The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more

Regular readers of this blog know that I normally don't "do" politics here, and for two reasons (other than that this just isn't a blog about politics): (1) I don't follow politics closely enough, most of the time, to have a strong enough opinion I'm willing to go public with -- normally -- and (2) politicians give me an acid stomach, and since the last thing I need is an ulcer I try to think about politics as little as possible. That doesn't mean, however, that I don't pay attention to what is going on in my own country. Or that I don't have an opinion, such as it may be. Or that I don't CARE. I care. A lot. And right now I'm about as disgusted with my own government as I have ever been in my life. And it doesn't make me anti-American to say that; in fact, it's because I am an American that I have the right, the OBLIGATION, to speak out about my government when I think they've messed up, and whoa, have they messed up. Although I don't think this particular bailout plan was the right one (though I do think the government probably... Read more →

Marseilles is for lovers

Taken at the harbor in Marseilles. We took the train in for the day to visit friends who live just outside the city, and what glorious weather we had, as you can see. Read more →

It's all the rage in France this year...

Spotted in a shop window in downtown Marseilles last month, these very chic and typically skinny French mannequins were kind enough to model the very latest in sacs en plastique for the new collection. Just consider this my ode to Fashion Week... Read more →

The pix are here!

By the way, I finally got around to setting up a complete Flickr group with our wedding pix. Still adding the ones from the recent Paris party, but you can go take a peek here to see what's already available, then check back at a future date for any new additions. Read more →

Huh???

While having a picnic at the beach, my sister-in-law brought out some handy packets of mustard and mayonnaise for our sandwiches... and THIS caught my eye. WHY a brand of mayonnaise would have "Lisa" and "Fun" on it, along with a feminized pack of frites in a sexy outfit on a swing, I have NO idea. And frankly, I don't even want to really "go there". This is just one of those little French mysteries that I will most likely never solve. Read more →

Mon pêcheur

Our vacation was a chance for me to experience some things I'd never done before. One of them was fishing... can you believe I have never once in my life gone fishing? Georges' sister loves to fish and has all the equipment, so here Georges is setting up our fishing poles with the right hooks, etc. Unfortunately neither I nor Georges caught a single fish, so my first attempt was unproductive and a little frustrating for me. C'est la vie, eh? Better luck next time. His sister did catch one interesting-looking little fish (I have no idea what it was called) and she had a lot of fun talking to some British boys who were fishing at the same spot. I think one of the pleasures of fishing must be talking with other pêcheurs, asking if they've had any luck yet, checking out the catch of the day, and perhaps talking about the one that got away. Read more →

Good things come in small packages

Last night, I came home from spending the afternoon with a friend who was visiting from New York to discover that Georges had broken his glasses. His ONLY pair of glasses. They broke at the bridge in a way where taping the two halves together wouldn't work. He also tried to solder them... also didn't work (must require a special type of solder or something). So he tried the only thing left: Crazy Glue. As of this morning the glue seemed to be holding, but since he has a big meeting and presentation to do this afternoon, he opted not to wear them around the house or even on his way to work so as to be able to save them for work when he really needs them. Which presents a few logistical problems, him being sans lunettes, as he is short-sighted and therefore requires glasses to be able to see anything beyond a few inches away from his face. He is planning to try and find an eyeglass store near his office this morning where he can hopefully get the glasses professionally repaired well enough that they will last until he can get an appointment with an eye doctor... Read more →

Red rocks

Now that the weather in Paris has started to be it's usual dismal autumn grey, I'm happy to rediscover and share some photos from our lovely August holiday in the sunny South. The color and formation of these red rocks along the coast were just fascinating to me. Read more →

'Til the clouds roll by

One of our favorite beach spots near Saint Raphael... where our beach day was cut short by these black storm clouds. Which of course, later proved to be NOTHING, although they looked rather ominous at the time. Read more →

Ensemble

I finally got my vacation photos out of the camera. And this is something you don't see every day in France... well, not since the 1940s. One day on the way home from a beach picnic, we passed a rather moving sight: American and French forces together to celebrate the Americans landing on this beach at le Cap Dramont on August 15, 1944. About 20,000 American troops landed here in that operation. It was, I believe, the first Allied landing in this part of France during the liberation. The road going past it has been renamed Boulevard de la 36ème Division du Texas! Unfortunately dark black clouds and rain were causing the celebration to end prematurely, or we'd have stuck around longer to check things out. Still, it was worth stopping for a quick photo or two, and nice to see our two flags together. Read more →