HAVE A JOYEUX NOEL
AND A BONNE ANNEE!

I know I will be having a white Christmas.....

THE AUSSIE INVASION HAS BEGUN!


Yes it has taken a mere 2 weeks before the first Aussie contingent has arrived on my doorstep. With at least 2 more lots (at least) arriving in the next month I will become Paris' Greatest Tour Guide before you know it. Family friends of ours, Anne and Ian Leversha (Anne was my mum's bridesmaid and vice versa) are in Paris for a few days from visiting their kids in England. They are particularly taken with the desserts here (as you can see by the first photo). I think today Anne consumed a crepe, a tart, a pain au chocolaut and sorbet, not to mention lunch and dinner!



We visited the Louvre yesterday, really it is a pretty cool place. Bumped into some Aussie chicks in the sculpture area who were copying the statue poses and taking photos. Before long, Anne was in on the act, striking a particularly thoughtful pose while replicating the "does my armpit smell?" sculpture that you can see in the photo. The other girls went on to accost some Chinese guy whom they then starting arranging in various statue poses which was extremely funny.

Anyway I have spent the rest of my week making new friends, I now also have a Iranian/French girlfriend, Zoia, who translates books into English from French. Also met this cool Aussie chick, Kelly, who by any standards has had a bizarre life (for starters she was an ironwoman from 16 - 20 years of age!). Anyway the three of us are getting along great, and we have already planned to meet up in early January when we all come back to Paris.

DAZZA GOT A JOB IN THE ALPS!!!!!!!!!

Actually he got 2 jobs, I in a bar and another as a chalet host (which is the one he is going to take). With the job you get accommodation in the chalet, food, a season's lift pass and some cash. And plenty of time to ride the snow I'm told. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. All the while I will be in Paris slaving my guts out in the lab!


Anyway for those of you (me included until about 2 weeks ago) who have a poor geographical knowledge of the french Alps, I have included a map. Dazza is at Courchevel which is in the middle of the Three Valleys which is the largest ski area in the world. It is on the boarder of France and Italy in the Alps. Apparently it is quite a popular town with the Poms.

So I booked my ticket to go there for the big three (Dazza's 30th, Xmas and My Birthday - otherwise known as NYE). And if Twinnie actually does what he say's he is going to for once, he will come along for the party too.


Anyway here is a photo of it, looks pretty sweet hey?

A DAY OF FIRST's......

Well I have to say yesterday was a great day, full of first time adventures for me in the French capital. Firstly, I got into the Musee D'Orsay free! Yes chatting to the security guards in crappy french really helps.... however I think I got the wrong idea and later realised that the guy had asked me out (I thought he was just being friendly) so I had to text him today and try and explain (in French) that I had a boyfriend etc. and I think I gave him the wrong idea. Oops. Will see if he rings (again!).

Then last night I went out with my first French friend, Guillaume (say Guy-ehm) whom Dazza and I met last Saturday night in some bar. I told him that nite that vous etre mon premiere ami de francaise which means in no uncertain terms that "you are my first french friend" which I have to say didn't give him much of an option. Although he did look pretty pleased about it, and texted me the next day, so I took this as a good sign. So after a couple of drinks he suggests that we go visit a friend of his. So I'm thinking we will walk, take the metro - but no! He has a motorbike! The only way to travel in Paris I'm told. So I get to wear this cool orange and white helmet with orange hibiscus flowers on it and after a little lesson off we go. This was my first time on a motorbike and I have to say it was so much fun!

Then we arrive at his friend's apartment which, for Parisian standards is practically a mansion. This was also my first real French home that I had gone to. So we hung out there for a while, then went to another bar and then home. The funniest thing at Guillaume's friends house was that we talked (me in very bad french and them in pretty bad english mixed with excellent french) about the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale, which Dazza and I just saw. Stupidly I tried to explain that I thought the new James Bond was a "prawn" (rip the head off, keep the body), but they didn't know what a prawn was and it took me drawing little pictures of my idea of a prawn, pointing at a rose coloured wine glass, and going through every single other type of seafood that they could possible think of , before they finally understood that a prawn is a crevette!

PICTURES FROM THAILAND

Well finally I have got around to checking my Thailand photos (and learning how to upload them into the blog), and well I must say, some are great, and some (I think all the ones Dazza took) are crap. Here are just a few to show some highlights.

First is our elephant 'trek'- I use the work trek lightly, it was more like a meander through the jungle. But he was very cute all the same. We got to feed him bananas afterwards...

Here is my brilliant shot of a sunset on Kao Tao, as the beach faced exactly west, you got a perfect view.

Next here is the English breakfast at the last place we stayed on the Islands..... As you can see, Thais are extremely friendly!





And here is Dazza at the Bangkok Night Bazaar. I already told you about 3 litre mini-kegs of beer that they bring to your table.... well as you can see Dazza REALLY loved that idea! Patent anyone??? Also check out the hideous mo.... he still has it. After a pathetic attempt at growing a 'beard' he decided that he could disguise the gaps in hair growth by startling people into thinking he was Chopper Reid's long lost brother.

THE LAND OF WINE & CHEESE....

Now most of you will know that i LOVE, ADORE, Can't get enough of cheese, particularly smelly blue varieties. One of the major reasons I decided to move to France (no seriously I'm not kidding) is the fact that they have whole shops devoted to cheese! These fromageries are a cheese-lover's delight compounded by the fact cheese is dirt cheap in France (well something had to be). So as Dazza has left me for his other love, the mountains, I decided to have a mid-afternoon snack masquerading as lunch. So off I trundle to the fromagerie where using my horrible french and the fromager's barely passable english I decided on some kind on cow's blue cheese (not to be confused with ewe's blue cheese, for example Roquefort, which is deliciously creamy and blue.

Then I thought, well I have a lot of time to kill so I may as well go and stock up on my new favourite wine, which retails at the Monoprix (France's crappy answer to Safeway and Kmart and Liquorland mixed into one) for a measly 3.95 euros. This is equivalent to $6.67 AUD. Bargain! Now most of you discerning drinkers (my brother a notable exception to this) would never spend this amount of money on a red wine in Australia and come out with something decent. Then just before returning home I also procure some fresh baguette for about 70 euro cents (bread is also cheap in France, and it tastes nothing like the fluffy stuff in Australia, it is salty and sugary and crunchy and soft all at the same time- seriously good. Now I know why 80% of Frenchies eat bread with every meal).

Anyway so on my return home, I ask the guy who appears at the front desk for a couple of hours a day, who probably gets paid like crap but still could make a bit more of an effort i say, if he can come and check out my sink. Which you will remember is totally blocked. Nothing is getting through that baby. So up he comes with one of those toilet plunger things, some scientist latex gloves and some "special liquid" (-no kidding that's what he called it) which is meant to unblock my drain. But alas, after much plunging (watching an immaculately dressed French guy with latex gloves on his hands plunging my sink was highly hilarious I must say) and not a lot of un-blocking he decides that he will call Dougie the plumber tomorrow to fix it.

Which meant that cooking was not really an option as I already had 2 days worth of dishes in the sink so for lunch/afternoon tea/dinner I had delicious cheese on fresh baguette with my extra-yummy-extra-cheap wine. Bon apetite!

BONJOUR PARIS!

Well we are finally here. We have been in Paris for 1 week now, and I am settling in ok. It's very strange to think that this is home now. The hardest thing is not knowing where anything is; finding tea towels, for example was a challenge. At home you know which shops stock what items, and where they are, but here its a guessing game. None of the department stores seem to stock much else besides clothes. And the little corner stores sell staples, fruit and veg and also alcohol.

So far, most people have been really friendly to us, so me thinks the whole French arrogance things is a furphy. Its pretty funny trying out my pathetic French on various people though, some of them look at me like I am speaking Japanese even when I am asking for the most basic things. Sadly for me there are no English channels on the TV so I am mindlessly watching French TV which I have to say does help to tune your ear in. I have discovered that from 10 - 11am Beverly Hills 90210 is on which is pretty funny in French. Brenda just doesn't sound bitchy enough and Dylan's (Luke Perry) voice isn't husky enough either.

Anyway I would be struggling to call our apartment an "apartment" its more like a hotel room I guess, with the smallest, tiniest kitchen you have ever seen. Its ok but my sink is blocked and its full of crap and I can't wash the dishes. Once again, I have no idea what the French version of Drain-O is so for now I will have to keep growing sludge in the sink and washing dishes in the bathroom.

Anyway it has taken until today to get the Internet sorted out so now I can post regular blogs.....

LORD OF THE FLIES...

Well we went to Chinatown today... saw some really creepy stuff. Also the largest prawn crackers I have ever seen (about twice the size of your head). The worst was an entire pig's head skin complete with eye holes, ears and snout. This is probably the most disgusting thing I have ever seen that people are expected to eat. It reminded me of the pig's head in Lord of the Flies. Also they had dried squid about the size of your foot which apparently are delicious on the barbie.

Last night we went to the Bangkok Night Bazaar which had millions of food stalls at bargain prices (everything in Thailand is at bargain basement prices). They also get you a table and you order a 3 litre keg of beer (Singha and Tiger are the best - yes! I can drink the beer here its heaps nicer than in Australia, not as bitter. And wine is non existent or very expensive and also its too hot.) which you can dispense your own glasses. Then they also have a stage where various Thai acts come and sing. When we arrived they were breakdancing and then the rest of the night was really average (apparently most of it is average) Thai pop complete with back up dancers doing the most lame staged dancing you have ever seen.

Anyway I am glad to leave Thailand cause it is way to hot for me, however we have had a great time and I will be very sad to leave the delicious food. I think its the best I've had and also the cheapest by far. A typical Thai dish that would cost $15 -20 AUD costs the equivalent here of $2 - 3 AUD. Sawa di karp Thailand!

PING PONG ANYONE?

Well after spending 2 relaxing weeks in the islands of Thailand we have arrived in Bangkok for a whirlwind 2 day tour. Unfortunately we are leaving tonight which means we miss the King's birthday which is tomorrow. Man these guys really LOVE their King (long live the King) there are pictures of him all over the place. And as 2006 is his 60th year as King, every Monday nearly everyone wears something yellow (the official royal colour). Dazza and I are both proudly wearing yellow today as we too, love the king (also it really shows up your tan).

We are staying with some of Dazza's friends, Liz and David, in their swanky apartment which has my favourite invention of all time - air conditioning! They have been taking us out and Liz has been acting as tour guide - luckily we both share a passion for discovering the best Phad Thai noodles in Thailand - I had it 3 times yesterday (no kidding). Last nite Liz, Daz and I decided that we had to uncover the real Thailand - yes I mean sex! its everywhere here, I got accosted by prostitutes in Samui while on my way to the boxing (which by the way was very entertaining as 3 of 7 fights ended in KO's).

Anyway so we made our way to Phat Phong which is where all the "ping pong" shows are and after one false start (where we got seriously harassed while Liz stood her ground and I tried to run away) we ended up in this place with a raised dancefloor with poles on each side and about 8 gyrating very scantily dressed women performed various tricks requiring a high degree of skill. Lucky Dazza got to pull the string for one performer. My personal favourite was the chick who opened bottles (a particularly useful skill).

So tonight we head to France for the real beginning of our adventure. Still feels like a holiday though......