A Friday Photo and Paris Memories

Today's Friday photo is one that makes me remember a particular time very vividly. In April 2007, my other half and I visited Paris and it was lovely. I remember it being very warm and I adored the warmer temperatures. I had gone through my first fall and winter in England by that time so I was overjoyed to be hot for the first time in well over a year :-) It was good for my bones.

These are a few of the souvenirs that I brought back home and they're in storage now sadly. One day in the near future we'll have enough room so that I can unfurl my posters and put out our keepsakes more :-) That simple pleasure will be an absolute joy for me. I know in the scheme of things it's just "stuff", but having your things around you, especially when you've lived in a temporary state of being for too long, can indeed be a comfort. For simplicity's sake I'll just say...rediscovering this photo made me smile.

This photo is sort of like the photos that I've shared of past flowers over the last couple of weeks. The pictures of the flowers help me keep the memory of those gorgeous flowers alive and this picture helps me remember the fun times that we've had and helps me to look forward to other adventures. Don't get me wrong. I'm not living in the past by any stretch of the imagination. I'm definitely in the now, but it sure doesn't hurt to remember too :-)

Have a great weekend wherever you are and I hope that you make some great memories!

More Paris Photos

Today, I’d like to share some more photos that I took inside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. As I mentioned in my previous post, we visited in 2007 and we had a truly great time. There is so much beauty to see in Paris, as I'm sure you know. Brit Boy and I want to go back someday and see more. I know we only scratched the surface.

Notre Dame was just breathtaking. Even though there were loads of people inside the cathedral, it never felt particularly crowded. People were talking but they talked in a wonderfully hushed tone, so that it felt as if you were one of only a handful of people there as you took in the beauty of the place. There is not a lot of artificial light inside the cathedral and I think it just adds to the whole experience. The glow from the candles and the outside light streaming in gave everything a serene feeling.

Here are more views of the glorious windows and the beautiful architecture.









Getting a chance to see this beautiful cathedral was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget and I’m glad I could share a bit of it with you :-)

Pictures From Our Paris Trip

Since I wrote such a wordy post in my last entry, I decided to spare you all today :-) So I thought that I’d share a few photographs that I took before I started blogging. I’ve always liked taking pictures, so I have bits of this and that which I can share here from time to time.

The photos that I’m going to share today, were taken inside Notre Dame Cathedral. Brit Boy and I visited Paris in 2007 for our anniversary. The city was gorgeous and the weather was very cooperative. We had a ball! :-) Notre Dame was truly breathtaking. It was such a serene space. I hope you enjoy taking a look at a few of my pics! I will share more from time to time. Have a great weekend! :-)

Seven Things About Me

I’m trying to finally get caught up on a few awards and memes that I’ve received over the past while. I figure better late than never (smile). Anyway, this meme was passed along to me from Golden Prague – Expat Life. It’s one that asks me to tell seven things that you all may or may not know about me. I tell you, it’s hard to think up a list like this sometimes because you always wonder, ‘am I boring people with this?’… LOL. Here’s my list anyway.

#1 – My favorite color is blue.

#2 – The best steak that I ever had was in Paris, France. It was a bit rare and I usually run the other way from rare meat, but this was WONDERFUL!! It didn’t taste bloody at all. Maybe it was good because Brit Boy and I had just come in from dodging fierce bolts of lightning and I was so grateful. LOL. Nah, it was just delicious!

#3 – When I was about twenty years old, I stood in a boutique window and was a live mannequin for an hour. Hey, it was the late 80s and it was a good job for a student. LOL. I remember having on very bright clothes. My neck still gets stiff thinking about it. (smile)

#4 – I want to learn to play the piano. I figure that I’ve conquered playing the flute years ago and I’m quickly becoming a recorder playing superstar (wink) (laugh), so this is a good addition. Actually, I’ve always wanted to learn to play the piano, even before my flute playing days. Brit Boy shares this wish with me…he’d love to play too.

#5 – My toenails are painted red right now. I love summer! (smile)

#6 – I’m currently studying a freelance and feature writing course and it’s going along fine. I’ve always loved writing and I just want to get better.

#7 – I love researching things. The journey to find out about something always just gives me a thrill.

Well, those are my seven things. I hope that I haven’t repeated anything from the past. Please take this meme if you feel like it. I like this exercise because I can share more random things that I wouldn’t necessarily think to blog about. It was a good workout for my brain…I needed that. (smile) Have a great weekend everyone!

Paul Newman

I was saddened to hear yesterday, when we returned from town, that Paul Newman had passed away. Although I knew he had cancer, it still made me pause when I heard it on the news. A wonderful man.

When I was a kid, I used to spend a portion of Sunday afternoons watching movies from decades past which just fed my imagination. I was probably the only kid in my fourth grade class who could rattle off the names of movie idols of the 40s, 50s, and 60s like I was talking about the latest teen idol. :-) I adored the musicals especially. I just loved it all.

I watched many Paul Newman movies over the years. He was one of my favorites. He was at his beautiful best, I think, in “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” in 1958. He played so many great roles in his lifetime. However, I think that my favorite is a film that he did with my other childhood crush, Sidney Poitier, called “Paris Blues” in 1961. I saw this movie for the first time when I was a young girl and still to this day, it is one of my favorites. Newman and Poitier play expat jazz musicians living in Paris. The movie also stars Newman’s real life wife, Joanne Woodward as his love interest, and Diahann Carroll as Poitier’s love interest. The movie just has a great swanky feel to it.

Paul Newman will be remembered forever, by those who love his work, whenever we see “The Sting” or “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” or the many other films he starred in.

Besides his acting, I will also fondly remember him for his "Newman’s Own" food products. He gave all of the proceeds from his products to charity. I heard him say in a quote that he had been so lucky in his life, and some others didn’t have that luck, so he felt that it was up to those who have been lucky to help out those who weren’t so lucky. What a great legacy he leaves behind.

The Weekend and Scary Fun

This past weekend was beautifully normal and quiet, which was good. It is great to get a breather sometimes. On Saturday, I went into town to have my last acupuncture appointment for a while. My back has been steadily improving, so I am going to stop the appointments for now. I am feeling pretty great. Also we need to cut back on things financially, especially since we are trying to rebound from our addiction to concerts. (laugh) I am doing fine though, so it’s all good.

I realized that it was nearly a year to the day that I first started on my journey with acupuncture. The first day that I walked in there, I was hardly walking at all. Brit Boy and I had a car accident at the end of 2006 and I was increasingly walking slower and slower, with lots of pain. I sought out traditional treatments also, but it took me a while to get in to see someone sadly, so things sort of deteriorated quickly. Thankfully I finally got in to see a physical therapist and I saw a chiropractor for a while. I was in the middle of my waiting around to be seen by someone and just happened to be peering into the window of the acupuncture shop. Karen approached me and I must say, I am grateful that she did. I shuffled into her shop a year ago, with not much hope that I would ever be myself again, and on this past Saturday, I walked out of there with a stronger back, a stronger spirit, a stronger body, and a new friend. I will definitely be dropping by there every time I am in town. As an expat you learn that you have to pull in every opportunity for friendship with open arms. (smile) I told her that I will drop by and pick up some advice from her on taking care of myself, so she will still see my face around there.

Karen didn’t do the actual placing of the needles, because Ta did that, but Karen offered a valuable piece of the healing too. She offered me the kind words that I craved when I was having such bouts of loneliness here, coupled with physical pain, and the only person I knew here was my Brit Boy. We shared stories of what life is like when you are trying to make a life in a new country. And sometimes, she was just a knowledgeable friend who helped me forget my worries. When I left her shop on Saturday, I hugged her. It felt so natural and she hugged me back. It wasn’t a shop owner and a patron hugging, it was simply two friends being friends. (smile)

After I left Karen’s acupuncture shop and found Brit Boy, we did our errands. They were having an Italian Market this weekend. A few months ago, they had a French Market where I sampled the French prawnies, but this time I didn’t get anything. The weather was a lot better for this market in comparison to the French one. During the French Market, it was freezing cold, but during the market on Saturday the weather was okay. I love these markets though, because they bring a bit of the tastes of continental Europe to our neck of the woods and it brings nice variety.

As we traveled home from town later, we came the back way home and it takes us through some of the most beautiful Wiltshire countryside. We could see that there was a storm brewing and it seemed to be following us home to our little village. I looked off into the distance, across the valley and I saw a huge black cloud hanging over town. It was an awesome sight to see the rain coming down back where we had come from, miles away, and we were riding along in partial sunshine. It was one of those beautiful nature moments that I love. The minute that we walked into our house, the rain did eventually find us too. (smile)

One of my favorite things to do on a rainy weekend afternoon, is to watch old movies. I grew up watching these and they still always satisfy. I love modern movies too, but there is just something about a movie from times gone by. Brit Boy was on the computer, so I had movie time to myself. I watched “High Society” with Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, and Bing Crosby. It was great. Grace Kelly had a fabulous wardrobe in that film…classic. Then I watched “The Last Time I Saw Paris” with Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Donna Reed. I loved the fashions in this one too and it was set in Paris, so it definitely satisfied. Elizabeth Taylor was ravishing in this movie. She was at her absolute beauty peak in this movie. She looked beautiful in every outfit, but my favorite was her in this beautiful jet black gown. Her hair was cut short into a pixie cut at this point in the movie and she wore these beautiful diamond earrings. The sparkle of the earrings next to her jet black hair, all together with her gown, just made for a striking image. After all of the talk of fashion, I have to say, the movie was actually a very emotional one, with problems of drinking, marital problems, and jealousy. I really enjoyed both movies. It made for a wonderful afternoon.

On Sunday, I watched “The Bat” which was a great spooky movie starring Vincent Price. He was one of my favorites. I absolutely love spooky movies, so he is “the man” of horror for me and I’m sure many others. (smile) This movie was very campy, but I love a good helping of campiness every once in a while. It makes me think that it was probably a great movie to see during the era of drive-in movies. Love that Vincent Price! (smile) Some of my best Friday night movie nights are all owed to him.

A Bit of Paris

Today Brit Boy and I went into town. I was having acupuncture once more. I will soon be giving this up for a while. I am feeling much better. I may go back to it again possibly later in the autumn. Karen and Ta were kind today as they always are. This time I got a few needles in my face for my sinuses. It was weird to look down and see needles sticking out from the sides of my nose. EEK!! (smile) I got my customary needles in my back and it was a pretty normal session. After I was finished, I went out to the desk to speak with Karen. I usually ask her, as I point to the shelves, “So what’s that for?” There seem to be millions of different herbs and potions. I am always intrigued. She is always good about telling me how things work together and she will give me a short explanation on the overall fit of all of these things into Chinese culture. Then she asked me what time I would be coming next Saturday and I reminded her that I wouldn’t be able to come because I will be in London with Brit Boy. And I said that I would come the week after. I told her that we were going up there to sort out my visa and she remembered then. I told her that I was a bit apprehensive about going to the appointment, but that I was glad that I would be finally getting it over and done with. She understood. Karen wished me good luck with the appointment and she hoped that I had a gloriously charmed week. She is so fab. I love talking to her.

I went along to reunite with Brit Boy. I popped into the drug store to get some things I needed. I got exfoliating wipes, face cleanser, and moisturizer. I had to stock up. Thankfully I am blessed with okay skin and have never had a real problem with breakouts, but I figure that as time marches on, I had better pay a bit of attention to my skin. So I have recently tried to do a lot better. Then Brit Boy and I dropped into the grocery store and picked up a few things.

After that, we rounded the corner and this will show how of one mind Brit Boy and I are sometimes. It gets weird honestly. (smile) Anyway, at the same time we both said, “Hey, they are having a French Market over there,” as we both pointed ahead of us. We looked at each other and laughed. We have known each other nearly six years and we have always had this thing between us where we say the same thing at the same time. We used to be invited to the house of one of Brit Boy’s acquaintances, to have a Game Night. We would play Pictionary a lot. This game as you may know is one where you draw something on a pad and your partner has to figure out the phrase or whatever. Well, we would always get it right in seconds. Needless to say, they didn’t want to play Pictionary with us anymore. (laugh)

So anyway, we went over to take in the French Market. Each year or sometimes twice a year they will have a French Market that stops in town and they have stalls with all kinds of French goodies. The first stall had garlic prawnies and I couldn’t pass them up. I got a small cup for £3. The fellow was French, authentically so, and I thought for a moment about trying my pathetic French skills on him. But he smiled and gestured with his hands to the couple ahead of me and asked if they wanted a small or large cup. So he did the same to me. He was very jovial. I thanked him. The garlic prawnies were amazingly good. They were so huge. I was getting full after three, but I ate all of them…I wasn’t gonna let something that good go to waste. Brit Boy didn’t want any. As we walked down past all the stalls there were many great things. They had olives, ham, and all kinds of lovely cheeses and things. It was so lovely because it brought back fond memories of Paris for me. The only tiny drawback was that today has been especially cold and misty. Not great strolling weather, but for Brit Boy and I, it just seemed like a little piece of wonderful. It was a year ago nearly to the day that we were in Paris last year for our anniversary, so it was a great way to take us back.