Salon du Chocolat

When someone asks me: so why do you love Paris so much? It is easy to answer. There is always something to do here. Always.

This weekend, for example, among other expositions at the Paris Expo (Porte de Versailles), there was the Salon du Chocolat.

Heaven.

You could try, buy and go completely mad. There was so much chocolate that I really didnt know what to do. I ate a lot, I bought a lot and I left the place feeling that I should have eaten more and should have bought more.

There was one delicacy in particular, that got my attention. It was a little ball of dark chocolate with a center of pâte d'amandes and crème de marrons (chestnut paste). It was s good, but so good that I had tears in my eyes after the first bite. Then I bought a few more to bring home and of course, that I ate them all already.

Total extase.

Seriously, with this kind of chocolate, there is no need for men!

A new word: Dragueur

French guys…what can I say? Most of them are good looking and even if they are not, there is always the “je ne sais quoi”…that little something that we cannot explain but that makes some of them irresistible.

But well, do not expect all French men to arrive with a bottle of wine and invite you for a picnic under the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, there are bad apples everywhere and here they are particulary annoying. Some "mecs" abord you on the street, say things and are just not nice! We call them "dragueurs". They have no manners, no class… and as far it regards my coconut scented self… no hope! (I just wanted to make this clear)

So dragueur is this guy who tries to seduce you at any cost, using cheap tatics. I dont know if it has any positive meaning.

A technique very used by a dragueur is to make you believe that he is a victim of a "new generation" of French girls who just wants to use him (which is not true), so he will come with all these tales of how some girl broke his heart and left him when he mentioned the word commitment.

I mean, are you for real?

In such situations, I miss the Irish guys. They may say silly things but they can always use the drink as an excuse! :)

La Boulangerie

There is virtually no meal without a bit of bread in France. Every day you see French people walking proudly with their baguettes under their arms, sometimes even eating a petit morceau on the way because the smell of the bread is just irresistible.

For me, to go to the Boulangerie is an exercise of self control… I arrive there with the intention of buying a demi baguette and I find myself bewitched by the dozens of different patisseries and chocolates and petit gâteaux and cookies and…mon Dieu…what am I going to do?

-Bonjour, Mademoiselle! – the smiling Boulanger greets me

-Une demi baguette, s il vous plait

It takes seconds for the bread to be cut in two, packed and given to me but in this little time frame my eyes travel around the shop while I fight the urge to ask for everything that I can carry home (while eating most of it on the way)

Ok, a little pain au chocolat for my mid afternoon break. Why not?

Pain is so close to pleasure. Or is it the other way around?

Rugby World Cup

The ones who know me must be asking: when did you start with this rugby thing?

Well, not long ago. In fact, it was this year during the 6 Nations tournament. I remember the tears in my eyes when Ireland lost against France in that important match at the Croker!

So tomorrow I have my first rugby world cup and I am here, in Paris, where most of the magic will happen ;)

In this sport, my heart is half Irish and half French...so I will have a hard time on 21 September but until then...

Allez les petits!

My first tango in Paris

If you feel like dancing but do not fancy going into a night club, just walk to the quays of the Seine close to the Institute du Monde Arabe.

The music starts at 18hs, there are even classes, all levels. Or you can just find someone and move around as you please.

There is salsa, tango, rock, samba..anything you want. Nobody cares if you are doing it right, if you don't follow the rhythm etc. You just need to feel the music and dance!

Lots of Parisians go there for picnics as well. It is a wonderful atmosphere. You also see the boats cruising the Seine and the tourists all amazed...watching the mad people dancing on the moonlight!

Bus 72, public transport and cinema

Tired of walking? Cannot think on anything else to do in Paris?

The bus 72 may be the solution! It goes all the way from Chatelet to St Cloud by the Senne, passing by the Louvre, Concorde, Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, Parc de Princes, among others.
If you buy one of those daily tickets, you can hop on and off the bus as many times as you want. It is like a bus tour without the guide.

Unfortunately, for some reason, in the bus or in the metro, you always have the feeling that most people here are unhappy. I wonder why. How can you make such a face when you have the Eiffel Tower just a few meters away?

Personally, I think I will never get tired of Paris. I discover something new everyday.

Yesterday, for example, I went to see a movie from the 50s, called The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing...a real classic! And there were so many people there! It seems that around the "quartier latin" there are a lot of small cinemas that show old movies in their original version with subtitles in French. The cinema was also really beautiful...all red velvet! It was like travelling in time really.

No, I will never get tired of here.

The Man Bag

It is the latest fashion in Paris: the man bag. Every time I see one, I feel the impulse to take the guy by the shoulders and shake him while I ask:

- What do you need to carry now that you didn't have to before?

Non, je ne comprends pas!!! And these bags are everywhere in the city. I don't know, maybe it is just me. I am not ready for the new man, the metrosexual, the Beckham generation.

Yesterday, a friend took me for lunch at the very fashionable Boulevard Saint Germain. We had our rendez-vous at one of the metro stations. I was looking at a map when I see him approaching together with his man bag. I could not believe it.

- No, not you - I had tears in my eyes
- What is wrong? - he seemed confused
- You have a man bag. Why? You didn't have one when I saw you last year. What do you carry in it?
- My phones(yes, he has two! and one looks almost like a laptop!), my documents, my keys...what is the problem?
- I just think they are horrible, a real man doesn't carry such bags.

He looks at me and smiles:

- Ah, yeah...but we are in Paris, you see...whatever we do here becomes fashion. In some months everybody all around the planet will have one.

He is right. God help us all.