Mona Lisa Smile

With a friend in town over the weekend, I had company to do all my touristy stuff, which, trust me, was a big relief. I finally have pictures of myself at places.

Since we needed sustenance for a whole day's walking we decided to treat ourselves to breakfast at Angelina, which is fairly well known around here being right next to the Louvre and all. It was essentially a sugar shock that awaited us with croissants, orange juice and hot chocolate. Literally molten chocolate. I'm told that better versions of this await me at Flore but it was a pretty good way to start my Sunday!

So we decided to start with the Louvre. The place is absolutely gigantic! They say it takes 9 months to be able to see all the exhibits. I have nothing but time on my hands so I plan on doing it the proper way. My friend had heard that the Egyptian antiquities section was a must do, so we did, but I think I'll wait for the real thing. I was a lot more keen on the objet d'art section so we went to went to pay our respects to Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. It's difficult to describe how I feel about the latter since she is the most ordinary looking woman. But there is something about that smile. Theories abound about what it represents. To me, she looks very like the cat who got the cream, which may be true since one of the many theories is that it is actually Da Vinci who painted himself as a woman. So he truly pulled the wool over people's eyes. But who knows. The painting, by the way, is housed on a wall by itself and protected by bullet proof glass, which gave off an annoying glare for those of us trying to take pictures of it. But worth it nonetheless.

Then we headed off to the Notre Dame, which has this whole eery gothic thing happening with gargoyles and such like on the facade of the church. We thought we'd go up the 400 odd stairs to get a panoramic view of the city from the top but given the crowd and the line, we decided we'd seen enough and headed on to the Jardin du Luxembourg. On the way some shopping happened and by the time we got to the Jardin, it was closing down. But it's open all year around so I'll head back when the foral arrangements change. We also decided to see the Sheakespeare and Co. book store which was a short walk from the Jardin (yes, we walked everywhere. See why we needed the hot chocolate?), which I have to say is now my favourite bookstore in all the world. It's quaint and pokey and overflowing with books and has a whole reading section and has been around for more than a 100 years. It's also very close to the Latin Quarter so given the choice, I would totally move there next year.

By the time I got home, every bone in my body was aching but in a nice, I achieved something today kind of way. There's plenty more to see but I think I'm making headway. To round off the day however, I was longing for something spicy and hot so I made rasam and beans subzi and I have to say it was an extremely satisfying meal. I guess you can't take the Tam Bram out of the girl.

Some true, some not

I've been having a lot of fun taking in random occurences in the day that either reinforce preconceived notions or totally blow them out of the water. So here are some more of my humble offerings.

I've seen ONE person wearing a beret in my whole 3 weeks here. In general people don't wear hats, perhaps for fear of dreaded hat hair. Maybe things will change once it gets a little colder but for now, no hats, no berets, and no French men sporting thin moustaches and expounding on culture.

They do drink a lot of coffee and wine though. You normally have to ask for water at a cafe, because it's not an automatic thing. And apparently wine can be drunk anytime of night and day. A friend was telling me that he saw a guy down two glasses of wine first thing in the morning, while the rest of the populace was still dealing with breakfast. So you never know what the occassion calls for.

They also like their food. I'm usually the only one at the table who will order the main course directly (you know me and my appetite), while everyone ponders entrèes. So far everything I've tried has sat well but I do have my days when I need to eat nothing but vegetables. I've been told to have an open mind and try everything once, which I'm willing to do. But I'm not quite at the frog legs and escargot stage yet. So much for my theory of not eating animals with eyelashes.

People in general are thin. This is probably because Paris is oft referred to as a 'human sized' city, which basically means that people can normally walk very easily from one district to another. I've been doing that too. It's the best way of learning your way around the place.

Smoking is still pretty popular. Though apparently people have cut back a lot, especially given that they are now not allowed to smoke indoors. Thank god for small mercies. You still have to dodge the odd puff headed your way on the sidewalk but nothing that's not handleable.

That's all for now. I suspect these 'they do this in Paris' posts will start to dwindle as I get more used to the place. But right now I can't believe it's only been 3 weeks!

Winter time

It's been a while since I've experienced winter of any kind. And after Mumbai's balmy weather, this is taking some getting used to. But I'm revelling in it. I've always preferred winter over summer, for the simple reason that it's easier to get warm in the cold than cool in the heat. Winter for me also means way more interesting clothes, the smell of things roasting in the air, your breathe fogging up as you walk outside, twinkly lights strung up from trees in anticipation of Christmas and other magical things. Of course, I'll eat my words when I've had 6 months of it but I'll deal with it then. For now, I'm eagerly looking forward to making my own fire (yes, I have a fireplace in my room) and buying chestnuts on Champs Elysees.

Yes yes,

I know. I've been messing around with the colours again. I got very tired of the last set and needed a change.Someting a little more upbeat than black and grey. This is also some lame attempt to jump start my thoughts but it's a little tough to do today when surrounded by grey skies and general gloom.

The ides of November

So it's a rainy and grey day today. I was told that November is all wet and kind of depressing and they weren't kidding. Come November 1st and the skies opened up. After venturing out for a bit and soaking my jeans, I'm now curled up in my comforter at home and trying to decide whether to launder my whites or not. Exciting times.

A quick check

I'm hollering to all you people who populate my blog roll. Look at it. Barring Nihal who updates his regularly, the frequency with which you people are not writing is alarming me. Say something people! I need to read.

Busting some stereotypes

So everyone's got these images of what Paris is like, good or bad, and so did I before I started living here. But like a lot of stereotypes, not everything is true.

Everyone in Paris is not dressed like they're on the runway of a fashion show. Sure there are the chic and the not so much, but regular people don't walk around in labelled clothes, just like everyone in India isn't dressed in traditional attire all the time. People aren't all well turned out and some do strap on sneakers and jeans just like everyone else in the world and complain about the high prices of beauty maintenance, because seriously it is high! I need a haircut and was doing some research and it's some €40 odd! That's more than my grocery bill.

The laws mandate 38 hour working weeks but most offices open by 8 and shut by 8 too. I get into work by 9, which was considered late by my flat mates, and leave at 8 on a usual day. People don't traipse off home at 5 or once the sun starts setting. Work is work.

Those 3 hour long lunch breaks most people imagine exist only in the world of those who have nothing to do. The image of Parisians sitting around at cafes, drinking endless cups of coffee and discuss art happens on weekends, where the whole city feels like it's on holiday. Working lunches involve take aways or eating at the counters of quick serve restaurants. Like everyone else in the world, no one wants to be stuck late because they took too long to eat a salad.

Almost no one eats croissants on a daily basis. Which would explain why most people are thin here because let's face it, it's nothing but flaky butter. No one has the time, or resources, to eat breakfast at cafes regularly. There are places that open early and have inviting smells of waffles and crepes wafting out, but again those are reserved for weekends and introspection.

65% of the city speaks English and if you make the appropriate apologetic noises about not knowing French, most people make an effort to communicate in English. And cheerfully so. Sure they always say that it's more convenient to speak French and how one should learn, which I totally agree with, but I know people who've lived here for 7 years without knowing more than Bonjour, s'il vous plaît and merci. Whether or not you're willing to make an effort is entirely up to you. And lots of them are eager to practice their English with you. So problem solved in most cases.

I'm sure there's plenty more where that came from but this was primarily aimed at stemming the list of questions I've been peppered with since I arrived. More to follow in due time.

Notes from a first week

So I've only been here all of 1 week but I feel quite settled and comfortable in my surroundings. Even though I don't speak a word of the language except Bonjour and Merci, which is enough to fill the in between with smiling and pointing at things, I actually feel quite at home. The days have mostly been filled with going to work and back but a few highlights for your benefit, so you don't think I'm all caught up with being in the city for now.

On Monday night the flat mates and I had a long dinner. It was a 'Welcome' and 'Happy Birthday' dinner, with each of us pitching in for some part of the meal. I volunteered for dessert since I know very little about wine and didn't want to force my bad taste on the others. Plus you can't really go wrong with picking up something from a patisserie. Over the course of salad, a fabulous shrimp risotto, baklava and many many glasses of wine, interspersed with homemade grappa from one of the flat mates, we talked for hours about India (they have tons of questions of course about the caste system and arranged marriages but more intelligent than the usual "do you speak Indian?"), the world at large and crazy travel stories. Of course, I had little to contribute since most of the others have seen way more of the world (what is it about Europeans and travel?), but it was so much fun. Dinner wound down by about 2 am, only because a couple of us pleaded meetings in the morning. But I think we have many more conversations ahead of us, which I'm looking forward to.

Work, for now, is more about consolidating information and networking to drum up business. I think there are some interesting leads and it's heartening to see the number of people who want to do business in India. It feels cool to be a part of the development process, in whatever little way I can. This job sort of combines policy work with our producing papers and articles for various publications and basic law, a combination of which makes sense and appeals to me. So here's hoping it all goes well.

I share my cabin at work with another member of my boss's team and so far the going's been good. I've also made friends with the other member of our team, a more recent entrant to the firm since she joined only last year, so in some aspects she's as green as me. I've met more people in the firm over lunch and running into them at the stairwell, and so far everyone has been incredibly nice to me. I have to say, while I know the stereotype of the typical Parisian exists, the people I now know have been nothing but welcoming, kind and generous. For instance, my teammate, P for future reference, took her lunch hour off to help me get a phone connection since she knew the language barrier would be a problem. My secretary has offered to walk around the office neighborhood with me to help me get a sense of all the shops and eateries nearby. And of course, once my French classes start (on Monday by the way) they have all offered to practice with me to make sure my accent is on target.

I went out last night with P and some of her friends in the very quaint 2nd arrondisement, which is filled with cobbled stoned alleys and packed with cafes and bars. Again, even though they were clearly not comfortable with English, they went out of their way to get to know me, even though I insisted they continue in French so that I start getting a hang of the language. It kind of throws the haughty air that you associate with Parisians, especially ones who know that you don't speak French, out of the window.

Add to that the general ambiance of the city, where I see a lit up Eiffel on my daily walk home and jazz playing by default on most radio stations, it's been quite the first week.

Because I see this everyday

Glorious sunny days

are a few of my favourite things.

Year number 27 is starting off great in my scheme of things. I've moved into my new place in Paris and so far all the roomies are fantastic. To catch you up on the arrangements, I'm in a flat-share with 5 other people in this ginormous apartment, a 10 minute walk from my office. It's also a stone's throw from the Arc de Triomphe. For those you still not able to place the exact location, just take my word for it that it is a brilliant place to be. We each have our own rooms and share the living, dining and kitchen areas. And since everyone is a grown up, it's an each one for themselves situation so all the cooking, cleaning, etc. is independent but with the advantage of having company if we want it. All in all I'm quite pleased with it.

I spent yesterday basically unpacking, stocking up my groceries and getting to know my flat mates. I had a moment in the afternoon where I was sitting at the dining table, drinking tea and listening to French jazz on the radio as I emailed various people about my arrival, of sheer disbelief that I was actually in Paris. And the day only got better from there. One of my flat mates very sweetly invited me out with his friends at night, which was a great first night in the city. I met some fairly interesting people and it reaffirms my belief that it's very important to have non-lawyer friends.

I spent today, a gorgeous sunny day, out in the city exploring and absorbing the atmosphere. I took a walk down the 2 km of Champs Elysees window shopping, lunched at the Tuileries, and walked it off along the Seine, all the while having a great view of the Eiffel Tower. It was nearly idyllic. I have of course a thousand pictures of everything. I figured I should have all the touristy stuff out of the way before I turn too immune to the city. Though I can't imagine that happening any time soon.

So far this birthday beats all others.