Manchester England, England

Every time I think of Manchester, that song from the musical Hair jumps into  my head:

"Manchester England, England....Across the Atlantic Seeeeeeeea. And I'm a genuis genuis...."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvi0kXSKMio

...Anyone?

Anyway.... Matt, Frankie, and I are headed to Manchester tonight. We're going to a wedding reception for one of Matt's co-workers. I don't think there's going to be an actual ceremony, just a party. But just in case, Frankie's been practicing how to be a flower girl. She walks around the hallway very slowly, tossing imaginiary flower petals in the air. Her hope that is just in case there is an actual wedding tonight and just in case the real flower girl is sick, Frankie will be able to step in as back up flower girl.

It's very cute.

So, it's a wedding reception tonight, an overnight stay at the White Hart Inn, and a Saturday visit to the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester. Should be a fun-filled weekend.

(More Paris pictures still to come. Sunday, maybe?)

Paris pictures: Round four

I really enjoyed riding around on the Paris Metro. For whatever reason I found it a bit harder to navigate than the London Underground (maybe the French stop names were harder to process?), but it was still a very clean and efficient way to get around the city. Plus, it made me feel oh-so metropolitan.

Metro entrance.

Frankie, city girl, getting ready for her first Metro ride.

Waiting for the train.

Riding the Metro, Cougar-style.

I love this picture. Frankie's hanging out on the train, texting on Matt's phone. (Just like the guy in the background on the right, who is also texting.)

Here's a weird French ad in the underground part of the station. If I spoke French, maybe I could understand why they're using the ghost-face killer from the movie Scream to promote McDonald's extra value meals. KC? A little help?

Paris pictures: round three

We arrived in Paris on Sunday. On Monday morning, we took a long Metro trip to The Fleas, a once-a-week street market. I mentioned this in my last post about The Fleas, but I'll say it again. The antiques at this place were crazy. I saw things that I had never seen before, never even dreamt of before. It was weird and wonderful. Absolute heaven for a flea-market lover like me.

Most of the booths were set up like miniature living rooms. They weren't over-crowded like American flea market booths can be, and everything inside the booths seemed to be hand picked by the owners because it was interesting or unusual.

Here's Frankie, hanging out in an Eames-era egg chair.

This booth specialized in really creepy taxidermied animals. The black furry thing on the left is some sort of Scottie dog.

...And on the table on the right? CORPSIE!! (Oh man. This is the stuff of nightmares.)

Speaking of which...

I wish I would have taken more pictures, or maybe even bought something to take home with me. By way of excuse, I'll say this: There were hardly any other people at the antique part of the market, and all of the dealers were sitting in their booth glaring at us. (Or at least it seemed like it.) The only time any of them said a word to us was when one dealer lept up and started yelling at us in French when Frankie made a move to touch something on a table.

I was afraid to engage anyone at the market in a conversation, because then my secret would be revealed: I don't speak French. I felt really intimidated, as if they would mock and/or scorn me if I revealed myself as a non-French-speaking tourist. I'm sure that's all just craziness in my head, but in the moment it felt very real. I think if our trip to The Fleas had been on our last day in Paris instead of our first day, I would have been different. By that last day in Paris, I was starting to get much better at interacting with other Parisians. On the first day... Not so much.

Not to give the impression that I didn't love it. I really did. I just hung back on the margins, like some sort of a mute ghost.

The non-antique part of The Fleas was jam-packed, by the way, and sold all kinds of weird new merchandise. African masks, converse, blue jeans, Hello Kitty umbrellas... You name it, it was probably there. Here was my favorite thing from that part of the market:

I mean, seriously. WTF??

Paris pictures: round two

The neighborhood around our apartment was very charming as well. We were within blocks of the Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame, the Pompidou Center, and the Seine.

A beautiful church across the street from our apartment.

Frankie pulling a Marilyn Monroe on a breezy street grate.

The Hotel de Ville.

Matt and Frankie on a bridge over the Seine.

Many days, we'd walk over the bridge and hear street musicians playing the accordian. (Perfect, right?) This day, there was an American musician playing Jazz. Frankie loved it, and put a Euro in his basket.

Along the Seine, there were these tiny booths were street vendors sold antique books and old comics and magazines.

This is Matt and Frankie in front of Notre Dame.

The Scourge of Birds.

More from Notre Dame.

Frankie at Notre Dame, begrudingly posing for a picture.

The Seine.

The entire city is filled with lovely architectural touches. Even the bridges have amazing stonework on them, like this gigantic stone head.

The back side of the Hotel de Ville.

Paris pictures: round one

So... Paris.

I've been meaning to post pictures here for a few days now, but I keep getting distracted. This week, I've been busy planning Erin's impending trip over to Maryport to visit us. I'm so excited that she's going to get the chance to come over here. She'll be here in early October for ten days. Yay!

Also taking up time this week: My total lack of motivation and all-consuming laziness. Frankie's went back to school this Monday, and I've been to spending the whole week savoring the alone time by totally squandering it on the couch with my Kindle. Oh, Kindle. How I love you.

As for Paris, I think I'll start with a few pictures of our apartment.

We stayed on the Borg Tibourg, on a pedestrian square overlooking four different adorable cafes. The apartment itself was small, but charming. Nothing fancy, but it was a really comfortable place to call home for a few days. Plus, the location couldn't be beat. The restaurant right downstairs was delicious, and the bakery on the corner had phenominal pasteries that I'm still dreaming about.

Here's the apartment:

And here are a few shots of the courtyard outside our building:

Frankie's favorite part of the courtyard was chasing the neighborhood pigeons. Frankie = The Scourge of Birds.

Matt's Home

Things calmed down in Paris, and Matt was finally able to get a flight back to the UK last night. He got home sometime around midnight. He didn't make it to his meeting in Leon, so basically he spent two days flying to France and back, seeing pretty much nothing but the airport.

Bummer.

I've gotta say, though: I'm really glad Frankie and I weren't with Matt on this trip. Kinda feel like we dodged a bullet on that one. Can you imagine being trapped at an airport all day with Frankie? [[shudder]]

Mon Dieu!

Have you heard about the big Paris transportation strike?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129693834

The protests are over a proposed change in the retirement age, from 60 to 62. Airports and public transportation in Paris are all affected, and the city has virtually shut down. It's impossible to get in or out of Paris at the moment, and even the Metro is running at half capacity.

So... Guess who's trapped in the middle of it all?

Yep. It's Matt.

Matt flew to Paris this morning, where he was supposed to catch a connecting flight to Leon France for a meeting. He's been trapped at the Charles de Gaulle airport all day, and finally managed to snag a hotel voucher for a room almost an hour away from the airport. (I tried to find him something closer, but every single hotel is filled.) If the airport is back up and running tomorrow, he'll be able to get on a 10 pm flight back home to Manchester. But who knows? He might just be stuck there for awhile.

It sounds like it was an absolutely nightmarish travel day for him. I hope he can get home soon.

Wish him luck, ok?