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A Paris Affair

There is more to this posting than just Paris- but that is where I will start. JP and I planned a trip way back in August for a quick Paris getaway this last weekend- and I can't believe it has come and gone. The last time we were in Paris we spent a very quick 24 hours on the back end of a trip to France and packed in all the big sights. Our purpose in returning (which, we try not to do since there is so much to see) was to just slow it down and be romantic and enjoy the experience of being there versus rushing from sight to sight. We did it the right way this time, nice long dinners, crepes and wine and cheese, fun sights but also with some rest in between. We chose a fun neighborhood yesterday to wander around- Monmarte- home of the cemetery where Jim Morrison is buried, the cafe where Amelie worked in (great movie by the way) and Moulin Rouge. It was a really fun hood- lots of galleries and street vendors and kitshy shops. We took in a nice french romantic dinner at Le Tavestin http://www.letastevin-paris.com/ where I tried escargot (yum) and we had great steaks and delicious desserts.

I love France, and I love Paris. However, it is the only place where JP and I have felt 1. unsafe (i'll explain) and 2. the need to be a little vigilant against taxi drivers out to rip off tourists. Of all the trips and cities- Paris is the only place we've been approached and pursued by people hoping to rob us, and the only city where we've had to get out of taxi's due to meter problems. On Saturday while walking to the subway a group of guys approached us talking very fast and pulling at us and we had to look down and walk fast to get out of their way. It is a pretty common ploy I guess to distract tourists while stealing from them. Only, this happened to us on our first trip. We don't think we walk around looking like targets- but either way we thought for how gorgeous and fun Paris is- it definitely has it's drawbacks.

Drawback number 2? Oh yeah- 26 euro for ONE drink at our hotel bar. I guess on Sat. nights at the Le Meridian hotel bar they price their drinks accordingly: 26 euro for your first drink (ANY drink- fruit juice, water, whiskey, wine) and 12 euro for each subsequent drink. Imagine our surprise, we come back from a great dinner, it is sub-zero outside (it snowed on our way out of town, it was freezing) and we decided- hey, let's have a few at the hotel bar before going to bed... only to sit down and glance at the menu and be suitably SHOCKED by the prospect of paying 75 euro for 2 rounds. Give me a friggin break. Thankfully we looked- often at a hotel bar we'll just order a couple glasses of wine or beer and let that be. We retired early to watch some french TV and marvel at the audacity of a sub-par hotel bar for charging such prices. Oh, and BTW- the bar was pretty packed. Ridiculous. Am I a cheapo? Must be.

Enough bitching though- I'll put some pics up and show you what we saw, it was a great little getaway on our favorite mode of transportation- the Eurostar.

In the last couple weeks we also saw Dave & Ariel come and go and had a little overnight jaunt to the English countryside and saw the Cotswolds. Let me just say that we really enjoyed having the Gutierrez's visit- any friend from home is always a nice welcome break from the norm. Additionally, the Cotswolds and countryside is just gorgeous. We rented a car and JP drove us all around to various little villages and we stopped in pubs along the way. Very typical too- good food, fireplaces, friendly people. We stayed at a cute little inn over a pub/restaurant called The Kings Head http://thekingsheadinn.net/ and enjoyed a great dinner and played cards and drank with some locals. I highly recommend a trip out there, I would have liked to stay one more night . Of all the trips we've taken, it ranks high up there as one of the highlights.

As all of our US friends are getting ready for Thanksgiving- we expats are preparing for a feast of our own. We will be cooking a big dinner next Saturday to celebrate the best holiday of the year. No friends, we don't get Thanksgiving off here in England (and yes, we are asked that question from our friends and family) but we'll make up for it suitably with a turkey bowl and 20 expats gathering in a small flat to give thanks, eat turkey and drink beer.

Finally, the final immediate family member left in our small circle is making her way across the pond- Mandi lands on Tuesday! I'm beside myself in anticipation- both because we don't get to spend a lot of one on one time with Mandi, and also because I gave her a list of things to bring me the size of a short blog posting (I don't know how to do short blog postings, sorry!). She also knows how to cook a turkey, which is better than the other 19 of us Americans who are eating together next Sat. night. On the agenda for Mandi is the normal guest circuit along with a day trip on Friday to somewhere close and also the Jack the Ripper tour which we still haven't done and are looking forward to. With each of our guests we try to plan /organize something unique- whether it be oysters or a side trip or a play, with Mandi it is Jack the Ripper.

Well, since JP just asked me in his exasperated way- "are you still doing your blog posting??" I'll leave it here. As November is almost over, I must admit that I'm getting extremely anxious/excited/sad/happy about the coming 4-5 months. I can't believe our time here is almost over. I am just not ready to go home at the same time as being ready to get back to the sun and our friends/family. How can that be? I'll leave you all (my remaining 4 readers) with that thought.

Until next time, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I'm grateful for so much- mostly for those of you who read this to the end. :)

So much to say!

Let me recap the last month:

• More guests- My mom came to visit and we had a blast. My very independent and resourceful mom has lived her whole life with a car and in a suburb. I was very impressed with how quickly she got over her jet lag and took to the streets to enjoy the city like a local. We gave her an oyster card (travel card) and a map and she took to the buses and tube like a native. Not only that, she tried Indian, Turkish and pub food and even cooked JP and I some home cooked meals. It was sad to watch her go- reminding us of how far our loved ones really are.
• Dubin- I had to head over to Dublin for a work meeting and my very fun manager suggested heading out a day earlier to check out the city since I had never been there. I enjoyed the day I spent around town- but if you are planning an Ireland trip- don't spend too much time in Dublin- get out of town to see the gorgeous countryside.
• Weather- Somehow we were cruising through October enjoying a proper autumn- leaves changing, crisp weather and sun. Suddenly last week it turned freezing. I'm hearing about all these heat waves at home and here it is snowing in London (first time in 34 years!) and just wintery. It has improved a bit from the "cold snap" that we had last week- but it is definitely time to pull out the seaters ("jumpers") and scarves.
• Berlin- highlight of this month, other than my mom's visit of course- was our weekend break to Berlin. We went over with a bunch of expats and really enjoyed the city. The history and stories behind the buildings and walls was alone worth the trip. We spent all day Saturday touring around on our own seeing the bigger sites, and then after a big night out on Saturday we took a walking tour on Sunday of the Third Reich. It was sobering and interesting to learn about the events in such recent history. The city is quite cosmopolition and didn't feel like Germany necessarily- it is nothing like Munich. We had sushi and mexican food- to give you an idea of whats on offer there! I recommend the city and would go again. I put our pics on the shutterfly site- the link is on the left hand corner of the page.
• There ARE nice people in London! As a quick side story- I left my cell phone on the tube last night on accident. Now, let me say that I have already lost one phone in London- and I don't consider myself an irresponsible person. Anyways, so, frantically searching for my phone and resolved that I lost it for good, I went along to dinner and drinks with friends. Then, at a bar- JP looks at me and says "You just called me!" We walked outside and this very nice man picked up my phone and called us and we made arrangments to pick it up. He was extremely nice and at first refused my gift of chocolate saying it really wasn't a big thing. To me though- it showed me that there really are nice people in London! Whoda Thunk??
• Proper tea at an English person's home! A little over a year ago before we came out to London we got an immersion lesson from a nice English lady who told us that we could consider ourselves as immersed here when we are invited over to another English person's home for tea. Now, until this point we have had plenty of happy hours and outings with our non-American friends- but have yet to get that nod.... until recently. Today we headed up to Muswell Hill (great area of North London!) to have tea with some friends. It ended up being very much any other thing we would do with our friends- some apps and sweets to munch on, wine and tea to drink, good conversation with some friends. However, we just need to say- we are now officially immersed. Not only that- the topic that we spent the most time on was the election. It is amazing how living outside the US makes you realize how important our elections are outside of the country. People knew just as much about the election and candidates as we did- some of them even more! Incredible.

Looking to the future:

I think JP has mentioned in his own blog- but something I haven't shared yet officially is that we have purchased a new home to move into when we go back to OC next spring. It is being built and is a little townhome in Aliso Viejo, a short 4 miles from the beach. We are super excited and have added that to the list of things to look forward to when we move back.

Just yesterday we booked our trip home to the US... via Southeast Asia!! We will be leaving on April 1 and spending three weeks exploring Thailand (specifically Bangkok, Ko Samui and Chiang Mai) Cambodia (specifically Siem Riep to see Ankor Wat) and Vietnam (south Vietnam- in Ho Chi Mihn or Saigon). While many consider our secondment to London as the "pre-baby, pre-grown up" detour, I very much consider this trip to be the big one before we finally settle down.

This week we are welcoming Dave & Ariel to London and looking forward to a side trip to the Cotswolds and a trip on our guest circuit. We are super excited to see them.

I'll make it a habit to update this more regularly to avoid such excess information next time! I got a little lazy and busy with guests and such - but no excuse to drop in and update on all our antics!