Back in Paris

Hurricane Irene did not stop Ralegh and I, we are back in Paris and I’m sporting a new MacBook Pro. Besides the jetlag, it is nice to be back. I even think Ralegh enjoys having me to himself again. Don’t get me wrong; a summer off from the real world just to visit friends and loved ones was great. Though, I did start to miss my new city and life here (and of course my Bikram classes). I think I knew it was time to head home when I was in Lauderdale and saw a lady clearly in her late sixties early seventies (and I’m being nice) hop out of her massive Hummer wearing skinny white jeans, 6 inch heals, a sequins top and the kicker… a stamp tramp!!! Seriously!!! I couldn’t help but stare … only in South Florida are you going to have such visions. I could actually go on and on about the things I saw in Florida, such as, a baby stroller being used for a dog or knee high ugg boots in 95°F weather, but I won’t bore you with my ramblings.

Now that I’m back, all I have to do is update my resume and translate it to French and the job hunt begins. So wish me luck! And of course if anyone has any advice or contacts for me please don’t hesitate to send them my way.

The Apple is Dead

I know what most of you are thinking... Wow! A post! Never thought you'd see one again ;0)

Yes, I may be one of the world's biggest procrastinators (don't ask me how my NY Bar Application is coming along) but that's a whole other psychoanalysis. And yes I guess that my New Year's Resolution to blog regularly wasn't upheld but most aren't, right? In my defense, the approximate four month hiatus of blogging is not completely to blame on my laziness or my wonderful ability to procrastinate. In mid-March my Apple died (and for any nonbelievers Geraldine and my parents were both in town so I have proof :) he he he).

The death of my Apple led to many tears shed ... yes, real tears were shed as I had not backed-up my computer since August so every photo and basically my life since I moved to Paris were all gone into oblivion. Obviously, I'm still a little bitter and of course have no one to blame but myself. Great! It was especially fun being reminded by my computer savvy mother (I did not inherit her gift) that it's just so easy to do back-up and I should do it every time I download photos or purchase something on itunes... and why did I not do this? But I'm digressing ...

As a result of my Apple's death, the blogs were the first to go (the loss of photos now makes me wish I wasn't already so behind on blogging to begin with) and then went the emails and facebook. I apologize to everyone for the massive delays on responding to emails or lack thereof... I still have over 400 unread emails that need my attention. On the bright side, I'm back in North America for the summer and have access to my amazing mother's computer for now and promise that I will return to Paris with a brand new baby Apple of my own.

The French National Past Time

Every year after la rentrée (when summer vacation is over and everyone returns to Paris and goes back to work or begins school) and the humdrum existence of every day life starts to set in ... Les grèves (the strikes) and les manifestations/les manifs (demonstrations) begin! It seriously is the French national past time. I hear they come back again in March because that's about when the monotony sets in again and everybody needs a little excitement to help them last thru the spring.

I secretly want to attend a demonstration, maybe this March. :) Luckily, this past October, I accidentally walked right into a manifestation. I happen to have my mini camera in my bag and grabbed these few photos right before my camera died - go figure!

Boston Reunion in Zurich

What better place to have a mini-Boston reunion other than Zurich. Obviously it didn’t take much on Jay’s part to convince me to go to Zurich for a weekend … other than an invite from Jose. :o) Though I almost didn’t make it thanks to les grèves (strikes) and la météo (the weather).

At the time I planned my trip to Zurich I did not have any of my winter coats … two certain people were suppose to come and visit me and bring them in October but I won’t mention any names but they will be finally visiting me in the middle of March – so they say! I only mention this because by the time the weekend came along, the forecast was SNOW. I was a little freaked out to say the least, I didn’t expect my little leather jacket to be much help as I had already been freezing to death each morning for the past few weeks. But luckily my coats arrived the night before my trip via mail. (Thank you Carlos!!!!! You’re the Best!!!)

For some reason every time I travel I have some kind of metro (actually trains as well) difficulty or delays … I think it’s just to add a little stress to my life. I arrived at Gare de l’est with less than ten minutes before the train departed. I went to the little kiosk to print my boarding pass and I received a message that no such ticket existed under my name. Okay, don’t freak out (yeah right)… try another kiosk, same thing, only this time I had a lady yelling at me in French to hurry up because she didn’t want to miss the train (along with some not so nice French words). Like I care about her ticket. I need to be on the train for Zurich! With two minutes to go, I decided … screw it! I’m getting on the train and when they come along asking for my ticket I will flash my famous American smile and use my lovely charm to explain that the kiosk wasn’t working but I have an email confirmation to prove that I’m not some foreigner trying to scam a free train ride to Zurich. Oh, and please don’t arrest me! :o) I actually made it to Zurich without ever having my ticket checked … maybe next time I should try to scam a free ride, just kidding. I thought I was home free, I figured that I could just get my return ticket in Zurich. Umm, I was wrong … and in Switzerland where the citizens are super law abiding they weren’t as keen with me not having a ticket. I was told I would have to buy another ticket and they were sold out! Yeah right! I took my chance again and got on the train for Paris. This time they did come along asking for tickets, and I turned on that lovely American charm and I was told no problem with les grèves lots of tickets were screwed up … oh, and as a bonus I was told that my French was good. :o)

As for my trip, it was short but beautiful! On Saturday Jose took us on a hike (we skipped the hike thru the ice & snow). We walked pass a dairy farm and had lunch on the top of the mountain with a gorgeous view of the City. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best so you couldn’t see the snow covered Alps. And the absolutely best part of Zurich was Saturday night walking around the City bar hopping we found a store named ANOUK! Sadly, the store was closed and as everything in Europe is closed on Sunday I didn’t get to do any shopping but I guess that means I'm just going to have to go to Zurich again. :o)

Here are some pictures from my trip. Hope you enjoy!

A Visit to Rambouillet

In the beginning of October, I ventured outside of Paris with my photography group to experience some of the autumn foliage. Unfortunately, it was a little on the early side for foliage but in any event it was fun to get out of the City for a couple of hours. I went to a town called Rambouillet, located approximately 27.5 miles outside of Paris. Rambouillet is famous for the Forêt de Rambouillet and the Château de Rambouillet. The Chateau has hosted several international summits and is known to be the summer residence of the President. Here are some photos of my visit ... hope you enjoy!

Back from the Dead

Surprise! Yes, it's me ... in response to the messages I have received, I have not dropped off the face of this earth and given up on my blog ... just super busy, on the brightside, I have been living the good life in Paris! :) I'm currently on les vacances de Noël and cannot remember the last time I was so giddy to be on vacation. A few of us at school were counting the days till vacation. I felt like I was 13 again! And I definitely think that les vacances de Noël should be incorporated into my work life going forward, however, I do know that it’s an unrealistic dream but for now I’m fully taking advantage of the time off. Did I mention I love being a student again!

Back in September when I was a fully dedicated blogger … Per the recommendation of Dan (one of my most supportive and biggest fans … he he he, I love you too Tara!) I visited le cimetière du Père-Lachaise. For a little French history lesson, le cimetière du Père-Lachaise is the biggest cemetery in Paris located in the 20^th arrondissement and one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. They say it is the most visited cemetery in the world. Personally, I love cemeteries but if you are not a fan this is definitely one you should not miss, it’s absolutely gorgeous!

I went to le cimetière du Père-Lachaise with two Poles, a Spaniard, a Hongkongese and an American, with the common language being French but that does not mean everybody in the group knew French - it was an interesting day. Of course, without a map we decided to conquer the massive cemetery. I was obsessed with seeing the tomb of Modigliani; other obsessions were Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison.

Asking for directions we met a charming 94-year-old Frenchmen named Guy (who just so happens to live a block away from me) who walks to the cemetery 3 times a week to take care of the tomb of his mother. By the way, from my house it is a 10km walk - one way. No wonder the French are thin and live long, at 94 this man is walking 20km (12.4 miles) 3 times a week… I have to say I was feeling a little lazy as I took the metro!

It seems that everyone I know who has visited le cimetière du Père-Lachaise has an experience with a crazy drugged out Jim Morrison wannabe and I was lucky enough to have the same experience. I’m starting to wonder if it’s the same guy each time … I may just have visit Mr. Morrison again.

If your planning on visiting any cemeteries in France, November 2^nd is La Commémoration des fidèles défunts (All Souls’ Day), which is the day after La Toussaint (All Saint’s Day) un jour férié (a paid holiday). Tradition is that on November 1^st (since it’s the day off) everyone goes to the cemeteries and brings flowers to their loved ones. So the best time to visit the cemeteries is the first couple weeks of November. My pictures below are from September but hope you enjoy.

Speaking of the days of the Dead, Halloween is not really celebrated in France. It is looked at as an American commercial holiday but you can find a few costume stores for all the foreigners roaming the City. I also added a photo of me with the pink wig I was sporting for the Halloween Pub Crawl event that I attended :)

and me on Halloween!

Les Journées Patrimoine

In 1984, the Ministry of Culture started a tradition known as Les Journées Patrimoine (Heritage Days). Every third weekend in September, is Les Journées Patrimoine (yes, I know very behind on the blogging ... I do apologize), which is a weekend full of opportunities to visit buildings, monuments and sites, which are normally not accessible to the public.

Of course, I thought this was a brilliant idea to wake up at 6:00AM on a Saturday to visit the Palais de l'Elysée (Nicolas & Carla Sarkozy home - basically the equivalent to the White House). I was to meet a group of strangers at 7:00AM to wait in line. As what often happens to newcomers (or at least to me) I got a little lost ... so I arrived a little late ... oops! Regardless, I was welcomed with lots of smiles and got to cut in line. :)

An opportunity to visit places normally inaccessible to the public only translates to one thing. Translation - very very very long lines. It's September, at least the weather is nice ... wrong! It was freezing! We were so cold that some of us were starting to turn purple.

After a little over 5 hours, I got to see the Palais de l'Elysée and made some new friends, so all in all a great day! Though, I did not make it to any other significant buildings, monuments, or sites, and opted for lunch and macaroons instead.

Here are some super exclusive pictures of the Palais de l'Elysée.

Oh, did I mention ... that I met Nicolas and Carla too ;)