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. Hereās how some others see this end of August seasonā¦ with summer about to fall awayā¦ andĀ as I write a few leaves are dropping in Paris and other northern climbs.
2. New articles inĀ My FrenchLife MagazineĀ ā Letās exploreā¦
3. Follow us on Instagram āĀ @MaVieFranƧaise
4. āThank you for subscribing to āle Bulletinā newsletterā Judy MacMahon
Bonjour special subscribersā¦ readers, supporters, friends and family
Welcome, whether youāre a new or a long-time subscriber of le Bulletin, Iām thrilled you are here.
Have you ever found that SUMMER can be tiring?
Iāve recently been excited about life (!)
specifically about SUMMER, along with many other people of courseā¦
I have been celebrating the seasonal abundance,
enjoying all of the Olympic activities,
oh, and letās not forgetā¦ Iāve been trying to understand the Olympic opening ceremony better.
France has been displaying its happy face. France has been smiling. French people have been smilingā¦ Donāt get me wrong, I love that!
However, occasionally, Iām reminded that not everyone LOVES Summer.
Some find the full-on nature of summer puts too much pressure on them to perform, to be extravertedā¦
Some canāt bear that.
Some canāt bear the heat.
Some even put things on hold until the height of summer has passed.
āI 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.ā
ā 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:
itās 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 selfā¦ a more introverted meā¦ 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 donāt think Iām alone!
There is so much to look forward toā¦ but in a more reflective way. I can feel that the best of fall is comingā¦ and Iām happy when it unveils itselfā¦ slowlyā¦ 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 writersā¦ >80 amazing writersāproviding a weekly explosion of Franceā¦ Would you like to join them (?) it would mean a lot to me to support my work and youāll delight in the increased immersion depth.
Please consider upgrading to an annual subscription. Merci.
Judy - 24.8.ā24
1. Hereās how some others see this end of August seasonā¦ with summer about to fall awayā¦ 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 someā¦ we all know that autumn/fall is coming. We all know that la rentĆ©e (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 itās 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.
Cāest parti ! - Letās go
Judy
1 a. Times They Are A-Changing: feeling autumn - Notes from the Potager by JoJo Thompson
āIf I were a bird, I would fly about the Earth seeking the successive autumnsāĀ
- George Eliot
āIs 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 happilyā
says JoJo - Notes from the Potager
1 b. P O E M from Feasts and Fables
Apples
(Laurie Lee)
Behold the applesā 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 sunās 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 boysā teeth tears the skin; the waltzing wasp consumes his share, the bent worm enters in.
I, with as easy hunger, take entire my seasonās dole; welcome the ripe, the sweet, the sour, the hollow and the whole. Visit site.
1 c. Itās Definitely Beginning to Feel like Fall in Paris - by Martine TrĆ©laĆ¼n of Do Yoga in Paris - Notes
The leaves are still on the trees in the Palais Royal but itās definitely beginning to feel like fallā¦
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 didnāt 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.ā wrote Alison.
Which season are you?
Summer, fall, winter, or spring?
Do let me know.
Iāll go first, shall I?
Iām both spring and autumn. Itās the change in energy that I love.
Judy
Paris & the Olympics - just a few wordsā¦
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 VĆ©ronique 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 ā
- Opening Ceremony. Media How-to Guide. English version. Link ā
Donāt forget that the Paris Paralympics commences on 28 August 2024. The torch relay from 25-28 August. Iām looking forward to this. Are you?
2. New articles in My FrenchLife Magazine ā Letās exploreā¦
Un grand merci - Thank you to all MyFrenchLifeā¢ Magazine Contributors!
1.āVie franƧaise:
Female Agents Behind Enemy Lines: Part Four - Nancy Wade āread it here
by Kathryn Gauci
2.ā Vie franƧaise:
Driving Mme Valerie in France āread it here
by ValƩrie Helmbreck Mascitti
3.ā Arts & Culture:
My favorite French photographer: capturing old Paris āread it here
by Jennifer Bragg
ā CLICK IMAGE & read all the new articles on MyFrenchLife Magazine ā
3. Follow us on Instagram ā @MaVieFranƧaise
Bursting with news, views and articles, video chats, poetry, introductions to new magazine contributorsā¦ and moreā¦ follow us and join in @maviefrancaise ā¦ See you there soon, I hope.
Also donāt 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! Isnāt that amazing?
Have you ever completed such a challenge?
4. āThank you for subscribing to āle Bulletinā newsletterā Judy MacMahon
I hope to see you here again soon
Judy MacMahon
Fondatrice
MyFrenchLife.org
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Bonjour Judy. Iāve 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 Gamesā opening ceremony it seemed like a good idea to investigate further. Happy I did.
I'm spring, autumn and winter. In that order:) But I also struggle with change. Thanks for a great article!!!!