Notre Dame again

Finally it's December!

Fortune telling

Did you guys do any fortune telling this year?
I was invited by a polish friend, Paulina, who lives and works in Paris for almost a year now. A cuople of friends from here work came over, we had some pierogi made by Paulina's mum (yammi, tasted like Christmas already), żubrówka + apple juice and a very warming up drink - krupnik served with clove and hot water, an idea that I will definitely borrow for my family Christmas days.
Thanks for inviting me Paulina!! It was fun and first time since arriving I had vodka on Monday!
;)

Santa, please read this!

I wish Santa read my blog and went shopping in Paris! Would ask him to get me this set of cups (17 uero each)

And this cushion! LOVE it. (72 euro - why??)

Salon des vins des Vignerons Indépendants

Paris is famous for it's world leading position in the number of organized congresses, expos, conferences and workshops. Where else, if not in Paris, could you attend such an excellent event as an expo of independant wineyards. I got invitations from my boss Stephane for my friends and me, but anyone can enter paying a fee of 6 euro. More than 500 wineyards exhibiting from all around France and you are welcome to taste whatever you like.

On the entrance they give you a wine glass..

And you can start exploring..

Nikolaus, a greek guy who's doing his erasmus exchange project in my lab, had an ambicious plan to taste all the most expensive champagnes..

We bought a couple of bottles to take home and one to share in place, tired after couple of hours of tasting by little sips...
My choice was a bottle of champagne Michel Loriot Brut Rosé and red wine Morgon, year 2007, from the wineyard owned by the Méziat family.

Louise Attaque

Check out this cool song, I heard it some time ago on the radio and now finally tracked it down. And don't the guys look like homies?
:)

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

Have a quick look on the Notre Dame Cathedral. I pass it sometimes on the way back from the lab if I want to have a walk before coming back home. I must say it is astonishing, probably even more from the inside. I'll try to get more photos soon, for those who haven't seen it before, altough this one is definitely a must-see.

Light in the tunnel

Three good things have happened in the past 24h:
1. I finally got internet connection, which means that I can post from home and not from the lab, that was by far uncomfortable with all the people around, and
2. I got my new phone back (thank you my dear insurance company!! won't even mention what happened to the previous one, you should only know that I had it for 3 days... that's my absolute record... ). I will be able to post more photos, as it has quite a reasonable camera.
3. My first salary just arrived :) have to keep most of it for my debts and upcoming payments, but still it's nice to see a sum on my account that doesn't start with a '-' :D


Today let me just share with you some curiosities that I found in the Pascal guide:

1. The land area of the Community of Paris is 105 km2, which is 0,02% of the terytory of France.
2. The population is 2 193 000 and is decreasing.
3. The urban area (Paris and suburbs) is 2.723 km2 and the population is 10 197 000 and increasing.
4. In Paris there are 450 parks and gardens, 150 theaters, 141 museums, 85 cinemas, 70 discotheques, 22 monuments and 3 operas.
5. More than 50.000 people in the area of the city is permanently homeless.
6. Every day Paris uses 217 030 198 m2 of water - around 300 l per one citizen.
7. Every year the city produces 1 203 902 tones of waste - 100 kg every 3 seconds!
8. 1,2 mln cars travel through the ringroad of Paris, Boulevard Péripherique (35 km long) each day.
9. 15,9 km/h is an avarage speed of cars on all streets of Paris and keeps decreasing.

Rainy days

Rainy days have come to Paris and dark clouds also gathered over my head. "Beginners bad-luck", I should say... I will continue posting in a few days when it all goes away. xoxo

kitchen design

Walking around little streets of Paris I keep coming across the most peculiar kitchen gadgets:
like a set of 4 cups "Totem Inka"
or these lovely food treysthe lady pigeon wins the contest...

Centre Pompidou

Previous sunday I visited Centre Pompidou, french national museum of modern art. First sunday of each month the entrance to most of the museums and art galleries in Paris is free of charge. That of course means waiting in a long line (around 1,5h in my case), but is worth a try, as there are so many art galleries in Paris, that if you can skip paying in at least some, you can save up a decent amount of money. Here you have some photos of things I liked or found interesting.

There are 6 floors and you can get up to the top by escalators with glass walls. The view on Paris is great, altough the weather wans't very generous for photographers.Bride in the entrance
Carlo Molino, 1950
Bruno Mathsson, 1943
Two guys outside
Pablo Picasso, Li liseuse, 1920

Le Corbusier, Nature morte, 1922
Iakov Gueorguievitch Tchernikhov, Construction de formes architecturales et des machines, 1931
Pablo Picasso, Femme couchée, 1932
Amadeo Modigliani, Portrait de Dédie, 1918
Amadeo Modigliani, Gaston Modot, 1918
Otto Dix, Bildnis der Journalistin Sylvia von Harden, 1926 (nie przypomina Wam promotorki Amelii??)
Jacqueline Lamba, André Breton, Yves Tanguy, Cadavre exquis, 1938
Francis Bacon, Study of Isabel Rowsthorne, 1966

Serpan, no title (why??), 1955
Avigdor Arikha, Alba à onze ans, 1977
Avigdor Arikha, Anne de dos, 1973
Marc Chagall, Bella au col blanc, 1917
Marc Chagall, Double potrait au verre de vin, 1917-1918
Elke Krystufek, Size does not metter, age does metter, 2006