Flamey goodness and fried eggs

Whoops...blog nearly died again. I will be betterer...promise! So...what news? Last weekend David and I went up to Parc de la Villette to watch a "pyrotechnic spectacular". Of course, after a fortnight of unseasonably hot weather, the one night we're standing about in a field it chooses to chuck it down. So....very....wet! But the show continued and it was fab. Lots of flame and glittery fireworks set to music...and then there were the human fireworks (I wouldn't have that job if you paid me many millions!) who wandered around with giant stegosaurus like creations strapped to them which spurted flame and sparklynesses. I do have photos but Bernard is being silly and won't let me upload them. Twas well good though!

Sunday Lis and Jon came over and we experienced out first Sushi takeaway...very very yummy...and also delivered to the door by a man on a little pink scooter which made it all the more worthwhile if you ask me. Then we went to the "paradis du fruit", a cafe-ish place near my flat to have smoothies and pudding. Discovered strawberry and garden mint ice cream...quite possibly the nicest thing inthe world!

Have been pootling mainly this week....doing a bit of dissertationy stuff and exploring the area around ze flat. Hopefully should have another piece in the paper this weekend about fried eggs and eurostar and why the French love to mock us so very very much.

Tonight am off to the cinema to see the devil wears prada. Yay for girly films and french subtitles!! Right...am going to go as am illicitly sending this at work..heehee.

Bye bye xx

Weekend of the Mutti...

Maman Wainwright descended on Friday night, and we had great fun trying to squeeze two people into tiny teeny flat of joy. Eventually managed it, though v little sleep was had as twas just....too...hot! I think I must live on the sun!

Had a fabby weekend with her, on Saturday we went shopping and mooching. Found a wonderful area in the 5th with tiny little windy streets where the people in the restaurants come out onto the cobbles and try and entice you in. There were some fantastic window displays of their produce - amazing looking seafood and rotisserie chickens *droooool*...also were some less fantastic translations...one in particular offered us a "tray of delicious fish salesmen...." erm.....no thank you.

Theeeen we found a floating market (as you do) and bought some snails in a carton. Felt v french again, sitting on the banks of the seine people watching and mangeing les escargots....that is of course till we each found a particularly big proper snailish one and got the heebie jeebies at the same time!! Then we found some fabby shops that might possibly be an outlet for the jewellery selling (if I ever get round to making any more!) and then in the evening we went for a yummy scrumbos meal near my house. I had originally planned to go to this amazing Duck restaurant that Vati took me too when we were here in April...so off we went...much map reading ensued....aaaaand oh look...it's closed down :( undeterred however we found a v nice place not too far away where mutti and i had duck and mango stuff and davide had kangaroo...which I must say is very yum!

Right....this is rambly and not really full of any substance....I am sposed to be meeting up with a girl tonight for a "conversation exchange". David is going with me in case she turns out to be an old scary man. But she was sposed to email me with a place to meet..and so far nooothing. Curiouser and curiouser....shall let you know what happens.

Bye bye

PS Article was in yesterday. Huzzaaaaah!

eeeeek squeeeeeek and other such excited noises!

I love my job I love my job I love my job! I might (possibly) have my first story in the paper this weekend....but they might of course turn round and say "err...no woman this is a big pile of poo" but who cares?! Has been great fun researching and writing it and if it goes in twill be amaaaaazing. Am very excited can you tell? Am in fact doubly excited because tomorrow I get to attend my first press event....and it's a massive Disney exhibition in the Grand Palais. Woooooooooooooooo! I realise quite how tragic this must seem...but I am happy in my state of sad disney addiction. Have established myself as resident disney nerd (and probable lunatic) in the office: when John said "ah...we've got a free invite to this disney thing" I responded by (ever so professionally) squeaking a lot.

Right...I'm going to celebrate by watching Sex and the City. Because I can. Huzzah!

Bye bye

And so to Paris....

So it would appear that I am, in fact, the worst blogger in the world. Ever! BUT I intend, having resurrected this from the ashes, to keep it going ever so slightly more regularly while I'm in Franceland.

I arrived on thursday to my lovely house for dwarves (tis so teeny) and proceeded to shove everything i own into whatever storage i could find...there isn't very much but somehow I have triumphed and everything now has a place to live, I'll just have to be careful not to go too mad and buy too much stuff! Lis and Jon came round with flowers (which very sadly have now met their end as the flat is constantly at the temperature of the sun...and they went crispy) and twas lovely to see them. David joined us later after he'd finished work and we went out for a meal with vati at a bistro round the corner...

I don't think I could have had a richer or more french meal if I'd tried. Twas delicious, but i was in physical pain by the end of it and could feel my arteries screaming insults at me. We had snails to start (which were yummerooni after I'd got over my original squeamish "uuuurgh it's a mollusc" thing) and then I had what was laughingly called a "hamburger" but was actually incredibly rare steak, topped with parma ham, topped with foie gras, topped with a fried egg, with a piece of fried bread on the side. Mmmmm healthy! And THEN, realising I'd just eaten about a week's intake of fatty goodness I did what any self respecting young parisienne would do....I ate an enormous creme brulee :)

So yes....didn't sleep very well as my bed is a bit hard to get used to...as it's up in the air, v close to the ceiling so you have to do a strange worm type dance to get in it comfortably, and once you're in it it's flipping difficult to get out again in a hurry. Let's hope there's never a fire! Think I've cracked it now though.

The weekend was filled with practical stuff: banky phonecardy stuff, but spent some time with Boy also. Then yesterday I started work. Spent the morning being terrified, and then got there and did all of about 40 mins work before being whisked out to a picnic lunch with my boss and his kids, one of whom spent some of the time marching a magnetic koala up and down on my head. Am sure Lois Lane never had that trouble.

Today was more journalisty, did some research for a couple of articles and then after work went for an explore. Found a fabby bookshop on the left bank and bought a guidebook of Paris, showing you where to go that's a)amazing and b) cheap. Huzzah. Am going to peruse that later methinks. Right....must go to the supermarket as last time I got wildly overexcited by the frenchness of everything and bought lots of food but no meals....ho hum.

Will post something slightly more coherent soon (ish)

Jenjen xx