Have it your way

Train conversation today was about one of my favorite topics - FOOD ...  this started because the goal of the evening was for my girlfriend and I to indulge in some tasty Kentucky Fried goodness after work and it lead into other fast food conversations. The most interesting one being jingles. There is something just really great about singing the Big Mac song while waiting to head home after a long day in the office!!

The question is if
McDonalds has the Big Mac tune:



Burger King lets you Have it Your Way:



What does KFC do for you and was it ever put to music......



ok - It's pretty obvious as to why this one didn't catch on and as for our gourmet fried chicken dinner - its on hold for tomorrow and I won't lie ... I can't wait.

Trois Mois Déjà ! !

I honestly can't believe that 3 months have already passed since I stepped off the plane at CDG and began this wonderful little adventure I am caught up in. I have to admit I actually am starting to feel pretty at home here. Between

• work - which is challenging and exciting in so many ways
•  French lessons - still haven't got the male/female thing down or how they decide (did youknow a book is male and the pages are female??) 
• and Play- which entails everything from picnics in the park, a weekend trip to Amsterdam (an upcoming trip to SPAIN!! More on that one soon) shopping, eating and exploring..... 

I haven't had a chance to do much but love it here.  So in honor of this 3 month ( and 1 day if we are being official - I arrived May 28th) anniversary here are some of my favorite pictures of places I have seen and things I have done.

 

10 Things NOT to do in Paris

A friend (Thanks Nina!) passed this along and I think it is pretty interesting and for the most part - right on. I mostly agree with the Eifel Tower thing, but that is really only because going up that thing would probably cause me to pee my pants!!!!

10 Things Not to Do in Paris

And if you are wondering about following in the footsteps of the well-heeled locals - the Marais is quite lovely but I think I would need to take on a second and possibly third job in order to purchase anything bigger than a hand towel!!!! 

Black Socks and Sinking

I joined some of my coworkers outside today for a cup of coffee and a quick break from the computer     (the Jet Lag finally decided to kick in today) hoping the fresh air would wake me up a bit. While down there we began having a conversation about my blog and good things to make sure I capture on here- an example being- how some French find it ok to wear black socks with sneakers which then digressed into multiple other conversations including:

The Ten Year Rule
Apparently there is a ten year rule here in France. Everything that happens in the US happens approximately ten years later here. To tie this in with the sock - ankle socks are a new thing here only a few years old to be exact. Which I found just unreal. So once this "rule" was brought up I thought back long and hard and the first thing that came to mind was Ace of Base (so maybe that was more like 15 years ago but I wanted to see if this rule was right on). And to my surprise they started singing one of their songs, in case you were wondering, the song of choice was All That She Wants. This serenade in itself was enough for me to end my day with a smile.

After the sing along we got back on the topic of socks and that no matter what it is really not ok to be rocking block socks with sneakers. No it doesn't matter if the sneakers are black- black socks are just really not a good fashion statement (and I think we are in the fashion capitol here.....). So in order to stick up for their fellow black sock wearing French folk my friends immediately threw the Germans and their sock and sandal wearing antics out on the table. I could go on and on about how wrong wearing socks with sandals is but we digressed again. With the mention of German's a commercial about the German Navy Trainee and improving English skills was brought up.  Take a peek ......

The best part about the video is this kind of misinterpretation actually happens all the time between us at work.  Which is sometimes difficult but most of the time hysterical.

Thinking, Sinking, Ankle Socks, Black Socks, Ace of Base.... we all have so much to learn!!!

Oh Hello Monday!

I woke up this morning ready to rock and roll and get right back into the swing of things. I convinced myself that I really did relax and not run here there and everywhere during vacation and was fully rested to start the week back at work.  After 3 trips back up to my apartment (4th floor) to pick up essential things I had not remembered to put in my bag the first time around - Train pass, Alstom badge and Umbrella. I finally began the familiar walk down Rue Levi towards the Metro.  I got on the train and was soon greeted with the fresh smell of already hot and sweaty people on their way to start their day as well - that is one thing I did NOT miss while I was driving my car around everywhere at home. We are making our way along when an announcement comes across the loud speaker - I would LOVE to type it in here to share for all but unfortunately I turned my music up to drowned it out and well I still don't understand most of the French language so maybe next time. What I did not realize is the nice French lady was telling me the train was ending the line 3 stops early due to construction. LOVELY.  As I stood watching everyone else exit the train - I glanced around thinking "Wooohooooo - I'll have a seat the rest of the way to work" until I noticed the little light marking the stops didn't go past Porte Champeret where I was and that I was the only one still on the train. I took my cue and stepped out into a mass of people being herded to the stairs. I took this announcement as my first sign to jump back head first into my French lessons. But until then I decided I would just follow the crowd.  Once above ground it wasn't hard to notice it was pouring - yay for Mother Nature on a Monday morning - but at least it was cooler than the train at that point. There were people EVERYWHERE. After a frantic text telling my boss I was walking the rest of the way, he filled me in on the bus situation (Thanks again for that - I would have been MISERABLE walking in new shoes and the rain). Apparently the RATP had thought of everything - if we are going to stop the line early let's accommodate. Once I worked my way through the crowd and found what I thought was the line for the right bus,  in my best French - I asked one of the gentleman in a green coat - "I'm sorry I don't speak French very well, could you tell me if this is the line to Levallois??" Only the I'm sorry about speaking French part was actually in French but I thought it would be a good lead in with a nice smile.... It worked. He confirmed that the massive blob of people was indeed the line. That was the second sign that I REALLY needed to get right back into my French lessons and I emailed my teacher right then and there, as I waited for my turn to hop a bus.

Ok... this wasn't my bus but I bet this is what it looked like from the outside!!! Hahaha.

Eventually I made it to the office.... so what if I was about an hour late and I had just been sardined on a bus in closer contact with strangers than I would be with even my closest friends?!

Two good things came of this:
1. I have a French lesson scheduled for Thursday
2. Starting a Monday like that means your week can ONLY get better : )

Holidays......

Ahhhh:: just returned from back home in good old New England. It was AMAZING to be there. But to be honest the 10 days I was there was not even close to long enough. It did give me lots of time to come up with great blog ideas and notice all the subtle differences between here and there. The flights back were ok. I had a connection in Amsterdam - where I wish I would have had time to go explore again. The short trip between Amsterdam and Paris was not overly smooth. It actually had me gripping the arms of my seat a few times so landing in Paris became even more comforting than normal. I don't normally scare easily on planes but from take off to landing this one was just not good.  So now that I am back to my new "home" I have to seriously focus on unpacking or else I will live out of my suitcase for the next week. Plus I brought so many things back with me that it's like a refreshed wardrobe just waiting for me to dig in. For proof that I brought too much with me ask the lady at the Delta ticket counter in Boston who made me unload pounds from my checked bag to avoid the $150 excess baggage rule. The people behind me loved that, hahah. NOT!!

So once the unpacking is done and I get some sleep. The stories will all be shared and I will be updating o a much more regular basis again. So stay tuned.

Crunchy Rice

Now I am sure this post will surprise (insert sarcasm here) anyone who has ever crossed my path - it is ALL ABOUT FOOD ; )  This past weekend I was introduced to traditional Vietnamese and Louse( I think that is how to spell it). Saturday after a relaxing day of walking and shopping I met up with some friends for dinner. We ventured into a district I had never even stepped foot into, there are many of those for me to still discover though. I think it is safe to say the majority of the population in this area is Asian. I have actually never seen so many Asian themed restaurants in one location - Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese - you name it they had a restaurant. After passing by about 50 places we stumbled up to one that had a line out the door and around the corner - at this point not only was I starving but I was convinced with that many options around this place HAD TO BE GOOD.  My girlfriend has been coming here for years (She is Vietnamese) and knows the owner, so we were greeted with a smile, but the only way to not wait in line was to sit on the terrace.Now normally I would prefer to be here but this day in Paris had been gray and going back and forth between warm and cold and rainy and dry..... after debating all pros and cons the 5 of us decided it would be worth the risk and if it was going to rain it would have started by then. We ordered drinks and our hostess ordered the starters for us - since she is an expert int he cuisine. About 30 seconds after our drinks - yup you guessed it .. enter rain. After rearranging the table, getting umbrellas set up and managing to keep the rain from dripping off the umbrella onto us - we were all soggy but hysterically laughing.  When all was said and done, the rain reflecting from the neon lights of all the restaurants made it feel like we weren't even in Paris anymore but sitting outside in some other country at some other time... we tried everything from Crunchy rice salad with pork you wrap in lettuce leaves, some Vietnamese egg roll type wrap thing with shrimp and bean sprouts and fresh mint, Vietnamese raviolis with I am not actually sure what was in it or on it but the sauce was delectable and all sorts or sticky rice and rice noodles and curries and vegetables for the meal.  It was honestly amazing - I know I say that a lot about food, but this was really unbelievable.

Coton Doux

This past weekend I was introduced to a fantastic little store.  They specialize in 100% cotton shirts. Not just  any old tshirt but nice button down shirts. Your choice of cuff, collar and fit. And boooooy oh boy do they fit nice!! Aside from being a really nice quality there are tons of choices for colors and patterns. That's right I said patterns, polka dots, elephants, checkered, stripes - big ones, skinny ones all sorts of everything. The coolest part is each shirt has coordinated buttons and different material on the inside of the cuff and color. So your plain white button down - could now have pink buttons, purple sticking and purple and gray flowers on the inside of the cuffs and collars. I may have just described one of the three new and very nice fitting shirts I purchased. They ship to the US so I highly recommend checking it out:

COTON DOUX

Just click on ENGLISH VERSION at the top of the page. They also have super cute pj's and scarves!!

Things I discovered this week...

1. When you kiss your greeting hello in Paris - it is two kisses starting on the left.
2. When you kiss your greeting hello in the South of France it is 3 kisses starting on the right. (I was let in to these first two tid bits over drinks and I met someone new and had no idea whether to shake hands or kiss their cheeks. So keep this in my mind if you come to France as a female- unless at a place of business you always kiss cheeks.)
3. Never eat anything with poppy seeds unless you have good company or a mirror handy.
4. Never wait until the last day of the month to recharge your Navigo (metro pass) the line is ridiculous and it will not help you be on time to where you are going. 
5. Forgetting anything when you live on the 4th floor (approx 72) stairs can be considered a work out in 3 inch heels. 
6. Learning what is feminine and masculine in this language has absolutely no rhyme or reason.
7. The word exciting here doesn't typically mean woohooo that was great, it has a much more sexual connotation. (This one was brought to my attention when I said how exciting the new project I am working on it, during a meeting with an agency we might work with, my cheeks turned a few shades of rouge- thats red, don't ask if it's male or female.)

I found this amusing

I am searching around Paris for a fantastic dinner and activity I am planning for the end of September. There are quite a few enticing options and I am sure I will be able to choose one that (hopefully) appeals to all. While searching I found an event that is called: Oenologie - which no matter where I translate it still just comes up as Oenologie. Anyway the event includes tasting wine, learning about vintage years vs.cheap years, games around wine and all sorts of other great goodies. In the land of wine sounds pretty fantastic to me. As I kept reading - and translating- this last section really caught my eye: (DISCLAIMER - the translation isn't the best on this, Thanks Google Translate)

"Cinerea also offers many fun animation wine, including the Bacchus competition, hunting treasure with riddles, vine and wine; the quizzs are set of role that put you in the skin of a winegrower tests. Best part coming NOW > And since the alcohol abuse is dangerous for health, we guarantee guests of your evening to enterprise security. When they emerge from the meeting room staggered up to their vehicle, Back & Safe society is committed to see them in their own vehicles, without taking any risks on the road. Once visited destination, drivers will deploy a folding scooter and fit on the place of the event to other accompagnements."

I am telling you the French are ALWAYS thinking!!!

Bikes EVERYWHERE!

I have never seen bikes like I did this weekend. Between Amsterdam and le Tour de France I would be willing to bet I saw about 50,000 bikes. That is no joke. Let's start with Amsterdam .... first and foremost it was breathtaking. It looked like someone picked it up from the middle of Once Upon a Time  and plopped it in the Netherlands, along with a Heineken factory and a bazillion bikes. Yes a bazillion is more than 50,000 so I may have exaggerated that last description.  I only spent a total of 24 hours in this pretty little city BUT they were fantastic. Getting around in a new city normally frightens me a little bit but with canals to follow and the iphone there are no worries for this girl. Between a boat cruise along the canals, passing Anne Franks house and a stop in at the brewery I saw quite a bit of what Amsterdam had to offer but honestly the best thing I saw was the bikes..... 

Hmmmm, I can't seem to remember where I parked .... maybe on the ramp, or over by that tree, oh it's near the blue bike... I have no idea how they do it!! It's like a mean joke they play on the patrons of all the coffee shops!!

In this parking garage alone there are something like 5,000 bikes. The garage went out over the water, had multiple floors and the space leading up to it was jam packed with bikes like I have never seen before. About 90% of the bikes were the old fashioned looking cruisers, some were painted and decorated with flowers and baskets and colors. I can imagine the bike is truly a reflection of the person riding it. 

Aside from the bikes the other thing the really amused me was the amount of Western culture the city had. When I left I was determined to try some Dutch food, never have so why not?? But as I walked I realized I was surrounded by Mexican, Indonesian, Pizza, McDonalds, Steak places and this delightful little hot dog stand: 

Yes I ate there and it was wonderful...notice it's surrounded by bikes?!?!

Vacation

It has been a few days longer than normal since I have written. But all for good reason and all will be very entertaining.  I have treated myself to a small "holiday" if you will.  Just a few days but enough time to relax, take a quick trip to Amsterdam, see the final of the Tour de France and just enjoy a few days of exploring. So many pictures and so much to share about the past 4 days. Unfortunately for the blog the back pack is loaded up with some snacks, a bottle of wine and I am off to enjoy my last day off before back in action in the real world tomorrow. I'll be filling you all in soon.

Strike 2

When they told me they enjoy striking here in Paris - they really hit that nail on the head. The only reason I am interested in this tid bit of info is because I need to fly at the end of the week on my first inter-European adventure..... take a peekm apparently I will be seeing much more of this::

Go on!! Read more about the upcoming unrest in the European skies, know you want to:: Unified Skies Plan

Tuesday

It's warm up on the fourth floor today and it's making me quite sleepy. Actually to be honest I don't have anything of interest to share today. I'M FEELING BORING. So let's indulge in the excitement that I have in the upcoming days - one day of work left -  then a few days off. I would bet your bottom dollar that they will be quite interesting too. Up on the agenda is:

• A quick trip to Amsterdam (I plan on making many of these quick trips to other European countries- just cause I can - imagine me saying that in a very matter of fact kinds way!!)
• Witnessing the last stage of the Tour de France and their laps on the Champs de Elysee
• The potential viewing of Toy Story 3 in 3d - yes they have movies in English here
• Maybe a jaunt down to the Paris Plage - this lovely little wonder is essentially a Seine Side holiday for those who don't venture off to the sea for the month of August. This Paris Beach comes complete with ssand they dump along the river banks, lounge chairs, umbrellas and from what I have read even ice cream vendors.. wooot woooot.... This topic leaves much to be explained and eventual photos. DISCLAIMER: even if this fete isn't accomplished over this mini-holiday I have coming then it will be done in the very near future so as I said before hold on to your pants!!

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........

Sunshine and Silly Words

It was another remarkable weekend here in "Gay" Paris. It started off with a fantastic Friday Lunch/Afternoon at work. Lunch is one of the best times of day for me  - not just because I love to eat but because I really get to experience everyone I work with a bit more personally, plus they try and make me learn as much French as possible while we eat so it always turns into something hysterical. This week - I really am not sure how it came up but I was introduced to the word - Vachement, which literally translated means "Cowly" like mooo cow with an ly written at the end of it. Apparently the word is used when something is very very good or bad or big or small or anything that can be described with a very very type of adjective (I think that is the right word). You can use your imagination but pretty much everything that we had during the rest of the lunch was cowly. Good times. Now the weekend progresses Saturday was great - I truly love Skype. Spent about 5 hours in front of the computer and saw most of my family and of course one of the most special girls ever. I was able to catch up with so many people that I miss dearly!! And now Sunday night, I am sitting on my couch trying to ease my sunburn that I was so lucky to get while reading in the Luxembourg Gardens today. Oh not to mention that Sundays are my favorite days to explore because when I walk down the market street right next to mine it is just the best sensory overload ever. Bread baking, chicken roasting, wine displays out, ice cream being scooped and a sweet old man and his wife playing a trombone and singing.... ok sidetracked and we return to the gardens - I loved it so much last weekend I just had to go back. It really is the best way to spend an afternoon. Sunshine, sandwich and a good book - next time I will seriously need to remember the sunscreen. It would have been key to success today.  Sunburn aside while I was walking around today and after talking with the family yesterday and laughing at lunch so much on Friday, I realized how lucky and how amazing this is. Cool experience, the most supportive family and I am starting to "fit in" here with my friends at work.

Better late than never

Last weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in Paris. I went out with some fantastic people and was able to really experience some very fun French things. I promised pictures of my Sunday adventure so here they are. It really was such a cool day, good food, good wine, good company and ice cream!!! WOOHOO!!!!

Spent the morning at the Jardin du Luxembourg (beautiful, I think I'll be spending time there this weekend)

Bee hives making honey - they will be selling it in September.

Model made before the Lady was sent to the US

The resemblance is uncanny

::AND THE BEST FOR LAST::

Yes... that is a rose shaped ice cream cone...

 Yes... I enjoyed every moment of it...

French Lesson (Leçon de français)

Had my first French lesson yesterday. Holy exhausting. I knew when I started this would be one of the most challenging parts of being here. It is also one of the parts I am most looking forward too. Being able to say I am bi-lingual or can at least sort of speak another language when I leave here will just be such an accomplishment for me. Not to mention how much easier it will make my day to day life for the time being!! This may seem dorky but I actually daydream about going to the outdoor market and asking for fresh fruit and vegetables or going to the butcher and getting one of those delectable smelling roasted chickens..... but until I can at least semi speak and semi understand those treats have to wait. Gives me something to look forward too though - have any of you noticed how much my life here revolves around food?? Ok just checking!! Back to French lessons. I will be meeting with  my teacher, one on one, twice a week, for three hours a week and then going forward maybe more if we can fit it in. I have about 150 hours worth of lessons to use this year, I plan on using as many of those hours as possible. So my first lesson went well, I think that is a good way to put it. I laughed a lot, mostly because in my head I sound very, very, very silly. It is unbelieveably awkward to say words in a completley unfamilar way. We covered the basics - numbers,where I live, my name, what languages I speak, how old I am - I actually told her the wrong age, said I am older than I really am, that is  how flustered I was. Hahahaha. Oh well. Once we covered my basics which we repeated back and forth MANY times she asked about my brothers and sisters and to describe where they live and where they work etc etc. What she didn't know is that I have six of them. Talk about a long and painfully tough exercise for me (probably her too). Let's put it this way by the time the first hour and a half was finished I needed a piece of chocolate, a glass of vin (wine - see I learned something) and a NAP. My brain honestly hurt.

I think the key to success here will be to stay motivated and practice. Which I think I can handle - so do me a favor and keep reminding me how badly I really want to learn this beautiful language.

Now I am sure you are dying for a sample:
Je m'appelle Heather
Je parle anglais
Je travaille chez Alstom Universite
Je suis une femme
Je suis (une- I think - the feminine/masculine stuff is a whole new story) coodiantrice evenements mondial
J' habitat en Paris dans le six-septieme
J'aime la pizza!!

Happy Translating : )

13th & 14th of July

Last night was lovely. Such an experience. The fire station looked beautiful, with balloons and streamers and lights and decorations everywhere. The amount of people there was unbelievable no matter where you looked or where you turned there was dancing, singing and champagne popping.

The firemen were all serving beer and champagne in their uniforms.

 (very fancy here in Paris by the way)

One of the most interesting things is that type of people that were there - the ages ranged from about 3 years up until well probably 75 years, the type of person was just as varied. Such a neat experience to be surrounded by so many different types of people celebrating all together. I think my favorite part of the night - aside from the champagne, which was legitimate champagne actually from the Champagne region of France- was all the crazy French 80's music. There was a band that played all night long - they were actually very good, but the music was hysterical. They played everything from Joan Jett to Maroon Five to Michael Jackson to Diana Ross, to Earth Wind and Fire to French music that I have been told was VERY popular in 70's and 80's. Watching everyone sing and dance and jump around was a sure fire way to put a smile on my face. Today now was not so exciting. Tried to hit the parade and the weather took a turn for the worse. Thunder, pouring rain, and lightning all morning and most of the afternoon. So the picnic I had packed is still sitting in the fridge and honestly I spent most of the day in sweaties on my couch!! Haven't had a day like that since I have been here. So I guess the parade and fireworks will have to be a next July thing : ) One Bastille Day tradition was a good start for me.

"The Paris firemen... kings of the night.."

I am about to find out if this is true. Every year on July 13th all of the fire stations in Paris transform into party stations. From what I am told this is the night of all nights. Everyone comes out for music, food, champagne, dancing and lots of good times. Don't worry I'll have my camera to document it all!!!! More later must get ready to meet everyone!!!!!!!!