The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

It's just so FRENCH

There is just something about a Parisian café. Read more →

It is a truth universally acknowledged

(Image credit: JennelleRW/Flickr) ... that the best first line of a novel EVER is the opening line of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which was first published 200 years ago TODAY. I should be so lucky, to write a book, any book, that people are still in love with 200 years from now. I'd settle for writing one that people are in still in love with a WEEK after they've finished reading it. Thank you, Jane, for sharing the gift of your incredible and timeless talent. You inspire me. As does Colin Firth in the wet, white shirt. But that's another story. Read more →

On the Rue where you live

When you are walking around Paris, there are some places in the city -- particularly in the older neighborhoods that pre-date the Haussmannian redevelopment -- where you can still find the old street names engraved in stone alongside the newer street names on their iconic blue-green-and-white plaques. This one, on the corner of a pillar at the Saint Sulpice church, shows us that the original street name next to the church was Rue des Aveugles or the Street of the Blind. (By the way... the holes in the stone that looks like gunshot marks? May well be exactly that. During the Revolution, churches were often vandalised and even destroyed as the Revolutionaries were very anti-religion. And during WWII and the Liberation of Paris, there were many altercations between the Resistance and the Nazi occupiers. So... bullet holes in a church? Quite possible, although they could also be from erosion.) You will most often see these stone street "signs" in parts of the 4th (especially on the two islands in the Seine which are the original part of Paris), 5th and 6th arrondissements, as well as in the Marais where there are still 13th-century structures standing. I found an interesting site... Read more →

Vive la France

"Allons enfants de la patrie..." Another reason to love France: how the French love their wine. Read more →

Counting the days

Every year in January, it seems that I find my self counting the days until it's February. Not that I love February so much, but it's NOT JANUARY. And being NOT JANUARY means the days start getting noticably longer and warmer, and we're one month closer to spring. I've tried in the past to make January about something more interesting than simply killing time until February. But so far, short of escaping to somewhere tropical for the entire month (which we aren't in a position to do), I haven't really come up with anything that has worked. So now, I just sort of accept it with as much good grace as I can muster: I hate January and I will always be happy for it to be over. Feel free to wave at me through your computer screen if you feel the same. I hadn't noticed the title of the film being advertised on this Spectacles billboard when I shot this photo last week. But now it seems appropriate: the snow has since melted but Paris is still so very grey, and we could sure use some Happiness Therapy, Bradley Cooper. While I'm waiting for NOT JANUARY to arrive, I... Read more →

A portal to a fairy tale

When Georges and I were taking our walk in the snow on Sunday, we noticed this very unusual and whimsical door on Rue Durantin. Wish I could say this was OUR door, but alas, it isn't. And it made me wonder what was on the other side... scenes and characters from Grimm, perhaps? Hogwarts? Hobbiton? Read more →

Et il neige plus

The snow is continuing for the third straight day. Nothing like the blizzard conditions I might see if I were in New Jersey -- snow is relatively rare here in Paris -- but enough that the buses aren't running and the city is quiet and peaceful. Georges and I went out for a walk today. We first headed up to check on our rental apartment, since we keep the heat turned off when no one is there; had to make sure it wasn't so cold the pipes might burst. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these busloads of tourists from the swift completion of their appointed rounds... of drinks during the Moulin Rouge spectacle. The snow makes the canopy of climbing ivy look like it's been sugar-coated. The real Moulin at the top of Rue Tholozé. Kids were sliding down this hilly street on bits of cardboard or plastic or whatever they could find that would work. After we confirmed that all is well at our place on Rue Durantin, we walked down that street toward Place des Abbesses, and stopped to try the brunch at La Bascule. Georges chose one of the brunch options... Read more →

Il neige

A rare real snowfall in Paris. Can't wait to get out tomorrow and have a look around. Read more →

Frosted palm trees?

My sister-in-law, who lives in Saint Raphael, France, sent us the following photos today, and she gave me her permission to share them on my blog. Seems they had a little bit of that white stuff in the Côte d'Azur! We haven't had any snow so far this year that has stuck; just a couple of evenings this week of snow falling for an hour and then melting off. Le Garçon has been very disappointed about that. When he saw his aunt's photos of the snowfall, he said "She's so lucky!" In the town center, they have this enormous inflated Père Noël, and I see they haven't taken him down yet. So NOW it looks like Christmas in the south of France! Can you believe that palm tree, all frosted? And I was just there two weeks ago with my feet in the water, basking in the sunshine! Of course, the sun came out, the usual gorgeous blue sky is back and the snow is already melting off. Looks like the kids in the neighborhood had a snowball fight out in the garden, judging by all the footprints in the snow! Read more →

I Heart Paris

I was waiting for a bus at Alma Marceau yesterday on my way to meet my French/English language exchange partner for lunch. The weather was grey and drab, not exactly the right weather for photography. But nowadays, with iPhone apps like PicFX, one can take an otherwise mundane image (if the Eiffel Tower could be considered mundane) and make it fun! Here are a few of the other interesting things I was able to do with this same photo (click to enlarge images): Read more →