The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Writing picnic

It is SOOO gorgeous out today that it only seemed right to get some sandwiches and have a little lunch picnic in the Luxembourg Gardens... followed by a bit of writing. Read more →

Vintage!

Yesterday, Kyliemac and I went to the Salon du Vintage over in the Marais. It's been ages since I've been in the Marais and I forgot how, unlike most of the rest of Paris, it's a pretty happening place on a Sunday. It's partly a Jewish quarter so a lot of shops and restaurants are closed on Saturdays but open on Sundays. The line at L'As du Falafel was a mile long during the lunch rush (so we ate at a competitor's falafel joint), and as it's Purim, there were a lot of things going on in the neighborhood as part of the celebration of that Jewish holiday (for some reason, there was a lot of Silly String flying, although I'm not sure what that had to do with the holiday). In addition to the Salon, we checked out Princess Crepe and spent some time at the Musée Carnavalet where we sat in the sunshine in the courtyard and listened to an impromptu jazz "concert" taking place on the street outside the museum gates. It was a perfect sunny Sunday and entrée into spring. Back to the Salon... I love looking at vintage clothing and furniture, and this was certainly... Read more →

Oh, crap

I just looked at the calendar. And realized my 50th birthday is only two months away. Watching the last of my 40s slip away. Pfft. Read more →

I love Paris in the springtime

And finally, it begins to look and feel more like spring. Read more →

How do I put this delicately?

Finding a reasonably clean public toilet is never an easy thing in a city, ANY city. Paris has these space-age self-cleaning ones, and they're free, but for me they're a last resort. Which pretty much means that, when in need, you have to go into a café or a Starbucks and buy something so you can use the facilities. So I was in one of the cleaner, quieter Starbucks hanging out with a friend. I went into the toilet area but it was occupé. While I was waiting, I noticed this sign posted, stating their commitment to providing a certain standard and that if the facilities weren't up to scratch to please notify the staff. I thought about how often I see those signs posted in toilets that are in pretty bad shape. But in this case, everything seemed to be in its place and clean. An hour later, this was no longer the case. My friend went back there and when she returned, she said that I would not BELIEVE what some other patron had left smack in the middle of the floor in the ladies toilet. She looked absolutely horrified, too, and as a woman I could think... Read more →

Another door opens

Antique door, Chartres, France, 2011 Lately, even though I have much more free time since I finished my French course, I have had a really tough time writing. This isn't the first time I've had writer's block, and it surely won't be the last. I have ideas all the time about things I want to write, and I have made some progress on the book since finishing the French course (so that's something), but I am not really making much headway and I certainly do not write every day. And I really should be writing every single day, whether it's the book or something else like this blog. Sometimes I wonder why I get blocked at doing something that I really, truly love to do. I mean, it's one thing when we get blocked while working on a project for which we have no enthusiasm, no passion; but this isn't like that. Writing has always come fairly easily to me. Back in high school and college, I was a rather lazy student who did the minimum amount of work necessary (while still getting decent grades), but in any class where I could write my way out of a homework assignment,... Read more →

Medieval Day-trippin'

Having a rare Sunday all to ourselves with nothing else planned, Georges and I decided to do a short day trip to Chartres. I'd already been to Chartres once on my own, during my first year, and I toured the cathedral and climbed the spire before wandering the old medieval part of town and buying the most scrumptious chocolates in a boutique. There were a fair numbrer of tourists milling around on that occasion, and I expected much of the same this time around. WELL. Let me just say right now: do NOT go to Chartres on a Sunday. Ever. The place was absolutely dead. Not many restaurants open and NO shops except for a few souvenir boutiques. The Musée des Beaux Arts was open (but we didn't feel like visiting a museum today), and we really lucked out finding one open restaurant down the hill in the old part of the city, but otherwise, NOTHING TO DO. And the cathedral is currently undergoing some major restauration and cleaning work with scaffolding and tarps both inside and out, which means it is not the best time to go and visit, period. Still, we had a good time because we ALWAYS... Read more →

Reason #532 for becoming fluent in French

So that I can have more fun eavesdropping on my fellow diners in restaurants. Clearly, I am missing a lot of juicy stuff. Georges and I had lunch out today, in a local place where they often reserve tables for their elderly regular patrons. Next to us were seated two nicely dressed gray-haired ladies. I gave them no notice, because I was too busy being distracted by the man at the other table opposite us who had taken off his SHOES so he could put his feet (with white socks) up on the banquette across from him. I guess he really likes to feel at home when he dines out, but personally I could have done without seeing someone eating with his shoes off while I was trying to enjoy MY lunch. Then Georges leaned in closer to tell me that he was hearing a VERY interesting conversation between the deux vielles dames. In which they were discussing their views about marriage vs. living together, apparently related to the lifestyle of some younger woman they knew. You might assume that two women of that generation would both be firmly on the side of marriage; you know, that old "Why should... Read more →

The First Weeks (1)

I was digging through some unpacked boxes (yes... we've lived here for 10 months and still have unpacked boxes, mostly because its stuff we don't want to put in our storage unit but where we can't figure out where to put it in the apartment) and came across a disc I made containing all the photos I took in my first 6 weeks in Paris in 2006. Since I haven't gotten out lately to take any new photos, I decided to pick a few images at random from my first wonderous days in Paris. Hope you enjoy them! I love the ominous skies behind the Louvre but how the sun was trying to come out. I also like how this one turned out, a long look down through the Tuileries to the Place de la Concorde, the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. Here we have General DeGaulle taking a stroll in front of the Grand Palais. This was the view from my apartment in Vincennes. It's very tiny but the Eiffel Tower IS in the view. At the Musée de l'Orangerie, with the Water Lilies by Monet. One of my favorite things to take a photo of in... Read more →

C'est La Guerre

All over Paris, you will often pass rather ordinary-looking buildings with small plaques commemorating some aspect of the Second World War. Sometimes -- as with my step-son's school and the Jewish day-care center down the street from us -- they are to remember the Jewish school children who were taken away to the death camps. Other times, they honor citizens who fought in la Résistance who usually died during the occupation or liberation of Paris. This one says that the person in question lived at this address (although often they mark the spot where the person died fighting) and that he was the director of the sporting association of the 18th arrondissement... killed by the Gestapo. I wasn't even alive during that war, but that word, "Gestapo", chills me to the bone. I am living in the middle of history here. Read more →