My blog

Today for the very first time, I found myself in a car driving around the “Place de l’étoile“, the huge roundabout that circles the Arc de Triomphe.  I was scared, because I’ve observed the traffic around that place from the top of the arc, and it’s crazy!  No lanes, cars coming in, cars wanting to exit, motorcycles zipping by.  Crazy!  Anyways, we managed to get out of there alive, and reach our final destination - Boulevard Haussman for the first day of the “soldes” - France’s seasonal sale period.  It lasts about a month, and everything goes on sale.  For example, you can buy a Marc by Marc Jacobs bag at 40% off!  More to come about that…

Today was the “Fête de la Musique” - a nation-wide celebration for music.  We decided to go to the neighbourhood near the Notre Dame.  Tons of people were out, but I was kind of disappointed that we didn’t get to hear many groups.  By the time we finished dinner at a restaurant, it was already 11pm — really, REALLY slow service.

The church at Hennebont’s Place Jules Ferry in Brittany (on our way home from a friends’ wedding). The traditional wedding in France lasts two days. Here’s how our friends’ went:

Day 1: Le mariage
10:30 am - Ceremony at City Hall
11:00 am - Mass and ceremony at the church
12:30 pm - “Vin d’honneur” (cocktails) at the bride’s parents’ house
2 pm to 6 pm - Lunch at a restaurant. Yes, that’s right. 4 hours of eating (and drinking, and dancing Brittany’s traditional dance!)
6 pm to 8 pm - A little walk in a park.
8 pm to 10 pm - Buffet Dinner (cold cuts, fruit, and chips)
10 pm to 1 am - Dancing
1:30 am to 3 am - A little late night snack! “Soupe à l’oignons” (onion soup) at the bride’s parents’ house.

Day 2: Le retour
12:30 pm - Apéro at the groom’s parents’ house
2 pm to 6 pm - Lunch at a restaurant. Yes that’s right. 4 hours of eating again (and games for the newlyweds).
7pm to midnight - BBQ at the bride’s parents’ house.

It was a really fun (and tiring) weekend! Glad I got to experience how the French do weddings.

3 more days till the movie opens in France! Carrie is so fabulous!

On Friday we went out to use my “tickets restaurants” at a Korean bbq restaurant across the street from Sapporo on rue Sainte-Anne, near Opéra. We had the set menu, soup, salad, rice, and 100g of beef. And kimchi tofu for starters. I realized after that we could gotten the bbq assortment or 400g between the two of us instead. It would have been a better deal. Anyway, the meal was pretty good. The service was pretty bad. And we came out of there smelling like bbq!

No silly! It’s somebody’s prize sitting in the back seat from the Foire de Paris!

On our way back from a wonderful spa weekend at Les Dryades in the centre of France.

On our way to my birthday dinner, I discovered that Paris does segway tours! What a cool way to explore the city of lights!

Every Sunday near our building, there’s a flea market. A couple Sundays ago, I found a few good things at this stand. I ended up buying three drinking glasses for 3 euros, as well as a brown patent clutch and a bordeaux red leather shoulder bag for 5 euros each. Not bad for my first ever flea market purchases!

Yesterday we took a little “pause” at Kusmi Tea in the Saint Germain neighbourhood. Having already tried the Prince Vladimir before, we decided to try the Algothé (mint seaweed green tea) and Vert Bouquet (flowery bergamot green tea). You probably guessed it, but the second was better than the first! In any case, the place was nice and cosy, the deco was well done (the washroom was probably one of the nicest i’ve seen in a while). It’s very “design” as they say. It was a bit pricey (6 euros for a tea which makes about 3 cups), which I think pays more for the Bodum cups, the clay teapots, and the tulip designer chairs than for the tea itself, but it was a nice place to take a break.