Christmas Market on the Champs Elysees

I see French kids eating these as I walk to school. I decided I wanted one too!

Raclette

Last night we went over to some French friends' for dinner. They treated us to la raclette traditionelle. Raclette cheese (why is the meal feminin and the cheese masculin?!? It's the same word France!) is heated on this fancy contraption and melted onto charcuterie and baked potatoes. Le yum yum yum.

La Défense

I’ve been reminded several times in the last two weeks that’s I’ve never been to La Défense, once while reading about it in a book, while looking through my friend’s recent shots of a trip to Paris on Facebook and on the metro map in the RER on my way to work everyfew days (I get out one stop before it). Since N and I had some business in Paris after work today, we decided to check it out.

La Défense is an enormous business district which sits on the outskirts of Paris/the Hauts-de-Seines department. “So that’s where they’ve put all the high-rises” I thought to myself as we drove it. It is also the home to La Grande Arche (above) and a fantastic mall, where I did in fact buy a beret.

Paris is certainly getting into the holiday spirit, non?

Last week

It was a good week for being inside. It rained. Every day. This morning, I turned to N and asked him when the last time we saw the sun was. Neither of us were sure, but it’s been at least a week. That being said, at least it isn’t snowing.

I’ve been working a lot, which I really enjoy. It’s three metros to get to where I need to be in Paris (and one train, and although it might not sound that efficient, the hour and a half by transit is a lot faster than the three hours it took us to drive in one morning this week). When it isn’t raining, I enjoy skipping the last metro and walking. The views are amazing and it’s adorable seeing all the little French children (so well dressed!) walking or scooting (is that what one does with a scooter?) to school. This week, if/when the rain stops, I plan on making a detour to see if a certain coffee shop has decided to bring their holiday beverages to this country.

I went for my first French haircut last week. I spent days looking up reviews for hairdressers both in Fonty and Paris. I read many an expat horror story, so I did my homework and armed myself with a list of Jen-specific hair cutting vocabulary gleaned from the internet. My hairdresser was very likeable (or does he tell everyone that their hair is a magnificent gift to be able to cut??). Something, however, got lost in translation, because I’m pretty sure (and by pretty, I mean 100% sure) that I did not ask for “des bangs.” But, des bangs are what I got. And while I don’t particularly think they suit me, I can deal with it. It gives me an excuse to buy a beret!

Le Palais du Chocolat

Sorry for the delay in posting... I have good reason though, I'm employed! I got a job substitute teaching in Paris. Between working and the two hours of commuting each day, it's been a busy week!

Today we (and our neighbours) went to Le Palais de Chocolat at Vaux le Vicomte, the castle that was the inspiration for Versailles AND where Tony Parker and Eva Longoria got married. LPC was an event at the castle featuring chocolate tastings, demonstrations and sales. It was delicious. Here’s a little sampling for you...

¡Madrid!

This weekend, N played in an MBA soccer/football tournament. In Madrid. Fortunately, I got to come along to inflict my Spanish on the Spanish once again.

Madrid is lovely, lively and surprisingly clean. Not as warm as you might think it would be though. No one else was wearing flip flops. Cough. Friday, we saw the sights (the Palacio Real, the cathedral, the Plazas) and enjoyed some good food. We lunched at the Mercado de San Miguel, which is essentially a pincho and tapas market, and it was the highlight of the day.

Saturday and Sunday N was at the tournament, so I set off on my own to explore (and I won’t lie to you, shop). It poured rain (all weekend), but it was still enjoyable. After a 2 hour metro ride and walk, I made it to the field to watch Insead win their second game of the day. We celebrated with patatas bravas, deep fried eggplant (with a brown sugar sauce, yum!), mushrooms, sangria and cañas at Casa Toni, recommended by Rick Steves.

The next day we were back at the field. The boys won the whole thing!