Exchange Rates, Language Barriers, and a New Do

I have fallen into the ponytail trap.

Staying at home with a baby who stays in bed until about 10am hasn't encouraged me to change my nocturnal lifestyle. She is my alarm and I find it difficult to pull myself together before she wakes up from her afternoon nap. I have felt a nagging need to get a style overhaul a la What Not to Wear.

The woman who lived in our apartment previously left a business card for a local hair stylist. I have been considering calling her since we moved in, but fear of confusing important vocabulary kept me at bay. Finally, a fiasco of ensembles over Thanksgiving, in which even Nate told me once he didn't really like my outfit, led me to take the plunge. Nate booked the appointment for me and I never looked back.

It is a law in France for coiffeurs to post their prices in the salon windows. Most seem to range between 25-35 Euro. We arrived, I showed her photos of hairstyles I liked, but emphasized (at least I emphasized to Nate) that it was essential that my hair's natural texture be considered because I could not spend 30 minutes straightening it daily. She suggested a length, a combination of hairstyles, and we began the process.

As the hair started to fall I was amazed at how calm I was. This woman exuded the confidence French women are famous for - I believed she had the genetic coding to get style right. Two hours after I walked through the doors she had finished her masterpiece and was quite pleased with herself. If she thought it was great, then based on the above formula I had rendered as truth, it must be great. Nate gathered our coats while I went to the register to pay. "Quatre-vingt douze Euro sil vous plait" she said with a smile. COMMENT?? (I have a very hard time with numbers still, I must have heard wrong.) She kindly typed it into the calculator to show me: 92 Euro.

For liberal arts majors and those of you not keeping regular tabs on the current worth of the dollar abroad let me tell you what that means in plain American. ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN BONES!!! For a haircut. A haircut and a shampoo, she did put conditioner in too, but did that really cost that much more?? I handed over my payment and thought, "Happy Christmas to me." Too embarassed to look at the prices posted on the window immediately after exiting the store, I sent Nate on a reconnaisance mission later that night. His report was filled with extra costs hastily ignored.

They are as follows:
Haircuts, 31 Euro for short hair.
Haircuts, 36 Euro for medium length hair.
Haircuts, 41 Euro for long hair.
Haircuts with my hairstylist, who also happened to be the owner of the salon, 61 Euro
Haircuts with my stylist AND her "signature" consultation, 75 Euro
Conditioner extra
Blow Out add even more

Another expensive lesson in living overseas.

So, here it is. The haircut:

NASCAR aka the Etoile

We were lucky enough to have our second round of friends visit over Thanksgiving. Less than 12 hours before they were scheduled to board their flight, we took them on an adventure into the chaos commonly called the Place Charles DeGaulle. For those of you who have not been to Paris, you might not be familiar with the degree of fear, horror, and excitement this traffic circle causes for every American tourist I have come in contact with.

The circle itself has a total of 12 streets entering it from all different directions. There are no lanes, no rules but to ultimately yield to the incoming cars. To yield however is not to be confused with stopping. Watching the traffic is like watching a train wreck, you just can't move your eyes away. Smart cars, mopeds, buses, police cars, and unexperienced visitors add to the drama. We documented the event and are inclined to ask every visitor to Paris to drive the circle themselves. Like our own Parisian hazing ritual. I am putting my money on Leslie - after all, she was a professional driver!

When you are watching the video pay attention to the following for added entertainment value:
What is Ruby's immediate reaction?
How many times does Rebecca point out the Eiffel Tower before Nate records it?
How many times do we go around the circle, and is it intentional?
In your opinion, does the narrator/camera man even notice the occasion when we are nearly hit by two cars from both sides?

Enjoy.

An American in Paris...on Thanksgiving

11 AM: Wake up
1:00 PM: Leave house, go to toy store down the street to find a birthday gift for a 3 year old
1:30 PM: Realize you aren't looking for the child anymore, but actually more for yourself, hurry and leave...
2:30 PM: Hit a creperie for lunch
3:45 PM: Metro to Catacombs
4:00 PM: Last guests to enter "gravesite"
4:15 PM: Escorted by staff member to hurry us along so they can go home
4:17 PM: Convince Nate and Rebecca to walk slowly with the baby, thus stalling the impatient staff member so we can sneak ahead and take pictures (forbidden with flash)
4:45 PM: Leave Catacombs 20 minutes early thanks to impatient staff.
6:00 PM: Drop off birthday gift
7:30 PM: Dinner at local cafe, order duck (closest you can find to turkey)
10:00 PM: Reflect on the day, recognize how great the food was, but vow to always cook a real Thanksgiving meal in years to come...and not to visit mass graveyards in the future on a "day of thanks".

Catacombs 101: In the 18th century the central locale of Les Halles was plagued with disease. Improper burial practices compounded the problem, which created a vicious cycle. In order to alleviate the problem, and to create room for more graves, the Paris government secretly grave-robbed at night for several years, moving all the old bones to the catacombs, before the plan was discovered. (Shout out to Tad for all the great pictures his diligence made possible on this blog)

Mont Saint Michel

A short night's sleep, an incident with incorrectly saving the car rental receipt, and a baby who wouldn't go to bed before midnight didn't stop us from making the 3.5 hour trek from Paris to Mont St Michel and back. The abbey for which the small island town is famous (4 million visitors annually) was built in the 10th century and was the fourth Christian Pilgramage locale (Jerusalem, Rome, Spain preceeding). The walk up the steep, narrow, and twisty roads crawling with kitschy souvenir shops shouldn't discourage you from making the complete summit to the abbey. Marveille (or Marvelous in English) is the name of the actual abbey situated on the pyramidal shaped granite island. The Eastern side of the building collapsed in the 14th century and was rebuilt with flying buttresses for support, when you view the pictures you can clearly differentiate the architectural distinctions between the two wings. Family Bonus: a few pictures of Ruby included in the slideshow.

Take Manhattan Just Give Me That Countryside

Versailles is an essential day trip for anyone's Paris visit. For many Americans it seems the only link we have to the French: the revolution. This palace, should awaken a sense of horror in us. The audaciously lavish ceiling decor, the walls covered in silk and gold at a time when peasants were dying of hunger. On the surface we all like to think we cheer for the underdog. But ultimately, we walk the endless corridors somehow inspired, wondering what balls were thrown here, what the gentlemen and ladies of the court wore, and how we could use just an ounce of this lavishness to spice up our modest homes.

Growing up, like all little girls, I loved stories of princesses. I always wanted to live the life of royalty (and checked out nearly every book on Princess Diana available in our local library as proof), but dreamed of some day marrying a farmer. It is that constant internal juxtaposition that explains my love for country music and rap, political liberalism and religious conservatism, J.Lo and Jackie O. But, in my most recent visit to Versailles, I finally found how my two-selves could reconcile.

LE PETIT HAMEAU (The Hamlet)




(photos courtesy Shiloh)

We have heard stories of the extravagant lifestyle of Marie Antoinette, and some have seen it in Sophia Copola's recent movie starring Kirsten Dunst. But, can we give the girl a break already...she was just trying to live the simple life.

Here she escaped to bathed and perfumed sheep and cows wandering the landscaped pasteur. Marie could milk these cows and use porcelain pitchers to collect the milk. As an added bonus, the pitchers bore her monogram (a simple addition that really adds something, don't you think?)

The grounds at the Hamlet are complete with, in addition to the farm: a mill, a warming room, the Boudoir, the Dove Cote and a guard's house in addition to the Queen's House located at the edge of the "lake."

Manicure

Shannon gave Ruby a manicure while she was here. I think you can see by the look on Ruby's face, despite the closed eyes, how amazing she thought it was to get her nails done.

Happy Birthday Ruby!

Yesterday was Ruby's first birthday. She showed her tendancy to be like her mother: relishing the attention, demanding things her way, and leaving her tiara on throughout most of the festivities. We had a small party with a few neighborhood families over to sing happy birthday, eat cake, and ultimately cause such chaos in our house as to assuage any ideas of "another" any time soon. We imported party supplies (thanks to Ruby's favorite birthday present: Shannon) in red, white, and blue to celebrate both events of the day!

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Our first guests arrived within 24 hours of eachother and the weekend was filled with a whirlwind of Parisian "Must-See's". The picture you see here is taken under the Arc de Triomphe, direction Champs Elysees (sadly the only group photo and it is blurry). Together we visited Versailles (bonus: free on first Sunday's of the month), Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and had a delightful meal for 20 Euro or less!

By the way, that is the infamous TB above, looking thrilled to be in Paris.

Toussaint

Appropriately, the day following Halloween (which is only an imported holiday in France, used as a marketing tool for the ever-hungry consumer) is All Saint's Day in France (or Toussaint). Traditionally, the day has served as an opportunity for families to clean the graves of their departed. We thought it was a perfect opportunity to visit one of the world's famous cemetaries, Pere Lachaise, the eternal home of Jim Morrison, Chopin, Moliere, and the star-struck lovers Heloise and Abelard (wiki-them).


Over 300,000 bodies are buried within the 118 acres cemetary.


The almost-as-anti-climatic-as-the-Mona-Lisa grave of Jim Morrison. Fans have caused such chaos at the gravesite that a full time security guard has been hired to prevent vandalism and theft.



Chopin's tomb, attracted the largest crowds, as well as the most flowers and candles. The most incredible graves were found along streets far removed from the famous inhabitants of the cemetary, but who inspired their loved ones to create works of art to honor their memory.

I Want Candy

Ruby's first Halloween was a success, and athough she was initially hesitant with the idea of trick-or-treating, she quickly realized people were handing out treats for no clear reason. She even sneaked a Hershey's bar.

Hiro and Heroes

Thanks to iTunes I am able to keep up on a few new shows this fall. I have fallen in love with Heroes. Hopefully a few of you are watching it to. Not only does it have Jess from Gilmore Girls (a great selling point for me, but I am sure few of you), but it also has the best character to be in a tv show in recent memory: Hiro Nakamura. Is it just me, or does he remind any of you of Matt Anderson? Here is a brief clip, though there are so many more. Decide for yourselves and tune in weekly. (If you don't watch the show you should know they are realy super heroes, just discovering their powers, in this clip Hiro teleports for the first time)

Attention: TB

Can you send us your email address? Or can someone who knows this guy and has a current email address please send us his email address, ASAP? Gracias

Material Girl

My French teacher took me on a field trip today to find fabric for curtains, etc...I write this down as much as a reference so I do not forget it at a later date and also to inform you all of the TRUE budget shopping opportunities available in this otherwise expensive city. You take Metro Line #2 to Anvers, the same stop you would use to go to Sacre Couer, as you walk toward the cathedrale their are rows, and rows of fabric stores. On rue de Pierre Picard, just to the right of the main thoroughfare, you will find Mercier. Here the fabrics are just as fabulous as the stores in my neighborhood, priced SIGNIFICANTLY lower. I actually found material in the exact same fabric that I had spyed just yesterday already converted to a curtain in a shop window. The fabric was 15 euro/metre or 60 Euro for the total amount you would need. The curtains were selling for 154 Euro.

Sadly, among all these reduced prices, I also found pompoms identical to a pair I had purchased in the Marais while on vacation here two years ago. These were over 50 Euro less than I spent.

Ghetto Fabulous

One last post on Marseille, and then I will return to Paris, I promise.

As soon as I discovered I would have a week along the Mediterranean, I jumped on the internet to find out all the information I could about our vacation destination. A few google links later, I had discovered a goldmine of information, which I would like to share with you today.

France, most of you will not know, has the second largest rap market in the world. If you were observant during the series finale of Sex and the City you heard the rythmic beat of MC Solaar rapping "La Belle et Le Bad Boy" (scene: Carrie crosses the street after leaving the Russian at his art show, Big passes her in a taxi). As soon as we heard the song, Nate and I purchased the cd on Amazon. The CD is phenomenal, I listened to it non-stop for months, blarring the lyrics as I drove into the US Capitol each morning. I hadn't loved rap so much since Big Pimpin' and Country Gramma' blasted from my Prelude stereo through the BYU parking lots. MC Solaar renewed my love affair with rap. He was lyrical, poetic, political, profund, and he did it with the most fantastic beats and his shirt off.

In my travel research on Marseille I discovered that the city, in large part because of the high poverty level and large number of immigrants, has a large rap scene. There is Paris rap (MC Solaar) and there is Marseille rap. Those of you who paid any attention to popular culture in the 90s will remember the East Coast, West Coast rivalries immortalized in the deaths of Biggie Smalls, and TuPak. I digress...

Once I found out that Marseille was a hot bed of hip hop and rap, I knew I had to find true Marseille rap, I could care less about finding good bouillebasse (the famous cuisine of the region), I just wanted to find THE rap, the MUST HAVE Marseille rap. One afternoon, I wandered into the Virgian record store and checked out the cd collection. Before I found French rap, I had a great time flipping through flamenco, Sierra Leonean Refugee Camp tunes, Yiddish, Iranian Dance, etc...I could have spent a fortune. Finally I found the French rap section. It was huge. I didn't know how to find a decent artist. Finally, two guys in their mid-20's dressed in addidas running suits and gold chains stopped in the section. I knew it was my chance. "Pardon, Je cherche une vrais Marseillaise rap cd." (Hey, I am looking for a true Marseille rap cd). The guys started talking, arguing, flipping through a few options, until finally, they chose PSY4 (Psy-catre, like psychiatry). Check out their album at their website, it won't disappoint. French rap gives me hope in the genre.

http://www.psy4delarime.fr/psy4delarime.htm

Newsflash!

If you recently read the NYTimes travel section there is an article on Paris at night. The author talks about looking into people's windows and discovering what Parisians are up to. We used that as our permission slip to start really looking in others homes. A woman across the street from us just pranced in front of her well-lit room fully naked, and by just I mean I can still see her out of the corner of my eye. We never saw that in the suburbs of Northern Virginia!

La Marseillaise

We spent the last week along in the Mediterranean in the old port town of Marseille. Marseille is the oldest city in France, second largest in terms of population, and a city which I felt is all too often overlooked by tourists. The city's location has allowed it to be a melting pot of cultures: north african, islamic, and Italian primarily. It didn't actually allow centralized French rule until the late 17th century, but still holds the honor of having the French national anthem named in honor of the volunteer soldiers that assisted in the revolution of 1789.

Our View:


We stayed in a residence located on the Corniche President J.F. Kennedy (imagine that! The French naming a street after a U.S. President). The Corniche covers 5km of coastal property and was built in the 1880s as a means of providing work for the large numbers of unemployed. Unlike boardwalks so popular in most beach towns, the Corniche is built above sea level and overhangs the actual coast line. As you walk along it, there is nothing between you and the water. The homes in this area sit high on the hillside (about four filghts of stairs up). We woke in the morning to the suns rays illuminating the limestone island archipelago that sits just off the coast.

Vieux Port:
In the center of town, this port has 3500 berths, a daily fish market (where we saw a shark being divided up for multiple purchases), and leads you into Le Panier, the oldest quarter in Europe (or so they say).



Le Panier:
Any guide book will refer to this as a "charming and picturesque" neighborhood, and while I loved every moment I spent there, I don't think those are the correct words. Unlike most European historic areas, this one is still alive. The streets are not a museum to the medieval times. The only building of nearly 2,000 to have outlived the bombs of WWII houses an average hair salon on the ground floor. Historic landmarks are indicated with enamel placards on the facades of homes, the windows above displaying the days laundry stretched between wondow panes. The narrow cobblestone streets, lead you like along a maze like path, in and out of the homes stacked one on top of the other. A recnt urban renewal project is leading artisans back into the area (if you are from DC think U Street). You can find ceramics, soaps (a Marseilles specialty), and tiles, all in studios where you can watch the artists actually making the product. Naturally, as per the description above and any knowledge you have of my navigational skills you may have already determined that Ruby and I were lost at some point. that would be a correct assumption. Ultimately, an old beggar peed himself while yelling at me and chasing us up the street.




Family Photos:
We loved Marseille, the Mediterranean, the sun, and getting out of Paris for a few days (here you felt you could step outside in jeans and a pony and not feel like you need to head back inside until you get yourself properly attired). Ruby played on the beach for the first time, we visited the Chateau d'If (the prison that inspired stories such as Man in the Iron Mask and the Count of Monte Cristo), and enjoyed evening walks along the coast discovering hidden inlets and fishing ports.

Painting...still

In an attempt to make our house feel more like our home, we have been in the process of painting. The process of chosing a color-scheme has been months in the making (I can never quite keep my mind made up about what colors I prefer in which rooms) As soon as I was certain I wanted to dining room in a shade of yellow, Ruby decided to eat some (see photo below) and I began reading the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper." The combination of the two swore me off the color altogether.

Nate began painting our living room a gorgeous olive green (this paint color is the best I have used yet!) the day before he and Ruby became sick for a week. It's almost finished, except for one wall which is only completed up to the 6 foot mark.

Hopefully soon we will have pictures of the completed masterpeice.

MIA

Despite our lack of entries, we have been quite busy discovering new places, revisiting old favorites, and just settling in. Here are a few pictures of our visit last weekend to the Palace Versailles. The fountains are only turned on for the weekends from April-October. The grounds are tremendous and when added with the visual ambience of the fountains, as well as 17th and 18th century French music you can grasp the grandeur of the reign of the Sun King.

Notice to Guests

I love IKEA. I make no apologies for it. Yes, it is cheap, but that is precisely the reason I get such a rush going through their store room. To think an entire room can be decorated for such a low price, it is truly phenomenal. Some of us may go through times where it is beneath us and we decide we need to get "Grown-up" furniture, IKEA was just soooo college. But not my college room. I wish my college room had been IKEA, then maybe I could affored Pottery Barn today.

But here is the one drawback, everyone LOVES IKEA. And when you furnish your house completely in IKEA, everyone knows where you got it and they always want you to know they know. "Oh, the Billy Bookcase from IKEA." or "Ahh yes, we saw this kitchen island at IKEA too." or "You got this at IKEA didn't you" Those comments keep me from purchasing more items from that glorious place. Perhaps it is me and the complete fear I have a showing up at a party dressed in the same outfit as another person, but I feel like when people come to your home and point out all your IKEA purchases it is the interior decorating equivalent. And truth be told, I find it to be quite rude.

But, I can no longer be held back by what I perceive to be the bad manners of house guests. Prices in Europe are too high and if I want to buy anything "French" then most of what I buy must be cheap scandinavian. So I simply ask, when you visit and we show you around the house, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't point out all our IKEA furniture. You have some too and let's be honest, you love it!

(For those planning an upcoming visit, the IKEA is located near an outlet mall between Paris and the airport there you will find well priced clothing and some of the most adorable shoes I have seen at the most reasonable prices yet!)

Move-In Day

Move-in day is over. Thanks to a sister from our ward who has been living abroad for 31 years and offered a helping hand in keeping our baby occupied, we were able to get almost everything unpacked and settled by the end of the day. All our boxes and furniture entered the house through an outside elevator. Nothing was strapped in, pedestrians on the street had no issues walking underneath, and Nate and I couldn't help but wonder how many federal health and safety violations this endeavor was breaking. But truth be told, I think Dan and Von would be a lot happier over the several times they have helped move our furniture if they could have done it this way.