The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Turkish Delight

No time for narration, as I head to the airport tomorrow morning and have a lot to do tonight, but here are a few photos of our holiday in Turkey. Some were taken by Georges, some by me, and a few special ones were by the dolphins' personal photographer. (However, we lost all photos taken on my iPhone 4, which died on the trip.) Enjoy! Read more →

Why I don't watch reality TV (other than the fact that it's just stoopid)

So I think we've finally caught our breath just a bit, with our post-vacation lives. Georges caught a nasty head cold on the flight back, and I'm still trying to get over the air-conditioning-induced sinusitis attack I got while we were away. I've done the food shopping and a few loads of laundry, although not all of it, and I still need to get in touch with the cleaning lady because this place is a disaster. (Also? Our piece-of-shit wood-laminate floors, newly installed before we took possession of the keys, that looked so nice and so pretty, are now heaving and buckling with the summer humidity and extra rain we've had, so our entry hall and living room looks like we've got a skate-boarding obstacle course instead of a floor. Luckily, we're just the renters, but STILL.) I've booked my flights to/from NJ and we've lined up child-care for the Little Guy for the days when I'll be gone and Georges will be working, so that's all good; unfortunately the timing of this trip means I will miss both the school rentrée AND the Little Guy's 9th birthday, but I'll look around for some novel or interesting special gift to... Read more →

Still flying

I will have to keep this as brief as possible, given I just got home this afternoon from our vacation in Turkey (Club Med Beldi) and have a thousand things to take care of (including booking a flight to New Jersey for middle of next week), but just a few quick notes to update you all: First, thank you all so very much for your continued prayers, thoughts and concerns for my mother. I am happy to say that it appears she has one hell of a great specialist helping her beat this horrible bacterial infection (we'll never know where she got it from, either), and she is finally out of the hospital and in a rehab for at least the next week. Which gives me time to arrange to get myself over there so my sister can have a break for a couple of weeks. Her recovery will take time and be slow, but I am hoping I can help her through the transition to being back at home while she builds up her strength again, and can be more independent in her daily life as soon as possible. Anyway, at least the news is so much more positive... Read more →

Place Kleber

OK, so this is a bit of a funky-looking photo (thanks, Hipstamatic) of Place Kleber in Strasbourg. I thought Violetta (a reader from L.A. who has decided to book a trip to Strasbourg for Christmas after reading the blog -- how cool is that?!) might like to see it since she'll be staying nearby. (Hello, Strasbourg Tourism Office? I hope the check is in the mail, because your visitor statistics are skyrocketing already, thanks to moi.) Place Kleber is a nice shopping area (all of central Strasbourg is a good shopping zone, for that matter) and very centrally located on the Grand Ile; there's a tram that passes nearby direct from the train station, and it's just a short walk to everything from there. And Place Kleber is one of the key Christmas market areas, with dozens of little booths and easy access to all the gluhwein (pronounce it "GLOO-vine") you can handle. BTW, Kleber (pronounce it "clay-bear"), a native of Strasbourg, was a French general during the Revolution, became head of the French military under Napoleon, and was murdered in 1800. If you visit the Strasbourg Historical Museum, there's even a little exhibit about him there, and he must... Read more →

Waiting

I spent most of today in suspended animation (and not all that "animated", to tell the truth), waiting for news on my mother's condition, and whether or not surgery would be required (and it if is, it's going to be major, MAJOR) and if so, would it be today. I had no ability to concentrate on the book or anything requiring much brain power, not having slept well at all last night, but I did get a few loads of laundry done; I was feeling the pressure to have clean clothes ready in case I need to pack and fly at a moment's notice. Most of my waiting time was spent sitting on our canape-lit, staring out the window at the view. My favorite seat in the entire apartment is on the "L" of the sofa with a lap-desk and my computer before me (now with iPhone4 nearby as well; yes, I am now one of THOSE people). The light changes throughout the day and with the seemingly always-changing weather moods of the skies above Paris. My favorite time of day is the sunset hour; we don't get to see the sun set (that's on the OTHER side of the... Read more →

Prayers, please

I'm not in a very good place today. I got some news yesterday that my mother is fighting some as yet unidentified illness or infection, and she's been in the ICU at the hospital in her town since Monday evening. She is being transferred to a bigger and better hospital as I write this, and while that's a good thing in terms of her overall care (the second hospital has a much better reputation and better resources), it's worrisome that after nearly 48 hours her condition has not improved significantly enough that it's even necessary to move her elsewhere. However, we're grateful that she's had very good care where she is locally and that she has a primary physician who is on the ball. While I don't want to go into a lot of personal detail, because this blog is not designed to tell other people's business, I will just say that I'm worried for my mother. Really, really worried. Part of the price you pay when you decide to move far away from those you love, is that maybe something will happen to one of your loved ones, and you'll want to be "home" but you can't be there.... Read more →

Pigeon-holed

Everywhere you go in old Strasbourg, you can find roofs like these, with not one but two, three, or even FOUR levels of small dormer windows that reminded me of les pigeonneries (pigeon coops) you see around France from time to time. I'm assuming that each of these rows of windows means an extra "floor", but if that's true then the ceiling height within must be very low. I wonder what those narrow spaces were used for... maybe the servants slept up there? Extra storage space? Or a place to hang all those smoked sausages? Read more →

Weekending in Strasbourg

OK, so for those of you who might be going to Strasbourg on your travels, or who are thinking of going, I've now been there three times (if you count the day trip I did in December for the big Christmas market, which is TOTALLY SO WORTH IT). I thought some of you might want a recap of things to do, and to know what we liked and what we thought wasn't really all it was cracked up to be. Let me include a disclaimer right off the bat and say that there are many more things to do in and around Strasbourg that we either didn't have time for, or that just weren't our "thing", but they might be quite fun and interesting; so don't let my list stop you from exploring beyond. The part of Strasbourg most tourists want to see is called the Grande Ile; it's a short walk or tram (A or D) ride from the train station. The entire Grande Ile is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site, by the way; it's just THAT old and that great. It really is like stepping back in time in many ways. If you look at a... Read more →

And... Exhale

On the train from Strasbourg to back to Paris, and can I just take a brief moment to say MERCI to the universe because we REALLY needed this. We needed to be alone. We needed a change of scenery. We needed to recharge, rebalance, reconnect. Georges needed to just BE without having to worry about anything or anyone, and I needed to get back into the land of the living again. We both needed two days of nothing but us, just us, having fun being together. And we really got that. I guess after the past few months, we had to go to Strasbourg in order to finally exhale. And does that ever feel good. Read more →

So many ways to say it

This weekend, Georges and I are on a little birthday getaway together, and I am sans computer for any serious blogging (although "have iPhone4, will travel" is my new moniker). But since I don't want Georges (who checks my blog regularly for updates, him being my #1 fan and all) to go a whole weekend without a blog post, I thought I'd find 101 ways (give or take a few) to tell him I love him. This is known as the "Love Wall" in Montmartre, where "I Love You" is written (plus a fair amount of extra graffiti added) in more than 100 languages. Click on the image to enlarge it to full size and see if you can find it in your favorite language(s)! Then tell someone that you love them today. Read more →