The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

My train of thought (The 2013 BCLT, Part 2)

After a lot of thought and research, last week I changed my mind about driving on this trip. I still think I could do it, the driving on the left thing, and that once I got the hang of it I would probably have a blast despite the stress of learning to shift with my left hand and trying NOT to turn on autopilot into oncoming traffic. But it seemed to be the most expensive option available to me (add paying for parking along with the rental and insurance fees) and budget is a strong consideration for me on this trip. Also, if I was going to arrive on Sunday and with Monday being a Bank Holiday, I wouldn't even be able to get a rental car until Tuesday. So it was back to doing everything by train or bus or tour bus, and I would need to plan accordingly. Knowing that I would now spend the last 2 nights sleeping in Bath and would probably plan to spend the first two nights in Oxford, I reworked my proposed itinerary, which now looks like THIS: Day 1: Travel day from Paris to London. Then take train from London to Oxford... Read more →

Blighty, here I come! (The 2013 BCLT, Part 1)

Detailed planning for my 2013 British Countryside and Literary Tour have commenced! Read more →

The Marsh

Last Friday, I was in the Marais, one of the oldest parts of Paris and one of my favorites. Marais, by the way, means "marsh" and originally that's what was there before the medieval Parisians figured out how to turn it to usable land. There's always something interesting to look at when you walk in that quartier. Saint Paul's church. In the nearly seven years I've been here, this is the first time I've ever seen it completely clean; they did a huge ravalement during the past few years. It went from black and sooty, totally filthy, to THIS: totally stunning. The clock is really beautiful and all three doors are painted this shade of cranberry red. Someone's favorite café. I like the metal chairs and old tables, which probably aren't old at all since you can now buy reproductions that have been "aged", but it still makes a nice effect on their terrasse. Exterior of an old boulangerie that once sold "little breads for dinners" that has now become an upscale boutique, as has much of the Marais in recent years. At least the boutique kept all the historical exterior painted bakery signs instead of covering them with something... Read more →

Strangely attracted

Linda and I went to the annual Salon du Vintage in the Marais today. Compared to years past, I was rather disappointed because there was an over-abundance of old clothing, shoes, handbags and sunglasses (not all of which were anywhere near "vintage") and not nearly enough of the cool stuff they used to have, like furniture, lamps, and kitschy decorative items. Photos were verboten this year, although we managed to sneak one or two when no one was looking. There was one thing I think I might just have bought, if it had been a bit nearer my size. I was strangely attracted to it. For a mere 80€, I give you: The pink-and-black hooded faux fur knee-length MICKEY MOUSE swing coat! Mickey was a lot less obvious in the design than you might think. In fact, we approached this coach from the right of the picture and I didn't notice ANY Mickey faces peeking out at me, until I saw the other side of the coat. But it was in superb condition and despite the Mickey Mouse influence, the color was gorgeous (it looked a shade or two less vibrant in the lighting in the salon, but I have... Read more →

A little adventure abroad... I hope

Early in May, during the spring school holidays, I will have an entire week at home alone with myself. Le Garçon will be with his mom on the second week of his vacation, and Georges will have a business trip to Brazil. So I've decided this would be an ideal time for me to complete the European Grand Tour I started in 2007, as part of doing research for another book I plan to write at some point. And this would mean spending a few days roaming around Southwest England. Yes, I know. My life is so, so hard, isn't it? ;) In 1956, my dad was a young guy stationed in Verdun, France with the post-war US Army. My grandparents -- a minister and a minister's wife -- decided to make their first trip to Europe to see their son. They spent 3 weeks together, driving from Paris into Switzerland, Italy, Austria, German, Luxembourg, back into France before hopping over to England and driving around some more (my dad did all the driving). At the end of it, my grandparents boarded the Mauritania II and cruised home, and my dad went back to his base to finish out his... Read more →

In which they see a view and find the unexpected

Our new friends Frogeo and Mouchette™ have been out and about in Paris again. And this time, there are grand views and tiny surprises in store. Le Garçon is really delighted at all the interest the blog has received so far -- many thanks to those of you who have joined in so far with your comments and "likes" -- and allow me to ask you to consider following directly on their blog, or on Facebook or Twitter to get news of future posts. Read more →

Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see... oops

It has been some time since I read something stupid enough* to snag a mention in my What were they thinking? category, but after more than 18 months (the last one was here) we finally have a winner. Teen shoots himself in the crotch and blames it on... are you ready? NINJAS. Yes, you read that right: NINJAS. The stupidity, I think, speaks for itself here. Turns out he was riding in a car with a bunch of GIRLS, showing off ahem, playing with his gun (and if THAT isn't a metaphor for something), and it went off. Guns in the hands of crazy people, angry people and people looking for trouble is bad enough. But someone THIS stupid? He deserves what he got. *The IKEA meatball/horsemeat scandal that I posted about just last month was stupid, but a very different KIND of stupid. Read more →

C'est la vie

It's been a bit of a slow blogging week, mainly because I've been more occupied with my step-son than usual. Le Garçon was on the second week of his annual 2-week winter school break (there's another 2-week break coming up end of April, for spring -- yeah, I know, lots of school holidays here in La Belle France). And as we didn't have anything special planned due to Georges needing to be at work all week, and all his buddies being out of town on THEIR school breaks, Le Garçon and I ended up spending all day, every day together. Fortunately for both of us, we like each other and also he's at an age where he is often quite good company now. The first big thing we did together was launch our special blog project -- THAT was a pretty big deal since we've been planning it for something like six weeks. The timing was finally right this week to get the first installment out there, and now we're working on putting together a regular weekly post. Even on the weeks when he's not here chez Nous, we will have planned a post in advance. It means thinking ahead,... Read more →

Introducing: Frogeo and Mouchette™ in Paris

I am really pleased and excited to announce a new blog project, created collaboratively by me AND Georges' youngest, Le Garçon (a.k.a., The Little Guy). Allow me to introduce you to Frogeo and Mouchette™ in Paris! This is the story of the adventures of a loveable French frog and the fly (yes, I said FLY; what's your point?) he adores, as they play a never-ending game of hide-and-seek in Paris, and beyond. Every week, there will be a new adventure to follow, as Mouchette, cette coquine française, leads our hero Frogeo on a merry dance around the city and sometimes even further afield. (And yes, it's odd that a Frog may love a Fly, but we promise that this will not end badly as in the story of the Montagues and Capulets.) I was initially inspired to develop a new blog using a small peluche as the central character in exploring more of the city. Then, it occurred to me that it might also be a wonderful opportunity for me to spend more one-on-one time with my young step-son, for us to have something fun to do together that was just us two (with G's full support, of course). At... Read more →

Transformer

The "before"... ... in which you can't really see just how badly my grey roots have grown out, and in which my too-long wavy hair naturally takes on the look of a Dutch girl's classic white hat with those flippy bits on the side: And -- happily -- the "after". I feel SO much better. At least I can go out in public again. Read more →