My Italian Beach Holiday and Dottor Fish!

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 put on fuzzy socks to write this post. Yep, it is August 6...some would even say summertime....but apparently summer skipped Paris this year.  In fact, it is raining yet again outside...I hear the light drops of the rain on my bedroom window...maddening.

Paris has this crazy August tradition called "Paris-Plages"...where a beach, complete with sand and umbrellas, is created on the left and right banks of the Seine for all the Parisians stuck in a hot, humid, sticky city while their fellow city-dwellers are sun-bathing topless and happy seaside.  Well, this year it has been an absolute bust...I think the city has started handed out scarves and mittens and had the sand hauled away....ah, my Dad told me a million times not to exaggerate.

BUT I was able to escape all these sad clouds, if only for 7 days, and had one of the best European beach holidays I could ever imagine. My Italian family has a beach home in Finale Ligure, Liguria, Italy and graciously invited me to join them this year...an offer that I could absolutely not refuse! 

My first stop in route to Italian Riviera was the French Riviera...Nice! along the perfect Cote d'Azur.  The last time I was here, was on my honeymoon....so my time there was awash in a sea of memories.  So much can happen in 7 years....and has.

This is a view of all of Nice from the Parc Castel des deux Rois.

I took the petit train touristique up here...which have come a long way since my last tour through Cote d'Azur.  The train was complete with an audio guide in 10 languages. 

 I sat next to a little Italian girl and her father.  At the beginning of the tour I peaked over to see which language she had selected...to my surprise she selected #2 (English!) versus #4 (Italian!).  I love how multi-lingual everyone is here!

A few scenes from Nice's flower market...oh, how I wanted to buy a bouquet!

They actually were reasonable priced here (3Euro50 versus 25Euro in Paris!...the price you pay for sleeping with the Eiffel Tower...well, that is what they keep telling me).

Candied, dried fruit.

Fresh veggies!

...each morning in Nice I would enjoy a cappuccino at one of the outside cafes and then head to the market for a basket of fresh strawberries.  I would eat the strawberries as I walked the market, smelled all the lavender soaps, admired the baked goods and sampled jams.

During my one full day in Nice, I decided to head up to a magical, midieval village that I fell in love with 7 years before, Èze.  The bus up there was only 1 Euro...but whatever I saved on transportation costs, I quickly made-up for after my 4 course lunch at a one Michelin star restaurant with panoramic views of the Baie des Anges.

These are all the civilized patrons that I lunched with at the Château Eza on a near perfect Thursday afternoon.

My amuse bouche paired with the most lovely Chablis I have ever had.

This was my first duck in France!

I had been holding out for a place that I knew could make a statement with their canard...the flavors of fig, balsamic and gorgonzola with the duck were parfait.

I even ate that pretty little flower.

Absolutely content...

The wait staff could barely remove me from that balcony....I was completely and unmovably in love with the view and the little town.

A nice English man took this photo...he was at the table next to me with his French lover. :)

We all got on quite well.

An unobstructed shot of the majestic view....

The little winding pathways of the old village were beautifully and gracefully painted with bougainvillieas and other lush flowers and trees.

Pathway in Èze 

Decorative detail in the walls.

This is how Eze looks from a distance...I hope it doesn't take me another 7 years to get back.

Oh BTW, I waited for my 1 Euro bus ride back to Nice for over an hour....apparently schedules don't mean much on the ole French Riviera.

Nice in the evening!

This evening I took one last stroll along the Promenade des Anglais before heading back to my 16 chambres boutique hotel where my room had a shower...but no toilette :).  Don't worry, the community bathroom was quite clean and behind a pretty stained glass door.

The life of a girl on a fixed income :)...

Next stop Italy to spend some quality beach time with my Italian cousins!  I took 2 short train rides from Nice to Finale Ligure.  My first transfer was in Ventimiglia, Italy...oh, how big my smile was when I walked off the train to nothing but the melodic hums of the Italian language.  I was feeling so much joy to be there that I decided to grab a quick gelato at a little stand near the station.  At the counter I asked for a "coppa (Italian) avec (French) chocolate (Spanish)"...uh oh...the perils of learning multiple languages.

When I got off the train in Finale, I was greeted by the big smile of my 18 year old cousin, Susanna! She looked entirely beach-ready in her little pink, strapless terry-cloth dress over her swimsuit and perfect golden tan.  With luggage in tow, we walked the lungomare along the beach front to their 2 bedroom, 3rd floor (4th floor to me!) beach getaway.  At the apartment I was greeted by my other cousin, Cristina, who had just arrived from Torino to start her 4 week holiday!  Girls' week at the beach had began!

So although I can't keep my languages straight like a good European, I did learn within the 5 days with my cousins how to holiday like a good European.  We, Americans, have much to learn from this important tradition of rest and relaxation.

This was my view from our rented umbrella at the "Palm Beach" beach in Finale. 

My family rents this spot all summer...and every morning and afternoon they are out either sunbathing, Med- bathing or talking with friends under different umbrellas. 

Umbrellas and tanned bodies as far as the eye could see!

I loved our beach routine every day....

It went a bit like this: 

 9am-ish - wake up then have coffee and biscuits.  Put on swimsuit, grab sunscreen, a book and keys to unlock the bike.

10am-ish - hop on bikes, stop at the bakery where Cristina would put in the order for bread, stop at the news stand where Cristina would pick up the news paper, maneuver through the pedestrian walks and streets to get to the beach.

10:30-ish to 12:45-ish - Sunbathe, read and cool off in the sea when you got too hot!

1:00pm-ish - hop back on bikes to head home for lunch (as a note, the entire beach did this...as we walked out all were saying "ciao" and "bon appetito")

1:30 - 3:30pm - lunch was usually cured meats with fresh bread, fruit and salad...one day Susanna even made hot dogs!!  :) She was a bit nervous to make them for her American cousin (being the connoisseur I am!), but they turned out perfect.   Lunch followed by rest time at the apartment (well, for the two older women :)....Susanna would usually go meet friends right after lunch).  I would shower and Cristina would watch her favorite Italian soap.

3:30pm - 6:30pm - Back to the beach for Cristina to meet friends for coffee and general gossiping (the most important sport in Finale during the summer months!) and I would head to explore the town, beaches and shops...always returning to the umbrella around 6:30pm with some new treasure I had found.

Susanna putting her culinary skills to work!

The first 3 nights we did dinner in....this was a delicious meal of cheese and prociutto tortolini with homemade tomato sauce.  Italian food is so simple, but so delicious.

The last 2 nights we did meals out in the little villages in the hills around Finale (the perks of having the Fiat 500).

This evening Cristina, Susanna and I went to a little trattoria known for regional cuisine.

I had pesto and pasta, Cristina had raviolis in butter and sage sauce and Susanna had a beautiful meat dish with about 5 different meats and sausages.

After dinner Cristina would usually take me to explore some of the Riviera towns by night.

This one is Allasio.  We walked its popular bordella, drooled over shop windows (usually shoes) and enjoyed the parade of absolutely gorgeous people.  

Yes, the women in Paris are très chic and lovely, but frankly I haven't seen any as beautiful or as stylish as the majority of women I saw in Italy.  I am so happy to have some of the blood in me....even if it is a few generations back!

Me on one of my walks in Finale...I probably had to put down a shopping bag to take this shot.

Ahead is a little wine bar owned by a couple who moved permanently from Milan to Finale to pursue their passion of wine and seafood.  The serve Prosecco on tap and the proprieter offered me to try an "unforgettable" glass of one of the local wines, Vermentino....unforgettable, indeed.

The unbrellas everywhere were right out of a turn of the century travel poster.

This is one of about 5 churches I saw in Liguria...it is in Finale.

On this trip I decided definitively that Italy has the most beautiful church interiors...even in the little towns my jaw would drop walking into the chiesa

Yikes!  I woke up one morning to this huge moth STUCK to my swimsuit ...it took Cristina much probing with a 6 foot broom to wedge that thing loose. Thankfully Susanna was not awake for the excitement....she has a fear of birds, and since this thing was a size of a sparrow we counted our blessing that she was still sleeping.

(CRISTINA - you may want to warn Susanna to skip this picture!!)

DOTTOR FISH!

This was incredible!  At our beach were 4 aquariums below benches with little special freshwater fish called Garra Rufa. Their gift is that attach themselves to your immersed feet and legs and gentley massage your legs while basically eating away at the dead skin making everything a bit softer and smoother.  It is a pedicure by fish!

Here is the link so you can read all about it...in Italian: 

 http://www.dottorfish.com/ITA/fishpedicure.aspx

Oh, how it tickled...these little guys took their jobs very seriously and would even get between my toes.

I asked the "Dottor Fish" guy why, if the fish ate all day the tasty dead skin cells of people's feet, they weren't more fat :).... it was definitely one of those lost in translation moments.

Sometimes they would focus more on one foot more than another...looks like they are preferring my left foot in this picture.  The guys near the surface would be so engrossed with their job that they would even at times have their heads outside as they worked their way up my leg.

The union contract the fish signed only allows them to work for 15 minutes before needing a break...

When it was time to withdraw my feet from the tank, I had to slowly pull out one foot and then another otherwise there still may have been G.R.s (Garra Rufas) stuck to me.  Susanna did a spot check after I had my feet out.  None, Phew!

I think my feet were a bit softer...nice work guys!

Ah, my beautiful cousins!

Thanks for the perfect week!

Wish I was with you right now enjoying more beach time!

Viva Bene, Spesso L'Amore, Di Risata Molto! (live well, love much, laugh often)

My Birthday in Champagne!

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!

****

In July and August, Parisianers pack their suitcases and head out of the city for the all important vacance.  The metros and rues are now full of Frenchies dragging wheeled suitcases in full anticipation of their beach time in Spain, Corisica or Morocco (and this year more than others people are extra excited to exit Paris since we have seen NOTHING but clouds and rain this summer!). This past weekend I didn't have a 4 week vacation on the horizon, but I did have a birthday...so I did as my fellow city dwellers, I packed all my favorite sun dresses and headed to the region that is famous world wide for one celebratory beverage...champagne, bien sur!

Well, I didn't need my sundresses, but even with a few clouds overhead the fabled champagne vineyards caused me to bubble over just like an overflowing glass of its fermented juices. 

Champagne prodominately produces3 kinds of grapes or les cépages: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier

I became a big fan of both the Pinot champagnes durning this short trip.

I couldn't help but giggle everytime I saw the name of this tiny town (population 1,692)...check out the name on the bottom right corner of this sign...Yep, you read it correct!  Dizy!  I didn't get dizzy on champagne is this quaint town...but I am sure many others before me have....although I doubt if as many got as a big a kick out of the ironic name :) as me!

Oh, s'il vous plait Monsieur Pérignon....can you you just pour me one little degustation??!!

Here I am at Moët & Chandon in Epernay!

Seeing the house where Dom Pérignon is made was a bit like bumping into Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie...I think I got a little too excited and lost all composure :). Ah, I exaggerate, but it was a thrill to be there....although we opted out of the tour because all the locals had said it wasn't worth the price of admission.

Fun fact about Moët & Chandon, they have a Royal Warrant to supply champagne to Elizabeth II...so I guess we know now what she was drinking the night of Prince William and Kate's wedding!

Life is full of terrific surprises!

Last year I drank a bottle of Perrier Jouët on my birthday...this year on my birthday I, uh, visited the house where it is made!

Although the locals steered us clear of Moët & Chandon for a tour, they all heartily recommended we tour the Mercier Caves (founded in 1858).  The experience was a bit like a Disneyland ride, but well worth the over top elevator ride a 30 mètres sous terre.

This picture is of the champagne being automatically "riddled" by these big cages.

The bottles are slowly turned over a period of time to get all the yeast sediment to settle in the neck of the bottle so it can be expelled before corking.

Back in the day all this turning was done by hand...ugh.

Monsieur Mercier wanted his caves to be beautiful for his workers so he carved beautiful reliefs into the walls of the caves.  This is just one that I snapped from my laser guided train tour through a portion of the 18 km of caves.

Here is the website to this champagne house: http://www.champagnemercier.fr/en/

Their pictures are much better than mine :)

At the end of the exhausting elevator and train ride, we quenched our thirst with a beautiful glass of the Mercier product.  The idea behind Mercier champagne when it started back in the 1800s was to make champagne affordable to the masses.  I was able to buy a lovely bottle for 21 Euro...so the tradition still exists today.

In Reims, the capital of Champagne, there is a beautiful gothic cathedral named Notre-Dame de Reims...through October they do this projected light show on the front of the cathedral when it becomes dark...it was probably one of the most beautiful and breathtaking things I have seen in my life.

I am cuddling a bunch of grapes that may be used in a 2011 vintage of DP :).

With all the love I am giving it, I am certain it will be one of their best vintages yet!

A tasting in Hautevillers of different champagnes by some of the local producers.  Hautevillers is an itty bitty town, but home to Dom Pérignon's Abbey where he was the cellier until his death in 1715.

"Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!" - quote attributed to DP 

And I did drink the stars all weekend...it was wonderful!

Just a glimpse of the beautiful, little town of Hautevillers....and me!

The tomb of Dom Pierre Pérignon.

Something else cool in the Abbey was a relic of St. Helene (the mother of Emperor Constantine!).

This country seems to always be amazing me.

Two thumbs up!  

That was my verdict after the great weekend!

The only hitch had been at our hotel when we decided to check-in early (11am-ish).  The owner just kept repeating how tôt, tôt, tôt we were...and that we should have come after 2pm.  I didn't quite understand her frustration as we weren't demanding our room, we just wanted to leave our bags and get a map...but she was all in a tizzy.  Getting that map was like pulling teeth!  

A fresh, crusty baguette from the local boulangerie and fresh chevre from a local farm helped erase the memory of the testy hotel owner.

However, when we came back after 2pm for our room she was as pleasant as punch...go figure...

Auvoir Hauteville, Champagne....

...and being 36!

(oh, I couldn't get enough of those vineyards!)

Bastille Day and Beyond!

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!

****

Why does time seem to elapse even faster in Paris??? At my advancing age (I turn a year older on Sunday! Yikes...and Yay!), this isn't a good thing :)!  Well, I guess we should just all get use to the fact that I will continue to miss my personal goal of posting once a week....however, if two weeks feels like one week in Paris and I post every two weeks (or a week in Paris time), does that mean I still am making my goal?  Does a tree make a sound when it falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it?

Bastille day or le quatorze juillet was parfait!  Since I missed all the US festivities for July 4th, I was bound and determined to take part in France's national holiday that marks the uprising of common people against the royal monarch back in 1789.  I skipped class in the morning (first time ever in my entire life!) to witness the oldest and largest military parade down the famous Champs Elysees!  After one hour of standing on my tip toes I saw the below horses who were escorting non-other than Monsieur Sarkozy!!  I was thrilled!  However, I found my enthusiasm was lost on any French person I told the sighting about...apparently Sarkozy isn't very popular right now despite his wife being pregnant with a little garcon (ah, it is almost a sport for me to bring up Carla Bruni with French friends....they are so impassioned with dislike for her!!).

There were over 240 horses in this group escorting the President of France.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of Mr. Sarkozy because the Russian guy in front of me decided to wave at him (arm dead center in front of my camera) right as I snapped the picture...C'est la vie. :(

I wasn't the only one at the parade...although I wish I would have been because the view would have been better...but here is a fun glimpse of how people 10 rows deep were trying to see the soldiers, horses and President.  The periscopes were hysterical, but I found it particularly amazing that some folks had the wherewithal to bring ladders to the occasion.  Apparently they had done this before.

Had I had some political connections, I would have had a nice box seat right along the Champs Elysees.  I noticed most of those woman invitees were dressed to kill with their Christian Louboutin heels and Chanel purses.

The best part of the day was when I headed to my Brazilian girlfriend's house, Andrea (she is in the middle), to drink wine, eat cheese and baguettes and go see the fireworks. She hosted a small party with a few French friends who quickly became my friends too.  One of my new adorable friends is above...her name is Lily.  The iconic Eiffel Tower is majestic behind us....we watched the fireworks on one of the quais near the tower and the Champs de Mars.

No picture is actually like being there, but this is a shot of some of the fireworks during the finale with the Eiffel Tower sparkling to the right. We were all mesmerized for those 20 minutes.

Afterwards we became part of the sea of people trying to get to their next destination.

Thankfully we didn't have to take a metro as all the stations in the vicinity were completely bondée!

The police were directing people to other, less packed stations...which I think probably became just as over-crowded.  Our group just walked 3 blocks back to Andrea's apartment and resumed our cheese eating.

It was a wonderful evening...which for me ended 24 hours later as I spent the day after Bastille day with Andrea just café hopping, shopping and then making dinner at her apartment.  Un fête inoubliable et parfait!

I have 2 more days of class left before I take a summer break (gotta do as the Parisians and do some traveling during the month of August...and September)....which means I will have to say good-bye to yet more friends....that seems to be the life of an ex-pat, always meeting and then having to say good-bye to wonderful people.  Two people from this 4 week session I will particularly miss are the vibrant, intelligent and fun girls from Venezuelans!  Carmen and Maria!!  Today we took a little excursion to Paris' first taqueria.  

YES!  I ate Mexican in Paris! And it was wonderful!

Here we are at the Paris' best and smallest Mexican restaurant, El Nopel (Maria is in the middle and Carmen is on the right).  I ordered the 3 tacos (2 poulet and 1 boeuf) and the girls got the "Burron" (a burrito larger than their heads!).

Everything was made fresh and in front of us...including the handmade tortillas that the owner rolled out and grilled on the spot.

Here is the Mexican owner, Alejandro, cutting tomatos for his wonderful salsa or guacamole.  The service was friendly and in 3 languages (Spanish, French and English)...I will definitely be going back to this delightful hole in the wall along the Saint Martin canal in the 10th.  It was a jewel! 

Well, this will be my last blog post at my current age (my Brazilian girlfriend has taught me to be a bit more quiet about my age :) )...but perhaps in my next post I will be much wiser as I will indeed be a year older :).

One can only pray! So stayed tuned, my next post just may change your life. Ha!...and since I am headed to the Champagne region to celebrate, who knows what pearls of wisdom several glasses of champagne will inspire!

In the meantime, I leave with you with some wisdom from a French proverb:

Il est bon d'avoir des amis partout.

It is good to have friends everywhere.

Bienvenue a 7eme Arrondissement!

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!

****

In The Toronto Star Weekly on February 4th, 1922, Ernest Hemingway wrote an article about living in Paris on $1,000 a year. In it he celebrates the robust exchange rate of the Canandian and US dollar compared to the franc...12.5 francs = 1 dollar.  His hotel cost 12 francs a day, his breakfast cost 2 francs and a trip on the metro a mere 4 cents.  In his words, "Exchange is a wonderful thing!"  Ah, how times have changed! :).  In fact here in Paris, I only have 2 rules for myself; I do not talk about the dollar to euro exchange rate nor the US stock market.  Both could probably cause me panic attacks if I kept too close a tabs on either...so my simple rule in both cases is ignorance is bliss! :)

Good News! J'ai déménagé last Saturday! I am now in a total different world on the Left bank of the Seine. Gone is my Paris of old with the diverse neighborhood of the West and North Africans (where I stood out like a sore thumb!) and where my Malian neighbors yelled (lovingly) at each other at the Mangrove Bar and gambled cards on the hoods of cars until late at night. Now I am in the glamorous et très parisian 7eme arrondissement. It is amazing how quickly I adapted to my previous neighborhood because I was quite shocked to see SOOOO many white people over here. :) The chic shopping street next to my apartment is dotted with men and women wearing striped tops and yellow or pink bottoms. Their hair is shiny and slick and their cars are Audis or Maseratis.  In fact my neighbor just a few blocks down is the Prime Minister of this great nation.  I am going through culture shock and I only moved a 15 minute cab ride away!  However, I am quite certain I will adapt just fine (probably too well) to my new uppercrust quartier.  I have already grown a bit too attached to a few of the boutiques.

This is the salon in my new apartment! Très beau, oui!?

I was lucky to find through mutual friends an American woman who works for Microsoft that was looking for a roommate!  I now get to spend my next 10 months in a beautiful (and Italian decorated!) Haussmannian style Parisian apartment with a dynamic, French-speaking expat named Paula. The apartment is truly amazing and I think my new roomie and I will get on like 2 pees in a pod!

The fleurs on the table are from a local florist/flirt named Tony.

This frommagerie, touted as one of the best in Paris, is a quick 5 minute jaunt from my new front door.  It is the size of a shoebox, but houses over 200 cheeses.  Every inch is covered with different raw milk camemberts, compté, beaufort  and these adorably stuffed little goats :).  It is icebox cold when you walk in and the women inside definitely know their stuff.  I particularly enjoyed during my visit that no english was spoken....so I had to reach deep into my French vocab to ask what was best to pair with a Cote de Provence rosé I was serving that night.  The recommendation of 3 different chèvres was exceptional!

As a note, it is SOLDES season here in France!!

Twice a year Parisians indulge in a tradition that we Americans get to treat ourselves to every weekend (especially now with the down economy)...sales up to 70% off the retail price.  Believe it or not, the French government doesn't allow items to be discounted (without penalty) outside one of these 2 month long sale periods.  So up until the 26th of July one can expect all the stores to be in complete disarray, lines to be long to the fitting room, and manners to be disregarded as women and men dig through sale racks. I have been elbowed, feet stomped on and shoved without one "pardon" from the offending patron...but I shrug it off.  I understand their appetite for the sale...especially with such a drought in between opportunities.

This is a tame scene from a Zara clothing store near my new apartment.  When I see such chaos I usually walk in and then walk out.  So far the soldes have yielded me 3 robes (dresses) and 1 manteau (coat).

I think I will mourn a bit when they are over....as I imagine all of Paris will do.

Escargot!

My new walk to school involves walking down the boutique lined Rue de Bac, accross the Pont Royal (build by Louis XIV during his reign in the late 1600s), through the Louvre (I walk through the Porte de Lions every morning...how insane is that!) and then towards the Opera on my way to  L'Atelier 9. A cafe I pass by both morning and night, named Cafe St. Germain, is alway packed with well-heeled folks drinking champagne and eating salads. I figured with all those people it had to be good, oui? Last night I was able to sample their plat du jour (beouf bourguignon) and try these tasty yet hard to extract :) morsels with a group of friends. 

I experienced what the fuss was about.

I am looking forward to further discovering all the 7eme has to offer...I think we will be a good match!  I leave you with one fun discovery that happened yesterday on the metro....



A boy with a bird! 

I witnessed this duo on the Metro from my stop at Sevres-Babylone to Concorde!  It was the cutest and darndest thing!

He, the bird, just sat perched on the little can of food between the legs of the garcon while the garcon drew pictures of dragons. The bird would pop his head in and out of the can to grab some seeds and then deposit the little shells all over the train floor.

I could only stare (and take 2 pictures)...at one point I was staring so much the gentleman friend I was with said, "Jen, I am over here."

Yeah, but the adorable little boy and bird is over there :).

My Baguette Belly :)

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!

****

Il fait chaud aujourd'hui...tres chaud! Today is the first day since I have been here that I have felt and experienced summer heat....in fact, as I sit her holed up in my little apartment, shutters shut tight blocking the sun's rays and my fan blasting on high, my iphone reads that the temp outside is a balmy 97 degrees (36 degrees Celsius, if you please!). Ah, swimsuit season has arrived which means my routine of consuming a baguette a day needs to gracefully and promptly come to a halt. I did order a demi-baguette today at my corner bakery as I don't think I can go cold turkey...the bread here is soooo good and I am becoming very French in the sense that the idea of a meal without the flaky, crusty staple seems incomprehensible. What will I eat all my fresh butter with!!!! :) I do lovingly refer to my growing ventre as my baguette belly...thank goodness I walk as much as I do otherwise I don't think I would find it as cute and novel :).

Yesterday in the Jardin des Tuileries the weather was perfect!

It is possible to rent little toy sailboats here! This little boy was trying to race his with his sister's...unfortunately it got stuck, but he worked hard to detangle it from the fountain plumbing :).

Just beyond this point the La Prefecture de Police de Paris orchestra was putting on an outside concert. So many people were out enjoying the weather and taking in the sun.....

Not only did the hot weather start today, but so did the 2nd half of my 8 week language class!  I am no longer a debutante - debutante, but have graduated to "false beginner"...yes, that is an actual term in the school.  My class largley consists of my classmates from last session (moins 3 who either went back to their country or are now taking some time to travel). We did add 2 girls from Venezuela (who made a very good first impression today by giving us venezuelan chocolat) and another women from the USA (who I can't see becoming a friend of mine anytime soon...I didn't understand the feet stomping when she couldn't get wifi access on her iphone at the school...really?...but hey, she could just be jet lagged.  I will remain open).

The best begginner French class dans le monde!

This picture was taken in our salon jaune last Friday on the last day of 4 week session and right before the school pique-nique.

Fabien, the homme standing, was our professor...he was incredible, funny and patient.

He is taking the next two months off to cook vegetarian food at a musique festival in Marseille and then he is headed to Senegal with his Senegalese girlfriend for a month visit and tour!

We will miss you Fabien!

I absolutely love learning French.  It is amazing the pleasure I get out of talking to my fromager or my Tunisian veggie vendor completely in French.  Of course, anything I say or ask isn't perfect....but I do create something comprehendible by putting together simple nouns and verbs. And when someone does what I ask, I just beam :).  "It works!" is usually the thought that goes through my mind when I am shown the section with the Sauvignon wines after asking for wines from the Loire Valley or the poissonier gives me the 10 shrimp I ask for after shelling one to make sure I will indeed like it. My growing confidence with the language must also be making me look more local. It is actually a phenomenon to me, but I usually get asked once a day for directions to someplace...in French, bien sur!  Perhaps it is the baguette that I usually have in hand that disguises me as an all knowing local....but the lost Frenchie is usually disappointed when I give them a sad face and "Désolé". My belly may be becoming French, but my tongue has a ways to catch-up :)...which is why I need to go do my homework now!

Before signing off...one more picture.....

Me in a stand-out chair in the lobby of  Hotel Meurice.

They serve the best bellini's in Paris (which are yummy), but for me the most delicious thing in the 5 star hotel was this chair!

Saturday Night 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!

****

It is Saturday night.  I am settled on my couch/bed watching L'Ecole Des Fans, a cute program where children around the age of 5 get to sing a song with one of their favorite French singers.  The kids are asked pretty basic questions prior to their performance (i.e. What is your name? What will you sing?  What does your mom do?) which makes it a perfect program to reinforce my class work.  Most of the little ones freeze up or forget the lyrics so there is a lot of camera panning to parents feverishly mouthing the words at their wilting, stage frightened children.  Luckily, since all the parents are also holding video cameras, the moment is eternally caught on tape probably to be replayed at the poor child's wedding.

I do watch a bit of the tele here in Paris.....definitely more than I do at home.  But that is because at home t.v. is a time sucker, HERE it is an educational tool!! :)  It is a fun game for me to see how much I can understand...which is usually a word here, a phrase there.  I have most of my success with the commercials. Apparently the French Ministry of Work, Employment and Health has quite the campaign going on right now to promote healthy eating, exercise and not snacking between meals.  Every second commercial is a PSA requesting us, the unhealthy, stagnant, snacking viewer, to eat the required amount of veggies and fruits a day, get out and exercise and eat only during proper meal times.  These disclosures are also found written at the bottom of the commercials promoting chocolates, sweets, cookies or anything else that may not make you fat! :) And if you didn't get the point from the ongoing commercials and disclosures, there is a website to visit:  http://www.mangerbouger.fr/.  I guess this is all just the government's way of keeping the Frenchies svelte.

Me with some of my classmates trying to get our proper veggie intake!

We chose a Vietnamese restaurant for our first class outing.

It was located in the historic Passage des Panoramas.

The food was quite good, the owner was quite annoying.

He made us order all our entrees and plats at one time....which seemed to go against everything I know about French dining.  But since he wasn't French, I will give him a pass.

Today my Italian classmate, Carlotta, invited a few of us over for homemade pizza at her flat that she shares with a local Parissien.

For a Parisian apartment it was huge.

As you can see from the picture the entire place was stark white, the owner even owned 2 white cats.  She use to work in a museum so her place had a very artistic feel.  In fact in the water closet she had about 10 toilet paper roll holders mounted in different places all up and down the wall.  It was clear there wasn't much concern about running out of toilet paper...the concern was more about be able to reach it (she had some mounted close to the ceiling!).

After lunch I cut through Montmartre to go find the only vineyard left in Paris.

Wow! Tourist season must be upon us! The Sacre Couer had beaucoup, beaucoup people.  I stopped to watch a puppet show on the story of Moses and observe a street performer balance on his head a bowl with 3 goldfish while he juggled and danced.

Success!

Between Rue Saint-Vincent and Rue des Saules

is Clos Montmartre, the only working vineyard left in Paris!

This vineyard only produces about 300 bottles a year (and from what I read and hear they aren't the most spectacular bottles).  Every year in October there is a fetes put on by the vineyard where the public gets access to the vineyard and the bottles of wine are auctioned off for charity.

Some of the delights of Montmartre!

I was discreetly trying to take a picture of these 4 older French women resting on a bench in the heart of Montmartre.  They were simply adorable!

I will sign-off this Saturday night with a picture of my lunch on Wednesday.

It is langoustine ravioli  made by an Israeli chef who studied under Alain Ducasse.

I pass his restaurant every day on the way to school.  It is located on a quiet back street in the 9e. Ever since the moment I saw it and its blackboard menu I have been wanting to try it.....so I stopped in on my home on Wednesday.

The meal was amazing and I was given a lot of attention by said chef....so much so that he refused to take my money for my 3 course meal with wine.  I think he may have a little crush on me :).  Next time I go back though I must pay...I don't want him thinking payment will end up being in the chambre.

Vive la France.

Week One as a French Débutante - Fini!

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!

****

The French word for "beginner" is débutante....kinda nice, I think...and I suppose it is good that I like the word as I am sure I will be using as a self-descriptive adjective for a while!

My first week of French classes fell during a week that France also had a national holiday or un jour férié.  Ascension Day was Thursday, June 2 which meant not only was my corner boulanger and marché closed, but my 5 day class week shrunk to 4. I guess I am really easing into learning this language.

My school's name is L'Atelier 9.  It is located in the 9e close to the Galeries Lafayette, Folies Bergere and lots of great little cafes. I have decided to walk to school in the morning which a wonderful 45 minute stroll through all the side streets in my neighborhood, Montmarte in the 18th and then a small part of the 9th.  Every morning I window shop the cute boutiques on Rue de Abbesses and wish I had more time to sit at a sidewalk table with all the boho-chic, creative-looking patrons as they take their espresso and croissants (cigarettes usually too...these people smoke like the French National Assembly is going to illegalize cigarettes tomorrow!).

This is the Church of Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre that I

pass each morning on the Rue de Abesses on my way to school.

My group has the maximum amount of students allowed in a class, 9.  There is Pedro and Andrea from Brazil, Carlotta and Felice from Italy, Yuka from Japan, Hema from Spain and then Lindsay and me from Les Etats-Unis. Fabian is the patient soul assigned to teach us.  In class he doesn't speak a word of English....only his perfect French. My brain is usually spinning after class from all the new words, verb tenses and rationalizing why the French language insists on including vowels and consonants in words that aren't  pronounced! Argh!  I love my class, and I love the camaraderie that we are developing as a group...we all struggle very well together :).  Ah, fun factoid about one of my classmates, Andrea from Brazil is a bikini designer!!!  Of course la Brésilienne designs itty-bitty swimwear! 

Since I didn't have class today, I decided to take a break from conjugating the verbs Etre, Faire, Aller and Avoir to go explore Le Bonne Marche.  Called the oldest department store in Paris, it specializes in luxury fashion for men and women as well as fine house wares and furniture....but I wasn't interested in these departments today.  My goal was to witness firsthand the department called "La grande épicerie de Paris."

Place de Clichy

This is place is near my apartment and was on my way to Le Bonne Marche.

It is one of the few places in Paris where four arrondissements (the 8th, 9th, 17th, and 18th) meet at a single point.

I find that it doesn't matter how often I see the Eiffel Tower, I still reach for my camera.

Here I had to steal a shot as I passed though Place de Concorde.

There was a model shoot going on as I walked through...I don't know what designer or brand she was posing for, but since she was leaning against a Bentley I ruled out H&M :).

Made it!

Inside is 5000 different products selected from around the world. A hard-to-find bottle of mineral water from Wales, jams made by a French artisan, a famed tomato sauce from Naples!

What you can't find anywhere else, you can find it here.

Dangerous? Yes!

Just a peek inside...it was beautiful!

Not shown was the amazing fresh produce department, extensive cheese counter, Spanish ham section, colorful pastry display, and jaw-dropping cave de vin.

Uh, cool!

Either you can choose your own fresh ouefs and the colorful carton they will call home for a short time

OR

you can grab a pre-packed pastel package of 6.

Another First!

I have never seen bottles from the great Châteaux of Yquem, Moulton-Rothschild, Lafite, Latour.....and Petrus, but Le Bonne Marche carries them all!

Not exactly a wine that one opens at 5pm on a Tuesday because she is thirsty.

These cheesecakes come decorated with edible flowers. 

The little oval objects stuck in the cake like candles are individual serving size capsules of different fruit sauces to drizzle over your piece of cake.

Really, when it comes to food, the French think of everything...and package it perfectly!

The cake I bought was called "Tonka Chic."

I will learn more about it tomorrow when I eat it, but it is a vanilla and chocolate mousse cake that is apparently flavored in part by Tonka beans from South America.

These beans are used in French desserts as a substitute for vanilla.

I will report back later....but I can say now that it looks absolutely amazing.

After being surrounded by all that food...I needed to go eat something!...and do some homework.

Sitting at the bar, I did get a few chuckles as the Frenchies would look at my homework sheets.

To them, my homework looks a little like, "Dick is going to the market. Jane is going to school."

Ah, C'est la vie...at least I was able to order my entire lunch in French and even ask the difference between the two types of jambons on the menu.

I will take being laughed at if it means progress.

Le week end commence!  And the apartment search continues, but I will leave that for a later post....the whole ordeal needs its own dedicated entry :).

Here's to using my new skills this weekend! Oh, and this Sunday (1st Sunday of the month) c'est gratuit to enter public museums....perhaps the Louvre is in my future!