Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Through a window 2x Avignon

The 13th century walls of the city on a cold winter morning. From the Grand Hotel

From the Hotel de l'Horloge.  Our quiet and narrow alleyway next to the city center.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

But I thought we were...


So my girlfriend whose birthday is in May just started planning.  Well, we might have forced planning to make sure everything goes accordingly and all necessary funding and/or gifts are in order.  It is her 30th. 
So either big party for a night or little party outside of Paris for a weekend.  She thinks little party.

Skip to 1 week later and train tickets for the month of May are on sale.  May has multiple Wednesday holidays and so everyone travels.  We should get tickets.  I call her to let her know, and she says this:

Going to Venice this month and then going to Thailand in April to fulfill my dream! So will be short on budget. 



Right, so change of plans.
And now I am mad.   
Maybe because she didn't tell me?  It is still 2 months away.
Because she isn't doing it with me? Maybe, I'm planning 2 months in advance so I can be there and everything goes great for her.
But she's doing what she has always wanted to do, so why am I not happy for her?

Add this to my other girlfriend who is only in town 3 weeks out of 6 and I barely get to see.  AND I'm feeling girlfriendless. 
Or better yet, full of French girlfriends.  See eachother 3 times a year and we're best friends.
Is this just adult life? 


Friday, February 22, 2013

Off to Avignon...


Our lover's weekend to Avignon has turned into me staying in a 4* hotel by myself.
Maybe the newly retired pope will come...
Maybe he'll bring his evil elf hat

Palace of the popes by JM Rosier


Valentine's

So Valentine's Day this year (which is the equivalent of a Hallmark Holiday here) was B in the hospital.  And me being the stellar girlfriend that I am, not coming to visit that day. But we planned for Saturday and he sent 5 roses for our 5 years - who knew he was so thoughtful?  And I was going to try and convince this little restaurant on our street to do take-out with my boyfriend-hurt-his-knee-and-just-got-out-of-the-hospital story. The phrase "doggie bag" is looked at with that snide French disgust - probably because the they don't feed you large portions.  What you are served is meant to be eaten during the meal itself.
But I ended up buying easy food at Picard since it was his first day out of the Clinic. 
Picard has elevated frozen food to an art form.  It was the first place I went when I arrived.  We got out of the taxi and put my bags in the apartment.  B left for work.  I looked around in a daze I just moved to France.  Woah. and then promptly took a nap.
3 hours later I went to the grocery store, but on my way passed a hospital-clean looking store with a snowflake monogram.  It was all full of chest freezer's (not upright).

Though I didn't buy anything that day (Paris-sized apartment with college-sized freezer.  Oh wait, not freezer ICE BOX attached to the top of our fridge).  Our modern day story ends with me not going to a restaurant, but coming home with this: 

(My celebration of this holiday rests firmly at the level of a 4th grader. So, you know, hearts, paper valentines, jelly lips) 
A starter of: foie gras with raspberry gelée or basil cream cheese with red pepper gelée.
 

Then: Gyoza, sticky rice with little sesame seeds and teriyaki chicken.

But it actually looks like it does in the picture. And shockingly tastes better than most restaurants


And we finished up with







Picard is the cadillac of frozen food

Monday, February 18, 2013

What do you even do?

Let's add Kris Humphries, LeAnn Rimes,  Mindy Mccready to the list "your celebrity personal life and fully eclipsed your celebrity job"...

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day

From the city of lights.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

99 Euro


Legos moving up in the world...



Friday, February 8, 2013

I am an emotional slut



I realized early on in Paris that I was an emotional slut.   
Perhaps because I grew up in an all female household or maybe because my dad is a therapist. Saying things out loud is a must. It makes things clearer, or at least more acceptable.
For example:  Parisian girls are all neurotic, scheming bitches who are frenemies.
See - now we can move on.

But your lifelong friends don't believe you.
How can ALL the Parisian girls be bitches?
How can all grocery stores close at 6pm? 
Why would a bank possibly require an interview to hold your money AND require you to pay them to do it?
And my personal favorite: that girl is not out to get you.  French girls are not as puritanical as we are.  It might be normal to walk around half-dressed in a thong and t-shirt in front of your boyfriend and her husband and kid.

So you need local friends (or alternately start a blog where even people you don't know can think you are crazy)
but friends take time
And no one has time, you need friends now.
And so maybe you go to lunch with one of your boyfriend's friend's wives.  And maybe she is experiencing the same thing.  And then you might feel the need to share more.
Which ends one of two ways - 1)both of you are sad saps in shock from all the nonsense going on around you. 
Or 2) she thinks you are total emotional slut who gave away WAY to much about herself.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Did you know?


Did you know that France doesn't include race in its census? 

Which might explain why they think this is a good representation of the population.

Why must you ruin your music for me?


Really?
Thank you for making your idiotic decisions completely eclipse my ability to enjoy your music/movies, etc. Rhianna, Britney, Whitney, Mel.  

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

People on the internet


My apologies for the dirty words. 

Monday, February 4, 2013

Oh Hopper!

I was so excited to go to see the Edward Hopper exhibit at 3a.m. and be by myself with an audio guide in front of all that. 
We got to the Grand Palais on Sunday morning at 2a.m. and found this
Only further confirming my theory of France's secret love for it's American spawn. 

Not willing to wait for 2h45 minutes through a hail storm, we cabbed it home. 

I hope we can meet face to face someday, Nighthawks...