Hannah is a down to earth, pedigree Mancunian who is currently away from her French and European Politics degree at Leeds on an Erasmus placement at the Université Paul-Valéry in Montpellier. Hannah probably should say that she takes a keen interest in current affairs but in fact she would usually rather stay in bed with a brew, go shopping for floral dresses, or watch Strictly Come Dancing. She will be using this blog to talk mainly about subjects such as feminism, mental illness, and cats. Hannah would love to one day work for a non-governmental organisation, to try and help the world become a slightly lovelier place.
Confession time: I do not miss England. Honey mochas and croissants in my comfy duvet watching 30 Rock in the winter just feels so much better here. The thing is it’s still not as cold as England; this was the first time in 21 years that the sun was shining on my birthday (sorry, not sorry). La Place de la Comédie is full to the brim with Christmas lights and decorations and the Christmas markets are just delightful. With December being the month of my birthday and Christmas, there was a high risk of homesickness. But not to worry, Montpellier and I are still on very good terms.
The only pitfall here, aside from my popularity amongst the mosquitos resulting in me looking as though I have leprosy, is the lack of access to mental health support. I beg anyone who slags off the NHS to think again. Whereas mental health care is free in England, despite the waiting lists, here I have to fork out 60 euros an hour to see a therapist, unless I was admitted to a psychiatric unit, in which case it’s free. The reactionary rather than preventative approach is less than ideal for me. As most people spend their Erasmus grants on cheese and wine I am spending mine on the hope for sanity. But don’t get me wrong, I have also bought some new winter boots and a rather dashing poncho. On a brighter note, therapy is going really well and speaking with my therapist (who is actually from England making communication much easier), I have reached a few conclusions vis à vis my mental health and being abroad here; A) My illness is not my fault, B) I am brave for being here and C) I’m not going to be miraculously cured overnight. I can’t say A and B aloud with much conviction as it stands, but I’m sure I will be able to in time. In brief, my recovery process is going to include many baby steps but I am ready to take the first ones, and there really is no better place to do that but here.
In other news my boyfriend and I have added Lyon to our list of cities which we have visited. Lyon was a beautiful city. I fought my vertigo and the view from the rooftop of the basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière was breath taking, and we all know that panoramic views from a high up location are in my top three favourite things of all time (alongside extravagant water features and a light breeze). Although Lyon was a stunning place to catch up with friends and has the wonderful Parc de la tête de l’Or which is home to an abundant of cute animals (don’t worry, I looked into the ethics and it’s all cool), for me it was too big and had an overwhelming metro system to live there.
This weekend was my birthday, and was potentially the best birthday weekend to date. It kicked off with a surprise midnight arrival from my boyfriend a day ahead of what we initially planned, and we went to the cinema, the rugby, Marseille, for food and drinks with friends, I had breakfast in bed (consisting of croissants and the best café noisette in town from the local patisserie), we went to the Christmas markets, did home baking, ice-skating and we visited a fancy restaurant where everything was flower themed and every dish was presented beautifully with edible flowers. I went for the catch of the day alongside a “festival of flowers”. It was weird and wonderful and right up my street.
Marseille was a lovely city; it was just such a shame that the weather was so rubbish for us. We did however visit a wonderful restaurant on the see where I was presented with le poisson du jour, still with its head attached and full skeletal frame. Being a part-time vegan and vegetarian, but a full-time pescatarian due to the difficulty of eating out in France with these dietary requirements, I naively started hacking at said poisson with my knife and fork only for the waiter to have pity on me and return my food to the kitchen where thorough deboning and decapitation could take place. Needless to say I was slightly embarrassed.
There’s not much else to report from over here, so Merry Christmas to you all and I’ll see you in the New Year.
Hannah Lewis
Images courtesy of Hannah Lewis