The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

If I could help you accomplish it, what would "it" be?

Like most creative/entrepreneurial types, my head is constantly filled with ideas of what I might create next. And likewise, I often have trouble choosing which one(s) to focus on actually DOING, because there are too many cool things to choose from. So, I need to narrow down the field of possibilities a bit. Here's where YOU may be able to help me, if you'd like to. If I were YOUR personal life coach, if you decided to hire me to support you in accomplishing something truly bold or meaningful in your life, what would it be? I'd really like to know, because knowing where the need is will help me decide where best to apply my creative energies. It could be something in one area of your life, or more than one. Do you want to create a business as an additional income source or because you want to leave your dead-end job? Do you want to take your current business to a 6 or 7-figure success? Do you dream of exploring an exciting new career, something you've always wanted to do? Do you want to live somewhere very different? Do you want to attract a wonderful partner into your... Read more →

Parisian Randomness

I was purging photos from my cell phone's memory card and found a few interesting images, just random things I've seen around Paris. She's not The Thinker, but maybe his sister? These don't look especially comfortable but I'd have to admire any woman who could carry them off without tripping over a cobblestone. A hurdy-gurdy man in the Buttes aux Cailles. Hmm... this theatre poster caught my attention. I wonder why? No, I did not attend the performance. Yes, this is a real CAR, which I spotted driving next to the bus I was taking one day. That is one trippy custom paint job. You just never know what you might see in Paris when you step outside your door. Read more →

Garlic breath as vacation souvenir

Three of the many reasons we came back from our summer holidays with a raging case of garlic breath: Escargots, which even cooked in a wine cream sauce still had the garlic. These were mine... and totally delicious. Gambas (jumbo shrimp) provençale and a tomate farci... more garlic. And last but not least... FROG LEGS. These were Georges' but I finally got up the nerve to taste one. Not bad and I suppose they do taste a bit like chicken, although I probably wouldn't go out of my way to order them because I'm not big on having to nibble around bones; another reason why I never went in for those "all you can eat buffalo wings" deals at American bar happy hours. What I don't have photos of was the garlicky dishes we ate at home. I don't think a day went by without some garlic on the menu. I was indoctrinated into more authentic Provençal cooking with a fish soup (made from the fish caught personally by Georges, the Little Guy and our friend in Marseilles); an aioli (which is a huge assortment of fish and cooked vegetables that as near as I can tell, are just an... Read more →

Quick, get a pencil!

OK, want to ramp up your life fast? Ready to break through the obstacles to reaching your bold life dream? Grab a pencil and something to write on, and answer the following question, and do it FAST without stopping to analyze it. Just write down the first thing that comes to mind: "What is ONE thing I could do, ONE action I could take, within the next 10 days, that would RADICALLY move me closer to achieving what I really want in my life right now?" Did you write it down? Good. Now... GO AND DO IT. And NO EXCUSES about why you "can't" or "it's not the right time" or whatever you're telling yourself about why it can't happen. The excuses? They're crap. And they're not going to get you closer to the life you want. You managed to think up ONE radical thing you could do, and you thought it up pretty fast, so obviously on some level you KNOW you can at least do that ONE thing. Success is just a series of doing ONE THING AT A TIME until you get where you're going. So do it. And then you can feel proud of having gotten... Read more →

Shopped 'til we dropped

Preparing one small boy for the first day of school has been an experience -- a good one -- but I am still reeling from how much stuff is required for just this ONE child. Between him outgrowing certain things and needing to restock nearly all his school supplies, the list seems to go on and on. We've already hit two three four stores and the fun isn't over yet. To date, our haul has included (and I'm sure I'm leaving things out): 2 jeans/pants 2 cotton knit shirts with long sleeves 2 turtlenecks 1 raincoat with a hood (his name already written in it, in indelible ink, because he lost several coats or jackets last year at school) 1 fall/winter pajama 3 culottes (underpants) 6 pairs of socks 1 pair of Reeboks Pens, regular Pens, colored ink Pencils, regular Pencils, colored An agenda (where he has to write his homework assignments) Glue sticks Erasers Ruler Scissors (old ones were too covered with glue from last year's art projects) Wipe-off slate Tablet of paper (for whatever) A wastebasket for his room About the only things he didn't want or need were a lunch box (he'll eat a hot meal at... Read more →

Rentrée, Day 2

Still in rentrée mode here, but today was a lot better. Georges went in late to work so he could spend time with his Little Guy while I went to my bank and ran a couple of shopping errands without having to drag the LG with me. He's a really good kid but there's only so much an almost-8-year-old will put up with, and I knew I'd have to take him with me to my doctor checkup this afternoon. Got more laundry done but still not all of it. I'm only human, as I keep reminding myself when I look around my house and sigh. No sign of that blasted mouse, dead or alive. I'd prefer dead, and if you want to call out the animal rights activists on me, go right ahead... it's a RODENT, people. They outnumber us as it is. Doc appointment went well but he, being a responsible doctor and all that, wants me to go and get a basic fasting bloodwork done since it's been more than 2 years, and I would almost rather eat Clachat's cat food than have blood drawn, but I'll be a grownup about it and get it done... in a... Read more →

The Rentrée Blues

I've got a case of the rentrée blues. This is a bit less severe than the crushing jet lag currently being experienced by a number of my ex-pat friends who have recently rentrée-d to France after their long holidays back on home soil... but I feel nearly as exhausted as if I HAD spent 8 or 10 hours on an airplane. Here's how this first day back shaped up: Got up at 8am with Georges, because he should not have to face his first day back at his office without at least a cup of coffee and slice of toast... which was all there was in the house to eat anyway. Little Guy, bless his little tanned self, was sitting quietly on the canapé catching up with some of his favorite books he hasn't seen since June. (Never mind that he came home with a whole new collection of books from our vacation.) Got myself into some clothes and my hair combed out, ran the dishwasher (which someone had thoughtfully left about half-full of dishes to which I added breakfast dishes) and together with the Little Guy, we braved the local supermarket on a Monday morning. Which is the worst... Read more →

Because no vacation is 100% perfect

We've had three weeks of vacation. Three nearly perfect weeks. Three weeks of sunshine and blue skies; not one drop of rain or a single dark cloud, although with the recent heat wave we might have welcomed a good storm to blow the heat away. Three weeks of warm, azure-blue and green Mediterranean waters to swim in. Three weeks of time with family where everyone was in good health. Three weeks of my "initiation" into becoming a Provençal as well as a Parisienne, with pastis in the evenings and all sorts of Provençal dishes to eat (and so much garlic, I fear the lingering after-effects will last a long time. My apologies to the people of Paris who will have to sit near me on the bus or metro next week.) Three weeks of sand castles, fireworks (really excellent), outdoor concerts, crepes, and endless other small but lovely memories to take home with us. Now here is why I said it was a NEARLY perfect vacation. With one more full day plus a half-day to go, it was only fitting that TODAY would be the day the battery on the car (my sister-in-law's) would be stone dead when we tried... Read more →

Zoo

Come and take a little walk through the Fréjus Zoological Park. It's sort of a tradition for us to visit the animals when we're in Saint Raphael. Although we now only have two days left of our holiday, we went to the zoo the first week. I called this trio of lovely ladies "The Andrews Sisters". Don't ask me why; I didn't hear them sing a note, but don't you see a resemblance? This "little" fella was so cute and loved the special cookies we bought for feeding the animals (you're not allowed to give the animals any of your own food but they sell bags of these biscuits). I kind of felt bad for him, all alone in his pen. Elephants need companionship, just like people. But he looked healthy enough, as did all the animals in this zoo. Apparently the zoo has a good reputation in that respect; they take good care of the animals. This llama was happy to smile for the camera, but he's got one serious underbite. Do they have orthodontists for llamas? This handsome hippo had the coolest spot in the zoo. We ate our picnic lunch in the park, in the shade of... Read more →

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