Although before the end of the year I hope to be able to offer my Parisian pad to out-of-towners, for now it is not nearly in good enough shape to do so. However, a friend of mine is offering her cute abode for minimum stays of 3 nights or longer. She's listed on the following website, but if you go through me, you get a significant discount (€100/night - €500/week - €2000/month).
Check it out!
http://www.ahparis.com/photos.asp?lang=en&pageno=1&a_id=283&id_apt=283
21 April 2007
16 April 2007
Scenes from my backyard
Moving, as they say, is one of the most stressful events in any person's life. I'm not going to tell you any different. Buying a house has been wonderful and terribly scary, exciting and exhausting, overwhelming in both good and bad ways. Thus far, the good outweighs the bad, and I'm thankful for that. 
I'm too worn out to write much more, but I wanted to share some photos of my backyard when I arrived last Wednesday, 
and then this week's image of Sheba basking in the sun. He has adjusted to the new home better than I could have ever expected. Not bad for a cat of 17! 
Please come and visit us soon...
I'm too worn out to write much more, but I wanted to share some photos of my backyard when I arrived last Wednesday, and then this week's image of Sheba basking in the sun. He has adjusted to the new home better than I could have ever expected. Not bad for a cat of 17! Please come and visit us soon...
29 March 2007
19 March 2007
Berber Humour
First of all, let’s get one thing straight: they are dromedaries, not camels!! According to our guides, there are no camels in Morocco.
After a whirlwind few days in Marrakech, a city I loved the moment I stepped off the plane, Lisa Smith and I ventured forth into the south of Morocco, on a quest to see the desert. After almost two full days of non-stop driving with our guide Abdelilah (mind you, the speed limit on the two-lane national highways is just 90 km/hour and Abdelilah followed it faithfully… a little too faithfully for my taste, but that’s why they call me Leadfoot…)
Anyhoo, after the very long car ride south, across the snow-capped Atlas Mountains, into the Dades gorges and the oasis valleys, we arrived at Merzouga, gateway to the Moroccan Sahara.
We immediately leapt onto our trusty dromedaries, Jimmy and Malé, and sped off into the sunset over the dunes. Or sort of.
Anyone who thinks that riding a dromedary is similar to riding a horse is sadly mistaken. The beasts lurch along at a very uncomfortable rhythm, guaranteed to chafe you the most in spots where you have never been chafed before. Mind you, there’s no saddle, just woolen blankets seemingly woven with desert thorns thrown over some sort of metal frame. My inner thighs and buttocks are still complaining and I’ve been off the dromedary for a good four days now… I don’t know if I’ll ever walk the same again. Plus, sand does not make for an easy trail (hence the lurching). You are often going up a dune or down a dune and especially on the downward stretches, you feel like you’re going to pitch forward head first over your dromedary and into the sand. I held on for dear life, grimacing and wincing over the pain in my butt, occasionally crying out in a sound not unlike that the dromedaries make, which was surely the inspiration for Chewbacca’s voice in Star Wars.
We were led by our very own nomad, Omar. Omar is from a long line of nomads, and grew up in the Sahara. Thanks to his work in tourism, his family now lives in a house in Merzouga instead of wandering around aimlessly in the desert.
We arrived at our tents well after nightfall, tired, cold, sore, stiff and hungry. We were served mint tea (surprise, surprise). In Morocco, every event calls for mint tea. I love mint tea (see my earlier post from September 06 when my wonderful friend Judy likened it to hot chocolate without the chocolate) but I’m pretty much all mint-tea’d out for a while after consuming it several times a day, every day, for 8 days straight.
Omar surprised us by cooking up a fantastically delicious tagine all by himself (normally in Morocco, cooking is women’s work) which we then consumed using only our right hands. (Ok, well I cheated and sometimes used my left hand, but I don’t think anyone noticed.) For those of you wondering why you’re supposed to use only your right hand, let’s get something straight: this is the third world.
Charmin doesn’t exist in the third world.
Your left hand exists in the third world.
Nuff said.
After sating ourselves on this fabulous repast, Omar built a fire out in the sand and we gathered around to gaze at the mind-boggling amount of stars, warm ourselves by the fire (it was extremely cold) and meet Omar’s nomad friend Hahmed, who just happened by on his way to deliver 4 dromedaries somewhere. They got out their drums and treated us to authentic Berber music, explained the Berber ways and languages to us, and regaled us with stories of navigating at night in the summer when it’s too hot to travel by day, using only the stars and their expert knowledge of the desert to find their way.
When the fire had settled down to softly glowing embers, the echo of the drums had faded, and we were contemplating the stars in the deep and philosophical silence available only in the desert far, far from the farthest reaches of civilization, with each person lost in his or her own inner world, Hahmed suddenly piped up “So, do you know any good jokes?”
After recovering from our laughter and surprise, we realized that none of us had any good ones to tell (there were four of us tourists, Lisa and myself and a young British couple) so Hahmed launched into his comedy routine.
“How do you get a dromedary in the fridge?”
We pondered this for a while, proffered up some lame responses, then finally gave up.
“You open the door, put him in, and then close the door.”
Berber humor.
Then he launched into one that wasn’t really a joke, but more of a riddle, one of those “Three people come to a river to cross it. One person sees and touches the water. The second person sees the water but can’t touch it. The third person neither sees nor touches the water. Who are these three people?”
Of course, it’s a pregnant woman carrying a child on her back. It took us a while, but we figured that one out.
Then he came up with one which we couldn’t tell if it was a riddle or a joke.
The lion, king of the jungle and all the wilderness, decides to hold a party to end all parties. A magnificent feast, where none of the animals would eat each other, but all would be vegetarian for this extremely special occasion. The entire animal kingdom is invited, every species, in a kind of Noah’s ark rave.
Only one animal doesn’t come.
Which one is it, and why?
Again we racked our brains, guessing madly, but none of our answers came close apparently, until I shouted out “the dromedary!” and Hahmed seemed rather impressed. Yes, the dromedary was the only animal who didn’t attend the lion’s celebration. But why?
More guessing, to no avail.
The fire had almost died out at this point, and we were freezing and sleepy, so Hahmed finally took pity on us.
“Because he’s in the refrigerator.”
After a whirlwind few days in Marrakech, a city I loved the moment I stepped off the plane, Lisa Smith and I ventured forth into the south of Morocco, on a quest to see the desert. After almost two full days of non-stop driving with our guide Abdelilah (mind you, the speed limit on the two-lane national highways is just 90 km/hour and Abdelilah followed it faithfully… a little too faithfully for my taste, but that’s why they call me Leadfoot…)
Anyhoo, after the very long car ride south, across the snow-capped Atlas Mountains, into the Dades gorges and the oasis valleys, we arrived at Merzouga, gateway to the Moroccan Sahara.
We immediately leapt onto our trusty dromedaries, Jimmy and Malé, and sped off into the sunset over the dunes. Or sort of.
Anyone who thinks that riding a dromedary is similar to riding a horse is sadly mistaken. The beasts lurch along at a very uncomfortable rhythm, guaranteed to chafe you the most in spots where you have never been chafed before. Mind you, there’s no saddle, just woolen blankets seemingly woven with desert thorns thrown over some sort of metal frame. My inner thighs and buttocks are still complaining and I’ve been off the dromedary for a good four days now… I don’t know if I’ll ever walk the same again. Plus, sand does not make for an easy trail (hence the lurching). You are often going up a dune or down a dune and especially on the downward stretches, you feel like you’re going to pitch forward head first over your dromedary and into the sand. I held on for dear life, grimacing and wincing over the pain in my butt, occasionally crying out in a sound not unlike that the dromedaries make, which was surely the inspiration for Chewbacca’s voice in Star Wars.
We were led by our very own nomad, Omar. Omar is from a long line of nomads, and grew up in the Sahara. Thanks to his work in tourism, his family now lives in a house in Merzouga instead of wandering around aimlessly in the desert.
We arrived at our tents well after nightfall, tired, cold, sore, stiff and hungry. We were served mint tea (surprise, surprise). In Morocco, every event calls for mint tea. I love mint tea (see my earlier post from September 06 when my wonderful friend Judy likened it to hot chocolate without the chocolate) but I’m pretty much all mint-tea’d out for a while after consuming it several times a day, every day, for 8 days straight.
Omar surprised us by cooking up a fantastically delicious tagine all by himself (normally in Morocco, cooking is women’s work) which we then consumed using only our right hands. (Ok, well I cheated and sometimes used my left hand, but I don’t think anyone noticed.) For those of you wondering why you’re supposed to use only your right hand, let’s get something straight: this is the third world.
Charmin doesn’t exist in the third world.
Your left hand exists in the third world.
Nuff said.
After sating ourselves on this fabulous repast, Omar built a fire out in the sand and we gathered around to gaze at the mind-boggling amount of stars, warm ourselves by the fire (it was extremely cold) and meet Omar’s nomad friend Hahmed, who just happened by on his way to deliver 4 dromedaries somewhere. They got out their drums and treated us to authentic Berber music, explained the Berber ways and languages to us, and regaled us with stories of navigating at night in the summer when it’s too hot to travel by day, using only the stars and their expert knowledge of the desert to find their way.
When the fire had settled down to softly glowing embers, the echo of the drums had faded, and we were contemplating the stars in the deep and philosophical silence available only in the desert far, far from the farthest reaches of civilization, with each person lost in his or her own inner world, Hahmed suddenly piped up “So, do you know any good jokes?”
After recovering from our laughter and surprise, we realized that none of us had any good ones to tell (there were four of us tourists, Lisa and myself and a young British couple) so Hahmed launched into his comedy routine.
“How do you get a dromedary in the fridge?”
We pondered this for a while, proffered up some lame responses, then finally gave up.
“You open the door, put him in, and then close the door.”
Berber humor.
Then he launched into one that wasn’t really a joke, but more of a riddle, one of those “Three people come to a river to cross it. One person sees and touches the water. The second person sees the water but can’t touch it. The third person neither sees nor touches the water. Who are these three people?”
Of course, it’s a pregnant woman carrying a child on her back. It took us a while, but we figured that one out.
Then he came up with one which we couldn’t tell if it was a riddle or a joke.
The lion, king of the jungle and all the wilderness, decides to hold a party to end all parties. A magnificent feast, where none of the animals would eat each other, but all would be vegetarian for this extremely special occasion. The entire animal kingdom is invited, every species, in a kind of Noah’s ark rave.
Only one animal doesn’t come.
Which one is it, and why?
Again we racked our brains, guessing madly, but none of our answers came close apparently, until I shouted out “the dromedary!” and Hahmed seemed rather impressed. Yes, the dromedary was the only animal who didn’t attend the lion’s celebration. But why?
More guessing, to no avail.
The fire had almost died out at this point, and we were freezing and sleepy, so Hahmed finally took pity on us.
“Because he’s in the refrigerator.”
18 March 2007
Four Seasons in One Day
With a nod to Crowded House for the title, I have to say that visiting Morocco, I did experience four seasons in one day, or rather over a couple of days in a row... what a place of contrasts, a fascinating mix of ancient and modern,
hot and cold, clean and dirty... my mind is still reeling, but I loved it.
hot and cold, clean and dirty... my mind is still reeling, but I loved it.
While I recover from my return journey and scramble to get ready for my Burgundy trip this week to finalise the purchase of my house, I'll leave you with a couple of images to contemplate.
28 February 2007
Bali High, part 2
In keeping with its volcanic origins, Bali was a real explosion of discovery for Emmanuelle and me. An explosion of colour, with luxuriant, seemingly bursting-out-of-their-skin greens that have to be seen to be believed; intensely flaming orange, pink and red tropical flowers, not to mention the pristine white of jasmine and the ever-present frangipani; an explosion of taste, with the spicy and delicious local cuisine; an explosion of heat and rain, with downpours the likes of which I haven’t seen since I lived in Texas, ditto for the sometimes oppressive sunshine and humidity.
No bomb explosions however. Contrary to the fears of some of my nearest and dearest, Bali is an incredibly peaceful island, being 93% Hindu. Gorgeous Hindu temples are everywhere, since every home and every village has one. The Balinese people are adorable, very charming and friendly, and amazingly, they all speak English beautifully.
There was a lot of sensory overload.
Such as being pampered to death in the fabulous five-star hotels where we stayed. Of the three, Alila Ubud was the best overall in terms of setting, décor, amenities, service, spa and most importantly, food and wine!! Although the private pool, personal butler, and vast living space at the Balé were hard to beat… you can check out all three hotels using the links in my last post.
Now it’s back to reality, as I fly to France tonight. I have a short 9 days back in Paris before I take off again on my next trip: 8 days in Morocco!! Life as a freelancer is rough.
After that, I drive down to the Saône et Loire to sign the final purchase papers and pick up the keys to my new house on March 22… stay tuned!!
No bomb explosions however. Contrary to the fears of some of my nearest and dearest, Bali is an incredibly peaceful island, being 93% Hindu. Gorgeous Hindu temples are everywhere, since every home and every village has one. The Balinese people are adorable, very charming and friendly, and amazingly, they all speak English beautifully.
There was a lot of sensory overload.
Such as being pampered to death in the fabulous five-star hotels where we stayed. Of the three, Alila Ubud was the best overall in terms of setting, décor, amenities, service, spa and most importantly, food and wine!! Although the private pool, personal butler, and vast living space at the Balé were hard to beat… you can check out all three hotels using the links in my last post.
Now it’s back to reality, as I fly to France tonight. I have a short 9 days back in Paris before I take off again on my next trip: 8 days in Morocco!! Life as a freelancer is rough.
After that, I drive down to the Saône et Loire to sign the final purchase papers and pick up the keys to my new house on March 22… stay tuned!!
22 February 2007
Bali High
Where we've been so far this week:
www.alilahotels.com
Check out the Ubud and Manggis locations (3 nights each)
Tomorrow we head to a new level of luxury:
www.thebale.com
We'll be back in Singapore Monday.
www.alilahotels.com
Check out the Ubud and Manggis locations (3 nights each)
Tomorrow we head to a new level of luxury:
www.thebale.com
We'll be back in Singapore Monday.
19 February 2007
Some enchanted evening
In preparation for my next post, which has not even been started yet, some music to put you in the mood... think Mary Martin, Ezio Pinza and the fabulous Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "South Pacific"...
Most people live on a lonely island
Lost in the middle of a foggy sea
Most people long for another island
One where they know they will like to be
Bali Ha'i may call you
Any night, any day,
In your heart, you'll hear it call you:
"Come away...Come away."
Bali Ha'i will whisper
In the wind of the sea:
"Here am I, your special island!
Come to me, come to me!"
Your own special hopes
Your own special dreams
Bloom on the hillside
And shine in the streams
If you try, you'll find me
Where the sky meets the sea.
"Here am I your special island
Come to me, Come to me."
Bali Ha'i
Bali Ha'i
Bali Ha'i!
Someday you'll see me floatin' in the sunshine
My head stickin' out from a low flying cloud
You'll hear me call you
Singin' through the sunshine
Sweet and clear as can be:
"Come to me, here am I, come to me."
If you try, you'll find me
Where the sky meets the sea.
"Here am I your special island
Come to me, Come to me."
Bali Ha'i
Bali Ha'i
Bali Ha'i!
28 January 2007
Dell Hell or La vie n'est pas une longue fleuve tranquille
Please, learn from my mistakes. Stop whatever you’re doing (probably the only time I’ll ever ask anyone to stop reading my blog) and get out your external hard drive and back up EVERYTHING right now. If you don’t own an external hard drive, go immediately to your favorite online or brick-and-mortar store and buy one. Then, BACK UP EVERYTHING. And do it often.
2007 has gotten off to a hellish start. But I like to take the optimist’s view and imagine that since I’m accumulating all these catastrophes in January, the rest of the year is going to be smooth sailing.
Cross my fingers, knock wood, etc.
I’ll spare you all the gory details, because not only are they depressing but they are so over-the-top as to be unbelievable. I’ll try to stick just to the barebones facts.
Some of the shitty things that have happened to me since my last posting:
1) I rebroke up with Jerome. Of course, many of you didn’t even know that things were back on with Jerome, which is just as well. But they were for a short period, but then I had to put an end to it again. And whatever your stance on this relationship is or has been, know that it’s been the hardest break-up of my life and the mourning period is not over yet. So that’s a real load to deal with already.
2) I fell and hurt both my knees. In some sort of dim-witted rush move, I managed to entwine myself in my luggage at the Gare de Lyon and fall hard onto the pavement, ripping my pants, opening up one knee and badly bruising both. Of course this happened at 7:25 am as I’m trying to catch the 7:30 train…
3) Somehow that fall appears to have affected my laptop, safely ensconced in my backpack, which although it did not hit the ground, apparently smacked hard enough against my person to kill the hard drive. And when I say kill, I mean that my hard drive died a horrible death. The noises it made when I tried to get my computer to work remind me of descriptions I’ve read of pigs being led to slaughter.
4) Because of point 1, I hadn’t done a full back-up of my laptop in several months. I know, stupid, stupid, stupid. But every time I thought of getting out the external hard drive, it made me think of Jerome, the computer fanatic, who made me buy this external hard drive and even wrote a personalized macro for me so that the back-ups would go as quickly and painlessly as possible. And of course, that made me sad.
So I kept putting it off.
If I had known how sad I would be when I learned that nothing was recoverable on my hard drive, I would much rather have had a little heartbreak backing up my hard drive every night compared to this disaster of huge personal and professional proportions.
HAVE YOU MADE THAT BACK-UP YET?
Imagine losing everything, everything. Your emails, your documents, your taxes, your photos, your amusing blog texts in preparation, everything...
Now make that back-up and you don’t even have to thank me for it.
5) I had to go through an entire week of angry phone calls, emails and online exchanges to get any satisfaction from Dell despite having a valid 3-year “Complete Care” contract with them. Now that I have gotten full satisfaction from them, I won’t go on an anti-Dell rant like I was planning to for several days. Although the next time I need a new laptop, I think I’ll take a long, hard look at Hewlett Packard…
6) I got the worst, most wicked case of food poisoning ever, causing me to vomit in the metro and then all night long chez moi. Nuff said.
Of course, all of this happened during the busiest month for work that I’ve had in ages. While normally lots of work is good news, the timing couldn’t have been worse, and I’ve had to scramble like crazy to not piss off my regular clients completely.
And, various other little emmerdes have cropped each week as well, making this by far the nastiest January I’ve ever had.
But, I reiterate my positivism and remain hopeful that things can only get better...
Pray for me.
And back up your hard drive now!!!
2007 has gotten off to a hellish start. But I like to take the optimist’s view and imagine that since I’m accumulating all these catastrophes in January, the rest of the year is going to be smooth sailing.
Cross my fingers, knock wood, etc.
I’ll spare you all the gory details, because not only are they depressing but they are so over-the-top as to be unbelievable. I’ll try to stick just to the barebones facts.
Some of the shitty things that have happened to me since my last posting:
1) I rebroke up with Jerome. Of course, many of you didn’t even know that things were back on with Jerome, which is just as well. But they were for a short period, but then I had to put an end to it again. And whatever your stance on this relationship is or has been, know that it’s been the hardest break-up of my life and the mourning period is not over yet. So that’s a real load to deal with already.
2) I fell and hurt both my knees. In some sort of dim-witted rush move, I managed to entwine myself in my luggage at the Gare de Lyon and fall hard onto the pavement, ripping my pants, opening up one knee and badly bruising both. Of course this happened at 7:25 am as I’m trying to catch the 7:30 train…
3) Somehow that fall appears to have affected my laptop, safely ensconced in my backpack, which although it did not hit the ground, apparently smacked hard enough against my person to kill the hard drive. And when I say kill, I mean that my hard drive died a horrible death. The noises it made when I tried to get my computer to work remind me of descriptions I’ve read of pigs being led to slaughter.
4) Because of point 1, I hadn’t done a full back-up of my laptop in several months. I know, stupid, stupid, stupid. But every time I thought of getting out the external hard drive, it made me think of Jerome, the computer fanatic, who made me buy this external hard drive and even wrote a personalized macro for me so that the back-ups would go as quickly and painlessly as possible. And of course, that made me sad.
So I kept putting it off.
If I had known how sad I would be when I learned that nothing was recoverable on my hard drive, I would much rather have had a little heartbreak backing up my hard drive every night compared to this disaster of huge personal and professional proportions.
HAVE YOU MADE THAT BACK-UP YET?
Imagine losing everything, everything. Your emails, your documents, your taxes, your photos, your amusing blog texts in preparation, everything...
Now make that back-up and you don’t even have to thank me for it.
5) I had to go through an entire week of angry phone calls, emails and online exchanges to get any satisfaction from Dell despite having a valid 3-year “Complete Care” contract with them. Now that I have gotten full satisfaction from them, I won’t go on an anti-Dell rant like I was planning to for several days. Although the next time I need a new laptop, I think I’ll take a long, hard look at Hewlett Packard…
6) I got the worst, most wicked case of food poisoning ever, causing me to vomit in the metro and then all night long chez moi. Nuff said.
Of course, all of this happened during the busiest month for work that I’ve had in ages. While normally lots of work is good news, the timing couldn’t have been worse, and I’ve had to scramble like crazy to not piss off my regular clients completely.
And, various other little emmerdes have cropped each week as well, making this by far the nastiest January I’ve ever had.
But, I reiterate my positivism and remain hopeful that things can only get better...
Pray for me.
And back up your hard drive now!!!
01 January 2007
Peace on earth, goodwill toward men...
and of course, Happy New Year!!
This morning, my 2007 horoscope says the following:
This is the year that you have been waiting for as your key planet, Jupiter, makes its once-every-twelve-years return to your sun sign, bestowing grace and opportunity onto your life.
As the Archer, you aim your arrows of intent high; your targets are often far in the distance. Now you can see even further, and your power is even stronger. Jupiter's influence works like a magnifying lens by making your life even bigger. But you like grandiosity, so this will feel quite comfortable, even familiar.
There are other planetary influences this year, but jovial Jupiter in your sign -- from Nov. 23, 2006, until Dec. 18, 2007 -- will likely be the most obvious and should provide a fortunate underpinning for a very successful year. Jupiter was last in your sign in 1995, which may have been the beginning of the opportunity cycle that is currently coming to a close.
You see good news now everywhere you turn...
This morning, my 2007 horoscope says the following:
This is the year that you have been waiting for as your key planet, Jupiter, makes its once-every-twelve-years return to your sun sign, bestowing grace and opportunity onto your life.
As the Archer, you aim your arrows of intent high; your targets are often far in the distance. Now you can see even further, and your power is even stronger. Jupiter's influence works like a magnifying lens by making your life even bigger. But you like grandiosity, so this will feel quite comfortable, even familiar.
There are other planetary influences this year, but jovial Jupiter in your sign -- from Nov. 23, 2006, until Dec. 18, 2007 -- will likely be the most obvious and should provide a fortunate underpinning for a very successful year. Jupiter was last in your sign in 1995, which may have been the beginning of the opportunity cycle that is currently coming to a close.
You see good news now everywhere you turn...
21 December 2006
I love Paris in the winter, when it drizzles
With all due respect to Cole Porter, it hasn't drizzled much this winter. Although winter was long in coming (when I returned from Austin on November 30, it was actually warmer in Paris than in Texas!!) now it has arrived in the best possible way. Near-freezing temperatures are made bearable by brilliant sunshine and little humidity. The sunsets have been incredible. And, they finally changed the Christmas lights on the rue du Commerce. Life is beautiful.
10 December 2006
Musical interlude number 2
What I'm listening to today, from Lyle Lovett's Joshua Judges Ruth
It could just be my anthem for the New Year. ;-)
It could just be my anthem for the New Year. ;-)
Thank you my friend
I sincerely appreciate the words you say
About how she'll cry
And how she'll grieve and miss me
When she goes away
Say them again
I need to hear the words once more
I can't believe
How she'll miss me when she's gone
And how she'll want to come back home
And never leave
But she's leaving me
Because she really wants to
And she'll be happy when she's gone
She'll be happy
She'll be so very happy
She'll dance and sing
Or even learn to fly
And spend her time with anyone but me
What's that you say
That I'll get over her the more that time goes by
But time goes so slow
When all I have to do is sit around and cry
No she won't be back
I'd be a fool to try to fool myself that way
I know she hasn't one regret
Because she hasn't had one since
The day she came to stay
She's leaving me
Because she really wants to
And she'll be happy when she's gone
She'll be happy
She'll be so very happy
She'll dance and sing
And even learn to fly
And spend her time with anyone but me
She'll be happy when she's gone
She'll be happy when she's gone
She'll be happy when she's gone
She'll be happy when she's gone
04 December 2006
Un gars et une fille
I am often quite hard on the French for their terrible taste in music and their even more abominable taste in television. However, from time to time they do surprise me, and I discover a French pop artist that does not make me want to retch or I’ll get hooked into a show unexpectedly. One such case stands out from the rest, and I have to give credit where credit is due: French TV for several years was home to the perfect TV series: Un gars et une fille (A guy and a girl). (NB: upon doing some research for accuracy, I discovered that this show was in fact originally from Quebec and it has since been adapted across the globe, soon to be available for US viewers as “Love Bites”.)
Sadly, this gem is no longer on here, although from time to time there are reruns and I am lucky enough to own one of the “Best of” DVDs.
Here is the genius: every weekday evening, just before the news came on, you could catch Jean Dujardin (this is the show that launched his now brilliant career) and Alexandra Lamy playing “Jean” and “Alexandra” or Loulou and Chouchou as they affectionately called each other. Each episode lasted no longer than 7 minutes. Ah, the ideal espresso dose of television comedy. (Note that in Canada, the running time was the sitcom standard 26 minutes.)
Situation comedy living up to the name. Realistic, hilarious, charming ‑ I don’t think there’s a single episode where I didn’t laugh out loud at least once, if not about every minute or so. There’s never a chance to become bored, they never go too far, thanks to the mini-format. For me, 7 minutes of TV, 5 days a week is about the best possible maximum media exposure.
The chemistry between the two actors is explosive. I once read an interview where Jean and Alex described that while they were standing in line for the show’s casting auditions, they had a professional “coup de foudre” (love at first sight for the non-Francophones) which became clear to the producers immediately, hence their hiring. Interestingly enough, after 3 years of playing the world’s funniest lovers, the two ended up leaving their respective spouses/partners and moving in with each other, the coup de foudre having apparently evolved onto a more personal level. They do make a great couple, although there have been recent rumors of a split, especially since Jean’s career has skyrocketed (Brice de Nice, OSS 117 among others) while Alex’s has stagnated. He was clearly the key talent of the show anyway, and she was frequently rather annoying (hard to tell if it was the role or reality…).
Luckily for those of you who never had the chance to take in this pearl, another big fan has put some clips on their blog (scroll down to the photo of Alexandra Lamy and you'll see a still photo from the show underneath. Just hit the play arrow in the middle for a tasty treat!):
http://radiomikado.blog50.com/archive/2006/10/12/radiomikado-bonjour-14-octobre2006.html
Sadly, this gem is no longer on here, although from time to time there are reruns and I am lucky enough to own one of the “Best of” DVDs.
Here is the genius: every weekday evening, just before the news came on, you could catch Jean Dujardin (this is the show that launched his now brilliant career) and Alexandra Lamy playing “Jean” and “Alexandra” or Loulou and Chouchou as they affectionately called each other. Each episode lasted no longer than 7 minutes. Ah, the ideal espresso dose of television comedy. (Note that in Canada, the running time was the sitcom standard 26 minutes.)
Situation comedy living up to the name. Realistic, hilarious, charming ‑ I don’t think there’s a single episode where I didn’t laugh out loud at least once, if not about every minute or so. There’s never a chance to become bored, they never go too far, thanks to the mini-format. For me, 7 minutes of TV, 5 days a week is about the best possible maximum media exposure.
The chemistry between the two actors is explosive. I once read an interview where Jean and Alex described that while they were standing in line for the show’s casting auditions, they had a professional “coup de foudre” (love at first sight for the non-Francophones) which became clear to the producers immediately, hence their hiring. Interestingly enough, after 3 years of playing the world’s funniest lovers, the two ended up leaving their respective spouses/partners and moving in with each other, the coup de foudre having apparently evolved onto a more personal level. They do make a great couple, although there have been recent rumors of a split, especially since Jean’s career has skyrocketed (Brice de Nice, OSS 117 among others) while Alex’s has stagnated. He was clearly the key talent of the show anyway, and she was frequently rather annoying (hard to tell if it was the role or reality…).
Luckily for those of you who never had the chance to take in this pearl, another big fan has put some clips on their blog (scroll down to the photo of Alexandra Lamy and you'll see a still photo from the show underneath. Just hit the play arrow in the middle for a tasty treat!):
http://radiomikado.blog50.com/archive/2006/10/12/radiomikado-bonjour-14-octobre2006.html
29 November 2006
Happy birthday to us
Tonight I pre-celebrated my latest 30-something/
almost 40th birthday with many of my pals in Austin. Amory, Emily and I realized that we have known each other for over 20 years now.
We all agreed that none of us look 20 years older than when we first met.
That's the great thing about true friends, they don't see your wrinkles or cellulite or sags...
21 November 2006
Austin Interlude
Since my arrival last Wednesday, the weather has been picture perfect. I have yet to see a cloud. I am basically in a TexMex frenzy, eating WAY too much to compensate for 12 months without it, so I get in as many walks as I can. Sunday, I took my mom, my dad and his wife June to Town Lake for one such walk.
13 November 2006
Cormatin
Today I bought my first house.
The simplicity of that sentence covers up the dazzling firework display that is currently going on inside my brain.
To say that I am thrilled is a sore understatement.
Really, words cannot do this situation justice.
Instead, I'll just share a few photos taken in my village this weekend.
Taken at sunset in the park that runs behind my house.
The simplicity of that sentence covers up the dazzling firework display that is currently going on inside my brain.
To say that I am thrilled is a sore understatement.
Really, words cannot do this situation justice.
Instead, I'll just share a few photos taken in my village this weekend.
Taken at sunset in the park that runs behind my house.
31 October 2006
Back in Burgundy
This week, despite appearances from these photos, the weather has been almost perfect. The problem is that I’m only at the gîte early in the morning or just before sunset, the 2 times of day when there’s either fog or clouds… both of which have burned off to make for gorgeous autumn days in this region I ADORE.
Tomorrow Urmi, Jamie and Jaya arrive and I’m going to show them around my future home.
More soon!
(These are views from the living room and terrace of the gîte we rented for a week. The castle is called Berzé le Chatel. As always, I recommend clicking directly on the pictures to get a better image.)
24 October 2006
La littérature française
Between the crazy hectic pace that my life has been lately, what with breaking up with my boyfriend, hosting 3 houseguests, running around Burgundy tasting wines and house-shopping, buying my first house, and being swamped with a record workload, I somehow managed to read a book. And what a book! I loved it. For those of you who enjoy reading in French, I have to recommend it: Je voudrais que quelqu’un m’attende quelque part by the amazingly talented (and young and beautiful) Anna Gavalda. Her portraits of the various segments of French society are astonishingly accurate and honest, touching and funny. I loved it, I was sad to see it end, I give it my highest recommendation.
I’ve just bought her hit book Ensemble, c’est tout and can’t wait to start it…
After a quick search on Google, I see that most of her work has been translated into English, but obviously, you should get the original version if you can. (English titles: I wish someone were waiting for me somewhere and oddly, Hunting and Gathering)
I’ve just bought her hit book Ensemble, c’est tout and can’t wait to start it…
After a quick search on Google, I see that most of her work has been translated into English, but obviously, you should get the original version if you can. (English titles: I wish someone were waiting for me somewhere and oddly, Hunting and Gathering)
16 October 2006
La Potence
Another fabulous meal at La Potence, with their new autumn menu. Universal praise for the gigot d'agneau rôti au thym accompanied by the most delicious grilled veggies ever!! Their wine list still needs some work, but otherwise, this has to be the best rapport qualité/prix in Paris right now.
08 October 2006
La Bourgogne
It’s one of those times when I’m drowning in work, houseguests, househunting and travel commitments so I haven’t updated the blog in a while, my apologies.Until I get my head above water, here are a few images from last week’s jaunt to Burgundy, where I may have found a house!!! (Cross your fingers and knock wood.) (and click on the picture to get a better view)
While we didn't have as much luck with the weather that we normally do at this time of year, this area is still beautiful and the food and wine make up for the drizzle...
Sean and Jess get special kudos for putting up with the music and inside jokes from the back seat, and Chris (aka CW) deserves a medal for his navigating and patience during the house hunt!!
More soon…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)