Week one.. down!

So I have officially spent my first week in Paris. It has been an interesting one in that my body's time clock has not been happy with me. I was going to bed with Boris around 10p, but waking up in the middle of the night for hours on end... and then sleeping till noon or 1p! Not good when the sun goes down at around 5p. Eventually, by the end the week I was beginning to feel a bit more like myself again and was able to have some fun over the weekend.

Backtracking a bit, the first Sunday I was here, Boris and I went to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées which is the road that is infamous to Paris and looks like the picture below (no I did not take the pic! Sorry!)

This is one of the only places in Paris that you can shop on Sundays because, by law the other areas shut their doors to the public on Sundays to allow their employees to have family time. Kind of feels a bit old world, but I like the concept -- even though we all know that this girl likes to shop 24-7! I arrived in Paris right at the perfect time as well,  for it is Soldes. Soldes means that the entire country of Paris' retail stores go on sale for a period of 5 weeks. The markdowns start at anywhere from 30%-70% off and get better and better as the weeks go on! Seeing as though I am an unemployed tourist here in Paris, I have yet to buy anything... but it is always fun to look! Ironically, over the summer when I visited it was the beginning of Soldes as well.. they only happen twice a year so I guess I have good timing! For those of you reading this blog that love fashion just like me... you will die to know that yes, even the high-end designers go on sale! I saw some great D&G, Valentino, Alexander McQueen, and Tory  Birch shoes all for less than 250 euros, and that doesn't even begin to describe the clothing and jewelry that I have seen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After walking down the avenue (stores plaster the left and right side of the arch, you just can't really tell from the typical pictures you see) we walked down the streets to the Louvre. On the way to the "most beautiful buildings in Paris" (this is what Boris refers to the Louvre as.. and he is completely serious! It is gorgeous) there is a statue garden with my most favorite statue. I saw it last summer and went back to get some more pictures. So, yes.. here are some of my very own pictures!!! Finally!

Dramatic isn't it?
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So, as I said earlier.. much of my week was spent asleep until the weekend approached. On Friday during the day, Pauline and I went to the 17 eme (a neighborhood in the northwestern area of Paris) to attend an open house for an apt. for rent. For those who have never tried to rent in Paris.. it is CRAZY (something I learned when I was here this summer and am now experiencing again)! There were already 10-15 people in line before us to view the apt. It wasn't the nicest area, but the apt. was big and cheap in Parisian terms. As we waited to see the place, we realized that it began to reek of marijuana... then once we saw the apt. we realized that the smell was coming from the current tenants extra curricular activities. That of course made us laugh along with the cat who attempted to mount Pauline's back and come home with us! So after seeing a group of people applying for the place before we had even finished looking at it, we decided to forgo submitting an application.. and just get lunch and sight-see... at the department stores! :)

After taking the subway to another area of Paris that is littered with the best of the department stores (near the Opera) we went to a VERY typical Parisian restaurant for a quick bite. When I say typical Parisian  I mean, it had the red and white checkered table clothes, mismatched chairs, an old tavern-like bar complete with upside down liquor dispensers and a mirror with the daily menu written on it in marker, and it was jam packed! Wonderful! My favorite part was illustrated by the picture below:

Yep, that is our check! The woman came over with a pad and paper and totaled it up herself. Oh yes, and the 4.50 euro charge was for our sandwiches while the 3.90 euro charge was for Pauline's Coke Light (their Diet Coke) that came in an old school glass bottle. Glad I don't have a pop addiction.. I would be broke in no time- that is $5.50 for a glass of Coke!
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So, after not having any success finding an apt. during the week. Boris and I decided to go up to the 18 eme (a neighborhood a bit more north central and next to the 17 eme. It is where much of the movie Amelie takes place, is where the large hill of Montmartre is located, and houses the famous Basilique du Sacré-Cœur Roman Catholic church) and visit the real estate agencies to see about any vacancies. It was rainy and cold and reminded me a lot of Seattle for that very reason. At first, we had no luck with finding any openings that the right size and price (after a week together in our 22 square meter studio apt. we are hoping to get at least 30 square meters and a one bedroom).  We did get some great sight seeing in though... this was one of my favorite areas this summer and continues to be after our adventure on Saturday. Here are some of the photos from walking around.

 The famous cafe from the movie Amelie

 A gorgeous home walking down from Pigalle

 A restaurant that I definitely want to try!

 Walking down the hill looking toward the center of Paris

Me making Boris get in a photo :)

We also visited down below Montmartre where the Moulin Rouge is located. This area is definitely an interesting one as it is known as the "sex district". There are lots of interesting clubs and stores that I would never to into even if you paid me. Yet, there are some beautiful homes and apartments set down the little alley ways behind all the bright lights and flashy costumes.. and some good food. In a way, it resembles the Capitol Hill Seattle neighborhood.. just more intense! We walked down one of the alleys filled with amazing apartments and there were some great little details I photographed:

 Le Chat Noir Restaurant that is attached to Le Chat Noir Hotel (entrance pictured below)

 An amazing mansion set back behind iron gates and hidden from view

 The ceilings of the entry way to the mansion

 Really cool metal roses on the front door of an apartment building

 An old parking garage for the tenants of the alley

 Someone's window pots that I thought were nifty!

Brightly colored plants sitting outside an apartment building.

While all of this was great, I of course can not leave out the best part! Our small afternoon snack at a local cafe that had loud music, black graffiti walls, and a youthful atmosphere. Below if our yummy food!

Cheese--- worth EVERY EURO!

So, like I mentioned. It was a bit of an adventure. In the end, we did have some success as we have one appointment to look at a place an area in this neighborhood that we absolutely love this Tuesday, and a few leads on apartments that we will hopefully view this week.

Saturday night was my first truly Parisian night as we went outside of Paris for a birthday party of a friend and then came back to Paris to a small night club/bar where we stayed until 5am! It was a lot of fun dancing with the friends of Boris I already knew as well as some others and their female counterparts! Some of Boris' friends think I should be a stylist here in Paris which is a completely flattering notion and a possible job venture that we are looking in to. Below are some pictures from the evening!

 This is the view from my car window as our friend Yoann drove us back into Paris. Just the typical view! Ahh I love living in this beautiful city! He made some special detours just for me as we drove through the Louvre and other parts of the beautiful center of Paris!

Boris and Jean-Christophe posing at the bar. While J.C. looks lovely in the purse, it is really his girlfriend's.

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For this week, I actually have some plans which is exciting. Though the weather is crappy, it is Paris' fashion week! So, tomorrow I plan on going to where the Chanel show is being held and stalking the outside entrance with my friend Crystal (here from the Art Institute on a quarter abroad) in the hopes of seeing models, designers, and/or someone famous! I will post pictures soon!

Also, Tuesday Boris and I have an apartment to look at so I will be making my first subway trek alone. Not too far to go, but I do have to switch subways and meet him where he gets off the train for work!

Then on Wednesday, I have a lunch date! I was lucky enough to meet a fellow American girl from Montana that now lives here because she fell in love with a French man and they got married. So, we are going to meet up and discuss things like peanut butter, micro brews, the 4th of July and cowboys! :)

Finally, on Thursday I get to see the US Embassy from the inside. For my new VISA there are some official documents I have to have notarized at the embassy... so I will see how America looks in the French version!

Au revoir for now and I hope you enjoyed.. I promise lots of pictures and great stories in my upcoming posts!

Bonjour à Paris

So here I am. Finally in the City of Lights. It's a little bit strange, I must admit. Things are much different from when I was here this summer. Mainly because I have a lot of solo time while Boris goes off to work during the day and also, it is not the middle of tourist season so while I do have quite a few instances where I hear people speaking English (whether is be American or British) they are much more few and far between then they were in July. There are have been many things happening since I arrived on Friday morning, but two that I must make mention of in this post:

1. For some reason, there has been an attack of women with strollers upon not only me, the American girl in Paris.. but also: Pauline.. the once Parisian girl in America returned home. They are out to get us! On Friday, I came very close to my demise twice for this very reason. First, a woman came out of nowhere like a bat out of hell and almost clipped me with not only a stroller... but her very own flesh and blood child IN the stroller! She just whisked around a group of us walking (I happened to be on the outside) and voila... I almost died or incurred some major squashed toe/foot :) Then, later that day, I was walking down the street with Pauline in the Bastille neighborhood where there are sidewalks on either side of cobblestone street and a woman with two munchkins AND a stroller with baby (whoa too many small children for this girl!) was walking by to our left... then it became less to our left and more to our right with each approaching moment, until finally her poor child's head nearly ended up in my derrière and I nearly ended up on top of a car! What is it with these women? Goodness!

2. This story is a bit more personal, but I figure I will share it with all those who care to read because... well... I can laugh at myself and this is pretty darn funny considering the timing. So, as I mentioned, I arrived on Friday morning which also happened to be the morning of Boris' and I two year anniversary <insert "awww">. Now we had a busy day getting situated and then we met up with Pauline to get cafe as well as two of Boris friends to go suit shopping. After all of that I was exhausted. Mind you, I was sick while I was home in Michigan and taking Pseudoephed which was causing me to get very little sleep. I actually managed to only get about 4-5 hours of sleep from Wednesday night to this very time on Friday evening. So after all these events in Paris, Boris and I went off for a romantic dinner at a little bistro in our neighborhood. Boris and I ordered the same thing- confit de canard - which is duck slow roasted and soaked in butter...YUM! And then we split a creme brulee... DOUBLE YUM!
Here are some visuals- these may be stock photos... but they are pretty darn close to what my meals looked like! Ahh I love French food!

All well and good.... not! We went to bed around 11pm and at around 1:30am  I awoke from a strange and frantic dream. Luckily, though I had no idea where I was when I first awoke, I grasped my bearings and was able to mainstream a la toilette. Throughout the hours of 1:30am to 8am I prayed to the porcelain gods about every 15-30min ... it was NOT exactly how I pictured my first night in Paris! It does make for a great story though! :) As Boris has always said, "mon amie américaine est si romantique et pleine de suprises"... ahh I keep life interesting don't I?

That is all for now. I love and miss you all and will most likely be frantically contacting you in the near future to speak English with via Skype- SO DOWNLOAD IT NOW!!!
As we say in America xoxo or... in France bises

An Introduction: Still in the Midwest! AHHHHH!!

Hello all:
     I wanted to begin my postings and get this blog a rollin'. Can you tell that two weeks away from Seattle and in the snowy Midwest has already lead me to some major cabin fever as well as BOREDOM! No, not entirely true :) I have been spending a lot of time with my mom and Toddler (my big brother.. okay his actual name is Todd-but apparently I have a thing for nicknames!) and old friends which has been really great. I already miss my friends from Seattle so very much and if any of you are reading this: I MISS YOU!!!
      I leave for Paris in officially one week (Thursday, January 13th) which according to my older sis Tiffany is an amazing lucky day to leave (it's her birthday). The excitement is building, but so is the fear of how I am possibly going to fit all of my things into two suitcases and carry-ons! This will most likely require some sitting on the luggage while locking (sorry Stu I cannot be a minimalist like you- I tried but I am in fashion.. come on!). Not to mention the fear of moving to another country where I do not speak the language.. oh how I hope French will come easily to me, goodness knows I already have my snobby French-English accent down pat!
     To any that read this, I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and got to spend good times with family and/or friends. My Christmas Eve was happily spent with my mom, brother, aunt, and uncle while Christmas Day was spent with my other adopted family, the Gilberts (Julia, Juddy, Harry, Patty, and Liz via phone) and my mother as well. We had great times opening presents, drinking some yummy Blue Moon and playing board games (which "the kids" one ... take that "adults"! As a disclaimer, yes I do realize that at the age of 26 I AM actually an adult... but in this situation, "the kids" was only too appropriate!). Posted below are a few of the pictures from the day- I hope you enjoy.. more to come once Paris life actually begins, but for now au revoir!

 

                               Jud, Julia, and I posing for the camera!

 

                                                  The Moms and Me

 

                          Julia and the latest addition to her family: Worden

 

   Jud showing off his new Sigma Chi jacket with Dad (Harry) and Mom (Patty)