Parislog 49
August 25, 2006


I managed to finally go to the Balenciaga exhibit at Le Musée de Mode and Textile (The Museum of Fashion and Textile), which is located right on the side of the Louvre with A*. I have been really curious to see the clothes. The museum actually just re-opened after extensive renovations. You enter into a foyer that is the standard limestone walls and floors and then climb two flights to the entrance, which is a stainless steel door set into the limestone. Opening the door you are bathed in a neon purple black light wash. The clothes are rather dimly lit for the purpose of preservation so it is a little frustrating to not be able to see it in the detail that I desire. But nevertheless I felt that I got my moneys worth with two floors of clothes on display.

After the museum, I decided to take a walk, as it was an amazingly beautiful sunshiny day and not hot. It begged to be experienced. I was in the Opera area and found a clothing store that was unfamiliar to me called Camaieu. It had some fun looking clothes in the window but what really grabbed my eye was the selection of pieces in teal. I am really passionate for teal right now as it matches my eye color. I managed to find one nice sweater for only 20€ (euros) that fit beautifully.

I am a die-hard chocolate freak and have been trying to curb my appetite due to the quantities I can consume. Here in Paris it is a hard appetite to make go away and today while wondering around near the Opera, I spied a little chocolate shop called Fouchet. I had to go in. The odors immediately made it impossible for me to walk out without something. The chocolates were so little that I had a sneaking suspicion that they might be rather expensive. I limited myself to 4. Torture. But I did it. It came to 3.10€ (euros). I brought my little stash all the way home and saved it until after dinner even. What can I tell you? Creamy, Rich. Powerful. Sinful.

I was also trying to take shots of the fashion on the streets here to share with you. It feels a little uncomfortable and I don’t know the legality of it but I will share a few with you anyway and I hope that these people aren’t offended. I took the shots because I liked what they had created.

Parislog 48
August 24, 2006

Yesterday, I made my second in a series of appointments that I must get through for the employment process. I went to the first appointment and it was as quick as a wink and I was done with a pile of papers in hand. I am now officially registered with the unemployment office even though I cannot get any money but in order to avail myself of the services at the employment office, I have to be registered with them. So it is done. The bonus is that I can now show a piece of paper at museums and cinemas and get a cheaper rate.

So I got on the phone for the second appointment and after a few initial questions the woman asked me what area I wanted to work in. I told her the fashion industry. She asked me if I had a degree. No. She asked me if I had work experience. No. Well, she couldn’t register me for that then. Huh? Why does she get to decide if I have value to an employer? She wanted to know what I had done and I told her that I had owned my own business as an interior designer and so she registered me as having been a director of a company. To me those are two different things but I didn’t argue because I just wanted my appointment. It is in 2 weeks. Nothing moves quickly here.

I went over to the Latin Quarter today to rue Mouffetard to return some books. This is one of those funky streets that everyone loves so much. It is in the middle of the university district and is normally swarming with the younger set but we haven’t yet quite reached the full swing of things after summer.

I got caught in a rainstorm and waited it out under the awning of a little tchotchke store. This is something very common to see in the rain. Every single place under which one can take refuge has people. It is actually kind of fun. You get to strike up a conversation or just wait it out in silent camaraderie. And the rain never seems to last that long. It comes down very heavily for say 15 minutes and then it is done. Time to move on.

After dropping off my book, I headed over to the Arènes de Lutèces, which I have been wanted to get to for some time now as it is an old Roman arena built around the time of Christ. It wasn’t rediscovered until 1869 when the area was being dug up for a bus company. It isn’t as impressive as some of the other Roman arenas in other places but there almost nothing left of the Roman period here and so it has the value of rarity. You can look through a grate and see an underground tunnel that one can only surmise about. Maybe it was where the animals came out into the arena to be slaughtered. It has a sense of the surrealistic to it. Not only can you see the old Parisian buildings around it but also some modern ones too. There was an elderly man playing petanque in the arena taking advantage of the nice flat playing field.

Parislog 47
August 23, 2006

I thought that I had one more day of the inexpensive movies but I was wrong. Pfft. I had my little schedule all planned out, which took a long time by the way. All wasted. So instead I took a really long walk home because I really needed to think some things through anyway. I had received an email in the morning that was incredibly invalidating of my experiences and feelings that it made me just want to rage. I had thought that I was going to bury myself for a while inside of the fantasy of movies but you have to roll with the punches.

I have been noticing little by little the changes in Paris. I see more and more stores are open again. While riding the metro, I am hearing more and more French being spoken again. Walking down the streets there are more and more people filling the sidewalks. The Parisians are coming back from vacation. The city is coming back to life.

Parislog 46
August 23, 2006

Yesterday, I went to day 2 of the 3 Jours, 3 Euros movie deal and came across an amazing cinema called La Pagode. It is the coolest little theatre in the middle of nowhere with a garden and a dilapidated pagoda that was turned into the theatre. It was built at the turn of the last century for the wife of a manager of Bon Marche. The movie that I watched happened to be in the newly built auditorium rather than in the section that was originally a ballroom for the pagoda. I snuck a peak inside and even though it was completely dark, I could see that it had the Chinese decorations inside there. I will definitely go back to see a movie in that section.

The garden was a lovely little spot to sit and have a little drink and some conversation at tables set up along a winding path. The back wall was the crumbling façade of the pagoda and sitting just off the path in the garden was a little black cat. It was surreal to realize that you were in fact inside the city of Paris.

Sadly, I did not like the movie. “Tristam Shandy” I came very close to getting up and leaving because it was way too much of the real Hollywood inanities, conversations about nothing and conversations about self. It was more than I could bear. Oh well. You win some and you lose some.

I also went to a French movie that day called “ La Tourneuse des Pages” (the page turner) that I quite enjoyed. I still don’t understand everything but I got a good majority and was able to keep the story line going for myself. This is the first movie that I have paid money for that was in French so I guess that means there is progress. This theatre was very modern with very bright colors with a nice lounge area off to one side.

Parislog 45
August 21, 2006

Our kind Mayor has created something called 3 Days, 3 Euros. It means that for 3 days we can go to any movie in town for 3 euros. How excellent is that? Especially when it is an average of 9 euros ($12) a movie. So today I went to 2. The first one I went to was The Hills Have Eyes. I can’t say as I recommend it even though I usually really like horrors. It was not one of the better ones and the acting was pretty bad. It was also super gruesome. The one thing that I thought was pretty cool about it though is that it takes place in the old New Mexico nuclear testing site and in the mock town. That part was really creative set design.

The second movie I went to was Slevin and I thought that one rocked. It is again a bit on the gruesome side so if you have a sensitive stomach, be prepared to cover your eyes a lot. But it was really funny at the same time, which was quite a surprise and I must say that the acting was really pretty good. There was such a subtle interplay of expressions and you could watch thought transitions as they happened on the faces.

The theatre were Slevin was playing was unique in my experience because they had a woman walking the aisles before the show selling concession items from a basket hanging around her neck just like the old cigarette girls. For those who are reading this and want to know it was at the UGC Normandie, 116 ave Champs-Elysees.

It occurred to me today why there is such a difference in the price of my camera here and in the states and that is something called TVA. Here is a receipt showing you what is happening. Look at the TVA line and you will see that a tax is added at the percentage of 19.80 percent. Could you just puke? That is absolutely highway robbery. Worse case scenario, when my camera is mailed to me from the States I will have to pay the TVA and I will be right back where I started from.

Parislog 44
August 20, 2006

I am so excited. I can’t even tell you. I am getting a new camera finally. The one that I have right now is 3 years old and seems no longer to be good enough. I have taken 3,000 shots on it and now it no longer seems to be able to consistently focus accurately. And the colors don’t seem accurate enough. Okay maybe they are sounding like excuses just to be able to get a new camera but really they are true. I promise.

I am ordering a Sony DSC H5 with so much more than I now have. It has 10X optical zoom and 7 million pixels and a stabilizer. I can do manual programming. I can’t wait until it gets here. I want to see all the photos that I have been taking with crystal clear focus.

I didn’t really want to have to spend the money right now but I found a way to make it a little more palatable. To buy it here, it would have cost me at least 400 euros, which right now is almost $520 but to buy it in America, it is $400. With that $520 I can buy the camera and the memory card and the UV and Polaroid filters. Fortunately I have people in the states that are willing to let me have items sent to them and then they mail them to me. Otherwise I suppose I would be out of luck.

Patience. I must have patience.