desperately seeking the best macaron in paris

as a follow-up to my dizzying day at "salon du chocolat", i decided to find the best macaron in paris. of course, this research is all for you, my dear readers. a completely selfless act on my part.

the french macaron, not to be confused with the american coconut macaroon, is a light, delicate creation of a flavored meringue sandwich cookie filled with a sweet flavored creamy ganache center. it doesn't matter where you buy these cookies -- whether the local corner bakery or someplace fancy -- they are always expensive (about one euro per cookie). i decided to do a head to head taste test with two of the best known macaron places in paris...pierre herme and laduree.

laduree has a very beautiful, almost girly, interior. it's very traditionally french in its decoration, all done in pastels. i decided to purchase three cookies and one pastry (the pastries are so pretty, it was hard to resist). pierre herme has a much more contemporary interior. it's done in dark hardwoods and porcelain tile. very american in style, in fact. here i decide to just purchase three cookies, even though the pastries and chocolates were also tempting (after all, i do have a limit). even though it was raining outside, both places had very long lines. i must not have been the only one with a hankering for macarons.

at home that evening, with rain pouring outside, i made myself a cup of vanilla tea and began my tasting. i looked at my purchases...six cookies and one pastry at a cost of just under 20 euros...and thought i'm definitely in the wrong business. although i didn't eat everything in one sitting i made my decision that evening. the cookies from laduree, supposedly the best, were smaller and had less ganache than the cookies from pierre herme. both are equally delicious and both companies have equally interesting flavors. it wasn't too difficult to decide. my recommendation: pierre herme all the way.

and the pastry? well, that was delicious too, but not part of the taste test. i ate it just for you.

a festivus for all of us

parisians enjoy their festivals and expositions. i am enjoying participating in them. i recently enjoyed two, fete des vendenges and salon du chocolat.

fete des vendenges celebrates the different wine regions of france with a parade and tasting booths in montmartre. i was invited by my friend jason to join him and a few other friends to watch the parade and enjoy the festival. the parade was very small town in feeling. the participants represented different wineries and regions and were dressed in traditional garb (men in long robes with large hats or maidens with large bosoms in low cut blouses) while others wore crazy giant animal costumes. it was all very quaint. after the parade we headed towards the booths. some had wine for a taste, some had food. it was all packed with thousands of people. i took the photo of the steps of the sacre coeur as i was leaving. all those people were taking a break from the festival, while twice as many were still imbibing.

while i enjoyed fete des vendenges, i am not much of a wine connoisseur. chocolate, on the other hand, is my weakness. salon du chocolat was a convention of all things...well...chocolate. there were stacks of chocolate bars, macarons of all flavors (including chocolate, of course), chocolate fountains, chocolate covered everything and even a fashion show of chocolate garments. i went with my friend melissa along with a group of other expats. we had a wonderful, tiring and chocolate filled afternoon.

he went to paris

those of you who know me well know that i am a parrothead. for those that are unaware, that means i am a big jimmy buffet fan. i had been to many a concert on los angeles and always enjoyed the lively crowd and great show.

it was may, and i had been in paris for just a couple of weeks when i learned that jimmy buffet was coming to town at the end of september. i was quite surprised, because i didn't know he toured in europe at all. but i was also quite happy so i bought two tickets. i didn't know who i would be going with and i didn't know what the note "access libre" meant on my ticket.

suddenly september 24th rolled around. time really does fly, doesn't it? i still don't know many people in paris, and certainly don't know anyone else, american or european, who even knows who jimmy buffet is, so i still didn't have anyone to go with to the show. through a series of events i was connected with a guy in holland who wanted to buy a ticket to see the show.

matt took the train from holland to paris yesterday. we met for the first time when he came by my place to pick me up so we could go to the venue together. the show was held at l'olympia, a small concert hall that is iconic in paris. built in 1888, many great artists have performed there over the years, from edith piaf to bob dylan. my "access libre" tickets were for standing room only, which was the whole bottom floor holding about 1,000 people. another 1,000 people were upstairs sitting in the balcony. i was so happy to be downstairs, even though it meant we were on our feet for hours. because we got there early we were center stage, with just four or five rows of people in front of us. it was thrilling...i've never been to a concert before and been so close to the artist.

yes, some people were drunk and yes, some were just annoying (you know who you are, girl who was flipping her hair in my face while dancing like a crazy person). but after a while most people calmed down and the whole thing was quite enjoyable to watch. most of the crowd was american. people came from the states just to see the show, while expats like matt came from countries all around europe. pretty impressive.

fins to the left! fins to the right! a fine time was had in paris last night!!

i'm a travelin' (wo)man

one of the great things about being a member of the european union is that when you are in europe you can just pick up and go to any other european union country without much planning, because there is no need for a visa. we are all just one big happy family. since i am here, i decided i that i need to take advantage of this perk.

my first adventure was in estonia, which i wrote about in a previous blog. at the end of july i went to london for a quick weekend getaway. i had only been to london once before for just two days, but that was almost twenty years ago. i met my roommate kathryn there (she went for a longer period of time). my first day i did the touristy bus ride around the city thing, just to get my bearings. saw the tower of london and went on a walking "jack the ripper" tour (macabre and fun at the same time). that evening kathryn and i went to see the show "billy elliot" which was fantastic. the next day i met up with an acquaintance from l.a. for breakfast, then kathryn and i went to the tate modern museum (i enjoyed the architecture of the space as much as the art). that evening we saw another show, neil simon's "prisoner of 2nd avenue" with (my future husband) jeff goldblum and mercedes ruehl. did a little clothes shopping (i bought a beautiful cream colored winter coat) and went home.

in mid-august kathryn, natalie and i went to lithuania for a week. why, you ask? first and foremost, it was cheap! and secondly, why not? another opportunity to see a part of the world none of us had been to before. my first impression: it was hot! we flew into kaunas and took a walking tour of the city. i learned that lithuania has more churches than just about anything else. came back to the hotel tired and sopping wet.

we then traveled by bus to the capital vilnius. this city has the most remnants of medieval times than anywhere else we visited in lithuania. took a walking tour of the city, a day trip to trakai to visit a medieval castle, and a visit to the national museum. the photo of the carnival was taken as we walked back from the museum. i thought it was funny to see a picture of uncle sam in lithuania. why is there a picture of uncle sam on a ride called "crazy show"? we also did some general shopping and eating. a favorite thing i like to do when in a new place is to try new foods. i learned that donuts are not sweet little cakes with a hole in them, but savory meat pies (not what i was expecting at all). potato pancakes are popular, which i had a few times. we also had dinner at a hungarian restaurant. i ordered the goulash, but it didn't even come close to my mom's. my favorite food is a "hot chocolate" dessert that is served in a cup with a spoon. it's basically just melted dark chocolate. delish! the three of us also visited a spa while in vilnius. the exchange rate was very favorable to us, so we all indulged. i was scrubbed and wrapped and massaged. what could be better than that?

after vilnius we made our way to klaipeda on the coast. we wanted to take in the ocean, which was quite nice. i didn't have a swimsuit, but decided to go sit in the water anyway because it was quite pleasant. we only stayed in klaipeda for a day because the city wasn't very impressive. we decided to switch plans a little bit and headed north to riga in latvia. the third of the three baltic countries, i have now seen them all. riga is similar to both vilnius and tallin (estonia) because they are all medieval cities. you can just imagine knights in their armor riding through the town causing mayhem and peasants bustling about, doing whatever it is peasants do.

riga was a bit more lively than vilnius but twice as expensive; we were there only one night. we did another walking tour, a boat tour on the river, ate (wasn't sure what some of it was, but that's part of the adventure, right?), and had another spa day (when in the baltics...). we decided to treat ourselves and go to a very beautiful, fancy restaurant. the photo of us (that's kathryn, myself and natalie) is in that restaurant, eating very delicious fancy food. yum.

back to kaunas, then back home. another couple of countries ticked off my list...how many more to go?

day trippin'

just outside of paris are various sites that you can visit in a day. i went to two places in recent months: giverny and versailles.

lat month my roommates kathryn, natalie and i went to giverny to see monet's house and gardens. the photos are of me sitting in front of monet's house and the other is his famous water lily pond. i'm barely dressed because it was one of the hottest, most humid days of summer. it must have been in the mid- to upper-nineties with at least 60% humidity. i didn't realize i had tan lines until i saw this photo. they are just from walking around paris in my tank tops.

giverny is a short train ride from paris. i really enjoyed seeing the gardens that inspired so many of monet's paintings. there isn't much to do there except look at all the plants and flowers, plus you can take a tour of his house as well. there are other things to see in the town of giverny: many souvenir shops, local artists selling their works, and places to eat. it's quite touristy, so we didn't participate in any of those activities.

another local venue is versailles. the last time i went to visit the chateau was about fifteen years ago. this summer they offered a special "water show" just on saturday evenings and just for five weeks during the summer. since it is a special show, i decided to go last weekend with my english friend chris. canned classical music played as you strolled around the gardens starting at 8:30 p.m. the "water show" wasn't a show at all; they just turned the fountains on. then at 11:05 they had a fireworks show (as i mentioned in an earlier post, the french do know how to put on a great fireworks show). and that was it. not a lot of show for kind of a lot of dough (23EU was the normal price, but luckily lola came to my rescue and offered discount tickets...merci lola!).

i hope to go back to versailles soon to see the interior of the chateau again. i am also planning a trip in a couple of weeks to another fairly local chateau, vaux le vicomte. lucky me.

to market to market

one of my favorite things to do in paris is shopping at the outdoor farmers markets. paris has a law that states that every arrondisement must have an outdoors market at least once a week. this is why these markets are so well known internationally; 20 districts means that you can pick up your farmers market groceries any day of the week depending upon where you are in the city.

my favorite market is at bastille. it's one of the largest markets with the most diverse products. fruits and vegetables are of course available, but you can also get cheese, bread, yougurt and other dairy products, meat, fish, plus other miscellaneous products like soap, dishes, clothing, jewelry and toys. it's truly a one-stop shop. the food is so fresh; everything smells really good. and as you can see from the characters i photographed recently, the hawkers can be fresh too!

eek! souris!

we've had quite a bit of action here in paris in the last several weeks. i am continuing to practice my french and take classes at the alliance francaise. sometimes frustrating, sometimes liberating, but i'm getting stronger with the language every day. yesterday i was mumbling to myself and realized i was mumbling in french! it's really starting to sink in. i've even received some nice compliments from people i'm meeting that my french is pretty good for only having studied for six weeks or so. that's always encouraging. but then of course, i run into people who, the moment i open my mouth and they hear an english accent and my poor grammar, tell me it would just be easier for both of us if we speak english.

kathryn, natalie and i have moved from the tiny 300 square foot one bedroom apartment in the 10th to an 900 square foot three level (two bedroom!) house in the 19th. the neighborhood is nothing to look at and a little rough (think venice, california in the 80's) but the house is very nice, open and airy and has a courtyard that tyrone and lenny like to explore. it almost feels like we are in the country when in the house. we are all very happy here. we have a contract for the summer but hope that the owner (who we all like very much) will be away longer. her name is assia and she is a travel writer.

i am continuing to look for work, which is quite a task here, especially in the field of architecture and design. kathryn has graciously translated my resume into french, so i am more confident in sending it out. i am also accepting every invitation for social events. i am meeting people in my french class and through meetup.com.

on june 21st all of france celebrates the summer solstice with "fete de la musique". musicians of all kinds set up in every neighborhood and just play all night long. i went with a friend from french class, milly, and her french boyfriend emanuel. we were in the st. michel area and it was crazy! thousands of people milling about the streets, breakdancers, capoeira dancers (the dance/athletic movement from brazil), people selling miscellaneous things and general mayhem. the sun finally set around 11:00 p.m. it was great! (the photo above was shot just a week or so ago of the seine. i was going home from a meetup event and it was about 10:30 p.m.).

paris celebrated bastille day on july 14th with a very (very!) rained-on parade that we watched online. it was thundering, lighting and even hailing. that evening i went to a dinner party at another friend's place (karla, also from the alliance who lives with her french boyfriend axel). there were six of us altogether and i did as best i could with my broken french. they were all very encouraging (and of course when the french say they speak just a little english they are really quite fluent). around 10:00 p.m. we headed out to join the thousands of people around the eiffel tower to watch the fireworks (the rain had finally cleared up). this is the only place in the city where they shoot fireworks, and boy do the french know how to put on a show. we were quite far from the center of the action, and yet it was magnificent! getting home on the metro was a challenge because of the number of people, but all was well. not much different than trying to get out of the parking lot after a concert at the greek theater.

just a few nights ago, i was in bed, kathryn was just getting out of the shower and natalie was downstairs on the computer. all was good in the world. then kathryn and i heard natalie start to squeal. we both ran downstairs, not knowing what was happening to find that tyrone had found a mouse in the house and was playing with it (the mouse would have a different point of view). yelling, arm waving and squealing ensued from all three of us (and a little from the mouse). i had the most experience with tyrone and live creatures that don't belong in the house (as, after all, he is my cat), so i tried to trap the mouse with the broom. but the little vermin was too quick and ran under the stairs to hide. with trepidation we went to sleep that night.

no sign of the mouse for a day or two. then last night almost the same scenario occured. kathryn and i ran downstairs. i grabbed the broom. kathryn moved stuff out of the way. natalie opened the door. with military precision the mouse was swept out of the house, door locked, yay! we were saved! back upstairs, relieved. not ten minutes later, natalie gave out her warning cry yet again! another mouse! we formed our brigade and again, the troops saved the day (and the mouse!). tyrone is now looking for his third catch. we hope he never finds it.

we are all taking advantage of being in paris and the fact that all three of us have dual passports (kathryn: austria, natalie: france, me: hungary) so we can travel very easily. we will be visiting london in a couple of weeks and then off to lithuania mid-august. this intrepid traveler will keep you posted.

je mange

most would agree, one of the reasons to move to france is the food. food is available many different ways: you can sit at a restaurant or cafe and have a full meal (most places have prix fixe meals meaning one price covers an appetizer, entree and sometimes dessert); you can get something quick to go like a crepe (either sweet or savory) or croque monsieur; you can go to one of many outdoor markets and you can go to the supermarket.

i have had an occassional meal at a restaurant, but being on a budget i get most of my food from the farmer's markets and supplement that with a trip to the grocery store a few times a week.

i am glad i came to the land of chocolate and cheese, because the grocery store is choc full of both (if i drank wine i would be talking about that too). as you can see from my photo there are aisles in the store dedicated just to bar chocolate. of course there is an aisle for cookies (also including chocolate). there is chocolate in the yogurt, there is chocolate in the cereal (even the so-called "fitness" cereal!). there are dozens of varieties of both yogurt and cheese (no chocolate in the cheese though). you can also get your chocolate, cheese and wine from specialty stores.

i have made it my mission, dear reader, to try every variety in sight. i don't belong to a gym here, so thank goodness for the stairs in the metro.

kismet apres paris

in my search for work i have discovered that my menial knowledge of french isn't good enough to get a job. it would truly be a miracle if someone would hire me based on my experience and good looks alone. i need to communicate with the french, which means i need to speak french. yes, most french people have some knowledge of english, but it's not their native language, so when in france...

i have been studying on my computer program (rosetta stone) just about each day, but i'm not learning fast enough. so i decided to enroll in the alliance francaise, a french immersion school here in paris that is pretty well-known. i will be taking classes monday, tuesday and thursday, three hours a day for four weeks (to start).

my first day was yesterday. because i have some knowledge of french i was placed in a slightly advanced beginners class. i had to introduce myself to the other students and tell them what i do for a living, and they had to do the same for me. one of the other americans in the class is a young woman from new york (julia) who is a residential interior designer! she's not currently working, but i think we might be able to help each other; we are meeting for coffee next week to discuss business.

i decided that the class i was initially placed in was a bit too advanced for me; i could understand about 70% of what the teacher was saying. so today i was placed in a class one level down. still not complete beginner, but fairly elementary. in this class i understand the instructor about 90% of the time, so it's much better for me. did i mention the instructors speak only in french? we follow a work book that has illustrations as well as text, and the teacher uses her body a lot to describe what she is trying to convey. i sat down randomly next to a young woman from miami (millie). turns out she went to my high school in florida (go chargers!).

now what is the likelihood that i would make a connection with someone in both my classes? kismet! i just need to continue to find contacts and make connections in order to finally land a job. i hope that happens soon.

turning point

today i took a walk to the post office in the 5th (the latin quarter) because i had a letter waiting for me there. it's been raining here on and off for the last several weeks; today it rained all day. i got out of the metro and a couple of blocks away i saw a woman with a plastic bag on her head. no, not a plastic bonnet made for the rain, but a white bag meant for groceries with the loop handles near her ears. i was kind of staring at her, trying to decide if it would be p.c. for me to take a photo (it was bizarre and funny all at once) when she approached me. in french she asked me where the metro was. i told her "just over there" she thanked me and i said "you're welcome". all in french! i walked away kind of stunned and proud of myself.

previously when someone would stop me for directions i could tell they were asking for directions but it all sounded like charlie brown's teacher (whawhawhawha...or in yiddish yadayadayada). now i actually knew the words! i have also caught myself a couple of times in the metro thinking in french (e.g.: "line deux bleu", not "line two blue"). i have been studying my french on the computer every day. i think it's finally working.

the post office was very close to the pantheon, so i decided to continue up the street to have a look. in all the previous visits i have had to paris (four!) somehow i never visited this building. wow, what a mistake. it is unbelievably beautiful. if you like me have never seen it before, it's a must. some of the most prominent french are buried there (like voltaire, the curies, and even braille).

although i am still looking for work, today was quite satisfying. and what was at the post office waiting for me? two buffett tickets that i ordered! so if any of my parrothead friends decides to come to paris in the fall, keep september 24th open and come with me!

ahh the parisians...

i have been here for about a month now and have made some observations about paris and its inhabitants that the casual visitor may not notice.

most people think the french (and specifically the parisians) as a whole are rude. i have found just the opposite to be true. yes, it's a big metropolitan city with many diverse peoples from all over the world all crammed into trains and busses and narrow cobbled streets. people aren't smiling all the time, and they don't necessarily smell that good when the temperature goes up. but i think the rudeness that most travellers feel just has to do with a difference in culture and language. if you blend in and become one of them, you get a different perspective of things.

the metro and busses are usually pretty good means of transportation. after 30 years of l.a. traffic i have found it refreshing for someone else to do the driving. during rush hour you do need to be agressive to get in a train car and sometimes you are really packed like sardines. i just grin and bear it because unlike gridlock on the 405, at least the train is always moving. several times i've seen young people giving up their seat for an older person. getting out is sometimes tricky, but everyone says "pardon" when needing to step out of a busy train.

i've also seen women with babies in strollers on the metro. this is not easily accomplished, because with every station there are many steps to navigate, both up and down. however, strangers will generally help a woman carry the stroller on those stairs. it's just something you do.

beggers usually work for their free money. it's not that often that i see someone just standing near a busy intersection with their hand out (these are usually old, frail people). most people who are asking for money from strangers work for it. they might get on a metro car, make an announcement of their story then walk amongst the people looking for change. often times they are musicians. they might set up someplace in the metro where people can throw money in their instrument case while hurrying by (sometimes these are whole groups of musicians and they can be very good). sometimes a musician will actually come into the train car and play, then look for a handout. and sometimes they will simply walk down the street and play. i've seen this a few times and just a moment ago a duo (a man playing the trumpet and an accordian player) came by playing traditional french tunes and my neighbors threw coins out the window at them.

it's true that people appreciate it if you at least try to speak the language. i like how polite the language is. as a customer you go into a shop and always say "hello madame" or "hello sir". and you always say "thank you" and "goodbye". it's just rude if you don't.

i'm not trying to paint the city as perfect. of course it isn't. they don't believe in air conditioning (even in the movie theater), they don't have many gyms and people can be rude here just like anywhere else in the world. but it's nice to know that there is a softer side of the parisian that most don't get to experience.

we are marching in estonia!

i just spent five days in estonia with my roommate kathryn. i arrived at the tallin airport early in the day (abby, the airport has flor tile all over! and cy, i saw altro on all the busses!). kathryn was on a later flight, so i had some time to take in the sights of the old town.

tallin is a medieval city with an old stone wall surrounding the old part of the city and towers built into this wall to protect the city (men would shoot with bows and arrows from these towers). there were horses, and men in suits of armor and damsels in distress. all very knights of the round table.

estonia is part of the old u.s.s.r. the locals are very happy not to be under soviet rule any longer (they will be adopting the euro next year).

in our five days kathryn and i took a guided bike ride in the old and newer parts of the city, went to a really lovely dinner at a five star restaurant, saw most of the sites in the old town (those towers have a lot of stairs!), went to the botanical garden, took the sightseeing bus, took the city bus, found the local grocery store for a couple of dinners and walked a lot.

one evening we went to the modern art museum. it was designed by a finnish architect and it is sooo beautiful. very modern and elegant. that day just happened to be "museum day" which meant that all the museums all over tallin were free. everyone and their mother (and i mean that) was out.

another day we took a day trip to a small city called varnu. we didn't have a lot of time there (and there isn't a lot to do), so we had a nice lunch, walked to the beach, walked areound the little town center and came home. that evening we decided to go to the spa and get massages (and a pedicure for me). that spa was really beautiful.

as i was lying on the massage table, looking at the linoleum below me, i was thinking about how the european designers use all the cool products that come from europe that i could only use occassionaly in my projects in l.a. because of the expense. i'm getting excited to find a job so i can use these products more!

we came home happy and safe (we both avoided the ash cloud that is still hovering over part of europe). on to the job search (marching, marching, marching...)

life in paris

i have started to have a routine here in paris, and i feel as if my life has begun here. each day i have been taking my walking tours of various parts of the city. most recently i visited ile st-louis, auteuil, montmartre and buttes-chaumont (thank you wayne for convincing me to bring my sneakers!). these tours come from my guidebook and are good for giving me historical as well as architectural history of the city (thanks peter!). in auteuil i was able to visit le corbusier's villa roche (which was very cool to see).

the tours are taking me all over the city and i have become quite familiar with the metro. my hamstrings and tush are getting quite a workout. i get home and am quite pooped, and my muscles ache. oy!

i am practicing my french every day with my rosetta stone on my computer. i am on the last section of level 1 and it's getting much harder, so it's harder for me to get through each lesson. at my roommate's suggestion i put an ad on craigslist for conversation exchange. apparently it's something people do here a lot. you meet someone in a cafe for an hour. half the time you help them with their english, the rest of the time they help you with your french. it doesn't cost anything but a cup of coffee. hopefully you end up with someone who is a good teacher. i had two respondents to my ad, and this evening will be meeting with a woman and her 12 year old daughter for our first exchange. i'm looking forward to it because i think it will help me with just every day language (and pronunciation, which i am terrible at!).

i am trying to meet people here in order to network and hopefully eventually find a job. so to all who have given me leads, thank you! i have followed up on every one of them. we'll see how they all pan out.

i buy groceries a lot. our refrigerator is a tiny under the counter type and we have only one cabinet for plates, pantry items and staples, so there isn't much room for anything. many trips to the market are common and normal. you can pick up what you need for a meal at supermarkets, small convenience stores and the open air farmers markets. the farmers markets have prepared food, meat, fish and sundry items as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. the larger supermarkets are similar to target; today i bought cat food, a chocolate bar and a trench coat at the supermarket!

tyrone and lenny are getting more used to this place. it's much noisier here than l.a. and they don't have a place to go outside. i let them run around the hallway of the building a bit, until they get scared when a stranger comes and they run back into the apartment. kathryn and i are looking for another place for june or july. i hope we can find something that the cats will enjoy too. lenny is getting over his cold.

kathryn has been a really terrific roommate (again, thanks peter!). she loves the cats and they are slowly warming up to her. she is helping me get oriented (showing me stuff i need to know about; it's been a huge help). she even showed me how to download american television shows on my computer, so we have been watching "the amazing race" and "flash forward" together. she and i went to dinner last night at a nice thai place close to the apartment (i had a "real" parisian sighting there: a woman at the next table was having dinner with a friend while her little dog sat on her lap). she's really easy to be with and i look forward to our vacation in estonia.

so, that's life in paris right now. not too shabby.

ooh shiny things

i have decided to be a tourist for a little while, until the work thing happens for me. my travel book for paris has little mini tour suggestions, so that is what i am doing for the next few days. today i walked around parc monceau, a part of the city i hadn't been to before. very pretty; sever joggers were taking advantage of the mild weather.

at the end of that tour i was on haussmann boulevard, so i decided to go to the galeries lafayette, one of the big department stores here (also a place i had never visited).

the exterior is old and gorgeous and...ooh la la...the interior is a modern masterpiece! it's all marble and chrome and cool modern sculptures and amazing merchandise. the whole store (or what i saw of it) is set up like small boutiques (a la fred segal...or maybe vice versa?). there are eight floors; i only took a look at four. it was overwhelming, like a museum...you can only take in so much in one visit. every major label is represented: chanel, lanvin, marc jacobs, mac, agnes, dior, tons of others i don't even know about. i saw a cell phone for $10K euros. TEN THOUSAND (i counted the zeros)! I don't know what it was made of, but it looked like platinum. even the cafe was cool. it has a groovy club feeling with low vinyl covered sofas and hard plastic chairs but it's done all in pale blue, white and chrome so it has a fresh, clean feel.

if you want to see the interior, check out the link below:

http://www.tripadvisor.fr/LocationPhotos-g187147-d189193-w4-Galeries_Lafayette-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

when is your hair not a goat?

ok, so here is my first "i don't know this language well enough to really speak it" story.

it's cold today! i was up early (around 4:45 a.m.), so i finished reading my paris travel book (thanks peter!). i was being lazy because my roommate is due in today and i want to be at the apartment when she comes, which will be around noon. i decided i was being too lazy, so i got up off my butt and went to the monoprix to pick up a few supplies (like an adapter for my computer...i'm still using kathryn's). how cold does it need to be to see your breath? well, that's how cold it is today.

i stopped at a beauty supply store on the way home to look for some goop for my hair. the saleswoman approached me and asked if i needed help so i asked (in broken french) for a particular brand that i like to use for my hair. they didn't have it, i said thanks and was on my way. it wasn't until i was reviewing the conversation in my mind that i realized i had asked "pour mon chevre" (my goat) rather than "mon cheveaux" (my hair). it made me laugh out loud, like a crazy person. good thing my accent is so bad or the saleswoman so nice that she didn't quite get what i said.

i have a feeling that won't be the last time something like that comes out of my mouth...

...we've only just begun! alors!

tyrone, lenny and i have made it to our new apartment in paris. the flight was pretty turbulent, right from the take-off (i've never experienced turbulence while ascending). i was worried about tyrone and lenny in the hold. they were probably pretty scared. the good news is we all made it across the pond safely.

my new roommate kathryn is currently in the states, so the three of us are here on our own right now. tyrone and lenny are getting used to their new digs. lots of new strange noises (the apartment is on the ground floor and faces the street).

i got to the apartment around noon yesterday. the first thing i did was get supplies for the boys. kathryn left me her map book, which is so helpful in getting around the city. i still got lost a little, but found my way just fine (i don't like holding the map in my hand like a tourist, so i missed a turn). i have already been mistaken for a local, as a woman asked me for directions in french. of course i couldn't help her (even if i understood her, as i just got off the boat myself!); perhaps one day soon i will be able to answer something other than "sorry, i don't speak french" (at least i can say that en francaise!).

i came back to the apartment and lay down on the bed to just think about my next move. when i opened my eyes, five hours had passed. i was pooped! still am a bit. or maybe just in shock. i still can't believe i did this. i'm also pretty sore; i think from the packing. i just need to rest a bit.

when i finally went out again to the market across the street it was about 8:00 p.m. the sun was low in the sky; not even twilight yet. it stays light in the spring and summer much longer here than l.a. lots of people were still shopping.

today i went to look for a scratching post for the cats. i am having trouble finding a pet store, but kathryn will help me with that on monday when she comes back. on my journey today i ran into a big farmers market just a few blocks away. they were selling all kinds of things, not just fruit and veggies. my walk gave me a little insight to the neighborhood. it's very mixed, with lots of north africans and asians. reminded me of new york when i was a kid.

the weather is not hot and not cold. it's cloudy, so a little gloomy, but i'm wearing a t shirt, light pants and a sweatshirt (the same as i would in l.a.). the apartment is teeny tiny. i am sleeping on a full size mattress/day bed in the living/dining/kitchen and living out of my suitcase. it's ok because at the end of the month kathryn and i will move into a two bedroom (it won't be much bigger, but at least i will have a bedroom). my address is 20 rue Sambre et Meuse 75010 Paris. But don't send me anything! we can't fit one more thing into the apartment, and besides, my name isn't on the mailbox.

i will take a few more days to get used to the place (and by place i mean paris) and continue with m french lessons on rosetta stone, and then start my job search. fingers crossed something happens soon!

more later

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so now i'm an official blogger. i will post stuff to this site in the future. stay tuned!

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...i'm officially a blogger. i will post future comments on paris to this site.