Apres-Soeleil and Sushi

Big day for me. Had my first sushi lunch while in France. It was no Ginza (and oh do I miss Ginza, for those of you unfamiliar Ginza is the tasty Sushi/Hibachi place down the street form work. We were frequent fliers there). BUT I have to be honest I enjoyed every minute of it. Especially the delightful beef and cheese wonder-melt on a stick. Ok so that is not what it is called but they should rename it. Anyone who takes cheese puts it on a skewer and wraps it with teriyaki beef is a GENIUS!!!!! Today's lunch hour did more than enlighten me to this tasty little treat it also made me realize just how awfully sunburnt my poor shoulders and arms are. As we walked to the sushi restaurant I was desperately looking for shade. Every time the sun hit me it felt like -well what I imagine it would be like to be a vampire going into the sun - little Twilight love there. I honestly don't even remember the last time I was this red. As the day progressed anytime anything came close to touching my shoulders (or my pants rubbed my knees - also the color of a fresh new red crayola crayon) I wanted to scream.  The choice was made for me, aloe vera was a must. As soon as I got off the Metro after worked I walked directly to the little Monoprix.

Monoprix is the grocery store at the end of my street. 

For future reference:

Little Monoprix = the Target type store on one side of the street

Big Monoprix = The Stop and Shop type grocery store on the other side of the street

Never in a million years did I think that buying some aloe vera would be so difficult. One would think it is the green ooey gooey stuff in the bottle with the picture of an aloe plant on the front. Well folks - Welcome to France - they have every other kind of lotion out there, olive oil lotion, grapefruit lotion, jasmine and honey lotion and I even saw a tomato lotion (no joke). Finally after the longest and one of the most painful hours of my life, I spotted a word I recognized "Apres" on a little tiny bottle by the tomato lotion. Now apres means after and the reason I know this is because in the bathroom at work there is a nice little sign across from the toilet asking to, "Please use the brush after (apres) you use the toilet." They like things clean here apparently. Either way that word was music to my eyes because directly apres the word apres was the word soeleil which I also recognized and drumroll please - it means  SUN!! Thank you weather.com in French. Putting the two together was one of the most magical things I have done since I have been here. Now I am pretty sure there is no aloe in it but it feels delightful and cool and hydrating on my extra crispy skin. Plus as an extra perk I smell like I just returned from delightful tropical island. Now if only I had a strawberry margarita that was served to me in a coconut........