MISCOMMUNICATION IS MY MIDDLE NAME

So here in France pretty much every person I talk with is not a native English speaker. As my Swiss friend Till told me when we were both in Australia, I am the hardest person to understand. Therefore my chances of being understood in Paris, seemed to be fairly low. And boy, are my chances low! Speaking 1 sentence often involves repeating it twice, then changing the words and repeating the new version a couple of times. Then maybe, I will need to explain one or two words. Phew! It can be very frustrating as you can imagine. The other problem I have is that when I try and slow down, I still breathe in the same places as if I were speaking at a normal speed, so I constantly feel out of breath.

Yesterday when I was hanging out with my German friend from the lab, Christoph, I asked him if "he, like, missed Germany?". To this he looked a little confused and answered "well, not really, although the blond one was OK". Turns out he thought I asked him if he liked Miss Germany!

WHAT IS ART???

Yesterday Dazza and I (yes! he is finally here!) visited the Musee d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (Modern Art museum of Paris art) which was pretty cool (although I didn't really get any of the stuff there). As usual, they had some stunning pieces of art, and some that, well.... I'm not sure if you could really call it art. Such as this piece......

Dad - this is for you! I know you will just LOVE this! 4 white pieces of canvas...... I ask you... IS THIS ART?

A NOVEL METHOD FOR CORKING CHAMPAGNE BOTTLES

Guess what i saw the coolest thing yesterday, someone opening a champagne bottle with a sabre. No kidding. Apparently its some French thing, lots of the people there had heard of it (I hadn't) but had never seen it done. You scrape the blunt edge along the seam of the bottle towards the cork and then it pops the whole top (cork included) off. Unreal! These Frenchies certainly have style (although this week the whole bloody country is driving me insane). A bientot.

UNDERGROUND PARIS

So on the weekend I did the weirdest thing I have done so far in Paris. I went to an underground party..... literally. It was in an old quarry underground that some guy uses to store his veggies. I have never seen so many carrots and potatoes in my life.

Anyway there were people drinking, cooking food, playing guitars and singing old french songs... there were even kids and 2 doggies down there! At one stage a guy had a glow-stick and broke it and splashed the liquid all up the walls. We blew out all the candles and the whole place was glowing green. It looked unreal. This photo is of the little truck you had to walk through to get to the party area.

J'ADORE CREME BRULEE!

Yay! Today is Friday and that means creme brulee day. At WEHI we would get excited about chocolate biscuit Friday but that was no competition for creme brulee day. I have written about the cafeteria here at Pasteur before so you will know that you can get a huge lunch every day for super cheap. They alternate the desserts every day and there is usually about 4 on offer.

I had never tasted creme brulee before I arrived in Paris. They are everywhere here. Its the best thing ever - custardy stuff topped with burnt sugar. Yum! If you have not tasted one I highly recommend searching one out or forcing your mum to make one for you. Bon apetite!

BIENVENNUE A CHEZ MOI!

So finally I have left the hospital in the fifteenth and moved into my new apartment on the boarder of the 11th and 12th. Its at Metro Faidherbe Chaligny on the eastern Right Bank if you are trying to find it on a map. Guillaume is the best landlord in the world, he has gone out of his way to get everything set up really well for me. I only have to get a couple of bits and pieces and the place will be perfect. I am on the 3rd floor of a building which was built around 1640. So old! Its great.... and the quarter is really interesting and fun.

The fact that a french guy I met declared "the fifteenth is a cemetery" gives you some idea of how the arrondisment is perceived. It is very residential and doesn't have too much going on. The 11th and 12th however have Bastille, Republic (great areas to go out in) and a really cool feel about the place. There is also a food market about two minutes walk from my place.

So now I have a whole 32 square metres of Paris all to myself! Yes, measure it out and cry - its less than double the size of my old bedroom. Everything here is tiny. The best bit is that I have TWO ROOMS! This is a big deal in Paris. They don't talk about the number of bedrooms here, only the number of rooms (excluding the kitchen - if there is one, and the bathroom). Everywhere is so tiny, often the bathroom is outside the front door, and I went to one place where the shower was in the kitchen!

GOODBYE HOSPITAL ROOM.......

CHANTILLY

Yesterday Kelly and I started our series of day trips around France. We decided to visit Chantilly (Chant-tii-ey) because it was cheap to get there and nice and close (half hour north of Paris).

In Chantilly there is a forest, a beautiful chalet with those cool french manicured gardens consisting of little more than ponds, grass and big pots, and an (apparently) famous hippodrome. It is also the home of whipped cream - in France the name for whipped cream is chantilly, and lace. So for a little town it has a lot going for it!

So we covered all the major attractions as you can see, however sadly, we did not indulge in cream..... or lace for that matter.

I'M SO EXCITED!!

Ok most of you will have some idea that I am a fairly excitable person at the best of times. And right now, with so much going on, I'm extra excited.... moving apartments, job is improving out of sight, cool friends, Dazza visits in 2 weeks. So as you can imagine, I have been running around saying "I'm so excited about (insert various reasons)!"

Until recently I believed that this was just me expressing my happiness at (insert reason). But no, of course in France, it has another meaning.... Last weekend I was informed that saying "I'm excited" did not related to enthusiasm over Big Kev cleaning products, but that I was declaring I was sexually excited. Mortifying.

I have been running all over Paris telling everyone I was up for it. ALL THE TIME. So I would like to thank the nice french person who told me, and slap the faces of all those who kept quiet. And now, whenever I feel the need to tell everyone "I'm excited" I have to clarify myself with "but not in the French way!"