The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Miscellany before Midnight

In an effort to stay awake until Midnight on New Year's Eve, I've been downloading images off my cell phone. Here's a random sampling, but I'm so tired and incoherent right now that I don't guarantee this post will make one bit of sense. Happy New Year anyway! I loved this beautiful spice rack I saw at a small antiques brocante in Saint Raphael a few days ago. Wasn't convinced it was authentically old but I loved it anyway. Might have bought it if we didn't already have a ton of luggage to take back to Paris on Saturday. Took this with my cell phone but it came out well anyway, considering. Looks warmer than December, doesn't it? I nearly fell over when I saw these tiny, sassy, daffodils blooming in a flower bed... next to some palm trees... in DECEMBER. Some little fishing boats in a small harbor near Cap Dramont. They don't look very sea-worthy to me, but hey, what do I know about boats? Almost time for the 10-second countdown here... Happy New Year, everyone! Read more →

Reassessing the need for New Year's Eve

I was saying to Georges earlier that it's a good thing that I have zero expectations of what a New Year's Eve is supposed to look like. I've been this way for a number of years now, where I really don't care what I do on the Eve. I think it's good to take this attitude because it means that whatever I end up doing, or NOT doing, I'm never disappointed. Of course, I wasn't always this way; there were plenty of New Year's Eves where I felt bad because I was alone or because I had nothing interesting to do. But it's been a long time since I really made a big deal about it, and frankly I'm much happier now. Of course, my New Year's Eves have changed direction in the past few years, just like the rest of my life: Five years ago on New Year's Eve 2005, I was still very single and dying to move to Paris. But I was still many months away from actually doing it. I don't remember what I did that night, but odds are that I was probably eating Chinese food and catching a movie with my mother. Like I'd... Read more →

Weather... or not

Just a few photos to demonstrate the wide range of weather conditions we've experienced down here in Saint Raphael. No snow, but nearly everything else: sun, mistral winds, fog, rainy deluges. It's been most apparent along the beaches where the waves have been alternately rough, and non-existent. First day, freezing cold but lovely sunshine. Georges standing on top of huge mountain of sand dumped by city fathers to prevent complete beach erosion. The spot where he got down on one knee to propose to me is just in the lower right corner. He had to drop a melon (purchased just before at the local market) to do it... that's why we now call this spot "Melon Beach" -- a much better name for it than what the locals redundantly call it: "Sandy Plage". Same approximate spot, two days later. In the interim, there was a pretty good-sized storm with a lot of wind and some massive waves for this beach, which rarely has any waves (not by my standards, anyway). Much of the added sand has already been washed away, and you can see the surf still churning. Just yesterday at Fréjus Plage, on the other side of the small... Read more →

In which I get everything I wanted for Christmas

I must have been a very good girl this year, because it seems I have everything I ever wanted for Christmas. I'm in France, spending Christmas here for the first time ever. I miss my family a lot, and I'm sure I'll shed a tear or two later today when I Skype with them while they open their presents, but the wonderment of knowing I'm spending Christmas in my new country? Very cool. No one in my family, on both sides of the Atlantic, has been too sick to enjoy Christmas. I can remember Christmases past where someone had the flu or a stomach bug or an injury, and it really puts a damper on the celebrations. Some of us are having a few health challenges (I, for one, still need to get my dental work finished and get to a good chiropractor) but we are well enough to be home with family for the holidays. Nor is weather a factor in preventing any Christmas gatherings in my Franco-American family, and I recall at least one year where a Christmas blizzard kept two of our number stuck at home while the rest of us celebrated as best we could. As... Read more →

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

'Tis the night before Christmas -- called le Reveillon in France -- and I'll be spending it with my husband and family, opening gifts, eating foie gras and drinking champagne. I hope you and yours have a warm and wonderful Christmas, if you're celebrating the holiday! Meantime, enjoy this classic poem... which to me was always a special Christmas bedtime story! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads. And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap. When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the... Read more →

If you're snowed in, you may not want to see this post

Yesterday, we (like thousands in France) departed for our Christmas holidays. Schools in France closed Friday afternoon for two weeks, so a lot of families with kids get a jump start on vacation. You probably heard by now of the 3 or 4 train-loads of people who got trapped in the Eurostar tunnel, some for up to 16 hours, because of some as-yet-unknown malfunction that may have been related to the recent cold and snow across most of France. When we left yesterday, our train ended up being delayed a grand total of 90 minutes; we arrived in Saint Raphael at midnight, with a sleeping 8-year old and around eight pieces of baggage. Thank God for taxi service, that's all I can say. Today, we did the food shopping and had a nice lunch and vegged out for a while, then ventured out all together for a walk around town to see what was going on. There's an ice rink in the large square, some small Christmas markets scattered around, and lots of lights that are going to look beautiful just about now, when it's dark. We got churros and cotton candy and checked a few of the local shops... Read more →

THIS cat has an evil twin

Walked into the bathroom at my sister-in-law's place and look who was hiding behind the door... hissing in stereo. She's not violent (as long as you don't try to touch her) but secretly? I think she's LIKE to be. Read more →

The longest word in the French language

Guess what I learned last night at the family dinner table:anticonstitutionnellement At 25 letters, apparently it is the longest French word. Even the 8-yr-old knew this. And what does it mean? As you might guess: unconstitutionally. Which has a mere 18 letters. This got me to thinking about English. What's our longest word? Are you sitting down, seatbelts fastened? You'll need to brace yourself. Because it's (deep breath, now):Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Say what? At 45 letters, it means (according to Wikipedia which is quoting the Oxford English Dictionary, the definitive source) "a factitious word alleged to mean 'a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust, causing inflammation in the lungs.'" Well, now. I guess we could all win that question on Jeopardy, right? But I have to tell you, German's got us all beat. It has a word with a whopping 63 characters, and it's: Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz [which, literally translated, breaks up into: Rind (cattle) - Fleisch (meat) - Etikettierung(s) (labelling) - Überwachung(s) (supervision) - Aufgaben (duties) - Übertragung(s) (assignment) - Gesetz (law), or in other words, "Beef labelling supervision duty assignment law".] I won't even begin to try and pronounce that; I'm afraid I might sprain my mouth... Read more →

And the snow continues...

Although when we awoke this morning, it seemed most of the snow had disappeared, by 8:30 or so it started to snow again! That's almost unprecedented, to get two days of snow in Paris, in succession! Good thing I have more photos from yesterday to help set the scene... I'm too busy cleaning, organizing and wrapping gifts which must be packed for our departure tomorrow afternoon, to get out again with my camera today. We're going to the Mediterranean for the holidays for TWO. WHOLE. WEEKS. Of no snow. Oh, God. I hope there won't be snow. Snow-capped métro sign at Trocadéro. One last look at the glacial Tour Eiffel before I head over to the Champs Elysées... Some snow-glazed gilt and iron gates at the rond-point at Franklin Roosevelt. And just inside those gates, something very unusual... I'm calling this "Butterflies on the Brain, with Snow". I don't know what the artist called it. Or what he was thinking when he created it, for that matter; maybe he had butterflies IN his brain at the time. And I didn't convert this image to black and white, either; just looks that way. Looking toward the Arc de Triomphe on the... Read more →

A Snow Day, Paris-Style

Shamelessly skipping the work I was supposed to be doing all day, instead I skipped off to meet a friend for a pre-holiday lunch and to take some photos of Paris in the snow. As luck would have it, our rendez-vous point brought me here: The snow, just before noon, was falling hard and fast. Walking on the Trocadero marble was hazardous, and a brave local news crew was there to capture the moment: Behind the Trocadero, this statue of Foch was already covered in the white stuff, and the trees and shrubs looked very pretty with their "frosting": Not a great day for lunching on the terrasse: So, even though we don't have "snow days" where the schools are closed for inclement weather, I had fun taking my own custom "snow day". More photos to come... I also headed over to the Champs Elysées for the Christmas Market (where I successfully resisted the temptation to drink Gluhewein all afternoon). Read more →