corinasays: 'I did not remember the sun being so bright!'

Last week in Paris and Return to Australia

On Tuesday night, my girl friend living nearby calls me for a lesson of Savoir Vivre:
"As a Parisian woman, you ought to sit down with your a friend at a café with a coke on your return from work'
This sounded very 'civilized' to me, so we did and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

It was like pressing the 'Pause' button on the computer.

On Wednesday, I had an impromptu reunion with my two high school friends and we spent the evening together. All I remember now is a feeling of content and I also remember how the dog took his sleeping basket under the table moving it next to my feet to sleep.

Thursday afternoon, I ventured to have a body scrub at the local hamman, as you do, in Paris. I did not go to the mosque where one can have it done for 10 euros, I am told, because I had been warned that I would be scrubbed in front of and with every other women. I am not yet that liberated, I am afraid!

Except for the harsh invigorating brushes, I had a very delightful rest with mint scented tea afterwards, indulged in a mud mask and my skin definitely felt smoother and perhaps purified from the urban stress.

On Thursday evening, I dropped by at a friend's neighbourhood amateur Painting Club exhibition in the 18th district, and I bought this painting (below) as a Christmas present for an infamous electrical guitar player I know :). I also bought a painting from JP. The exhibition theme was 'Music' and JP thought about gluing a Mozart partition paper on the canvas and painting a huge white cheese in the middle, thus mixing all kinds of medium and ideas.

So what was this cheese in the middle about?

Well, you would never guess in a million year

Clue: Mozarella!

Hint: Mozart est là.

...

I am not displaying his painting here, for fear it might be copied by the millions !!!! aha ha

Anyway, a bit of humour and ideas go a long way. The benefit of the sales pays back for the material and is distributed to homeless people in Paris. In Peace Building terms, it is a great way to create local communities with the purpose not only to enjoy and heal yourselves (through painting) but also to give back to those who happen to be less fortunate at the moment in your community.

Red Guitar Player ... finger-painted

There, I immediately connected with a woman whose work was being displayed. She said she could relate 100% to my comments on the painting and I could see that I was driven by the same sense of awe and our emotions could be triggered in a similar fashion. I must meet more artists ...

I then hesitated whether I should put a bet on an apartment for sale in the level down from my friend's place ... I would fit in perfectly in the neighbourhood, I thought, and I even imagined I would go to this club once a week! hum ...

On Wednesday, I was invited to a raclette cheese party.

We placidly sat down imperturbable Joconde style smiling while our teenage kids were throwing jokes at our expense. We shared a sense that teenagers parents are often used as their offsprings' emotional trampoline!

Later on that week, the kids were again reunited as my friends triplets (2 girls and 1 boy) celebrated their 17th Birthday party. I came to collect my daughter around midnight at my friend's place. She was having a fantastic time, and as they danced along remixed 1980's back in fashion. My two friends and I were dancing hidden in the kitchen and all the words were coming back to us as we danced!! We loooved it ... When we came back home, I asked Josie if she knew any of these musics, she did not, but she did recognize a rap song, and as she could sing it in English at a ryhtm that no second language speaker can follow, she said she got RESPECT eh ehe... I learned later that 'getting RESPECT' is a fashionable teenagers' expression, like I kif (I like) this or that.

It is a good thing my daughter did not see me earlier as I was making my way to the party from the 93 infamous suburb where my dad still lives. As I was driving through the night, 5 post-teenage guys were walking in the middle of the road and did not come apart, neither moved on as they heard my car coming up their way. I purposely did not stop the mini van but continued driving very steady and slowly. As I reached 3 meters, I decided it was time to press the car central locking system... except I did not know which button! (it was my father's car) ....I saw one button with the symbol of a door and I had hoped it would be the central locking system, but as I hesitantly pressed it, my father's mini van's left hand side door noisily and widely opened all of a sudden!!!!

I may have misread their intention or I may have startled them with this strange action.
They moved and I continued my way :)))

Friday night, I moved back to my dad's place before the imminent take-off on Sunday.

We had a meal at the local couscous restaurant. Since it was Christmas Time office parties, and that my dad has known the owner for years, we were treated with a complimentary starter plate of Foie Gras and Salmon. Then, the real thing I miss having in Australia :

Couscous

Then, I went to the local market to buy some bargain Argan oil straight form Morocco, and I shared a nice meal in my dad's company alone that evening since my daughter was at her friends' birthday party.
On Saturday night, we went to see the Lido review in Champs Elysées, an idea from my dad: "your daughter has to see that before she goes". I was not too sure about it, but not much I could refuse to him in his old age. The only problem is that, at the last moment, he said he would not come with us 'because he had already seen it', so I ended up going with my daughter and a very good friend. The review may have been hot (*although very much diluted and certainly not vulgar), but the cold was biting cold outside.

Lido evening glimpse - sorry actual show picture taking is prohibited !

This probably triggered a worsening of her cold, and by the time we arrived in Bangkok for a night transit sleepover in the Airport Hotel, she was coughing non stop (like a asthmatic cough)... so much so that I was afraid she may not make it through customs checkpoint.
In the middle of the night, I called the BKK Hotel Reception and asked if we could get a ventolin puffer. I was told that the only way was to get it at the airport pharmacy. I explained that she was distressed, so I could not leave her in he room alone. The hotel manager came to the room and said 'don't worry, I will not leave her like that', and he went himself to the airport to get her some ventolin and a Thai cough syrup. I am forever thankful to such kindness. I wrote a note to the Hotel chain to thank him for his action that night, after my daughter immediately settled down, after the ventolin shot.

The flight was quite long when you travel with someone in pain.

PAIN WAS INDEED IN PROGRESS

On the other hand, we were lucky enough to board a massive A380. No, we did not visit the top deck but my daughter remembered doing a presentation at school on A380 a few years ago, and she immediately texted her dad 'not to get jealous' about it!

As we arrived in Brisbane, it was 34C and my daughter said:

'I did not remember the sun being so bright'.

It was 12pm when we arrived. There was a bit of housework to do before 6pm when our guests arrived for Christmas eve. For us, it was only 9:30am in Paris, so we were in full swing!

6:30pm: Get set!

A concerted effort: one friend brought this delicious and healthy first course

Girls will be Girls

Parisian Boxer Short ... even Metro Monge station shows on the left-bottom hand side!

The following day, I found a note in my letter box from some neighbours who noticed I came back: "Welcome back home, and be sure to catch up with us when you are both rested"

These flowers are another token of the welcome extended by my friends last night, and I caught this shot this morning at 6:30am on these magnificent flowers before writing this blog, while all is calm and felicity around ...