Things you might see at the Louvre

What?  You were maybe expecting the Mona Lisa?  Come on now, I would never be that predictable...

Anyway, if you are walking across one of the courtyards in the Louvre on a random Thursday, you might see a woman dressed as a bride, wearing silver sequin high-top sneakers.  Miss K has no particular opinion on the dress, but would very much like to know where she got those sneakers, because they are awesome...

Picnics in Paris

The whole concept of springtime in Paris is a bit overrated, for the very good reason that it doesn't really exist.  Seriously, one day it's winter, and the next thing you know we've skipped right on through to summer.  Well, whatever - the important thing to know is that as soon as it's warm enough, it's picnic season!  My friend Southern Belle was in town a couple of weeks ago and we made an attempt at the first picnic of the year - it wasn't particularly amazing food-wise (see photo below), but since it was the 16th of March and we were still wearing coats, it wasn't a bad attempt!

However, today it was sunny and 24 Celcius and I met up with English Rose to kick off the picnic season properly.  She has the same kind of part-time work hours as I do, and we agreed that the only real benefit to being so poor and under-employed is the freedom to spend random weekday afternoons in the park (beside the Louvre, I might add), enjoying the sunshine while more gainfully employed people are stuck in the office.  Of course, this is the only kind of dining out that we can actually afford to do in Paris, so just let us have our little moment of smugness, okay?

Picnic #1 - bottle of wine and bag of chips. Not quite gourmet, but still delicious!

Picnic #2 - much more respectable, and even a few healthy items.  No wine, but that was only because of our hangovers from the day before...

Sunshine and merde

Gentle readers, it is springtime in Paris once again - the flowers are blooming, the leaves are sprouting, and I think it's entirely possible that my eyelashes have started to grow back after the whole black eye debacle (The eyes have it. Well, they used to...).  Oh, all right - I might just be imagining the whole eyelash-growth thing, but springtime is definitely here.  Yesterday it was sunny and about 23 Celcius, and it's predicted to be like that most of this week.

So, will Miss K be gallivanting around the city like a frisky little spring lamb?  Sadly, no - I just found out that I will have to leave my lovely apartment in a couple of months and find a new place to live,  which will doubtless be an arduous and time-consuming process.  Merde!  On the bright side, if I have to go live in a cardboard box under the Pont Neuf, the weather will be much nicer, but let's hope for better, shall we?  So if any of y'all know of a rat-infested broom closet that might be available for rent somewhere in Paris around the 1st of June, do let me know...

Springtime in Paris

Tales from Toronto (Part 2)

Toronto is an awesome place to live.   The weather is great in the spring, summer and autumn (okay - admittedly, winter can be a little rough), we have a lake so big you could fit a hefty chunk of Europe into it, and we have world-class theatre, opera, ballet, restaurants, bars, music, wine, sports teams (okay - admittedly that one is stretching it a bit) and so forth.  But no matter how sophisticated and cosmopolitan Toronto can be, it's still a place where someone can get on the subway with a circular saw tied to his belt and no one will give him a second look.  You don't get that on the Paris Metro...

Springtime in Paris

Oooooh, so pretty....

Well, that will teach me

Okay, so you remember how I was whining yesterday about how spring hasn't yet come to Paris?  Umm, yeah - it's here now, so I'll just shut the hell up.

April in Paris

Well, after a weekend of totally rubbish weather (I particularly enjoyed the frickin' HAILSTORM!!!), today was bright and clear.  So I decided to visit one of my favourite spots in the Tuileries to bask in some much-needed sunshine.  This required me to wear boots, jeans, a turtleneck, a cardigan, a coat and gloves, but nonetheless, I basked. Sort of.  April in Paris is a very nice song, but don't be fooled - springtime is just around the corner, but it ain't here just yet...