The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

View from the back of a lonnnggg bus

The 95 bus. This line being a popular north-south line going right to the Louvre, it's one of those double-length buses with an accordion-pleated "hinge" in the middle (which children giggle madly over when they stand on it). You'd think what with the super-narrow old Paris streets, a bus like this wouldn't be able to navigate, but it can. Then again, the French specialize in engineering. Read more →

More on The Direct Approach

For those that enjoyed my post on the direct approach to dating in Paris, I wrote an expanded version of that incident for Bonjour Paris recently. A recent night out found me at Carr's (a real Irish pub in the 1ème, owned by a real Irishman) with a group of international ex-pats. I struck up a conversation with a personable American guy whom I'll call Bill (not his real name) in which we were discussing the challenges of being self-employed writers, which we both happened to be, and attaining residency status in France. Bill has been in Paris about 3 years and has a freelance writing niche that’s kept him pretty busy, but it was only about 6 months ago he decided that he definitely wants to stay here in France. Since then, he’s been racking his brains to figure out how to do this legally. He's been trying to look for a full-time job of some kind, but this is next to impossible particularly if you don't already have working papers (which you can't get unless you have the promise of a job). As we were running through the options available to freelancers like us, I offered: "Well, there's... Read more →

Support Your Local Mairie

In France, the "mairie" is the town hall, the place where the city administration works and functions. Sometimes also known as the "hotel de ville", in Paris there is actually more than one such place. There is the main "Hotel de Ville" (Aimee just posted this great photo of it) where the mayor of all Paris lives and works, and it's a stunning building right on the Seine. Frequently, the city sets up fun attractions right in front of the building, and right now there's a big ice rink there; last summer there were some volleyball courts set up, with sand and everything. But Paris being a very big place, with twenty "arrondissements" or districts, there is the need to decentralize some of the administrative functions. This is where the local mairies come in. Each arrondissment has it's own mairie and it's own "mayor" as well, and if you have any bureaucratic red tape to deal with, that's the place you go if you live in that arrondissment. I had my first visit to the mairie in the 15th today. I had two missions: (1) get a list of official French-English translators so I can find one who will translate... Read more →

How can I be expected to get any work done

... with all the distractions in this place? OK, first of all, I spent the weekend doing a walking tour of the neighborhoods around Jardin de Luxembourg, Saint Sulpice and Saint German-des-Pres on Saturday, and on Sunday back up to the 6th to see "The Apartment" at a Billy Wilder film festival (OK, so I thought they were screening "Sabrina" but I read the dates wrong in "L'Officiel"). Then today I spent a fair amount of time making plans to meet people later in the week: 1) Meeting AussieLass and KylieMac for lunch tomorrow as they have honored me with a request I can't talk about yet but which you will hear more about in the next few weeks. Plus it is fun to meet other Paris ex-pat bloggers so I can't wait to meet them! 2) Thursday my friend Lisa arrives from the States. Although she's not bunking with me because I have another friend arriving Saturday for 9 days, Lisa will be arriving very early on Thursday because of her flight times, and will be camping out here for the early part of the day until she can get into her hotel. She can shower and take a... Read more →

Donkey in the middle

Sunday in the Jardins de Luxembourg, there were all these adorable ponies and pony carts for the little ones (oh, to be 4 years old again when a pony ride was the most exciting thing in your day!). And there, in the middle, was this adorable little donkey right in the middle of the group. I wonder if he knows he's a bit... different? Do the ponies taunt and harrass him, or are they taught "donkey tolerance"? Do the children like to ride on him, or do they shun him in favor of the pretty blond ponies with their long Anna Kournikova tresses? He looks kind of happy and rather proud to me, almost like he's smiling an "I've got a secret" smile. Read more →

Pious Petits

At Saint Sulpice, these little boys put their donation in the box and were lighting candles. Were they really praying? Or just attracted to an open flame like most little boys? Read more →

I've often wondered...

... how people move big bulky objects -- like pianos, and those giant French armoires we're all so fond of finding in antique stores -- into these Parisian buildings with miniscule (or no) elevators and narrow winding staircases. Now I know the answer: Professional movers with a special lift hoisted these boxes into this 7th floor window with ease. So easy, in fact, that the guys on the ground basically sat around talking and cleaning their fingernails in between taking things off the truck and putting them on the lift. Their buddies upstairs had a similarly easy job. And no one got a hernia trying to get the family baby grand up into the new flat. Read more →

Chim Chim-i-nee Chim-Chim Cher-oo

Vote your (blog) conscience

Although I didn't make the short list of bloggers on the official ballot (but thanks to those of you who nominated me... there's always next year, eh?) nor did some of my other favorite bloggers make the cut (was it something we said?), it's time to cast your vote for your favorite blogs: Some of my personal favorites are, of course, Dooce.com and The Dilbert Blog -- but pick who YOU like best. Don't let me influence you. Even though I might be persuaded to offer cash incentives. Read more →

On the street where I live

View from my window at the wide range of architectural styles and elements on this tiny private street. Just shows what's possible when you have the money to own an entire building in Paris. Read more →