Sorry about yesterday's video's link not working. Try the new one below, it's worth it!
I just got back from seeing Coppelia at the Paris Opera. It was really pretty, but I was so exhausted I actually dozed off during the first half. Yikes.
On the way home, switching trains at Chatelet, I came upon a crowd of at least 100 people, maybe more. At the junction where normally a 12-piece Polish band is playing there was a guy with a guitar, Youry. I don't know what made everyone stop. He was a nice singer, sure, but not any better than the other subway artists. It looked like some of them had been there for a long time, lounging on the stairs, exchanging numbers with neighbors, or taking pictures of the crowd. Instead of rushing home I decided to join in, and sang along to "No Woman, No Cry," "Roxane," and "Blowin' in the Wind." Everyone was singing, swaying, and clapping. It was great. One of those moments that makes you really happy to be a Parisian.
Another thing that makes me really happy to be a Parisian is the fact that I don't have to go to work until January 8th! I am officially on winter vacation, and leave tomorrow afternoon for Venice. After that I'll be in the French Alps for a few days, returning to Paris for New Year's.
Last night I had a dinner party with a bunch of assistants: Ana (Spanish), Verena (German), Lydia (Italian), Jule (German), Ingrid (German), and Analisa (Italian). The Germans cooked us traditional German food, and we did a little Secret Santa action. It was fun, but I felt a little left out since the six of them have been hanging out for about two months now. The cutest part was when we all went around the circle and said Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in our own languages, and then each of us sang a Christmas carol from our country. I did "Silent Night" 'cause I didn't think they would appreciate "I Had a Little Dreidel."
It's funny, but I think this is the first year I've ever not lit candles or had latkes for Chanukah. Normally my mom and dad bring out my great-grandmother's recipe and spend hours grating and chopping. Last year there was a big crisis when my mom didn't make enough latkes. I miss singing the songs, and wonder if my parents even celebrated this year. My sister is in Australia with her boyfriend and I'm here, and latkes are a lot of work for just two people . . .
I know, I know, this has nothing to do with Paris. But humor me. I never put stuff like this on here. This is hilarious.
Oh, you might not want to click on this at work unless you have a liberal office environment.
EDIT: Matt told me the above link is no longer working. Please try this one:
The rest of this weekend was pretty low-key. After staying up obscenely late, devouring episode upon episode of Grey's Anatomy season 3, I dragged myself out of bed on Saturday to see the portrait exhibit at the Grand Palais. I was very underwhelmed, especially considering the high entrance fee, but I'm glad I saw it since the girl from the posters had been taunting me for months. Also, I found myself an adorable little Chanukah present.
Saturday night I met up with Ana and Verena and some of Verena's German friends for a few drinks. I'm still amazed that a glass of wine costs less than a soda or fizzy water here, but I'm enjoying it. Sunday I wandered around the Marais, briefly meeting up with Anna. There were so many people out, it was crazy. The few Sundays before Christmas all the stores in Paris are open, but the Marais is always crowded on Sundays. I didn't buy anything, but found several things that I plan on getting once the sales hit in January. Early birthday shopping for me!
Last night I had dinner with Josh, who was in town visiting his girlfriend, Delphine. It was so nice to converse in New York-ese with someone who understands what sarcasm is.
I was very surprised today that almost all of my students showed up for my two classes, considering there was a teacher's strike. Some of them traveled to school just for my class! I've started tutoring Lola's twin brother, Theo, and his French accent is just adorable.
Anna and I had dinner at a great crepe place, which will definitely be added to the list of places to take visitors. Rachel is coming end of January, and Pammy beginning of March. For the rest of you, if you're planning on visiting you better let me know soon, cause there's surprisingly not that much time left!
Speaking of which, I can't believe I've been here over three months now. My time here is going much too quickly, and I am indeed trying to find a way to stay for another year. So far I have three part-time jobs going on, aside from my assistantship. I'm doing private tutoring for a few students (Lola, Benjamin, etc), I'm teaching business English at Selecta, and I was just hired as a freelance reader for a French publishing house! I suppose I'm kind of a foreign language acquisitions editor, which is really fun. And it doesn't hurt that my boss is cute, of course.
Last night my cousin Gerard invited me to his company's holiday party. He works for Remi Cointreau, and they were celebrating the free product placement of Mount Gay rum in the new James Bond movie. The party was at Studio 28, which is a famous old Paris movie theater. We had tons of Piper Heidseick champagne and lots and lots of hors d'oeuvres and desserts. Claire, Gerard's partner, won the night's raffle of three bottles of Mount Gay rum and gave me one. Score!
Today I gave my first English classes at Selecta, Europe's main vending machine company. It was really interesting to see how different French corporate culture is.
I had plans to go to the young Ivy alumni of Paris Christmas party, but was feeling very snug at home in my pjs. Still, I decided I can always sleep in tomorrow, and got all prettied-up to go mingle. It was a complete waste. I think it's safe to say that this was Paris' lamest party of the night. Yes, it was at the American Cathedral. Still, I didn't think that when the invitation said "Christmas party" it literally meant that we would be celebrating the birth of baby Jesus. To me, party means booze, food, and music. There was music, but it was a guy sitting at a grand piano playing Christmas carols, while about 25 people stood around singing lyrics from photocopied booklets. I felt like I had entered Dork Land.
Since there was literally nothing else to do, I figured I would join in and sing a few songs. Right after "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" a guy wearing a Santa hat with blinking lights got up in front of the whole group. He announced that the next song was "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and that he thought it would be really fun if we divided up into groups for each verse. Oh goody! I almost can't stand the excitement! About halfway through, somewhere around six geese a-laying, I decided that I wasn't having a good time, and left.
Now I'm back home in my pjs, about to watch a stolen episode of Grey's Anatomy. I've had to resort to internet theft since none of you would buy it for me.
Today at school I found out that I won't have classes Monday, since France's teachers are going on strike for the day. I sat around the table in the staff room talking to a few teachers as they stapled information sheets for their colleagues, and talked about the reasons for the strike. Christophe, Benjamin and Juliette's father, told me that they are being asked to work more for less money, and they have to complain now or it'll snowball.
I pointed out that I thought it was funny that they are planning the strike on school grounds, and one of the teachers turned to me and said, "but this is OUR place!" I said, "well, normally I think of a public school as belonging to the government," to which he replied, "and what is the government?"
Exactly, my friends. What is the government. Therein lies the root of all civil servant dissatisfaction in France.
I am so excited to go to the strike on Monday to see what it's all about. I wonder if the teachers will light stuff on fire the way the firemen did?
If you've been wondering what the perfect Channukah present is for me this year, then I'll let you know. Gift me the season pass to Grey's Anatomy season 3 on iTunes and I'll be ecstatic. Really.
Now, I only need one of you to do this, so it'll have to be first-come-first-served. Don't push each other to the front of the line, I have plenty more ideas where this one came from.
Wednesday
I was expecting some kind of Roman Holiday moment, I suppose. I wanted to cut my hair and change my life, or at least look like Amelie. Instead, I got a cute cut from this guy (scroll down to her "hair" subtitle). I'm happy with the results, but even though I cut off about 8 inches, I wanted something even more drastic. There's always next time!
After my haircut I ran home to change for a dinner party at Regis' house. Regis owns a fancy antiques store on rue Jacob, where my aunt is a frequent client. I met him and his partner, Nicolas, when I ran an errand for Penny at their store, and then at their Thanksgiving party.
Dinner was eight people, and I had to be the youngest by at least 20 years. We drank lots of good wine and I impressed myself by holding my own in conversations about politics, racism, immigration, and food. It was a really fun night, and my first true Parisian dinner party!
Thursday
I had an interview at a French publishing house to discuss a possible freelancing gig. I would read published British and American children's novels and write a reader's report. My recommendations would influence whether or not this company acquires the books for the French market. The meeting went well, and I have a (400 page!!!) book to read and report on as a test.
Steve and Jamie arrived, and after a bit of a late start we headed off for the Louvre. I hadn't been there in years, since I find it so overwhelming. It really is just too big for my taste, but I was glad to go back for the first time since my teens.
We met up for dinner at a great steak place nearby, and then they went back to the hotel to sleep off their travels while I met Anna for a few drinks.
It was so so so good to see Stevie. I found myself being crasser than normal, which is actually often the case when I'm around him, but I think it also had to do with the fact that I knew no matter how vulgar I got he would still love me. It's nice to have that security, which is nearly impossible with new friends. I also got in lots of snuggling time, as I basically told Steve that I'm so starved for male contact that I was constantly touching him. Lucky bastard.
Friday
The pouring rained delayed our walking tour of the Marais, so we went to the Musee D'Orsay, which is my favorite museum ever. At lunch Steve made the mistake of ordering a large beer. It was as big as his head:
I never thought he'd finish it, considering that it was before 4 pm, but he didn't let me down.
Thatta boy, Stevie. Way to chug your Dutch beer while in Paris!
The rain had stopped, so the three of us made our way up to Montmartre, where I coerced Steve into buying me a beret by exclaiming over how ridiculously cute I look in it.
We had dinner at a really delicious place, La Cigale Recamier, in the 7th. I had the best steak tartar ever. The restaurant's specialties are souffles, and we each had one for dessert.
I have to say I thought mine, caramel with salted butter, was the best. But everything was amazing, and surprisingly reasonably priced. Thanks for the great meal, Steve!
After some sangria at Le Dix, we headed to a party at Jessica's friend's house. Raffi has a huge one-bedroom, and knows how to throw a great party. Basically we just played 80s and dance music, and danced and sang until obscenely early in the morning. Jamie took dozens of pics, but until I have her email them to me, here's Steve dancing on a table with Megila.
Saturday
Steve and Jamie had a 9 am flight to Rome, but I managed to drag myself out of bed to go to the marche aux puces with Anna. I love the flea markets in Paris. Grandma's attic holds much better goods than back home, and while I can't afford any of the antiques, I enjoy looking at the tchotkes.
I had an appointment with Mr. Mahmoud to look at the mold currently growing in my bathroom cupboard. He had such a typical French reaction. He said that there are many things in life that we wish weren't the way they are, and I should feel lucky that mold is my biggest problem. I love it.
Granted, the building is 400 years old and Paris is so rainy I guess mold is unavoidable, but I'm still not psyched about it. Still, the box of chocolates he brought me helped matters.
I met up with Anna and the German assistant at her school, Kordula, for a few parties. The first was lots of fun, hosted by a well-known Paris blogger. On our way to the second party I ran into Raffi and Yves on the metro, which thrilled me to no end. I must be a real Parisian if I can randomly bump into people on the metro! So exciting.
The second party was much younger, and I'm a little confused about when I got so old that college kids look like babies. Seriously, when did 22 become young to me?
Sunday
I had lunch at my cousins' house, where we had poule au peau, or chicken cooked in its own juices and skin. We talked about our plans to go to the French Alps at the end of December, and then made our way to the exhibition hall under the Louvre, where there was an exhibit by French craftsmen and artisans.
I met up with Raffi and Yves for dinner at a new favorite place, Le Dernier Metro. I had an enormous salad with duck gizzards, duck liver mousse, and smoked slices of duck meat. I had to be nudged into going, but eventually we did make it to a salsa club, and despite my fatigue (three late nights in a row!) I had a great time. I definitely want to try to find salsa lessons here.
Monday
I don't feel like writing a detailed post about what I did in Strasbourg, so I'm just going to put up a bunch of photos. It was really pretty, but I was a bit disappointed with how commercial the markets have become. There were stalls of Indian and Egyptian tchotkes, and I wanted to see a white-haired old man whittling ornaments. Instead there was lot of mass-produced toys, just like everywhere else.
The decorations were lovely, but I didn't feel that "magical" thing that so many others have reported at the Strasbourg Christmas market. Maybe part of that had to do with the fact that it was in the low 60s, so almost too warm for vin chaud. Don't worry though, I had at least four or five cups.
Sparkly fairs:
Beautiful architecture:
On Sunday I hopped on a train to Colmar, known as the Little Venice, and was much happier. I only had a few hours there, but it was lovely. After a very brief shower a rainbow came out!
I didn't buy much in either place-- just some olive wood salad servers, very French-looking tea towels, and a small gift for my cousin, Martin-- but I ate a ton of good food. Strasbourg is the capital of Alsace, a region that is known for its foie gras. Yum. I also had a croustillant de saumon sauvage, which is like a pasty filled with wild salmon, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. I picked it up for lunch from a farmer's market, and ate it over-looking the Ill river before taking a boat tour. Another delicious snack was the baguette flambe, which is a half-baguette covered in cream, small pieces of bacon-y ham, roasted onions, and shredded cheese, stuck in an oven to get all melty. And I made sure to take a tour through the marche de bredle, an indoor market that sells dozens of kinds of bredle, or traditional Alsatian Christmas cookies. You don't need to eat dinner after going there, since all the bakers offer you free samples. I especially liked the dark chocolate and cinnamon stars.
My next trip isn't until the 21st of December, when I'm off to Venice for 4 days. Anyone have recommendations in Venice?
Here are a few pics I took just now of the new 'do. It looks much better now that I've styled it myself. I don't love it as much as I do the bob that Ana created two years ago (see yesterday's post), and I lied, it isn't shorter than that cut. Still, I think it's cute and a nice change.
What do you all think?
I'm too pooped to take photos right now, but I chopped off about 8 inches of hair today! It's shorter than it was two years ago. For those of you who don't remember/never saw it, here's what it looked like New Year's 2004/2005:
Pictures of the results TK, but here are a few shots of the progress:
