CHRISTMAS HANGOVER!

Well, I can't believe Christmas has come and gone so quickly! I hope that you all had a wonderful time filled with fun and FOOD! We have finally awoken from our Christmas hangover that was filled with dinner parties and late night shenanigans! Here is tale of two crazy ladies and their Christmas in Paris!

We decided on Christmas Eve to throw a little shindig in our wee apartment for a few of the folks that Nat works with at O'Sullivans. It was quite the international soiree with people from Australia, Spain, Mexico, Holland, Estonia, and off course us Canadian cats! We had a lovely evening filled with copious amounts of cheese, and wine, and even got our hands on some good ole fashion Christmas crackers!

Baxter's ready to PARTAY!

The international meeting of the UN!

Christmas cracker delight!

Crowns+ wine= good times!

A little too good of a time! She got real sleepy at about 4AM, it had absolutely nothing to do with wine! wink*

So, after staying up to the wee hours of the morn to wait for the metro to open back up, we finally got a couple hours of zzzz's before waking up and heading over to Laura and Companies Australian abode. There we dined on lasagna, salad, sweet potatoes, and of course wine and brownies that Lana made with her "dirty" hands! It was quite the feast, so we came home and put our fat pants on and had a relaxing evening of movie watching and opening pressies!

Christelle, Nat, Laura, and moi!

BONUS VIDEO: Opening des cadeaux de Noel!

The meeting of Baxter and Pierre!

After recovering for a couple of days we were invited to a party at Diana and Eric's flat. We had an excellent time and Eddie brought over some authentic Italian pizza that we thoroughly enjoyed!

On the way over we ran into some giant balls! Nothing spells Christmas more than oversized magenta globes!

BONUS VIDEO: We had a jolly good time in the elevator up to the party!

Read more...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE

Christmas Eve, it's finally here! I hope that you are all safe and warm and with the people you love today. I'm sure that everyone has already eaten their body weight in cookies! Enjoy! I hope your Christmas season is filled with love and laughter! Joyeux Noel

BONUS VIDEO: A Christmas message from us to you!



NEW SONGS ADDED

I have added some more French musique to the Christmas playlist. One is Douce Nuit, which is sung to the tune of Silent Night. The second is a little diddy called Vive le Vent. It is sung to the tune of Jingle Bells but the words are completely different. We had a discussion about this the other night and us Canadian folk thought that perhaps the French are unaware that the winter wind in flippin' cold and not very Christmasy at all!

Here's the lyrics and translation for the chorus:

Vive le vent, vive le vent, Vive le vent d'hiver, Qui s'en va sifflant, soufflant Dans les grands sapins verts. Oh ! Vive le temps, vive le temps, Vive le temps d'hiver, Boule de neige et jour de l'an Et bonne année grand-mère !

Live the wind, live the wind, Live the winter wind, Which goes whistling, blowing In the big green Christmas trees. Oh! Live the weather, live the weather, Live the winter weather, Snowball and new year's day and happy new year Grandma!

Read more...

CHRISTMAS MARKETS!

Well, it's hard to believe that Christmas is here once again! It has seemed a bit strange for us not to be caught up in the hustle and bustle of preparing for Christmas with our family and friends this year. But that doesn't mean we've lost our Christmas spirit! There is so much to see and do during the holidays here in Paris that we decided to go out to the Christmas Market at La Defense with Morgan and Joe yesterday!

Facts about La Defense:

• it is the major business district of Paris (think downtown Calgary-esque).
• it is the western most point of the Historical Axis which stretches from the Louvre through the Arc de Triomphe up to the Arche at La Defense.
• The Arche also forms a secondary axis with Paris' two tallest buildings, the Eiffel Tower and Tour Montparnasse.
  
• with 72 buildings, 14 highrises, and 150,000 workers it is Europe's largest business district
• La Grande Arche itself is is almost a perfect cube and was designed by a Danish architect who wanted it to be a 20th Century version of the Arc de Triomphe.

La Grande Arche (Find Jacie, Morgan, and Joe)

The markets that we visited were a mish-mash of venders selling everything from strange looking sausages to foie gras to tribal masks to funny clothes for pirate babies! It was definitely an interesting wander through all the stalls and the smell from the vendors who were cooking food was indescribable!

Christmas Markets and the view toward the Arc de Triomphe

We found Papa Noel in the Market!

We had a splendid lunch in the market made up of vin chaud and a dish called tartiflette. I am told that tartiflette is originally from the Savoie region of France (SE of Paris). Tartiflette is basically scalloped potatoes on steriods! It consists of potatoes, cheese, and bacon or ham mixed together in the giant pan below using the hugest wooden spoon I've ever seen! C'est bon!


After chowing down on our tartiflette we headed over to the giant mall beside the Arche. We made the mistake of entering Toys R' Us three days before Christmas but we found some cool stuff amongst the hoards of people! Although we didn't snap a picture of it, they had a giant triceratops that you could ride and it walked along! I said I wanted it for Christmas soooooooooo bad, but Natalie sad no:(.... maybe nextyear.

We did find this sweet Lego replica of La Tour Eiffel! I want to go to there!

Giant Gingi is a wee bit frightening!
Baxter came along for the day and wanted to get his picture taken in front of the giant thumb!

Later in the evening we had our first sushi experience here in Paris! It was a place called K10 and they use a conveyor belt to deliver sushi around the restauraunt. So you simply sit and check out what's passing on the belt and if you see something you like, you snag it off. All of the dishes are color coded by price so you just save them and they add your bill based on your plate colors. Very cool and very delicious!

Last but not least here's a shot of the Arche at Night

Read more...

DISNEYLAND PART DEUX!

After a fantastically fun-filled morning we stopped in at La Chalet au Marionette for what else, A MICKEY BURGER!

mmmm, so good!

After feeling refreshed, we set our sites on Fantasyland where we, of course, made a stop at the Tea-cups! (Sidenote, it's a lot harder to spin that thing when you don't have your dad helping you and it turns out I was spinning it the wrong way!)

BONUS VIDEO: Twirling on the Tea Cups

After twirling around in the tea cups we stopped in at It's a Small World. The line was horrendously long, which was OK with me because I have been having nightmares about that ride since I went on it when I was 10! Thankfully we skipped that one and headed over to Discoveryland! It was here that we ran into another example of the French love for Humanoid Animals!

A cheetah with a shawl, so chic!

Wow, really! He's seems quite pensive!

Discoveryland was definitely one of our favorites! We rode the Oribitron, and a Star Wars simulator called Star Tours. I also over came my fear of laser tag (Aaron, your hockey team is completely to blame!), when we went on the Buzz Lightyear Lazer blast complete with a bilingual Buzz!

But, it was here where Natalie and I "discovered" the reason why we love Disneyland! SPACE MOUNTAIN! When I visited Disneyland in my younger days this ride was broken so it was a surprise to the both of us. It's funny because we weren't sure what to expect and they don't really prepare you for what your in for. They were telling us something about lunettes (glasses), so we were a bit confused. But luckily on Indiana Jones they had done the same thing and we had to quickly prepare ourselves to go on a crazy upside down ride! Space Mountain was the same only add: Darkness, Space, Asteroids, a corkscrew, and ridiculous amounts of laughter and screaming! I can't tell you how funny our faces were in the picture they tooks of us! We came out of there with tears streaming down and sore stomach muscles from laughing so much! Even Nat overcame her fear of rollercoasters and had an amazing time! Space Mountain is a definite must if you're ever at Disney, it's craziness! The good kind!

Soir at Space Mountain

After we recovered from our intergalatic travel, we checked out the shops on Mainstreet and found ourselves some pretty stellar Disney stuff that I'm sure you will get to see us with in the very near future!

The Chrismas Tree at one end of Mainstreet

The castle at the other end of Main Street!

After perusing the shops for a while, we had a chance to see the Candlebration ceremony which is a fancy word for "we are going to have an amazing light show and light up Sleeping Beauties castle with millions of lights!" Here's the results:

We also caught the Fantallusion Light Parade but I haven't had a chance to put the video together yet so there is still more Disney magic to come!

Read more...

DISNEYLAND PART 1

Bonjour ladies and gents! Sorry for the delay but I am here again with another helping of Disney fun! Enjoy!

Welcome to the magic (I imagine it's a bit like the gates to heaven!)

Pics from Adventureland where we rode Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril (Natalie was just a tiny bit excited to live out her archeological dream, but she didn't realize it involved going upside down in a rollercoaster!

Then we checked out Grandma G's favorite ride, The Pirates of the Caribbean. We had a good laugh at the Pirates speaking in French, and Joe wondered if Johnney Depp visits the ride when he's living in France!

We also checked out the treehouse from Robinson Crusoe and wondered how they managed to save all that stuff and how they got that organ up to the top of that tree! I guess it's just Disney magic!

Then it was off to Frontierland where we rode the awesome Big Thunder Railroad (We thought it was funny that they had a Fire Assay room in the fake mine, those Disney folks pay attention to details!

Finally, we visited the Phantom Manor which starts with being squished into a tiny room with strange pictures and a ton of people, then you get in a cart that takes you through a haunted house. We thought the creepy dead bride was a little much!

STAY TUNED FOR: Fantasyland, Discoveryland, and Disney at night!

Read more...

PARADE!

Bonjour folks! Well, I am happy to tell you that we have fully recovered from our Disney extravaganza! Life has been a wee bit hectic in the last couple days and I haven't had a chance to do a recap of our trip yet but once we get all the goods put together we'll get it to you!

Until then you can enjoy the video I made of the Parade complete with Mickey, Santa, and a few others! (Sidenote: somehow Nat's eyes were even bigger than normal during our time at Disney!)

Read more...

DISNEYLAND!!

Here's a little teaser of our marvelous trip to Disneyland Paris! I'll have much more for you in the days to come but we still have a bit of a Disney hangover right now!

Read more...

A DISNEY CHRISTMAS!

In honor of our upcoming trip to Disneyland Paris, I have added some new Disney Christmas songs to the music player. One is a lovely number by all your favorite characters and the other is sung by Natalie whenever she gets the chance and Belle in The Beauty and the Beast which is set in France. I found out some interesting info on the origins of the story:

• Belle is french for beauty (it is called La Belle et la Bête in french).
  
• The story is actually based upon a traditional French fairytale first published by Mme. Villeneuve in 1740.
  
• The best known version of the tale is Mme. Beaumont's adaptation.
• Her version has been adapted for the opera, Broadway, television and film. It is even the title of a song by David Bowie.
• Disney's version of Beauty and the Beast is the only full-length, animated film that has ever been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture!
• In the Chinese dub of the film, Jackie Chan is the voice of the Beast! so funny!
• Did you know that characters from different Disney movies crossover into others! In Beauty and the Beast you can see Bambi's mother (back from the dead apparently!), Oliver the cat and Ichabod Crane in the opening song, and King Triton during the library scene.
• Belle can be seen walking across the square reading a book in the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Beast is a toy in Aladdin! I don't know about you but I'll never be able to focus on a Disney movie again, I'll be too busy looking for crossover characters!
  

I couldn't resist putting a video for the song As Long as There's Christmas from the second Beauty and the Beast movie! (Sidenote: Lumiere is a very accurate portrayal!):


Just for shits and giggles, here's the French version of the same song called Tant Qu'il Y'aura Noel:

Read more...

FUNNY MARKETING OR FRIGHTENING MONSTROSITY?

I can't quite seem to escape it...it has taken over the streets, the subway, buses, and even the pop machines here in Paris! It is something so strange and off-putting that I have been scarred for life. It catches me when I least expect it and makes me want to poke my eyes out with a fork! What, you ask, could possibly shock me so much, here in Paris, where sex shops and peep-shows are more common than pee in a pool?

Well, on the outside it seems like a fairly innocent concept. Orange juice+ animals= profit. But, somehow Orangina (yes, that is the name and before you ask it's pronounced Oran-geena), has taken these two things and mutated them into something so completely frightening!

WARNING: IF YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH ANTHROPOMORPHISM LOOK AWAY... SERIOUSLY!

This isn't the only one, there's a plethora of other animals that have been mutated into ridiculous humanoids. I really can't describe these adverts, here's a link to the rest of the posters that are currently all over everywhere here in Paris:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18223959@N06/

If these aren't enough to make your eyes bleed, surely this commercial will have you shielding your peepers and screaming for your mommy! Check it out and then we'll discuss:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck14LKBI9GM

OK, so...now that you've taken a look, I would just like to point out a couple of things:

• I understand that the French are very liberal in terms of sexuality but... Wow, I feel dirty.
• Grizzly bears and giraffes in the same habitat, totally unrealistic. They need to get their facts straight.
  
• Humanoid animal strippers are not OK, especially flamingo ones!
• The octopus was completely unnecessary.
• The zebras and the bottles and the bunny was just plain wrong!
• Flashdance shout out, really?
  
• One would think that mixing fur and sticky fruit juice is just asking for trouble.
• I will admit that the transvestite peacocks are kind of fierce!
  
• A chameleon and a flower, impossible!
• To use the words of the hilarious Liz Lemon: "I do not want to go to there."
  
• NEVER, I repeat NEVER, take orange juice to the zoo!
  

There has been some controversy over the campaign here in Europe and the UK. Considering that the drink is aimed at young people, some children's groups are outraged at the blatant sexual innuendos in the commercial. Many equal rights groups are equally incensed by the ads, claiming the commercial showing female animals catering to male ones is sexist. The company that owns Orangina, the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, stated that the ads, done by Paris agency FFL, were based on the theme of pulpeuse (which in French means "containing pulp" as well as "sexy"). They also said that the ad tested well across all demographics and apparently the French Advertising Agency doesn't have a problem with them because the humanoid bear with a loincloth in our metro is still creeping me out on a daily basis!

So, what do you guys think? Funny marketing, or frightening monstrosity?

Read more...

LA MUSIQUE!

Well, since it has become apparent that Christmas/Noel is quickly approaching, I thought I would help get us all in the spirit of the season with some new tunes!

I have added The Little Drummer Boy en francais by the French-Canadian artist Roch Voisine. I must admit that all I really knew of him was that my 7th grade french teacher thought he was tres beau! But I did a little digging (aka I googled him), and found out that he is originally from New Brunswick and when he is not performing in Las Vegas, he is a singer/songwriter/actor/radio host in Montreal.

I also added a tune by the timeless Frank Sinatra, because Christmas just isn't complete without a little bit of Frankie to put you in the holiday spirit!

As a bonus (especially for you Auntie D.) I have included The Christmas Song and Petit Papa Noel by the lovely Josh Groban. Petit Papa Noel is a purely French Christmas carol and has no English equivalent, so I've included the lyrics with the literal english translation. Joyeux Noel!

PS- Shout out to G. Gail for signing the guestbook, nicely done, we love hearing from you! The rest of you lurkers should be ashamed of yourselves! I kid, I kid!

PETIT PAPA NOEL

C'est la belle nuit de Noël La neige étend son manteau blanc Et les yeux levés vers le ciel À genoux, les petits enfants Avant de fermer les paupières Font une dernière prière.		It's a beautiful Christmas night Snow spreads its white coat And eyes lift toward the sky On their knees, small children Before closing their eyes Say a last prayer.
Petit papa Noël Quand tu descendras du ciel Avec des jouets par milliers N'oublie pas mon petit soulier. Mais avant de partir Il faudra bien te couvrir Dehors tu vas avoir si froid C'est un peu à cause de moi.		Little Santa Claus When you come down from the sky With thousands of toys Don't forget my little stocking. But before you leave You should dress well Outside you will be so cold And it's kind of my fault.
Le marchand de sable est passé Les enfants vont faire dodo Et tu vas pouvoir commencer Avec ta hotte sur le dos Au son des cloches des églises Ta distribution de surprises.		The sandman has passed The children are going to sleep And you will be able to begin, With your sack on your back, To the sound of church bells, Your distribution of surprises.
Refrain Il me tarde que le jour se lève Pour voir si tu m'as apporté Tous les beaux joujoux que je vois en rêve Et que je t'ai commandés.		Refrain I can't wait for sunrise To see if you brought me All the lovely toys that I see in my dreams And that I ordered from you.
Refrain Et quand tu seras sur ton beau nuage Viens d'abord sur notre maison Je n'ai pas été tous les jours très sage Mais j'en demande pardon.		Refrain And when you are on your beautiful cloud Come first to our house I wasn't always very good But I ask for your forgiveness.
Refrain		Refrain

Read more...

LE WEEKEND

Well, I can't believe that another weekend has passed us by and we're just a little bit closer to Christmas! Our paper tree is still alive a kickin' too!

We had a nice weekend here in Paris. Natalie was working nights but still manage to see the light of day and come out on the town with me! On Saturday night we went to the Katia and Kyliemac 200th episode spectacular at The Great Canadian Pub. For those of you who don't know about these crazy ladies, check out their shenanigans at http://www.katiaandkyliemac.com/. They do a bi-weekly podcast on all things French and Parisian, and they're kind of a big deal so check it out!

Our hinterland

Later that evening we went across the river to check out the Christmas tree in front of Notre Dame and I may or may not have channeled the music of on Cindy-Lou Who!

Glamour shot!

VIDEO: The music stylings of the lovely Jacie Patzer

It was once again the first Sunday of the month, so we took advantage of the free admission and went to check out the infamous Saint Chapelle.

HISTORY BITES:

• Saint Chapelle was built between 1242 and 1248 as commissioned by Louis IX to house the relics of the Passion of Christ.
• The Holy Relics had belonged to the emperors of Constantinople since the 4th century.
• By purchasing the relics (including the Crown of Thorns and 30 other relics), Louis IX hoped to make Paris the second capital of Christianity and paid an unbelievable sum of 135,000 livre to purchase them (The chapel itself only costed 40,000 to build).
• The great shrine of the upper chapel used to display 22 relics of the Passion, including the fragment of the Holy Cross and the Crown of Thorns, but was melted down during the Revolution. The remaining relics are now kept in the treasury of Notre-Dame de Paris.
  
• The church itself is made up of a lower and upper chapel. The lower was a place of worship for the palace staff and the upper was was used to display the relics and it is here where the king and his close friends and family came to worship
• The lower chapel's highlights include: the azure vaults with golden fleur-de-lys, as well as a 13th century fresco depicting the Annuciation which is the oldest wall painting in Paris.

The lower chapel

• The upper chapel is beyond description. It's stained glass windows are considered the best of their type in the world. 15 stained glass windows depict 1,113 scenes from Genesis to Christ Ressurection and the Western Rose at the end of the chapel illustrates Christ's return to glory at the end of Time to judge the dead and living. Much of the chapel has been repaired and reconstructed over the centuries but astonishingly 2/3 of the stained glass are the originals!
  

The upper chapel

Here's a map of the stained glass

http://www.planetware.com/map/saint-chapelle-map-f-f22.htm

VIDEO: Words and pictures just couldn't do this justice so check out the video!

After to basking in all that is Saint Chappelle, we went for a walk around the Latin Quater and Ile St. Louis.

Nat in front of the Palace of Justice

Street vendors along the Seine

Where's Jacie?

Read more...