The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Mid-week mood-lifter

There is nothing like a very impromptu lunch date with the one you love to immediately lift your mood and warm your heart on a cold November day in Paris. After a brief 11am phone call with a client in London, I realized that as my 3pm client from Toronto had emailed me overnight to ask to cancel and reschedule our meeting, I had the afternoon virtually free! The ready enthusiasm with which my IM to Georges -- "Are you perhaps free for lunch today? I could meet you at the statue at Place de la Sorbonne by about 12h30" -- was greeted was enough to put me in the proper festive frame of mind and had me positively floating to the bus stop. Seven weeks into our LONG (ha!) relationship, my heart continues to skip a beat each time I see him again after even a brief absence. I could say that it is knowing of our pending long separation that is heightening our craving to spend time together -- and perhaps that is a small part of it, and we are booking every moment together that we can manage to compensate for the time apart -- but the... Read more →

A Red, White and Rather Blue Christmas

Now that the Thanksgiving weekend is behind me (I may be in Paris but I still function, to some degree, on an American calendar and worked "light" on Thursday-Friday last week), I am suddenly very aware that the clock is ticking and I am now in pre-holiday crunch mode. I leave for the States on December 13th. I am happy to be going home for a visit but the prep this year is going to be rough. Time to get my act together, ass in gear, ducks in a row, and whatever other clichéed metaphors you'd care to substitute, because I have a lot of stuff to do and not a lot of time in which to do it! Last week I began my "Things To Buy To Bring Back To Paris" list; I carry my Moleskine around (what writer in Paris would be caught without one?) and add to it as new things occur to me. This includes not only certain products I can't get here and can't live without (I admit, the longer I am here, the shorter this list is getting but a girl has to have SOME standards!), but now will include a few special items... Read more →

Trop

Too much this weekend. I am happily tired, but tired nonetheless. And I feel like I will never need to eat or drink again (yeah... right). Too much sangria on Saturday at Thanksgiving dinner at my landlords' place. Too much turkey and trimmings, a very good meal with nice people. Too much wine with turkey and trimmings. Too much effort to tune into the predominantly French conversation at dinner, even though 60% of the attendees were American. Too much cheese. Too much pie. Too much insomnia after turkey dinner, which is strange considering turkey, sangria and wine should have knocked me right out. Too much fun Sunday having friends over for lunch, with champagne (thank you, friends!), wine, and more cheese. And dessert. The only thing I never seem to have too much of, is time with Georges. There is no such thing as "too much" Georges. Read more →

Misspent Youth

It has been far too long since I participated in a Sunday Scribblings prompt, but this week's topic seemed to spark some inspiration. As a young child, I was a "dream kid" for my parents... easy and cooperative most of the time, and the kind of little girl other parents loved, too, because not only was I a "nice girl" (which is what little girls in the 1960s were raised to be) but I was a child who would talk to adults and was comfortable doing so. Entering the teen years, I'd say I was pretty typical. I did my fair share of rebelling against my mother's need to try and control me (as I saw it, anyway), cut school sometimes and did a little under-age drinking. Oddly enough, I don't consider any of that time as "misspent", and while I wouldn't brag about those escapades to my nieces and nephews, I have many fond memories of those teen years -- even the things that probably drove my poor mother to distraction and made her wonder if I would EVER "grow up" and make something of myself. There is one way, however, I believe that I misspent my time growing... Read more →

The storm before the calm

WARNING: this post is just an excuse to bitch and moan. If you're not in the mood for that today, it's OK if you just decide to move on. I don't blame you. This morning, the transit workers are pretty much back to work 100% although officially I don't think the strike is quite "over" and some negotiations are still in progress. I took a metro across town this morning followed by a bus, and really it was very nearly completely normal for rush hour, perhaps just a little more crowded on the metro than usual. But much better, and thank you very much to the workers who voted to return to their jobs. Last night was a whole other story, and this is where the bitching and moaning comes in. It took me 2 HOURS AND 20 MINUTES to get from my place to Georges' house, on the same route where it took me only about 35-40 minutes this morning. What the hell! (And Yes, I realize this kind of goes against the "I'm so grateful" theme I wrote about yesterday. But sometimes annoying things happen even when you are busy being thankful, and you just have to blow... Read more →

I am so grateful, I need a new word for grateful

This is my second year in a row of missing a Thanksgiving dinner with my family back in New Jersey. I will miss being with all of them, of course, but I have the consolation of knowing I'll be there in mid-December for over two weeks of holiday fun. And I will get the yummy goodness of an authentic turkey dinner on Saturday at the apartment of my landlords -- I was invited last year and she's just a fantastic cook -- so I won't feel TOO left out of the great eats, at least! Even if it's not the same as hugging my niece and nephew, and laughing until the tears leak from my eyes at the non-stop comedy routine of the men in our extended family. We usually have a damn fine time together at the holidays, and I can't wait until Christmas for the same reason. I am always prompted by this holiday to reflect on what I am grateful for in my life and for the events of the past year. And this year... well, you can imagine, I have more gratitude in my heart than I know what to do with. Not only have I... Read more →

More reasons to love me

I had a client cancel a 2 1/2 hour meeting (GRRRRR!) that was scheduled for 5pm today. Yes, I was a little disgruntled because this client has a track record of doing this, but he's just a super-busy guy and a great client otherwise, AND he's paid me a lot of money already, so what can I do? Not a thing, except reschedule. I became far LESS disgruntled, however, when I realized it freed up my entire afternoon. Hmmm, what to do with all that free time? My first thought was: SHOP. I was dying to get out of the apartment for a few hours and I needed some electronic gadgets, so I got online to find out where the nearest Darty or FNAC stores would be that I could easily get to on a day when transportation options are very iffy. When I realized there were two shops very near Georges' job in the 5th, then it was obvious what I needed to do: invite him for an after-work coffee! He was as enthusiastic about my plan as I was (Reason #1 to love me - I am spontaneous and creative when it comes to finding ways for us... Read more →

La Résistance... to change

Yes, the rail strikes continue here in France... Day 7, and no end in sight -- the government maintains it will talk, but will not back down on the retirement reforms. Every day is a new adventure in creating a plan to get wherever you need to go. In Paris, this usually involves repeated visits to the RATP web site for the latest updates on which trains and buses are running (or not) and how frequently. It it also involves more walking and certainly more waiting than normal, although at least the temperatures are now more mild even though there is rain. And sometimes, it is just too much and you decide to change or cancel your plans and stay home. To add to the chaos, civil servants went on strike today as well in a separate action, although for just the ONE day, and for slightly different reasons but still to protest some proposed Sarkozy reforms that will impact them, and this includes teachers, postal workers, some hospital workers and even air traffic controllers (good luck if you've got a flight in or out of France today). The long and short of it is, most people agree that France... Read more →

Mille feuille

Six weeks. It is no time at all, and yet it feels like forever. One day, you are just going along, minding your own business, doing whatever it is you normally do. You have your morning coffee. You work. You spend time with friends. You shop. You eat. You sleep. Business as usual. Same old, same old. Métro, boulot, dodo. And the next thing you know, you wake up one day six weeks later and realize your entire life has changed and that nothing will ever be quite the same again. You find yourself making plans you never thought you'd make, especially at 46 (or 53) when you'd just about (but not quite) given up on certain ideas of what your life could or should be. At six weeks, it is so "new" that you find yourself still having to "tell the story" to friends you haven't talked to in a long time. They, understandably, are amazed but (if they are true friends) happy for you, happy at this rather unexpected series of fortunate events that are taking place in your life. Yet to you and your amoureux, you feel so well in each other's company, so at home and... Read more →

Not many couples last THIS long

Hopping over the Channel for a moment, let's congratulate Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on their DIAMOND wedding anniversary! Most couples who marry young dream of making it to their 50th, so hearing about a couple being married SIXTY years is really something extraordinary. Of course, longevity has a lot to do with it, too. The anniversary is actually tomorrow but there was a special service at Westminster earlier today. And how nice that they found and invited ten other couples who were married the same day in 1947. They also invited the original choirboys (they're in their 70s now and obviously now sing in much a lower key). My favorite bit of wedding trivia from this CNN article is that then-Princess Elizabeth had to save ration coupons to buy her wedding dress, just like other brides-to-be in post-war England. Many happy returns to the royal couple! Read more →