more adventures

Bonjour,

9/25 Planned to kick back today and take in a movie. Rio Bravo, a fav Western of mine was playing. Woke up at 11am!!! and it was too late to make it so I planned on seeing Sabrina (the Hepburn version) in French but it took me 2 1/2 hours to find the movie theatre so I missed the screening by two hours. They only show the movies once so I was out of luck. Came back to my part of town and got Chinese take-out on the rue Cler. Not bad. Watched "Friends" episodes in French.

9/26 Off to my favorite part of town, St Germain des Pres, for an afternoon at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts on rue Bonaparte just up the street from my favorite place, Laduree. Had a private tour with a small group. It's only open to the public on Monday afternoon by special arrangement. This school has been around for a while. Rodin was rejected three times when he tried to enroll. Has an amazing chapel that houses plaster castings of original art by the best and this is where the students go to be inspired and it is surely inspiring. Met two other women on the tour who are also here on their own and renting apartments. I had dinner with one of them after at Laduree and made her a fan of the place. They had some new macaroon flavors. One was pepper and I passed on it but they also replaced praline with carmel which is now my new favorite. Yum.

9/27 Stayed in, looked over what I'd like to do next and did some laundry. Exciting huh. Just trying to pace myself until I can get into the groove. Sharon, the woman I met on the tour says it took her a week before she felt okay. Thought I'd try a movie again this time in the Opera district. Stopped off at the American church on the Seine that has a free American/Paris newspaper. They were out but it's a good place to know. I get lost constantly and find the theater was no exception. After walking about 20 blocks and not finding it, I went back to the metro where I started to try again. And there it was one block away in the opposite direction. saw Shane Black's new movie, "Kiss Kiss, Bang, Bang" in French. It was excellent. Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer were fantastic. Will have to see it in English to get the clever dialogue. Highly recommend this black comedy. Remember he also wrote Lethal Weapon. This one he directed too.

It's been sunny and warm since I got here so I decided to leave my umbrella home to lighten the load. When I came out of the movie it was raining. Murphy's Law is in full swing and I hope it lets up soon. I caught my beautiful fresh baguette in the door on the way back from shopping at the market. The positive side is that I'm in Paris.

9/28 Left early this morning for Giverny. I had to go back and this time I brought art supplies. It was a great day. Met 2 guys from Chicago and spent some time with them -- they're visiting a niece that's studying writing here and lives with a French family. Today is the first cooler day. Time for my afternoon tea. Avoir for now . . .

friday in Paris

9/23 As soon as I was able to check into the hotel, I fell fast asleep, not leaving the room for the rest of the evening. Really liked this hotel and highly recommend it.

Met with the owner of the apartment who is very nice as I expected. He showed me around then left me on my own to settle in. I am so fortunate to have found this place. Everything I need is right here. Except for tourist attractions there is no need to go anywhere else for anything. It`s all within a block or 2 from where I'm staying. Grocery shopped at the market; the bakery, cheese, wine shop and the fruit stand. So easy.

Still trying to get past the fog in my head and get the energy moving. I feel like a zombie.

9/24 Scheduled a trip to Versaille for the afternoon. In the meantime I thought I'd take a stroll to the right bank instead of the metro. There was a big event at the Military School which is close to where I am. Lots of guys in Army fatigues and tents set up all the way to the beautiful Pont Alexander III with it's golden statues on each side of the bridge high above the road and easily seen from far away.

The gardens at Versaille were wonderful but I only had an hour and a half to see it. Didn't get to everything but there's always next time.

Returned with sore feet so I stopped at the popular and elegant Angelina's for their famous hot chocolate. I wanted the white but they were out so I had the classic. It was like drinking a melted, very, very rich chocolate bar with chantilly creme on the side. Too much for me but worth trying -- the price for this luxury -- 7 euro (8.50 US dollars!)

Next stop for the day was a walking tour of Hemingway's Paris based on his final book, A Moveable Feast. Fun and informative with a great guide.

Made it back to my area when I realized I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Much to my delight, there several places open at 10:30 at night.

What a full day -- 12 hours of almost constant walking. Had to soak my feet.

Took lots of cool pics. Too much happening to tell all. Can't wait til the fog lifts and I feel human again.

More next time.

J'ai arrive a Paris ce matin

Bonjour,

As I was waiting for my luggage at the turnstile, I noticed a small suitcase that had stuff coming out of it. I thought, look at that piece of crap. Then it was painfully clear that piece of crap was mine. If I had taken a collapsable bag with wheels like I wanted I wouldn't have to go searching for a new suitcase. I hope I didn't lose anything out of it.

I love taking the shuttle from the airport. Both times I've taken it, I've been the last one to be dropped off which is perfect. I get a tour of different neighborhoods, check out where others stay and find places I put on my list to go as well as new ones to add to that list.

I'm staying my first night in a hotel on the rue Cler -- Rick Steve's favorite, Grand Hotel Leveque. Arrived there around 10am but I can't check in until 3pm. Left my bags in the storage room wishing I would have gotten lucky and checked in right away. Only having about 4 hours sleep over a 3 day period (counting time difference) I can barely keep my eyes open. So forced to occupy the next several hours, I asked the hotel clerk where was the nearest internet cafe and a place that sells luggage. The internet cafe was closed until noon so I scoped out the neighborhoodl. What a great area! It has everything and so convenient. Walked by the apartment I will be moving in tomorrow. If the outside is any indication of the inside, I will be in heaven. Trying not to have high expectations. . . tomorrow will tell.

To save time/$, I sat to write this at a cafe then stayed for lunch. At home, I don't buy bread unless I'm having company and rarely eat bread except at restaurants where it's fresh and hot. But my first bite into real French bread today and I can eat it all day. Great lunch. Wanted to keep the tradition and go to Laduree for lunch but not really dressed for it and not ready to tackle the metro. I think I'm a little hestitant because of getting mugged last time and I'm so tired I wouldn't be up to it.

Noticed in today's newspaper here that the US was the front page headline -- United States on state alert. If anyone has the time, please let me know what's going on. Sounds like Texas is the target.

Oh and thanks to all of you who sent me bon voyage wishes. Really was great to hear from you.

Been too long . . .

Since returning from Paris in April I have been going full steam . . .

First I immediately starting planning my next trip to France, in particular Paris. I decided to rent an apartment this time and spend three weeks so I can pretend I live there and see how I like it.

Second is my writing. I resubmitted my script to an agent in June. Still waiting on a reply, which is not unusual. Also came up with an idea when I was in Paris that I'm pursuing. Don't want to say more until I'm ready. Aaah, how Paris inspires!

Third, my business. I have officially set up my new business venture -- PAPER ARCHITECT. I have my business license, a dba filed and my web domain purchased. My website is currently under construction but if you are so inclined, check out the beginnings of it -- www.paperarchitect.com. You have to type the address in directly and not through a search engine. It runs about $50 a month for those links and I'm not ready yet.

I'm madly trying to get my business cards printed, apartment set up for working on my paper art, gathering my travel info (I'm a research-aholic), take care of everything for when I'm gone and of course, pack.

I'm soooo excited to be staying in an apartment with a full kitchen so I can cook my own meals. Their outdoor food markets are so tempting and when you're in a hotel room, can't do much but look and wish. Now I can buy and make. In fact, my apartment is a block over from one of the coolest markets in Paris, located on rue Cler.

The apartment is located in the 7th arrondisement (district) not far from the Eiffel Tower, Musee D'Orsay and my favorite area of Paris, St. Germain de Pres.

Later . . .