Thursday, May 29, 2008

How I spent my time in Paris, mk 4

(Man, I really do have verbal diarrhoea)

One night, I went with Alix to a mini-reunion of some of his friends from his Sydney course. Since they didn't speak english that well, I was forced to speak a lot of french (woo, practice!) and try to concentrate very hard on what they were saying. I think I got most of the conversation and did participate on whether perfection in pronounciation or competence is more important - I'm on the competence side! We also rounded out the alcohol intake with a student meal - spaghetti and meatballs. I still can't believe the size of the the plates that the males ate that night. Huge.

On said conversation night, Amaury asked whether Alix had ta
ken me out clubbing. I answered in the negative whereby he instantly shouted out to Alix that he was un cousin tres merde! It was then mentioned that my happy day was here and that we were going out on that night. And what a night! Pop mixed with electro mixed with rn'b mixed with the Village People, mixed with alcohol...fun all round. A particular highlight was when a song completely unknown to me started playing and the crowd went totally apeshit. I was then informed that the song was some classic from the 80s/90s - I'm guessing something kinda like Janet & Luther's Best Things in Life are Free. And if you think French men are bold on the street, you should see them in a club. Alix's friend Marie rescued me from an insistent mec by telling him that ce soir, je suis sa femme. Thank you Marie.

Outside the club with Alix

Lights in the club

Okay, this should be pretty obvious to people who are still reading. The main think I did to spend time in Paris is one of my fave things of all - walking about! I rounded out the clubbing night by walking from the 8e to my place in the 4e, passing by some
nice landmarks on the way. Here's an imperfect photomerge of the Place de la Concorde from one of my rambling night walks.

So I end this block with some more pics from the pritti pritti place that is Paris. Toodles!

Palais Royale

A chair in the fountain at the Palais Royale

Luxembourg Gardens

Cour Carrousel

Tuileries looking towards Concorde

The Seine near Musee d'Orsay

Pont Alexandre III looking towards the Grand Palais

Y'all know this one!

Monday, May 26, 2008

How I spent my time in Paris, mk 3

I gave a talk at a Paris lab and when they asked what I was doing that night, I replied that I was going to try to get tickets to the Opera that night because they were playing Rossini's Barber of Seville. The guys in the lab kinda looked at each other and then one of them said to get there very early because it would be sold out. It was sold out. But the guy at the ticket booth told me they have a policy that if people don't collect their tickets by 30 minutes before curtain call, those tickets go on sale. So I plonked myself down and waited two hours. I got a ticket for a mildly elevated seat towards the rear of the stalls. Was it worth the loss of time from my short life? HELL YEAH!!! The production was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. The sets were always folding around, being elevated and descending...it was like a giant dollhouse. The setting was interestingly presented as being in Moorish Spain. It was much different from the OA production I saw last year.

I did a bit of re-visiting the big museums that I'd either really enjoyed previously (Musee d'Orsay and Musee Rodin) or smaller places that had been shoved aside for the Big Deals - and hey, a Paris Big Deal is usually pretty big!

Queue outside the Musee d'Orsay. For future travellers, while it is shockingly long, it's mostly the security check and it actually moves quite fast.

The main hall

Behind one of the Musee d'Orsay's giant clocks.

Gardens of the Hotel Biron/Musee Rodin

The Thinker gets contemplated in return

Facade of the Musee Jacquemart-Andre (158 Blv Haussmann) - VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Sneaky photo of the Jacquemart-Andre Winter Garden. Photography is not allowed here.

The caves of the Wine Museum (Musee du Vin, 5 Square Charles Dickens). It smelt kinda musty but very interesting (only in French)!

Vive le vin!

The exhibits were broken up by displays of wax models making wine, selling wine, etc. Usually whenever I saw one it scared the crap out of me because I'd turn around and it'd be like a silent person was behind me. This guy looks like someone to me, a celebrity? Does it resemble anyone to anyone else?

Another thing I did to fill time was eating - duh! It was cherry season so you can imagine me just sitting around eating a bag of cherries during the afternoon! I also found it difficult to resist the smell of all those roasting chickens on Boulevard St. Antoine. I am pleased to report to Lydia that this time around, ingestion of a chicken and chicken-fat basted potatoes was achieved! I also did something I usually don't do and ate in cafes either very near or attached to museums. The Cafe du Musee is around the corner from the Musee Rodin...and I swear I ate rabbit at it during the Great European Trip 2004. In any case, I ate there again and had a HUGE salad. It gets quite busy because a lot of visitors to the Rodin eat there but it's still very good. The cafe at the Jacquemart-Andre, I had another salad that was pretty expensive (I think 16 euros? without tax!)...but it was sooooooooooooooooo good! I had the Tiepolo with smoked salmon and terrine of homard all served in the Jacquemart-Andre's former dining room. At Cafe Marly (in one of the wings of the Louvre) and had foie gras and sauternes to celebrate my happy day a few days early. Delicious in a beautiful setting overlooking the Louvre sculpture garden. *sigh* Num nums

Even more soon!

How I spent my time in Paris, mk 2

Pooey (amonst others) has always regarded Versailles as the ultimate European Palace. Hell, after it was built other European Royal Houses went and remodelled their own palaces after it. I can't believe it took me three tries to knock this tourist spot off my list. Luckily Alix came along so he did all the talking to people about what kind of tickets we needed and where to go.

And it sure is pretty.
The Hall of Mirrors

Pooey happy in the Hall of Mirrors

That's a real purdy view

So is this one

And this one!

Grand Trianon

Some of the garden at Petit Trianon

Unforch, Petit Trianon was closed so we couldn't seen Marie-Antoinette's favourite part of the estate. Overall, while I don't think I was as disappointed as Pooey (although she admitted she might be a bit palace-d out), I'm not kicking myself for waiting so long to go there. I think Pooey expected that given the size of the place, more of it would be open. As you can see, we were lucky enough that our cloudy morning transformed into a sparkling afternoon while we walked around the grounds from the main palace to Grand Trianon to Petit Trianon and back again. The map said walking to each part would take about twenty minutes each and we all thought *Well, we're young and healthy - let's do it!* But the walking doesn't take in photography stopping or lost getting time. In the end, walking around the huge grounds totally wore us out and we three fell asleep on the RER back to town before we continued the Great Shoe Hunt at Galeries Lafayette Montparnasse where we didn't find those shoes either (*sigh*). And then to add insult to injury, we fell asleep when we got back to the hotel room and lost an entire night's revelling potential!

I also helped Pooey realise her dream of climbing Notre Dame de Paris. Since I had already done this, I didn't take photos. That same day, there was a celebration of French baking going on in the Notre Dame parvis so the entire square have this WONDERFUL baking scent. It was the best! And since we were in the neighbourhood, Pooey and I went to Bertillon on Ile St. Louis to have some of what is considered the best ice cream in Paris. The tricky thing is that there are stores that claim to be selling Bertillon but which aren't Bertillon so we had to keep walking until we found the right one. I'm kicking myself for not taking a photo of the queue at the real store (which was long), and for not taking a photo of me with my cone featuring peach and nougat and honey flavours. This was semi-rectified when I went back another day for more and got green apple and cinnamon.
Nums!

Then I had to send Pooey back to London and I was alone again. But more adventures were had!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

How I spent my time in Paris, mk 1

Cousin Alix noted that despite the fact that he's the one who's French, I probably know Paris city better than he does. This was reinforced by the fact that when he said *Let's meet at Madeleine*, I actually went to the church, whereas when we finally met up on the boulevard, he said he didn't know there was a church! And since this was my third visit, I've pretty much done all the usual touristy things like the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower etc etc. So how did I fill my time this time?

Well the first few days I was all alone. *sniff* This was reinforced most strikingly to me when I was having a quick dinner on my first Thursday when my glass of wine arrived before my dinner. Seated on the terasse...I pretty much had nothing to do except drink my wine and look at the other patrons. Not that there were many because it was quite late. This was when I thought I should take up smoking.

OH MY GAWD!!! Je ne fume jamais!!!! And I've never contemplated it either!!!

I did actually think that if I were a smoker (as the people around me were), then I'd have something to do other than sit there and drink by myself. Luckily the waiter came with my wonderful quiche and salade and I tucked in rather than lit up. I returned to my lovely (very) little room and took some night shots of from my balcony and collapsing.

Luckily, I had been set some tasks to complete in Paris before Pooey arrived to keep me company. This set off the Great Shoe Hunt. Pooey went to Barcelona and put a hole in the ballerines that we bought last time. Even I was horrified! But since they were bought in Galeries Lafayette, I went there to see if we could buy a new pair or something similar from the same brand. They did not! And a bit of questioning made it pretty clear they didn't have anything else from the brand other than a pair of pretty grubby houndstooth patterned shoes. They were cute but it was pretty obvious many people had tried them on. Well, that just wouldn't do so I went to Printemps to see if Lafayette's great rival had them. They didn't have them either! And so it was with great disappointment that I had to inform Pooey I had failed in my task. To soften the blow, I bought her a bag of schoko-bons (hi Lydia!) and we set about planning what to do during her short weekend.

But that's for the next entry ;)

Monday, May 19, 2008

Back in the city of Love, Love, Love *doo dee doo*

Yes, here I am in Paris again and I'm remembering things that I love about this city.

Love:
  • Food. Oh god French food is good. It's worth the entry fee alone.
  • Language. The Eurostar drivers are multi-lingual (as they need to be) and the driver I had was obviously French from the sing-song way he spoke English. Seriously, me and the woman next to me looked at each other and giggled when he made announcements.
  • My hotel. I didn't think I could get better than Hotel Jeanne d'Arc...but my room, teeny-tiny though it was, had it's own Haussmann-esque balcony!!!
Photomerge of my room. As you can see in the mirror, I am pressed flush against the wall.

My balcony.
  • Aesthetics. It is pleasing to the eye. This is the view from my teeny-tiny balcony.
Daylight.


Okay, I had a bit of trouble holding still for the night shots.
  • Atmosphere. Other visitors have told me they went to Paris and hated it because it didn't have that *magical* aspect that they were expecting. I don't know what they're talking about. Walking down the boulevards still makes me smile. I think the day that Paris doesn't make me smile is the day that I need anti-depressants.

But as much as there is to love about here, I'm not blind to it's faults!
Hate:
  • Not having a fridge in my tres petite room to store leftover cheese and pate. When I ask for une petite tranche...it never seems to be that petite.
  • Rip off for internet! 15 euro cents a minute?! That's 9 euros an hour!
  • Being understood and not understanding. I will dolefully admit my french is not what it used to be. Problems especially arise when I ask for something correctly and I receive an answer which was far more complex than I was expecting because they think I can speak french properly. Or even worse. I bought some postcards and I thought the shop I bought them from would also supply them (they didn't). So I went to a tabac to get them...and somewhere between asking for *timbres* at the original shop and the tabac, the native population seemed to lose comprehension of what I was asking for.
  • The scunge-factor. Pretty though the city is, it can be pretty damn scungy. I really hate jumping various stains on the footpath just in case they happen to be dog, or even human, urine. Having said that, the Metro didn't have its usual scent - even Pooey picked up on that one!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

(My love is like a) Heatwave!

Well what do you know? London, my best bud boy, really turned it on for me this week! When I arrived here last week, I'd been tracking the weather (naturally) and was pleasantly happy to find that it would be in the low to mid-twenties. I can't remember exactly when I first heard it being described by the term *heatwave* but I remember scoffing. Scoffing that such temperatures could be described as such. Obviously, these people have never lived through a 40-degree night.

But you know what? It was
warm!!! And being the tourist/bum I am, it was the best way to enjoy the heat! On Sunday, Pooey and I walked from Westminster to Millbank during which she admitted that if London were more like that (warm and sunny), she probably wouldn't hate living here so much.

Pooey enjoying a rare hot day

We also caught the tube around where we heard announcements telling people to drink plenty of water and be aware of people fainting. *snort*

But things (for us) got kinda silly when I read the newspaper on Monday and found out that the heat (26 degrees) resulted in 1000
MORE phonecalls to the 999 emergency lines! And the way they kept crowing about how the temperature was warmer than in Greece and Morocco. I mean, please people.

Anyway being the unemployed/student/tourists we were, here are some pictures of me and Roxy enjoying the London heatwave. Enjoy!

Contemplating the day at Southwark Cathedral/Borough Market


Having our photo wrecked by a business man and the wind on Millenium Bridge towards St. Pauls

With the dinosaur at the Natural History Museum


With a really cute stuffed tiger & cub int he NHM shop!


At Marble Arch

Monday, May 12, 2008

In London again!

Well, following on the trend of cities as boys, London would be the equivalent of the buddy - we get on well, I know the quirks and despite all the craps, they cheer me up! This is my third visit, second in less than a year, and I finally realised...I've done all the main touristy things within the city limits!

But to paraphrase Dr. Johnson, when you're tired of London, you're tired of life and that's not the case with me! I started off London Trip mk3 by catching up with various Meldon folks. First off, I met up with Dirty Roy at our fave eating place, Borough Market, for food! Since Dirty Roy works near London Bridge, he knows which stalls were the best and when he said the magic words *pork crackling roll* I demanded to eat it! This was followed up by some fresh squeezed juice and dessert. Dirty Roy had a one quid brownie (which was huge, but inferior to the two pound brownie according to him) while I had a chocolate tart which I couldn't finish because it was like eating chocolate frosting. I took it home to share with Pooey instead. Unfortunately, I didn't photograph any of the food but trust me, it was good. :) Since I went home, I spent the afternoon watching music videos before taking a pleasant walk down Tower Bridge Rd. over the Tower Bridge, past the Tower of London, and into the City to meet Pooey and catch up with The Circle for dinner. Peishapan made curry laksa and chocolate fondue. Mmmmm, nums. Because we had booze, the night ended with Bridging and handstands.

Come Saturday, me, Pooey, and the Grand Empress toddled off to Hampton Court Palace to visit the home of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Or at least me and Pooey were - we were pretty horrified when Grand Empress said she didn't know the whole story. I spent a bit of time telling her what I remembered of it (while at the same time criticising The Other Boleyn Girl) which turned out to be the right thing because she mentioned that without the backstory, the place would have been pretty boring. Here are some pics

Me & The Tudor Facade


The famous clock


Pooey tries to make some pies and collects a kid instead


Pritti gardens


The view to the palace from the gardens


Trying to find a shortcut through the garden's hedge maze


The Grand Empress really enjoys her ribena ice

Anyway, after the Palace, we decided to go to Primmy. The damage will be recorded in my post-trip shopping blog!

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Final word on NYC?

Well a number of days have passed since my last proper NYC entry and I've had more time to reflect here. And you know what? I'm still not sure if I *love* New York.

*dodging arrows*

How could this be possible?!!? Even I'm puzzled by my seeming ambivalence. Lets check it off.

Environment - TICK! There's a lot of interesting archi
tecture around here that reflects phases in the city's history. Especially the Art Deco for which it's justiably famous, there's some good gothic revival. Lots of pleasant little parks, and of course the big ones. The weather eventually turned nice on Sunday afternoon and made it all really nice. Sometimes you'd get a whiff of some stagnant water but that's the smell of any big city.

Culture - TICK! The Museum of Natural History, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art...they are good. The Guggenheim I didn't visit but I know that one's good. And I visited the Metropolitan Opera House (to buy a pair of opera glasses but the shop was closed - boo) and I took a look at their program. This sea
son, various shows are featuring Nathalie Dessay, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Angela Georghiu...dang, that's some selection! And then there's Broadway...

Native Population - Tick-Pass. The people were f
riendly, yes. I did a lot of chatting with random people and some really helped me out when I was semi-lost. But my tourist vibe attracted a lot of touts and people asking me if I were Japanese, and then explaining that I'm Australian and I do speak fluent english. It gets tiring.

Shopping - Tick-Pass. The shopping is excellen
t and with the weak US dollar, it can be downright cheap. What's annoying is because different US states have different tax laws, you have to add another 8% on top of the cited price in NY. It gets annoying. And you end up with a lot of pennies which are also annoying.

Food - Borderline Pass-Fail. Let's face it, food in th
e US is not great. While some of what I've eaten was pretty good (big ticks to Men Kui Tei, and the local Mixed Asian restaurant I went to with Uncle Nory on Tuesday), a lot of it was pure dross. The mantra of excess is extended to the food - I had a raspberry crepe in Central Park and here's a progression sequence.



Ugh, wayyyyy too much jam!

Also, I don't see the appeal of those giant pretzels. The one I ate was so salty even after I brushed off the excess salt, my mouth felt as if I were having a
hypertonic attack. It was so salty it overrode my asian programming and I threw away food I paid for. I do not consider *variety* the mark of greatness. Nor do I consider what americans have done to pizza as *improving* it, as Uncle Nory has tried to argue. And what is with *zero-calorie* water?! I could go on and on with this topic.

Public Transport - Borderline Pass-Fail. It takes about 45 mins from where I am in Queens to Manhattan which I consider acceptable. After I bought a book, it didn't seem that long and the transfers are pretty quick. What brings the mark down to borderline fail is the overall condition of the system. The London Tube and Paris Metro aren't exactly bastions of cleanliness (hell, the Metro doubles as a public urinal), but the subway just took it to another level. The stations are especially depressing as they have major scunge-factor what with all the missing tiles and water leakage. I also wished sometimes that it were more comprehensive or better linkages between stations. London and Paris stops are close together, but (particularly in the case of Paris), it's walkable if you really wanted to. To get to the Met, I could have gotten out at Lexington/63rd, walk 250m to Lexington/59th and then catch the subway to 86th...which is still 500m away from the Museum. I preferred to walk the 1-1.25km from Lex/63rd but that would not be an option if I were travelling with someone like Ma.

So on all the important categories, NYC managed to pass pretty much all of them but it let itself down on some petty things that would mar the pleasure. Things like I'd be walking around thinking *you know, I think I really like this place!* and then I'd trip on some uneven paving or pothole - which are EVERYWHERE. I really wonder how the SATC girls didn't twist their ankles or break their shoes more often. Or I'd be lying in Central Park watching some kids and thinking *awww, theyre cute* and then they'd let out a huge scream and their black/latina/asian/always different raced nanny would come and amuse them. Or I'd be happily eating an icecream and then the wind would blow something onto it. And then I'd sneeze. Pooey thinks the city just hates me.

Maybe it's because I spent most of my time here alone and lying around in parks thinking. Maybe if I were given less time to be introspective the result would be different. But here's one thing I came up with: If we liken cities to dating, NYC is like the boy who ticks all the boxes but I can't seem to really love. Probably because he does improbable things that piss me off. Maybe if I gave them more time...