The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Jongleuse

Allow me to introduce myself. Je m'appelle la Jongleuse. Juggle. Juggle. Juggle. All day long, I'm trying to keep those balls in the air, just like a lot of other women and a fair number of men, too. I will spare you the gory details of just what and how much I am trying to juggle because it will tempt us both to draw comparisons (the "Oh, you think YOU have it bad; you should see MY life!" kind of thing), and I don't think that's fair to anyone as it would be like comparing juggling apples and oranges. Instead, I want to talk about how I am really, REALLY struggling right now with the juggling act. I've always thought of myself as a pretty successful juggler, although not in the literal sense; if I tried to juggle raw eggs they'd end up smashed on the floor during the first rotation. But in life, I mean, I always have had to juggle things like multiple work responsibilities, clients and projects, and I was always damn good at it. I was always known as the kind of person who could be relied upon to get it done, and get it done... Read more →

Four Years and Counting

Today, the Bold Soul is 4 years old! It is hard to get my brain wrapped around that: I've been writing and producing this blog for FOUR YEARS. And that in doing so, I managed to achieve and even exceed my wildest dreams. When I started, it was more as an exercise in writing more regularly and also to explore just what, exactly, this blogging stuff was all about, as I had a few friends who were less technically trained than I who had already jumped into the blogosphere with both feet. I felt I might be left behind if I didn't check it out, and so began my first blog entry. It didn't take long for my blog to find it's true focus and purpose: as a means of keeping me on track toward my goal of moving to Paris. During Year 1 of The Bold Soul, that's what I tried to write about: my desire to move to Paris and why I wanted to do it; what I was doing both physically and emotionally to prepare myself for it; the challenges I was meeting in achieving what I wanted. I wrote about other things going on in my... Read more →

Having nothing whatsoever to do with Paris

I was digging through my archives of photos on a back-up disk and came across this image, taken about 12 or 13 years ago from the balcony of my hotel room, at the Ponte Vedra Resort in Florida. It's cold and there are no palm trees in sight in Paris today, and looking at this photo just warmed me right up. Hope it does the same for you, wherever you may be. Read more →

And then there were none

Saturday night, Georges and I were killing time before seeing "Pink Panther 2" at the Gaumont on the Champs Elysées, so we headed to the Virgin Megastore to browse the book section. We asked an employee where we could find books in English. And were directed HERE. To the place where they apparently keep the ONE English-language book they have in stock. The one I bought ("About a Boy" by Nick Hornby). So much for that. P.S. I am pretty sure the sign actually does say "English", not "Engiish" -- that would have been too good for words -- but I think it's just the angle and lighting. Or maybe they really DID misspell English. Read more →

Sunshine on a rainy day

Because someone loves me, he gave me some sunshine on this rainy Paris day. And now I have an art gallery in my office. Read more →

Marché

It is Sunday morning. We have had the luxury of waking up when we felt like it, instead of when the child/alarm clock/compulsive over-eater cat decides we ought to wake up. We have had a nice relaxing breakfast and coffee. I look at the clock and see it is nearly 11am. I decide to take a walk to the nearest big marché because we're nearly out of edible fruit (I think the clementine season is over because these latest ones didn't last long at all), and everyone in this household (except the cat) loves fruit. It's only a short walk to the marché. A street market is a common institution in towns and villages throughout France, and even in big cities. Most neighborhoods in Paris have a street market that comes two or even three times a week. It's wonderful because as city dwellers, we would not necessarily have access to as wide a variety of produce without these roving markets coming to us every week. (As in the U.S., the big supermarkets don't always have the best quality.) When I lived in the 15th, we also had one that came on Sundays (as well as Tuesdays and Fridays), which... Read more →

Bold Soul e-Store Updates

The Bold Soul e-Store, courtesy of CafePress.com, has been updated! I've added some new products with new images, changed a few images and reduced prices on a few things as well. Here's a peek at some of what's new: Check out the new goodies at the eStore here, or click the image at the right. Enjoy! Read more →

Nous

I have long been a devoted reader of Dooce.com and today she posted a rather nice meme where she had to write about her marriage and her husband. As I read along, I found myself mentally answering the same questions about Georges and our relationship. Then I decided to share it with the whole class. Hopefully he will forgive me later. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * What are your middle names? Mine is Jeanne. He's got two middle names, which is a common practice in France: Pierre Stephane. I particularly like "Stephane". How long have you been together? Forever... is how it feels. In reality, one year, four months, and ten days. Married for six months and one week of that. How long did you know each other before you started dating? About 5 seconds. OK a little longer than that -- but not much. We first "met" on Meetic.fr on October 4th, a Thursday, where we chatted online for a few hours. We chatted again the next evening. That weekend we chatted a couple of times and it was on that Saturday, I think, that he asked if I'd... Read more →

Hope in a flowerpot

As seen from my kitchen window, spring comes to Paris in flowerpots and window boxes: But I don't care... I'll take spring on any basis. Seeing these sweet little flowers blooming gives me hope... that perhaps other things will be blooming soon, too. Read more →

Diary of a French Feline

Oh, la la! Well, it finally happened. Despite our trying to keep it on the down-low around the house, Clachat got wind of our (apparently unsuccessful) plans to "outsource" her to another family... and now she's biting fighting back. Clachat now has her own blog -- Diary of a French Feline! She has informed me (by way of her agent and attorney -- she now refuses to speak to us directly about anything other than food) that she is ready and willing to tell her side of the story in her blog, and she won't hold anything back. (Dear God, I hope she's not going to talk about how we look in our underwear.) But really... can you trust a cat? She also says the blog will be a venue for her to discuss her views on a variety of subjects such as the superiority of the French culture, Americans (and why she tolerates them), fashion and a cat's eye view of Paris. And whatever else strikes her feline fancy. It's her blog, she's calling the shots. Read and subscribe at your own risk. Remember, she bites -- HARD! Read more →