Cinque Terre

Wow! Tracy and I are having so much fun!! Too bad I don't have an internet connection. I am sitting in an internet cafe in Cinque Terre so I don't have time to tell lots of stories or the abilitity to load photos right now.

Check back in a few days when I've had a chance to load some photos of Tracy and me driving in our convertible through Germany, Austria, and Italy. Woohoo!

Packing

I'm packing to leave Paris again. I moved out of the apartment on rue Flatters and I'm taking the train to Munich tonight. I'll be meeting Tracy, a friend from Boulder, at the Munich airport when she arrives early on Sept 2nd. From there we will rent a car and explore southern Germany and northern Italy before joining four other Boulder women in Lucca, Italy on September 8th.

Stay tuned for more travel stories!

Surprise!

I found an apartment. Yay! No, that's not the surprise. I signed a one year lease through October 2011. No, that's not the surprise either. I was on my bike yesterday, delivering the deposit to secure the apartment, and I wanted to start exploring the neighborhood.

I could see on the map that there was a park nearby, but I had never visited it. It's the André Citroën Park, opened in 1992. Here is one of the gates to the park.


Lots of joggers, and that's the Seine just beyond the overhead bridge.


A fountain, with a balloon in the background.


I noticed people waiting in line. Hey, maybe I'll check it out.

What?! Only 10 euros for a balloon ride? It's a gorgeous Saturday morning and there aren't that many people in line. Sign me up!

That fountain? Here's what it looks like from above. That tower in the upper left hand corner is the Montparnasse tower.


Here you can see the where the joggers were, with the Seine behind.


The balloon is filled with helium and could simply float away if it weren't for this cable tethering it to the ground. BTW, this might not be too much fun if you suffer from acrophobia (fear of heights).


Here's the view to the north and the Eiffel Tower which is walking distance from my new apartment.


The park and the balloon ride were a complete surprise. I had no idea they were here. I smiled all day long . . .

Paris as seen from the air

Here's a view of the Paris that I love. Be sure and turn on the sound!


Paris vu du Ciel de Yann Arthus-Bertrand
envoyé par mairiedeparis. - L'info internationale vidéo.

Reopening

"La Rentrée" (the return) is in full swing in Paris. People are finally coming back from vacations, parents are shopping for school supplies, and shops are coming back to life.

Yesterday was reopening day for the Cabane à Huîtres. I went there for lunch and took along printed copies of the photos and blog posts from my trip to Arcachon for Francis who doesn't have a computer. As I was slurping up my oysters I struck up a conversation with a couple sitting nearby. Parisians here for the first time, they were oohing and aahhing over the freshness of the oysters. Wow, what a find, they exclaimed, you rarely find this kind of ambiance in a Parisian restaurant. We continued to chat through the remainder of the meal and during dessert they mentioned another tiny bistro that has a similar family atmosphere. My ears perked up. I love to find small, out of the way places recommended by locals. I made sure to note the name and adress before leaving.

Today's errands took me to the north side of town and I decided to stop into the Clos Bourguignon mentioned the day before. On a small side street without much traffic, the place was packed! People were spilling out onto the sidewalk, waiting patiently to squeeze inside. I waited at least 20 minutes just for a seat at the bar. There are some advantages to flying solo. Who knows how long I might have waited for a table?

I immediately ordered the house specialty - Hachis Parmentier(following the advice from yesterday's conversation). This is NOT haute cuisine. Hachis parmentier is translated as "shepherd's pie". What's that? Essentially a casserole of ground beef with mashed potatoes and some melted cheese on top. But that description cannot possibly capture the flavor of this dish. It was family style, stick-to-the-ribs, and absolutely delicious. It was also a very large helping - as I'd also been warned.

As I sat enjoying my lunch - along with a chilled glass of Brouilly (red wine). I started noticing the interaction between the crowd and Mr. Louis the owner. I'd say fully half of the diners were greeted by name, and with handshakes or hugs. I couldn't help chatting with a couple of the regulars who were standing at the end of the bar waiting for their own tables. Mr. Louis had jokes or friendly snide remarks for most.

I couldn't finish my portion, and sure enough, Mr. Louis noticed. Whose plate is that? he glared. I did my best, I whimpered, it was delicious but I just couldn't finish it all. Well, if you did your best . . He let me off the hook. And then shared the secret behind the flavor. We start with beef that's been cooked in a pot au feu. Aha, that would explain the flavor. I imagined beef simmered for hours with onions, carrots, and savory spices until it's falling apart. No wonder the flavor was so intense. I'll be back. And next time I'll save room for cheese.

I didn't get too many photos - the place was 100% French and I didn't want to break the spell and look like a tourist by bringing out my camera and taking pictures of my food. Here's a shot of the exterior. You can see how crowded the place still was when I left after 2 PM.

Apartment hunting

I've visited several apartments in the last few days. I've been scouring the ads on Craigslist and have even placed an ad of my own. Trolling through this process is sort of like kissing frogs in order to find the prince - you have to check out several and there aren't that many princes out there. The apartments are either too expensive or too dark, too noisy, too small, too far away from the center, etc. However, I'm not discouraged and expect to find a place that is just right before the first of October.

Speaking of kissing frogs (groan) I have recently signed up for the French equivalent of eHarmony - purely as a social anthropology research project of course . . ;-)

Stay tuned as I analyze the similarities and differences between U.S. and French approaches to the topic . . .

Blue stuff

As the months go by I've started running out of the supplies I brought with me such as toothpaste and shampoo. I can't find my favorite toothpaste, so while examining the myriad options I thought I'd try the one that advertised "teeth instantly whiter from the 1st brushing - clinically proven". After all, age, strong coffee and red wine do take their toll on the color of teeth. It seemed to work OK and I didn't think any more about it.


Later, I succombed to the sales pitch of Steeve the hairdresser who proposed a shampoo specifically designed for gray/silver hair. Why not? Especially since it was less expensive than the last "professional" shampoo that the salon recommended. Again, I didn't think too much about it until one day I noticed blue spots on the shower curtain. Huh? I did notice that the shampoo seemed awfully BLUE, almost purple. I started reading the fine print. Will my hair turn blue? Remember the blue-haired old ladies? Will I become one?


I read and translated the fine print on the bottle: "Effects are optical only. Do not use every day." That made me wonder about the toothpaste too. Sure enough - the fine print also says something about optical effects. . .

Eeeuw. Do they sell stuff like this in the U.S. too?