Sweet Success...A Camel is Named!

NOTE:  As of January 17, 2012, I have moved my blog to my new website:  www.onegirlsadventures.com

I will still be doing duplicate posts on this website for the next 6 months or so, but plan to close it down after that.  I am hoping you can go to my new website and subscribe!!

MERCI BEAUCOUP!
*****

This morning I woke up and wiped the sweat from my brow.  A February heat wave in Paris, you ask? Nope, it was a frigid 24° Fahrenheit when I popped my eyes open. Perhaps the apartment was much too warm?  Never! I have decided the French don't believe in insulation. The windows seep so much cold air that I chill my Sancerre wines under them. The drafts drive me and my derrière  to firmly attach ourselves to one of the old water-heated radiator units anytime I am upright.   No, alas both are not true. The reason  my heart went racing this morning was none other than an important, pending decision: What name will I chose for my camel!?  (Dah dah dah dah)

Thanks to the incredibly creative effort of my friends and family, I gathered up the 30+ names submitted to my camel-naming contest and headed to a place that was sure to produce clarity of thought and decisiveness, the famed patisserie of the great and legendary chef de patisserie, Jaques Genin! On y va!

Before combing through the names, I ordered a little somethin' somethin' to sustain myself through the arduous task.  Jacques Genin creates a Baba au Rhum that is so special he refuses to allow anyone on his team other than himself to create it.  Soaked in 30 year old rum and topped with decadent vanilla Chantilly, this cake dessert has been described as "meditative".  Hmmm, sounds perfect!  Uh, what, Madame Serveure? Monsieur Genin does not make the Baba the entire month of January...including the first day of February? Oh la la (although most French would use the catch-all "Putain" here)! I guess I will take a tarte au citron instead. *sniff*

Slightly pouting, I started to sift through the names.

Tawny, Jewel, Belle. Ah, so cute!

Lady, Jolie, Creamsicle. Lovely!

Sandy.

Sandy again. Popular!

So is Camela.

Casino. Huh?

Chewie. Double Huh? Alright, I am open minded.

I added all to the list.  

Gigi, Mona, Passepartout. ADORE!

Oh, this is going to be harder than I thought!

Clementine, Chameau.....

The tarte au citron arrived at the most perfect moment...I needed the break.

Ideal thinking food!

Although I wasn't fated to experience the fabled Baba au Rhum this afternoon, nothing that Jacques Genin produces is less than memorable.  His tarte au citron masterfully balanced the flavor of lemon and a hint of basil (oui! basilic!).  The texture was light and creamy and the crust so delightful that I think I let out a little whimper after the last bite. And to top it all off, he served it with two of his scrumptious chocolates. Magnifique!

The crust, being the color of camel fur(?), jolted me back to my duty at hand...

With the list of names by my side, fork and knife in hand and a sizable bite of citron goodness in my mouth, I started the serious task of contemplation.  Oh, but there are so many I like! How do I decide? Is there one that inspires me over the rest? 

I came to the conclusion that the process is a bit  like shoe shopping in Paris!  There are too many to chose from and, worse, too many I like!  How is it even possible to chose just one!  My brow furrowed with fret, I took another bit.

Then it hit me! It is JUST like shoe shopping in Paris...and what happens when I can't make up my mind between two incredibly indispensable, unforgettable, perfect pair of shoes that literally speak to me when I try them on? It is obvious...I chose them both.  Or in the case of the no-longer-nameless camel, I chose all 4!

So it is with much pleasure and pride I present to you.....*drum roll*

CHARLOTTE "BON VIVANT" DJENNÉ  from the SAHARA

For short, she will go by "Bonbon" (which also means candy in French).

My bevy of creative geniuses include Mark, Dayna, Brynn, Drew, Amy, Vincent and Mom....all will have something postmarked from Paris in their mailboxes by the end of this month!  Félicitations!

Thank you to everyone for indulging me with your participation and wonderful ideas.  Each one was received with sincere delight.

On the metro ride home, after Bonbon's name had been chosen and the final crumb scrapped from my porcelain plate, I sat across from two young boys speaking Arabic. They were enthusiastically counting and recounting stacks of used metro tickets. Their tallying seemed like a sort of competition so I reached in my pocket and pulled out all the used ones I could find and handed them to the youngest boy (whose pile looked the most pathetic). His eyes lit up and he heartily grabbed my hand and said, "Shukran" and "Salam Alaikum" (Thank you and Peace be Upon You).  Likely coming from a country near or in the Sahara, I thought this young boy wrapped up my sentiments exactly as I now close this camel naming contest....SHUKRAN and SALAM ALAIKUM!

Bonne nuit! Biz!

Catacombs and Cocktails

NOTE:  As of January 17, 2012, I have moved my blog to my new website:  www.onegirlsadventures.com

I will still be doing duplicate posts on this website for the next 6 months or so, but plan to close it down after that.  I am hoping you can go to my new website and subscribe!!

MERCI BEAUCOUP!
*****

While my camel continues to wander the deserts of  Blogland nameless (see my last post if you are scratching your head right now), I decided to visit the bones of over 6 million Parisian residents in the Paris Catacombs. Yep, that is right, 6 million skeletons...and most are elegantly stacked and artfully presented like only the French would think to do.

However, I learned today that the bones weren't always so well organized nor were the catacombs, originally an old limestone and gypsum mine, the first  place of rest for most of the quiet inhabitants.  Over the course of 3 hours and a 2km walk, I discovered for myself the interesting history of a small segment of this underworld which stretches for miles and miles and whose history dates back to the 12th century.

The Lion of Belfort in Place Denfert Rochereau guarding the entrance to the Catacombs!

I entered the catacombs via the tourist entrance on Avenue René Coty in the 14eme arrondissement.  Had I perhaps been feeling above the law (entrance into the catacombs became illegal in 1955) or not wanting to rent the 3 Euro Audioguide :), I would have found a more clandestine entrance to the subterranean maze joining the ranks of other off-beat adventurers, mysterious vagabonds and renegade artists.   Next time!

At the end of the 18th century, when the catacombs were first selected to serve as an ossuary, they were situated just outside of the city limits.  Uh, that is not the case today! The 30 minute walk from my apartment took me down the busy Rue Raspail past bustling cafes, gorgeous Haussmannian buildings and monument-dotted places... clearly a much different site than the sparsely populated suburbia that would have been here just over 200 years ago.

These are the narrow limestone-walled corridors that I winded through during the first part of the visit. They are original to the mine and reinforced in the 18th century...thank goodness!

I descended 130 steps to a depth of 20 meters below Paris' surface.  Here I was below the sewer systems, water pipes and all metro tunnels. I landed in a well- lit room with wall-displays summarizing the near 1000 year history of the quarries. Since the 12th century, limestone from these  mines was used to build the likes of Notre Dame and the Louvre. In 1777, after major accidents that caused streets to cave-in and Parisiens to die, a Royal Council was created and a major reinforcement project was started as a means to protect the mines and the city above. It was in 1785 that the les carrières de Paris took on a whole new purpose.

Just a brief history of why the catacombs/ossuary exist today...

Starting in the 10th century, Paris buried their dead at the local church cemeteries.  The Cimentiere des Saints-Innocents in today's Les Halles district (1eme arrondissement) was the largest.  And after nearly 700 years of burials there (and without the ability to expand in its urban setting) the cemetery became overwhelmed.  Health and sanitary conditions for the residents around Les Halles became unbearable and deadly.  Due to public outcry, Saints-Innocents was closed in 1780 and King Louis XVI was asked to come up with a solution. Five years later, working at the expected speed of a government official, it was determined that all human remains would be removed from Paris cemeteries and deposited in the quarries.

For decades, priests could be seen at night leading processions of bone-filled carts covered in black veils into the mines.  They were spread chaotically at first on the quarry floors.  It wasn't until 1810 that they began being stacked in their more celebrated presentation of today.

An an example of the bountiful wall inscriptions in the quarries that helped keep workers oriented with the world above.

Before arriving at the ossuary portion of the quarries, I weaved through over a kilometer of dark, damp limestone pathways.  Sprucing up the otherwise mundane walls from time to time were inscriptions either noting the old name of the street above me (Avenue de Montsouris does not exist today) or letter and number formulas  indicating the year a particular section had been reinforced and the initials of the engineer who led the effort.  It was nice seeing a lot of those inscriptions! 

The first surprise down in the catacombs was a wonderful miniature sculpture of a fortress from the island of Minorca.  It was created by a quarryman named Dècure during the reinforcement work effort that started in 1777.  While other workers would go to the surface to eat, drink and rest, Dècure would stay down in the quarries working on his limestone memoirs (he was a member of Louis XV's army and was believed to have been held prisoner on the island by the English).  The horrible part of his story is that once he completed the sculptures and started working on a staircase for people to come down to enjoy them, a part of the quarry collapsed and killed him!   *sigh* Nothing like a sad tale to get you in the mood to see a bunch of dead people. :(  Notice in the above picture how I am trying to look as lively as possible...I don't want to be mistaken for one of the 6 million permanent residences down here!

Another one of Dècure's beautiful, intricate sculptures.

Following the limestone brick road...

A well deep in the catacombs with water so clear that workman would once fill their buckets with it and think they were empty...looks a bit more murkier now :).

At the top of this magnificent arched walkway was the entrance to the ossuary. Cue scarey-music track :)

And then, je suis arrivé!

Above the entrance framed by two stone pillars with simple geometric shapes, was a cautionary engraving ...

"ARRÊTE, C'EST ICI L'EMPIRE DE LA MORT"                                          

 (Stop! This is the empire of death!)

I entered.

My first glimpse of the stacked bones.

I was surrounded!  And I would be for the next 783 meters of my walk.  I don't think I was prepared for that many skulls and femurs...really.

Skulls in a shape of a heart. Clever.

No one has a headstone. In these halls, famous and common, rich and poor, all are anonymous and all lay peacefully together. However, when I descended there was a list of the prominent French buried in the catacombs.  The one that stood out most to me was: L'homme au masque de fer, décédé 1703 (The man in the iron mask, deceased 1703).  I also found it interesting that the engineer who originally led the quarry reinforcement and ossuary projects, Alexandre Lenoir, was among the unidentified.

One of the many decorative details in the catacombs.

Beginning in 1785, the catacombs were at first just a bone repository.  It wasn't until 1810 that Héricart de Thury, a new General Inspector of Quarries in the Empire, had the bones all arranged in an orderly fashion.  The skulls and long bones were used to create decorative facades while the remaining bones were heaped behind them. Tombstone and cemetery decorations completed the wall of bones along with placards identifying specific parish cemeteries and the date their bones were placed.  The ossuary was opened to the public at the beginning of the 19th century...and attracted quite a few folks!

Prior to this picture, I was being beckoned into a dark corner by someone.  All I could hear was a, "Psst! Psst!", and all I could see was a shadowy figure with a finger motioning me closer. Uh, Yikesville!!  Must walk faster.

The journey through the catacombs was damp and cool...sometimes downright cold.  In the heart of it I often found myself all alone.  In those moments I did my best to stop, reflect and remember all the lives that these bones represented.  To be honest, it got a bit overwhelming.  By the time I had completed my walk, I had a full on stomach ache.

The fragility of human life was constantly reinforced in these halls.  Plaques like the one above held quotes from authors, poets and The Bible that most often were a reminder of our mortality. Pictured is an excerpt of one of Rosseau's writings.

Here are a few of the quotes I captured:

Si vous avez vu quelque fois mourir une homme, considerez toujours que le mêmes sort vous attend. (If you have seen a man die a few times, always remember that the same fate awaits you.) 

Pensez la matin que vous n'irez peut-être pas jusques au soir et au soir que vous n'irez peut-être pas jusques au matin.  (Think in the morning that you will not arrive to the evening and in the evening that you will not arrive to the morning.)

Can you understand the stomach ache now!?

The oldest artifact in the Catacombs. This "Sepulchral Lamp," once used by the quarrymen, use to hold a fire. The burning fire created a draft allowing air to circulate in the corridors.

This was one of those corners where it was just me.  The water dripping from the ceiling was all that broke the silence....

This monument commemorates victims of a riot that were part of a series of riots that led up to the French Revolution.  Those who died in this massacre (as well as 2 others) are among the few people who were ever directly buried in the Catacombs.

Final glimpse of the macabre scene before I headed back to a land I was more familiar with!

I ascended the 83 steps and took a big breath of fresh air! But, drat it all! It was rainy and grey when I walked out onto the small rue next to the exit, so definitely NOT less gloomy then the bone labyrinth I had just completed.  I tried to re-coop a more convivial spirit by browsing the toy eyeballs and les petits squelettes (skeleton) magnets in the “Comptior des Catacombes” boutique across the street, but walking back to the metro and then down in it, all I could think about was how everyone I was looking at, the lovers kissing next to me, the tourists studying their maps, the 2 north Africans conversing, me as well as everyone I know, will one day too enter the “empire of the dead.”   Okay, time to turn this frown upside down! Cocktails anyone?

I headed to a bar said to have the BEST mojitos in Paris, Pixel Bar in Saint Germain!  But, alas, it was closed :(....no note on the door or anything.  I hope the bartender didn't die! Oh, I must get these thoughts out of my mind!!  Off to bar #2 that is said to have the SECOND BEST mojitos in Paris, L'Atlas, also in Saint Germain (actually I jest...they aren't known for their mojitos or anything for that matter, but their fresh fish display is always lovely which was reason enough to for me to walk in!)

Ah, just what I needed!

I took my spot at the bar and placed my mojito order!  My friendly bartender took great care to mix what he hoped I would pronounce as the BEST mojito in Paris.  It was delicious.  Now I was really returning to the land of the living....and the smile was growing.  Enjoying the atmosphere, I ordered a piping hot bowl of the moules-frites (but sans frites).  A serveur brought me a beautiful mound of small-shelled mussels drenched in a savory wine sauce.  They meat was so delicate and sweet...and as I was declaring this to my bartender he told me they came from Normandy near Mount Saint Michel. Double smile.

These guys found their eternal resting spot in the catacombs of my stomach!

Uh oh, stomach ache again! But this one was not from over-contemplating my morality...no, this one was from over-indulging on the bounties of life.  I ate too much! :)  Oh well, all too real was today's lesson: one day I literally will be a pile of bones...so might as well put a little meat on them now!

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."

Final Note: Walking to class this morning (2 days after visiting the catacombs), I came upon 3 young men on the street corner.  Clad in survival gear including backpacks, flashlights and rubber boots, they were covered in a light cream-colored mud and exchanged excited glances and exhilarated speech.  Had they just returned from a jaunt into Paris' underbelly?  I think it is highly probable.

Name the Camel Contest on my NEW WEBSITE!

NOTE:  As of January 17, 2012, I have moved my blog to my new website:  www.onegirlsadventures.com

I will still be doing duplicate posts on this website for the next 6 months or so, but plan to close it down after that.  I am hoping you can go to my new website and subscribe!!

MERCI BEAUCOUP!

**The below post references my new website**

Tah Dah!!  WELCOME!! I am excited to introduce you to my new website!!  *Jen jumping up and down with big smile*

It was a goal of mine to move my blog over to my own website address with my own logo...so here she is :)!  What do you think?!

The official logo of One Girl's Adventures! Yippee!

Since I abandoned my usual routine of  patisserie shop hopping, café exploring and most socializing in general these past two weeks to get this little time-vacuum up and running, I don't have my usual repertoire of stories with which to regale my devote audience.  And I am certain you don't want to read about how the sun light changes in my room from morning to early afternoon  or how I chose between 30 degrees or 40 degrees on the washing machine when I have a dirty pile of socks to tend to or how I have noticed a little mildew build-up in my shower (which I plan to take care of Thursday!).  Yeah, pretty sure you don't want to read about any of  that...just call me clairvoyant.

HOWEVER, you may want to help me!  In fact this morning in the shower, before I was distracted by the mildew, I was thinking how the cute camel in my new logo needs a name!  I started to brainstorm (cuz I do my best thinking in the shower), and decided that instead of going at this grand task alone, I would ask my friends and family for their ideas.  Hmmm, maybe I could have a contest? Of course!  Yes! A CONTEST TO NAME THE CAMEL!  What a great way to kick-off my new website (and more importantly get a few emails from someone other than Pottery Barn and Groupon).

Rest assured, there will be a PRIZE!

How to participate:

1) Send me as many submissions as you would like.  You can post them in the comments or email them to me at jen@onegirlsadventures.com (<- also found under the "Contact Me" page).  I am a sucker for a good story...so if you have a compelling reason why you chose a particular camel name, please include it.

2) Submit your entries by midnight Paris time on Tuesday, January 31st. I will chose my favorite camel name on Wednesday, Feb 1.

3) Make sure you have your name with the submission...not just the camel name. I sure can't send a prize to "anonymous."

4) I kinda feel like the camel is a girl. This thought really shouldn't be a bullet point under "How to Participate", but I am leaving it as one anyway.

There you go! Eazy Peazy! So go put on your creativity cap and get me some emails!!  The winning entry will receive a nice Parisien present (gender appropriate, of course...and not a baguette).

Bon Chance! *

*I am easily persuaded by cash

Bonne Année 2012! Happy New Year 2012!

NOTE:  As of January 17, 2012, I have moved my blog to my new website:  www.onegirlsadventures.com

I will still be doing duplicate posts on this website for the next 6 months or so, but plan to close it down after that.  Please go to my new website and subscribe!!

MERCI BEAUCOUP!

****

"Be always at war with your vices,

At peace with your neighbors,

And let each new year find you a better man."

- Benjamin Franklin

"..or woman."

- Jen Jedda

My prediction? It is going to be a great year.  I have no indicators that suggest its greatness other than it feels like it is going to be...which is enough for me! So lets get this year started!

Although I predict greatness for the year, I can't say I have lived up to its standards these first 4 days. I have mostly spent them in recovery mode from my trip back to the USA.  I have managed to get to the grocery store to restock my milk-that-doesn't-need-refrigeration supply, chevre, brown eggs and salami. Oh, I did buy fruit too.  But overall much time has been spent napping as well as in personal contemplation over what is worse, a hangover or jet lag (FYI - jet lag is winning the internal debate). I expect to be back on track tomorrow...which I have been saying for the past 3 days. *sigh*

Before all the great adventures of 2012 began, how about a little glimpse of Christmas in the town I grew-up! To quote myself as a 10 year old, even though I wasn't "Made in Montana, my personality was!"  So now you know who/where to blame... 

Main Street

 Hamilton, Montana

USA

Population 3,800

Founded 1890

If you are thinking, "Wow! This street looks wide enough to turn around a carriage pulled by 6 horses!" 

Then you are exactly right! The town's founder and copper magnet, Marcus Daly, made that specification when he had the city plans drawn up. Pretty sure he was the only resident with a carriage pulled by 6 horses back then...but heck, that is the joy of founding your own town, right!?

The mountains in the background are the Bitterroot Mountains.

Supposedly my Mom is waving at me from one of the street corners in this picture...but I still don't see her.

Christmas decorations next to the Post Office.

Right across from this spot is the town's favorite coffee shop, River Rising.

For $2.15 I am guaranteed a great cappuccino and to run into one of my old high school teachers or a parent of an old classmate. Around the holidays when a lot of people come home, I am particularly on the look out for old crushes or boyfriends. Usually I only see them after I have worked out and without make-up or a shower...brilliant. 

Ah, where I come from cleverness abounds!

These are a few of the "Made in Montana" delights!

If you can't read them, the first says, " My aim is to keep this bathroom clean...your aim will help." and the second says, "Changing the toilet paper roll will not cause...any brain damage."

I suppose they have the same problems in Paris...just not sure if I have seen any little signs in French that I can perch in my bathroom to address them.

My best friend, Amy, and me!

High School freshman year Earth Science partners, tennis double partners and partners-in-crime :)...I am pretty sure there is nothing we don't giggle at when we are together!

We had just come back from the new Brewery that opened in Hamilton (major event in town!)...and I am showing off the Bûche de Noël I made with love and only 3 ingredients (chocolate, butter and pureed chestnuts!). My Mom cut out the stencils for me to create the cute little holly leaf on top with colored sugar.

Coming home at midnight, this is what I usually found in my parents' living room...all 3 kitties sleeping on one chair! Besides Moe (the grey faced one) looking a bit strangled, the set-up looked rather cozy.

Perhaps they have become so close from all the camping trips that my parents bring them on...er, yes, you read that right...all 3 kitties regularly go camping with my parents.  Leashes are involved and everything.

I have just embarrassed my Dad :).

My Dad's favorite Christmas gift! A generator!

No longer does he need to haul the tree branches and logs near the house to power saw them into small pieces for the fire....he can go to them!  It will also be handy for recharging the batteries in their 22 foot camper trailer....DVDs and popcorn all night long now while deep in the wilderness! Hurray!

I was privileged enough to get a demo of this gas-powered device that might be even classified as "slick" (<-- my Dad's favorite word for any item he thinks is totally out of this world cool).

In this picture Dad is standing in front of his garden (which my parents call "the compound")...it is surrounded by an 8 foot tall fence to keep the deer out.  And it works.

The view I enjoy while sweating on the treadmill at the local club, Canyons.

So there you go...that is where I spent Christmas! And if you couldn't tell by the pictures, it is also where the sporting goods and livestock feed supply stores are the largest stores in town and where everyone does their Christmas shopping. It is where one can hear a response of "No, Ma'am. I am helpless." when asked by a shop clerk if "you need any help?" It is where the men at the local brewery talk about their latest elk hunting trips and the women warn their girlfriends not to date smoke jumpers. It is where the local take-out pizza shop posts about "the reason for the season," and the local satellite shop gives a free gun away with purchase. It is where everyone waves and greet one other and where friends look out for friends and strangers look out for strangers. It is a place that is as special as it is beautiful, and it is where I grew up!

Happy New Year, everyone! 

Christmas Time in Paris!

NOTE:  As of January 17, 2012, I have moved my blog to my new website:  www.onegirlsadventures.com

I will still be doing duplicate posts on this website for the next 6 months or so, but plan to close it down after that.  Please go to my new website and subscribe!!

MERCI BEAUCOUP!

****

I just walked in the door from a final shopping trip before I head HOME for Christmas!!  Yoot, yoot! I ran out to pick up the quintessential French holiday fare, foie gras, at the bustling La Grande Epicerie to share with my family and also headed to the 3eme to one of Paris' best chocolatiers, Jacques Genin, for his "to die for" pates de fruits (delicious fruit gel squares covered with sugar that literally make you mouth dance when you eat one...amazing!) and his caramels.  I did buy those to share with my family too....but we will see if they make the plane trip. It takes many hours to cross the Atlantic, and I may get very bored (my mouth may need to dance!!!).

Paris is beautiful.  And at Christmas time she is absolutely dazzling. With her streets dressed in twinkling lights, stores fronts covered with wreaths and red ribbons and windows created with the most detail and care to festivally entice each shopper with the perfect holiday cadeau (gift), I find that I have been just walking the streets to take in this "most wonderful time of the year."

Let me share some of the sights of my Paris at Christmas....

This is the Le Bon Marché next to my house in the 7eme.

Besides promoting Chanel bags and Yves Saint Laurent dresses, the windows this holiday season tell a lovely story about being more efficient with your energy use.  Because of them I learned the word for "light bulb" in French, ampoule.

Inside my favorite food store next door, La Grande Epicerie...

At Christmas time they become a bit like Costco cuz they are giving out free samples of all the wonderful Christmas foods and beverages! Oh la la!

My favorite display in the La Grande Epicerie. 

 I love all the chocolats de luxe with little Eiffel Tours and every other famous site in Paris so cutely painted on them!  You can catch me here just staring at all the pretty packaging...oui, c'est vrai!

More of my hood....

 

Clearly I have a thing with grocery stores because here is yet another picture of one!

This is the Monoprix that I frequent (Monoprix is a grocery store chain only found in France).

I wasn't sure how I felt about the pink and yellow trees so I took a picture of them.

They have been since replaced with pink and yellow twigs with ornaments...huh?

The Bûche de Noël at Hugo & Victor.

This traditional French holiday dessert is shaped as if it is a letter au Père Noël.

I am not certain exactly what are the contents of the letter, but the traditional bûche de noël is literally butter, chocolate and one other ingredient....so a bit heavy as you can imagine (but sooo delicious).

I am guessing extra postage will be required to get this puppy to the north pole :)...

(the cost of this decadent creation is 78 Euro...so I guess I was right, the postage is expensive!)

My favorite boulangerie just up Rue de Bac!

I was impressed with all the bows on the local dry cleaning shop....

Santa all cozy with the flowers at Tony's flower shop.

Looks good enough to eat!

Flower shops in Paris always have the most beautiful displays...here is one on Boulevard Raspail behind my apartment.

This is the entry way to my apartment building!

I was sooooo delighted to wake up to these decorations this week.

Our gardien put decorations like this throughout the entire building!

Out and about in Paris it looks like....

Christmas isn't only seen or felt in the streets of Paris, the metro is very much teaming with "pub noël"  and metro patrons sporting Santa hats. This particular advertisement is promoting a watch with the image of "Le Petit Prince" which is a famous children's story written in French.  The book was recently given to me (in French) by one of my French friends...and I promised to read it over my Christmas vacation!! Needless to say the French-English dictionary is already packed!!

Just like home...the Salvation Army (L'Armée du Salut in French) rings their bells here too.

This is outside the entrance to the Les Galeries Lafayette.

Les Vitrines des Galeries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussman.

This year the theme is "Noël Rock'n Mode avec les Kouklistars."

The windows are a series of girl rock band puppets , The Kouklistars, getting ready for a concert.

You can see them bounce around to music as they get their hair and makep-up done in one window, dressed for the big revue in another and finally jamming in front of a little poupée (doll) audience!

Their names are Charlotte, Désirée, Lucie and Madeleine....and crazy enough you can buy your very own Kouklistar inside!

In this picture a couple of children gaze from the little platforms built for them at all the scene details as the girls warm-up before the big show.

Here are Les Kouklistars rocking out!

The fans were going wild!

Still one of my favorite places in Paris, Place Vendome.

Its theme this Christmas, Promenade dans La Forêt Enchantée.

To me, with or without Christmas decorations, this Place is always enchanted....

A glimpse of the Champs Elysee.

Every 5 years they change the Christmas lights on this famous avenue....this year they chose a contemporary light display.  All the trees are encircled with 3 hoola hoop like rings that periodically change colors. Yep, it is kinda as horrible as it sounds :)....and Paris has 4 more years of it!

At the end of the Avenue in the Place de Concorde is La Grande Roue de Paris, a 60 meter tall ferris wheel that is set up during the holiday season.  For 8 Euro you can get a spectacular view of the city...although with all the wind recently not sure if I would go out of my way to do it.  My hair is bad enough this time of year!

A Christmas tree vendor over in the 17eme!

What a lovely man for indulging me with this picture!

As I was in line buying my caramels and pates de fruits today at Jacques Genin I saw this cute family unloading their sapin de Noël.  They probably had to walk up 6 flights of stairs to get it into their apartment and it probably now takes up 1/3 of their living space :)...ah, apartment life in Paris!

The 6 choir Christmas concert at the American Church in Paris.

Coolest part of this concert....they sang, "Doe a Deer!" (see last blog post for further reference :) )

The Living Nativity Scene last week at church.

Looks like little Mary would rather be someplace else...bed maybe?

Christmas is all about friends and family.

This is my English friend, Martin, and me after we toasted eachother and the season with a demi-bouteille de champagne before a night out at his favorite pizza restaurant along Canal St. Martin!

Martin and I met my second week in Paris in French class.  He is in Paris taking a year break from his bank job at HSBC in London. Our favorite topic of conversation, French men :)!  We will resume the conversation in the new year!

The hour draws late and my flight leaves in the morning. *sigh* In 12 hours I leave the fanciful decorated and sparkling rues of Paris for the simple lights and modest decor of my small hometown in Montana.  But I think, if possible, it will be more beautiful to me....home always is.

Joyeux Noël  from this "One Girl"!