The Bold Soul

L'accordéoniste

This spunky young lady sat herself down right in the middle of this little place outside the Eglise Saint-Pierre, just near Sacre Coeur and the Place du Tertre. She was doing a fine job, too, playing and singing old French classics. It was cold and windy, but at least the sun was out. I hope she made a few centimes.

The 1,500th Post

I wish I could say I had something fabulous and exciting planned for this, my 1,500th blog post... but I don't. I slept poorly last night -- thinking too much about the great apartment I saw yesterday and how it might work for our family if we get it, and about my brother-in-law back in New Jersey, who this week experienced chest pains, and two days ago, had to have some stents put in (he'll be 49 next week, and we're nearly the same age).

So instead, let's let this post be a mélange of short topics, and few recent photos. My brain is too fried to do much more today.

Spring is arriving in Paris. We've got all these sweet little crocuses popping out of flowerpots in our courtyard, thanks to a few of the neighbors who enjoy gardening. We've even had sunshine and blue skies this week, several days in a row, though it's anything but warm yet.

The apartment I saw yesterday was by far the best one we've seen to date, even with a few imperfections. Location? Unbelievable. Size: nearly as roomy as our house, although the layout doesn't make it seem as big. Closets? A shocker -- there are LOTS of them. There's great light and air, and even a view, although it's not of central Paris but the north... but a view is a view. The kitchen has new cabinets but is miniscule, and as with many Parisian kitchens we will have to supply ALL our own appliances, including a stove/oven. And it seems like the owners were doing some cosmetic work that is not complete, and we're not sure if they mean to complete, or if WE'D have to do it (if it's the latter, we'd want a rent decrease or something, because it's not quite in move-in condition at the moment). Still, it could work very nicely, and for the next couple of years we'd be living in one of the best spots in Paris, albeit as tenants and not owners. We've decided to wait to buy something.

 

Not all graffiti is drivel scribbled by gang members. In Paris, it often feels like art. This one, near my house, is a chevre with a rainbow. Why? Who knows. It's colorful in a city with a lot of grey tones.

I've been diligent in recording what I'm eating, and any physical activity, with the Weight Watchers online program. I have NOT been so diligent in what I'm eating, although I've avoided things like munching mindlessly on cookies, and technically I am still within the (outer) limits of my daily/weekly points allowance. I've stepped on the scale a few times just to see if there has been any progress (I know you're not supposed to weigh yourself every day but sometimes I just can't help myself) and yesterday it appeared I had GAINED 1.5 lbs. I decided not to panic about this, as I've got some "girl stuff" water-weight gain going on at the moment. By Sunday, my weekly weigh-in day, it might change for the better. For now, I decided to remind myself that for this first week, my goal was not so much about losing a lot of weight, but to get myself into the habit (again) of being aware of what I'm putting in my mouth. And THAT, I have done well at, as well as having gotten my lazy butt out of the house nearly every day for a minimum of 25 minutes of walking. I've already walked more in the past week than I did in all of January, with the lousy weather we had.

 

Looking out on the Place du Tertre from inside a warm café on a sunny but very windy afternoon. Roving artists are everywhere, trying to charm unsuspecting tourists into being captured for posterity.

Clachat will have visitors this afternoon -- I hope. Prospective adoptive "parents" for her. I am hoping they will love her at first sight and want to keep her. We don't know if they will take her immediately, or even this weekend at all, if they DO want her. I am just praying she doesn't do anything to turn them off. Like attacking me or them. Georges cleaned the cat box and brought the cat carrier up from our little "cave", just in case, so I will prepared to send her on her way with all her toys, food, kitty litter and her favorite cushion so she has something familiar to sleep on in her new home... if they decide to adopt her on the spot. Let's all hope for the best on this one, because it really WOULD be the best thing for her. And selfishly, I would like to be able to have carpets in our new apartment, and less dust and cat hair to clean up.

I do plan to cry when she goes, though. In case you were thinking I really am a heartless bitch.

 

No, it's the PHOTO that's blurry... it's not that we had too much to drink! But how pretty these glasses of red wine look, yes?

So that's about all the news that's fit to print for the moment. I hope you've enjoyed the 1,500 posts as much as I've enjoyed all of your 4,500 comments! What a great milestone, just coming on the heels of The Bold Soul's 5th anniversary on February 25th. 

Here's to the next 1,500 posts + 4,500 comments + 5 years!

I think she knows something's up

Ever since I got back on Friday, Clachat has been more clingy than usual. She's been crawling into my lap any time I happen to sit down (whether or not my laptop is already there), which is rather unusual for her.

Yesterday, one of our neighbors came by to say that her parents are interested in adopting Clachat; their cat recently died at the age of 13, and someone told our neighbor we were looking for a good home for our cat. I don't have all the details yet, and it may not work out, but apparently they live somewhere away from Paris and they have a garden, which would be perfect for Clachat, who is used to having some outdoor space. The daughters of this neighbor know the cat, and as they sometimes visit their grandparents, Clachat will even have someone a little bit familiar to check up on her from time to time. This cat-loving couple will come on Friday to meet Clachat -- whose name they apparently would intend to change if they adopt her, but I think she'll get used to it in time -- and if all goes well perhaps Clachat will find herself in a lovely new home within days! You can well imagine our relief if this goes off without a hitch; we had resigned ourselves to having to take her with us, even though it wouldn't ever be as good for her, being in a smaller apartment after having so much space, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to take her to any sort of shelter.

So now... we pray. HARD. Because it's not a done deal, yet, and I've gotten my hopes up before with no good result.

And it figures that last night, after this all happened, the cat decided to climb right onto my chest for the first time, ever. She knows.

I miss him already, and I haven't even left the house yet

3-in-1 Holiday

This past Sunday, February 14, was a three-in-one holiday here. I've already written about how the French don't really "do" Valentine's Day (much), but we did manage to find a spot in Belleville where two holiday parades (of sorts) merged into on.

First, we had a bit of the Lunar New Year celebration:

Then, it was on to "Carnival", with some of the Belgian "Géants" which I thought were rather interesting:

I have to say, as parades go and compared with what I'm used to in an American parade (marching bands, parade floats and baton twirlers), this parade wasn't much. There were a few small brass bands and some decent drumming groups playing some good carnival dance beats. Mostly it seemed to be a lot of people in self-made costumes or NO costumes just walking by us.

However, besides the giants, there were a few notable attractions I liked:

I think this blue cat head is going to give me nightmares; it looks like Alice in Wonderland's Cheshire Cat on crack.

This big puppet seemed inspired by a Tim Burton movie.

 

And here was the one and only hommage to Valentine's Day.

With Bated Breath

The camellias -- like me -- are just waiting for spring.

Coffee-Clach(at)

Ah, look who decided to join me at the kitchen table for a cup of coffee today! Sorry, Clachat... that was the last drop. And it's all mine.

Hot in Paris

No, not the temperatures... those are still way too chilly for my tastes. But look at this amazing car! I know nothing about these old sports cars (or ANY cars, for that matter) but couldn't help drooling a bit over this one. I actually took this photo over a month ago. However, just this past weekend, there was an antique car rally scheduled on Sunday, the 10th such event. I wonder how many car owners actually showed up, given the snow and all around bad weather we had.

Miscellany before Midnight

In an effort to stay awake until Midnight on New Year's Eve, I've been downloading images off my cell phone. Here's a random sampling, but I'm so tired and incoherent right now that I don't guarantee this post will make one bit of sense. Happy New Year anyway!

 

I loved this beautiful spice rack I saw at a small antiques brocante in Saint Raphael a few days ago. Wasn't convinced it was authentically old but I loved it anyway. Might have bought it if we didn't already have a ton of luggage to take back to Paris on Saturday.

 

Took this with my cell phone but it came out well anyway, considering. Looks warmer than December, doesn't it?

 

I nearly fell over when I saw these tiny, sassy, daffodils blooming in a flower bed... next to some palm trees... in DECEMBER.

Some little fishing boats in a small harbor near Cap Dramont. They don't look very sea-worthy to me, but hey, what do I know about boats?

Almost time for the 10-second countdown here... Happy New Year, everyone!

THIS cat has an evil twin

Walked into the bathroom at my sister-in-law's place and look who was hiding behind the door... hissing in stereo. She's not violent (as long as you don't try to touch her) but secretly? I think she's LIKE to be.

A Snow Day, Paris-Style

Shamelessly skipping the work I was supposed to be doing all day, instead I skipped off to meet a friend for a pre-holiday lunch and to take some photos of Paris in the snow. As luck would have it, our rendez-vous point brought me here:

The snow, just before noon, was falling hard and fast. Walking on the Trocadero marble was hazardous, and a brave local news crew was there to capture the moment:

Behind the Trocadero, this statue of Foch was already covered in the white stuff, and the trees and shrubs looked very pretty with their "frosting":

 

Not a great day for lunching on the terrasse:

So, even though we don't have "snow days" where the schools are closed for inclement weather, I had fun taking my own custom "snow day". More photos to come... I also headed over to the Champs Elysées for the Christmas Market (where I successfully resisted the temptation to drink Gluhewein all afternoon).

Sugar-frosted

Well, at around 8am this morning, it started:

It's now 10am, and still going:

Our bamboo tree, all sugary:

 

Courtyard, a long and snowy view. So pretty!

 

Those white dots you see? Not a problem with the camera, and you don't need to clean your eyeglasses or your computer screen. It's the falling snow:

 

I had planned to hunker down this morning and edit the last two chapters I owe to my client before the holidays... but as it's still snowing, I think I need to bundle up and take the Montmartrobus to the top of the Butte and capture some of more Paris en neige!

I hope there is snow on the ground when the boys come home from school today. I foresee big fun!

A little more Gluhwein, s'il vous plait?

So last week, I got to sneak out of Paris for the day, and high-tailed it to Strasbourg on the TGV. My motivation was the opportunity to finally meet a client of over two years, face-to-face; she has family in Stuttgart, Germany, and was visiting them from her current home in San Francisco, so we were able to meet more or less in the middle. This was no hardship for me, as I loved Strasbourg when I visited two years ago and was happy to have a reason to go back.

As I wrote the other day, Strasbourg is also the home of France's largest Christmas marché; BONUS!

I didn't take a lot of photos as the weather was rather grey and drizzly, and I took so many photos on my last trip. But here are just a few so you can get a general idea of just how darned ADORABLE this town is.

And yes... there was Gluhwein. Yum!

Every year, they set up one area of the market and dedicate it to wares from another country. This year, it was Russia... which was perfect as Georges' family has a Russian "arm". I found a pretty hand-painted ornament and a small decorative bowl to keep my jewelry in. This was Place Gutenberg, by the way... yes, the same Gutenberg who invented the printing press and printed the first bible, right here in Strasbourg. He later settled elsewhere in Germany.

 

The gift shop on the ground floor of this building, near the Cathedral, sold the stuffed storks it used liberally to decorate it's windows and window-boxes. Later, we saw two grown men walking around wearing stuffed stork HATS. Quite the fashion statement.

 

Street of shops (stuffed storks just on your right) leading up to the doors of the lovely Cathedral. It has some of the most beautiful stained glass I've ever seen, anywhere. My photos of the interior didn't turn out that well this time, however.

 

Everywhere we walked, there were shops and buildings with their "halls" all "decked out". This is a street that goes past the Cathedral and toward the river, and every single building is utterly charming, even without the holiday attire. The special decorations just made it even more quaint and adorable.

Oh, where to find the hot mulled wine when you're there? EVERYWHERE. In every market area, there was at least one, and usually more than one, stall with the spicy wine and assorted other goodies. In fact, I saw more food-related stalls than crafts and gifts! And much of what I brought back to Paris with me was edible, like some pain d'épices au gingembre that Georges and I loved but which the kids said was too spicy with the big chunks of candied soft ginger in it. (Fine... more for us!)

My only regret about the day was that I had to catch a 4:15pm train home, which meant I didn't get to see all the Christmas lights. If I get the chance to go some other year, I'll be sure and stay later next time.

Forgotten Strasbourg

See photos of my Grand Tour - Day 13 & 14: Strasbourg

On Thursday this week, I'm taking a day trip to Strasbourg where I will meet a client I've been working with on her memoirs for over two years! She lives in San Francisco but has family in Stuttgart, Germany and is visiting them this week, so we arranged to meet in Strasbourg for lunch and to check out their big Christmas market. It's the first time I'll be meeting this client in person, after such a long working relationship, and I'm really looking forward to it.

In preparation, I was digging through my photos from my previous visit to Strasbourg in the summer of 2007, and realized I neglected to upload two days worth of photos to Flickr! This is the wonderful astronomical clock in the magnificent cathedral.

Another of my favorite highlights in Strasbourg was the Alsatian Museum, where they have done an absolutely brilliant job of capturing the history and traditions of Alsace. If you have the opportunity to visit Strasbourg, I highly recommend making this wonderful little museum a priority stop! For more photos of Strasbourg and the Alsatian Museum, just click the link above under the photo.

Up close and personal

Architectural detail at Sacre Coeur, October 2009

I like getting close-ups of the great monuments and facades in Paris... I often notice things in photos I didn't see with the naked eye. Like, I never realized before that this winged statue at the back of Sacre Coeur is actually standing on... a DRAGON.

Just a bit of the Butte

The bell tower of Sacre Coeur overlooks a street that looks as if you stepped back in time about 200 years. That is...if you can overlook all the souvenir shops that have popped up. Pfft!

Moulin

Moulin de la Galette on an October evening, Montmartre, 2009

Did you know Paris still has windmills? There are two in Montmartre and this one now tops a restaurant. Haven't eaten there so can't give you a review... anyone else ever been there?

Blue

Antique seltzer bottles, antiques brocante at Bastille, 2009

Griping about la Grippe

I've been on the prowl for the perfect Buddha statue for many years now. (Note: I'm not a Buddhist. I just feel calm and peaceful when I see a Buddha.) There are so many different representations of the Buddha, but the one I have been searching for is like the one in the Japanese Gardens in San Francisco, which I've always liked... the very picture of serenity. While I still haven't found one exactly like that one that "felt just right", THIS wood-carved Buddha with his paint peeling but looking so zen, discovered at the big antiques brocante at Bastille, was one I liked better than any I've seen before. The only reason I didn't buy it? Over 1,000€. 

I've been trying to be zen about having the flu for the past 3 days. I'm lucky; it's been a mild case. Low-grade fever that comes and goes, just enough to keep me sweating and chilly and a bit achy; not much appetite for certain foods; symptoms mainly under control with a good cough syrup and some OTC meds from the USA that I keep on hand; very tired and wanting to sleep a lot. But this was no where near as bad as the last time I remember having a really horrible flu, and that was more than 20 years ago. Then, I was single and sharing an apartment with my best friend, and I just remember being sick as a dog, even vomiting and feeling like it would never end.

This time, I had my husband around to care for me and about me, and other things fell into place (appointments getting reshuffled by others) to give me the space to just rest and let my body heal itself). I've tried to stay away from all the kids, hoping it won't "catch on" to anyone else. Fingers crossed that Georges won't end up with it; he refuses to let me sleep in another room when I'm sick.

So in reality... I'm not really griping much about la grippe this year. It could truly be much worse, and it's not. By tomorrow I ought to be in much better shape.

A Night at the Opera

The Opéra Garnier is one of the most beautiful buildings in Paris, be it night or day. And this is just the front of the exterior. I have not yet taken a tour of the interior, but have heard it's beautiful. Here, I was just waiting for my bus and couldn't resist a quick snap of it, all lit up and glowing. It's the kind of thing I sure wouldn't see out in "cow suburbia" where I came from (i.e. Northwest Jersey).

Hall of Mirrors: a Self-Portrait

It was so cold on Monday that I decided to wait in the entry foyer for my young English student, instead of out on the sidewalk comme d'habitude. And that's when I noticed that cool mirror effect. Not the best photo (can only do so much with a cell phone cam) but still interesting.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure I have a mild case of the freaking flu. Like I needed another reason to procrastinate about writing.

Shop windows

One of my favorite things to do when taking walks around little Parisian neighborhoods is to look in shop windows. You see all sorts of things...

both the beautiful...

... and the bizaare.

 

Is it wrong of me to admit... I kind of loved this chair? And that if I had a less contemporary home with a room all my own that I could do up as a writer's office/private retreat, I could picture this chair in it as a comfy place to curl up with a good book?

On the other hand, I think there's a reason all this store's silver and gilt-painted furniture was half off!

... and More Chez Rodin

Since you all seemed to enjoy the photos from the Musée Rodin, I thought I'd share a few others with you.

The Burgers of Calais, a very well-known Rodin piece. 

I'm not sure what this one was called, but I just thought it was evidence of Rodin's brilliant ability to capture the human form.

I liked how this one (entitled?) looked with the light coming through the nearby window.

Yet another piece where I never bothered to note the name, but it has always fascinated me. Rodin is more known for his sculptures of the human form than for things like this. Perhaps it was something he did on a commission for an architect or something?

The Secret... see what I mean about his brilliance and attention to detail?

Because I know some of you probably know these works, feel free to fill in the blanks in my information! I'd especially like details of that spiral building sculpture if anyone knows about it.

Chez Rodin

Sunday, we spent the afternoon at the Musée Rodin, which is located in the actual home of Auguste Rodin and which has its original gardens intact. Many of the larger bronze sculptures are scattered throughout the gardens. You can even visit just the gardens, or have lunch in the outdoor café, by paying only 1 euro.

We took the Little Guy with us, and it's not a bad place to take children because the museum itself isn't very big or overwhelming, sculptures are 3-dimensional and often more interesting for kids than paintings, and they they can run around out in the gardens as well. We thought we'd get in for free as part of the "Patrimony Days" where the majority of museums and attractions offer free admission, but wouldn't you know this was one of the ones that wasn't "participating". Still worth it though; this is one of my favorite museums in Paris.

Of course,  you can't miss "The Thinker", it's virtually the first thing you see as you enter the gardens. It's also #1 on the garden sculpture map; we gave the Little Guy the job of finding each sculpture in order so it was a bit like a treasure hunt for him (another way to keep it interesting for an 8-year-old).

Here's the front of the mansion (it's not a chateau but it's not a regular "house", either), with the Eglise Saint Louis as its neighbor at Les Invalides. Napoleon's buried under the dome.

Each time I come to Chez Rodin, I seem to notice sculptures I hadn't before. This time, it was this small marble and bronze piece called "The Wave" by Camille Claudel, Rodin's muse, sometime-lover and a brilliant artist in her own right. I like that they exhibit some of her works here as well.

This was another piece I noticed for the first time, although I found it a bit terrifying to look at. But notice how her hair flows out around her and into the stone. 

The gardens as seen from an open second-floor window in the museum. Sculptures can be found among the trees, and there are benches everywhere so you can relax and contemplate. Or do what we did: bring a small snack for afternoon gouter! (No picnicking on the grass, though!)

Musée Rodin, rue de Varenne, 75007 Paris. Métro Varennes, ligne 13.

Tour Saint-Jacques

This is not the best photo you'll ever see of the beautiful Tour Saint-Jacques near Chatelet, but I couldn't resist taking a quick snap with the old cell-phone-cam when I walked by today. Up until just a few months ago, it was shrouded in scaffolding and tarps for most of the past couple of years as the city cleaned the tower, and now it positively glows in the afternoon sunlight. I promise to go back there with my Nikon one of these days and do it justice.

The Tour stands alone in a park, but it was once part of a church erected by the area butchers (who had a lot of money, as butchers tend to do!) The church became a casualty of the Revolution, demolished in 1797 but at least they left this gorgeous tower alone. Nicholas Flamel was reportedly buried under the floor, unless of course you believe the rumors that he DID create a philosopher's stone and still lives today. Flamel must be France's version of Elvis.