Sunday, March 3, 2013

Things you don't expect to hear your boyfriend say at your girlfriend's house

In the kitchen helping decorate a cake for a 2 year old, I hear, plain as day, out of the mouth of my boyfriend:

Est-ce que ça te gêne si je me mets en slip?

"Do you mind if I am in my underwear?"

He doesn't even fight me anymore when I take the picture.  Just pulls up his thigh-highs.

Sundays are for....


city trains to the suburbs for birthday parties


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"...