A Life Far Removed from Durian Trees

...since arriving in Paris and I can count my posts! Wondering why I haven't been inspired lately...maybe because life is less "quirky" here? Having said that there are plenty things weird in France... Like I'm sure most people don't know that the French state gives women medals for having 3 or 4 kids or more. And steak tartare is not steak with some kind of sauce but is actually raw minced beef. Sometimes topped with a raw egg. It's not a rare delicacy either (excuse the pun). Knowing the names of French dishes and cooking styles is not a trivial thing, there are entire books on it! And I now recognise that the French think VERY differently from the "Anglo-Saxon" way, it's pretty scary how extreme the differences are. (S and I attended a seminar on French culture - it explained a lot! Must admit, now I get less worked up about behaviour that seems strange/rude to me.) I started French classes in January. Had hoped to make new friends but I coul...

Our shipment arrived a couple of weeks ago but only now uploading photos. Naturally, being engineers, S and I got really excited when we first saw these cranes, on a little side street in Paris. Cool, isn't it?

Celebrated New Year's with a small group of S' colleagues. Our hostess lives in a lovely duplex in central Paris. Lovely dinner party with a small but international group. At the stroke of midnight, we each had a spoonful of lentils and 12 grapes - Chilean tradition to bring in lots of $$$ and happiness.

Getting a haircut: - There's a lot of hair on the floor, but I look the same Grocery shopping: -The fruit and veg look "plastic": picture perfect, no dust, no dents -That's the most beautiful onion I have ever seen! -The minced meat doesn't smell meaty, the chicken doesn't smell chickeny -Is it me, or does this taste really good? Other shopping: -12 euro for a bottle of body lotion??? -53 euro for a haircut...AND I look the same?!? Watching TV: -Set to English with French subtitles please...If no English, then with French subtitles

I overslept this morning, thanks to our uber-advanced alarm clock. I got it years ago for S' birthday. It projects the time onto the ceiling - very useful, no fumbling in the dark. It even receives the precise time from radio signals; this worked in Angola too. But last week, when I took it out of the suitcase, I was dismayed to find that the LCD digital display was out of whack. Thought maybe it didn't like the French voltage, but this should be the same as the UK. Then thought maybe it was because I had left the batteries in but in reverse. Or that it had been thumped at some point. So I left it alone. Last night, decided to give it another try. Plugged in it and whey...! Back in business. Managed to set the time (the clock's manual is in the shipment). Turned the projector on. Went to bed, feeling chuffed. This morning, I was half an hour late for work because the time had been reset one hour behind, because of the damned radio signal! S had noticed but didn...

Here's a tip. When looking for an apartment in France, be careful if the heating is "collective", even if it is included in your rent... because it will be under the complete control of the landlord, who's only legally obligated to keep your apartment at a minimum 19 celsius!

...et nous avons déménagé! We have arrived and we have moved, yes! Finally, after one month in a hotel, we moved into our apartment. Our shipment should have arrived in France a few days ago and we should take delivery of all 75 boxes (hopefully!) next week. Needless to say, as with moving anywhere, it's been stressful. ESPECIALLY after S' bosses threw a spanner in the works on his first day: Congratulations, buddy! You've got a new job in Singapore! When can you leave? I kid you not. So we are going to Singapore in less than six months. Both of us were very disappointed about leaving France so soon. Especially since we'd spent so much time buying stuff for the flat and were starting to get excited about our new life here (must admit, had some reservations initially). S even had the apartment Asian-ised, he somehow got the maintenance department to put in a little "bum gun" in the WC! ...So if anyone needs info on how to return/cancel stuff from IKEA or ...