Writings and ramblings

Just a quick update. Am visiting my sister who is living in Paris at the moment. Got here Thursday evening, staying till Monday evening (using her computer too, which has a German keyboard, so the y and the z are swapped around, so if mz tzping is a bit strange, zou'll know why. :)

My sister's apartment is 11 square metres. Total. Yes, it's that small. The bathroom is combined with the kitchen, and when she told people that you don't want to drop the soap in the shower as you might hurt yourself picking it up, she wasn't kidding. Still, we're managing with the two of us. There will be pictures later as well.

Yesterday we went to Monet's house in Girveny, which was a train trip into Normandy followed by a quick bus ride. Very pretty - house, gardens full of flowers, pond with water lilies and bridge and all. Photos forthcoming when I can get them off my phone (left camera in Paris, so the phone camera had to do - but they seem to have turned out surprisingly well.) When we got back to Paris we walked a good way across the city, stopping for crepes in Saint-Michel after dinner (which was a somewhat disappointing leg of duck, though S's duck fillet was rather tasty).

Today we went on the free tours that S does in Paris. It is free in the sense that no money is paid upfront, but tips are very welcomed at the end. So I got to see a bit more of the city. I have been before, nearly nine years ago now, and so saw a lot of the major sights then, but this was quite good for a general overview. S did well, though the tips could have been a bit better. Ah well.

Tomorrow I'll tag along on the Montmartre tour she does as well. That is not free, but if she's lucky, people will still tip her anyway.

For now, that is it. We're about to go shopping for dinner (to be cooked on one of the two hotplates that make up the kitchen) and probably having either wine or gin and tonic (complemented with olives) for dinner. Such a hard life it is.

That's it for now.