Quatre Jours

Still slowly waking up from my parisien dreams. We have had some really blissful weather throughout the trip, wandered around aimlessly, visited museums and little shops, watched The Tree of Life and Midnight in Paris, watched tennis, wine and dined, walked along the quay night and day, fell asleep to the sound of evening rain.

This picture is taken from the roof of Printemps. What is not to love about this city?

{More photos soon}

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Quietude

Helene Rydén

I do work on it in the evening when the gramophone is playing late Beethoven sonatas. (The windows fidget at their fastenings as if we were at sea.)

- Virginia Woolf

Closing in

A sweet close to the end; the bottle of Sofia is well worth the wait. Strangely enough finishing this academic year does not feel euphoric, jubilant - I feel happy but thoroughly exhausted. But this year out of medicine has allowed me to learn a lot of more than I ever have (studying philosophy, learning french, volunteering, blogging), and I am truly grateful of everything and everyone (yes, every of you too who is here now on the blogosphere!) that I have met.

We celebrated the end of exams by dining at the Wright Brothers. Hun, congratulations on finishing your Bachelor of Arts degree again (and secretly congratulating myself for having gone half way) - and of course: Mardi prochain, nous allons voyager à Paris!

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Shop Little Lime

(Can anyone tell me where this image is from?)

It is the annual clear out time on ebay again - a time to be out with the old and in with the new. Do take a look! If you fancy anything leave me a message here and I would give you a discount ;)

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Serendipity

onze.

i.

Les chaussures bleues. Have never been so bold before but I am loving the colour, an electrifying blue.

ii.

Watched La danse - Le ballet de l'Opéra de Paris which was very long but nonetheless exquisite. With no narration or interviews, I found those long shots of dancers rehearsing and performing mesmerising and strangely comforting. To be able to glimpse and gaze at the creative process behind the magnificent performances at Opera Garnier and Bastille is such a rare treat - I wouldn't agree with the Guardian who said that this film is a merely an elegant CCTV footage!

West Village

I remember the last day of New York well; after days of blissful sunshine it finally drizzled. I got out of Houston Street subway station, had a fry-up with french toast at a cafe on Carmine Street while reading the New York Times. Then I wandered around the West Village and walked along W 4 St heading towards the East Village side, quietly savouring the lingering winter air.

Serendipity

dix.

Happiness is...

A bouquet of Sweet Williams ('tis the summer season, theoretically) and a free Penguin mug courtesy of London Review Cake Shop (the best tea place in Bloomsbury with rose and pistachio cake) on my bedside table;

Learning all sorts of big words and ideas from medical anthropology: hegemony, liminality, subjunctivising elements, 'what is the meaning of meaning?' - and the very fact that however potent it is, biomedicine is nonetheless a dominant culture that can be oppressive and manipulated by the rich and powerful;

Remembering this quote:

Medicine always claims the experience is the test of its operations. Plato therefore was right in saying that to become a true doctor, a man must have experienced all the illnesses he hopes to cure and all the accidents and circumstances he is to diagnose... Such a man I would trust. For the rest guide us like the person who paints seas, rocks and harbours while sitting at his table and sails his model of a ship in perfect safety. Throw him into the real thing, and he does not know where to begin.

- Montaigne, Essays 3.13