Parislog 85
December 13, 2006

While taking a walk with H* the other day, I came across this lovely little reminder of America. Some ideas cross all borders. It shouldn’t have surprised me however to run across a “Eurostore”. We took a little tour of the space and it was the same kind of stuff as the 99¢ store. There were a couple of things that I wish I had purchased there instead of BHV like the felt pads for the legs of the chairs.A*, I* and I spent forever trying to find a place to park so that we could eat one night. We had gone to a photography exhibit of a friend of I*’s and afterwards decided to find something to eat. BIG mistake. My neighborhood has no, I mean NO parking after a certain hour. We drove up and down every little street that we could. There were cars parked in every illegal manner possible. They were in between the cross walks, on the sidewalks, sideways in slots and in front of meridian strips. It was a nightmare. Eventually, we went to the nearest parking garage which happens to be at Montparnasse and from there we walked. We walked down a few streets to find a likely place to eat. It is a hugely popular restaurant and bistro area and the prices reflect that. Finally we stopped in this little place. The prices were reasonable but the food was only so-so. I guess it was a trade-off, It was quaint though.

Parislog 84
December 10, 2006

Slowly but surely the city is getting all dressed up for Christmas. It seems like everyday another storefront is wearing its Christmas best. Dried branches painted in lively colors and covered in sparkles seem to be a popular theme. Many stores also have little Christmas trees sitting on the sidewalk during the day too.
I am amazed at how many of the decorations are on the outside of the stores. I would have thought there would be more issues with theft but I guess even the thieves give it a rest occasionally. It is all rather festive and jolly.

There seems to be a rather strong penchant for flocked trees here. I have found that every tree seller has a big selection of white or red-flocked trees. The flocking is so thick that I wonder why they need the tree at all. You really cannot find a square millimeter.I have found out about streets that are decorated with lights for the holidays and will bring you back some pictures of what I find over the next few weeks.