France IV: A Day in the Life
Here is a typical day for me in France:
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Wake up, pull on jogging clothes and head out for a morning jog around le Jardin de Luxembourg. There are a lot of joggers out first thing in the morning! I typically do two or three laps (3 laps is 5km), depending on how late it is.
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Stop by the local artisanal boulangerie to pick up one or two sourdough baguettes (or, if it’s a Tuesday or a Friday, perhaps a croissant and a pain au chocolate).
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Say good morning to Nobuko and Tatiana. Coffee is usually ready, so we sit down for a typically French petit déjeuner of coffee, baguette, butter, jam, and nutella
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Hop in the shower, get dressed, and head out the the RER station with the family. I get a kiss goodbye and I’m off from Luxembourg to Bagneux. The trip takes about 20 minutes and it’s not crowded. It’s cheap too: 1.80EUR each way. I suppose I could take a vélo, but there are a couple of tricky spots on the way thanks to construction.
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Get out at Bagneux station and walk down the hill to École Normale Supérieur de Cachan. It’s a pleasant walk.
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Get to work! I share an office with Christophe Reffay and Françoise Tort.
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I often take a sandwich with me for lunch. I am informed this is not the proper way to do things in France, and that a leisurely lunch with colleagues is the preferred way. I try to join colleagues from the STEF lab for lunch a couple of times a week but time is so short here that I usually work through lunch.
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More work! Usually I’m running out of steam, so I hit the Nespresso machine in the salle de réunion for one or two espressos.
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Leave ENS and head up to Bagneux station. There’s a boulangerie at the RER station where I often pick up a baguette to snack on on the way home, and there’s also a Franprix in case I want to pick up some groceries.
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Head to Luxembourg station on the RER and then a quick walk home.
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Dinner is usually ready for me when I get home, although I try to help out a couple of times during the work week. Nobuko is an excellent cook and she works wonders with the limited facilities we have available to us.
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We often head out for a quick after-dinner walk around the neighbourhood, then we return to our flat, bathe Tatiana, read her some books, and put her to bed. That gives us a couple of hours for adult time, tea, and cookies.