Archive for May, 2010
Although I’ll be in Paris for about a year, I decided to pack light, or rather, as light as possible. This is extremely difficult for someone who is a sentimental pack rat who likes to keep everything from useless trinkets won at state fairs to report cards from the sixth grade. I did my best to cut back and consolidate, but ended up having to ship an extra bag and carry on a mini suitcase that was 15 pounds overweight. It sounds like a lot of stuff, but once I got here I realized that I really did cut back on a lot (including an unconscious decision to leave out pajamas).
I wanted to bring a lot of books on Paris but narrowed it down to three: Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris by Chocolate & Zucchini blogger Clotilde Dusoulier, Hungry for Paris by Alexander Lobrano, and Zagat: Paris Restaurants. Yea, they’re all about food. I’ve been ferociously highlighting and jotting down addresses of places that sound good. My list is probably already long enough to take a year to get through!
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May 30 2010 | bakeries & restaurants and france and paris and thoughts | 5 Comments »
I haven’t cooked in my “new” kitchen yet. There have been plenty of other foodie distractions and interests that have kept me away from the apartment. I’m actually hoping that I can keep on eating out so that I don’t have to face the kitchen. It was so utterly disappointing to walk into my new life as a to-be pastry chef only to find that the “kitchen” was actually the laundry room with two hot plates and a microwave almost as old as I am. I just had to laugh because it felt like one of those moments when a kid gives you a hunk of mud and calls it food. I’m being negative. At least it’s kind of adorable when a kid does that. I’m just trying to ease my way into that part of the house. It’s only been a week since I arrived, so I’m giving myself another seven days to get over the hot plates and try frying an egg.
In the meantime, I have many restaurants and cafes I can write about to show how I’ve been avoiding you-know-what.
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May 26 2010 | bakeries & restaurants and france and paris and thoughts | 8 Comments »
Life never turns out the way you thought it would. I never imagined myself in New York, but ended up going there for college. I never dreamed about living in Paris, and now here I am, dipping a croissant in my coffee on a sidewalk café, with the Eiffel Tower towards my back. I’m still getting used to the idea that I’m really here, that I’m really in France.
It’s hard to come to a place like this without any expectations, but I’ve decided to just live each day as it comes and forget about trying to mold my experience into what I think it should be. Thankfully, a wonderful friend is here with me, who is also in a similar stage in life as I am. She in the world of fashion and me in the world of gastronomy. I think we’ve both come to the right place.
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May 25 2010 | france and paris and thoughts | 9 Comments »
