Paris in the Fall

Three days under the rain still did not mar Paris'beauty. We arrived on a chilly Friday and started ouradventures with our quest for lunch. We ended up in acorner CHINESE resto with cheap authentic noodlesbefore heading to Musee Rodin. Rodin, most popular forhis sculpts "The Kiss" and "The Thinker", thought ofplacing his works in a garden, offering Parisiennesand les etrangers alike to stroll through a manicuredlawn and be surprised by lifelike sculpts. I liked"The Kiss" best. Before heading home, we ventured tothe Opera, muse for "The Phantom of the Opera", andthe grand building never fails to give me tingles. Wetook the tour and saw some costumes and a hall thereminded me of Beauty and the Beast. We stayed with a lovely Dutch couple who lived in theoutskirts of the City. That meant having to take theRER (commuter train) to and from the city, which tookmore or less 30 mins. They fed us with tres delicieuxet authentic French "homemade" food of baked salmonand foie gras and a sumptous meat fondue for ourfarewell meal.

Saturday welcomed us with nasty cold and rain; but itdidn't faze us to walk through Champs Elysees (whichwas doted with Christmas decor), visit Musee Picasso,as well as Le Marais, a picture perfect area, withstreets doted with quaint shops, the Sienne just astreet away and the lovely Place des Vosges, where ajazz quartet serenaded us while peering through artgalleries. C'est formidable! The highlight of the daywas meeting Camille and Yumi, friends from Manila.Lia, my Venezuelan-American friend, was introduced tomy Manila self as we tres Filipinas tsismised our wayinto the night, over Camille's fresh creations at LeCordon Bleu and a plate of les huitres (oysters) atthe corner bar. Lia was delighted at the intermittentspills of "pero" and "syempre" into our Taglish talk. We heard mass at Notre Dame the next day, which wasquite an experience, even if the organ music scaredus. We met Camille and Yumi at the Sacre Coeur steps(a la "Amelie") and continued to Montmartre. No, we were too shy to have our portaits made. Too cold tostay out, we decided to seek shelter in a cafe, thathad a piano player on board. Tres parisienne, n'est-cepas?Three days was not enough for me to drink up the city,especially with the weather not cooperating, andschoolwork waiting for me in Brussels. I never evenhad the chance to see Le Tour Eiffel up close, butnevertheless, I know Paris will always be a city to come back to!

CHRISTMAS IN THE AIR
It's begining to look a lot like Christmas aroundhere, with announcements for Marche du Noel. I will be spending it in Frankfurt, at Lala Aventajado's, from23 Dec to 3 Jan. I am awaiting a German Christmas,with its famous markets and food, and maybe I visit toHeidelberg to look for Rizalstrasse.

SCHOOL WORK
I can't believe how time is flying so fast; too fastindeed. My exams are scheduled right smack on mybirthday week; I will have exams for courses I'vetaken this sem and last sem. Then after passing them(oh, I hope to God!), I will be starting with mythesis, which is due in April. Before you know it, Iwill be sinking my feet into Manila traffic and Boracay sand again.

PHOTOS

By the way, I went as a Pixie last Halloween:http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/alexieferreria/album?.dir=/6bb9&.src=ph&.tok=ph37FJCBpTWEwT_cParis

Photos:http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/alexieferreria/album?.dir=/9928&.src=ph&.tok=phi6FJCB3fGiav9l=====Early

Christmas greetings to all! I'm sure it's thebazaar craze back there... among things I am missing...

Bises,
Alexie