Christmas time in Paris

Ah what a weekend! Where do I begin?!

Well Friday night Stephanie and I ventured to St Michel in the hope of finding an underground jazz bar hosted in an ex-dungeon. We did find it, and the live music was pretty good, the crowd seemed pleasant and it was full but there would have still been room to sit down. We decided against it on learning that drink prices downstairs (thus by the live music) were almost double the already-expensive price list of the bar upstairs. So instead we ended up at the Le Who's Bar by Notre Dame.

The bar was nice, the live music was no jazz (they mainly did cover songs along the likes of U2 and The Beatles) but the atmosphere was upbeat and drinks were flowing... but the men, eugh. It's no secret that French men are more often than not far too sure of themseves and their own irresistability, but this bar was full of this sort. I will say that my friend had a good time hehe, and I met one French guy who was not sleazy or arrogant but listened intently to my broken French as I explained about my boyfriend in England and (cheese alert) how in love we are. He didn't speak a word of English which was great as it meant I really had to try hard to use my French, and we understood each other really well. The poor boy is a hopeless romantic and still in love with his ex-girlfriend, but maybe I could set him up with one of my lovely au pair friends?!


Eventually we decided to leave the bar and begin the mission of getting home. And it was most definitely a mission. After hailing down a bus which took us in the wrong direction, and then continuing to walk in the wrong direction, we finally realised our mistake and followed the Seine until we arrived at Rue de Rivoli and the Jardin des Tuilieries and caught the first metro at 6am. I tumblied into bed at 7 in the morning, and slept most of the day!

Saturday (once recovered) I attended the Champs Elysées Christmas market with Stephanie, Adrianne and Annika. Having forgotten about the crazy amount of tourists present on a Saturday evening in Paris, I tutted unappreciatively at their slowness and general shuffling about. You see, I am no tourist, I consider myself half-Parisian already and act accordingly (this means moving people out of the way whilst uttering the occasional "pffft" sound). By the by, this pfft sound is most certainly one of the most important "words" in Paris. It is, I have learned, used to suggest a nonchalance attitude (as I ask my host dad a question, he kindly shrugs and says "pffft, bien sur!"), and can also be used to portray a feeling of discontent and annoyance. If you're ever in Paris, use it well, it will gain you respect I promise (they will see you as one of their own).

Christmas Lights on the Champs Elysees leading towards the Arc de Triomphe

After indulging in some much-needed Vin Chaud, we took the metro to Abesses where we climbed up the hilly surroundings and stopped at the Place de Tertre to further indulge in Chocolat Chauds and Verres de Vin.Our spot outside directly overlooked the Place de Tertre and accordinly the beautiful Sacre Coeur in the background, and the waiter was extremely French ("Bonsoir les filles!) and cheery. Weather-beaten artists walk around asking Voulez-vous un caricature? Un portrait? And then shoot you unhappy looks as you shake your head and say firmly non merci! Truth be told if I had any money I would get one, how quaint right by Montmartre these French artists, even if some be amateurs! We stayed here for almost 2 hours people-watching and practicising our broken French. The couple next to me ordered snails and oysters, which was intriguing and the first time I have seen someone eat snails since arriving here.

Place de Tertre in Montmartre

And voila, there is my weekend for you. Paris is even more stunning when enveloped by Christmas lights and the city is charming as ever.

Bisous

Before I forget...

Ah I forgot to mention a couple of other things...

J'adore le Marais. The Jewish quarter is great, the best place to be in Paris on a Sunday (everywhere else is closed and boring). This area is buzzing with fashionistas, tourists, Frenchies etc etc. Many of the shops sell Jewish food and traditions, as can be expected. The falafels are très yummy and at 5 euro a piece a reasonable price for lunch in Paris. The vintage shops offer real fur coats (if you're into that kind of thing) for as little as 60 euros, and a host of other strange but quirky things. The range of shops is huge... clothes, shoes, Japanese bags, vintage, designer, books (I love these ones of course), arts and crafts etc. The winding roads and pebble paths add to the area's authenticity. Many buildings appear to lean towards each other, and offer a glimpse of Parisian history, in all its trend-setting glory of the 1920s. One day, when I am very rich and successful, an apartment in the Marais wouldn't be amiss!

I visited Les Catacombes recently. A morbid but almost compulsory experience when living in Paris. The underground collection of cemetries consists mainly of piles and piles and piles of skulls and bones, some 6 million bodies in total so the guide leaflet tells me. These piles are impeccably arranged, rows of skulls, rows of bones etc, all of which appear to have been cemented together by the age of time. The underground passages originated in the 18th century, and for the most part the bodies were long since dead, being moved there to prevent disease, but it's interesting (?!) to discover that many who died during the Revolution were placed directly into this strange equivalence to a grave. As one first descends the narrow winding steps, a sense of trepidation occurrs and we couldn't help wondering what to expect and, even, if they get people to jump out at you like they do at the London Dungeon? Luckily, it's not that kind of place, and although the morbid factor never fully leaves you, the experience of trudging under Paris witnessing a past generation's attempt to juggle the dead with the living is worth the visit.

Arrete! C'est ici L'Empire de la Mort!

Another great thing I did... was to go see Harry Potter. Yes yes massive geek I know, but it was great. We did of course watch it in the Version Originale, but as we watched it in the St Germain des Pres area, a ticket was very expensive. Also, not being French, we didn't realise that having already bought your ticket you are expected to queue again to secure a reasonable seat. Seat numbers do not exist! The French are strange in their logic, in so many ways. But all turned out well and drinks after in the area were nice, as were the discoveries of English (and cheap!) second-hand bookshops.

Over and out.

Falling in and out of love (with Paris)

It's been a while since my last post, the reason for this being a lack of computer. I now have a new hard drive so fingers crossed this one continues to work!

Like many other folks in France, and England for that matter, at this precise moment in time la neige is something one cannot help commenting on. It's pretty, picturesque, inkeeping with the spirit of Christmas and, as the 6 year olds I look after would say, it's a sure sign that Santa is on his way and of course now that it's there WE HAVE TO GO PLAY IN THE SNOW! The Scrooge in me is a bit more miffed off, any thoughts of venturing into Paris this evening (I have yet to visit Queens club on the Champs Elysèes, free for les filles wednesday nights) have fled as the RER seems to be a bit manic at the moment due to the cold white stuff.

Having visited Monmatre for the first time just over a week ago, I am a little bit in love with the place. The Sacre Coeur is everything it's cracked up to be, and the mass of people is for once not annoying but exhilirating, as are the many musicians and street entertainers on the stairs, including puppet plays. The little and large sidestreets contain many authentic Parisian shops. The bf and I enjoyed a delicious French meal, accompanied by wine and cheese (how else?!) for a fair price, and the restaurant's charm was very both very Fench and unique. Cocktail bars, cafés, cheese shops, boulangeries... all seem to be filled with 'real' Parisians and are therefore reasonably priced and from what I sampled (the mojhitos were particularly good) are worth the money you're spending.

Another thing we did was of course climb the Eiffel Tower... I say climb, but we took the lift! This was partly due to our late arrival (about 10pm on a Friday night, which turned out brilliantly as we queued for under 15 minutes, miraculous when you consider the queues during the day) which meant they were no longer selling tickets for the stairs. It is by lift only that you can arrive at the very top, and it was cool and all that but it was freezing! I enjoyed the second platform, on which you could happily observe the glittering lights of a night-time Paris and point to all the places you recognise (for me this was quite a few things, for the boy not so much) and marvel at Paris' carefully planned structure. The eiffel tower has a strange existence... I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was intended as a temporary fixture until, well, until it became symbolic of Paris herself. In the brightness of day, it doesn't seem that great standing directly beneath it, but at night... oh at night it really is beautiful. The simple but effective technique of causing its lights to sparkle every hour on the hour for 5 minutes is mesmerising and most definitely enchanting. A similar feeling occurs when walking down a Parisian street and voila, the tip of the eiffel tower is visible in the distance. Our hotel was a 5 minute walk from the Parisian landmark, and we spent the rest of the evening drinking not so fine wine in a bar on a boat (the raving, loud music kind of boat) and finishing with cocktails by Trocadero.

I will write again soon,
bisous