Feeling like Jelly...

Bonjour mes amis,
I am sitting at the table with legs like jelly, skin like a baby, and a distinct eau de eucalyptus eminating from my general direction....perhaps I should explain. Walking around Paris for 2 weeks had taken a toll on my feet and legs, well, my body in general. So Molly and I decided to go to the hammam at the Paris Mosque, and get a steam and a gommage. The Paris Mosque was built in 1927 and is right next to the Jardin des Plants, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful gardens in Paris. There are specific days for women, and men, so you have to plan ahead. It seems like every time we wanted to go, we couldn't, so we planned Wednesday specifically with this in mind. You walk into a lovely courtyard, that has an inside space and an outside space, where you can purchase hot sweet mint tea and all sort of lovely little pastries. There is a small door to the left that opens rather secretly to the hammam section. You pay your entrance fee and leave your clothes in a locker. A bathing suit bottom is required and most people bring their own towels flip flops, but for all our planning we had not really thought of this! :) Go figure....anyways you shower the day off of you with this black soap that they give you, and then you enter the steam room. It is a lovely domed room, walled in Moroccan tiles and marble with various levels, depending on how "hot" you can handle it. In the middle of the room is a small, round pool, filled with lovely cool water, to keep you from getting too hot. Needles to say, you cant really see when you first walk in, the steam is so thick! I loooved it! When you think you can't handle any more, you wash off, and then go to these large plastic tables, where 2 very large women scrub the life out of you. That part is a bit gross, as most of your skin peels off in black bits...eww. Okay, I will stop with describing that part...next you go to another room, get on another table where they slather you with eucalyptus oil and massage you into oblivion. And because that is just not enough, they then give you sweet mint tea while you lounge on cushions and try to bolster yourself enough to step back out into the real world. Molly and I wished we could do this every week! I feel so relaxed that I didn't even notice the train ride home. We are currently making couscous and sipping port, and eating cheese and figs. Good night all. Gros Bisous...

Fall in Paris

So I have to start off this posting with a small conversation to my Momma...(No Mom, I am not dead, thanks for checking. :) I know it took me a while to post while I was here but time just seems to fly! Unfortunately, I don't think I am going to be able to go and visit Yolanda, but maybe will do that if I am able to come back for Molly and Idir's Wedding.xoxo)
Okay, so I promised you pictures of mussels and I got them! We went out for mussels on Thursday, after Molly and I had explored Printemps (a fancy department store next to the National Opera House) We had some fun being girly and smelling all the perfumes, looking at lingerie and crystal. Lots of beautiful things! We went to the top of the store and had coffee on the terrace, overlooking Paris. The weather has turned cold and rainy, after a few days of very hot temperatures. Good thing I brought my umbrella! Idir, met us at the restaurant with his car, as there was a metro strike on Thursday, that affected the train that takes us home. Apparently, they schedule strikes regularly, so you have to look around the station to see if your train(s) are affected.

The next day (Friday), I was starting to feel a little more bold, so after going in with Molly to the Pilates studio, I took the Metro on my own to the Latin Quarter, where the Sorbonne is, with the plan to walk around and then meet Molly at 6 at a cafe nearby. Since my phone is kaput, if I get lost, I would just have to call her on a public phone, but I didn't want to tempt fate too much! I wandered around after getting out of the metro. I walked over to the Luxumberg Gardens and then the sky opened up! Everyone took shelter in various gazebo's dotted throughout the park. It was quite beautiful actually, and soon I just took out my umbrella and strolled through the drenched gardens. It was nice, as I pretty much had them to myself! The wind was so feisty, that it would periodically blow an amber sheet of fall leaves around you. So beautiful.

I had planned to walk down to Notre Dame, but I miscalculated and ended up walking all the way down to the Louvre! I was a little confused when I got there, "Hey, this isn't a church!", and then I realized I would have to trace my steps to meet Molly in an hour. Arrgh, needless to say I walked the wrong way again, past Les Deux Maggots (a famous writer and philosopher hangout). But I did get to see Sonyia Rykiel's store. That's the cool thing about Paris, you could really just wander down little street's forever.

Today, we are taking it easy, eating a leisurely breakfast of sour cherries and yoghurt, brioche toast and a latte. :)Idir is working in the Bastille district today, where they keep the police horses, and he said we could come by and see them! Tonight, we go with a few friends to a nice restaurant, Alkazar, to celebrate my birthday and then go dancing. Even though my birthday is on Tuesday :) Yay!

As a side note ,Heidi, I have had my i-pod on shuffle while walking around and every time Tupac comes on I laugh, and think of you! I wish I could be there, my sister, to dance the night away with you! Here's to hoping your legs turn to jelly, with all the dancing you'll be doing! I love you, Happy Birthday..:)

Amy

Hello Paris!

Sorry, I know this is a little late in coming....I sorta hit the ground running! :) The flight to Boston was fine, but on the one over to Charles de Gaulle , I was in the middle seat and wow those seats have shrunked! This little 3 year old boy that was sitting next to us was so tired he just cried the whole way over, poor thing. He had just enough energy when we landed to raise his head and say "Hello, Paris!" before falling asleep as we taxi-ed to the gate. Needless to say, my tailbone was very sore! Molly and Idir picked me up and we went back to their apartment. It is a good thing they came on time, as my phone is not working at all. If you have tried to call me, I am so sorry!

Idir is a Gendarme in this district, so he and Molly live in the Gendarmerie. Basically, because he is a policeman in France, he gets to live in an apartment for free, which is awesome, as apartments are very expensive here. (How would you like that, Zak, if the state paid for your apartment, because you were a fireman?!) This area, Le Bourget, is just outside of Paris, and is supposedly considered "iffy" as a lot of immigrants live here. When there are problems, Parisiens seem to point to this area. I think it is not unlike many areas of the world where people are just trying to make a life for themselves...

Anyways, the first day we napped for a while, and then went straight into Paris to Molly's friends birthday party (also her 35th!). It was a little strange getting used to kissing everyone as you meet them. I tell you, I have kissed a lot of strangers on this trip! But we had some champagne and cheese, and I kept trying to pick out some parts of the conversation with my little french. In the second half of the cafe, there was a wedding celebration going on. The bride was Russian and the groom Mexican! (I tell you, T-Bird, it makes for some VERY eclectic music selections!) Anyways, I got a second wind and we ended up dancing until the cafe closed!

The next day was Sunday, and most all things in Paris are closed on Sundays....except for the Marais. Molly and I were going to have brunch in the Marais, but we got a late start and meal times here have specific times...so if you want to have lunch for example, they only serve in between certain times, and if you are late, you can only get drinks. So we walked around and had some lovely falafel and salad and caught up on our lives for a bit. Idir had to stay home and study, as he is taking an exam so that he can become a chief (?).

The next day, I followed Molly to her pilates appointment in the Champs-Elysee...right across from a lovely park called Park Monceau. In the parks here, you can't walk on the grass, just on the paths. I wandered around the park and waited for Molly. Then we walked up to the Arc de Triomphe (which is really astonishingly big!) and down the Champs Elysees, where all the big touristy shops are. We walked for a while and then sat in a cafe and had Kir Royale's, just for fun.

I was feeling adventurous the next day (Tuesday) so after going in with Molly to Paris, I walked around the Arc de Triomphe, down the Av Marceau, across the Pont de Alma from which you can see the Eiffel Tower. I took a picture of myself, in which I think, I am wearing my customary smirk...:) It was kind of funny, because that smirk, which has gotten me in so much trouble in the US, it seems to work here! My enigmatic (at best) facial expression, brands me a local. Ha! A few French people stopped me and asked me for directions even, which was comical to me, as I have only been here for a few days. I was feeling very confidant, so I thought I would go to Rue Cler which Karey had recommended to me....so I am walking along...lalalala, and this older French man stops me, and asks me if I am having a nice day. So I answer yes, but it becomes pretty obvious after my first few answers that I am not from Paris...Darn! My spell is broken! So he asks if I would like to have lunch with him, and I think "Sure, why not?".....at his house....."No, thank you but no"......and being as Paris is the City of Love, how about being his one and only? Aaarrghhh, how do you say "Eeeew" in French? I kept trying to tell him that I was enjoying being on my own, but he was adamant that I MUST have love and that it should be him! Needless to say I fled, rather quickly to a cafe for a restorative wine and salad! Molly tells me that she always says "Sorry, my boyfriend is a cop and he is very jealous!". I have to point out that it is hard to speak in a foreign language, much less, lie in said language. Rue Cler is lovely, Karey, but I might not go back for a while!!

So then I walked along the Seine, on the Quai d'Orsay, over the Pont Alexandre III to the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais, but by this time I was getting pretty tired! I saw some lovely Policeman on horses (which are huge by the way! Ginormous!) and wanted to ask for a ride but....no I pressed on, up the Champs-Elysees, up Rue Washington and over to the Park Monceau again where I was to meet Molly at 4pm. It has been really hot for a few days, so it seems that is when people can overlook the "no sitting on the grass" policy. EVERYONE seems to come out of the woodwork...the park was packed so I got a double decker ice cream cone (Passion Fruit and Cassis, MOM!). Molly and I sat in the sun for a few hours and then hit the subway just in time for rush hour. Whew!

I tell you, it is exhausting to be a tourist, so much to do and see! But it has been nice to have Molly around to ask questions of and laugh when you find things funny. I have put in a few pictures to show you....I know Mom, I promise to get more with me in them! Tonite, Molly and Idir and I are going into Paris to eat Mussels in white wine, and I will probably write a post all about that on its own...

Also, Molly and I had tea at Laduree, which is just heavenly...the building alone is so pretty, but the desserts are just as lovely. I had a pastry with rose chantilly cream and raspberries that made me want to lick my plate (apparently a very un-French thing to do). We are going to go back for breakfast and have dessert then too!

Until next time, gros bisous (big kisses), Amy

Halfway between here and Paris is where exactly?

Hello....
This is my first post in a blog I promised myself I would start this year. I also promised my mentee Lizette (shout out!), so I am gonna have to pony up! Not sure what to call you all exactly...feels a bit like when you pray. Sometimes you catch yourself audibly singing out to the silence, waiting for a shout in return. So, hey there....
Here I am, tomorrow I leave on a long awaited trip to Paris...and it feels strange. Probably because my brain is somewhere between here and there and still trying to get things done!
My family will remember the year I turned 21, how I had applied for a foreign exchange program to France, and 3 weeks before I was supposed to leave, I was told I didn't have enough funds. I was crushed, because up until then I was convinced that if you work hard enough, anything is possible. I took it so hard, that I just stopped trying for anything...did it seem possible? Nope. Okay, leave well enough alone then. Needless to say, that is a downhill slope of crazy that I really don't want to illuminate..
Cut to many years later and a bit wiser. I have saved enough to go to Paris on my own. Most of it by hook or by crook. My friends and family and even total strangers, have helped and urged me on my way. I guess that is where I am going with this. Although many people have expressed interest in the fact that I am going alone, I am not doing this alone. You all are going with me, in my heart and in my mind. Thank you for encouraging me and working me through all this. Thanks for making me laugh and listening to me talk...and talk. :)
Pictures and musings will follow, if you want to be updated on my ongoing journey.

Don't worry, I will eat a pain du chocolat for each and every one of you! :)