11 April, 2011

French Picnics, American Concerts, Naked Phalanges, Dutch Cheese, Irish Pubs, Australian Walks,

A lot has happened that I haven't written about. Apologies. I'll do my best to briefly recap some things that are memorable...

There is a beyond-perfect picnic in a park, almost weekly. I had a sunny day picnic, with a bunch of fabulous ladies from all over the world, eating chocolate and drinking tea. There was a drizzly day picnics, with a French-press, fruit, and pain au chocolat sitting between me and my lady-friend Desireé. The other night a few of us had a hookah and beer picnic overlooking the city, talking about dreams. Today a friend and I enjoyed the typical wine, bread and cheese picnic under theTour d'Eiffel. So much goodness.


Several weeks ago an amazing woman and friend of mine (Emma Vasseur) was here in Paris, because she is touring with Joan Baez. Emma went to school with my brothers, and even though we always sort of ran into each other back home due to our mutual friends, we never really got to know each other...until our rendez-vous in Paris! I had a great couple of nights with Emma, and even got to meet Joan and see her perform! We had so much fun!

I had a faux-engagement. Not explaining this one :)

Had some lovely visitors from Holland and (along with my roommates from Norway and Spain) spent time discussing our cultural differences.

I spent an entire day walking around Paris without shoes. It was so fou. The streets are covered in excrement and garbage, and I walk so much that several days after-the-fact my phalanges are still hurting. The idea is sponsored by TOMS, an organization that sells shoes to consumers such as myself, and donates shoes to children without shoes around the world. It's one-for-one, which is pretty sweet, and all around the world on April 5th people walked barefoot, to raise awareness and support the cause.

(All the different states! Spot the Canadian?)


I ate Raclette for the first time. And Tartiflette. Two classic French meals, prepared for me with love by Claire. Such delicious nourriture, and really great quality time.

Went to a couple Irish pubs on St. Patty's Day. It's definitely not celebrated here like it is back home in the States, but we managed to find a few cool spots here in Paris :)

The restaurant connected to Kiwizine is known for its top-notch wine, and they invite us over for "a glass" after service every night. This last weekend our glass went until 4 in the morning. It's nice building community...

I still play at the bookstore every Monday, and though the experience is never the same, it's always exactly what I need, and I always meet someone fabulous. This last week was no exception. Elijah, a nice Australian actor traveling with his mum through Europe at the moment, fancied my music and sat with me for a bit. We have got on quite well in the short amount of time we've had.

This morning my roommates and I did a photo-shoot at Jardin de Luxembourg, it was très chic; so posh.

I was approached by a woman on the playground last week who asked me if I would be interested in helping her three children to speak English. I went there tonight and started working with them. They live in a beautiful apartment overlooking Parc des Buttes Chaumont (the biggest park within Paris, which is conveniently 5 minutes walking distance from my home here), and the kids are going to be fabulous to teach. Feeling really grateful for this opportunity to get close to another family here in Paris, and to have a little more support for the duration of my stay here.

Ok, I'm sure there's more, but I am beat from walking a total of 13km on this beautiful sunny day we had (walked from park to bookstore to Eiffel Tower back to bookstore).


Stay real, and do what you do.

♥ hannah lee