14.33 - Breathe, refresh, recover, and restart anew
Do you like to summer {v}? Do you prefer fall? Do these seasons impact your being? This FREE edition includes articles about Getting a French Driving Licence, French photography, WWII heroines & more
Table of Contents:
1. Here’s how some others see this end of August season… with summer about to fall away… and as I write a few leaves are dropping in Paris and other northern climbs.2. New articles in My FrenchLife Magazine — Let’s explore…3. Follow us on Instagram → @MaVieFrançaise4. “Thank you for subscribing to ‘le Bulletin’ newsletter” Judy MacMahonBonjour special subscribers… readers, supporters, friends and family
Welcome, whether you’re a new or a long-time subscriber of le Bulletin, I’m thrilled you are here.
Have you ever found that SUMMER can be tiring?
I’ve recently been excited about life (!)
specifically about SUMMER, along with many other people of course…
I have been celebrating the seasonal abundance,
enjoying all of the Olympic activities,
oh, and let’s not forget… I’ve been trying to understand the Olympic opening ceremony better.
France has been displaying its happy face. France has been smiling. French people have been smiling… Don’t get me wrong, I love that!
However, occasionally, I’m reminded that not everyone LOVES Summer.
Some find the full-on nature of summer puts too much pressure on them to perform, to be extraverted…
Some can’t bear that.
Some can’t bear the heat.
Some even put things on hold until the height of summer has passed.
“I think it's so foolish for people to want to be happy. Happy is so momentary--you're happy for an instant and then you start thinking again. Interest is the most important thing in life; happiness is temporary, but interest is continuous.”
― Georgia O'Keeffe
As summer draws quietly to a close, sometimes, taking a pause from the hype, and just breathing quietly can feel like magic!
Do you ever find this?
I find that when summer shows its first signs of an approaching autumnal change:
it’s possible to hear a sigh of relief (mine and others),
a quiet calmness can often be felt tiptoeing politely into my life, and
sometimes I can feel a return to my true self… a more introverted me… a more grateful me, a more reflective me.
A time that seems to just be! To be without effort!
There is a different energy after summer that I enjoy, and I don’t think I’m alone!
There is so much to look forward to… but in a more reflective way. I can feel that the best of fall is coming… and I’m happy when it unveils itself… slowly… very slowly.
I hope that you enjoy late August, have a wonderful weekend and week ahead.
If you enjoy this edition, please note that we also offer another version of le bulletin for paying subscribers, with an even greater resource of writers… >80 amazing writers—providing a weekly explosion of France… Would you like to join them (?) it would mean a lot to me to support my work and you’ll delight in the increased immersion depth.
Please consider upgrading to an annual subscription. Merci.
Judy - 24.8.’24
1. Here’s how some others see this end of August season… with summer about to fall away… and as I write a few leaves are dropping in Paris and other northern climbs.
Even though the summer holidays are still in full swing for some… we all know that autumn/fall is coming. We all know that la rentée (the new year/ the return) is not far away, we all know that change is coming.
Some look forward to it.
Some try to hold on to summer as long as they can.
Which are you?
I for one prefer France, and Paris certainly when summer-mania has dissipated. I prefer the calm, the quiet... I prefer it when France is authentic and with fewer tourists. I prefer it when it’s not so hard to travel off the beaten track.
What about you? What is your preference?
Here are a few snippets providing insight into the lives and preferences of others in France in August.
C’est parti ! - Let’s go
Judy
1 a. Times They Are A-Changing: feeling autumn - Notes from the Potager by JoJo Thompson
“If I were a bird, I would fly about the Earth seeking the successive autumns”
- George Eliot
“Is it gentle, or is it sudden? The change of season is subtle, sneaking up at first. That first heavy dew. Leaves tumbling with the apples. The buzz of the wasps seems more urgent as they eke out the sun's warmth and gather, gather. Average temperatures dip. It that a golden hue on the line of trees on the horizon? Layers, remember layers ... nearly time for a beanie. We crave those moments. We relish the gentle drift into Autumn, we Fall into it happily”
says JoJo - Notes from the Potager
1 b. P O E M from Feasts and Fables
Apples
(Laurie Lee)
Behold the apples’ rounded worlds: juice-green of July rain, the black polestar of flowers, the rind mapped with its crimson stain.
The russet, crab and cottage red burn to the sun’s hot brass, then drop like sweat from every branch and bubble in the grass.
They lie as wanton as they fall, and where they fall and break, the stallion clamps his crunching jaws, the starling stabs his beak.
In each plump gourd the cidery bite of boys’ teeth tears the skin; the waltzing wasp consumes his share, the bent worm enters in.
I, with as easy hunger, take entire my season’s dole; welcome the ripe, the sweet, the sour, the hollow and the whole. Visit site.
1 c. It’s Definitely Beginning to Feel like Fall in Paris - by Martine Trélaün of Do Yoga in Paris - Notes
The leaves are still on the trees in the Palais Royal but it’s definitely beginning to feel like fall…
1 d. AweGust - An Antidote to Seasonal Affective Disorder by Alison Zamora
Summer is a notoriously difficult season for me. While most experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in the winter months, I experience it during the summer months.
July felt, in a word, depleting.
Mentally.
Emotionally.
Activities that used to replenish me didn’t hit the same way. My sleep quality declined. I had trouble focusing. I felt like I was constantly under a weighted blanket (and not in a good way).
Every day a slog. Every day these feelings of overwhelm compounding on top of each other.
By the end of the month I was absolutely wiped. out.” wrote Alison.
Which season are you?
Summer, fall, winter, or spring?
Do let me know.
I’ll go first, shall I?
I’m both spring and autumn. It’s the change in energy that I love.
Judy
Paris & the Olympics - just a few words…
a. Creativity Captured in Paris: Sketching at the Olympics
An article and images of people sketching during the Olympics.
b. Could you have commentated the Paris 2024 opening ceremony? Of course, with the right cheat sheet by Véronique Savoye - do follow the cliff notes links!
Thank you
for your intelligent coverage of the Olympic Opening Ceremony and your most recent article on the topic. It is excellent!A must-read. Veronique says:
Finding the missing element. As it turns out there were Cliff Notes and great ones too.
If you are in the mood for some homework here is additional information for you:
- Opening Ceremony. Media How-to Guide. French version. Link →
- Opening Ceremony. Media How-to Guide. English version. Link →
Don’t forget that the Paris Paralympics commences on 28 August 2024. The torch relay from 25-28 August. I’m looking forward to this. Are you?
2. New articles in My FrenchLife Magazine — Let’s explore…
Un grand merci - Thank you to all MyFrenchLife™ Magazine Contributors!
1.→Vie française:
Female Agents Behind Enemy Lines: Part Four - Nancy Wade ←read it here
by Kathryn Gauci
2.→ Vie française:
Driving Mme Valerie in France ←read it here
by Valérie Helmbreck Mascitti
3.→ Arts & Culture:
My favorite French photographer: capturing old Paris ←read it here
by Jennifer Bragg
↓ CLICK IMAGE & read all the new articles on MyFrenchLife Magazine ↓
3. Follow us on Instagram → @MaVieFrançaise
Bursting with news, views and articles, video chats, poetry, introductions to new magazine contributors… and more… follow us and join in @maviefrancaise … See you there soon, I hope.
Also don’t miss the weekly post by member Jennifer Andrewes on her solo pilgrimage to Rome: 2500km.
Here she is after 44 days - a total of 975 km so far! Isn’t that amazing?
Have you ever completed such a challenge?
4. “Thank you for subscribing to ‘le Bulletin’ newsletter” Judy MacMahon
I hope to see you here again soon
Judy MacMahon
Fondatrice
MyFrenchLife.org
You can always email me at info@myfrenchlife.org
Here’s how you can stay in touch & personalise your le Bulletin experience:
Like this le Bulletin newsletter of MyFrenchLife.org Magazine? Forward it or Share it with a friend. Surprise them and help us grow.
Loved a story? Disliked it? Drop me a note or just write to say ‘bonjour’.
Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up to get le Bulletin newsletter weekly.
If you’d like to be sure you GET or NOT GET posts/emails about our French Book Club, you can personalise your account. toggle ON or OFF.
And… finally, you can immerse yourself in the archive of le Bulletin Newsletter here & the MyFrenchLife Magazine archive of >3000 articles
'le Bulletin' is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
I’m dreading the end of summer Judy… I love all the seasons but the end of summer marks ‘la rentrée’ as you so rightly point out and that means back to classes and the incessant noise that comes with it. It takes me a month to settle every time!
Bonjour Judy. I’ve just returned from leading another tour around La Belle France for a group of North American travelers and finally had a chance to catch up with my Substack reading list.
Thank you so much for featuring my latest story here. I am happy you found it of value!
So many people wondered why commentators had sounded so clueless during the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony it seemed like a good idea to investigate further. Happy I did.