Brocante.

Yesterday, [Sunday, 27 Juin] was the Bi-annual Brocante in Le Vesinet. A brocante is a city-wide garage sale and food/antiques fair; and according to preliminary research, is called one of the best flea markets in Paris to hit up. I guess this is based on the principle that the wealthy live in Le Ves, and to be able to pick their things from the street is getting the golden ticket.

Walking around town with Eliza and Kitty, both au pairs here, I came to realize how much I did not want to accumulate so much stuff like this. I know in most cases things are necessary, at least for a time being. But this was truly overwhelming to see - shoes, clothes, collections, antiques, games, junk, and more. I am glad I was able to see it, but it started off a renewed vow to not buy any more stuff while I am here.

And it also incited a bit of a panic to begin organizing for packing - which of course I am procrastinating about.

Fête de la Musique.

Monday, June 21st was summer solstice. Yeehaw! I being, so far north, am now closer to the sun than ever before! This means the sun rises at about 5:30am and sets at 10pm - the sun is bigger in the sky, and I have been soaking it up after a winter bundled in 18 layers.

To celebrate, about 25 years ago, the French Ministry of Culture decided to organize a free, outdoor musical extravaganza. It has now spread and is all over the world!

I went with a friend Kitty, and we toured mostly the 5th and 6th arrondisements. We started at the islands [there are two islands in the Seine that house Notre Dame and the count as the epicenter of downtown], had a plastic cup of shared wine on the river quai and then headed on. These arrondisements are the Latin Quarter and St. Germain de Pres, respectively. The Latin Quarter is where all of the universities are, and thus home to a large artsy-frenchy student population. Here we saw a couple of 20-something rockers playing Iron Man [ACDC], some Latin Flava jiving, and a Beatles/Rolling Stones cover band of 50-somethings. Over in the 6th we saw a great Rockabilly 3-piece band; and man am I sucker for the stand-up bass. I love it! They played Johnny Cash and a couple doo-wops.

It was definitely a great experience, even for someone like me who enjoys music, but is definitely not an officionado. It just brings to mind people like my sister, Pamela, and brother-in-law, Kyle, who really are musical officionados - and how much MORE fun it could have been with such cool folks.

All-night Art Festivals [think back to October with Nuit Blanche] and Music Festivals like this one really do strike me as having become a Parisian. [To a degree: I know my way around - I ditched carrying a map in May, but I am not exactly as surly as necessary to fool some Parisians.] But truly, THIS is culture. This is what makes it Paris, and I am so blessed and so grateful for such awesome memories to keep and to share.

Thanks for reading.



http://www.fetedelamusique.culture.fr/site-2010

Le Cote d'Azur.

This past weekend, I had the fabulous opportunity to travel with a good friend, Amber. After about three weeks of saying we were going to travel this weekend, and procrastinating actually booking a trip, we got together Monday at McDonald’s – free wifi throughout Paris – to plan. However, it was not until Tuesday that I actually booked our trains, and Thursday until we found somewhere to sleep!

I really enjoy last minute travel; a go by the seat of your pants excursion always makes me feel accomplished and excited. Granted, lack of planning in Costa Rica [really my only other intranational or international travel experience] didn’t require much anyway. There, you went to one of 2 bus stops, bags in hand, to buy a ticket. I never once booked a hostel beforehand; often times we just walked the road until one looked nice enough and was within our $10 a night budget! Europe is quite different; but nonetheless exhilarating.

We took an overnight train to Nice, which is on the Cote d’Azur [Mediterranean] of France. As Amber aptly described this experience in her facebook photo album, this was the longest night of our lives! We were fortunate to book first class seats, as they were only 7 euros more than regular seats. So we did get a few more inches to each side and a few more options as to where to try to squish our bodies into a horizontal position. I am not sure what I was expecting. I knew when I chose our seats that they were in fact chairs and not beds, like on some sleeper trains. However, I guess I anticipated having some sort LazyBoy-esque recliner with footrest. And probably provided mini-pillows and blankets in plastic, like on airplanes. No such luck. It was literally negative two degrees in that train compartment! I had packed for the beach, what was I supposed to do? I put on slacks under my dress, a sweater over it and used a jacket to cover up with. I contemplated using another beachy cover-up I had brought to wrap around my feet as mock socks… but couldn’t find the motivation to move from the fetal position that provided the most warmth I could muster.

Meh.

Getting into Nice was great though, and all in all it was worth a sleepless night to arrive at destination at 8:30am and have the full day ahead! Amber fabulously booked us a four-star hotel on lastminute.fr [.com for all of you stateside] that had been reduced to 50% off, making it cheaper than or as cheap as all of the hostels we had looked at. But instead of a hostel, we got a pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, gym, and complimentary bathrobes and slippers! Heck yes! We went to brunch while they finished preparing our room, and then after a quick clean up, headed back to the train station to figure out how to get to Monaco! 5 euros, people. It cost 5 euros to get to the most fabulous place I have encountered in a long while! Yachts five stories high! Ornate architecture and sunlit pathways; a statuesque tropical garden in honor of Grace Kelly, and historic Roman ruins. Lunch on terrace with white couches and umbrellas, gelati and the Monte Carlo casino! Ferraris everywhere, Porsches in abundance… it was opulence to a degree I have never seen before. And though I loved visiting for the day, my friend I am here to witness to you how glad I am that wealth is not one of my ambitions. I hope to pay bills and be responsible and have enough to be a little care-free, it’s true – but I also genuinely hope I never find myself in such a fashion that I have so much money and spend it on things like five-story yachts and Ferraris and Porsches. For it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than to pass a camel through the eye of a needle. [That’s scripture, y’all – Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25, AND Matthew 19:24.]

That evening we had dinner in a large pedestrian square, the Place Garibaldi, and had one of the best salads ever. I promise to duplicate it for you when I am on my visiting tour back in the states!

Sunday morning, we woke up ridiculously early and headed out to find the port [which we discovered the previous night, for before finding our dinner restaurant, we toured the beaches and monuments on the coast in Nice] from where we would be taking our cruise to St. Tropez.

I almost don’t even want to describe the next hour for you… physically and emotionally too painful! [Mostly just physically.]

1. I realize that I grabbed the map of Monaco and not the map of Nice we needed to find the port in a timely manner. [Don’t judge harshly – have you ever accumulated the ‘travel purse’? It’s hideous and includes about 35 pamphlets and 17 maps; business cards, menus and ticket stubs.]
   
2. We don’t find the port in a timely manner.
   
3. I am gaining blisters on the soles of my feet due to walking quickly and so far [we turned 15 minutes into 45] in impractical shoes. [Again, don’t judge harshly – I was planning on sipping mimosas on a cruise to St. Tropez and then loafing on a beach or at a lounge bar, ok?]
   

We made it to the port eventually, with about 10 minutes before they untied the boat from the dock. Thank you Lord, again, for providing us with locals to give us directions!

The cruise was a fun time. It was a bit chilly as the morning air had not yet warmed and the clouds were fairly dense still. But it was definitely worth the goose bumps to sit on top of the boat to see humongous mansions built into the cliffs and sides of Nice. We sailed out to St. Marguerite island, and saw the prison in which the Man in the Iron Mask was held… creepy. We viewed Cannes and its incredible sealine architecture, and stopped to let further tourists aboard. Then on to St. Tropez!

We docked, saw the beach, some ruins, laid out on the ruins – remember the early morning I mentioned? Totally led to both Amber and I snoring on a seawall behind a Rolex event. Awesome! We shopped a little, walked up the docks in hopes of a yachting invite [didn’t happen: ( ], had a drink, dipped into the Mediterranean and hopped back on our cruise. Once back and cleaned up we hit up gelati [for dinner…yikes] and then strolled the Promenade des Anglais, on which can be found the Belle Epoque hotels, including the Negresco. The Negresco is a beautiful hotel with gilded edges and a green and pink domed roof; unfortunately for us it was completely under construction.

I have been settling back into Paris nicely, and enjoying no longer being the palest I have been since I was 14. Although the explosion of suitcase on my floor is just waiting for that opportune moment when I will be productive… might as well be now, right?

Chateau de Vincennes and Parc Floral de Paris.

The 10th of June I went to Chateau de Vincennes on the East Side of Paris with ladies from my Bible Study. We went to a tea room for some coffee and tea, and I couldn’t resist a raspberry pistache tart – mom good. The castle itself was so interesting to visit! It was constructed in the 14th century as the main fortressed palace for Paris. It was all fashioned in such a military style completely in opposition when juxtaposed with the Palais Royal [connected to the Louvre], the luxurious and opulent palace of Versailles, and even the hunting Chateau right next to where I live in St. Germain-en-Laye. It was also neat to me, because as I have been reading a lot of historical fiction lately, I was able to more fully grasp the style of the people in the 1200’s and 1300s of which I am currently reading. [I should post a booklist of all the books I have been reading… but then again, I should have written them all down, because though I remember the stories well, I am always so hazy on author and title!]

Just behind the Chateau was the Parc Floral de Paris, and it was absolutely stunning! Gorgeous blooms, wonderful scents, and we even got to see a peacock display for a passing female! We had a good lunch, though mine was the worst hamburger I have had in France. Bummer, too, as I was really looking forward to a gourmet burger with medium rare minced sirloin and some fancy stinky cheese with some fancy spicy mustard… yum. What I got: sesame seed bun, waaayyyy past well-done beef, with a slice of I KID YOU NOT American cheese. DISAPPOINTING! But it was still fun, and even the most mature of the ladies in our group, probably at 60, was the youngest in the entire café of blue-hairs!

What a neat part of town that is, and it's been on my list to check out for the longest time! Plus, upon discovery of the outdoor ampitheatre in the Park, I will definitely be headed out for some after work free concerts!

Workin' Hard for the Money.

With having a newborn around, we have definitely had our work cut out for us around the house. Jennifer is recovering from having an unexpected cesarean, and that is hitting Sebastian hard. Unfortunately, she is unable to lift him or hold him, as he is too heavy and she could further injure her internal organs, and rip stitches! Poor kid, though, he is so upset these days – not that he has a new baby brother [he is quite ecstatic about that] but just because he doesn’t get why Mommy can’t pick him up. It really is pretty heart breaking.

Goodness gracious, though. That boy is sooo mischievous! Terrible twos, for sure. Jen asked if I could possibly take on a few more hours, as she is not sure about handling Sebastian and Luke at home on her own – especially when she isn’t physically 100% yet! So I am now working 12hours on Fridays – 8am to 8pm with only naptime for a break. It’s definitely like I am a mom, and let me tell ya – toddlers are rough. I have a new found respect for those beautiful people in my life like my Mom and one Miss Alyssa Kreutter who have managed multiple two and three year-olds in preschool. Thank you and now I get what a lot of your stories meant!