La ville est toujours chez moi

My first time back in Paris after four years and it felt like I'd been gone a few months rather than years. We rented an apartment in my old arrondissement. The covered market was snazzier. There were a few new stores and restaurants. But it still felt like home. 

This time the Brit and I experienced Paris (and travel) as parents. Cobbled streets took on a new feel when pushing a stroller. Dining out was no longer a leisurely, multi-course affair with an aperitif and a bottle of wine. Now it was taking turns eating while the other one tried to keep the little half-Brit entertained. But it still felt like home. 

Switching to speaking French was sometimes more of a conscious gear change rather than an automatic and fluid shift. But it still felt like home. 

I'll try not to stay away so long next time... Paris still feels like home.

Paris Plage in the morning

Stormy Paris sky

Paris authorities remove symbols of love

Locks left on the Pont des Arts by couples in love have been removed.

Paris = perverts?

Paris has a reputation for being a city of Romance, but the writer of this article has a different view. Be sure to read some of the comments, because they are just as (perhaps more) interesting than the article.

Snowy Paris

Paris was covered in snow this morning and on the way to work I noticed people waddling and shuffling in a way that made me think of ducks with hemorrhoids. Our blanket of white was minor compared to the UK. Click here to view a video of Paris this morning..

you know you’re a Seattleite in Paris when…part deux

Here’s the second part of my composite You know you’re a Seattleite in Paris when list. On a completely unrelated note, the weather is very nice today in Paris (nice for February at least). If this keeps up, we may be in for an early summer.

• When you're discussing rainforests and volcanoes, you're NOT talking about Hawaii.


• You remember the Kingdome. (I was working in Pioneer Square when it was imploded)


• You have tried to forget about WTO. (WTO was a serious pain in the butt, I took the bus to work at the time and the bus couldn’t go through downtown because of the protestors.)


• The guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing the baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like Phyllis Diller is really a tranny named Eva Destruction that used to play with Hole. (this one doesn’t apply, but I had to leave it in just for the humor)


• Your mayor is straight, 1/2 your friends are gay, the man who delivers your mail has a bumper sticker that reads "when they pry it from my cold dead fingers....", and your Burger World drive thru order taker was a computer millionaire last week. (ok, maybe a bit longer than last week)


• You consider Boulogne, Neuilly, Saint-Denis etc to be the countryside. I mean, Porte de Versailles or Porte de la Villette mean there IS a door, and therefore an outside and an inside, right? (not the countryside, but they are definitely not the city)


• You know that a martini means a martini, and not that gross vermouth and gin mixture.


• You find it normal that someone is randomly peeing in the street. (unfortunate but true)


• You peed in the street at least once in your life. (this was in a city in southeastern France, not Paris)


• You're surprised when someone holds the door for you at the subway exit. (or any door for that matter)


• You're even more surprised when a sales person asks if you're looking for something in particular. Actually that would never happen. (this has never happened to me in France)


• "Putain", "bordel", "merde" or the ever famous "putain de bordel de merde" are not considered "bad words".


• You know that Paris is not a city, it's an attitude. (and what an attitude…)

you know you’re a Seattleite in Paris when…

You’ve probably seen the You know you’re from (insert city) when…lists. I decided to take the applicable parts from the Seattle and Paris lists to create my own You know you’re a Seattleite in Paris when list. It's long so I’ll split it into two posts…

• You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian. (I’m not that bad, but I am particular about coffee)
• You feel guilty throwing an aluminum can in the trash.
• You use the words "sun break" and know what it means. (this isn’t the actual term?)
• You know at least eight people who work for either Microsoft or Boeing. (I have to include former employees to get up to 8)
• You invite twice as many people as you really want to a party since only half will actually show up. (I'm not convinced that only Seattleites do this)
• You know what Lutefisk is. (no I am NOT from Ballard!)
• You personally know someone from Alaska. (I haven’t kept in touch with her, but a former manager is from Alaska)
• You consider floating bridges a pain in the butt, not an engineering marvel. (no one who's lived in Seattle would use the term "marvel")
• You know how to pronounce "Sequim", "Puyallup" and "Issaquah." (btw, for any French people reading this, Seattle has 3 syllables not 2)
• You use more than 5 words to order a cup of coffee. "I want to order an unleaded, double, short, skinny, wet cappuccino with a shot of Amaretto please." (if isn’t espresso or café crème in France, don’t you need at least 5 words?)
• You consider it a sunny day if the sun is visible at some point of the day. (That IS sunny!!)