Poshdeluxe

some hot french rock action

guys, guys, i’m back!

and i came back with the following things [most of which are still in my suitcase, which has been stuck at la guardia airport for three days. yay!]:

1) wine

2) green glitter shoes

3) a tutu skirt

4) gifts that cannot be mentioned otherwise the surprise would be spoiled

5) some cd’s (obvs)

6) victoria beckham’s autobiography (fantastic plane reading)… don’t pretend like you don’t want to borrow it and learn all about the inner workings of the spice girls and david beckham’s underwear. i know you do.

7) cookies from ladurée (already consumed)
over 633 pictures

that’s right. i took a crapload of photos. for yr sake, however, i scaled them down to about 400. a mere 400!! to see all of them (organized in sets, for yr convenience), go here.

of course, i’ll be posting some pics in xangaland to illustrate all of my european pantsing. and, since amber and i did so so so much, i’ll break up my adventures into a few entries.

otherwise i might get carpal tunnel, and that is gross.

SO so so so

SATURDAY/SUNDAY

here is how i got to paris:

chicago –> new york –> boston –> manchester –> paris

–> major pain in my arse

but the time traveler’s wife and victoria beckham really helped me out.

when i finally reached paris, i took a bus to the opera to meet amber. so this is the first thing i saw:

not bad, right?

amber and i SQUEEEEEEED for a little while, then i had an espresso. because that is the natural order of things.

since i was in france for the last game of the world cup, we headed over to jenna’s apartment (yay! jenna!) to watch the game on tv. i met amber’s delightful friend, catherine, and we settled down on the bed for a picnic.

we had yummy french foods, like wine and cheese and… pringles. but they were paprika pringles!! do we have those here?!!! holy hell.

anyway we watched the game, and by that i mean, we talked talked talked and occasionally looked at the screen. like every other person in france, we stared at the multiple slow motion shot of zidane head-butting that other dude. just watching it made my head hurt.

so, france lost. which i’m sure is a bummer for them. but i was ok with it.

MONDAY

amber had to go to work, so we had breakfast together… which means MY FIRST CROISSANT OF THE TRIP. and yes, it was awesome. here’s me, in what has become a picture i must take on every trip:

oh sweet sweet nectar.

i got that hat in the manchester airport, when i had about six hours to kill. yeah!

so amber went to work (the suck), and i set off to explore like a freaking dora. i want to warn you that most of the pictures i took during the first three days (with amber working) don’t really have a lot of people in them, so they are not as silly and perhaps not as entertaining. but i think they’ll give you a good *feel* for the city. and the city enjoys being felt.

first, i walked around the tuileries garden, which is so grand and classy-feeling. look!

the last time i was here, in february 2005, there was like, no green. so i decided to head over to the luxembourg gardens, which were a big ole patch of dead during my previous trip. i walked a long, long way. i saw this little pink car and wished i was a child with a credit card:

but my trek to the gardens was rewarded by AWESOME SPLENDOR:

this place, like, emits postcard waves.

also, i found some fantastic floating art:

i’m just glad there was no snot.

ANYWAY

the whole place just makes you wanna go

it’s like an applause sign, but better.

the gardens also feature a super cool playground, but you have to pay to get in!! wtf?! so i sat outside and got cray jealous of all of the fun going on. i mean, check out this ride:

i have the feeling that this particular playground feature would never make it in the states cos it would be “too dangerous”. gah, why are american parents so lame?!!! anyway, henri, can you get one of these for yr backyard? thank you.

i was supposed to meet jenna for lunch, but i, uh, got lost. cos i didn’t have a map, i just had these “paris walks” cards that amber gave me. “paris walks” is apparently not concerned with the names of streets outside of the official “paris walks,” let me tell you. so i found a payphone and called amber so jenna wouldn’t think i’d overdosed on croissants and fallen into the river (by the way, i just looked at my credit card bill, and that call cost me almost $20. i am not kidding. now i wish i had at least carved my initials into the booth or something).

i stumbled upon the preparation for a rally in support of the french team (even though they lost– so that was v. sweet of the rally organizers). and i’ve decided that buildings should really wear clothes more often:

even just a touch of flair can transform a building’s body image:

i bet that simple sash makes the national assembly feel really pretty.

eventually, i wandered back to amber’s apartment. she lives in a pretty cool (but touristy) neighborhood with lots of art galleries. and get this: on a nearby street, there is a private art club called “incognito,” where members know the door code and can come in and hang out whenever they want. HOW COOL IS THAT?

the pictures on the right are of all of the members with green cat eyemasks on.

we have GOT to start a club like this in austin. i think we’ve already got the people and the goings-on, we just need a space. preferably a pink one. ok? ok.

TUESDAY

after my daily dose of esspresso and croissants, i wandered around amber’s neighborhood and then over to notre dame, where i would meet up with paul (who you may remember from last time) and christian for their “french connections” bike tour. even though i’ve seen notre dame before, i still found it to be completely awe inspiring:

inside, there were lots of tourists. but i ignored them and tried to feel spiritual, which wasn’t v. hard, given the atmosphere.

i found paul and christian and met the other members of the group, two girls about my age and a dad (mark) with his eight year-old son, nicholas. nicholas and i immediately fell into conversation about marine life and foreign countries (he’s been to waaaay more than me). when i told mark (who was from california) that i lived in austin, he said, “ah! i like austin. they have this GREAT movie theatre there where you can get food and beer while you watch the show!” heh.

biking through paris was really, really wonderful. i felt just like amelie, with the wind rushing around my body and the sights and sounds of the city sweeping past me.

i mean, doesn’t it just look glorious?!

nicholas asked lots of questions and always raised his hand first, because he is polite.

paul and christian did a great job, so if you or people you like ever visit paris, tell them to check it out! but also ask them to raise their hands before asking questions, cos it’s more fun that way.

the tour ended at the eiffel tower, so the guys let me bike over to get a closer look. first, here’s me and my bike! yay!

biking up to the eiffel tower was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip. even though the tower is such a cliché of paris, it still exudes such history and grandeur.

it’s easy to see that i was in the middle of a “pinch me!” moment:

oh wow oh wow!

after the tour, amber took me to a restaurant called le relais de l’entrecôte, where i had THE BEST STEAK OF MY ENTIRE LIFE. HOLY CRAP. you guys. it’s like, the top of the fortune 500 of tasty business. amber agreed.

and the best part? just when i was thinking, “oh man, i wish there was more steak and french fries on my plate,” they BROUGHT US SECONDS. we didn’t even ask! it’s a part of the meal! SECONDS!!!!

that is BRILIANT.

so of course, after getting seconds, we had to find some ice cream. we walked across the river to what amber considers to be the best ice cream shop in the country. and i would have to say that amber is v. smart. and v. correct. cos SWEET CRACKER SANDWICH this ice cream was so good, i wanted to get a room with it. one flavor in particular, caramel with salted butter, made me go temporarily blind from the deliciousness. but i recovered, cos being blind in paris would suck.

here’s amber and i, doing what we do best:

ice cream, my amber pants, paris at night… oh life! you are grand!

[to be continued]