The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Rainy day

After my doctor's check-up, I had nearly 2 hrs to kill before school pick-up and I realized I really hadn't eaten lunch. It's a cold and rainy day, so a toasted goat cheese salad and hot tea was just what the doctor ordered. (Well, in reality this doctor would probably have told me to skip the cheese, since we had a long conversation about how I can gradually increase my nearly 10-lb weight loss since February and cheese was most definitely NOT on her list of recommendations. But I don't really eat cheese very often; too much of it doesn't agree with me.) On the up side, the crap weather means I finally get to use my pretty new Toile de Jouy umbrella -- the silver lining in all these clouds. Read more →

Hopeful

Today my thoughts are with my high school friend Dwight E. and his family back in New Jersey. Dwight has been fighting stage IV cancer for the past month and has had a very serious setback last night. Praying for his speedy and complete recovery from the immediate crisis so that he can continue to get stronger and be ready for another round of chemo. If you're of a mind to do so, prayers, good thoughts and healing energy sent his way would be so very much appreciated by his wife and family - thank you. Read more →

Quartier

I loved this shop-front in our new neighborhood (where we are not yet living, not until the 16th). Most times, when you see a shop with these beautiful old signs, like this one, the current tenants are in some other business but have left the historic detail and signage - either because it's too expensive to remove it or because local rules may prohibit changing historic features on buildings. But this one? Really IS an "herboriste" (which I'm assuming is the equivalent of an herbalist or homeopath of some sort). Read more →

Audition

In French, a music recital is called an "audition". Three times a year, the Little Guy gets up in front a room full of parents and plays a new piano piece (as do about 20 other kids). He's doing extremely well after only two years (and never once has he seemed nervous playing in front of other people; he seems to enjoy it!), and his teacher says he has natural talent, but we all agree he must practice more than he currently wants to do if he's going to make the most of his ability. I personally wouldn't mind having this baby grand. Alas, I'm way out of practice myself and wouldn't do it justice. Read more →

Au revoir, Sacre Coeur

In two weeks, we'll be "movin' on down" to the upper 9th arrondissement, and while I'm really glad we're making the move, I'll have to find new things to take pictures of other than Sacre Coeur from one side of my apartment and views over the northeast of Paris from the other. So for the next two weeks, I've advance-posted daily images of Sacre Coeur that I've taken over the past two years so that we can all get one last "fix": [Taken from the Pompidou Center.] Some might be new; some you may have seen before either here or over on the photo blog. But does it matter? She's just so beautiful to look at, I didn't think anyone would mind a few extra curtain calls from the Heart. Because soon, she'll disappear from our daily lives. Just like this: [Photo courtesy of Georges.] Check the photo blog daily starting here, through April 16th, to see the photos I've selected. Hope you enjoy seeing them (again or for the first time) as much as I have enjoyed the privilege of being able to take them and share them with you. Read more →

Good morning, Paris

I was walking past Sacre Coeur before 9am this morning, on my way to do a guest checkout at the rental apartment (they loved it and want to come back!) and THIS was the view at the start of the day, with only a few earlybird tourists milling around. I don't ordinarily get over in that direction in the mornings, but was glad I did today. The light was really beautiful, even with the pollution haze on the horizon. Read more →

Remembering to breathe

We survived the big vide-grenier yesterday, in spite of there being NO sunshine and colder weather after a week of incredible weather and warm temperatures (it figures), but at least it never did rain. And we did have a good time and some laughs (people are so funny, and they will nickel and dime you to death at these things!) Between the six of us manning our "stand" (we had three groups of items: houshold stuff from me and Georges; toys, books and games from the Little Guy; and the older son and his girlfriend had brought a lot of things as well; plus Georges' daughter came down from Lille for the weekend to help), we think we grossed around 900€, which is quite incredible especially considering we really didn't have any "big ticket" items. The Little Guy was proud and happy that he cleared more than 350€ all by himself, and he did a fantastic job of selling his own things all morning -- the busiest time -- before he went off with friends of ours for the rest of the afternoon and his big sister took over for him. Georges and I, after deducting the cost of renting... Read more →