Oh, hail...

Must be April in Paris... it hailed... again.

This was taken from my kitchen balcony... please note all you potential apartment swappers! Lovely garden, well maintained greens and it's quiet! You only have to contend with the global warming weather oddities. I left the image large so you can see the little balls of ice on the well-kept lawn. (Go ahead and click on it!)

Needless to say, I'm still looking for that ever-elusive perfect apartment swap! Come to Paris, live it up now! You know W. is going to blow us to kingdom come before he leaves office...

Seriously. This is for all my US friends who have not yet visited me in Paris. Now is the time! You can have the whole place all to yourself! I've Americanized the joint! Maybe I should do a lottery??

And the winner is...

Busted...

Thought that might get your attention! :-)

Actually, no news, nothing to report and still looking for a place in NY.

It seems that everything always falls into place when you least expect it. I know something will come my way that will be way betterer than I could have anticipated. Somewhat like serendipity, non?

Today it was back to the Parisian life... Carrefour, the guardian, stuff. Catching up and doing laundry. I never thought so much of my free time would be spent doing laundry. I think that's why my mother gave up on it. Five kids, who could blame her? We had to fend for ourselves if we wanted clean duds.

Tomorrow is a hunker down kind of day. Need to finish off a bunch of things and clear the way for upcoming projects.

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.
~Yogi Berra

O’ crikey...

...Craig's List.

Well, I went and did it... posted a listing on Craig's List... it's going to cost about 3K euros to get a hotel/apt for 3 weeks. I know I can write it all off, but I'd rather spend the money enjoying the pleasures of NYC and Boston.

Dear friends, if you know of anyone who has a place I could use for even parts of July, let me know!! I can be flexible.

I'd really like something downtown... midtown is fine, actually anywhere would do. Forward my blog to people you know! My Swiss audience is up... Quelqu'un at-il un appartement à New York pour échanger? / Hat jemand eine New Yorker Wohnung zu tauschen? How about the Rex Parker readership?? (PS: Merci for the link, Rex!)

Dreaming of lobsters and bagels with cream cheese... Bergdorf's, the Mac store, let's not forget Macy's... Fast yellow taxis with seats that have springs... These are a few of my favorite things...

I love NY! :-)

While the cat's away...

...the mice will play...

While I was away, my son and his friends did a bit of recording in the studio. I've been listening to him practicing his bass lines for weeks now, but this is the first time I've heard the entire song all put together.

Their band is called "Slow Motion" featuring: Christian (17): vocals and acoustic guitar, Jeremy (16): guitar, Christopher (16): bass, and Yvan (15): percussion. The song is called "Baby, oh"... here's a link to the MP3 (5.3 MB)

Christopher wants to be a sound engineer and will be spending two weeks this summer in NYC at rock & roll camp! (Still need an apartment swap!!)

I had a nice trip back to Paris, seated backwards... I guess that's appropriate, I got to say à bientôt as I left... A lot to catch up on this week... will rehash some photos from Switzerland. Also, need to brush up on a bit of astronomy!

Slow ride...

The deep end...

After driving around all week and not having ANY traffic, we got stuck in standstill traffic on the way to the Lausanne train station and I missed my train back to Paris. I'm really bummed not to be home tonight... NOT! I'll take the TGV from Geneva tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure my son is thrilled to have an extra Friday night sans Mom.

My horoscope for today said: "You can be beyond brilliant today, but there is also room now for self-deception. It may be hard to ride your ideas to their conclusions, because new ones float into awareness before the old one is completed. Cut back on your caffeine intake and try to keep your mind focused on the practical issues that are right in front of you."

The funny thing about that is we stopped for a coffee on the way to the train station thinking it would only take 15-20 minutes to get there! It took 45 minutes... et, viola, I have an extra night in my new favorite place to be. :-)

I love Switzerland. It's my kind of country... everything is organized, there is no question about how to do something, but rather when it is your day to do it! The recycling here is incredible... even the little Nespresso capsules have their own recycling bins... colorful and they smell good! I promise a photo of that next time I'm here.

Okay, going to go enjoy the view on borrowed time and sip a bit of Minervois while the sun goes down...

Life is but a dream...

Flower power

Almost the last day here... back to Paris on Friday. Heading to Geneva tomorrow for an afternoon on the boat... a bit of well deserved R&R!

This is a late post and a late night. Suffice to say, a lot got done today and the energy level is waning.

I think I shall keep it really short and say bonne nuit...

Bonne nuit!

Life

Last night's post was about life. Life is a balancing act in so many ways and this day has brought so many aspects of it my way from so many different sources. Renewal, reinforcement, recommendation, reinvention...

AG, I'm thinking of you and yours. You know my heart and soul is with you and I hope for the best. No matter what it brings, I will be here for you.

CB, I was young once, too. One day I will sit you down and we can trade stories. Today's phone call is nothing in the grand scheme of things. I love you. Enjoy yourself.

PG, my pleasure, you should excel at all you do. I hope to maintain the friendship that is being built. Be happy!

AS, you made the right move. Timing is everything and you so totally rocked the clock with the whole situation. Live it to the fullest!

Seek peace, and pursue it.
~Psalms 34:14