Air Balloons

Wedding mania has begun! We've set the date: Andy and I are getting hitched in September. Laissez les bons temps roulez!

These dreamy engagement photos from Snippet & Ink make my heart flutter. They remind me that for years now I have wanted to go to the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race in Natchez. Have any of you ever been?

All photos by Nack Photography.

meandering

Source: Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River, 1944

Wendell Berry

"A healthy culture is a communal order of memory, insight, value, work, conviviality, reverence, aspiration.  It reveals the human necessities and the human limits.  It clarifies our inescapable bonds to the earth and to each other."

--Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America

la valse d'Emilie

I went on a long walk yesterday, and these are some of the things I saw.  In the little court-metrage I made (below) are parts of Paris all within a short, thirty minutes walking distance from my apartment.  The music is Yann Tiersen's "La Noyee" from one of my favorite movies, Amelie (see here).  Walking around with my camera rolling nonstop, I felt like Jean Luc Goddard in his scene on the Champs Elysees in Breathless (see here and here).


On this walk, I start at my apartment, go through my family's flat, down rue de Passy, then rue Benjamin Franklin to the Trocadero, the Eiffel Tower, then avenue Kleber to the Arc de Triomphe, with a glimpse of the Champs Elysees somewhere in there.  Enjoy!

le bon pain, le bon vin, la bonne vie

Whewwweeee has it been a while since I’ve written on this thing.  I’m glad to be back, though, and especially to be writing from France.  Paris, France.  Wow.  It still hasn’t gotten old saying, “I live in Paris.”  I live in Paris.

Blinkinfig has it right: In Paris, France it’s impossible to be lost; that implies being unhappy when you find yourself not where you planned.

Generally, I don’t think one can be unhappy anywhere in Paris.  Each quartier has a distinct personality.  Here in the 16eme, there is such small-town charm…walking around my neighborhood, it doesn’t even feel like I’m living in Paris; that is, until I turn a corner and find a magnificent view of the Eiffel tower.  I’m a bout de souffle every time I unexpectedly catch a glimpse of it.

For now, here are a few initial observations:

1.  Not only can you tell a good baguette by the way it sounds, a good baguette can forecast the weather.  No lie.  It’s like magic.  How neat is that?! (see YouTube: Neature Walks...)

2.  Color-blocking is really “in” this fall.  In particular, the French are quite into bright blue pants like this:

photo courtesy of Wendy's Lookbook

3.  If there were a Real Housewives of Paris, it would be in my neighborhood.  Picking up the kids after school is basically like standing in a sea of Hermes Birkin bags.

4.  The best bottle of wine I’ve had so far was 2€.

5.  There are RAVES in the catacombs of Notre Dame. (!!!!!!!!)

I'm obviously still on my honeymoon with Paris.  As the weeks go by, it's really going to settle in how far I am from my loved ones, so I really do hope this serves as a means to communicate with everyone.  Remember, I love emails and letters and skyping!!

save water, drink champagne

'nuff said.

ACHICALIVING