I Don't 'Heart' NY

I admit, I don't really love New York the way most people do (and by 'most people', I mean the tourists and business people who come here for a few days a year and think the city is wonderful and has 'color' ; and, I mean the people who live here, or were born and raised here).

Anyway, I find the city too big, too loud, too busy. I really do not like Midtown - to me, it has no charm, no character. Midtown is all offices and shopping, I find restaurants and bars few and far between. Yes, I know you have to go uptown or down to the Village for such things, but I don't want to do that. I do not like the Metro here.

Some other random observations this week :
--New Yorkers commute in high heels (well, the women do), and most of them cannot walk gracefully in them. They are either teetering, lurching or stomping ; and, the heels themselves look like they're going to break off from such misguided walking.

--New Yorkers do not commute with iPods or other music devices - don't they need something to block out the noise?

--Why aren't museums open later in the evening (i.e. MoMA and the Met)? And why is admission for each $20?

--What happens to all the half-used bars of soap that are in hotel rooms when people check out? I cannot imagine these are rewrapped. Even if the cleaning crew took them home, they'd have pounds of them. So, where do they go? Ok, we all take the mini bottles of shampoo, but bars of soap?

--The Grand Hyatt on 42nd & Lex is tired. Compared to the Hyatt's in Madrid, London and Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, this one should be ashamed to have the Hyatt name. Fine, I understand if the decor is a bit outdated - it takes a lot of money/time/logistics to renovate - I get that. But the meeting facility services are sub-par, in my opinion. No one comes to clean away the dirty breakfast glasses/plates, instead they pile up all day - we had to put one tray of them in the empty room next door - that tray was still there the next morning. What they charge for said 'breakfast' service is absurd.

--I absolutely LOVE Pandora radio and keep hoping that all the copyright and legal issues will be fixed so it becomes available in France. Whenever I'm in the US I log in, go through my stations, and just have fun. Sure, if you are in the US and listen to it a lot, certain songs and artists repeat too often, but if you are only in the US 2-3 weeks per year, it's all new to you!

One more evening in NYC before heading back to Boston for the weekend, then back home to Paris. Not sure what I'll do tonight in the city.

Love that Dirty Water

...Boston you're my home.

Ok, not really officially anymore, although my driver's license is still Mass. And true, I was not born and raised here and have no family here, but it still is 'home' to me.

Arrived yesterday from Paris and immediately felt comfortable, as if all was 'right', while in the cab from Logan to Back Bay. Met my friend Nancy and immediately went to Cornwall's, which is as wonderful as ever!! (Landed at 3:20, at Cornwall's by 4:30!) Fun night with friends, and despite jet lag and just being exhausted in general, I stayed awake until 10 p.m.!

Was great to wake up today, open the refrigerator and see such familiar things as Hood Half & Half ; Trader Joe's brands ; Trappist preserves ; and Thomas' English muffins. Mmmmm...great breakfast!

Today is running errands (shopping, bank, Starbucks chai latte fix) and Sox game tonight!!

Ireland Day 1 : Dublin

Well, I finally made it to Ireland! And honestly, it was a bit of a let down. Probably because I’d been wanting to go for so long, and looking forward to this trip for several months. And, probably because the time I was there was spent in two cities - Dublin and Galway - and not out in the green fields and country side. But, that’s not to say I didn’t have fun and enjoy the holiday weekend!

Marissa (friend/colleague) and I decided to go to Galway the weekend of May 29/30 to see the Galway in port racing as part of the Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Ocean Race). We left Paris Friday afternoon and got to Dublin about 15:00. We took the bus into the city to Heuston station and thankfully our hotel was just across the river. We stayed at the Best Western Ashling Hotel which was very nice - remodeled, quiet, close to the train station, and easy to get on the tramway into the city centre. On the bus ride in, I couldn’t decide if I thought that all the construction sites in progress were signs of growth and progress or if they were abandoned and signs of the severe slow down in the Irish economy (Ireland is being hit very hard but the economic downturn).

We made it in just enough time to drop off our bags and walk down to the Jameson Distillery for the last tour of the day!!! (Even though it started about 20 min before it says it does on the website) Definitely a high point of the weekend for me. Unfortunately, whiskey is not made at this (original) location - it is all made in the south of Ireland, in Midleton. The tour guide we had wasn’t that good, i.m.o. The champagne cave tours were much better - more informative and more interesting since you were seeing actual bottles aging. But, the tour came with a tasting at the end, and thank goodness there were less women on the tour because 4 men and 4 women could volunteer for the ‘special’ tasting which meant : 1 dram Jameson, 1 of Johnnie Walker Black and 1 of Jack Daniel’s. I don’t like scotch and I don’t care much for JD, so obviously I liked the Jameson! Marissa and I both bought whiskey and souvenirs in the shop so then went back to the hotel to drop off our purchases.

We went back into the city using the new tramway system and wandered around a little - we walked into the courtyard of Trinity College (reminded me of the inner courtyards at Yale) and along Temple Bar. This is definitely a capital city, a tourist city, and a university city. It was very crowded and to me, it just didn’t have much of a ‘feel’ to it. I feel like the Liffey River that runs through the city really cuts it in half and doesn’t make it feel like it has a united city centre. 

We had dinner at an Italian place then ventured along Temple Bar until we found a pub that wasn’t obscenely crowded - we got seats at the window and enjoyed our Jameson while people watching - which was definitely in top form due to the number of stag and hen party groups out and about!

We made it a semi early night because we had a 07:05 train the next morning to Galway.

Giverny, Monet and Vernon

Yesterday (Saturday) I went to Vernon and Giverny with friend/colleague Julia. It was a great day with great weather and an easy 45 minute train ride from Paris to Vernon. 

If only Julia and I were both feeling better than 50% the day would have been perfect. Of course, it was all due to the two of us going out after work Friday and not calling it a night until 1 a.m. However, the many glasses of wine were warranted since we went directly from work to Forum des Halles to Go Sport to buy a tent and sleeping bags. Okay, pick yourself up off the floor - yes, I wrote that I bought a tent and sleeping bag. This is for the Springsteen concert Julia and I are going to in July at the outdoor music festival Vieilles Charrues in Carhaix, Brest (France) (caution - music plays when you open that website!). Of course, I have only been camping once before and it rained so hard that we packed it up and went to a local motel! Fingers crossed for July!

Anyway, we left work at 17:30 and after walking through the underground maze that is the Chatelet Metro stop, fighting through the crowds of people at des Halles (and there are A LOT of people there), and buying a tent, we stopped at Cafe Pont Neuf on Quai de Louvre and enjoyed some white wine and a charcuterie plate. We then had enough motivation to walk over into the 6eme arrondisement, closer to Julia’s place, with the tent and sleeping bags, and stopped at a local cafe that Julia loves. Somehow it went from 20:00 to 01:00 before we knew it!

So, Saturday morning and a 10:20 train departure came earlier than I preferred. We met and left from Gare Saint Lazare and were in Vernon by 11:10. We wandered around the town trying to find a place for lunch - of course, nothing that we wanted (i.e. pizza) was open until Noon. But, we stumbled upon Our Lady Collegiate Church and went inside - very nice, typical town church, and the organist was rehearsing. Begun in 1072 in Norman Romanesque style, the final structure was finished in 1610 (I think). It was damaged during air raids in WWII, which shattered all the stained glass. But, what was very nice was that instead of replacing the windows with clear glass, they put in more modern, colored stained glass windows. The rest of the town is nice with some very old buildings that are severely slanted. And, the town is on the Seine which is quite nice and wide here - picturesque and refreshing.

We decided to follow the advice of the Giverny website and walk to Giverny from Vernon. It is a lovely walk - you are definitely out in nature and away from the city - all you can hear is the rustling of trees and the birds. 

Thanks to the advice of another colleague, we bought our entrance tickets online beforehand which meant we did not have to wait in the obscenely long line and just went in through a side door. And walking to this side door was cool because you walked under a bridge of ivy/flowers/greenery and you could hear the hum of bees above you.

The gardens are stunning, especially now in June with all the rose bushes in full bloom. Of course, I have no idea what the flowers are besides ‘purple ball’ and ‘tall blue thing’. One problem with the gardens is that the walkways are so narrow and you are allowed to walk in any path you want (i.e. not on a conveyor belt tour from point A to B) that it gets very congested.

You have to go on a pathway under the street (what used to be the railway line) and walk up to the water lilies (les nympheas) and that surrounding garden. The restoration team has certainly done a good job because you really feel like you’re looking out on the same landscape that Monet himself saw.

I say restoration because when Monet died in 1926, he left the house and gardens to his son, but he did not live there. The grounds eventually became neglected and upon his son’s death in the 1960s, they were bequeathed to the Academie des Beaux-Arts. Renovation began in the late 70s and took 10 years - as the website says, trees were growing in the big studio in the house and a stairwell had collapsed.

We opted to take the bus back from Giverny to the Vernon train station because we were so tired by this point and the thought of walking 6+ km again was not pleasant. We went to a cafe and rehydrated while we waited for the train back to Paris - definitely plan your trip accordingly because the trains are NOT frequent in either direction - i.e. 2 to 3 hours between each.

Oh, and don’t get too accustomed to me posting about something so soon after it happens! 

(more photos posted on Flickr via link on sidebar)

Newspapers

So this annoyed (annoys) me....

Last week in the office, one colleague from the London office was in town and had brought in the International Herald Tribune from the hotel. He then commenced to rave about this newspaper and how every.single.article was superb. I tried to say that yes, I agreed and have been reading it online the past year. That affirmation fell on deaf ears as he continued to say how much he loves to read it. Me being a bit annoyed, I said, well, it's nothing new, after all, it is the New York Times and that is a paper known for its journalism. He wouldn't hear any of it - the fact that I was trying to associate the IHT with the NYT was beyond him, that the IHT was leaps and bounds above it. I even said that if you go to the old IHT website (IHT.com), you are directed to the NYT's Global Edition.

Of course, this took me on a tangent of how I'm peeved with the NYT gobbling up newspapers (i.e. threat against Boston Globe) and how this will not bode well for local investigative journalism and will lead to the power in the hands of the few (where, I realise it has been for decades, but now they're not trying to hide it because the populace is too lazy to care). Of course, said colleague had no comment on this and instead just made some other comment about the IHT.

Anyway, just a little venting. Enjoy.

Mac setback

Well, I don't know if I'd call it a 'set back' so much with my MacBook, rather than just frustration and lack of time and energy to figure it all out. Sure, I have the simple things like iTunes and Safari (internet) figured out, but besides that (i.e. the other 99% of the machine), I'm clueless.

For example : 

--I want to upload photos to Flickr, but the whole organisation scheme in iPhoto is taking some getting used to.

--I have discovered the dashboard, but then when I go to Apple's website (which btw with the new software upgrades, the link no longer works) and search for more widgets, I am bombarded with a plethora of choices (something which, if you know me, you know paralyzes me). I'm sure 99% of those choices are not essential and probably would actually degrade my quality of life (in terms of providing useless information, being a time sink, etc.)

--I bought iWork, and I KNOW it is different from MS Office, but for someone who has spent the past 12 years using MS Office and becoming quite good at Excel, and with keyboard shortcuts and menu functions, this is more than different. When I open one of my Excel files in Numbers and work on it and then save it, why must it save it as a new Numbers file - thus giving me TWO files on my computer, taking up space? It's little things like that that bother me.

So, as I figure out this here new fangled machine, I will upload photos and post more. And yes, I know that there is this thing called the Internet and I can 'do the google' and find all sorts of information. However, that takes time, which I seem to keep losing. Until then, grumble grumble.

14

That's how many hours of sleep I got yesterday / last night, between a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and 12 hours at night, only waking up twice. I don't feel 100% due to this cold, but at least I'm not the walking zombie I was yesterday!

Two big news items : 

1) I got my Carte de Sejour yesterday, which is basically my residency permit card allowing me to live here for longer than they allow tourists. Now, due to a mix-up with UK Immigration at Gare du Nord in Paris, I have to go have a meeting or two with them so the UK can reinstate my work permit (long story and not that interesting).

2) I got 2 tickets to see Jimmy Buffett in London on Sunday, July 5th!!!!!!!!! Any takers?

This summer will be great : 

July : Buffett in London, Bruce in Brest (France), holiday in Canada

August : Belfast for Tall Ships

September : Boston / Maine for friends' wedding ; Buffett in Paris 

October : Patriots at Wembley (UK)

Now, I just need to find time to actually do and see things in Paris and in France.

3 things

1st) I am sitting here having a hot toddy out of my new Jameson coffee mug. This means two things (a) I am getting a cold ; and, (b) I made it to the Jameson distillery tour when I was in Dublin for a brief stopover on my way to Galway last weekend for the Volvo Ocean Race.

2nd) I just bought 4 tickets to the Jimmy Buffett show in Paris this September!!!!! !!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! (of course, me being megative me, I won't be 100% confident until I receive the tickets in the mail)

3rd) This is my first weekend in 7 weeks I will be in Paris all weekend. I am so excited to just stay home, finally transfer all my music, photos and files to my Mac ; clean ; put all the mail and papers and stuff away that has been accumulating the past 7+ weeks ; and relax!

Travel

I'm off to Galway (Ireland) this weekend, with a brief stop in Dublin tonight. A much needed respite from the city, and I cannot wait to just spend time sitting by the ocean!

I promise, pictures and updates to come soon, including on : Rennes & Epernay (champagne region) ; Roland Garros (French Open) ; Cincinnati and Houston trips ; random work and Paris observations.

Happiness

I am still thinking about the amazing sermon given at the American Church in Paris Sunday. With references to French philosophers, modern literature and consumerism and how it relates to the Gospel, it was great. The subject was ‘Resilient Joy’ and I’m still thinking of the question posed : ‘What did you pursue this week thinking it would bring you happiness?’

Rev Laurie Wheeler continued by saying the pursuit of happiness won’t cut it, but rather we must find the source of it. (Of course, as this was a church sermon, one answer is that our salvation is the source.)

What also really impressed me was that I was not too impressed by Rev Wheeler’s candidating sermon a few months ago, nor by her resume / biography. This was a pleasant surprise. For that little does of megativity, I think she speaks too fast and uses too many idioms / sarcasm in her humor (of course I love this aspect) ; but for a congregation where for many English is a second language, I think a bit is lost.

You can listen to the sermon here.

Technology

This is my very first post from my new MacBook !!! How exciting, and it even has that "new computer smell" (like a new car smell).  Of course, Macs are different, and even though I've used them before, and been very familiar with them before, this takes an adjustment. When 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. I am in PC and Windows world, coming home to MacBook and iWork is a bit tricky.

And yes, now that I have a personal computer at home and actually have internet/phone/tv at home, I will post more. It's just right now I'm still unpacking from my last two trips, and am paranoid about the load of laundry I'm doing. Why you ask?...

When I was in Cincinnati two weeks ago, I get a call from the relocation agent asking me if I left any appliances in my kitchen running (really, who turns on all their water-based appliances and leaves them running before leaving town for nine days?). Anyway, turns out some pipe leading from my boiler, that was between the floors had an issue and caused a flood in the flat below me. Through crazy key exchanges, phone calls and emails with friends in Paris, all was fixed and all is ok. My paranoia comes from the fact that "they" (plumber? relo agent?) turned some of the knobs in the boiler / washing machine area and I am hoping I turned them all back correctly.

So off to unpack now, but updates will be forthcoming on (1) my Cincinnati trip ; (2) my unexpected Houston trip that immediately followed ; and, (3) my weekend trip to Reims and Eparney (Champagne region) in France.

London reflections

I’m in London for work today, and it’s a bit of a wasted trip. I needed to meet with one person to go over things, and could have met for about 3 hours on 2-4 different topics total. This person got busy and we only met for 30 minutes. Cripes. Why did I get up at 4:30 this morning to get to the train station, to get here, to not be totally productive? And it’s a beautiful day outside, too!

But now I have a chance to reflect on the two other times I’ve been back to London since moving to Paris…some observations :

1) Big Ben looks smaller than I remember it. When I lived here, I was surprised how much I liked seeing it all the time (I dislike pictures of it, postcards, etc. – I think in most it doesn’t look right, color is off, or it looks Disney-ish). Now, I’m a bit saddened by the fact that my memory makes it more than it is.

2) Oddly, I find the London Eye (gigantic Ferris wheel) and St. Paul’s Cathedral to look much larger than I remember them. Especially St. Paul’s – I don’t remember it’s dome being such a prominent site from around the city.

3) Compared to Paris, London is WAY MORE energetic / vibrant (or if you want some megativity, it’s crowded and loud). Paris is definitely more subdued. London culture is more hang out at the pubs, spill out onto the sidewalk (and late night, watch the people spill onto the sidewalks literally). It’s louder – conversations, music, etc. when you’re out and about. Sure, some parts of Paris are like this, but only some parts.

4) BY FAR London is less smelly. Still a dirty city (aren’t all big cities?) in terms of air/grime, not trash (as I’ve written before, despite the lack of rubbish bins, the sidewalks are surprisingly litter free). But no smell of random bodily excrements. Sure, some BO and bad breath, but nothing compared to Paris.

5) The city is “whiter” in terms of race, but more international, if that makes sense? And, a younger city it seems. Either that or the elderly in Paris still live in the city and get out a lot more than the elderly in London.

6) The London office – it’s like I’m still in France. 13 of the 33 people here are fluent in French and speak it often. Many times in side conversations, always in the kitchen – it’s like there’s two countries working here and interaction has diminished between the two since the French speaking population grew in numbers.

That’s all for now, time to head home soon.

Norway

I finally looked at my pictures from Norway this weekend (2 months after the fact) and got some of them organised and uploaded. Click the Flickr mosaic to the right to view those from Oslo and the Munch Museum.

Still to come...Viegesland Scultpure Park and Tromso. Oh, and description / recap too.

Ramblings

Some random thoughts....will post more as they come to me...

--Had 1st Church Finance Committee meeting last night. I really do NOT appreciate having one of the members (who, mind you, has NO finance background/experience) making comments to me as if she's dismissing me, that I have no experience, no good ideas, etc. Give me a break. Finance is my job. I've been on church finance before (both churches have similar budgets, line items, etc.). I understand church politics. I should've joined another committee because this woman was seriously annoying. It's obvious she thinks the American Church in Paris is the ONLY church, does everything the BEST way, thinks people who haven't been members for 10+ years have NO contribution factor. Seriously?

--And speaking of church....why at Good Friday service did the couple in front of me instead treat it as if they were at Friday Night Lights? Lady, don't run your fingers through his hair, over his shoulder and back. Don't whisper to each other. And for God's sake, don't open a Coke during the preludes.

--Again with church...why on Easter is it necessary for a woman who arrived late to waltz up to the front row, squeeze herself in, then pull out some sort of recorder and blatantly hold it up and record all the music pieces. She was almost next to me (when I was up playing bells). It was all I could do to not throw one at her.

--And speaking of arriving late, if church starts at 11 a.m., why in the world are people still arriving at 11:40??? At that point, you're late, you've missed it, just go straight to brunch.

--You can tell it's tourist season because I honestly hope French fashion does NOT include the following : man wearing olive green courdorys (fine) ; wife wearing olive green cordouroy stretch pants. Seriously?

--Why must Harry Potter billboards be up already? Do I really have to look at these for the next three months? I suppose though they're better than the Zac Efron '17 Again' ads.

A New Holiday

Ok, I’ve come to realise that Easter Monday is about the best day ever!!!

Some background…France calls itself a Catholic country (I believe) and Easter Monday, Ascension Day (Holy Spirit goes up to Heaven) and Whit Monday (day after Pentecost ; Holy Spirit comes back and breathes on the people / talks to the people and all understand in their own language) are all public holidays. But, no one seems to go to church. All shops are open. In fact, people see it as a three day weekend – parties, trips to the beach, even bachelor parties are common on Easter Weekend because it can be a three day event. Oddly enough, though, Good Friday is NOT a holiday here. Even stranger, in the U.S. it is not a holiday, but the Markets (i.e. NYSE / trading) are closed.

For me, since I take Holy Week and Easter seriously, it’s not so much a weekend to party and celebrate. Instead, I go to church Thursday and Friday evenings. Saturday I was at church 2 hours in the morning for choir rehearsal (bells). Sunday I was there at 7:20 for rehearsal and then both the 9 and 11 services. So it makes for a somewhat tiring weekend. Lo and behold though I am now living in a country where Easter Monday is a holiday!

Anyway, I slept in – not setting an alarm (I cannot remember the last time I did that. Seriously.) I woke up about 7:30 and then drifted in/out of sleep until 10. It is now 15:30 and it’s been a great day! Cleaning, organising, throwing things away – just an overall sense of productivity. Now, I am sitting down to do some work (ugh), but I have a wonderful glass of 2006 Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay with me.

Aside : my friend Robin first introduced me to this wine several years ago (2003 maybe?). At that time it was delicious and still affordable at restaurants, say $30/bottle when everything else on the menu was $23 to $32. Now, it is much more expensive and still one of my favourites. I was so excited when our Christmas gift in the London office included this wine. (Further aside : it is custom in England to give alcohol as Christmas gifts ; no wonder the country has a drinking problem and is known for it Europe wide. Our box had 2 whites, 2 reds and 2 champagnes. I traded my reds for whites.)

In my cleaning / organising / sorting, I realise I’ve been moving some of the same papers for years now. Really, why was it necessary for me to keep the 2004 Boston Film Festival schedule? I didn’t even go to it! Some things like cartoons, quotations, photos, I like to keep and I like looking through them from time to time. I did come across many things I had kept in hopes to do in Boston – like the Harbour Islands tours ; Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum ; visit the restaurants in Brookline’s Washington Square more often (some great finds there!). Maybe those of you living there can do these things for me?

Are we really far from this happening?

http://comics.com/speed_bump/2009-03-22/

Meeting the French ER Response Unit

Ok, bet I’m one of the few to whom this has happened ….

Let me start off with a lead-in story….

I completely respect if one is focused on work in the office as that is why we’re all here. And I understand that people don’t listen to what others are saying if their minds are racing and they’re thinking of the next work project ; but generally some switch in the brain will flip a bit later and then the people think, “did she really say that?”

A colleague walked into my office area Thursday morning and I opened the conversation with “I’ve discovered that all the good looking men in Paris are young firefighters and police officers ; I should know as there were about 6-10 in my apartment last night.” To which my colleague says : “What I need you to do is create a report showing…” Didn’t blink an eye, didn’t comment, nothing. Not even 5, 10, 30 minutes later. Seriously?

So you’re probably wondering – Why in the world were 6-10 French fire and policemen in my apartment. Good question. Here’s the story…

By the time I got home and got to bed Wednesday night it was about 22:00. I read for a bit and turned off my light about 22:30. About 23:00 I wake up to hear a banging sound, then it got louder. Pause. Louder again. I realized it was from my door. So I get up and stumble to the front door. Of course, I’m half asleep and foggy due to this cold I have so I neglect all the safety rules of looking through the peep hole, asking who it is, etc. and I just open the door.

Lo and behold there are about 6 young men (20s?) in the hallway. They all seem to be in dark clothes, one guy was in jeans and a leather jacket. I thought they were just being rude and knocking on all doors, being “hooligans.” They start asking me questions (in French of course) whether or not my balcony was attached to the flat next door, and if I knew who lived there, and other such things. I said, no it wasn’t connected. They asked if they could see. I again said no, it wasn’t connected. Then I noticed “Sapeurs Pompiers” on one man’s sleeve – firefighters. (Cultural note : in Paris I’ve been told that you call the firefighters first, and then they decide who to send / what type of emergency it is.) Then I see a woman, probably in her 60s, in the hallway. My brain wakes up and I realize it must be an emergency so I let 3 of the guys in and they go to the dining room (right adjacent to my front door) to check the balcony.

Then it gets interesting. The 3 of them come back to the hallway and get harnesses and helmets. They get geared up and somehow rappel over to the other balcony. I’m still having minor conversations with the other men (in French). And thankfully the woman spoke intermediate / good English.

She asked if I heard the alarm in the apartment (smoke detectors?) and I said no. She said she lives above this flat (semi-elderly couple lives there) and she and her husband heard the noises, then somehow the young man (the one in jeans and leather jacket) was in hallway or something and the two of them called the firefighters. She said the woman in the flat is sick and is/was in a wheelchair. I said I had never met her, but had met the man, and actually saw him Saturday morning.

It might’ve been around this time that the police came – enter 4 more people into the hallway / my apartment. Did I mention it’s about midnight and I’m still in my PJs, trying to follow everything in French?

Also arriving at this point is the Guardian of the building next door. (Cultural note : Guardians would be what an American calls a Concierge, but that word isn’t really appropriate here. The person lives in the building and does basic repair, maintenance, etc. and usually people give the Guardian a set of keys if they are expecting deliveries, need things done, etc.)

Two of the policemen then ask me questions – do I live there? Alone? For how long? When did I last see the people in the flat? Was it the sick woman? My identification? These two guys were hilarious, like a comedy routine, and good looking. It was becoming like Who’s On First regarding whether or not I had seen the woman. I said I had seen A woman in the doorway, but I didn’t know if it was the wife of the woman / the tenant because I hadn’t formally met her. I just don’t know how to say in French “I didn’t want to stare”. And, it seems that when the police are writing down all your contact information for whatever report, they also want to know what city you were born in. Try spelling Cincinnati in French and getting the guy to understand it and make it fit in his little notebook. I would spell it (in French), the other guy would repeat, and still the one writing it down was making mistakes! Really, it was comical.

Remember, I’m still in my PJs, conversing in French.

Eventually they get into the flat, using the keys the Guardian brought. Turns out, no one is home. So all that excitement and adrenaline rush for nothing, which I suppose is a good thing! All I kept thinking was that if someone had been hurt inside, the hour spent banging on the door, waiting for the Guardian, and all that would not have been beneficial.

Things I learned :
--Always keep a sweatshirt or robe or something by your bed in case you have to get up and answer the door in the middle of the night.
--Get smoke detectors, you’ll feel safer (note : I think my company is getting safety kits for those of us who moved over here – smoke detectors, fire extinguisher, fire ladder, etc.)
--This was actually a pleasant experience in that none of these people made snide remarks or glances about me being American, or living there alone. My French language skills seemed to suffice. None of them made comments about the size of my flat being so large for one person. (Cultural note : seems to be the norm here to ask a person how many square meters one’s flat is. And in my case, 99% of the time it is followed by some snide remark of it being so large, or wondering where my family is, etc.)

Still disconnected

Well, I still have no phone/internet/tv at home, so hence my lack of updating, emailing, etc. It's not that I really miss internet or tv at home considering I was without TV for 6 years, and without home internet for about 3.

Quick updates :
--I now have a cold. But, pretty good considering I made it 2 months here before getting one.
--I am now a master at hanging drapes/curtains and other such things. I could be the next Bob Villa. That is only if you want one curtain to be 2 cm higher than the other (not sure if it is the curtain itself or my measuring/drilling) ; and if you want me to break a drill bit because I'm stupid enough to try to drill into a stone wall.
--Still no tourism things doing here as I spend all my time at hardware stores, furniture stores (although I've yet to buy a couch - what's wrong with a living room only having an Ikea chair and a folding camping chair? They're both crazy comfortable), grocery shopping, etc.
--I've discovered French cuisine is really just chicken and french fries, but it's all about the sauces they use. That and the desserts.
--Work is good, but very busy due to all the projects, budget forecasts, and the usual.
--Yes, I saw the Northern Lights in Norway. I swear I will post pictures of Norway sometime soon ; first though, I'd actually like to look at them. Can you believe I haven't?
--Am nearly finished reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman (recommended by my friend Robin) and LOVE it. You MUST read it. Amazing story. And I'm nearly finished with Duma Key by Stephen King and love that too.
--Once you get behind in listening to podcasts you'll never catch up again. I have about 225 "new" ones in iTunes. They all seem interesting based upon their titles so I cannot bring myself to delete them. Oh well.

Ok, time to go home, but now I am too late to pick up my drycleaning (closes at 19:00 and it is now 18:15 and takes me 45 min max to get home). Oh well, Friday night at the drycleaners and grocery is the excititing life a single expat woman leads in Paris.

"Home" again

I'm in London now for work meetings today and tomorrow, and staying at my London flat (I have the lease until end of May). I was glad to be coming back for a few days, but also wished I were staying in Paris as I just want to finish settling-in at my place (i.e. buy and hang curtains so I don't have to change clothes in the one part of the hallway that is private).

Anyway, when I got to St. Pancras station last night and took the Tube to my place, and even this morning, I realised that this chapter of my life is past. There are actually things about Paris I like more, give me a few days to think on this before I post. However, it is quite nice to be in London and to not nearly gag on the Tube (Paris Metro smells horrible) and I do not have to worry about stepping in dog poop everywhere.

Smells

Paris might be called the "City of Lights" (which, in this economic time and environmentally-conscience time, wouldn't it be better to turn off the lights?), but it is also the city of smells.

Sure, there is the smell of fresh bread baking at every boulangerie each morning, the sweet smells from the patisseries, smelling wine at tastings, and soon the trees and flowers in bloom.

However, just to warn you, it is also smells of exhaust, urine, feces, cigarette smoke, and other such unpleasantness. Yes, I have seen several men urinating in the street (in the bushes, against the sides of buildings, on a car's tire...), and some of my colleagues have seen the same. There is dog sh!t everywhere. I couldn't tell you what a lot of the buildings look like because I'm always looking DOWN to watch where I walk. And I swear, some of these piles on the sidewalks cannot possibly come from the accessory-sized dogs that seem to plague this city.

I figure a few years are being taken off the end of my life just by living here and breathing all of this. And, I'll probably develop some ghastly combination of allergies and asthma. Vive la France.