Sensibility movie because I just finished the book. I want to watch the version with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant. I think that will be fun and I think it's going to be one of those things where I'm going to like it a bit more on screen than I did the book. Although I really enjoyed the book, but I'll leave all those thoughts for my wrap-up. Let's get on to Funny Story. I posted a Goodreads update, which I almost never do when I'm reading. I've just been having the time of my life and I needed to say that.

[00:09:54]It's so good. I think when it comes to romance, I approach them a little bit differently than, you know, other books and I think that's the way to do it and that's the way to do it when you go into different genres is you need to approach them thinking [music] about what you want to get out of them.

[00:10:11]And for me, with romance books, it's I want there to be a binge aspect to it. I want to like really fall in the story [music] and not notice the outside world and just be really fully immersed quickly. I want to obviously root for both characters. I want their relationship to bring something to their lives and not just be a sort of convenience thing, but I also just want a giggly fun aspect. when I rate books, I usually take in mind how I felt and what I wanted from the book rather than comparing Funny Story to a literary love story because I think it's really different what you want to get out of a rom-com book versus what you want to get out of different genres. So yeah, all that to say I'm just really loving it.

[00:10:53]So happy that I decided to do a reread of this and I'm enjoying it even more the second time. I've just been really reacting and putting my reactions down on paper, which I don't think I've done in a pretty long time. Like sometimes I'll write a few words in it, but this time I really want to keep all my reactions in the physical copy and I think the last book where I really reacted as much were the Neapolitan Quartet. So all that to say I'm really invested, even though I already know how it's going to go and I had a feeling when I was reading this book for the first time that I was going to enjoy it more the second time and I'm kind of like that in general because when you're reading a book for the first time, you're following the story and you want to know the plot. When you're reading it for the second time, you already know the big plot points, and so you can linger a little bit more, and that's what I've been doing. So, I've been loving it. I'm also filming a TikTok with all of my reactions as I'm reading because I've just been acting outwardly rather than in my head, which usually means that I'm really invested. So, yeah, really happy about that and really happy that I still have the ability to love romance quite as much as I do this book. And so, I actually have a little list of romance books that I am [music] hoping to read soon, which I will tell you now. Like I was saying, I would love to read one romance book each month because they also get me back in the groove of reading, and I've been in such a big reading mood, but whenever it dips a little bit, a romance book will just get me right back in. So, the ones that I would love to read are in April, Funny Story. In May, I would love to read Our Perfect Storm by Carly Fortune, who is my other favorite romance author. I've loved pretty much everything she's come out with except maybe for her second book. Yeah, I really enjoy her books, and I might even reread every summer after before the show comes out. I would also love to read Talking at Night by Claire Daverley again because I think that it's going to be similar to [music] Funny Story, where I'm going to enjoy it even more the second time. In June, I would love to read The Ex Vows. I've heard a few people compare it to Happy Place, and Happy Place is my favorite romance book ever, so I think I'm going to really enjoy that one. In June, I also think there is Claire Daverley's next book that comes out, which is People in Love, I think. I'm really excited about that. In July, I would love to read The Summer Will Be Different, which is again a reread. I think it's my favorite Carly Fortune book, and so I would love to give that a reread. So, yeah, I have a little bit of a romance book calendar on my phone.

[00:13:15]We'll see if I stick to it. I'm going to go, drink my coffee, read a bit because I've been talking way too much, but go watch the drama, and if you're interested, read Funny Story.

[00:13:26]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music and singing] [music] [music] >> Hey guys, today is Tuesday and I haven't talked to you in a while. I did film some clips when I was at my grandparents place. I love it there. I love it so much. I had been craving just nature for so long and I definitely didn't get enough of it. But when I was at my other grandparents house, they live more in a city, and the grandparents I was just at, they live in a town. And it's always >> [music] >> super special to go there because it's the one place from my entire childhood [music] that I still have access to. My parents moved back in the home where I lived when I was like maybe two or three, and that only lasted like 6 months, so I have no memory of it, but this one has been constant in my life, and so it's just nice to have a place where I've seen it evolve, and I've seen myself grow up there. And I was thinking about that because usually when I go to my grandparents and I'm alone, I sleep in the room where my parents were sleeping since they were also at my grandparents over the weekend. So, that means that I slept in the room that I used to sleep in as a child, and it always gives me this nostalgic [music] sense. I'm a very nostalgic person, and I have a lot of trouble living in the present. I'm always either talking or thinking about the past or talking or thinking about the future. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. I didn't talk to you there, however, because I was spending time with my family. My cousins were there. My aunt and uncle were there as well. So, spent time with everyone. Really, it was my entire family on my dad's side, except for my siblings cuz they could not come, and I did not read too much. Well, I say that, but I did read one book, but that's because it was 99 pages to be exact.

[00:16:45]That was The Road to the City by Natalia Ginzburg, and I read it on train over, and then I had barely half of it left, so I finished it pretty quickly. And I've since started Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li. Slowly making my way through that because I had so much uni work to do yesterday. I am so bad with procrastination, and I think the reason I'm so bad at it is because I always manage to get things done in the end. I've always procrastinated, and I've always done pretty good in school, and I can do things efficiently under pressure, so I continue to procrastinate. And I procrastinated, and I had three things to do yesterday. I did finish one of them the day before, and so yesterday I had to work on my other stuff. And so that's why I didn't talk to you guys yesterday. I worked pretty much all day, and then I watched Sense and Sensibility, which was a great movie.

[00:17:38]There were so many famous actors [music] in it. There was Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant. Those are like the big three. And then [music] as side characters, there was the actor who plays Rogue in Harry Potter. I don't know his name. There was another actor who's in Harry Potter. Forgot her name, but she's in so many movies. She's super famous. It was a really good movie. I really enjoyed the movie. I think had I known that this one was a lot more focused on how both sisters act and react, I would have enjoyed it more as a book. As a movie, because I already knew what I was getting myself into, I really enjoyed it. But [music] as I've said before, Pride and Prejudice is just my favorite. I I'm I'm still shocked at how much I loved Pride and Prejudice. I also think it's because now I kind of know the Jane Austen process, and so I expect [music] or I see things coming, whereas I didn't too much when I read Pride and Prejudice, because I'd only read Emma.

[00:18:38]And that one caught me by surprise. But I really loved it, and that movie is also amazing. I think about it all the time. I can't wait to watch it again. I have my coffee. It's probably like 10:20. It's 10:10. I have a hair appointment at 11:00. I am getting it cut. I'm not doing anything color-wise.

[00:18:57]As you can see, I've been growing my bangs out, which I think she's probably going to cut them, and I'm fine with that, because everything's going to be cut anyways. I think I'm just going to ask to cut the ends, the damaged ends, and add more layers. [music] That's what I'm thinking. I want to grow my hair out. I loved my short hair. I had it short since >> [music] >> 2024, and now I want it long again. I'm really impulsive when it comes to hair decisions. I never think [music] them through. The other day I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought, "I want to grow my bangs out."

[00:19:30]And my dad asked me if I was growing them out and I said, "Yeah, but knowing myself, I'll probably [snorts] cut them again in like 3 [music] months." So, we'll see. But yeah, I will talk to you guys after my hair appointment, I think.

[00:19:44]The plan for the rest of the day is packing my suitcase. I'm going to go buy juice because there's the best juice in France. There's this like really really good juice and I want to bring some back cuz I'm allowed to take that on the train. And then I think I'm just going to go for a walk and maybe read in a park or something. It's not super warm today, but I feel like I've been staying inside so much and I want to take advantage of going outside. It's always so strange being back because I don't have many friends here. I have like two.

[00:20:14]One of them doesn't even live here. It's when she visits that I'm able [music] to see her and when I visit. And so it's really lonely in a way, especially if I compare myself to my sister because she is always busy. Every single night of the week she has something planned and I don't and I don't have friends to do things with, which is okay. I also didn't contact my friends because I had stuff to do and then today was my last day, but I still have my suitcase to pack and my hair appointment [music] and I just didn't want to feel super stressed about it. Can't complain about it, but it's always strange to be [music] here. But yeah, I'm going to stop now. I'm going to finish my video.

[00:20:52]I was watching a Paul Mescal video. The interview is called I think it's called the 31 questions to fall in love with Paul Mescal. 21 questions to fall in love with Paul Mescal. It's been on my watch later playlist for a while and I've been playing that on shuffle because I neglected YouTube for so long as I was watching shows, and I've been slowly catching up. It's been almost 2 months [music] that I've just been watching YouTube.

[00:21:15]So, that's what I'm going to do now, and then I think I'm going to read maybe one chapter and go to my hair appointment.

[00:21:20]Luckily, it's like 5 minutes away, so I don't have to leave super early. But yeah, I'll see you right after.

[00:21:29]>> [music] [music] [music] >> Okay, hey guys. I am obviously back from my hair appointment. I'm really happy with how it looks. I asked for a lot more layers and more movement. She did touch up my bangs a little bit, which I am happy about, even though I still [music] plan on letting them grow. I just wanted a professional to touch them up a little bit because I'm always cutting my bangs myself, so I wanted her to do it. I've been back for like 2 hours now. It's 2:42. My appointment [music] ended at around 12:35, so I was there for a little bit, but that's because I have a lot a lot of hair.

[00:22:18]Also, if you're curious, I usually dye my hair at home with box [music] dye, and she was telling me that I don't know exactly what the product thing that she was talking about is, but she was saying it's really intense in box dyes, and it's at 200 or something. I don't know what it's called, but it's more for your health or for your knowledge. But that's really intense, and so when you get your color done, especially when it's dark colors, it's nice for a certain amount of time, and then it starts lighting up again a lot, and a lot more than when you get your hair done professionally.

[00:22:52]And so, that's why my hair always ends up this orangey, kind of ugly color, to be honest. I really hate it when it gets really light, because it looks like it's unhealthy and dry and just not a nice color. And so that's why that's why it's been like that. And so she was telling me that there actually are colored shampoos. And so it it kind of just gives a little bit more figure to your hair and more color a little bit, something more intense and that makes your hair look more shiny, which is what I'm going to try to focus on doing for my hair. So that was really nice knowledge because I was thinking of stopping the box dyes anyway. I was thinking of doing a gloss, but I might as well just try doing a colored shampoo. I'm not going to do it in the near future because my hair is probably going to get a little bit of sun and water damage when I'm in Egypt and I don't want it to be ruined right away.

[00:23:45]So I'll get one of those a bit later.

[00:23:47]But yeah, I've been home and I, of course, got just the most [music] intense period cramps ever. I'm really uncomfortable right now. I'm sitting on the floor and I'm acting like I'm okay, but they're not really going away, which is really unfortunate because I would really love to [music] spend some time outside soon. But right now I just it's so painful that I don't think I'm going to end up going far or as far as I wanted to go. But that's fine. I'm just waiting for them to ease a little bit before I venture back outside. I'm going to try to finish Things in Nature merely grow today. I haven't read yet, but I [music] think I can do it in a day. I am setting that goal for myself because I don't want to have to bring it back. And that brings me to the books that I'm going to be bringing back with me. I'm not going to do like I did last time and bring back my April reads. I do regret [music] having left a couple of them, I think, back or three of them back in London.

[00:24:41]But I was thinking that I was going to bring them back for my wrap-up. It would be nicer to just show them up. But I'm not going to do that because there's a few that I want to bring back and it's going to be too heavy. Even though there's no weight limit on the Eurostar, I I have to carry that suitcase myself, so we're not doing that. I think there's a bit of rereads in there, so let me [music] start with that. I want to bring my Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo because I've been wanting to give these books a reread for such a long time. I read them in 2021, I think, if I remember correctly, and yeah, I just I feel like giving them a reread. I know that there's letters from Kaz coming out soon, but I just remember really liking these books and really liking how the intrigue was built and how the characters were written, the dynamics between the characters. I just really liked both of these books, and I'd never gotten physical versions, so it would be nice to go back and reread them, leave a little bit of my thoughts in them. Yeah, looking forward to both of these. And then my other reread is actually a really recent read, and that's Department of Speculation by Jenny Offill. I have been thinking of this book for the past like month, and I really loved this book when I read it. I think I gave it a 4.75 or 4.5 on Fable, but I feel like this is going to be a favorite for me once I reread it fully because it's so experimental in the way that it's written. There's no clear plot. You're really reading paragraphs that sound or read like notes on your notes app. There is a chronology, but there isn't a sort of linear plot, and I feel like because now I know exactly what it's going to be like structure-wise, I'm going to love it even more rereading it, and I've been thinking of that one quote that Paul Mescal gave, which is, "I learned you were fearless about the weather. You wanted to walk around the city come rain, come snow, come sleet. I bought a warmer coat with many ingenious pockets.

[00:26:36]You put your hands in all of them." I've been thinking of that line so much recently, and it's been making me think of this book, and yeah, can't wait to reread that at some point. The rest, we have the rest of my April TBR, which is only two books. We've got The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, which is probably going to be my next read. And then we've got Death in Spring. I don't think I'm going to be reading it this month because I just haven't been in the mood for a horror book yet, but there's 1 month left in spring and that is May and hopefully I will read it then. Then I have a book that I want to bring with me to Egypt and that is Ceux qui nous séparent by Éric Chacour. I've also got The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg. Like I was telling you guys, I read The Road to the City a few [music] days ago and that was such a quick read and I actually really enjoyed it. So, really excited to read this and really excited to read All Our Yesterdays, which is on my yearly list. I think I'm also going to bring Outline to Egypt with me by Rachel Cusk because it's set in summer and it's set in a very warm summer. It's set in Athens. It says it's oppressively hot and it's going to be oppressively hot. I love to read summer stuff. Anything that's set in summer, I just love. So, really excited for that.

[00:27:53]Then I'm obviously going to bring Vivre entre les vagues et le ciel by Cameron Philip. I've talked about it two videos ago. I went around Paris searching for it and I found it. Still haven't read it. I think I might keep it for a reading my five-star predictions video once I will be able to make reading vlogs again. And then the last one is La Colline This is a book that my sister recommended me and it's [music] a nonfiction by this man who lost his mother in a car accident. Yeah, I'm really curious. She said it was really good and impactful, so would be curious to read that. So, I'm going to bring it back with me and that is my pretty big pile yet again [music] that I'm bringing back. I don't think I'm going to be buying too many books in April, at least so far. I think there's maybe one or two that are in my radar in the near future to get [music] because most of the books that I want to read are coming out in May, June, [music] around those times. So, I will be reading from my TBR and I am going to be tackling [music] it and trying to bring it down as much as possible. I'm pretty proud of myself for having read almost my entire April TBR, but yeah, honestly I've been reading so much more books than I thought I would this month because a few of them were short. So, obviously it does go faster, but I've also just been in a very big reading mood, so that's a really nice feeling to be in. And I'm really excited about upcoming books [music] that I want to read. It's just a really nice thought to have in regards to reading because last year I was excited about reading in general, but I don't think I felt quite as much excitement on upcoming books and I don't think I was putting as many new books on my radar. Yeah, I don't know.

[00:29:33]I'm just like been in a really intense reading [music] mood recently and wanting to read, which is always nice.

[00:29:38]And same thing with writing. I've been writing a little bit over the last few days, which is nice [music] as well. I just love when that creative spark is a bit more intense. Even though I wouldn't say reading is necessarily a creative [music] process in that you're not creating yourself, but it is a creative process in the sense that you are acquiring what people have created. It's the same as going to a museum in that sense, but my preferred art is [music] words and so love reading. Yeah, I think we're going to read a little bit of this now and see how my cramps go and then I might go outside for a bit. Probably not too long because it's not really warm out actually. So, I doubt that I will [music] feel warm enough to stay outside for a long time and then I need to start packing and all of that. I actually feel like I will have enough footage to be able to upload something or a longer vlog. So, if you've made it all the way to here and you make it to the end, thank you so much. Thank you for watching and thank you for staying all the way till the end. I know I talked a lot and yeah, I'll see you next time.

[00:30:45][music] Bye.

[00:30:50]>> [music] [music] [music]