Sunday, January 24, 2010

My Mary Poppins neighbour, and other musings

So, I'm sitting here in my room, watching a movie after a strenuous day of...watching movies, and I just had to blog about my very strange downstairs neighbours. The sitch is, from what my roommate has told me and from what I have heard, that the woman (who is apparently not the sharpest tool in the kit) has this notion of raising her child in this strange, as he calls Mary Poppins manner; this basically means they sing...badly...and all the time. Now, I have nothing against singing, but...they sing Christmas songs. All year, and seriously all day. And on Sundays, they wake up at 8am and sing church hymns before going to church. This may not sound weird to you, but it's pretty damn bizarre to be listening to Il est né le divin enfant, while you're eating breakfast...or dinner..or reading. Anywayssss...just a little tidbit.

This weekend was very low key, although I absolutely reveled in being able to sleep in...something I see now that I took for granted just 2 weeks ago. On Saturday, I took my time, had delicious coffee and set off to explore the area around Bastille, and further west into the Marais. It's such an easy route to get there by bus, and the transportation services here are seriously amazing. I arrived in this massive square - to my right, the Opéra national and hundreds of people just milling, running, laughing, smoking, chatting. It's such a vibrant part of town and SO different from what I've grown accustomed to in my area. Lots of trendy shops, Paris teens and goths, which incidentally, are like carbon copies of Canadian teens and goths but with a little extra...je ne sais quoi. Ha!

I strolled around a side street I had heard about that specializes in thrift stores and overall interesting fare. Mostly I enjoyed window-shopping, clunking down on old cobblestones and smelling delicious crèpes sizzling from street vendors..the occasional waft of chestnuts crackling over makeshift stoves; succulent and complex aromas tickling my nose with each street corner I would pass.

I stopped into a cafe and had a sinfully tasty hot chocolate, scribbled in my notebook for a few minutes, observed the people; I had obviously wandered into a tourist...won't say trap, but a cafe heavily frequented by tourists....which isn't bad, except on the wallet. But as I had quickly learned that if you sit at the bar, the cost of a drink is almost half as when seated at a table, I got cozy on a bar stool and enjoyed my drink. I didn't stay long though..oooh no. When you only have weekends off, it really kicks you in gear to make the most of your outings. I must say though, that I'm looking forward to not feeling that sense of urgency to walk fast, see as much as possible, go go go..I haven't really meandered....sat at a cafe for more than 20 mins. Mind you, the weather hasn't really been meander-esque, so I'm thinking that might have something to do with it.

Anyhow, all is well but I've noticed that since writing this blog, people haven't been contacting me as much. Is that how this goes? But I also want to hear about YOUR lives, so keep that in mind and send ME updates too! I also have a cell phone and a land line. And well, it gets a little lonely here all alone, so don't be strangers!

3 comments:

  1. Oh my...I think that would drive me insane! No, I KNOW it would! You can always order a lot of ear plugs...or start singing something demonic in return?

    It does get lonely at times, I agree. But having the opportunity to discover a new place makes it all worthwhile...

    Post some pics!! :)

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  2. awesome .. raising your child a la mary poppins style! i guess it could be worse though .. you're neighbours could make noise doing something else ;)

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  3. Haha! Yes, this is all very true.

    I'll be posting pics when...well...I get my camera sorted! I also have a friend visiting in a few weeks that has a great cam, so will inundate him with photography duties. :)

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