Coming soon...

Hi Folks! Sorry for the delay in postings. Been tres fatiguee at night, as well as full from a satisfying dinner. This prompts a late night showing of "Best in Show" or "Devil Wears Prada" during which time I fall asleep.

But, some highlights:

- Versailles
- Notre Dame
- The Sunday Flea Markets
- Funny run-ins with Parisians and Canadians
- Special post by Lani: Top 5 things about eating in Paris

Till then, au revoir!

On the effect of American Culture

Ooh. Yes, there's Starbuck's. And Coke, and McDonald's. And yes, they love it all. And that's fine and everything, but when I turned on the tv and saw "Ile de la Tentation", or TEMPTATION ISLAND, France, I threw up a little in my mouth. Damn you, reality tv!!!!!! I guess meatheads can be found everywhere!

Gross.

The Marais, and the Musee D'orsay

Les Philosophes Cafe, my first French meal experience.

Bon jour, mon amis! We arrived in Paris 2 days ago, and set up in our 'ome away from 'ome in the lovely Marais neighborhood of Central Paris. We have a great view, are right across from a Metro stop, and a hop/skip to the local Monoprix (a combo drugstore/grocery store). Note: Damn the French love their yogurt! A full aisle of all manner of fromage frais and yaourt. Huh? I've never seen that much yogurt in one place. Oh, and the milk here is to die for. There's no such thing as skim or 2%. I mean, why would you do that? ;)

The Marais is a large neighborhood on the Right Bank of the Seine, known to be the center of the Jewish, Chinese, and gay community of Paris. Our apartment is at 170 Rue de Temple. Pictures of this charming top floor studio will be posted later. Looks like they took it off the website, Parisaddress.com (great place to look for rentals here!)

We took most of the day and toured the Marais area, in and out of shops, winding streets, cafes. I had a wonderful early dinner at Les Philosophes where I channeled my inner Julia Child and went for the beouf bourgoignon. Um, give me a beef stew and I'm on board!!! Lani had the tarte tatin tomate and the soupe a l'oignon gratinee, good ol' french onion soup, which will cure whatever might ail you. I was able to use my little bit of french to order, ask where the bathroom was, and ask for the check!

Speaking of French, Lani's is tres bien. It's all coming back to her. For those who don't know, she spent a year of grad school in Paris. We're going to visit her old apartment while we're here.

That day we also hit the Musee D'orsay, where you can find many an Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting. Loved it!!! Give me a good Monet and I'm on board. (Ok, I'll stop saying that). I was surprised at how much I loved all the T'oulouse Lautrec's. His minimal sketches are soooo good. Fun times! The D'orsay's Impressionist collection is touring around the world soon, and San Francisco will be it's first stop. I may have to see it again!

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Woman in a Corset (Conquête de Passage)

London dispatch

Am a little behind on my postings, so please excuse this belated post on our goings-on in London yesterday.

In 2007 we made a trip to Europe, staying in London for a week, and back then I hit all my favorite design-based home stores that I had been reading about for years in the likes of Elle Decor Britain and Metropolitan home--Habitat, Selfridges, Conran Shop, etc. We are sightseers when abroad, for sure, but more often than not our trips are very shopping-based. With that in mind, in our last hours here, we hit Liberty of London, Orla Kiely's shop in Covent Garden, and Muji. Super fun seeing the flagship Liberty again, especially after my obsessive hunting for Liberty of London for Target® products (I know you're all aware of that period). 4 floors of fabulous and a tea room downstairs. Expensive fabulous, of course, but we did get away with a lovely piece of art (actually a big tea towel) from artist Rob Ryan. Orla Kiely was fab, though also very expensive for bags and such. We did buy a few things for the home there. Muji is totally Japanese minimalist products--they have a store in NY and also sell products at various MOMAs (SF being one of them)--Their clothes are so cute. While out and about we hit Neal's Yard area.



On the non-shopping tip, we also went to the London Design Museum, somewhere we hadn't been before. We traipsed along the Tower of London bridge above the Thames to get there. One of Lani's colleagues, Annie Leonard, had a piece in the current exhibition which you may be familiar with: The Story of Stuff. So good! Totally cute store, and we also had tea and cake at the cafe. Oh my God were my dogs burning after that walk though. We had gotten tickets to Billy Elliott show at the Victoria Theater (great show!), and then had room service when we got home at 11. I PASSED OUT.



Now for the funny incident of Lani walking into a plate glass door. HAHAHAH!!! Poor Lani. We hit up this Vietnamese street food cafe, had some yummy chicken pho and lemonade, get up to leave, and I'm following Lani out the door. A sonic boom happens and I realize that Lani has walked into the door. Needless to say the door was super clean glass. She was just startled, and we both laughed while one of the patrons giggled while eating his soup. I looked and him, motioned to the glass, and said "This really needs a sticker." Lani!!! She was fine, no bump, no headache, no concussion. She's great! No worries mate. Lani just said "I was drunk on pho."

We boarded the Eurostar yesterday, the high-speed train that goes through the English Channel--damn that bitch is fast!!!! Passed a lot of farmland when in France. And now we are here! Post about the lovely studio apartment to come.

Bollocks!

There's something to be said about Americans affecting a British accent. It's hard not to, yo! I'm constantly play-speaking with an accent. And not just the regular garden-variety accent. Sometimes I go all Cockney. All I'm saying is that I don't blame Madonna. Yes I do. It's annoying.

Chyuhs!

Oh, there's a little thing called the elections going on over here.

As I realized. Or rather, realised. Incumbent Gordon Brown, liberal Nick Clegg, and conservative David Cameron. That is all. Off to read guardian.co.uk as that is all I know. Dreadfully ignorant; cheers!

Thank God the exchange rate has gone down since 2007

Hi from Londonderrytown! We got here safely aboard Virgin Atlantic, delayed 2 hours.

Quick aside: You know how I am with plane travel--my seat's earphone jack was inoperational due to some numbnut passenger breaking off his plug in the earphone jack. A tiny piece of metal was sticking out. The idea of no entertainment on the flight (my 2 ipods and dvd player notwithstanding) got me so verklempt that I basically used raw strength to pull the piece of metal out of the jack with my fingers. Like a mother lifting a car from off her child!! :) HaHAHAHA!!

We're staying at the most kickass hotel. Value+amenities+interior/graphic design are my criteria. It's called the Hoxton Hotel and it is a cross between the Ace Hotel in NYC and the Iron Horse in Milwaukee. Sort of British/modern/cheeky/indie/slightly steampunky. So good. I would HIGHLY recommend staying here, as they have been known to make special offer £1 nights! http://www.gourmet.com/travel/2009/07/travel-smart-londons-hippest-hotels

The neighborhood is Shoreditch, which is sort of a bar/nightlife area, a little hipster-y for my blood, but actually quiet and fine. 2 blocks from a tube station. There's good graffiti to be found around here--Banksy (British graffiti artist) and Invader (tiles that form "space invaders"). A taste...

Ok, off to sleep at a normal hour to fight of the lag. Had a lovely meal and now tired. Tomorrow, many, many places to go. We'll see how many we'll cross off the list!

At the Hoxton. Check out the pillows (attn: Bridget) "Stone, Paper, Scissors"