an update

It's Saturday afternoon here, and I have some time to make a blog entry. It's been some really long days here at work, usually at least 12 hours, between what I am up to here and then still doing my job in the U.S.. I am at the office late so I can call my customers back in the U.S. and Canada becaase of the time change. So I am not really living a super-fabulous Paris existence because there are only so many hours in a day. And because I am out in the burbs, there's not a whole lot to do in the evening - you get home around 10 or 11 PM, and since public transport stops at midnight you're pretty much stuck.

Last weekend I made a little excursion to Paris Saturday night, wandered around my favorite area in the shadow of Notre Dame, and felt like I was actually in Paris.



I had my favorite un baguette avec jambon et fromage, a few beers at Bar Le Central Marais and then wandered over to Bears Den. Le Marais is in the 4th district/section of Paris, and translates to "the swamp." It is one of the few parts of Paris that retains its original Gothic architecture, and used to be the Jewish ghetto for the longest time. It is literally the archetype of Paris, with small shops, cafes, etc. It is my favorite part of the city.

Bar Le Central Marais is a favorite of mine because it does not have a specific "crowd", it really is more of a general meeting place and people move on to dinner, etc., from there. Bears Den is exactly what it sounds like, and a generally happy, jovial, welcoming place even if you're not a bear (which I'm not...). And get this, I met the proprietor of Bear411 there. How interesting. I asked him why my friend R keeps getting rejected off the sight for a profile, but he just waved his hand and said he could not remember every person that's rejected. Fair enough. Wait. Are there that many?

Last weekend I also wandered around the village/town where I live for a while, finding the old part of it, and the little shops etc. There are a few bistros and a couple of pups, and that's it. Since it seems that I am not going to have a hella lot of time during the week anyway, that's fine.

Thursday was a rough day. I was (still am) really missing my critters, especially the dogs. They are scheduled to go live the ex in Austin February 4 or so. I am going to miss them desperately. They are such an important part of my life. I also miss SHG and my friends. BUT, I will see everybody in just a week from yestyday, yay! SHG went to visit the critters and hang with M last week, and very sweetly sent me some pics of my zoo!

Thursday was also rough because I realized I had not seen the sun since I got here. It's been grey and dismal, cold and damp. Feh. I never thought I would have seasonal affective disorder (though I am convinced I have it in the inverse in Houston due to the heat/humidity in the summer). My apartment feels a bit cave-like because during the week I am only here when it is dark, and then of course there are the European-style rolling shutters that block out ALL light at night. This morning I slept until noon simply because it was so damned dark in here! Well, it probably did not help that I was tired. To cheer you up, they plant winter flowers all around:


Finally, my high speed ADSL internet connection should have been finished at the apartment, and well the modem was kaput. Here, you provide the modem, the telecom company hooks it up. So the old modem is working its way back through my company's IT department to get replaced. Grrr.... So, still AOL dial-up for me. Feh. Good enough, though.

This afternoon I will wander into town, although I don't know what I will do just yet. I will play it by ear, just wander around. Maybe a single exhibit at the Louvre. I missed the DaDa exhibit at the Centre Pompidou. Oh well.