breakfast in bed

Today my mon petit copain served me breakfast in bed. Pain au chocolat, jus du pomme, et un café. It was a perfect morning.

I think I will have to add this to my list of "favourite things".

So, I'm trying to get some ideas for halloween this year. Apparently the French don't celebrate it. But I'm sure there will be so many things happending in Paris for it anyway because of all the international students and fille au pairs such as myself. I have celebrated halloween every years since the age of 2, and I am not stopping now. I was trying to remember what some of my past costumes have been, but my memory is terrible. I remember an episode of the Weekenders where Tino is finding the perfect halloween costume. He also takes Halloween very seriously. In the episode his attic is actually a secret halloween costume chamber, where each costume he has worn in his life is stored in a clear case, labeled with the year he wore it. I could really use one of those secret chambers. I can only think of about half of them:

• age 6 - an M&M (I was an orange one, my sister was yellow, and grandma made the costumes)
• age 7 - a witch
• age 12 - the men in black (with my friend) basically just our dads black suit jackets and sunglasses, but even still, my class voted for me as the best costume in class!
• age 13 - a genie
• age 14 - hobbit (I had a cape!)
• age 15 - fireman, and ghost
• age 18 - princess peach, and boyfriend at the time was super mario
• age 19 - ladybug (the costume was finely crafted by yours-truly)
• age 20 - a doll (with fake eyelashes!) and white trash (a white garbage bag dress with garbage taped to it)

This year, I would like to try something more classy....I've always wanted to dress up like audrey hepburn, just to actually be that classy for one night and have an excuse to go all out, would be a dream. I just want to attempt to be as beautiful , classy and graceful as Audrey for one night.

Audrey Hepburn

OR.... if not Audrey, then Nico. Velvet Underground Nico. She is a very different kind of beautiful than Audrey. Not as classy or graceful. But she sang in the velvet underground, and her heavy 60's eye make-up is so appealing. Basically I just need an excuse to play dres-up....and Halloween is the perfect one!

Nico

footnote:
If anyone who knows me reads this and remembers some of my past halloween costumes that I have forgotten, just make a comment and tell me so I can add it! Thanks.

because you looks like a tourist

From my Paris trip in February /08. On the vespa with mon petite copain. I was crazy excited, it was my first time on a scooter. I was either filming or taking photos the entire time. So I made a video with the clips I collected.

chim-chiminey

Had a very nice brunch today with my French guy. It was at a little cafe that serves bio-food. (organic). Literally everything they serve is organic. We sat outside on the patio, it was a cool but sunny autumn day. Inside the restaurant are shelves stocked with bio-confiture (organic preserves). Such as apricot jam, pepper, olive pate. yum! We both ordered bio-jambon, on bio-pain, with 3 bio-mutards. There was Dijon mustard, mustard seed mustard (thats not the real name....), and purple mustard. The purple mustard I had never tried before, but it was exceptional. I have to go buy some. We also ordered a flask of wine. It was only 1pm, and I had to work at 3pm. Bad idea. No worries though, the booze wore off before. Although I'm sure when I arrived I smelled like wine. The one time I'm not carrying gum in my purse! C'est domage. Maybe the espresso I had after gave me bad enough coffee breath that it cancelled the wine????

We were cold from sitting in the shade on the patio, so went to warm up at Place de Vosges (one of my fave parks). I unrolled my scarf and we layed down together on that in the sun. But this damn nosy pigeon stared at us the whole time from a distance. He perched his ugly feet on the fence thing, and just sat there for 10 mins glaring. Finally he moved, but then began to circle around us. What nerve he has. Then I went to work.

Je vous present....the "patrol pigeon".

Le cupid (the youngest of the 3 kids I au pair for) was sick today. With I think the same thing I had. He was being so cute! He was kind of groggy from the medication and not feeling well I think. But surprisingly he was in a great mood! So we had a little photo shoot. He was talking to himself and roaming around the house playing, and I followed him around with my camera.

I am finished work for the day, and have wandered up to my room on the 7th floor.... where, let me remind you, I have only a bedroom to myself. No toilet or shower. A bed, desk, TV , laptop & wardrobe, and my clothes etc. I share a toilet with a few other people on my floor. And my shower is on the 4th floor in the families apartment. It is a private shower for my use only. The sink on the 7th floor is too old and dirty looking to use. This building has to be over 200 years old. All the rooms on the 7th floor are just "chambre de bonne" which basically were used as a bedroom for all the housekeepers of the nice apartments below, in the 1800/1900's. I guess things haven't really changed that much....except the fact that I have a TV maybe. Anyway, the point to this explanation is that after work I was feeling the need for a facial, so I immediately coated my face in a mint-julep mask. Looks like toothpaste. After completing this I realize that I have no way of washing this off in the privacy of my room. Uh oh....stranded. Either that or embarrassment. The hall way and stairwell is surprisingly busy on a regular basis. "Merde." Still haven't decided what I will do. But in the meantime....

My face may look like this....

.... but the view outside my bedroom window looks like this.

"Chim chiminey, Chim chiminey, Chim chim cher-ee"

I don't mind staying here a while with my mask on, listening to Indian music. It is the perfect autumn night, warm enough to have my window open to enjoy the view and let in fresh French air, and cool enough to have no insects! Bon nuit.

crispy wind and crunchy leaves

I am in love.
I am in Paris.
It is autumn.

That was not a poem. I love autumn. The air has is so fresh. In summer, I am sad if it is a cloudy day, but in fall, I am happy with sun, clouds, or rain. Had lunch today at a cute little restaurant in the latin quarter, "Le Potte de Terre". The dessert, which I didn't even order, just tasted from my friend, was spectacular. I ordered chicken liver salad. Good, but I was expecting the chicken liver to taste more like fois gras (duck liver)....and it didn't. I ordered the chicken because at the time saving 50cents seemed like a deal. After we went to the Musée Albert-Kahn. It was a beautiful selection of photography.
More info on this site http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12693.
The museum had a beautiful garden! I could have stayed there all day. No photos to show....I forgot my camera today. guh.


On the metro tonight on the way home, there was an old couple sitting across from me, holding hands. The man was caressing his wife's hand lovingly, and she would look up at him every so often and smile. I thought it was beautiful.

calling doctor jones

I am sick.
blahhhh.
I think I may have been gifted an ear infection from les enfants. super. (in a french accent)... "soupair...."
I had a 4 hour nap today while les enfants were a l'ecole. But it didn't help.

Get well soon, me.

j'adore le brassy deer lamp

So, I realize that it is Mercredi already, but I am now going to post about Dimanche, la semaine dernière. It was a perfect last day of summer! Two friends of mine and I went to St. ouen, un puce de paris (giant flea market). There was an abundance of antique and retro furniture....of course I loved it. But seeing as I only have a bedroom, and it's the size of big closet I couldn't justify buying an of the beautiful vintage furniture. I bought a pair of vintage glasses frames, and I will get some lenses put in when I have money. There were some strange things there, and of course lots of junk. But I like junk.

One of my favourite lamps....a marble slab, with a
brass deer and a glass ball that has a light under it.

I really loved this market though. It was a rain off and on kind of morning, but by noon the sun was shining! The flea market was so big, with little ally ways and lights strung up over the stalls. It was dirty but had lustre.

Almost bought some glasses frames here,
there were an assortment of glasses in a
bucket sitting beside these toys.

We spent the whole morning here, and a bit into the afternoon. Then randomly walked throughout the Latin Quarter. Spending money in cafe's and bars etc. Then at around 7 took a touristy boat cruise on the Seine.


We were incredibly obnoxious and immature on the cruise. The wind was making us giddy I think. The night ended with my friend and I having the worst 10 euro, 3 course meal of our lives. Sad to say, it was in Paris. I don't want to go into details. Barf. Everything tasted like cardboard. But still it was an amazing day. It's one of those days that are so nice you fall asleep reminiscing of the day and probably laying in bed smiling. I have a lot of days like this in Paris.

i put this in my espresso

Last night I had an urge to listen to "Sugar Sugar", by the Archies. I am trying to figure out how to ad this song to the post, but no luck.

sugar

sugar ps. i only put one sucre in my espresso. not 2.

That song reminds me of the 'good ol' days'....when I was young, and didn't even have summer job yet. It was around the time the movie "Now and Then" came out and my friends and I were in love with the 60's soundtrack. I miss the feeling of having no responsibilities. Waking up in the morning and watching cartoons with my sister and probably eating captain crunch or honey combs. Or maybe I was eating toast? With peanut butter and strawberry jam. I miss peanut butter....nobody eats it in France. mmmm toast with peanut butter. But back to the topic of cereal. I have noticed that there are many American cereals here in France....the exact same cereals infact, but they change the names of them. Why?! "Corn Pops" become "Miel Pops" (a kinda frenglish name). And another thing, there is this really good chocolaty cereal that I don't think is in America, called "choco pillows". If it is clearly a French cereal, why not give it a real French name? Instead of "choco pillows"....I mean, really, why? And timmon and pumba are on the box cover. I haven't seen those guys in a long time!