An interesting character.

Last Sunday at the Writers Atelier, G asked us to talk about an interesting character in Paris we had met; who we would like to write about or view their life for a day. There were too many and I couldn't really think of any in particular, but I talked about the artist I met who ran an Atelier in a set of tiny rooms. The first was like an entrance room of 3metres squared, which led into a room of maybe 15 metres squared, where he had ten artists at easels, crammed into the space, painting different things. They stopped for tea and he passed around all these obscure postcards of artists and wanted people to tell him about them. Anyway, today I saw a much more intriguing character. I was walking along the street this morning on the way to Monoprix (the supermarket) for my groceries. I was walking along when I spotted this man walking then he stopped and turned and gave a little jump and ran on a few feet. Then he started walking along again as if normal; before stopping and repeating the process and then resumes walking and then stepping into a shop window to watch the street. It was a very interesting display to watch and I could not work out if he had a problem, or if he was just playing still. It is intriguing and makes me wish I could sometimes see inside certain people's heads for a day to see what they see.

On the Metro.

I have a love hate relationship with the Metro. I love it because it is such an easy system to use and you can get wherever you need to go relatively easily. I hate it when it is crowded and too many people pushing and shoving you. I love it in the quieter periods, where I can sit and indulge in one of my favourite pastimes of people watching. I love the interesting characters that you see, like the day there was a quaint old french man with his jaunty little hat humming the tune to La Vie en Rose, which was then in my head for the rest of the day. Tonight on the Metro, I witnessed one of the most graceful slides that I have seen. A man caught unawares went sliding back as the train took off and kind of glided towards the pole coming to rest against it with a graceful sweep of one leg crossing in front of the other, resulting in him nonchalantly leaning against the pole as if nothing had happened. Most impressive, as opposed to the one I witnessed the other night where there were a group of drunk middle aged Englishmen heading back after a night out the town. One of them lost his footing and went flying from one pole all the way down the middle of the train to the next pole. Of course in his inebriated state, it was the funniest thing in the world and it actually was quite funny. Anyway the Metro is a breeding ground for interesting characters; quick glimpses at other people's behaviour.

Book Launch

Tonight I went to a book launch at W.H Smith bookshop. It was an enjoyable evening the book is a compilation of journal entries and photographs taken by the author Michael Katarkis. Coming out of the bookshop afterwards I could feel a warmth in the air it was still cool but with a warmth to it as well. the weather is changing and spring is on its way finally. On the metro I started to read the book and would highly recomend it to anyone interested in unique snapshots into other worlds. Indeed I became so lost in the book that I missed my stop and had to change at a different stop to get home, which I nearly also missed. Oops but it is an enjoyable read.

Sundays!

Every Sunday afternoon I make my way slowly to the Marais to meet up with people from the writer's atelier. We meet in various cafes throughout the Marais for a coffee or wine and a chat. It is a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Paris. Sleep through the morning get up late meander around getting ready then stroll along to some metro stop and make my way idly to the Marais. Along the way yesterday I stumbled along an impromptu flea market set up at the bottom of my street. Stalls of beautiful old furniture, books and bric a brac. There were crates of beautiful china dinner sets, stalls of musty old books and piles of wooden furniture. What a lovely surprise for a Sunday stroll. I have grown to love Sundays, at first I hated that all the shops were shut and places deserted. However, I have grown to love the quietness of my Sunday ramblings and then at times the non quietness when you happen upon an area of bustling activity like yesterdays market or the activity when you eventually reach the Marais, which never seems to shut down. All in all I now enjoy my Sunday afternoons in Paris!

More sidewalk presents.

I've already blogged about how annoying the dog presents on the sidewalks of Paris are,but another pet hate of mine is the big gobs of spit everywhere that one also has to dodge. etween the Dog poo and the spit gobules on some pavements in Paris it is like you are doing a dance down the street, weaving back and forth in order to dodge them.

Hidden things!

All my good intentions to blog regulary quickly went out the window as it has been ages since I last added anything. One thing I have discovered over the weeks since I last wrote is that lots of the best places to go in Paris are hidden. Unless you are actually looking for a certain place because you have been told to go there you will just walk right on by. Even if you are looking for a place sometimes you still walk right on by. One such place is the Swedish cultural club overlooking the tuilleries, it is a private club, but opens its doors to the public on a wednesday night. when I went to this club I walked right past it a couple of times it is just in a normal apartment building you have to buzz in the big doors (everywhere in paris are buzz doors), which leads you to the courtyard of the apartment complex and from there you walk into one of the buildings and it is on the second floor. Thus, even when looking for this place it was extremely hard to find but worth it in the end. With two main rooms, one with a bar and one with a jazz band, it was an intersting experience. Other little gems include literary cafes in the heart of the Marais, tapas bars buried in Les Halles, backstreet artist ateliers, backrooms of dingy pubs where live starter bands perform. If you know where to look Paris is full of hidden gems and it is the journey towards finding them that makes life interesting.

A walk in the 14th and later a Marilyn moment!

Yesterday I went to another meetup group the new in town meetup. It was a walk around a certain part of the fourteenth arrondissement. This is actually the arrondissement where I am living luckily though it was a different area to those I usually frequent and was very insightful to see another side of Paris. Edward the organiser was showing us an area that is like a little village instead of a city in behind ugly modern buildings were little culsdesac of houses and little twisting laneways. We ended the walk in a cafe by parc Montsouris and it was a very pleasant way to spend a saturday afternnoon unfortunately it all came to an abrupt end with a sudden mass exodus, but four of us headed to china town(if you can call it that) for dinner. I have to say I'm not sure if we actually found china town or not because what we came across was a street with asian restaurants on it, I was expecting a bigger area like in Sydney or other major cities. On the way to china town I experienced a Marilyn moment when I walked across an airvent and my skirt blew up, thank goodness for leggings. All in all it was a good saturday afternoon in Paris.

I love the art deco patterning on this building.

A collection of houses.

For mum a london taxi in Paris

Men playing boules in the square.

A Natural spring where people collect their water.