La Vie En Rose Continues

Posted on 11 March, 2013 by Tina

On Saturday I ended up going back over to Montmartre to take the Culture Fish Tour.  Two brothers and their sister, who have an American dad of Lebanese descent and a French mother, decided to start the company together.  As far as I know, they give two tours – one of the major sights of the city and one of Montmartre. Their tours are pay-whatever-you-think-it-was-worth tours.  I wanted to hear about the history of Montmartre and take a few photos during daylight hours, so decided on that one.  Pierre was standing outside of the Blanche Metro stop wearing orange and holding a Culture Fish tour sign.  By the time we were ready to get started (4:30 p.m.), there were probably 14 or so of us.  We did walk up the hill, but not directly via those arduous steps.  We kind of zig zagged.  Besides, Pierre knew plenty of shortcuts.  He is quite personable and the tour was all kinds of informative.  At the end of the tour, about half of us gave him money, but the others didn’t.  He didn’t seem phased at all, which is a great attitude!

My dinner that night was at Le Drapeau somewhere off of Rue de Rivoli.  I ordered a ham and cheese omelette.  I pronounced it in French, but the waiter asked “What is that?  A ham and cheese omelette?”   Why yes!  What?  You understand French and English, too?!  He wasn’t really being a jerk, but had the slightest bit of an attitude.  In all fairness, he seemed to be the only waiter for both the inside and the outside; the outside was full, too.

My plans to go out later did not come to fruition.  Either I’m getting too old and tired, jet lag still has its grips on me or my feet wouldn’t let me.  I limped back to the apartment and slowly made my way up those 3 flights of stairs.  I just need to give my feet a rest, I kept telling myself.  The next thing you know, I had my PJs on and then it was all over!

On Sunday I’d signed up for a Flea Market tour with City Walks.  I’d tried to go to Puces St. Ouen 6 1/2 years ago, but couldn’t seem to find it.  Now that they took me on the tour, I DID have the right place, but it was closed for some reason the time I tried to go; I know it’s only open Saturday, Sunday and Monday, but I’d tried to go on a Saturday.  Marie was very nice and spoke with a decided English accent.  I wasn’t sure if she’s French, but speaks English or whether she’s English/British and speaks French.  There were 7 of us taking the tour.  The Puces St. Ouen is composed of several markets, each specializing in different things.  We obviously didn’t make it around to all of them, but she concentrated on about 5 in the hour and a half that we had.  I’d asked if the prices were set in stone or if bargaining is expected.  She said that the most discount you can count nowadays seems to be 20% off of whatever they initally tell you.  I didn’t find any antique rosaries or cuff links, but ended up buying a couple of hand painted fashion sketches, which will look nice once they’re framed.

I then wandered off to Le Jardin du Luxembourg to take photos of La Fontaine Medici.  Though colder than previous days, it was a pleasant day to be in the park.  My very late lunch was a ham and cheese crepe from a vendor in Le Quarter Latin; it cost me all of 3.40E.

As usual, my feet were killing me by that time.  I came back to the apt. to give them a little rest.

I was scheduled to attend dinner with an expat, Jim Haynes.  He’s lived here for more than 25 years and hosts a dinner nearly every Sunday, inviting 50 people or thereabouts.  He asks that one donates 30E for dinner and all the wine you can drink.  I’d reserved a spot via E-mail back in January.  I was excited to be meeting people from all walks of life gathered at his atelier.  I was running late, but was halfway there on the Metro, when they shut down our train at the Montparnasse station.  No one was waiting around for a second train, so I figured that I must switch lines and find an alternate way to get there.  Actually, there is NO alternate way to get to the Alesia Metro stop.  When they announced that the stops between Montparnasse and Porte d’Orleans would be unavailable until Monday morning, I knew that expat dinner wasn’t in the cards for me this time around.  So I did the tourist thing, took the Metro to St. Germain des Pres and had a light dinner (a croque monsieur, a bottle of San Pellegrino and a Heineken) at Cafe de Flore.  Granted, it was overpriced, but I quite enjoyed sitting outside under the heat lamp watching the world go by.  My waiter was exceedingly nice, too.  I still wasn’t ready to call it a night, so headed to Les Halles for a nightcap.  At Cafe du Centre, I had a panna cotta a la pistache avec fruits rouges and a glass of Brouilly.  That panna cotta was divine; wish they made them like that in San Francisco!

This  morning I wanted to get those postcard perfect shots of the Eiffel Tower from Palais de Chaillot.  Let me tell you, it was windy and freezing up there.  My hands nearly froze in the 10 minutes that I had my gloves off adjusting the cameras!  The shots were beautiful, though.

My next mission was to find Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, which was supposed to be near the Sevres-Babylone Metro stop, next to Le Bon Marche.  I found it easily and walked inside the chapel.  After a few minutes of prayer, I went to the gift shop to purchase medals and rosaries.  I made that special trip to pick up medals for two of my friends – one whose three-year-old son passed away two days after Christmas and one whose mother passed away a month ago.  However, since these medals are for protection, I definitely need to keep some for myself as well!

I went back to Les Halles for lunch.  I have no idea what the name of the cafe was that I had lunch at.  I sat outside under a heating lamp again.  I ordered a Salade Campagnarde and an Orangina.  The salad said that it had potatoes, ham and Camembert as well as greens and tomatoes.  I still didn’t expect the humungous size of it!  I made my way through 1/4 to 1/3 of it, but couldn’t force myself to eat any more.  Let’s repeat once more – Boy, do the French know how to make a salad!

Years ago my ex-roommate, Franck, had taken me to a cookware supply store called E. Dehillerin near Les Halles to look for a sugar bowl.  This time I wanted another copper pan.  Surprisingly, the store was easy to find.  Getting the pan proved a bit harder.  Although there must have been 4 employees, everything seemed to be in mass confusion.  It must have taken me 20 to 25 minutes to get my pan.  I’d had it picked out from the start, but needed someone to tell me the price (had to look it up myself in their catalogue by the item code), had to get someone to actually bring me the pan, then I had to fill out forms and pay.  Whatever…  that copper pan is worth it.  It’s still cheaper than buying in the U.S., even though the Euro is stronger.  NO ONE will be using that pan, though, other than me!

I also stopped at another kitchenware store that has the cutest vintage French tins.  I love things with La Vache Qui Rit on them, but when she showed me a tin with Le Petit Prince on it, I had to have that one as well.  My plan is to store all of my flavored salts in those tins, rather than having them spread out all over the kitchen.

Stay tuned for more…

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Paris is Calling

Posted on 9 March, 2013 by Tina

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Yesterday already seems like a blur.  I woke up early, but fell back asleep until 9:20 a.m.  Normally, anywhere on vacation, I wake up around 7:00 a.m., if not earlier.  Obviously, the bed in this apartment is way too comfortable!

I did walk over to Notre Dame intending to take a tour of the Towers, but they weren’t being offered.  Thus, I began picture taking in earnest.  My lunch plans were to go to Bistro des Augustins, which used to have incredible salads.  I found it, only to discover that burgers are now offered on the menu and the salad selection is small.  My disappointment caused me to walk a few doors down to a funky little restaurant called Quai 21 (or something or other).  They ended up being packed during lunch.  I ordered a salad with camembert, comte and warm chevre on toast.  The French KNOW how to compose a salad that’s fresh, flavorful, filling and not mainly overdressed greens!  I had a glass of house red wine to accompany it, of course.  The rain began in the midst of my lunch.  Although the apartment provided two umbrellas, as well as the one I’d brought from San Francisco, I was stuck in the rain without an umbrella!  For quite some time, I dilly dallyed in bookstores and lingered in BHV.  I wanted to wander over to Jardin du Luxembourg to take pictures of the Medici Fountain, but couldn’t seen them turning out that well in the rain.  When the rain finally let up, I found a great little absinthe shop near Place des Vosges; picked up a few more absinthe spoons.  I took some pictures at Place des Vosges, then a few more inside Musee Carnavalet.  I love Musee Carnavalet, although most people don’t seem to visit it.  It’s free, too!  I walked back to the apartment via rue de Turenne, which is lined with mostly men’s clothing stores.  Too bad there’s no deserving young man in my life at the moment ’cause I’d love to buy a gorgeous shirt or two for someone special!  Back at the apartment, my feet were killing me; that required a little rest.

By 7:00 p.m., I’d hit the streets again.  I wanted to have a drink at a cute place called Pharmacie, but they informed me that they were a restaurant only, which apparently means  you can’t sit at the bar for a drink.  I decided to search rue Amelot for Le Pop-In.  Some woman had described that place as one of the most fun and friendly places she’d ever been to, but with some of the worst dancing she’d ever witnessed.  Alas, I couldn’t seem to find the place.  When I got back to the apt. much later, I looked it up again on the internet.  I had been looking at the right place, but there was no sign & they didn’t appear to be open, for whatever reason.  I thought a little jaunt to Montmartre might be nice for some photos.  Surprisingly, it wasn’t very crowded for a Friday night.  Years ago, the place was packed on the weekend.  Part of it might have the weather however.  I took a few photos, then had a quintessential French dinner of soupe a l’oignan, steak au poivre avec frites, mousse au chocolat and un verre du vin rouge.  That was the extent of my evening.

This morning I was up earlier than yesterday and took a trek to Pere LaChaise Cemetery.  I’ve only visited Pere LaChaise once on my initial trip to Paris, more than 20 years ago.  Once again, things have changed.  One can no longer kiss the tombstone of Oscar Wilde; the plexiglass and the little fence won’t allow it!  People no longer party at Jim Morrison’s tombstone, either, as it’s also blocked off from the general public.  It made me glad for having seen them long ago when I could actually get close to the tombstones.

My lunch today was over at Le Marche des Enfants Rouges.  I ate Italian again, so shoot me!  It’s difficult for me to pass up a good arancino, plus some pasta al tartufo and a Peroni!

Now the big question is whether to trek over to Jardin du Luxembourg, try to find the Lady of the Miraculous Medal (though the Metro connection doesn’t seem very easy) or go back up to Montmartre when it’s daylight to take photos of the picturesque neighborhood.  I’ll have to decide within the next hour.

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“Paris Is Always A Good Idea”

Posted on 7 March, 2013 by Tina

Do you recall that line from Sabrina?  The ending of that movie always makes me tear up a little, though I never saw the original one – only the most recent remake.

My flight to the City of Lights was mostly uneventful.  It was slightly cold on the plane, however.  As I wrapped my blanket around me, the gentleman next to me offered his as well.  After dinner was served, I was getting ready to hunker down and watch some movies.  Unfortunately, they were showing “Silver Linings Playbook” first, so I opted to sleep instead.  I saw that movie about a month ago, due to all the hype.  I wasn’t fond of it and certainly didn’t want to sit through it again.

The flight arrived to overcast skies and fog in Paris.  I was expecting rain, but it might have rained earlier in the morning before our arrival.  Once I was outside, the weather was probably warmer than San Francisco.  I was wearing a tank top with a sweater over it and felt plenty warm.  After gathering my luggage and hopping on the shuttle, I attempted to call the woman who I’d rented the apartment from.  She prefers that people call her as they leave the airport, in case their flight was either early or late.  I couldn’t seem to dial out, though.  My Android would show the number as being in France, make some funny little sounds, then hang up!  The shuttle driver was nice enough to dial the number from his phone to let her know that we were on our way.

The apartment in the Marais, the 3rd arrondissement, is adorable.  It’s a studio, tiled in sunny Provencal colors.  Even my plates and glasses reflect the colors of the apartment!  I have everything I need – a two burner stovetop, a coffee maker, a washer/dryer, a mini refrigerator, umbrellas, a small flat screen TV, a DVD player, a CD player, a fair amount of storage space in the closet, extra blankets, a toaster oven, a telephone and plenty of household cleaning supplies.  The apartment is on the 3rd floor of a building in an enclosed courtyard,  One has to walk up 3 flights of a very narrow circular stairwell; there is only 1 apartment per floor.  The woman I rented the apartment from was here to greet me and tell me all of the basics about the apartment.  She’s originally from New Orleans and also lived in Los Angeles for 7 years, so she’s a woman after my own heart.  She recommended restaurants and gave me directions on how to get certain places.  Before she left, we set up my laptop to make sure that the connection is working well.  Afterwards, I unpacked everything and got comfortable.

Although we’d been served breakfast (a breakfast sandwich, a banana and orange juice) on the plane, I was hungry.  I wandered the neighborhood, which is full of traiteurs (rather like delis with lots of prepared foods for takeout).  I was surprised to come upon an Italian traiteur that had ginormous arancini.  I picked up one arancini and some caprese salad.  Further along, I also picked up two pain au chocolat, a financier pistache, two Oranginas, a tuna sandwich in a baguette, a crottin of chevre with thyme and a small piece of Brillat Savarin.  Back at the apartment, I ate the tuna sandwich and part of the caprese salad, then drank an Orangina.  At that point, I decided to take a nap for a few hours.

I awoke around 7:00 p.m., took a shower and was out and about by 8:00 p.m.  I thought I was heading in the direction of Place des Vosges, but managed to get turned around several times.  I’m not sure whether it’s because the map wasn’t that good or partially because I wasn’t sure if I was holding the map upside down in terms of the direction I was supposed to be going.  As I contemplated my location, a young Frenchman approached me and asked if I knew where rue Oberkampf was.  I explained that I was lost myself, but offered him my map.  As we debated over which direction the map should be held, another young Frenchman stopped to say that he was lost, too!  Once all 3 of us agreed on which way the map should be held and figured out where each of us should be going, they thanked me.  As all of us took off in 3 different directions, I wished them both “Bonne chance!”

I managed to find the Place des Vosges.  From there, I know my way around slightly better. I happened upon the chocolate shop that I remembered from before, so couldn’t resist picking up some macarons.  I wanted to stop in at Le Tartine on rue di Rivoli for a glass of wine, but they were relatively full, with no place at the bar.  Instead I stopped in at a little Italian restaurant called Boboli for dinner.  (I know – the blasphemy to be eating Italian in Paris!)  I ordered the grilled chicken breast with polenta, salad and mashed potatoes, a glass of their house white wine and a small bottle of San Pellegrino.  The restaurant was small and cute; the service was good.  The food was alright; nothing to get excited about.  The wine was actually something from Sardinia.

I found my way back to the apartment, watched both English and French channels on the TV, then hopped in bed by 12:30 a.m.

It’s now 6:30 a.m., but I’ve been sort of awake since 3:40 a.m.  My plans for today are to take the tour of the towers of Notre Dame; haven’t done that since my first trip to Paris more than 20 years ago.  I also want to check out an absinthe shop in the 4th, plus take a Culture Fish tour of Montmartre,  I have a tendency to half follow my plans, though, so we’ll see where my whims take me today.

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Demain Je Vais A Paris

Posted on 5 March, 2013 by Tina

As I finish packing the eve before my journey to the City of Love and Romance, I’ll leave you with this…

“La Vie En Rose” – Goldfinga

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You Know It – Musical Monday!

Posted on 4 March, 2013 by Tina

Hmmm…  what should today’s musical theme be?  Perhaps…  the CHURCH LADY?!  No?  Ok, well then, what about PARIS?!  I’m in the mood now and because, one day, if all my dreams come true, I AM going to live in Paris!  Enjoy!

“Paris” – Friendly Fires

(A picture of a friend & me at a wedding in Normandy.)

Les Clowns (92)

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Nothing But Love

Posted on 2 March, 2013 by Tina

I just realized that 12 years ago today was my wedding day. Even though I divorced him, I have nothing bad to say about my ex-husband. He was charming and romantic, but struggled with his own demons. I was impatient and very hard on him. They say that things are more concrete when you put them down in writing. That’s why I’m writing this and putting this out into the universe. If nothing else, I knew how very much he loved me. I wish him nothing but love and all the happiness he can find in this world.

Merci, mon lapin, pour tout. Ton amour etait douce et sincere. Je t’aime encore.

“You and I” – CRSB

My beautiful picture

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Date Number Two

Posted on 2 March, 2013 by Tina

I went on my first date with a second guy from the on-line dating website this afternoon.  We met at Harry’s Bar over on Fillmore Street.  He was there exactly on time and sent a message to check on me.  I walked from my apartment, so showed up a few minutes after our meeting time.  As I walked into the bar/restaurant, I’d walked right past him.  He was standing outside & sent me another message letting me know where he was, just as I was getting ready to sit down at the bar.  Based on that, he did NOT quite look like the photo he’d posted.  Although he’d listed his height as 6’1″, he didn’t seem quite that tall.  Also, he was clean shaven in his photo, but was sporting a little facial hair today.  Once he sent me the message, I went outside, got him, we went inside and sat in a booth.  J. offered the menu to me first.  I ordered my standard – a turkey burger with blue cheese and French fries.  He ordered fish tacos and some chicken strips.  When I asked if he was intending to drink, he mentioned that they had a Bellini special.  We ended up going through three carafes of Bellinis!  J. is in his late 40’s, probably a couple of years older than T. from the other night.  He looks slightly younger than his age.  I would say he was average-looking – not the kind of guy I would see and say to myself “Damn!  I gotta’ get with that!”  As with T., he seemed to be a nice guy who’s worked for the government, in Immigration, for a number of years.  He grew up in NoCal, but also lived briefly in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, if I recall correctly.  As with the other night, the conversation flowed easily. I queried him about why the airport security at Minneapolis-St. Paul confiscated my blue delft pot pipe (brand new, no residue & no drugs on me) & silk scarves from Paris on my re-entry into the U.S. from Amsterdam years ago, although they first confiscated, then returned my rolling papers!  (Let’s get one thing straight first.  I don’t smoke pot or even cigarettes.  The pipe and rolling papers were gifts for an ex-boyfriend.)  Then I asked him why, when my paintings from Bali were NOT in the luggage carousel at SFO, all 3 airlines (China Airlines, Japan Airlines and Delta Airlines) blamed each other,.  He said that it was really the responsibility of the last airline, Delta Airlines, and that I should have taken them to court.  It’s too late now, but…  Otherwise, J. was interesting enough.  He’d once spent a period in Antibes learning French and loves French food.  We drank and conversed for a good two and a half hours, though we both needed to go home and start our laundry!  Once again, my consensus is that he’s a nice man and average looking (in my opinion), but I felt no sparks or major attraction.  I couldn’t really gauge his reaction/attraction to me.

Now to cancel tomorrow’s date because there’s no way I’m going to get everything done for my trip if I spend another afternoon drinking!

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Une Petite Confession

Posted on 1 March, 2013 by Tina

Forgive me if this applies to you, but I’ve always made fun of people who try on-line dating.  Why sit at home on your computer when you could actually go out somewhere and meet people in person?!  Apparently, my laziness has kicked in because…  I confess to having tried an on-line dating website for a few months last year.  It wasn’t anything to get excited about.  Most of the men who contacted me were not attractive in my opinion.  They also had little of consequence to say/write about.  I stuck it out a bit, hoping beyond hope that it would turn into a positive experience.  About 7 men from that site contacted me on a regular basis, though none of them ever met me.  Some were afraid to give out their phone number and preferred to hide behind their E-mail, some lived in suburbia and others simply never followed through on what they’d originally planned.  Oh, OF COURSE, there was one who sent me a naked picture of himself!  I must admit, he had a spectacular body, but men showing me themselves naked via E-mail, in person or via Skype gets old quickly.  Suffice it to say, I went off of that website and never gave it another thought.

About 3 weeks ago, I decided to try another on-line dating website.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were much more attractive men to be found on that one.  In terms of men visiting my profile, “choosing” me and sending me messages, it’s been a huge success. Three men even managed to set up dates with me; another will wait until my return from Paris.  Things were looking better already.

Last night I went on my first “date” and met my first man from a dating website.  T. is originally from the Midwest, works in finance, enjoys reading and has a dog that he rescued.  We had agreed to meet after work at Barrique, a newish wine bar in the Financial District.  Neither of us had ever been there before.  I arrived before him and made myself comfortable at a booth in the back, mainly because the waitress had said that a huge group would be taking over the front momentarily.  When T. arrived, it was obvious from the start that he’s a very nice man.  We had a flight apiece, two additional glasses of wine and shared some burrata.  He’d already scored a few points in my book for ordering burrata!  The conversation flowed easily and there were no awkward silences.  In fact, we were talking so much that he insisted on cancelling his dinner plans with a friend.  I apologized for keeping him from his dinner plans, but he insisted that he would much rather spend the time with me.  We enjoyed each other’s conversation for a good 3 hours or more.  Since I’d just missed the cable car, I walked him to BART on Market Street, then walked back to California Street to catch the next cable car.  He sent me a message telling me how much he’d enjoyed meeting me and said to let him know if I wanted to go for a walk or get some fresh air with his dog and him over the weekend.

My consensus at this point?  Not sure.  He was a very nice man.  I’m sure that other women would find him attractive, but a man whose hair is starting to gray sort of freaks me out – maybe that’s because I’m used to dating men who are much younger than me!  Aside from that, I didn’t feel any sparks or chemistry on my part, though got the feeling that he did.  I’ve been wrong before, though, so I would probably go out with him one more time just to be sure.  If there’s no love connection, which is highly probable, I’m always open to making new friends!

Tomorrow another man is taking me to lunch.  On Sunday a third man would either like to take me to brunch or out for drinks in the afternoon.  My gut feeling is that I’ll end up cancelling on Sunday, though; I seriously need a full day to devote to packing and finalizing all of the finer points for my trip.  If I’ve been drinking, that just won’t happen!

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Thank You, Merci and Grazie!

Posted on 1 March, 2013 by Tina

For my friends, family and complete strangers who have been reading my newly-minted blog, THANK YOU for all of your comments (both public and private), as well as for clicking on the ads every once in a blue moon to help support my little experimental project!  Please feel free to subscribe, too!  This is still a work in progress, but it’s nice knowing that some of you enjoy reading about my life and times!

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Belated Musical Monday (on Testy Tuesday)

Posted on 26 February, 2013 by Tina

OMG, Becky – I forgot all about Musical Monday!  My apologies to all!

Let’s go with a little “old school” jazzy kind of whatever.  Do any of you remember this?

“Friends and Strangers” – Ronnie Laws

 

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