This weekend has been a little strange, but I can't put my finger on why. Had a nice day shopping with J on Saturday. We wandered down Rue de Rivoli, bought boots and had a very nice smoked salmon pizza. We went to Gallerie Lafayette, pushed our way through the crowds and gazed at the things that we couldn't afford.
On Saturday night I went to Cafe Soufflot with D and L for a girls night out. We drank Cote de Rhone and ate gorgeous cheese while we sat and chatted the evening away. The weather was mild and we were able to see the Patheon from where we sat.
On Sunday I went to the fresh food market with J at La Motte-Piquet Grenelle. The sounds and smells were unbelievable. I bought the following: a big lump of Roquefort, some raisin and nut bread, fresh butter, mushrooms, baby potatoes and herb sausages. When I got back to my apartment I set about enjoying some of these gourmet treats, the nut bread was delicious. We ended the weekend with a trip to the cinema to see the Brothers Grimm, the new Terry Gilliam film. It is hilarious.
Next weekend, I have decided that I need some Anne time. I have galleries that I want to visit, cafes I shall frequent and sleep to be processed. And I will do it alone. People are fabulous, but solitude is bliss.
"No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learnng his true and hidden strength"
Jack Kerouac
" When they are alone they want to be with others and when they are with others they want to be alone. After all, human beings are like that"
Gertrude Stein
October 10, 2005
October 07, 2005
Big park, Little park
The little kids spend their lunchtimes in the park near the school. We walk along a dusty path through a boulevard made of trees to the little park for the littlest ones and further along the dusty path to the big park for the biggest ones.
With October crashing headlong into Autumn, with no plans for turning back, there are massive piles of leaves everywhere that the kids are desperate to jump into. As for me, I am obsessed. Littering the ground are fat shiny conkers. No-body in France plays conkers, so no-body picks them up. People in the UK love the green spiky shells that cover the dark horse chesnuts, and you never see them on the ground. Kids go hunting with a big stick, ready to beat them down well before they ever decide to drop.
Maybe it is the little Yorkshire girl in me, but I would love to fill my tiny apartment with the glossy chocolate brown chestnuts that I see everywhere.I would have bowls and bowls of them, preferably shining in the light of an open fire. For the moment I am content to sneak one into my pocket, feeling it and watching till the gloss goes and the shine has faded.
"Autumn, the years last, loveliest smile"
William Cullen Bryant
With October crashing headlong into Autumn, with no plans for turning back, there are massive piles of leaves everywhere that the kids are desperate to jump into. As for me, I am obsessed. Littering the ground are fat shiny conkers. No-body in France plays conkers, so no-body picks them up. People in the UK love the green spiky shells that cover the dark horse chesnuts, and you never see them on the ground. Kids go hunting with a big stick, ready to beat them down well before they ever decide to drop.
Maybe it is the little Yorkshire girl in me, but I would love to fill my tiny apartment with the glossy chocolate brown chestnuts that I see everywhere.I would have bowls and bowls of them, preferably shining in the light of an open fire. For the moment I am content to sneak one into my pocket, feeling it and watching till the gloss goes and the shine has faded.
"Autumn, the years last, loveliest smile"
William Cullen Bryant
October 06, 2005
Play Misty for me
The whole is Paris is covered in a white mist. When I got off the bus this morning, I could see less than half of the Eiffel Tower. Everything looks wrong, too hard and too cold.
We are really into the swing of Autumn now, when the wind nips your face and it is cold outside instead of just being mild like it was a couple of weeks ago. I got all my scarves out the other day, and today I am wearing a bright orange and goldy colour pashmina, to bring some sunshine into my world.
When I look at my scarves more than anything else, I am reminded how lucky I have been in my travels. There are scarves from New York, Warsaw, York, Hereford, Paris, Rome. Each one was a gift that makes me remember a friend, or think of a little market in the back streets of Italy. On a day like today, I need all the help that I can get.
"Colours, like features, follow the changes of the emotions"
Pablo Picasso
We are really into the swing of Autumn now, when the wind nips your face and it is cold outside instead of just being mild like it was a couple of weeks ago. I got all my scarves out the other day, and today I am wearing a bright orange and goldy colour pashmina, to bring some sunshine into my world.
When I look at my scarves more than anything else, I am reminded how lucky I have been in my travels. There are scarves from New York, Warsaw, York, Hereford, Paris, Rome. Each one was a gift that makes me remember a friend, or think of a little market in the back streets of Italy. On a day like today, I need all the help that I can get.
"Colours, like features, follow the changes of the emotions"
Pablo Picasso
October 05, 2005
24
Whilst living in Poland, my friend Jo and I identified a horrific and widespread disease. This affliction affects huge portions of the ex-pat community and was only recently discovered. We named this disease 'DVD box set syndrome'.
This awful malady takes the form of obsession about a particular TV series over a short period of time. As sufferers are outside of the safe weekly TV dosage areas of their native countries, they are subject to bouts of purchasing whole series in a 'box set'. When this occurs, those afflicted begin to watch said series innocently enough. The end result however, is a bloody and vile process which finishes only 2-3 days after the box set has begun and the victim has become gorged on the TV series. Further development will be inevitable, with high cost purchase of the remaining series, and thus the process will be repeated.
I myself have become victim to this disease. having innocently bought series 4 of 24, I thought that I would be OK. In fact, I watched an episode this morning at 6.30, while getting ready for work. I thought that I was strong enough, that I would be OK. But it turns out that I am weak, I have no power. When I get home I will have to watch more episodes, until I get to the end. Only Jack Bauer can save me now.
"Art may imitate life, but life imitates TV"
Ani DiFranco
"Television has brought back murder into the home, where it belongs"
Alfred Hitchcock
This awful malady takes the form of obsession about a particular TV series over a short period of time. As sufferers are outside of the safe weekly TV dosage areas of their native countries, they are subject to bouts of purchasing whole series in a 'box set'. When this occurs, those afflicted begin to watch said series innocently enough. The end result however, is a bloody and vile process which finishes only 2-3 days after the box set has begun and the victim has become gorged on the TV series. Further development will be inevitable, with high cost purchase of the remaining series, and thus the process will be repeated.
I myself have become victim to this disease. having innocently bought series 4 of 24, I thought that I would be OK. In fact, I watched an episode this morning at 6.30, while getting ready for work. I thought that I was strong enough, that I would be OK. But it turns out that I am weak, I have no power. When I get home I will have to watch more episodes, until I get to the end. Only Jack Bauer can save me now.
"Art may imitate life, but life imitates TV"
Ani DiFranco
"Television has brought back murder into the home, where it belongs"
Alfred Hitchcock
October 04, 2005
Tagged Part 2
I got tagged by AKR and D from http://dna-insing.blogspot.com/. Turns out that they think that I am suitable for a meme. I always get so flattered that anyone is cyber space tags me, so I must respond.
The meme is as follows:
1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.
My sentence is...."I have sat in that small room for over 22 hours"
Cryptic, isn't it! It is from the post 'Exams are over, Paris is coming'.
I would like to tag, Sensibly Stoned, Pseudo Intellectual lunatic, Kinuk, Nige and Franje. Have a good day all.
The meme is as follows:
1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.
My sentence is...."I have sat in that small room for over 22 hours"
Cryptic, isn't it! It is from the post 'Exams are over, Paris is coming'.
I would like to tag, Sensibly Stoned, Pseudo Intellectual lunatic, Kinuk, Nige and Franje. Have a good day all.
My first strike
Today marks the very special occaision of my first public strike in France. In a country rivalled only by Italy in its making political protest through strike action, I have managed to go a whole 6 weeks without becoming affected by the workers.
The Metro and buses are running, but only 1 in 3, or less. My metro line is packed to the gills at 7.30, so you work out what it must have been like with triple the amount of people on there. I decided to skip the metro altogether and go for bus 82, which drops me off at the Trocadero. From there it is only five minutes to the school.
I had this thing about the bus in Warsaw. If I am on a bus, I just want to stay on it. I would be happy riding around for hours, staring out of the window and not going to work. Looks like I have the same thing in Paris. Is this telling me something about buses, or something about work?
"Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do"
Oscar Wilde
"Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies"
Albert Camus
The Metro and buses are running, but only 1 in 3, or less. My metro line is packed to the gills at 7.30, so you work out what it must have been like with triple the amount of people on there. I decided to skip the metro altogether and go for bus 82, which drops me off at the Trocadero. From there it is only five minutes to the school.
I had this thing about the bus in Warsaw. If I am on a bus, I just want to stay on it. I would be happy riding around for hours, staring out of the window and not going to work. Looks like I have the same thing in Paris. Is this telling me something about buses, or something about work?
"Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do"
Oscar Wilde
"Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies"
Albert Camus
October 03, 2005
Weekend with the boys
Saturday night was spent at a little Polish restaurant in the Marais area called Le Raviallac. I ate pierogi ruskie and drank cherry vodka, and it was a fantastic evening. I felt a little bit bad, falling onto the Polish comfort food. Like those british people who insist on eating a big fry up, no matter where they are in the world. In reality, I was with J, English and B, Danish. We were eating Polish food in a place in France, really, how European can you get?
It was good to have a walk around the Marais. B has wanted to go for a while but it is across the river from where we live and we haven't got around to it yet. This is where the uber cool youth of Paris come to see and be seen. And I have to say that the streets are filled with fabulous places to eat and drink. Although money and beauty may be required, and I don't have either.
On Sunday, I went to the Museum of the Middle Ages with J. This is very close to where I live and I walk past every morning on my way to work. This is my favourite museum in Paris so far, although I do like all of them. This one is housed in such an amazing place, that it has quite an impact. Holding religious, social and architectural pieces, the museum has a jewel in its crown. The lady and the unicorn is a 6 piece 13th century tapestry. The guidebook called in 'mysterious and allegorical'. I just thought that it was astounding.
"Food is our common ground, a universal experience"
James Beard
"I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose"
Woody Allen
It was good to have a walk around the Marais. B has wanted to go for a while but it is across the river from where we live and we haven't got around to it yet. This is where the uber cool youth of Paris come to see and be seen. And I have to say that the streets are filled with fabulous places to eat and drink. Although money and beauty may be required, and I don't have either.
On Sunday, I went to the Museum of the Middle Ages with J. This is very close to where I live and I walk past every morning on my way to work. This is my favourite museum in Paris so far, although I do like all of them. This one is housed in such an amazing place, that it has quite an impact. Holding religious, social and architectural pieces, the museum has a jewel in its crown. The lady and the unicorn is a 6 piece 13th century tapestry. The guidebook called in 'mysterious and allegorical'. I just thought that it was astounding.
"Food is our common ground, a universal experience"
James Beard
"I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose"
Woody Allen
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