A couch sees the world

Moving, moving, moving. An excitement, a hassle, both, a nostalgic moment, all three of them and many more. I have moved all of my belongings back and forth (in the same big two suitcases I took to Vancouver when I left in 2008) for about seven times. Vancouver, Costa Rica, Vancouver, Costa Rica, Paris. Dorm room, house, townhouse, real house, dorm room, "apartment", apartment. Lived with so many people and slept in so many different bed, but I'm still not immune to the moving in-out sentimentality. I love it though, packing things gives you the chance to get rid of things you don't need anymore, and unpacking the opportunity to rearrange al your belonging in the most creative ways... like "Oh! I'm not gonna use this little container for my tights anymore, im gonna put it in the table and throw films in there! Or, or, wait, I'll put my make up there and the films in the one I was using for pencils!".

Little exciting moments in my life.

Now this move was a lot of fun, even though both Bridge and I were a little sick and yesterday it was so cold a coupe of days ago in Paris I heard from Bridge and Hjalte it snowed! (I was in La Rochelle). Before going to La Rochelle the boys (H and S) came over to the far away lands of Boulevard Saint Denis to help us move my beloved couch. I couldn't bear the idea of parting with the couch I so lovingly picked that beautiful autumn day in Ikea. It's been my partner day and night in the most infamous adventures and has seen the best and worst of me, so I had to take it with me to the new apartment.

The boys came over, got their hands dirty and we decided to just take it to Bastille on the metro. An officer caught us while trying to get into the Strasbourg-Saint Denis station and told us it was strictly "interdit" to bring furniture into the trains because of some "insurance issues".Fine, so we just decided to walk a couple of blocks and try again in République. This time we made it! Stairs up, down, roads, turns, and three étages later, we were in front of the little door with the Parlebas (landlord's last name) doorbell sign that is going to be my new home.

New couch seeing the world

Old couch to be moved to Rue de Lappe alley, la classe!

(picture from Sam's blackberry, I couldn't stand still, sorry for blur)

9 rue Saint-Sabin folks. An old comfort place, which used to be inhabited by the Hjalte-Signe duo and will now be the headquarters of the Waston-Salazar household.

A tribute to the former owners, skål!





And bye-bye Strasbourg Saint Denis. So many weird, creepy, fun, lazy, amazing times there, we will sure miss all the creepos out there in the Laverie, the scenesters in Chez Jannette and the cute lady in Cafe du Cœur. A tout!




Next on my blogging to-do list: La Rochelle and new apartment pictures, must organize stuff first though.

Camden Town

Camden is awesome. Around Christmas we went out for a drink in Montmartre and met a couple that lived in London through Juan Carlos... Bridgette had asked them where things were happening in London and they said Camden, Camden, Camden... very much indeed, is my opinion.

Markets everywhere, Mile's paradise.. and HUGE ones. I must say I was expecting more antiques and second hand things than there actually were but still the markets were setup in huge old warehouses and even old stables! Great neighborhood, and there I had the best meal I had in the whole trip. Sorry, no bangers 'n' mash, fish and chips or shepherd's pie.. just an incredible mix of veggies dishes in this cute little cafe overlooking the canal. I ordered a medium bowl and asked the super nice girl serving to put everything they had on it! Haha it was amazing, she even asked if I wanted space in my bow for some of the salads they had.



More pastel houses


Proud Camdem Bar at the Stables Market. They had a photo exhibit of The Clash in London in their gallery. It was a really cool place (http://www.proud.co.uk/atproud.aspx)



Never forget the 60s.


Sorroundings


InSpiral cafe, je t'adore! It reminded me a lot of Sprouts and the food and soups I miss so much from that little corner in the SUB basement. the view of the canal in the back was amazing as the sun was setting, warm tea, yum get me back there.

(http://www.inspiralled.net)

Portobello Road

Since we decided to book tickets to London, I only had one image/phrase in my mind when thinking about the trip: Portobello Market. I had no idea what it was really about but it was just a name that had been stuck in my head for years and that it was a huge antique/vintage/crafts market (that's enough to get mi mind excited for months).

Portobello, Portobello... we get to London and I start checking what this place is about (remeber we didn't have time to plan beforehand because we realized a couple of hours before when our plane was leaving) an turns out, the market only opens Saturdays, the day after we were leaving!! Bad, bad luck, bit of a heartbreak... we still decided to stop by Portobello Road, where the market is setup on the weekends to check out the stores. It's all so pretty with pastel colored house all around... really, really cute/pretty/pastel/cozy and adjectives of the sort.

Night fell while walking down this really long road so the lights gave a really nice view. We even got to see on the way a house where George Orwell lived. Who would've thought he was living in a pink pastel house while writing political essays, dystopian novels and planning to go to the Spanish Civil War.

Voila some shot of this famous street:


Cafes and storefronts



Sun setting in Notting Hill



Pastels

London Town

We got back from London two nights ago, and since then, have only left the house to go out for Signe, Peter and Dinne's last night in Paris (yesterday night. Ok, and today to get a baguette because we ran out of provisions).

I have done nothing but enjoying my bed (couch), looking at pictures and reading magazines that my Mom sent me on a package from Costa Rica... yest I'm still so tired! What's wrong with me I'm so lazy. And I've been saying "Ok now I'm gonna start packing" for the past few hours but can't seem to get up! I'm moving apartments on Saturday but I'm gonna go visit Marifer at La Rochelle from Tuesday to Friday, so I better get started tomorrow.

Anyways, it's time for some London pictures! We walked so much, took so many metros (or, "the tube") and laughed so hard at the brit accent and had a blast. London was completely different from Paris. Ok maybe not as compleely as Berlin but you sense you're in a totally different place, and you can see the people around you are not French, and even less, Parisian. A lot of things I expected were not there, and then I was surprised by lots of others.

I wanna be all smart and make cool observations but I think physical inactivity has taken a toll on my mental capacities. Ah! For now, just some pictures...




We stayed in the Bloomsbury neighborhood (yes, like that publishing house that prints the Harry Potter books). But of course that's not the important thing, the publisher's named like that after this neighborhood, with great literary tradition where homies like Virginia Woolf, J.M. Keynes and co. lived, wrote and worked.

And here we have the next generation.

Spotted. B taking a break at Bloomsbury after a long day of walking checking out Topshop on Oxford Street. Why are you there so lonely, B? Wonder if M took off with a London hottie in a motorcycle...

XOXO

GG.




Canaby Street, were good things were happening on the 60s and 70s.



Carnaby was the heart of the swinging 60s, too bad it's become e real tourist trap with Starbucks in every corner.. but there's still coof stuff, shops and galleries around.





The Youth Club @ SoHo, around Carnaby Street.





Notting Hill bookshop.



Buckingham Palace 0 - Versailles 1. These minicabs are all over, and apparently you can neves stop a cab in the street in London since it's really dangerous... how? They look so cute!



Seriously, they were selling this book called "William and Kate: A Royal Souvenir." Seriously.




Yes, I'm lame, but I just had to.




Sunset at the Kensington Palace gardens.






Perfect thing to own for people like me who, yes, hate wearing things on their wrists... but that doesn't mean we don't love to know what time it is! Most precious find at the Camden markets.



Last day walking along the Thames looking for the Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It was sunny and beautiful the four days we were there. Still cold, but clear skies so I can not complain!

Pre-London

I have so many things on my mind because about two hours ago Bridgette and I realized that our flight to London was actually tomorrow instead of Wednesday!! Ah! So hostel booking, packing, Signe cme over for a glass of champagne and Sofie's been staying over for the past few days here. Overall awesome but also, we have to leave around 8:30am and now it's 2:30 am. I like to think of our situation in Bridgette's words: "We went to Versailles this morning and tomorrow we're going to London, who do we think we are!" We're awesome, that's what we are. Well daaaaahhlings I better get some sleep and catch a plane in a few hours.

Hjalte's Birthday

These are the last weeks, so unfortunately, that we're all gonna be together. I found a great group of friends this semester and we got together to celebrate Hjalte's birthday yesterday. He cooked an amazing dinner, as usual, and we just ate and had a great time. Now everyone will start leaving and only me and my Canadian bros will stay here. It's so sad but this dinner felt like it encompassed a lot of the things we shared during these months and it felt like the perfect wrap up of out first semester. Aw, I'm gonna miss them so much, but, but, next thing on the to-do list is tickets to Denmark-Sweden for spring break (with a visit to Cem included!!).

Love to all my scandie beauties... Nickelback and hyggelight forever! Also, Hjalte's mom is SO COOL.

Printemps

Yuna came to visit from Lille (she's staying at Marie Pierre and Gilles' house, my friends from Lille) and we had such a great time together. We walked, and walked and walked and walked.... but the weather was SO NICE. Feels like spring and the city just looks ten times more beautiful.

Here are some shots.


Little passage around Odeon


The view from the top of the Centre Pompidou



One of the most beautiful days in months, not even wearing a scarf!




Crossing around the Louvre...


...we found a strange scene