Wednesday, December 31, 2008

une semaine a Paris...Day 3 (Bon Reveillon)

Today was a blur....heres what I can remember.
After a very nice lunch that Charolette prepared, we left around 4pm to run some last minute errands before the new year.
Mainly food and alcohol related...Monoprix, Gallerie Layfayette Gourmet, and a few thrift stores (hey we couldn't help it)



We meet Pauline for dinner at home. We eat, we dance, we drink, we eat some more.....at 11:15 we leave.







Moments later is was une bon annee at La Feline













and then there was a house party






at 7:30 we somehow made it home.
BON REVEILLON!!!!!!!!!!!....PS: I split my pants!

une semaine a Paris...Day 2 (BHV or bust!)


Okay so today I woke up in afternoon and both my camera and computer are dead. Of course I have no adapter to plug anything in. As many times as I have been to Paris an adapter is one thing that I always seem to forget to pack. Each time I buy one I somehow end up loosing it. Bazaar de L'hotel de Ville (BHV) is a department store that always seems to come to my rescue each time that I am in Paris. Picture a fancy Sears in the Marais. Anyway Charlotte failed at her first attempt to repair the toilet seat (apparently they come in various sizes) so BHV was added to our list of things to do today. Well actually we did not have a lis, BHV was the highlight of what was left of our day.
We slumped around in the apartment before we got it together to leave. By 3ish we are ready. (For anyone who knows me, NiLeAP has usually conquered the world by 3pm... today I am defeated) We have a mission, BHV... but not before we stop for a coffee.
We go to une petite boulangerie that I always visit when I am in Paris. The owner is a very sweet lady that is always so happy to see me. She never seems to forget me (I wonder if it is the hair?) We down a coffee and mini raisin rolls.
Afterwards we dip into Planete 70, a vintage store next door to the boulangerie where I find a awesome top hat with a huge eagle patch on it. I have been looking for a upgrade to my tattered top hat and I love this one. The problem with the eagle hat is that it is a novelty hat so it isn't too sturdy. One dance with the rain and its all over. I decide to pass on it and we head to BHV.
On the way we pass Fleux a very fun and cool home store in the Marias. They do a very interesting modern and ironic twist on turn-of the century furniture and accessories. Charlotte had gotten her mom a vase from there from Christmas so we went in to check it out. Make that NEXT stop BHV.
Fluex also sells alot of interesting jewelry so it reminds me that I am still on a quest for earrings (since I lost my Eiffel towers in September I have been boycotting earrings until I find the perfect pair.) They have a few that could have almost worked but they were not right. We leave. The coffee is starting to kick in so we are now in search of a bathroom. We passed a Starbucks earlier so we decide to head back to use the bathroom plus Charlotte (like all closet French Starbuck lovers) wanted a chai latte. We arrive and the line is OUT OF THE DOOR...I guess loving Starbucks coffee isn't so closet afterall. We decide to pass on the Starbucks and head straight to BHV...they must have a bathroom there. As we are about one street away we pass a piercing and tattoo shop that has tons of fun earrings and jewelry in the window. I get side tracked.."we will only stop for a second," I said.
Half hour later we leave the shop. I now have an awesome pair of tiny white skull head plugs (they are smallest size plugs next to regular earrings) that I had to get put in. They are amazing and I love them. Too bad my camera battery is dead so I am not able to show them to you. And guess what else....they had a bathroom! Double Score! Now we can go to BHV.
As we are approaching BHV I notice the hotel where I stayed the last time that I was in Paris L'hotel de Ville Acaias. I just want to stop for a second and see if the old man who was so nice to me last time I was there is working...he is and he remembers me (maybe its the hair again?) He is so happy to see me and we chatted for a bit. Afterwards we crossed the street and stopped in the costume shop...it was crowded beyond comfortable so we decided to come back later. I did see a mask that I really liked but did not have the patience to fight the crowd.
We leave and finally we arrive in BHV..yay! The guard at the door searches my bag for explosives (?????) They apparently had some incident earlier this year with someone leaving explosives in a department store (Printemps..i think) so that is the protocol now. We get the adapters and head for the toilets seats. The one she wants (a black one with sparkles) is sold out...OMG! We get a red one instead...( actually I like it better...a red toilet is very rock and roll) .
We grab dinner and crepes and head back to the apartment. We listen to music and work on our computers all night long. We are tired at 3am and we pass out. (Sorry no photos guys my camera is charging)....

Monday, December 29, 2008

une semaine a Paris...Day 1

This morning I arrived in Paris. I did not sleep very well on the plane so I was a bit groggy at the landing. I slapped on a bit of make-up, fluffed the fro and hopped off the plane. It was only 9:30 am, the day was just beginning and Paris was awaiting. After a short train ride and a couple of transfers, I arrived at the 16eme where I headed to my friends apt. I reached the door and realized "merde! I do not have the buzzer number!!!!" After pressing every buzzer on the pad I went next door to a Japanese restaurant where a guy let me use his cellphone. A minute later I am greeted by ma chere amie, Charlotte.

I love her apartment, it is cleverly decorated to precise style of her and her twin sister Pauline. They are a couple of rock and roll, psychedelic chicks who seem to have already lived and died in the sixties. Their Christmas tree is coated with a thick black fuzz that resemble dreadlocks and underneath are fun novelties like a metal deer head, a metal ski man, a ziggy stardust button, and other random toys. Old Japanese movie posters hang on the wall and a painting by their other sister Marie that says and "Welcome in Wonderland Alice pour t en sortir bouffe ta chatte"...I love it.






I jumped in the shower and we headed out to run a few errands, coffee, shoes, and the grocery store.



We return and Pauline is awake..we eat, chat, drink, drink some more and then I head out again with Charlotte in search of a toilet seat since hers had broken earlier today.

We return and Charlotte begins her home improvements and I pass out... between the wine and the jet lag I was done.

And hour and a half later I awake and three girls hit the town.


First stop La Mecanique, a physcidelic bar in the Bastille where on any given night there is a rock show happening in the basement.


We got there in time to catch the last few songs before went up stairs to dance to the dj playing garage rock. The place was full of rockabilly boys and not so hip girls even though I did catch a dolls had their shit together.




The music as amazing and we danced late into the night.





Being the rebel that I am, I downed a few ciders... I think I had to pee like 1000 times.


We grabbed some Japanese food at the end of the night before returning home to pass out.




1pm the next day I awoke.....man that felt good.