The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Seats

In between lunch and afternoon tea/snack time, a lot of empty seats in this café. Read more →

Communication: the key to a great marriage

A couple is lying in bed. He, un français who doesn't undertand American football, is watching SuperBowl pre-game coverage on his iPad, not because he cares about the game but because he's got the technology and he can. She, une américaine who actually likes American football, is preparing to watch a rather old British comedy series on YouTube instead. Suddenly, she hears something (non-breakable) slide off the dresser on his side of the bed, and hit the floor. She asks, "What just fell?" And he replies: "Something." Pause while she considers his response, then: "Thank you. That was SO VERY HELPFUL." Ten minutes later, she still doesn't know what actually fell. Read more →

Around

Just some photos I've taken recently, "around". Just after a bit of rain, on my way to pick up the Little Guy at school. Some buildings here have huge wooden doors and very elegant door knockers. Something about this one caught my eye, although it's nothing unusual. Sea urchins ("oursins") for sale at a local fish market. I liked the shades of purple and lavender-gray. I've seen them under water once while snorkeling in Martinique but I've never tasted them; does anyone know what they're like? Or for that matter, how do you even get to the inside with all those prickles on the outside? This neon sign (unlit) was suspended above one of the side streets leading from Place des Abbesses down to Pigalle, but not on rue Lepic which is the street leading to the Moulin Rouge. Which I thought was odd until Georges pointed out that maybe it's just that the windmill is sort of a symbol of Montmartre, since the only two remaining real moulins are here (and just steps away from our apartment for rent!) Speaking of the apartment, I am nearly finished with the web site and the listing we set up on VRBO.com... Read more →

A HALF MILLION!

It's official! There have been a HALF MILLION visitors to The Bold SoulTM blog since February 25, 2005! That completely blows my mind, to be honest. A half a million... can I even count that high? Well, maybe not in French. Whether you've been with me since the beginning or you just got here today, whether your best friend told you to check out my blog or you stumbled upon it while searching for something or other... I'm grateful and humbled by your interest and participation over the years. After all, is a writer still a writer if no one is out there to read what she's written? So here's to the past 7 years and 500,000+ bold souls, to someday soon hitting that 1 MILLION mark (wow!) -- and to the next 7 years, and to more bold adventures in all our lives. Merci mille fois, and cheers, mes amis! Read more →

Je n'a pas ma tête mais j'ai mes jambes

There is an expression in French, that if one does not have one's head together, then one needs legs: "Quand on n'a pas de tête, il faut avoir des jambes". In other words, if you're brain isn't firing on all cylinders then you darn well better have the ability to keep moving. Today I got that French lesson... the hard way. I spent all day washing the sheets, towels and even a load of clothes, planning to take them down the street to the laundromat to dry this afternoon (they don't hang-dry well in winter). But when I got there, the gas was out so none of the dryers were working. The next closest laundry was even farther down the (big frigging damn) hill, but I had no choice, so dragging my wheelie cart and shlepping my tote bag of heavy, wet laundry, off I went. I arrived, a bit out of breath, stuffed everything into 3 different dryers, and went to the coin-operated control center to pay. Which is when I realized I had left my wallet on the kitchen table. ARGHHH! I hiked ALL THE WAY BACK UP THE BIG DAMN FRIGGING HILL. Got the money. And hiked... Read more →

Why yes, I take requests

Kathrin, a reader from way back, has asked that next time I'm in Saint Raphael, that I show more photos. Which I'll be delighted to do, of course! But why wait for the next trip? It's ridiculously cold here in Paris (some sort of Siberian cold front is sweeping across central and southern Europe and it's quite bad in some areas east of here) and I could use a reminder of warmer climates -- although I hear it may actually SNOW in Saint Raphael this week! Here's a selection of some of my own personal favorites from the sunny south. Tiki Plage, a small cove about a 10 minute drive from downtown Saint Raphael. One of our favorite spots to spend a day as they have a beach-side restaurant where you can walk right off the sand and get an excellent meal. I look at this photo often when I'm sick of the grey cold weather in Paris; it does wonders for my morale! Our spot on "Melon Beach", where Georges popped the question. Those aren't birds in the background, they're people parasailing even though this was off season and rather cold. This must be April rather than the full... Read more →