Ten things I learnt last year

2013 was a year of change.

Every year comes with lessons to be learnt and when living in a foreign country those lessons crop up often...so here are a few things I learnt last year.

Number 1. Positive thinking actually works. One of my older and wiser students taught me this back in 2012 but it wasn't until mid-2013 that I really started to believe in how much it could change your life. By getting rid of my negativity I successfully got promoted, ended a toxic relationship that had already lasted too long, spent 5 months discovering who I really was, joined the gym, started writing my novel again and last but not least, met a wonderful guy. Life is too short to be negative Nancy, so snap out of it and you'll see what a difference a day of positive thinking makes.

Number 2. In France, if you want something done, be French about it, especially when it comes to administrative things. I have tried to take the British approach, to always be polite even in the most difficult situations but I finally realised you just have to be French if you want to accomplish anything. If someone yells at you on the phone, yell back. If someone says no, don't take no for an answer. If someone says it's not possible, don't believe them. If you need to do something and it involves paperwork, just keep pushing the person's buttons until it's done.

Number 3. Travel more, it's good for the soul. Last year I explored the South of France, Florida, Liverpool and London and definitely caught the travel bug. It helps you think, it helps me write and it made me determined to travel more. I have to if I ever want to finish my book...#inspiredbytravelling

Number 4. Laugh as much as your possibly can. Life can be really hard sometimes so laugh until your stomach hurts or your cheeks ache as often as you can. Surround yourself with those who make you happy, people that give you the giggles and people who make you snort with laughter at the most ridiculous things. Laughter really is the best medicine.

Number 5. Speaking another language  well is probably one of the best things in the world. When you achieve fluency in a language that's not your mother tongue it's such a great feeling. You feel like you've been accepted into the it crowd, you finally understand the inside jokes and can respond in the correct way and everyone thinks your accent is so charming - charmant. It completely changes your relationship with Parisians, who are renowned for their cold shoulder. When you speak French Parisians are warmer, friendlier, more interested in you and more willing to help (okay okay so they're still not as warm as us Brits or Yanks but for them it's a big step forward). Anyway, speaking the language still opens doors you didn't even know existed, doors that would otherwise remain closed forever. Learning someone else's language is the key to acceptance.

Number 6. Miley Cyrus is not cool. I'm not normally one to focus on celebrity things but Miley's downfall must have been one of the most talked about celeb stories of 2013. The girl has officially lost the plot. I understand that celebrities are under a huge amount of pressure but Miley takes the biscuit. What would ever possess someone to behave like she did at the VMAs? Sadly it seems to be a pathetic cry for attention, devaluing her status as a woman and establishing her not as a sex symbol (as she believes) but as a complete lunatic. It's such a shame because she was a beautiful girl with a beautiful voice, now she's a washed up celebrity that people can only criticise. The sad thing is that she doesn't realise that there is nothing sexier than a woman who is dignified (and not half naked). Her boyfriend left her because she lost total respect for herself and by doing so became unattractive, inside and out, so can you really blame him? Anyone would have run a mile.

Number 7. Appreciate your family at all times. I knew this already of course but I was all the more reminded of it last year. When your father has a heart attack (a small one but a heart attack even so) and your grandfather winds up in hospital twice for two different, serious things, you start to realise the men in your life (and the two most important men in mine) are not as invincible as you always thought. Care for them, listen to them, support them, make them a cuppa if they want one. Do everything they did for you and more, it's your turn to repay the favour.

Number 8. Find out what makes you happy and do it. People say I'm lucky because I love my job but honestly if I didn't I'd quit (yes even during the crisis!). Don't do a job that makes you miserable (even if the pay is good). Be fussy, don't settle for a job just because you need one, the right job is out there you just have to have the courage to go for it.

Number 9. Every girl needs a gay best friend. This seems like a weird thing to learn when you're 24 but when you come from Devon and never had a gay friend before in your life (even when at university), it's something that takes you a while to realise. Before I worked at Wall Street I'd never had a homosexual colleague or friend, so funnily enough it was quite taboo for me. Now it's normal, I adore all of my gay friends and don't find it strange that the majority of the men in our team are gay. In fact it makes my job all the more interesting as we spend a lot of time discussing the men in our lives and I give my opinion on their possible tinder hook ups.

Will & Grace

Number 10. Lastly I have to retract my previous blog (a bit). The most important thing I learnt is that not all French people don't know how to date. Now I don't admit this very often but, this time, I was wrong. Shortly after writing my last blog entry I met my now boyfriend and did everything in the blog that I said I wouldn't do because it was too French. Finally the French might have got it right. I never thought I'd say that but there you go. Yes they do things quickly, which in my blog I criticised, but when it feels right they don't hesitate, they just go with it. British and American couples have the tendency to stay together for a long time but without becoming official, causing them to question everything. The French

we-had-two-dates-so-now-we're-a-couple 

attitude is definitely better. You immediately know where you stand and can easily start to enjoy the relationship. Just because you're British doesn't mean you have to date like a Brit and just because you're French doesn't mean you have to date like a Frog. Try mixing the two dating cultures and maybe, like me, you'll be happier than ever.

See you soon bloggers! 

Why the French don't understand dating

Why are the French so hopeless when it comes to dating?

Perhaps it's due to the romantic stereotypes that surround Paris? Perhaps it's due the latin blood running through the veins of most Parisian men? Perhaps it's due to the city itself tearing couples apart with copious amounts of stress? Perhaps it's just down to pure arrogance? Whatever the reason I'm keen to find out.

I have to be honest and admit that it's not only my personal experiences that have led me to this conclusion, but the experiences of friends and colleagues. However, I will start with my own experience first. I first got involved with a French guy a few short months after I touched down in the city of lights. At the time I felt like it was quite an ordinary courtship. I frequented his bar over a period of 6-8 weeks until an invitation was placed on the table, or should I say, bar? However, looking back now I realise how bizarre it really was. After our first date we were inseparable, spending as much time as possible together, falling into what I like to call...the togetherness trap.

Lesson 1: don't spend too much time together

So what causes the togetherness trap? Girls desperately wanting a relationship? Guys wanting a serious commitment?  Or is it the French touch?

You're probably wondering what I'm talking about, but if you've ever dated a French person you should understand. Intensity seems to be their middle name. Nothing is done slowly or casually, but at high speed as if they believe the world will end tomorrow. I recently experienced something like this, where after two dates the person in question got very attached, very quickly. After our second date I received an 'I love you' text which, as you can all imagine, was a little bewildering. It's such a shame that some French people have the tendency to do this because what they don't seem to realise is that it sends us English girls running...
I actually tried to fix the situation, hoping that it was just a misunderstanding, a bad French-English translation. I tried to explain that English and French dating wasn't the same, that we took our time and didn't rush into things. In my mind honesty is (generally) the best policy. Unfortunately it went down like a lead balloon and that was that, another short-lived romance over before it even began.

Lesson 2: don't be too intense

On the other end of the spectrum I can sometimes see why people fall into the togetherness trap. French men are incredibly charming, that is something that I can't deny. They understand the power of flirtation, using eye contact so often you feel like they're reading into your soul on a regular basis. They also still use the 'wink' which in England is almost outdated as a flirtation technique, used generally by men trying to woo you in the street (not exactly a classy affair). In Paris however it's used carefully, not too much, not too little. When a French man winks at you correctly it normally causes a legs-turn-to-jelly effect, causing you to blush and relish in the attention you're receiving. That is, of course, if he's attractive. 

Make sure you select your French man carefully girls

When I discussed recent dating situations with English and Irish friends and colleagues in Paris I got similar responses - 

"You're lucky you didn't sleep with him or you'd be married by now"

"It's in their nature to be intense, I met my husbands parents after less than a month"

"It's nothing like dating an English guy, we can be casual for 6 months before even admitting that we're officially a couple, with the French it's normally under 6 weeks"

"You have to learn to go with it, c'est la vie"

Even my French colleagues nonchalantly admitted that dating for them is a very serious affair and not something that can be carried out casually. The thing that I found so interesting is the extreme difference between the British and French attitude to dating. If I'd explained the same situation to my friends in the UK they would have said - 

"Get shot of him as fast as you can"

"Haha you always attract crazy people"

"Oh dear that sounds intense"

They would never, under any circumstances, have told me to start dealing with it because that's just the way it is. What's a girl to do? I guess the only sensible answer is to find the best outcome from all the advice I've been given. 

One thing that's easy to admit is that I am in love. With a city. Paris is a place where you can get easily swept up in a romance. Adorable bistrots and cafes where the greats like Hemingway and Fitzgerald sat before you. Fruity red wine, desserts you can't pronounce and food that's melt-in-your-mouth delicious make it easy to fall in love with the city and with someone. It's even easier to fall for Paris' charm when the French language is fluttering seductively from people's lips. The important thing is not to fall too quickly!  Be prepared for whirlwind romances and je t'aimes early on but don't open your heart too easily. French men are renowned for their infidelity and even if commitment is placed on the table at an early stage it's not a guarantee that they won't cheat. I'm not a cynic (even if I may sound like one in this last paragraph) but after three years in France I'm a realist. Prendre ton temps, take your time and don't be afraid to teach French men the beauty of being easy going.

Good luck fellow singletons and maybe one day we'll understand dating the French.

Why, when and where to go in the South of France

To finish an old blog that I forgot about here is my mini-guide to the South of France. Or at least, a guide to the places I visited during a holiday this year. All photos taken by yours truly!

Rennes les Bains

A small spa town, 30 miles from Caracasonne, Rennes les Bains is a beautiful and peaceful place to visit. Historically it was home to a number of Roman baths and people believed that leprosy could be cured with the water that came from the thermal baths. In actual fact most people were suffering from eczema and the high mineral content in the water did relieve the symptoms. Today these baths are no longer in use but people can still bathe in the water which goes directly into the river Sals (free of charge)! You can park just as you arrive in the small town, which I would recommend as there is no other car park if you continue driving! From the car park you can see a beautiful, new turquoise pool which is kept at a wonderful 30 degrees and is the perfect place to relax and have a swim. It's also not expensive so you can spend as much time as you like visiting the pool. There are only two hotels which are both quite quaint but great value for money and very well located. I recommend the Hotel de France which cost us only 45 euros a night (for 2 people) http://www.hotel-rennes-les-bains.com/ As far as restaurants go there are 3 in the town, a pizzeria which was great and ideal when you want to have a relaxing night in, a typical French restaurant where you can eat confit de canard and a little French cafe in the main square (which was interestingly a Roman market place in the past). I would highly recommend visiting this town, just make sure you have a car!

Carcassonne

Carcassonne is a fortified city in the Aude department of France. The town itself is separated into the medieval city and the ville basse (the lower city). The medieval city is what you really need to visit as it really is very impressive and after being restored in 1853 is still extremely well preserved. The city was built with towers and barbicans to prevent attack, one of the towers eventually being used for torturing people and therefore became known as The Inquistion Tower. Looking at the city now it's hard to believe that it was once in such disrepair that it was ordered to be demolished! Luckily there was an uproar against the decision in 1849 and the people protested to preserve the fortress as a historical monument. Today you can still enjoy the beautiful view and the traditional layout of the city itself. Well worth a visit. I'd recommend staying at the Trois Couronnes, a great hotel located very close to the medieval city and close enough to walk to and from the train station. http://www.hotel-destroiscouronnes.com/

Collioure 

Collioure is a commune in the Pyrenees-Orientales department in Southern France, lying on the Mediterranean. From Rennes les Bains it was a good 3 hour drive but it was well worth the trip. It was, unfortunately, quite difficult to park and after driving around for almost half an hour we decided to park at the very top of the hill and walk down into the town which didn't take too long at all. Being so close to the border between France and Spain the town itself has a very Spanish feel and the weather definitely felt like we were in Spain - with the sun shining from all angles! The town itself has a very antique feel, with cobbled streets, narrow alleyways and archways. The sea is a clear blue, surrounded by a pebbled beach and a huge clock tower that extends outwardly into the sea. After a seafood lunch next to the beach we took a walk around the town itself, eating ice cream and looking in a few of the nick-nack shops. It really is one of the prettiest towns I have ever seen. Interestingly enough there is also an army barracks there, so we regularly passed soldiers in the middle of their training exercises. I had also planned to stop off in Perpignon but I wasn't overly impressed when we drove through it so I decided on Collioure instead and seriously, it was a good decision! I would highly recommend visiting this town if you have the chance. 

The gorgeous, green South

Part II

As we woke on the Thursday morning we packed up our bags and headed back into the centre of Carcassonne. We'd rented a car for the next 4 days and needed to pick it up. I was, admittedly, a little nervous because I hadn't driven in quite a while and not in France for 2 years...so I was slightly worried about swerving into a bush or knocking someone off their bicycle. It turned out that the company gave us a new Peugeot 206 (just like mine at home, except being more modern and the sporty version). I immediately felt more comfortable and just told Guillaume to warn me if I started to sway to the right too much. After dropping our bags in the boot we set off in the direction of Rennes les Bains. I was a little concerned as we had no real map but Gui was quite sure he remembered the way so I put my trust in his elephant-like memory.

We arrived around an hour later at a small mountain village, surrounded by hills in the middle of nowhere with a river sweeping through the middle of it. It was an incredible sight and it took me a while to get used to the idea that we were actually staying there, for a few days at least. We entered our hotel, only one of two in the village and moved into our large but quaint room. We had a big balcony that we shared with two other rooms but as we were the only guests in the hotel we had it all to ourselves! It was a quiet period in the hotel, hence why we were alone and the vielle dame who ran the hotel recognised Guillaume from the year before. She was very kind and accommodating although sometimes difficult to understand due to her southern accent! I think the only negative was that it was very cold in our room on the first night but that quickly improved with the help of an electric heater and the sun shining through our long, high window.

Our hotel in the middle on the left

I can't remember the exact order we did things in but I remember that we took a long walk all around the village breathing in the fresh air. It was strange but the fresh air, the sun and the peaceful ambiance soon made us relax entirely, so entirely that we very quickly fell asleep that night after picking up a fresh pizza from the one and only pizzeria in town...Oh how I loved village life already.

The beautiful village

Discovering the South

For my birthday this year my other half offered me a trip to the South of France. I'd been before as a child but not for many years so we booked some time off together and decided to take a break from the hustle and bustle of Paris and our lives here. It was much needed, as was a bit of sun!

We left Paris early on Wednesday morning, 6.20am to be exact, and took the train down to Montpellier. Luckily Gui had been working and I didn't sleep a lot at my friend's (I was paranoid I would miss my alarm) so we both slept like babies on the train, waking up 3 hours later just before arriving at the station. We had a quick changeover onto a smaller train headed to Carcassonne and viola before midday we had arrived in the south, don't you just love the TGV?

Fast and futuristic trains in France, my favourite way to travel.

We'd decided to stay in Carcassonne overnight so we had time to explore the Medieval City which was beautiful. Our hotel was incredible with an enormous bed which felt like sleeping on a marshmallow mattress, a cute little balcony and even a swimming pool. We quickly freshened up and headed out to check out the city and soak up some sun. The city itself was beautiful with cobbled stone walls and floors, a huge well, arena and garden plus a beautiful view of the surrounding area. The sun was blazing down on us by one 'o' clock and I could already feel myself burning a little, what a difference a day makes - from gloomy Paris to the sunny south. Gui had a restaurant in mind for lunch  which we located in a beautiful little terrace area covered in sunlight. We both took  the same meal lamb shank with couscous and red peppers which was absolutely delicious! We'd only been in the south a few hours and we already knew we wouldn't want to leave when the time came. After exploring the city for a few hours we headed back to the hotel, I went for a swim while Gui took a nap and we both thoroughly relaxed. Unfortunately it was a bank holiday so when we tried to go for dinner most things were closed! So we grabbed a sandwich and an early night as we knew we would have to be up early to check out and pick up the car! Time to drive!

The view from our hotel

Yummy lunch

View from the medieval city

Frenchie - no not me, the wine bar and restaurant

Apologies first of all for being MIA during the entire month of March but it's been a busy time for me. First of all we had our family holiday to Florida which was great, I even have a little bit of a tan so I am no longer pale and sickly looking, hooray! Unfortunately as soon as I got back from my lovely, relaxing holiday it was straight back to work and I feel like I've had my head in a pile of books ever since. Anyway...I'm back now and I'd like to tell you all about some recent discoveries of mine.

There are so many blogs I want to write but I think tonight I'll have to start with a blog about the metro station of SENTIER. Don't worry I won't spend 500 words explaining how homeless men frequent the metro stations of Paris, in reality this blog is going to be about an area that I never even knew existed before last week and how quickly I've fallen in love with it. 

A couple of weeks ago I met Denali at Sentier for an after-work drink. She said she knew a little wine bar where we could grab a drink and being two stops from my work it was the perfect location. We went to a little bar called Frenchie which I'd never heard of and that you would honestly never find if you didn't know it was there. The road is tiny and apart from the bar itself and it's adjoining restaurant (opposite) there is little else on the road. When we arrived the bar was already pretty packed and I was surprised when the waitress approached us and seemed to have some kind of weird accent. We spoke in French at first and I quickly realised she was actually American so we switched to English. We couldn't get a table as it  was too busy but she took our name and gave us a number, explaining that she would come and get us when a table freed up. We placed ourselves at the bar and were again greeted by another fellow expat - a Canadian girl who was really friendly and even let us try some wine before we decided to go for a delicious full bodied red.

The bar has such a pleasant atmosphere and very friendly staff which makes the whole experience very enjoyable. The menu is simple but exquisite with lots of peculiar French dishes that sounded mouth-watering. After pouring over the menu we finally decided to go with a cheese board (including 3 different cheeses) which was absolutely divine. The bread was delicious, it wasn't your standard French baguette it was huge and dark almost like rye bread and we gazed at the waitress as she cut small slices of heaven for us and placed them in a rustic looking basket. Washed down with the delicious wine we chose it couldn't have been better. The American girl finally came back and offered us a table but we'd got so comfortable at the bar, laughing and joking with other expats and receiving regular top ups of wine that we decided to stay put. I think the only downside was the lack of space, you really need to get their early or you can't get a seat or place at the bar and the price of the wine - 8 euros a glass (!!!!) - which they don't tell you when you are tasting it! But honestly, if you want good food, good wine, good service and a good atmosphere Frenchie is the place to be.

RESTAURANT et bar a vin FRENCHIE
5-6, RUE DU NIL 75002 PARIS
TÉL. : +33 (0)1.40.39.96.19
MÉTRO 3 : SENTIER

http://www.frenchie-restaurant.com/

French doctors like to throw drugs at patients

Last week I started writing a blog about the French Health Care System and how impressed I was with it. Unfortunately that was when I thought that I was getting better and when I thought my doctor actually cared if I lived-or-died. So here is where my long, tiring and costly story begins.

2 weeks ago on Monday I started having chest pains, I didn't really think much of it as the temperature was near to freezing so it was no surprise that I couldn't breathe well. After a few days the pain hadn't gone away and I started feeling unwell so I decided to go to the doctor for a check-up. I went to the walk-in centre at St Lazare, booked myself an appointment, paid 23 euros and as instructed, took the elevator up to the first floor to wait. Waiting to see a doctor in France is quite a bizarre experience, I felt like I was waiting to receive plastic surgery or maybe some kind of teeth whitening procedure. Very unlike how you feel in a UK waiting room.

A waiting room in England...

In a UK waiting room the colours are really bland, there is normally green or yellow on the walls which doesn't particularly help if you're already feeling queasy. In France the colours are bright and the room clinically white which strangely makes you feel slightly brighter, even when you feel like merde. Anyway as much as I'm praising the surgery itself the doctor was unfortunately not so helpful. I asked specifically to have a doctor who spoke a little English, if possible. Although my French is good it's sometimes difficult to explain certain things, especially medical terms and I knew my friend Monique had been to the same surgery and spoken to a doctor only in English so I thought I'd be in luck. Unfortunately my doctor had other ideas. I explained that I was English, that I could speak French but might need to speak in English if I had any problems. He just nodded, continued to chatter away in French and when I didn't understand the word souffler completely ignored my question and moved swiftly on to the next. After a quick chest examination, he explained very rapidly what drugs he would give me and where I should go for a radio. He shoved an arret du travail (a sick note) and a prescription in my hand and ushered me out the door. Ten minutes flat and although I had a list of medication that I should take I wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with me.

Finally it was the pharmacist who explained that the prescribed antibiotics meant that I probably had a chest infection (thank you for explaining Doctor, it's not your job or anything). Unfortunately the pharmacist turned out to be not so helpful either, even though she explained what maladie I had she also gave me the wrong antibiotics (for children not adults), which I only discovered when I got home. Fail.com

So finally on Friday morning I got the correct antibiotics and headed to work feeling slightly better. Then it all went downhill from there...Saturday bad, Sunday worse, Monday even worse. I went to work on Monday feeling awful and it was agreed that I wouldn't work on Tuesday so that I could go BACK to the doctors. Something clearly wasn't right...antibiotics should make you feel better not worse! Luckily David gave me the number for his doctor in the 18th who he highly recommended so I hoped to finally get some answers and god forbid...get better!

Tuesday was unfortunately 'sans rendezvous' (no reserved appointments) so I arrived when the surgery opened guessing that would be enough in advance. I opened the door of the waiting room and to my surprise (and shock) there were already at least 10 people in the room. At first I didn't understand how this whole waiting-in-the-room worked. "How would I know when it was my turn?" I thought to myself. After a good 10 minutes of confusion the next person came in and asked "C'etait qui la derniere?" (Who came in last, basically) and I finally realised that when you enter you ask who was just before you and then keep a beady eye on them to know when it's your turn. Simple, non?

I was relieved to see that this rather peculiar system confused even the pro's. The older women in the room kept asking "Am I next?" or "Are you next and then I'm after you?" Who can blame them really, after 2 hours in a room full of sick people, even my head was starting to spin. Yes you read that right, 2 HOURS is how long I waited in the doctor's surgery; it was January, every Tom, Dick and Harry was sick.

Finally when my turn came around I practically dived into the doctor's office. Dr Bocarra however, was definitely worth the wait. He was incredibly nice and 100% professional, making me realise how poor the first doctor I had seen actually was. He asked me about 20 questions before he even started to examine me and even complimented my French :-) He was pretty annoyed when I showed him the antibiotics from the other doctor and said that he never should have given me those. He explained that I had bronchitis and needed strong antibiotics, nasal spray, cough medicine and allergy pills, plus the rest of the week off work. I thanked him repeatedly, paid my 33 euros and off I went to the next stop - the pharmacy.

All the medication I needed came to a grand total of 56 euros which I reluctantly handed over, while the pharmacist explained that it was so expensive because of the antibiotics I needed (he must have registered the shock on my face). So finally 89 euros down, I headed home, broke (je suis a sec/j'ai plus un radis) and defeated.

The grand total - so four days off work (with no sick pay), 15 euros for meds + 26 euros for the first doctor + 89 euros for the second doctor and meds makes Chloe a poor girl!! The French System will normally reimburse about 70% of your payments but in my case, as I'm still waiting for my carte vitale (which would be better called Card from Hell) I get nothing, zero, nada, rien. But don't worry when you finally do get your card you can buy a Louis Vuitton bag with all the money the government owe you.

Mon dieu. Take your vitamins friends!

Happy New Year-Bonne Annee!

New Year's Resolution Number 1 - Do less thinking, do more writing.

It's been nearly two and a half years now since I started my blog and moved to Paris. Part of me can't believe that I'm here; that I have a grown-up job, my own apartment, my own bills to pay and weirdest of all - I can actually speak French. But don't misunderstand, it hasn't always been easy and French, I guess, will never be 'easy'. If I'm entirely honest I didn't really become independent until the end of 2012. In my first year as an au pair I had a family to rely on, in a lot of my second; a French boyfriend who knew the ropes and finally in the summer of '12 everything suddenly became my responsibility. I can safely say that at first I freaked-the-hell-out and wondered how I would manage everything, I also seriously contemplated leaving and going either back to the UK or to another country altogether. However, with some amazing friends by my side and a bit of a wake up call I got my act together and here I am, bringing in the New Year with some great new friends, two little bar jobs and lots of new opportunities in my teaching job. 2013 feels like it's going to be my year :-)

So I guess I should tell you my resolutions for this year. A few of them are pretty typical and are probably a lot of people's resolutions but that's what New Year is all about, a new start, right?

1. Do less thinking about what I'm going to write and do more actual writing
2. Lose weight (standard resolution)...but seriously, I'm going to America in March and I don't want resemble a baby whale
3. Travel within France more. Sometimes I feel like I never leave Paris and I have a travel card so no more excuses. Book time off in the summer and go South.
4. Improve my French with my DIF hours. A lot of people say that my French is good but honestly it could be better. I speak well but I need to study more to improve my grammar :-/
5. Discover new bars and brasseries. When you know people in Paris you tend to frequent the same bars and almost accidentally stop venturing outside of the areas you know.
6. Run at least once, if not twice per week
7. Start playing the piano again
8. Go to Ireland/1
9. In the words of Bridget Jones "Will find nice sensible boyfriend and stop forming romantic attachments to any of the following: alcoholics, workaholics, sexaholics, commitment-phobics, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits and perverts."
10. Decide which country I'm going to next.

I know ten is probably a few too many resolutions to have but I have a whole year and I feel like the more resolutions I have, the more likely I will be to actually keep some of them.

Anyway New Year's Eve was great , Lydia and Chantelle were here and we celebrated in style. Lots of champagne, a few too many shots and good friends made New Year a perfect evening. It's very different to NYE at home, no fancy dress and sadly no Auld Lang Syne but we glammed ourselves up and had a fabulous night anyway. Cheers to 2013 :)

Des faux stéréotypes des Français

. 

1. They all smell like garlic (or worse) 

This, believe it or not, is not true. It's somewhat similar to the British stereotype that says we all drink tea. Yes, a lot of people DO drink tea but with a population of around 50 million you can't expect everyone to enjoy a brew just because the Queen does. It's the same with the French. You will sometimes encounter people, especially in the metro, who smell quel surprise but not all the time! I take the metro/train/bus everyday and rarely get a whiff of anything nasty. The most common problem is the metro stations themselves that smell because they haven't been cleaned or because homeless people live and shelter inside them. On Tuesday night I passed a homeless man in the metro  who was not so discreetly peeing into a crisp packet. However, generally speaking the French do not smell and they only smell like garlic when they eat snails, as anyone does.

2. French women don't shave their armpits

I've been in Paris for over 2 years now and I've yet to meet a woman who doesn't shave her armpits. They are definitely more focused on natural beauty than we are; they wear less make up, they make being glamorous look easy and their beauty is very subtle...but as much as they uphold natural beauty they do shave their armpits. Part of me wishes they didn't, it would make life so much easier for us. Yesterday when trying to slide the lid back on my razor I missed and slice all the skin off my little finger...it wouldn't stop bleeding and it still hurts now :-( Whoever said no pain, no gain was absolutely right. 

3. The French are rude

Okay so French people can be a bit impolite but who isn't compared to us Brits?! We apologise just for breathing and always say please and thank you to anyone and everyone. As I explained in my previous blog this 'misunderstanding' about French behaviour is actually due to quite a large cultural divide. If the English or Americans made even a small effort to learn basic French words they would soon see that the French are not as rude as everyone thinks. They're rude to lazy foreigners who think that being English means they don't have to make any effort to speak any other languages when they travel the world. Imagine a French person coming to the UK and refusing to speak in English, what would you think? What a tosser. That's what you'd think and that's why sometimes people are rude to you in France. So...as much as I adore England and my English friends, get off your high horse and learn a second language, then see if their behaviour towards you is different. 

4. The French hate the Americans

This is actually completely wrong. Since France refused to go to war with Iraq you could argue that it's the Americans who dislike the French. I actually asked a few French people about this because I was quite shocked to discover this information during my research into French stereotypes. The French don't hate the Americans but they also don't think they are the most intelligent of our species and to be honest, it seems to be the tourists behaviour in Paris that give the Yankees a bad name. France has embraced all the big franchises such as MacDonalds nicknamed MacDo to sound more French, KFC, Subway, Starbucks, Hollister and Abercrombie into their society and understand that by doing so they can help to boost the economy. Young people also try to emulate the Americans and American films are extremely popular in France. 

5.  French toilets are disgusting

I remember my first date with my French ex-boyfriend. He took me to a lovely little brasserie on Rue Mouffetard and we had a couple of drinks overlooking the square. I thought I'd better use the bathroom before we went to dinner so off I went to find the toilet. At first I thought I'd entered the mens, this couldn't possibly be the ladies, could it?!? What I found was a hole-in-the-ground squatting toilet. Apparently they are quite popular in France but this was the first one I'd encountered. Needless to say I didn't use the bathroom here and prayed that the restaurant would have a normal loo. To my relief I soon discovered that these kind of toilets are very traditional French cafes and brasseries. Most places have normal toilets! Thank goodness!

6. All French people smoke

A lot of people do still smoke in France and it's definitely more present than in the UK. There's a BNP just next to where I work and I don't think I've ever walked past without seeing someone smoking outside, maybe they're just very stressed?! However it's definitely changed since the law prohibiting smoking in public places was introduced in 2007. I have a lot of friends who used to smoke and now don't and at least people can't smoke in bars anymore! It makes it much easier for people in France to quit smoking now. 

7. French women are stick thin

In general I think French women are thinner than girls back home. The majority seem to be around a size 6-8 whereas in the UK I would guess the national average is around 10-12, it's only a small size difference but it's definitely noticeable. I've never been a skinny girl but somehow in France I haven't gained weight. I drink wine and I eat cheese but I don't really gain a lot...it's bizarre. I honestly think it's the way of life. I often don't have dinner because of my weird work schedule (I don't get home until 9 or 10pm) so I always make sure I have a nice big lunch and often just have a cup of tea and a bit of chocolate in the evening. I guess this is why I haven't become a Camembert-resembling human being...yet. 

8. French people wear berets while riding bicycles with baskets full of baguettes

I'm quite sure that anyone who comes to Paris expects to see the stereotypical image of a French person riding a bicycle. Thanks to the amazing Velib system there are literally bikes and people on bikes everywhere you look and generally speaking they are carrying baguettes in their panier. The one thing they are definitely NOT doing is wearing berets. Honestly in 2 years I've probably seen a maximum of 4 people wearing a beret and most of the time they've clearly been tourists. I'm embarrassed to say the first time I came to Paris in 2004 I bought a grey beret and I'm pretty sure it's still at home somewhere...I think it's a tradition that just faded out in Paris.

9. The French won't speak English and will laugh at your French

This is 100% NOT true. French people always try to speak English even if you speak to them in French. It wasn't until I could really speak French well that people finally stopped replying in English and even now if they hear just a hint of my British accent they often say ohhhh vous venez d'ou? Cover blown - damn it. I think a lot of foreigners think they aren't very patient because of their mannerisms. When you speak to them in French they will often say Quoi?? Ehh?? or Pardon?? but it's not to be rude it's just their way of letting you know that they don't really understand so you need to repeat, speak more loudly or speak in English. 

10. Mimes are everywhere 

I have, kind of sadly, never seen a mime in Paris. Some random statue people who move when you put money in their pot/hat and a talented football player at Montmartre but no help-I'm-trapped-in-a-room mimes. Maybe they're all hiding out in some secret Mime cave...you never know, this is Paris after all.

                                                                   

Stereotypes about the French that are true

Before I begin I would just like to say that this blog is in no way intended to be offensive or critical of the Frenchies. These are simply my personal observations and the  French stereotypes that have been confirmed during my stay in France. My next blog will focus on the stereotypes that we got wrong.. Alors, on y va!

I am zee frog and I like to smoke zee cigarette wiz a beret on my head

THINGS THAT ARE TRUE ABOUT THE FRENCH

1. They eat a lot  but they don't get fat

This is something that I found hard to believe at first but it is in fact true. I remember in the early days of my life in France I would watch my host family, friends and boyfriend devour piles and piles of food almost always accompanied by some kind of wine or champagne. It was such a surprise to see people follow the 'set menu' so closely and on top of that, to do it and to not get fat. It wasn't until I did some extra reading that I discovered the tricks of the French trade. 

If you eat with the French be prepared for a big meal because you will most certainly have 3 courses and you will probably have the whole shebang. A French dinner traditionally consists of: The l'aperitif - a small alcoholic drink to stimulate the taste palette, l'entree - the starter, le plat/le plat principal - the main dish (plus at least one if not 2 bottles of wine), le plateau de fromages - the cheese board or tray, le dessert - the dessert, le cafe - the coffee (often served with dessert) and last but not least le digestif - an after dinner spirit such as cognac. Before you ask, yes I have done and managed to do this, several times. When curiosity got the better of me I started thinking about how they (and I) weren't obese yet and this is what I found out. Apparently the French way of eating is how we should ALL be eating. The French don't inhale their food like we or the Americans do, they take their time to eat all the courses and eat different dishes to ensure that their body is digesting their food correctly. It's very important in France to have an aperitif and a digestif, as if you are telling the body that the meal is beginning and ending. So what if dinner takes 3 hours??? In France 'take out' food is very uncommon. Giving food your time and patience is top of their list. 

2. They drink a lot of wine (maybe gallons)

This is certainly true, adding on to what I said about their eating habits the French like a little tipple. They definitely drink more wine than us, probably because the wine is so much better and a lot cheaper here (you can get a good Bordeaux for 4 euros). But again, I quickly discovered how they do it. The French don't binge drink, viola, simple. Yes they drink an obscene amount of wine but it's all in moderation and it's all whilst they are eating food. I've rarely seen French people just drinking wine without eating or at least intending to eat. In England we often drink wine to be drunk, knowing that one bottle (in my case anyway, in my sister's and mother's it's two) can be a cheap and fun way of getting drunk quickly and the effects lasting all night and most of the next day. Wine headache. I've been at a lot of dinners with 3 or 4 people where we've consumed a huge amount of wine but thanks to the coffee and the digestif and all the food I've never been drunk OR hungover. There is so much pleasure to be found in eating well and drinking a good French wine. Ahh c'est la vie. 

3. The French love love

According to a survey by Durex, French people have more sexual encounters annually than Americans. This might not seem too surprising but when you think that the United States total area is 9,629,048 square kilometres and France's area (mainland) is about 551,000 square kilometres...it's a bit more of a shock. Oh and that you could fit all of France into Texas (just ONE state in America), well...that's a lot of sex the French are having. Unfortunately their addiction to love means that they are generally, famously unfaithful. I say generally because I don't like to tar everyone with the same brush  but after speaking to a number of people the general consensus  seems to be that they are great lovers but not so wonderful partners, especially if the word commitment is involved. 

4. They eat snails and foie gras 

Yes, they do indeed eat snails and other specialities like foie gras. However there seems to be a general impression in England and America that it's all they eat and it definitely isn't. These kind of things are reserved for special occasions and are not served in every restaurant. Foie gras is expensive and snails are a 'typical' dish but they are both mostly found in traditional French restaurants. I think tourists eat more snails than the French actually do. 

5. They eat oysters and drink champagne on Christmas day

This year I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go home for Christmas so for a while I was thinking about how I would celebrate Christmas here. A friend very kindly offered for me to stay with his family for Xmas but when he explained about the oysters I was a little unsettled. Don't knock it until you try it I guess but I think I'll stick with smoked salmon and Dad's mackerel pate. 

6. They love paperwork 

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork party. The French absolutely LOVE paperwork, to the point that I think, if it was possible, the President of the Republique might make a bank holiday especially for the people who spend their lives cajoling you for your documents. For example, I would like to have a 'carte vitale' (a health card) here, sounds simple enough right? Wrong. I've been here for over two years and I STILL don't have my card. They want an original birth certificate (and not just the healthcare system) the retirement people too so I have to pay for new documents (which just to add I will never get back even if I leave France). They want your first and last three payslips, a copy of your contract, an attestation from your employer (because the contract isn't enough of course), a copy of your passport (must be recto-verso) and much much more. Oh and the best thing is, when I finally get my card I have to send off ALL my medical bills from the last two years so I can be reimbursed. Honestly the French healthcare system is good when you are finally accepted but my god, their attitude towards paperwork is just anal. The people on the phone are also not the friendliest or most helpful so a lot of time is lost just from being misinformed. 

7. People can be a bit racist

Again, just to emphasise, this is not all French people. However, when walking through the ticket barrier at Opera every night I see people getting stopped by the ticket controllers. This wouldn't be a problem if the people had been passing through without a ticket or jumping the barrier but the controllers aren't asking for that, they are asking for their identity papers. I understand that France wants to control the amount of immigrants in the country but does that justify stopping people and demanding their papers because of the colour of their skin?! I have never been stopped because I'm white but the funny thing is, I don't have a French identity card and I haven't carried ID since I lost my driving license so I could easily be an immigrant. Obviously I'm not and I have the right to be here because I'm from another part of the EU but how can they know that from the colour of my skin? The judging a book by its cover mentality is what I dislike. 

8. Paris is the most romantic city in the world

If you are lucky enough to be in love in Paris, Paris really IS the most romantic city you'll ever visit. There are people snogging EVERYWHERE. If you're single you find yourself very agitated by these people,.I don't sit there thinking 'oh how cute' I sit there thinking 'Gosh...couldn't you just do that at home and not on the metro?!' French people have no shame, I had a couple sit next to me on the RER once and I ended up having to move because they were so intense that I actually started to feel uncomfortable. I guess I'm still a British prude at heart. I'll kiss someone on the metro or on the bus or even in the street but if it's very intimate I don't feel like it should be entirely public, so please people sucking face, do it at home.  

9. They are very impatient and they don't know how to queue

Oh yes, this one must be one of the most correct stereotypes about the French, including of course the famous French 'sigh.' Note to all; never, ever, go to a post office with a French person. I have first hand experience of this and although funny it was a lesson learnt. Now, just like in England, the French post offices are very slow. The people, just like the post, move at snail pace and if you are not a patient person it is very difficult to stay calm. My ex is not the most patient person ever and to be fair to him the people in front of us seemed to be particularly special that day but his reaction was ust comedy gold. I could feel him getting agitated as the woman in front of us was taking forever and claimed she 'had never sent a package before' so needed full, child-like guidance on how to do it. I think we were in a hurry because he had to go to work, I don't really remember but for some reason we needed to send our letter quickly and this lady was the only obstacle in the way. I reassured him that she would be finished soon enough and we would be first in the queue after her. Then, we got the queue-pushers. In France they don't understand what it means to queue, they think a queue is just people standing around in formation for no reason. I watched a woman push in front of around 30 people once and when she was yelled at she explained simply that 'she had no time to queue.' WOMAN ON A MISSION! I had to laugh at the sheer audacity of this woman, as if the other people couldn't possibly be busy too. Anyway, so these people tried to push in front of us, I could feel his palm sweating in my hand but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. All the French people, including my ex, started yelling at the queue pushers "Eh, il y a un queue la-bas!!" "Vous faites quoi??" "Incroyable." It was like a customer war and I just didn't know where to look or rather, hide. French 'sighs' were being issued all over the place (the French sigh is great it's about 5 times as strong as a normal sigh and so loud you could probably here it at the other side of the room). Finally we got served and I tried to usher my ex out of the PO before anything else happened. 

10. Last but not least, they aren't as rude as people think but they can be a tad impolite

Everyone says the French are really rude and it's sort of what you expect to receive before you arrive in France. In fact they are not as rude as everyone makes out. Unfortunately it's a bit of a language barrier between English and French and I finally understood why this misconception exists when I started speaking the language. French is MUCH more direct than English, we cushion everything with nice words to make our sentences and phrases very polite, the French do not. For example, even to a friend I would say 'can you hold this for me please?' whereas, if it's familiar, the French say 'tiens' meaning take this. The first time someone said that to me I thought they were being very rude because I would never say 'hold this' to someone but in fact it's just the language! The only thing that grates on me is men's attitude to women sometimes. In England if a man goes through a door before you they will hold the door and if you have a huge, heavy suitcase or a pushchair they will carry it up the stairs. In France they let the door smack you in the face (this happened to me in my first year as I didn't even think about the possibility that the guy might not hold the door) and I've encountered women who have waited for 20 or so minutes before I offered to help them. I'm always helping girls my own age, women with pushchairs and elderly people carry things. I dread to think how long they would wait if I didn't offer and it's quite shocking how surprised they are when I help them! 

Anyway as I said this is not ALL French people and I'm only generalising what I have observed, I have wonderful French friends who are polite, kind, funny, faithful and they even binge drink with me sometimes! I hope you enjoyed my anecdotes about les francais...and if you're French that you didn't take any offence :-) 

Exploring Greenhouses

My Green Thumb

Everyone knows someone who 'has a green thumb' or as the French would put it 'avoir la main verte' (literally to have a green hand). In our family I would say it's my mum and I, although we are still learning. When I was growing up we didn't have a very large garden. First we lived in a little cottage with almost no garden at all and after when we had a reasonable sized garden my sister and I insisted on having a 'summer house' so we could 'move' into it temporarily and play with our dolls all day in peace (the house consequently taking up most of the garden space). As a result the plants we took care of were pretty basic... hydrangeas,  geraniums, lavender etc. and the extent of our gardening was pulling up weeds with mum and watching Dad mow the lawn. We also had a Jack Rusell called Mylo at this point so any nice plants were destroyed by him urinating on them anyway. I didn't really realise how much I enjoyed gardening and being surrounded by nature until a) we moved into our now, current house and b) I moved away to Paris.                

The cottage we lived in was the 4th from the right (shown by the arrow), it's so small and covered with hanging baskets you can barely see it but that's where I lived for the first 4 years of my life :)

I suppose I never realised how lucky I was to live in Devon until I moved to Paris. We live in the South-West of England and are physically enclosed by the coast on one side and the countryside on the other. We live a maximum of five minutes from the beach (with a view of the sea from the house) and only a twenty minute drive from Dartmoor National Park. My sister and I went to a school that was in the middle of nowhere and to quote the website is placed in the foothills of Dartmoor yet in the heart of Devon’s glorious countryside. Moving away  makes you realise what you had and how grateful you should have been for it! The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Paris was the lack of green space and if I hadn't discovered Jardin des Plantes I may not have stayed. It sounds dramatic but when you are so accustomed to having so much green around you the city's polluted, grey air is not a welcome sight. 

Finding Green Spaces

As most of you know I've been visiting the Jardin des Plantes for a long time now and I've had a year pass (the zoo included) for the past 2 years. I love the garden itself and the zoo even more so but recently I have to admit I've thought about cheating on the JDP with another garden...quel horreur. I don't want to become bored of the JDP so we're having a break and while the weather is nul I've decided to visit some other parks and greenhouses, starting with the Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil.

Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil

I've wanted to go to this garden ever since I read about it on Time Out Paris, a website you should really have a look at if you haven't before (it updates you,  in French or English comme tu veux, on all current events and exhibitions worth seeing/doing in Paris http://www.timeout.fr/paris/en). Anyway I won't digress as I have a habit of doing that. This Wednesday I finally had time to go to the garden. The garden itself is a botanical garden set within a major greenhouse complex in the 16th arrondissement, close to Bois de Boulogne. The metro is Porte d'Auteuil on the Line 10 and while you're there you can also glimpse the famous site of Rolland Garros and the equally as famous Hippodrome.

The garden is very big and reminded me a lot of London with wide open spaces, huge trees (even a conker tree!) and park benches. The only downside for me was that it was incredibly close to the road which was a little disappointing, it's hard to relax entirely and feel 'away' from Paris when you can hear cars zooming past to join the Peripherique, mais tant pis. It's one of the oldest gardens in Paris existing since 1761, with the greenhouses existing since around 1895.  You can see that the greenhouses have existed for a long time because apart from the large, central greenhouse the others look very dated and the door handles are so old and low it's sometimes difficult to enter inside! However, the greenhouses themselves, especially the main greenhouse is unbelievably beautiful inside.

The main greenhouse is full of different plants, mostly tropical and unusual, it also has a man-made pond with Japanese carp and other fish and a bird cage with budgies, love birds and others. The other greenhouses are all designed based on different climates and are often linked to a specific continent. There is only one main greenhouse but at least ten other 'hot' houses. There were cactus plants, cocoa, apples, palm trees and much more and according to their statistics the greenhouses produce around 100,000 plants each year! Another advantage (which you don't have at JDP) is that the information is also displayed in English, yes sometimes I like to be lazy, but it's nice to have a summary in English as it's not exactly everyday French they are using!




















Overall, I really liked the park and absolutely loved the main greenhouse. There were even small tables and chairs where people were reading or drawing which is what I would probably do if I went again. If you're a fan of greenhouses and just need a day away from central Paris this garden is perfect. I also recently went to Parc Floral close to Vincennes which despite the horrible weather was also a great park, even including a Bonzai and Butterfly house (although the latter was closed). I imagine Parc Floral is much better in Summer though, under the rain the big open spaces and lack of cover are not ideal. Anyway, come rain or shine get out of the centre of Paris and visit one of the amazing gardens Paris has to offer. You might even discover you have a green thumb!

Paris - The birthplace of the metro-sexual man?

The word metrosexual generally refers to a man that can be both masculine and feminine without being gay. A metrosexual man is normally manly and works on cars but at the same time is interested in art, fashion and even celebrity gossip. Basically...most European males (especially in France and Italy).

According to Urban Dictionary you may be metrosexual if you do any of the following things:


1. You just can't walk past a fashion store without making a purchase.

2. You own 20 pairs of shoes, half a dozen pairs of sunglasses, just as many watches and you carry a man-purse.

3. You see a stylist instead of a barber, because barbers don't do highlights.

4. You can make her lamb shanks and risotto for dinner and Eggs Benedict for breakfast... all from scratch.

5. You only wear Calvin Klein boxer-briefs.

6. You shave more than just your face. You also exfoliate and moisturize.

7. You would never, ever own a pickup truck.

8. You can't imagine a day without hair styling products.

9. You'd rather drink wine than beer... but you'll find out what estate and vintage first.

10. Despite being flattered (even proud) that gay guys hit on you, you still wouldn't be intimate with a man.

"Some people think he's gay, but he's actually metrosexual."

I honestly believe it might be David Beckham who created this term when he started wearing sarongs and nail varnish a few years ago...making it not only okay, but perfectly acceptable for a straight man to be incredibly feminine...and why not?

There is only one, tiny problem I have with men being metrosexual in Paris; it is almost impossible to tell who is gay and who is straight (and no I'm not joking, I wish I was). It doesn't help that my gay-dar is absolutely terrible. Luckily I have some friends who are much more 'in tune' than I am but sometimes even they get it wrong. It's so difficult to know in Paris because a man having feminine qualities is the norm. In England being a 'lad' means showing as much masculinity as possible; drinking beer, burping, generally being bolshy, referring to how "fit" girls are and using the words "bang a bird" instead of making love to a woman. Here in Paris it's the total opposite. Even in the metro one day, whilst I was looking at the map, a man came over to tell me he wanted to faire l'amour with me (make love) and he was a total stranger (oh how romantic and creepy at the same time). My point is even when they don't know you they are still more delicate with their words. Now, I hate to be cynical and I first I did appreciate it but sometimes it just gets to a point where you want to say "HEY! CAN THE REAL STRAIGHT MEN PLEASE STAND UP???"

I have a friend, who will remain anonymous for obvious reasons, who up until very recently I was entirely convinced was gay. I've known him for about a year but generally his taste in music, dress sense, behaviour with me, general attitude and even his laugh made me come to the conclusion that he was, in fact, gay, Now I never voiced this opinion because I don't think it's at all necessary but thank bloody bananas I didn't. Obviously it turns out he isn't gay and I was way off par with that one. Not only is he interested in women but it's now become apparent he might be interested in me...and all my girl-friends are saying "Oh but you knew he liked you...right?" NEWSFLASH  I thought he liked men. It just goes to show you can never ever be sure, even after a year of knowing someone their sexuality can still surprise you.

The other thing that I find difficult to accept is MAN BAGS. I actually wrote a note to my friend Jerry from the Mazet when I saw he had a man-purse. It read "Dear Jerry. I thought we were friends. Then I saw your man bag." He laughed and kept the note not realising that I was, of course, entirely serious (love ya Jerry). Here in France it is entirely acceptable to have a man-bag. It is not fashionable for men to have all their keys, their wallet, their cigarettes and other things in their pockets so consequently some stupid designer decided to create a handbag for men. I hate them. I'm sorry if you're reading this and you own one but I hate them. I like the big bags guys have or the kind of satchel bags guys bring to work (so cute) but a small, girlie, baby purse is not masculine and above all does not make a woman want to sleep with you, EVER. My friends and I first joked that maybe they were just FULL of condoms because French men are so 'stereotypically' promiscuous... but to this day I am still unaware of what really 'fills up' a man-bag and I'm not sure I ever want to find out.

I just don't get it. Why don't they just do what an ex-boyfriend of mine did? When we went out together he put his keys in my bag and kept loose cash and his cards in his pocket. VIOLA, problem solved. No man-bag, no problem. However, I do understand that to do this you need a girlfriend and preferably one who always carries a big enough bag to put 2 sets of keys in (as well as all the junk a girl already carries in her bag). So men are faced with a difficult decision - a man-bag or a girlfriend with a bag. I know which one I'd choose, especially if it was a Marc Jacobs handbag. Boyfriend who??

Going back to urban dictionary's definition of the metrosexual man there is another thing I feel I should address. Metrosexual men and their facial hair, specifically, their eyebrows. Apparently in Paris it's perfectly normal and acceptable for a straight man to go and have his eyebrows waxed. And I don't mean just normally waxed, I mean these bad boys look more pruned and tweezed than Angelina Jolie on the way to the Oscars. They pay so much attention to their outer appearance and insist that their eyebrows being 'tidy' justifies a quick waxing. Most of them look like they've spent more time in a beautician than I ever have (and that must be true because I've never been to one). I actually have a friend who's ex-boyfriend had his eyebrows waxed quite regularly and as his girlfriend she was often present when this special event happened. I'll never forget the first time I called her at the beauticians and she tried to explain, whispering as quietly as a mouse, that her boyfriend was in fact having his eyebrows waxed at this precise moment in time. My friend and I often discussed this afterwards (not the eyebrows as such) but just the general acceptance of men wanting to look 'pretty' and how bizarre it was when we were accustomed to English 'lads' and Canadian and American 'men'. Honestly I've had boyfriends who tweezed but normally it was because of a dire situation e.g. a baby uno-brow and it was normally me who insisted that it be plucked and the boyfriend who eventually realised that no uno-brow was better and continued the plucking without me. Truthfully, besides a little plucking of the eyebrows/monobrow I am pretty inclined to say I don't fancy men with shaped eyebrows. I like rugged men who look like they just got out the shower, rubbed a towel on their head and didn't shave for a couple of days...neat and tidy eyebrows are just not my thing.

The final difficult thing is French men's fashion sense. Generally they all dress pretty well and actually, that's what causes problems for me. They dress so well and again with so much care (you can see colours have been matched and shoes and accessories have been carefully chosen) that I normally presume they aren't straight. A man dressed that well in England...isn't normally batting for my team (if you catch my drift). So honestly, I never know. Between the man bags, the girlie behaviour, the music tastes, the shopping habits, the fashion knowledge and the trim and tidy appearance I don't imagine I will ever really be sure at first who is homosexual and who is heterosexual. I guess it goes back to the age old saying 'Never judge a book by its cover' and I would do well to remember that. In Paris just because a guy loves Lady Gaga and knows what Christian Louboutin shoes are does not necessarily mean he's gay. So keep guessing girls! . 

Food, glorious food

I'm very lucky that during my time here in France I have acquired some amazing friends and not only are they amazing but they have the BEST taste in restaurants. Sometimes I feel like I'm in food heaven and I just never wake up, good meal after good meal after good meal. If you have an 'average' meal in France it's such a shock whereas in England it's a pretty common re-occurrence. Here are some of the wonderful restaurants I've been to recently in Paris...

Vins et Terroirs
66 Rue Saint Andre des Arts 
75006, Paris
Metro: Odeon/St Michel

Actually this is a restaurant I've spoken about in past blogs as I had my birthday dinner there back in April but it never fails to disappoint. Most recently I took Danielle there when she was here for a little visit because she had never tasted snails before and vins&terroirs do some of the best I've ever had. Vins&Terroirs does a great set meal for 19 euros, one starter and one main or one main and a dessert. Unlike most places you have a choice of about six different courses for each one so there is no shortage of choice. I always have the same thing escargots a l'ail (snails in garlic) and filet de canette  avec pommes de terre sautees/puree (fillet of duck with sautee potatoes/mash potato and a BBQ honey sauce)...both to die for! Danielle was willing to try snails so we both had the same dinner plus a nice glass of free rose (I go there often so they have started offering me a free glass of wine, very kind)! It's such a delicious meal and such good value I would recommend it to anyone visiting or living in Paris. Just be aware if it's Friday or Saturday night you might have to book, they get very busy!

                 

Alcazar
62 Rue Mazarine
75006
Metro: Odeon/St Germain des Pres

I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I think about this restaurant. Yes, it was real and yes, you did eat there. This restaurant came as a bit of a surprise, it's in an area I know very well (Saint Germain des Pres) but had somehow never been brought to my attention. Probably because a) from the outside it doesn't appear to be anything too special and b) it's rather on the expensive side.



Luckily for me I have friends, one friend in particular who has great taste in restaurants and as always when I dine out with him, I wasn't disappointed. I felt a little bit under-dressed in a basic blue dress and heels, I would have preferred to be wearing a more glamorous dress and more glamorous heels but c'est la vie. I didn't realise we were going to such a fantastic restaurant, I had just come from work and hadn't even touched up my make up...oops! But anyway, I digress. So, after the shock of the beauty of the restaurant I was further indulged by the menu and the champagne. Romain ordered a bottle of rose champagne that was served with little raspberries in the glass, it was divine and I literally felt like a princess or some kind of celebrity (oh the little things). It was just surreal to be in a restaurant like that with French people drinking champagne with raspberries in, I couldn't stop smiling. How much my life has changed in one year! After the champagne we had the most delicious starter. Romain and Jonathan chose foie gras with toast and onion chutney whereas us girls chose smoked salmon with sweet bread. Both were delicious (Romain was kind enough to let me try some of his foie gras) which I would definitely have next time, it was rich but just so tasty #foodorgasm. After Romain had the roast chicken and I had a small roasted bird (I forget what it was in English...I did find out but I didn't know at the time) with a kind of sweet couscous. Again it was just delicious and it wasn't the end yet...for dessert Jonathan and I had saint marcellin (a very strong goats cheese, not for the faint hearted) while Romain and Jog's girlfriend had the millefeuille which literally translates as 1000 layers, vanilla and brandy flavoured. Of course as with all French meals we rounded it off with an espresso and a disgestif (Jet 27 and ice)...what a meal! I really was impressed by this restaurant, a little more expensive than the normal night out (fortunately I was invited this time - Thank you again Romain) but still only 26 euros for a formule of starter/main or main/dessert which really considering the quality of the food is not half bad. Not somewhere to go every week but perfect for a special occasion with friends, family or if you want to treat your other half.

Last but not least...

Les Fabricants
61 Rue Jean Pierre Timbaud 
75011 Paris
Metro: Oberkampf/Parmentier

This is the restaurant I discovered most recently, thanks again to the wonderful Romain! Les Fabricants is what I would call a Basque restaurant, serving food from the South West of France, famous for their huge salads and snails with a cheese sauce. It's very similar to Chez Gladines (especially the menu) but for me, personally, it's ten times better. I went to Chez Gladines (in the 13e) a few weeks ago with some friends and was honestly, quite disappointed. The atmosphere was great, buzzing, loud and full of people but due to the rush and business of the restaurant the food looked like it had been chucked on the plate. There didn't seem to be any time or care gone into the meal and actually my veal was overcooked and the potatoes were burnt...not a great first experience. However at Les Fabricants it was an entirely different story. I have been there twice now and both times thoroughly enjoyed my meal. I just went there on Monday and we were a large table of six so we had a few different starters including snails in a cheese sauce, potatoes covered with ham and blue cheese and charcuterie (different sliced meats) with of course a couple of baskets of bread (a necessity in any French restaurant). They were all delicious, we were all like children in a sweet shop diving into each starter trying to savour the taste of each different dish. Finally we moved on to mains...I ordered escalope de veau Montagnarde which is Veal escalope with mushrooms and potatoes in a creamy sauce. It literally looks like a mountain of food! They place the potatoes in the middle and the veal escalope on top, then they pour the sauce on and all around the meat so you have plenty to dip in...as many like to do...don't they Romain ;) It's absolutely delicious but a word of warning, go hungry because you need your appetite for the size of these meals. They also do great chicken and duck, one leg of duck with forest mushrooms, a duck fillet with roquefort sauce '(I haven't quite found the courage to try this yet...next time) and a chicken dish 'Spanish style.' The salads are also fantastic and absolutely huge, they are served in large aluminium bowls that look like they could be a feeding bowl for a horse! I wasn't joking when I said you needed to be hungry...

Of course we accompanied the meal with 2 bottles of wine, both red, one Spanish and one French (a Rioja and a....I forget the other one). I preferred the Rioja hence my lack of memory haha...it was delicious, full-bodied but not too fruity so it was really tasty. It went down a treat :) Last of all we had espressos followed by a digestif (it's very traditional and important in France to have all of the courses) which were a mix of Jet 27 and an apple-based liquor with ice which was really tasty.

Most shocking of all we ate and drank all of this for a mere 30 euros per person. You can spend much less than that as most main courses are no more than 13 euros, even the huge 2 person sized salads, but we were celebrating Romain's new adventure so we went all out :-) Great ambiance, great staff (one of the waiter's is South African and a total hoot) and fantastic food. Go as soon as you can!