The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Mairie du 18ème

The local Mairie here in the 18th arrondissement looks, from the outside, like any town hall in Paris. But on the inside, it is surprisingly interesting. There is a central open hall with a glass roof, and these very ornate staircases that reminded me a little of the bridges over the canals in Venice. I was at the Mairie a couple of weeks ago to get my signature notarized on a document, and stopped to take this photo. Read more →

Old Montmartre

One of the best parts of living in Montmartre is how, when you're just walking down a street minding your own business, you can turn a corner and discover a small house tucked in between some larger apartment buildings. This one happens to be right around the corner from our new place, and I love all the ivy-covered walls. It makes you realize how Montmartre started out as a village, just another part of "the countryside" around Paris, and how even after it was incorporated as part of Paris proper in 1860, it maintained its rural flavor for a long time. Plus it was considered "too far out" from the center of Paris to be of much interest to any rich people or Parisian notables (other than all the famous artists, of course). Nowadays, it's crawling with tourists and rue des Abbesses has more and more upscale clothing boutiques opening up, and there are lots of chic "bo-bo" people living here. The great views are pushing the real estate prices higher and higher, too. But these sweet little houses help keep some of old Montmartre alive. Read more →

Ever wonder how...

...people in Paris get big, heavy stuff like giant antique armoires, pianos and heavy boxes up into those apartments, when the staircases are very narrow and the elevators (if they exist at all) are too small in the old buildings? This is how. It's called a "monte-charge" and it's like a flat-bed lift. If you have an apartment with big windows that open onto the street, they can usually hoist your belongings upstairs and bring everything in through the windows. It's much easier and faster than hauling it up the stairs. Here's what it looks like from above, with one of the movers down at street level (we're on the top floor, 4 levels up from the street) as they get it set up. At the top, they put some boards on the metal balcony railing to protect it from the rubber "wheels" which serve as bumpers, and they plugged a super-long electrical cord into an outlet inside our apartment, then dropped the cable down to the street where it was connected to the machine below. The metal "box" has sides that flatten out, and the darn thing looks rather flimsy but is surprisingly strong. We lucked out getting these... Read more →

I enjoy being a girl

So we're all moved in and everything went really well. We had a busy and exhausting week getting out of the old house and into the new, unpacking as much as possible to clear space and make the home functional. We've admired our great view(s) again and again. We even hung a few curtains, replaced the toilet seat and shower head, and opened some cartons of toys and books. Oh, and Georges got the new giant 27" iMac up and running. All in all, we've made big progress and everyone seems to be happy (if tired) and feel good being in the new space. Now, it's Monday morning, the three "men" of the house have gone off to work/school and it's just me here, home alone. Which means: time for some BLOGGING! I was catching up on reading some of my favorite blogs when I came across something interesting on Dooce.com's "Community" feature, which was a discussion of what "Girl Skills" we feel we lack but wish we had. In reading some of the other responses, some of the more popular wish-list items were knowing how to put on make-up, being able to walk in high heels, being better at... Read more →

The back of the closet

You know how, when you're moving, you find all kinds of strange stuff hidden at the back of a closet, under a bed, or in the attic or basement corner? So far, in addition to the usual "Oh, I forgot I had that pair of shoes or old photo" kind of stuff, we've found the following oddities: a porcelain statue of Chairman Mao that some friend of Georges' brought back from a trip to China; a pair of tuxedo pants... with no tuxedo jacket, tie or shirt; a suede jacket that was all stiff and dried out; a box of knife rests with African tribal figures on them; a Darth Vader mask, and the only strange thing about that is where we found it... in the bottom of OUR closet, not the Little Guy's. I think he'll be glad we recovered it, though. But don't even get me started on the giant dust balls behind our refrigerator. I'm saving THAT little cleaning job for Georges because I'm too afraid to look. It wouldn't surprise me if there is a little mouse graveyard hidden back there. Most of the odd-ball stuff has been put out to pasture, so to speak... except... Read more →