Weeks 27-28

 

The weather in Paris has been absolutely beautiful these past two weeks. It’s generally been between 16 and 20 degrees every day with nothing but sunshine. It’s amazing what a bit of nice weather does for your mood. I’ve been happy happy.

WEEK 27

The girls were at their dad’s for most of the week, which meant that I was free other than my classes. On Wednesday night I went to Shakespeare & Company for a Philosopher’s in the Library evening with a discussion on cultural heritage in the digital age. It was an interesting talk and it was good to flex my brain a bit. I decided to stick around after since the shop is open pretty late, I believe 10 or 11. I might have mentioned before that the second floor is a little library of old, used books and a few places where you can sit and read them. I found a book published in the 70s of modern short fiction, including stories from Fitzgerald and Ellison. I sat reading for an hour or maybe an hour and a half in a chair by the window, every once in a while raising my eyes to enjoy the view of Notre Dame or to smile at the fat, white cat snoozing in the chair across from me. I feel like I gush about Shakespeare & Company a lot here but it’s still not enough! I just love that place.

The dad ended up having to work last minute and the mom had already made plans since the girls weren’t meant to be with her so I had to take care of them by myself on Friday night, which was no problem for me. I hadn’t made plans and I have not had to work very much at all for the last month or so. Besides, Friday night is “junk food” and movie night, so what better night to have them? I made ravioli (that’s why I put junk food quotations) and we watched a French kids’ movie that the girls picked out called “Les enfants de Timpelbach”, which was about a village where the kids are so badly behaved that all the adults decide to leave. It wasn’t amazing but it did have a cool steampunk thing going on.

The weekend was all about enjoying Paris and the beautiful weather.

Saturday

I met some friends for lunch at an Indian restaurant. From there we wandered through Jardin du Luxembourg, which was insanely busy since everyone wanted to soak up the sunshine. We grabbed a bottle of wine and some pastries before heading over to Notre Dame where we sat on the banks of the Seine and had our snack and tipple. Next we headed to a tattoo and piercing shop….Mom and Dad, did you just start getting nervous? Don’t worry! We were just there to get my friend’s ear pierced. Then we ended the night at this fantastic little bar called Lone Palm, which has 50s tiki style decor and music as well as delicious cocktails at a very reasonable Happy Hour price. I had the signature drink, which had a gin base mixed with dill, cucumber, lemon zest, Thai basil syrup, lime juice and old Jamaican ginger beer. It was so good.

Sunday

Sunday got off to a bit of a rocky start. We had made a reservation a couple weeks ago for the cat café. I showed up right on time but it looked like I was the first one to arrive. I sent out a text and called the three friends I was supposed to meet but got no answer. I decided to go in and sit down. It became apparent that everyone else had forgotten so I got to experience a very specific type of embarrassment where you get stood up by three people at once at a cat café. Anyway, I figured if you’re going to be alone at a café, you might as well be surrounded by cats! I told the server that I didn’t think my friends were going to show up, so they moved me to a smaller table, which made me feel better. Luckily I had brought a book with me, so that helped too. There was a cat lounging on the chair opposite me and when my smoked salmon quiche arrived he poked his head up and got a good whiff of my lunch. It was too funny and I tried to get a picture but I was a dummy and forgot to put my memory card back in my camera. Rats.

After lunch I met some other friends at Place Vosges where we sat on the lawn with some snacks and soaked up the sunshine.

 

We ended the day with a little window shopping in the Marais and an éclair from L’éclair de Génie

 

WEEK 28

This week went by quickly. The nice weather makes my au pair job even easier. On Thursday the youngest played outside in the backyard by herself with a stick for close to an hour and a half. I just sat on my balcony with a book in the sunshine, occasionally peeking over to make sure she was doing alright. I’ve also been taking her to parks after school, which is great too. She plays with the other kids while I read and hope that she doesn’t sustain any major injuries. The girls went to their dad’s on Friday night and they’ll be there for the week, so I should be free until Thurday. Yay!

I’ve been going on and on about this nice weather but I’m sure those of you staring grumpily at the snow in Canada will be happy to know there is a downside! The cool nights, unseasonably warm days, and lack of wind have contributed to record levels of pollution here. Apparently the air quality is currently similar to that in Beijing, which is one of the world’s most polluted cities. Awesome. I’ve seen these really awful photos of thick smog blanketing the city but to be honest I didn’t really notice until it was pointed out to me. The air quality in Paris is not great on a regular day so I couldn’t tell the difference but I’ve heard that it’s been brutal for people with asthma. In response, the government decided to make the metro free from Friday through the weekend to encourage people to use transit instead of contributing to the pollution with their cars. I think that’s pretty great. It didn’t make a difference to me since I have a monthly pass that the family pays for anyway but I still appreciate the gesture. I can’t really imagine that happening in North America.

Friday night the mom of my family had friends over, more specifically the parents of the other girl I teach English to. They invited me to join them so I had champagne and appetizers with them at home and then we went for dinner at the restaurant next door. It’s always a great opportunity for me when the mom has friends over and invites me to join them because I get to practice my French at a much higher level than when I’m interacting with the girls or in class.

Saturday I didn’t do anything during the day (other than the weekly English lesson) but I participated in a pub crawl at night. I met my friend beforehand to grab a couple drinks during Happy Hour. We ended up at this little hole in the wall bar with graffiti covered walls and tattoo covered bartenders. I really liked it. The music was great too, of course. The pub crawl was a good way to meet some new people and there were actually a number of friends who came out for it, so it was a good night.

I slept in until the afternoon today, which is not surprising considering the previous night’s activities. Apparently there had been talk last night about meeting for a picnic today, which I didn’t remember but I was happy to partake in. We met up at Champ de Mars where we snacked and gabbed in front of a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower.

I’m starting to get a little panicked about my time here running out. I have so much left to experience and discover! I’m doing my best to make the most of this amazing time in my life. I would hate to look back and feel like I didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have.

Peace and love x