A Friday and Saturday Night (2 weeks late)

Now that I posted the Housewarming pictures I realized how many I'm mising from past stuff! Prepare yourselves to be bombarded. My day to day is not as exciting as these photos, but my weekends have been packed with fun times. Last week-end I went to the North, but here's a retrospective on the weekend before that.

Friday: Sophie wanted to inagurate her moving into Le Marais by going to a nice restaurant around her house. It was the classic girls night, or it started like that, and we had a great group. We had dinner and the two French girls joining us, Noemie and Chloe, told us her friend's were having a party in an empty apartment building: YES, WE ARE SO THERE. We met up with the French kiddos, most of them were from art and acting school so us Science Poers were the uncool kids, until we lit that party on fire with our hats and helmets ;)


Waiting at the Pompidou Center for Bridgette's friend Becca.. hungry like a wolf but masking it with a cute im-happy-im-in-paris smile


Ah oui, the food, te bread, the wine..


Waiting for the suspicious group of people that would take us somewhere, no one knew were, that's how we roll, we're so cool and underground


The infamous party, at the roof

The boys looking good, Neaz and Peter


These are roommates, funnest pair




Sophie, somehow always manages to look drunker than what she really is, have a full collection of her I look at when I'm bored


Scandie styling

We realized the building was only 2 metro stops away from our place, so we went to beloved Kebab in front of our street. Our house is just at the corner.




Now the next day, different activities, just as awesome. There was a 'big' protest going on for climate change at Hotel de Ville, so Bridge and I headed down there in the afternoon. The day was beautful so we decided to take the Velibs (public bike system, you can take them inçout everywhere and the annual embership is just 3oeuros!) and bike around. Um, yeah, sounds really nice and everything but once you're in your bike you gotta watch out for your life like never before... fucking Parisian drivers, have some respect for cyclists! Now that I look at these pictures I can even understand how I wasn't even sporting my scarf and jacket, it's been like 5 degrees during the past days, really need to buy a coat, but I've been waiting cause I have a dream of buying a Penny Lane from Almost Famous groupie one, I can feel it coming my way...








Then in the night, we met with a lot of people that were going to the Pont des Arts. It was great, lots of people playing music, the drums... Turns out Tatiana from UBC is awesome at the drums and was just making everyone dance. Bridgette was impressed, and when she asked her where she learned Tatiana was like: "Wreck Beach man, changed my life!" Haha how I love this girl... She actually hosted dinner last week at her place and we decided to start a wekly tradition called the "4euro dinners". Nothing more, nothing less, one dinner per house and rotating.

So the Pont des Arts was packed, and after the Police kicked us out at 12PM (Paris, no fun city), we went to a little park in the Ile de la Cite, and continued our alcoholic and social activities. It's really beautiful to see the river at night, and to be able to talk to people and listen to music... and it's one the very last Pont des Arts nights I guess, cause it's getting really damn cold!

So voila les photos:





Last night out in a summer dress, so sad, I'm cold cold and cold again.


Sam, who took most of the pictures, they are terrible and blurry Sam, shame on you!! Or was that an aesthetic choice?

Our mansion

October, 8th.. Last day I wrote something on the blog? Crazy, it seems like it wasn't that long ago... This weekend I went to Lille to visit Marie-Pierre and Gilles, and Marie-Pierre asked me: "Tu penses que le temps passe vite?" And then I just though about how much of a Yes and No response the answer could have (to avoid trying to explain a philosophy of how we experience time en français, I just said yes and smiled). I have so many things I want to say it's a little overwhelming.. but I really want to write it down, cause I haven't been the best at communicating with friends and family these past few weeks, so a good chronicle is necessary! My dad sent my an email yesterday saying: "You haven't updated your blog since October 8th, the fans are waiting". Haha, hello fans, are you there? I just feel like I'm talking to myself when I write but that's actualy not true, cause like I'm learning in Art History this semester, there's always an implied viewer in the production of a piece! I guess implied reader in this case of course. Hi implied readers, are you actually reading this? At least my Dad is :)

I've been walking to school almost everyday, and it's actually very impressive cause it's SO COLD in Paris right now. By the time I arrive to Saint Germain I can't feel my feet. So I was walking yesterday out of the house and kept hearing Marie-Pierre and Gilles comments: "You live in Strasbourg-StDenis? Oh lala!"... Bridgette and I had kind of figure it out (there were always some girls suspiciously standing by the entrace of the metro everyday) but their comments corroborated out hypothesis: "Just don't tell anyone you're a Boulevard Saint Denis girl or they might get the wrong impresion!"

Haha, oh well, yeah that's the hood, but so what! I have news actualy, regarding my housing situation: I have a roomate. Yes, Bridgette and I decided to move in together into my place, and become it's been awesome so far. No more late night panics of "I'll fall out out the mezzanine and no one will know" and so many nice dinners and fun times.

The place is actually very tiny for two, but we're making it work... Bridgete lives "upstairs" while I get the "main floor" (I really feel in love with the IKEA couch I got plus I'm next to the heater so I willingly decided to give up the mezzanine, which I feel is haunted but that's a whole different story). So my "room" is situated right behind a window, in the "west wing" of our 25 square meter mansion.

I would say our daily routine consists of getting up fairly early, I take a shower while Bridge eats a yogurt and viceversa, we walk to school, do out own thang and then at dinner we'll annihilate whatever's left on the fridge or run to the Monoprix downstairs and grab something. Monoprix never fails us, oh how we love you! You can get anything there, even clothes which are not even that cheap. It's actually a strange concept, you can go quickly cause you wanna grab a banana but on the way out you might be tempted by the 100euro cashmere sweater (?). I guess it works with the frenchies because there are Monoprix everywhere! You even get the Monop' which is the small version that opens late, and we love it cause we can run to the one 4 blocks away for a late night wine craving.




So just to put our humble place in a little bit of context, it's in a big Boulevard, busy area, right in front of the Strasbourg-SaintDenis station. Everyday you walk in and out of the metro there are like 6 guys trying to recruit you to become a hairstylist for the dozens of 'afro-coiffure' places around. When you get past them and are on the street, you see the Monoprix, kebab shops (there's one that's all of our friend's favorite cause its one of the only 24 hours place we know), cafés with tabac bars (in here you have special TABAC stores, you can't get your cigs in a super market or anywhere else), little more higher end restaurants, theatres, etcetc. As I said, it's a pretty busy street, but it's cool cause from out place on the sixth floor you get the whole sound of the city and you see the colored lights and everything. Our building is right between the Porte St Denis and the Porte Saint Martin (those interested in a little bit of history: CLICK ME)






The building in itslef is absolutely beautiful, built in the 18th century and my landlord told me when I rented the place that it actually has status of historical patrimony of the city of Paris. The doors are HUGE, and when you enter the ceiling are super high. We have an antique style elevator but there are also two escalades: the fancy gorgeous one, and the one that takes you to my floor... Yeah, most top flors in Paris used to be where the 'service' of the houses lived, so they have different stairs, and its very common that the elevators of the building don't take you to the last floor unless they have been renovated. We're lucky cause the elevator actually takes us so we don't have to climb the tiny dark staircase everytime.




So to finalize my post about the humble mansion, I'll leave you with some pictures of a very spontaneous housewarming we had Wednesday night. It all started when Annie (friend from Australia) asked me if i wanted to go for a drink with her and I friend on Wednesday. I said, for sure, that we should actually get together at my place first so Annie could meet my roommate (I was sure they would get along, Annie's the funniest girl and lives just one metro away, aka, 5 minute walk). So that as the plan, then while a school I saw Tatiana from UBC and told her come, also Sam and Sophie, Bridgette told Signe (I know, so many names!) and then I received a message from Annie asking me if she could bring 5 other friends (HAHA I love her) which of course I said 'fo sho', then Bridgette and I told some more people etc...

In the end we didn't even know what was gonna happen, but just ran to the Monoprix (you can see it's an essential part of our existence) got some bottles of wine, peanuts, olives, cookies, baguette and cheese, etc. We got everything except plastic cups (you'll see in the pictures what I'm referring to, cause Owen ended up drinking out of the bowl we use to bake veggie in the toaster oven...). Its was veeery fun, we ate and drank, and sang, and danced, and hung ourselves from the beams, and feel, and got beer at the kebab place, and ate more, and probably pissed off all the neighbors. As I said before, you gotta show'em who da boss.

Pendaison de la crémaillère:


When things were nice and in control... The snacks, living room, alternatives for cups and good laughs.










And the second part of our Wednesday night (probably from 12:30-3:30? Who knows)

Installing

Ok it's been one week, and now I'm back on this thing. I realized I missed this little blog connection so much because Kristin just made a commenting marathon and it felt so good to read all of them!

So I've been out in the dark for a week, I could tell you I've just been having the time of my life getting drunk in Parisian bridges and being cool and artsy but that's really not been the case. I've just been sort of at the margins of virtual space because I haven't received my Wifi box (but wait, I think I'll get it today!!) and because I was trying to get installed in my apartment.

By the way, those of you who have lived by yourself and can give me some advice: well received s'il vous plait! First days in my place I was like "yes I have an apartment! Yeaaa" and then I was like "Oh, oh... this is kind of scary, I could fall of my mezzanine and die and nobody would find out". I've lived by myself for two years, but not exactly completely on my own I'd say and this just exploded into a "Mommy" attitude that shook me off this past week.

BUT, today I feel like a strong and independent woman





I've done my research, practiced in front of the mirror, put on my Xena the Warrior Princess outfit and headed down to 27 Rue Saint Gillaume with a new attitude! Some good websites and resources for all you girls out there who want to be part of out "strong independent female" community:





And by no means do I intend to discriminate in this blog, cause i think the handshake advice can be helpful for al you lonely boys out there seeking to make it big in the city:



So even with all these powerful tools it's difficult not to question why I would decide to leave such an awesome amazing life to start all over again here for one year. New people, new city, new paper work, etc. I was philosphysing a lot about that last week, and I don't have to give this a negative connotation, on the contrary, all these "new" is why it was so exciting to come here in the first place. Now, excuse me for my expression, I gotta gather my sentimental shit together and continue crossing down stuff in my mental Paris to-do list. It's good, it's good, I'm at the library right now, which for you guys may not sound so exciting but, it just openend a few days ago and it's pretty sweet and has transparent floors and all that... Good times.

Now I keep on saying I'm gonna posts pictures of the place and I'll finally do it here and now. I was waiting until it looked like what I wanted it to look like, but that may take months of accumulated notes on the wall, empty bottles of wine, burnt out candles and trips to some flea markets. So for now these are the pictures with some inherited furniture and some generic IKEA furniture (oh wait, got a couch coming today! :) YES).


"Upstairs":



Rearranged space:




The day Bridgette and Sam helped me move my stuff in:



Some initial wall decoration:



And then the greatest, the view outside! To the left, the Montparnasse Tower and to the right, its good old Eiffel one (or a milimeter of it)







BYE for the day!

photos from moving times...

Thes are from moving bags around at the metro, BRIDGE'S sky light, and finally my window!! We realized I could see the Eiffel Tower (one cm of it) that first night, really cool :)

i'm alive

i just have no internet and no battery on my computer (sitting on mc donald's at saint michel)
i'm so happy with my place, you'll see pictures hopefully tomorrow... please call me people because i can't connect to the world and it's frustrating! maybe i'll have eough battery to post some pictures from exploring bridgette's window yesterday... you'll find out if another post appears in one minute.

ciao!!