Week 21, 2026: French phase

It has been very hot outside this week. My sensitive skin doesn’t agree with the heat. I’ve been wearing beaucoup sunscreen and layered clothing to protect myself, but at what cost?

I can’t wait for it to rain / cool down. As a child, I used to love the summers and I remember I could handle the heat / sun on my skin, but now I prefer winters more.

Anyway, this Wednesday, I had gone out to lunch with my colleagues. It was a new place, and I fell sick after eating the food there, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. The service was painfully slow.

I’ve mostly been indoors during the weekend, reading Monte Cristo. I’m close to 60% done at this point; it is a HUGE book. It has a lot of old French culture / customs in it, and I find it fascinating. I’ve been trying my best to pronounce the names with something close to proper French pronunciation in my head while reading it.

(I remember I had a French phase back in 2015 where I listened to French music, and I even started learning French. Here’s hoping I don’t return to it.)

Speaking of French, I’ve also been looking into travel plans for a little weekend trip to Pondicherry (possibly influenced by the book), some time in June with my family. Funny, as my planning started with hill stations last week; I’ve never been to Ooty or any hill station before. I don’t know yet, but it’s been a while, and I do want to travel.

Apart from all of that, I’ve been entertaining myself watching random reels and playing Mortal Kombat 1. Also, Franks are going to be back from their EU trip later today and it will be fun to catch up on their journey / stories. I’ve missed their presence for the last 3 weeks.