Jenni Ajderian

(originally published by EdinburghExchanges blog)           Freshly-rested and a little over-stuffed after Christmas, we're all back in Aix to knuckle down and try to pass an exam or two. I'm sure I'll get round to writing about them soon, when I'm not actually doing them, and when my hesitant daily excursions into the outside world stop providing me with such interesting things to see.      One of I'm sure many unannounced public art installations, Joséph Donten's simply-named 'Arbres Cours Mirabeau' certainly brightens up the street now the twinkly lights of Noël are gone. It's as if the trees have become incredibly tall, incredibly chic French fashionistas declaring that Polkadot is, very much, in. Though with my anglo-eyes I can't help being reminded of Pudsey Bear.      With January comes sales, and if you add to that a love of Franglais and sensationalism in shop-fronts, you get something like this. A phenomenon I'd only ever

(originally published by EdinburghExchanges  blog)      Monaco is a city built on pure money that became a principality thanks to tourism, and which over the years has bred the richest, most densely-packed population in the world. It is kind of ironic, I think, that we got to go there for free.      Our oft-neglectful Student Housing association threw the free bus tour of the teeny weeny country at the end of term, deciding that a bunch of students would love to see the Old Town of the world's smallest country, as well as a stuffy perfumery on the way home. From start to finish we were complaining that they were treating us like children. We trailed a couple of tourguides up to the changing of the guards, round a cathedral and up to Prince Albert's Nautical Museum, all of us grumbling all the way round until we saw the fish.           We liked the fish.      It was at about this point that we took off our jumpers and started to count our blessings. On the day we hit Mo