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2000s/early 2010s French songs

Yesterday my best friend came at my place and we started dancing to French songs from our childhood and it gave me the idea of this playlist. So here are the best and the worst of French music history (en gros ma playlist de la honte) 

Amel Bent - Ma philosophie (ICONIC)

Diam’s - La Boulette

Diam’s (feat Vitaa) - Confessions Nocturnes (the ultimate karaoke song to do with your best friend)

Discobitch - C’est beau la bourgeoisie

Jenifer - Au soleil

Kyo (feat Sita) - Le Chemin

L5 - Toutes les femmes de ta vie

Magic System - Ambiance à l’africaine

Mickey 3D - Respire (depressing af) (also this cover is amazing)

Nadiya - Et c’est parti

Pauline - Allo le Monde

Sinsémilia - Tout le bonheur du monde

Tragédie - Hey Oh (French boysband were trash, I’m glad we are over it)

Zaho - C’est chelou

Sheryfa Luna - Il avait les mots 

Faudel - Mon pays

Raphaël - Caravane (my mom favorite song for years)

Bénabar - Le dîner

Lorie - Je serai (ta meilleure amie) 

Koxie - Garçon (the “Men are trash” pioneer)

K.Maro - Femme Like U

Roméo et Juliette - Les rois du monde 

Lorie - Sur un air latino

Star Academy III - L’Orange (the best TV musical program to ever exist I don’t make the rules)

Grégory Lemarchal - Ecris l’histoire (I am not crying you are)

Tomy Frager - Lady Melody (I actually hate this song but I guess it’s a classic). 

Jenifer - donne-moi le temps 

Emmanuel Moire - Je fais de toi mon essentiel

Sexion d’assaut - Désolé 

Sexion d’assaut - Ma direction (I will not put all Sexion d’assaut’s but they were very popular back then). 

Jena Lee - J’aimerais tellement (for the emo kids out there)

M. Pokora - Juste une photo de toi

Pascal Obispo - Lucie

Manau - La tribu de Dana (vive les bretons <3)

Helmut Fritz - Ca m’énerve

(I will not add David Guetta because his songs are not in French but basically the 2000s were David Guetta’s bitch, every song he released was a hit here). 

BB Brunes - Dis-moi (The song is about him being in love with a prostitute and my mom bought me the CD). 

Supreme NTM - Ma Benz

Mc Solaar - Solar pleure

Garou, Celine Dion - Sous le vent (you don’t understand how much I would pay to see this live)

Hélène Segara - Il y a trop de gens qui t’aiment 

Yannick Noah - Aux arbres citoyens (Lil Dicky who ?)

Coeur de Pirate, Julien Doré - Pour un infidèle (the king and queen of twitter, these two are hilarious)

Joyce Jonathan - Pas besoin de toi (I forgot how pretty she is *-*)

Natasha St-Pier, Pascal Obispo - Mourir demain 

Fatal Bazooka - Parle à ma main

Christophe Willem - Double je 

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Day 25/1278

27 juillet

I've been okay at keeping up with language. Got my first assessment back and I'm just over A2 level. It's much better than I thought!

Lately I'm mostly just consuming media, but that's actually been great. Forcing myself to understand subreddits in French seems to stick more than formal lessons. I understand how people learn English just by farting around on the web.

Tomorrow I'm seeing my friend who called France my pipe dream. I'm truly not mad about it but I think it did strike an insecurity in me, so I wonder if it will come up again.

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Rock solid reasons

My advice to friends post break-up has always been to know what your reasons were for the break-up. I've always said you have to have rock solid reasons and really believe in them because you're going to have moments of doubt later on and those rock solid reasons are what's going to keep you from making the same mistake twice.

I think the same thing applies to any big decision and it would be helpful for me to start to write down the things that I know to be true why I know them to be true and then stop revisiting them and doubting myself.

And I think I should do that for relationships and for deciding where to live.

For example lately I wonder if I should let go of wanting to be near the salt water but a really truthful part of me knows that I'm always happiest when I'm near the water so I don't think that's super realistic. It's just that when you're willing to move inland a lot more options become available to you. So I should start formally working through these logic problems and figuring out what my conclusions are and writing them down so I have a record.

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Day 22/1278

24 juillet

Oofa, without even realizing it I passed the 3 week mark. The last week or so I've been less confident in my decision to move to France. Overall I know I can't stay here or I'll lose my mind, but it feels like every other option is still open. I'm considering RVing around North America, because then I could take the pets really easily. I'm considering spending time, 3-6 months, in Quebec, maybe more than once, so I can get better at French without making the full commitment.

I haven't formally worked on my business at all since drafting the business plan. But I do think about it and notice things like marketing, demand, etc. Just not formally.

But I am becoming more and more aware of what I do that is holding myself back. I'm a top-notch time waster, for one thing. It takes me 3x longer to do things than other people. I wander around, lose focus, go back and forth. Usually I'm late to work because of that. If I have to clean the dishes, it's like clean a dish, wander away, remember what I was doing, go back and clean more, oops now you're late. Very possible that I have ADD I think, which would surprise a lot of people.

Lately I'm obsessed with hockey and Canada. And Goon, Goon 2, and Marc-André Grondin. I wish Canada wasn't so damn cold or I'd move there immediately... Maybe. I actually saw an interesting article yesterday about whether you can turn a winter hater into a winter lover, and I agree that maybe you can if there's something to look forward to. Still, 6 months is too long.

But I am planning to take up skating and if that goes well then learn hockey! Also decided to try watching Habs games from local Montréal stations so it's in French.

🇫🇷 Today I'll do 45-60 min total of Frantastique, Duolingo, Beelingual

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Day 17/1278

19 juillet

Lately in the mornings I'm doing Frantastique and doing Duolingo later in the day. I have to say, the more effort I put into learning French the more I realize what Duolingo is not teaching me. I spent like 3 hours yesterday watching videos of prononciation (and sacrificing sleep).

🇫🇷 Did Frantastique, listened to French music, will probably do Duolingo and practice more prononciation later today.

Also newly obsessed with the Québécois accent.

The last few days I think I've felt 1) less bored at work 2) less upset with the weather and it's resulted in me doubting my plans to move. I still know that I can't stay here, but it made me wonder about RVing around the US. Which, still, would only be temporary anyway. I can't imagine I'd do that for longer than two years, mostly because I'm single and I bet I'd get a little lonely.

A lot of my reservations are about my puppy!! I know he can't handle a move, but I can't stomach the thought of leaving him behind. Even though he can't live with me anymore he's still my best friend and I love him more than all the people in my life. I'm not sure though that RV life would be for him. He hates the car and any kind of change, although he does love the outdoors. I'm not sure if the consistency of having the same "house" in different places would be enough for him.

Also my friend who called it a pipe dream. I still think that says more about her than it does about me, but it's a valid question. I think the question it leads to is: do I have to leave America to be happier? Can I be happy, can I live my values, anywhere in America? And based on what I've seen of my country I strongly believe the answer is no, but I don't know 100%. I think a lot of it would mean tuning out the things that really bring me down, which I think a lot of people already do.

So I was on a role last week with planning etc. But now I'm on a role with language and not the rest. It's okay if it comes in starts and stops I guess, that's how I've worked my entire life.

Also it's been two weeks and I still haven't unpacked from France other than to put dirty laundry in the basket. My room is actually a huge disaster, although thankfully the rest of the apartment looks great. I love how all my guests compliment me on it 😊

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Day 14/1278

16 juillet

Two weeks since being in France 😭 it already feels so far away, like another world or a dream. Sigh.

I worked on the book this weekend, signed up for Frantastique, and started to take more stock of my life. I was doing okay for a day, yesterday, but then was a complete insomniac both Saturday and yesterday (Monday) nights. Saturday I was just up, reading and watching The Bridges of Madison County, and then writing the book. Last night I was working on my plants and watching a movie in the background, except it was really good so I wound up rewinding to the start and watching it all over and then starting the sequel. Times like this I know I'm self sabotaging. I really don't have much self control. I guess the only way to work on it is to practice. I also still wonder if I might have undiagnosed ADD making self control more difficult.

Not sure what I'll get to today given I got a late start and have oral surgery in the afternoon. I have to come home and clean up for the guests arriving today.

🇫🇷???

[makefrancehappen-blog]

BBC News - France passes tax on tech giants despite US threats

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48947922

bon travail! continuez!

[makefrancehappen-blog]

😭 ugh I sooooo want my life to be different than it is. This is going to be such a long transition. I totally understand what makes people jump in without a financial plan or without speaking the language

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Day 10/1278

12 juillet 2019

I already did Duolingo for the day so that's great.

I'm so exhausted still! Definitely related to the autoimmune flare this week.

Since today is Friday it means I don't have to keep my mental check list over the next two days, which is always a relief. Maybe that's why I'm always so tired. I do think I try to do to much, generally speaking. I should narrow down my extra obligations to 1-3 things per week, including social events and things I have to do.

It's a beautiful sunny day and I can barely even see the sun or nature at all. I think I'm going to take a detour today to walk to work through the park, even though it's longer.

🇫🇷 After work, keep writing the book, write the story first & don't worry about language.

Oh no. I just realized I have to choose tomorrow between market or beach. Poo. I choose beach because there's a different market Sunday but I don't know if they have seafood. I can always go to the beach in the morning and hope they still have fish in the afternoon.

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I did 40 min of Duolingo and wound up second place in my league. Not too bad for such an exhausting day!

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Two French coincidences today. Above the water cooler at work there's a quote by Victor Hugo that I realized rings very true to me. Then I rediscovered the MovNat system, which I've been curious about for years, and learned the founder is French. Looked at his Instagram and there was another Victor Hugo quote! I love little signs like this.

OH and by the way... I hope France does tax tech companies. IDGAF if it disproportionately affects American companies, the internet and tech giants are way too powerful and I applaud France for being the first to do something about it. Stuff like this really makes me feel culturally in tune with France. Faites-le! (Is that how you'd say "do it!" in French?)

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Day 9/1278

11 juillet 2019

I'm exhausted today and my autoimmune is acting up. I tried eating beans and rice the last few days and remembered why I never do that.

I haven't done Duolingo in days honestly. I think this week has just been a rough adjustment being back.

I'm going to give myself a pass today and just focus on getting through the day.

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Woohoo!

Just wrote a 6 page preliminary business plan and it's coming into focus 😁😁

Sent to my aunt for feedback

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Hey self, watch this.

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Day 8/1278

10 juillet 2019

I've been slacking with Duolingo but consuming French media like whoa. Pretty much only French language music, tv, magazines lately even though I understand like 1/15 words haha. I also reached out to the university's French department to see if I can sit in on the evening class for fall semester. They're also showing movies on the green but didn't list times, just dates (dumb!). Yesterday I made tacos lol so not really in the spirit of the south of France but I had a craving and didn't want to buy Chipotle so I'm gonna say I'm doing my best.

I think I'm just feeling overwhelmed by being back. My autoimmune symptoms immediately reappeared, although not quite as severe. It makes me think it's related to vitamin d, pollution, water, or psychosomatic.

I wasted my full morning at work looking at French blogs again. I'm the worst worker. And I like my job too!

🇫🇷 1 level Duolingo aujourd'hui

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Day 7/1278

9 juillet 2019

Already a week gone by since I made this decision and I don't feel that I'm realistically closer to being location independent. But I guess I've made the mind shift so that's still progress. Sometimes 3 years feels like too long to wait and other times it feels terrifyingly short. Will I even still feel this way in 3 years? I'm tired today and need to do self care in other ways so the French aspirations will be balanced with all of that.

🇫🇷 1 level Duolingo, buy simple foods for lunch & dinner

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Day 6/1278: Back to real life

8 juillet 2019

This isn't my first day back at work but it's my first full week so it definitely feels like the vacation vibe and the spell of France is vanishing to a faint little flicker. I really hope I keep this dream alive until I'm back next year. I think I should probably meditate on why I feel fear about this dream dying. Maybe I feel like I'll get stuck in some kind of unintentional life path? One I didn't design and don't love?

🇫🇷 Do 1 level on Duolingo, keep journaling business ideas, meditate on what to say to Sébastien. Cook fish and local veggies for dinner.