The last few weeks ...

I haven't written for a while, so I will try to catch up on what I have been doing lately. A few weeks ago Niko and her friend Natalie came to stay with me for a few days. Unfortunately they could only make it for a few days during the week but it was great to see them and catch up. We had a picnic one evening by the Seine and ate lots of gorgeous cheeses, one of which I hadn't tried before which has ash in it, and was really nice. Another night we wandered around the marais and had dinner in a little jazz bar, and the last night we went to Montmartre and had dinner in a lovely restaurant.

I can't really remember what I have been doing since then, I have been to a few movies and a few dinners, and a few bars. Nothing unusual. Work has been going quite well, but also no real news there. I am feeling alot more comfortable there now and am kind of used to the working culture now.

Yesterday I went to the Chateau de Versaille, which is the most famous chateau in Paris. It is huge and gorgeous and has lovely, massive gardens. The weather was really nice (probably one of the last warm sunny weekends before the weather changes) and I had a great day looking around the various buildings and gardens and fountains.

Today I meet up with an aussie girl I met recently for an english style brunch, which was fabulous. The french really don't do big breakfasts so it was the first big breakfast I have had since coming to france. Afterwards we wandered around bastille and drank some wine on the terrasse of a little cafe.

So that really is all my news. This weekend Shaun and Sonia are coming to stay with me, which I am really looking forward to. So I guess I will have more news for you next week, and maybe some more photos.

Paris, je t'aime

The last month or so has been a bit frustrating as I have mentioned - the language, the culture and basically just trying to fit in here, and I was starting to wonder why I came here.

But last weekend I remembered why I am here, and realised once again that Paris really is one of the most beautiful and amazing cities in the world and I have fallen in love with Paris all over again. The gorgeous little streets, the fabulous food, the wine, the museums...

Friday night I went to a party on a boat (there are heaps of them all along the Seine), which had a nice deck with tables and chairs, and two rooms below, one playing cheesy dance music, and the other salsa. I chose the cheesy dance music, not being a bit big salsa fan, and not wanting to shame myself in front of a boat full of people who appeared to experts. After a few hours of dancing I emerged above deck just in time to hear the engines roaring, indicating we were about to take a cruise down the river. Normally the (nightclub style) boats stay moored all night and I had no idea we were planning a cruise, and since it was already 2am I had assumed we were staying put for the night. So Alison and I decided to have a glass of champagne on the deck and watch Paris float by, which is always amazing no matter how many times you see it.

Alison and I walked home sometime in the early hours of the morning (I live very close to the quay) and Alison slept on the couch. The next afternoon we went to the Paris Mosque, which has a gorgeous garden and courtyard all decorated in amazing turkish tiles, and serves turkish food and tea. We ate some baklava type sweets and drank turkish tea and soaked up the atmosphere. Afterwards we wandered up rue mouffetard, a long narrow little street in the middle of Paris lined with fromageries, cafes and little shops, and stopped at cafe on a cute little square with a fountain. We stayed there for ages drinking some gorgeous sancerre (my new favorite white wine) and watched the people wander by. After a little more wandering around paris, we ended up in a tiny smokey wine bar, playing old french music with a funny old french guy serving drinks behind the bar. I only stayed for one glass of wine before I decided it was time to go home and get some sleep.

On the first sunday of every month in Paris, many of the museums are free, so a group of my Australian friends decided to go to the musée de l'orangerie, which is an old art gallery in Paris which has only recently reopenned and has two oval rooms each with 4 huge painting of Monets water lillies, as well as several rooms of other paintings from modern artists such as cezanne, picasso and renoir. The other paintings were nice of course but the Monet rooms were spectacular. Afterwards we sat in a cafe in the Jardin de Tulleries and drank some wine.

I think this weekend will be a little quieter but on tuesday, Niko (another friend from Australia) and a friend of hers from Germany (who I have met a few times in australia) are coming to stay with me for a few days, so I guess there will be a lot more eating, drinking and exploring Paris all over again.