I have arrived in Paris!

Paris is lovely, of course. The travels here were a bit crazy with missed flights due to delayed flights, lost baggage, etc. We spent the day at the markets yesterday which was an adreneline rush and a sensory overload! Here are a couple images:

Thankfully I did not loose it completely and bought only a tiny fraction of what I loved. Here is the shopping list: (1) pastel painting of a french bridge in a pale gray frame, (1) antique watch with a silver floral-designed face on a black ribbon band (no more casio!), (1) antique silver ring, (1) antique black floral pillbox locket necklace, (1) set of vintage cotton & lace pantaloons. Ahh. Now I can soak in the rest of what Paris has to offer!

All three girls with whom I am traveling took off on their own this morning after our luggage was finally delivered so I have a delicious day to myself for a little quiet and order. Our apartment is right in the middle of the city on St-Germain so the Louvre, Luxembourg Gardens, and Pont Neuf bridge are all within walking distance.

Here is the view as you walk out of our apartment.

Here are the girls I'm traveling with. Julie Harris is the blonde in front (do you remember her from our wedding? She was my wedding photographer and we have since become very good friends! The middle girl fixing her hair is Paige Elizabeth (also a photographer). The girl with the pink bag is Anne, a good friend of Julie's.

We have a full little kitchen so we've been preparing most of our food here- esp. since we were all in our "traveling clothes" and Paris is rather posh so no one felt comfortable going "out". There is a corner market just down the street which is stocked with all the essentials and the owner calls us each "princess". In a very sweet way. We are subsisting on a diet of yogurt (which comes in little brown clay pots and is so rich and whipped it almost tastes like creme brulee- but not sweet), cheese, fresh bread, espresso, apples & strawberries, and wine. Lots of wine.

It has been perfectly overcast so the light is soft and diffused. It has been in the 40-50's so it is quite comfortable with a jacket.

In case you're curious about what will be in fashion next year for women, here they are all wearing mid-thigh-length dresses over tights or very tight pants and high boots. All browns & blacks & grays. Hair is worn either very long or very short. So I seem to fit in alright with my super short platinum hair cut. (Masyn cut quite a bit more right before I left!) Extremely low maintenance which is nice.

We missed the photo shoot that was arranged for Saturday with the newly married couple here in Paris. We had been scheduled to arrive at 8am but didn't make it until close to 6pm. But tomorrow we have a different shoot set up with a few French photographers, a wedding dress designer and a few models. Fashion isn't really my interest, but hopefully we'll take them to the Jarin des Tuileries which is a garden full of white sculptures primarily of women. I think that might be gorgeous. I'm also trying to convince the whole lot to shoot in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain which is the little village where Chocolat was filmed and is about 2-3 hours outside of the city. I am dying to go there, but we don't have a car and there are no trains or buses that go there, so, yes, a little selfish manipulation! I doubt they'll go for it, but doesn't hurt to try!

Last night we passed Gérard Depardieu who was arm-and-arm with a very thin gorgeous girl and walking ever so slowly down a side street near our hotel. I recognized him immediately but just smiled non-chalantly and kept walking. Anne also quickly recognized him but did about 3 double takes (does that equal 6?) and because she thought he said "Hola" replied "Hola!" He actually said "helo" in a very French sort of way and so she was later mortified. Julie realized a few feet away who we had passed because Anne started talking a mile a minute so she picked up the pace in case our fellow-travelers became hyper-touristy and started gawking and even worse doubled-back to ask for his autograph. I was similarly inclined. It was just too quiet and romantic of an evening to impose that kind of frantic & excited energy on them. They seemed quite content just to stroll. But two blocks away a couple did just that- stop them and take a photo. He was actually quite pleasant and engaging with them so upon seeing that Anne & Paige suddenly thought we might be lost and wanted to stop to consult the map. And oh- wait! Gérard is getting closer- perhaps we could ask for a photo with him! Nope. Julie and I refused, and we had the cameras. We got inside to our 4th floor apartment and opened our windows to sigh over the view of the sparkling (literally it was glittering!) Eiffle Tower just as it started to rain. I wished I had brought a copy of Cyrano de Bergerac. He was so wonderful in that film.