Farewell to Paris

After almost 2 months in Paris, our time to say Au Revoir to Paris is arriving.

We will leave on July 31^st and then our new life in Sao Paulo will start (new house, new job, old and new friends, new projects).

I decided to be a tourist in my last week in Paris. Paulo really wanted me to go to one more week to Alliance Française, but I decided that I had enough.

I planned my week accordingly to the places I want to go La Marne Village( an outlet with designers label – this will be another post), Rodin, Picasso and Dali Museums, Place de la Bastille, Place de la Republic, Pantheon, Basilique de Saint Dennis, Invalides and anything else that popped up in my head during the week.

Unfortunately, on Monday there was so much rain, that I wouldn’t dare to go out of the door and the rain one hell of a good excuse for me to stay put and to finish my Harry Potter ; )

On Tuesday, I started my quest of a Touriste a Paris. It was really wonderful to go and spend a lot of time walking around the real tourists and to see the beauty of the city.

I am a well known museum junky, so I was really looking forward to spend sometime at the last 3 museums that I chose.
Dali, as you might know, was plain CRAZY. The walls of the museum are black to begin with and he was obsessed with anything related with one of his most famous paintings: The persistency of the Memory, he did so many sculptures based on this painting that you could see right a way that he was a genius and a little too crazy. I’ve been reading his biography in French and I don’t understand everything that is written I can tell you he was plain nuts.

Picasso was a little crazy as well, but he was much more consistent in his art work. I loved the museum and a lot of his paintings that I didn’t know existed.

Even though, I loved the craziness’ of Dali and Picasso, I have to say that my favorite place in Paris is the Rodin Museum. It is just amazing the perfection of his art and his creativity. Part of the exhibition is in the Gardens of an old hotel. The Garden is immaculate, so green with a lot of flowers, but discrete flowers that do not interfere with his art. It was breathtaking. And to my luck, they are hosting an exhibition of the drawings that Rodin did during his Japanese Phase, when he had a Geisha as muse and presumably lover. I left the museum with a broken heart because time was running out and I have to go back to Brazil.

I just want to thank Lili, because she advised me to go there no matter what.

~ Kisses and hugs~

French Impressions

As soon as I landed in Paris, I started to build my impressions of the French People.

There are a few stereotypes and facts that I’ve heard about them, which I want to, make my mind about. Here are them:

• They carry “Les Baguettes” without proper packing - It is funny how the stop by at the boulangerie and they ask for one or more baguettes and they just take it out of the basket, pay and carry it out of the store. As soon as they are out in the street they just bite the bread and go home.
• They are really snob - The real French people are really snob and they twitch their noses for anyone who is not French enough for them.
• They are not nice to people who don’t speak French - They are really, but I mean really rude with someone who do not speak French. Paulo had an interesting episode in one store. He was looking for a watch and he entered the store and asked the sales person if she spoke English. She answered: Je ne parle pas Anglais ET parlez-vous Français avec moi, donc vous apprenez Français – I don’t speak English and you speak in French with me, so you learn some French. There is no need to say that he stormed out of the store.
• They are not a very clean lot - Well, after my first trip on the Metro, I can tell you that the smell in the metro in Paris is really bad. It is a mixture of bad smells that when you arrive home you just go straight to the bathroom to shower and put all your clothes in the laundry basket. (In my case, the laundry bag). The city is really dirty with small parts of cigarettes and dog poop.
• Paris has lost a big part of its identity because of the amount of Middle Eastern and African Immigrants - This is the biggest truth I heard about Paris. And I thought Dearborn had a lot of Middle Eastern Immigrants. I was really impressed by the amount of immigrants that became beggars in the streets and train stations of Paris. They are immigrants, they are refugees…
• They do LOVE to read - It is really impressive; they even walk and read at the same time. During my journeys at the metro, I would realize that I wasn’t the only one that was not reading. They read books, they read magazines, and they read the newspapers. At the metro stations they give for free 2 papers per day, one in the morning (Matin Plus) and one in the Evening (Soir Direct or Direct Soir). I have to take my hat off for them.
• They are crazy about cheese, bread and wine - You can find boulangeries (place for bread), fromageries (place for cheese) and store that sell wine in every train station, every street. I tried a few and I can say that their croissant, their brioche and their goat cheese are WONDERFUL.
• The beauty of the city is something that you cannot compare with any other city in the world - I am perfectly aware that I haven’t travel all over the world, but I can tell you that Paris has its own magic and something different. Something that makes you wants to live better, to celebrate life, to enjoy yourself, to learn, to read.

Well, I might say that I confirmed all of them (and I added two more).

• They love their MP3 players when they walk, they ride on the trains.
• They love cell phones - It is insane; they are always talking on the phone and listen at the MP3 at the same time.

~ Kisses and hugs~

Week 3 - French Classes

When my third week in Paris arrived, I couldn't be more excited. I was really looking forward to start my French Classes, because I couldn't stands the "twitched" noses, every time I asked: Parlez-vous Anglais??

French people are really prejudices against those who only speak English and do not speak French. Oh, well… I guess this is really well known.

I arrived at the Alliance Francaise and as soon as I entered in the class I could recognize a fellow Brazilian, just by the clothes his was wearing. He is studying French, and then he will apply for a master’s degree in something related with architecture.

When the teacher arrived, I presented myself as a new student and he was kind surprised when I could speak everything in a slow French for him (Of course, I had rehearsed a lot LOL).

So, everyone presented themselves to me, and to the Greek lady who was starting in that class on that Monday.

There were people from all over the world: USA, Australia, China, Japan, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Italy and Zimbabwe.

Well, as it normally happens, we Latin’s stick together. Not necessary Latin Americans, but Latin Language speakers. It was an immediate connection with the lady from Venezuela, the gentleman from Spain and the gentleman from Italy. During the weeks that followed I developed a really good friendship with Gloria - she was born in Venezuela, but all her family is originally from Spain. – With Victor, he is from Salamanca in Spain and he is just a sweet guy. We had a lot of fun, when I spoke in Portuguese and they spoke in Spanish and we all could understand each other. And of course with Ryoko, she is from Japan. We have the same age and she just got married with a Italian Guy, but who was born in France. She used to be a Museum Curator in Tokyo and now she is a Stay at Home Wife. She is having a hard time with all this changes, new country, new job description and 2 new languages to learn (French and Italian). I talked a lot with her and I know what she is being going through. I’ve been there myself. So we talked a lot and there were always something to tell and to discuss.

And now the teacher... Well, I wasn’t that lucky with the teacher in the first 2 weeks. He was really but I mean really prejudice against Brazilians. For him, we all are D-R-U-G D-E-A-L-E-R-S or Transsexuals. I was really annoyed with him in the beginning and I even tried to change classes, but it wasn’t any available spots in the other classes. So
I had to endure him. After a while, he started to respect me, especially when he realized that I am more educated than he is, I traveled more than he did. My husband is an executive for French Company… So it was all about status. He really left a bad impression on me. He is the kind of person who does not want to grow up.

During these four weeks, I really focused on my French classes and I studied a lot. I had 4 hours of classes in the afternoon and I made a point to study at least 2 more hours everyday. I even bought a book in French: La vie secret de Salvador Dali. This book was wrote by himself and I am having a really hard time to read it, but I will eventually finish it.

Have a nice Saturday

Week 2 - Mastering the Metro/RER/Train Plan

During our staying in Paris, we don't have a car. So we really need to get to know the public transportation . Our hotel is really well situated.

So, as part of the experience, on my second week in Paris I started to do some of the sight seeing that Paulo already told me he didn't want to go. And to understand the Metro Map. They have so many simbols and letters for the transportation, that they should give free classes when you buy your first ticket. As for today, I can make a really good train/metro/RER plan when I go out.

After I dealt with the every day stuff (laundry, groceries shopping and finances), I decided to go to the Orsay Museum, because they are still hosting an impressionist show. I just spent 5 hours inside of the Museum and I couldn't enjoy all I want . I took as many pictures as I could. Unfortunately, there is not allowed to take pictures inside of the special exibition room.

I went to the Notre Damme Church. As you might know I am a catholic and I am really devoted to the Virgin Mary. It was really interesting to see the church and all its work of art.

And then I went to the Chateau de Versailles, but silly me I got there close to 1:00pm, and guess what??? It was taking around 2 hours to buy a ticket, so I pretended a little bit, took some pictures of the outside and came back to the hotel. I will come back before I go back to Brazil.

But before I came back, I stoped by a book shop, to buy a book in english, I coudn't stand to listen CNN, BBC and Sky news all day long. So I ended up with a copy of the Ravenscar Dinasty by Babara Taylor Bradford, and now I am waiting for the second book to come out on October 1st.

On the weekend, we went to the Louvre. It was much more than I could ever imagined on my wildest dreams. We couldn't see everything, because they say that if you spend 30 seconds in front of every piece, it will take you 3 weeks to see them all. So we chose our main interests and we spent 6 whole hours there. It was just amazing.

~ Kisses and hugs ~

First week in Paris

My first week in Paris passed as a blur. I don't know if it was the jet leg or the impact of all the things that happened in so little time. I didn't see to much during my first days here, but I will never forget the first time I went in the Jardin du Luxembourg with all its flowers, people and green lawn. I spent more than 2 hours, just walking around and observing, because I didn't bring my camera to take pictures.

I walked around Saint Germain. Saint Germain is a beautiful neighborhood in Paris which is famous for its cafes and great boutiques. But what really caught my attention was the Antique Fair. So many beautiful things and so many people walking around. It was like a movie scene for me.

On our first Saturday in Paris, we started with the classics Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees. We started our walk at the Arc and went all the way to the Louvre by the end of the Champs Elysees. We saw the Grand Palais, the Place de la Concorde, the Jardin des Tuileries and finally and most expected place the Louvre Piramid. A part of all the designer boutiques in the Champs Elysees (this is worth anothe post).

It was a wonderful day that really stayed in our hearts and memories.

I am back on-line

Dear Blog Friends,

I am back on-line. It looks like the hotel fixed their internet problem.

The latest news from Paris is my new camera. I am now the proud owner of a Panasonic FZ50.

I am keeping a journal of my adventures in Paris and I will post it soon!!

Have a nice Sunday