The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Stained Glass, Sore Legs, Red Roses, and Lip Balm

Or... "How I Spent My Weekend". This will be a quick post with a longer one to follow but I'm too keyed up to go to sleep just yet (it's actually 12:35 am on Monday night). I had the MOST fantastic weekend! The stained glass and sore legs are because yesterday I spent the entire day visiting Chartres. I walked all over the town, which is just charming and delightful with many of the old medieval buildings still intact. I visited the famous cathedral and it's as magnificent as I had always heard. And the sore legs are because first I climbed over 400 stone steps to the top of the north bell tower (the taller and more ornate of the two mis-matched towers, which I now call "Who Needs a Stairmaster?"), followed by a very hilly hike around the rest of the town. I also visited two other magnificent churches and took over 100 photos which I will post on Flickr (I'm way behind on my photo postings!) I'll elaborate much more about Chartres during the coming week; there's lots to describe and talk about but suffice to say it was SO worth doing. The red roses and lip... Read more →

Alive

Wow, how did THAT happen? I haven't posted since last Sunday? Incroyable! I haven't been MIA for any particular reason... the week has just gotten away from me I guess. So here's a little update from my corner of the world: Monday: lunch with Petite Anglaise over in the Marais. I've wanted to meet her for some time and we finally got around to it, and had a delightful time sitting in the sunshine talking about books (writing them, not reading them), blogging (and how it's great for creating a social life in a strange city) and boys (where to find the good ones). Any time I meet a friend for lunch it ends up being an all-day outing for me, by the time I get ready, get myself across town to wherever we're meeting up, and enjoy the usual leisurely French long lunch. Afterward I usually end up finding something that catches my eye and prevents me from making an immediate return home where I am supposed to be working; on this day it was a vaisselle shop -- a place with all kinds of great, cute and cheap dishes and kitchen doo-dads. I bought a set of espresso... Read more →

Livin' the Dream

It's been a long while since I posted something for Sunday Scribblings, mostly because I've been busy settling into life here in Paris and all that goes with doing that. Oh, yeah, and meeting a very nice Australian man. But when I saw the prompt this week, "Dream Journey", I couldn't NOT write something. Because I'm already on my dream journey... and how totally cool is THAT?! Yesterday, I went to a "salon" with two of my blog pals, where we got to taste food and drink from all over France -- for FREE. For three hours, we sipped wines, armagnacs, cognacs, and God knows what else. We tasted fois gras, confitures (jams), breads, cheeses, cakes, chocolates, and sweets. It's the kind of thing that could only be done well in France where food and drink are practically a religion. Fun, fun, fun! [Listen to Episode 27 where K&K podcast all about what we saw and did.] And today, earlier this evening, I was sitting in a little Left Bank café, having just finished a soupe à l'oignon and a salade verte. I was looking through the book I bought that afternoon at the Cluny Museum, now called the Musée... Read more →

Homeward bound

Last night, I finally got around to booking my airline tickets back to NJ for a brief visit home. I had been planning to make a trip home in early April, even though it feels like I just GOT here to Paris again, for several reasons: Prepare and file my U.S. and state income taxes. Lord knows I don't want the IRS trying to extradite me back to the States for income tax evasion; that would NOT be good! For all intents and purposes I am supposed to leave France within 90 days before I can come back again. To help my family members, especially my 94-year-old grandmother, ease into this transition of me being physically absent for long periods of time. Personally, I haven't been what you could call homesick at all. I didn't really expect to be homesick, either; I'm just not that kind of person. Even when I went away to camp as a kid, I never got homesick. In my mind and in my heart, I carry my loved ones with me wherever I go. Since I believe that on a spiritual and energetic level, we are all ONE anyway, I don't feel truly separated from... Read more →

Through rose colored glass

Rose, green, and amber-tinted leaded glass window, Musée Carnavalet jardin. Read more →

Treasure

Just one of dozens of shiny, jewel-encrusted artifacts in the treasury at Notre Dame cathedral. You can view these treasures for just 3 euro. And yes, those are diamonds. Lots and lots of diamonds. Read more →

Connecting

One of my recent photos from the Musée Rodin, rendered through a filter that makes it look like a painting. Read more →

Head over heart

Common sense wins the day... The Wizard and I, both still dealing with the remants of the colds we've had this week, have mutually decided to be sensible and raincheck our date for next week, after his business trip. No dinner date tonight after all. I probably could have gone to dinner but I wouldn't have been at my best, considering I still need a fair amount of Kleenex around. And a fourth date is much to early to let someone new see you when you're not at your relative best. It's been three pajama days in a row for me here... sleeping a lot (it's the antihistamines; I can't take the non-drowsy types of cold meds) and hair uncombed. Much as I'd like to see The Wizard again, it's kind of a relief to know I don't have to run around today to make myself look and feel better than I actually do. Perhaps that's all part of dating in your 40s... you're more willing to give reality a place in the equation, instead of trying desperately to make yourself something you're not. And today, I'm not feeling particularly datable. So, I will focus some attention on my work... Read more →

Rain-date

The Wizard and I have mutually agreed to take a rain-check on our date for tonight as we both seem to have caught colds. Now, I wonder how THAT happened? If we're both up to it, we'll see each other Thursday; then he leaves for a week of business in sunny and balmy (insert mild sarcasm here) Montreal, where he is also hoping to get in some skiing. So the last thing he needs is a cold to foul up the trip. I do feel the tiniest bit guilty for giving him the cold in the first place because I'm sure it was me. But it was worth it. I think he'd say the same. Read more →

Warming up

The weather in Paris continues to be delightfully mild, if a bit unpredictable. In any given day, the weather can change radically from morning to afternoon, from hour to hour, and even from one arrondissement to another. I've taken to carrying a small pocket umbrella everywhere I go because I never know what to expect when I leave the metro. Some of the trees are getting a haze of green buds or even small pink or white flowers. Daffodils and crocuses and hyacinths are a big-selling item at every Parisian florist. It's definitely warming up, and it feels great to wear a light-weight jacket instead of a heavy winter coat. My snow boots, which arrived in my boxes just the other day, are clearly going to go unused this season. There's one more thing in Paris that's warming up. A lot. There was a third date last night. He continues to impress me as being a very genuine person; in other words, what you see seems to be exactly what you get, and I like that in a person. We seem to have plenty to talk about, and the conversations are getting a little more personal as we discover new... Read more →