More Social Life = Less Blogging

As you all may have noticed (since you check this blog religiously, I assume) I haven't posted much lately, but fortunately that's not for lack of activity over here. Instead, I've recently had quite a lively little social life going for myself, especially on account of the roommates, so that (unfortunately) blogging has taken a bit of a back seat.

Last weekend I went out with one of my roommates and several of her friends on Friday night, only to be overwhelmed by the variety and quantity of bars in the area near the Bastille. We realized we need some guidance, so Katerina and I intend to solicit recommendations for future endeavors from our various French acquaintances. It was still an enjoyable evening though, and it made us appreciate our location in central Paris even more, as the metro stops running around 1am and our other friends faced a looooonng walk home.

However, I had a wonderfully successful Saturday in many ways. I began by visiting Pierre Herme, supposedly the home of one of the best croissants, if not THE best, in Paris. Although it was a wonderful croissant - crispy through the top layers, but light and flaky below with a good allotment of dark chocolate - I have sampled at least 15 different bakeries' croissants by now and I can not say that theirs was truly head and shoulders above several of the others, and especially not for the extra 40 centimes! Conveniently however, Pierre Herme was on the way to the Musee de Luxembourg, my legitimate destination for the afternoon. On the recommendation of my boss, I went to the museum to see an exhibit on the late 19th, early 20th century jewlery and glass designer Rene Lalique. How I had never heard of him prior to this is amazing, because his work was absolutely breathtaking. The variety, craftsmanship, and ingenuity of each of the pieces was stunning, and the accompanying sketches were also very interesting to see as a small time designer myself. I left the exhibit completely overwhelmed but also full of ideas for future projects. I also bought two books from the exhibit (a bit of a splurge) as design references. Oh! And one other cool conincidence is that Lalique's first shop/atelier was located about a block away from my current apartment on Rue Therese!

After Lalique, I wandered around the wonderful area of St. Germain de Pres and enjoyed a rare bit of Parisian sun (see photo). The weatehr has been pretty terrible thus far, hovering in the mid 60s with sprinkles to showers almost every day I've been here. Supposedly it's going to be in the 80s this weekend, and hopefully will remain that way for a while. In the evening, I went out to Indian food with my two French buddies, Laurent and Farid. The Indian food was pretty good, and once again I had a nice chance to practice my French with two patient friends.

Sunday, I brought two of the roommates to my favorite market near the Bastille to pick up some cheap produce and cheese for the following week. They were very impressed and we all came away with quite a haul. After that, Katerina and I decided to flex our culture muscles and hit up two free classical music concerts. The first one was a Romanian celloist who played pieces by Chopin and Grieg, and the second was an organ concert featuring Bach. Although I know virtually nothing about classical music, they were both very enjoyable and seemed to be generally solid performances - and even more so for being completely free and in Paris.

Thus far this week, we've had people over three of the four nights, including a large dinner party for the birthday of one of Katerina's friends from Harvard. Maintaining my role as official Dartmouth ambassador, I prepared most of the meal (pasta, salad, cheese tray and brownies) and had quite an enjoyable time with all the Harvard kids - about 7 in total. The one big difference I've discerned thus far between Harvard kids and Dartmouth kids is that about 80% of the Harvard kids smoke! Given that it's very rare and socially disdained (in general) at Dartmouth, I was a bit surprised.

This weekend is Bastille Day (or wannabe Independence Day) and I'm hoping to see the Fireworks on Saturday and generally enjoy the first truly hot day of the summer! Apparently all of the fire houses have parties in the evening as well, so Katerina and I are definitely considering checking that out, as the average attractiveness level of French firefighters is far greater than those of the U.S. Many are of ambiguous sexual orientation, but we figure it's worth a look at least, haha.

One final note, if anyone needs to or wants to contact me, my address through August 31st is:

Alix Toothman

15 Rue Therese

75001 Paris, France

Creative property?

Apparently I arrived in Paris at a rather hectic part of the creative cycle and thus spent my first two weeks at work making detailed crystal motifs (prototypes, essentially) that we recently sent off to a factory in Hong Kong for mass production. Although not the most difficult work in the world, it was incredibly tedious and I was quite happy when we finished the motifs and began actual design work! At first it sounded like I would be working primarily on two projects more related to product design (at least in J's mind): a commission for Vidal Sassoon's fashion week hair show (but for clothing) and another involving designing a compact for a British cosmetics company. However, J. discovered that I "am quite a good drawer" (her words) and thus I have instead spent the last two and half days drawing detailed designs for her next women's collection. Overall it's been pretty enjoyable and she's been very happy with what I've produced, but after two days of drawing in the same general style, I'll be happy to do something else soon! Below are some pictures of what I drew and which will be sent to India on Friday to be translated into beads and sequins. On the one hand it's pretty cool to think that something I drew will be fabricated and sold, but on the other hand it's a little weird that I won't get any credit for it! I guess it's the way fashion works in general (Ralph Lauren, Versace, Galliano - none do it alone) but it's kind of bizarre for me since generally I make things that I wear or give to people - so it's always accredited to me. Oh well.

The first picture is of a large piece that will run up the front of a dress (right) and the other will become either (or both) a piece of skin jewelry or an embellishment around a neck line. The second is a close up of the skin jewelry necklace, and the third is a close up of the large dress piece. I've also sketched some smaller designs that we will use as patches, as well as a design for a purse.

Flea Markets in Paris aren't so Flea-ey

Last Sunday I went to the Marche de Puce on the recommendation of my boss and some guidebooks, expecting an enormous flea market full of amazing treasures just waiting for someone willing to dig a little. Unfortunately, I found instead a giant flea market filled with thousand euro antique furniture, 150 euro bunt pans, and 80 euros dresses! The market was in fact about 12 smaller markets (both in and outdoors) spread over a huge area in northern Paris and contained tons of beautiful pieces, although I was disappointed that I didn't find more clothing vendors. The majority of the markets consisted of beautiful antique furniture or cheap modern goods a la Canal St. in NYC, so although it was definitely a worthwhile outing, it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. Perhaps I'll return when I'm looking to furnish my chateau in the French countryside.


I did find one great deal though: a crepe filled with cheese, egg, mustard, and a sausage - all for 4.50 euros. Very delicious and very fulfilling after hours of walking.

Who says the French are rude?

As I've alluded to in some previous posts, I've had some success in meeting a few French people, despite living and working with Anglophones. My first point of contact was the little picnic under the Eiffel Tour with the group Pour Vous Paris, and through that meeting I arranged a language buddy named Laurent, and possibly another named Alice. Laurent is a very amiable, Vietnamese French man in his late 20s, and very patient with my attempts at explaining myself in French. We had a lovely dinner at a Japanese Restaurant on the Left Bank and then met up with one of his friends at a cafe - also very funny and pleasant. It was not the most exciting evening, but it was very French, and very enjoyable - just shooting the shit with two nice French guys. AND to top off our first meeting, Laurent demonstrated his extreme good manners by offering to help me move into my new apartment the next day, thus saving me about 20 euros for a taxi!

We are planning to do something again this weekend (possibly free salsa dancing on one of the bridges over the Seine) and one of my new roommates might join us as she's also hoping to practice her French. I'm also meeting the young woman I met through the 3 Colorado boys tomorrow for coffee/drink after work, so hopefully that will go well and I'll have another friend!

Shopping and Gay Pride?

Aside from moving into my new apartment, I had a very enjoyable and active weekend. On Saturday I decided to walk around the area known as Le Marais and filled with some of my favorite boutiques (that I've discovered so far). Although I'm a fan of window shopping in general, "Les Soldes" are on right now, so there was a chance I might actually buy something. Les Soldes happen twice a year throughout France and appear to be organized by either the government or some businness group, for literally every single shop in Paris (and in Lyon last winter) puts a good deal of their stock on sale. Generally, the discounts are significant - from 30-60% and often it includes stuff from the current season.

However, despite my excitement at the concept of a city wide clothing sale in arguably the fashion capital of the world, I quickly tired of the chaos. Nearly every store I walked into was filled with people and looking through the racks resembled a shoving match. In addition, the dollar is currently being stomped on by the euro, so I soon realized that an item discounted by 35% in Euros, was essentially full price in dollars - rather disheartening. I still plan to keep my eyes out, for Les Soldes continue through August, but the first week required a bit too much physicality for my shopping enjoyment.

Thankfully, however, I stumbled upon an enormous gay pride rally right as I was beginning to feel particularly tired of shopping. There is nothing like emerging from a quiet, residential street onto a large avenue filled with thumping European techno music, flares, rainbow flags, and scantily clad men (although sadly, the majority of attendees seemed to be hipster French youth) to pick up one's spirits! Although confused and a little scared at first due to police sirens and the flares, I realized I had no choice but to walk past the crowd, as they had gathered at the Place de la Bastille, right near my former apartment. I didn't particularly feel like gyrating to the music, but it was certainly a site to behold and a nice topper to my long day of "lecher les vitrines" (the French equivalent of window shopping, literally meaning "to lick the windows").

I'm no longer a nomad!

So after two weeks of apartment hunting and waiting, I have finally moved into a wonderful apartment and will be here for the next two months! As you may have discerned from my previous posts, I arrived in Paris a bit naive of the difficulties of finding an appartment. In retrospect, I was probably lucky to have only spent a week living in the hostels (meeting some very nice travellers along the way) and the past week was spent very comfortably renting my own bedroom from an older British woman near the Bastille.

However, all that is done with and I am now situating myself in a four bedroom apartment in the heart of Paris (about three minutes from the Louvre). Although I was initially reluctant to live with other Americans, I realized that a certain degree of familiarity is actually very nice when otherwise surrounded by a fairly foreign environment. Thus, I am living with three girls from Harvard and I think we'll do quite well together. All three of them will be working (like me) and all three speak some degree of French and are looking to improve (also like me), so I'm hoping that we'll all make our own contacts (through work, etc) and then introduce them to each other. That might be an idealistic hope, but so far I've had some luck in meeting Parisians, so perhaps it will be the same for them.

As far as the actual location goes, the apartment is located on the 5th floor (no elevator!!) of a traditional old Parisian building. We each have our own large rooms, along with a decent sized kitchen, two bathrooms, and a living room. The only downside to this situation is that for some reason, the girls we are renting from decided to take all of their linens with them, so I just had to go buy sheets and pillows (incredibly cheap, low thread count ones, of course). Otherwise, I am quite happy and glad that I held out during those first two weeks. The neighboorhood is known to be a bit stuffy because it is generally home to wealthy older Parisians, but it's about five minutes from a bunch of bars and restaurants near the Opera Garnier and the Marais district. We are also about two minutes (or less) from Palais Royal, a HUGE old building of sorts that encloses a beautiful garden. Other than a few small, non descript entrances, it's very easy to pass right by the garden without ever knowing it. The entrance to the Palais Royal is right across the street from the Louvre, so I also intend to take advantage of its free Friday evenings at least a few times during my stay.

When I clean my room up a bit and actually unpack, I'll post some pictures. For now though, I'm just happy to know where I'm going to live for the next two months. And, after a fair amount of difficulty with Bank of America and their French partner bank, I've managed to pay for the two months of rent up front, so I that burden has been eliminated as well!

Le Marche Aligre

As I mentioned, I spent the last week living near the Bastille with an older English woman. The Bastille is a pretty lively area full of shops, restaurants and a variety of people. While the actual Bastille of Revoultion fame was demolished in the 1800s (I believe under Napoleon...) there is a large "place" in its former place and it serves as the round about for about 5 large avenues. Anyway, I was living on one of those Avenues called the Blvd. Faubourg - Saint Antoine and it just so happened that the apartment was about a block away from the cheapest farmers' market in Paris. Supposedly, hundreds of years ago, a church/mission/convent (something religious) needed money and decided to sell off a piece of their land to local merchants. However, they sold it on the condition that the merchants charge as little as possible for their goods, and thus the market is still the cheapest in Paris, while maintaining very good quality.

As you all know, I love food and love to cook, so a farmer's market right outside my door was amazing. Every morning I would walk through the stands and buy some fruits and vegetables for my breakfast and lunch - usually coming away with something like 2 peaches, 2 bananas, cherry tomatoes, a round of goat chesse, a croissant and a demi-baguette for less than 5 euros! Despite living farther away now, I plan to go during the weekends and stock up on fresh fruit for the week, because the prices really can't be beat.