An Alien Parisienne protests SOPA & PIPA today.

Today, sites like Wikipedia, Google and many, many others on the Internet are taking time to protest SOPA and PIPA: the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP [Intellectual Property] Act.

From Wikipedia:

For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. [Main Page statement on January 18, 2012]

SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” and PIPA is an acronym for the “Protect IP Act.” (“IP” stands for “intellectual property.”) In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. [Wikipedia: SOPA and PIPA- Learn More]

Wikipedia, Google, and many others are blacking out their sites for a period of time today, January 18, 2012. Those sites have linked in articles regarding these proposed laws in the American legislative bodies. I urge you to go and read the links (since getting on Wikipedia is difficult today– except on mobile phones or if you disable your Javascript in your browser — you can’t fritter away time looking up crazy stuff! Might as well go and get yourself informed. Once you do, I imagine as a reader of blogs and a user of the Internet, you will join the protest, too).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act

http://www.blackoutsopa.org/

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/how-pipa-and-sopa-violate-white-house-principles-supporting-free-speech

http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/join-our-censorship-protest/ (Please watch the embedded video WordPress has posted at that link, also watchable here on Vimeo. It sums up the situation very nicely.)

http://americancensorship.org/

Sergey Brin (one of the founders of Google) – December 15, 2011 post on Google+ regarding SOPA/PIPA

Go now, get informed, take action by signing the petition or by posting a blog of your own. Let your voice be heard.

May the Free Internet Live Long, and Prosper!

Live Long and Prosper, Free Internet! Spock says so.

Yours,

Paris Karin

an alien parisienne

I’ve just returned to Paris in time for Christmas after being in Anitbes, the town in the South of France between Nice and Cannes where my best friend lives. The “South of France” sounds like it ought to be a warm place, but is really not in winter. My BFF and I froze our keisters off at the beginning of this past week. There might be palm trees and sunshine in Antibes, but balmy it is not in wintertime. It’s chilly.

It beats being in Paris, just for views like this one, though:

From the Old City and the Fort Carré to Cap d'Antibes - click to enlarge

Or this one:

Old Antibes, with the Alps in the background

Or this one:

Sunset at the Winter Solstice - La nuit la plus longue de l'année

Even in winter, the colors of the South — Mediterranean blues, terra cotta reds, sandstone yellows, sage greens — make me feel terrific because they uplift the spirit so! No Paris grays are to be seen anywhere.

Alas, I am back in Paris, and I am posting because it is time for me to wish you a Happy Holidays!

Yes, it is those bears again. Remember them? They are in the windows at Microlithe, the association at 59bis rue Olivier Metra, 75020. I have blogged about this window here and here in the past. Adorable, eh?

I’ve got some more Christmassy photos I’d love to share with you, so if you’d like to have a look, keep on reading.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, lights have popped up in the city.

These are the ones in my neighborhood. They are not super-sexy X-mas lights, but they get the job done, and I am rather fond of them.

Lights on the Avénue Secrétan - December 5

The super-sexy lights and windows can be seen at the Galeries Lafayette and Printemps department stores, where Paul and I went on December 6 for a special opening at the Galeries Lafayette for American Express card holders. On our way there in the Métro tunnels, we ran into Tom and Monique of Discover Paris! tours and Entrée to Black Paris. I wrote a huge post about them last year. You can find that post here: Special Report — Discover Paris! I seem to just run into Monique a lot! It has happened a couple of times now — in unexpected places and at unanticipated times. It’s fun! We’re on the same wavelength, I guess.

Here’s a collage of all the grooviness this year on the Boulevard Haussmann.

The Grand Department Store Lights and Windows - click to enlarge

Neighborhood bakeries are filled with special treats. These treats are from a bakery on the rue de Belleville — it’s on the corner of rue de Belleville and rue Levert. You can see it here on Google Maps. They always have the nicest looking items in their windows. I think they are perhaps a better pâtisserie than boulangerie. Since I don’t eat gluten, I am not sure. I just know that it is often hard for places to be both a good pastry shop and bread shop. But there are always people buying both bread and pastries here, so perhaps it is one of the rare places offering both good bread and good pastries. Someone should go there for me and taste-test.

"Buchette" -- little Bûche Noël

More goodies...

... and still more goodies.

There were similar goodies in bakery windows in Antibes.

More Yum in Antibes - click to enlarge

When Paul and I went to the Galeries Lafayette, it was my first time going inside the department store in the three-and-a-half years I have been here. It really is beautiful inside, and the Christmas tree looks pretty cool in the center of the famous domed area.

Here’s a little photo of what it looks like. Click to enlarge the picture.

Galeries Lafayette Christmas Tree

And here is my artistic messing about in Picasa 3.9 with its new photo editing features. The theme this year was “Rock ‘n Mode,” with Iggy Pop appearing in ads all over town. A little… bizarre — if you ask me. I got a pic of the ad. See below…

Galeries Lafayette Tree - Arty Version

Have an Iggy Christmas. Kinda creepy, huh (lol).

Have yourself an Iggy little Christmas...

But, just like Dorothy in Kansas, there is no place like home. Here’s the Prescott tree this year, taking up WAY too much space in the Ghetto Pad, but making everything smell like a Colorado mountain wood — a little sniff of home for me.

Our Humble Tree

I hope wherever you are, and however you celebrate (or don’t celebrate) this time of year, you are having a good time. In fact, hopefully you are not reading this just yet and you are spending time with friends and loved ones.

We just finished Christmas Eve dinner a couple of hours ago — a tradition Paul keeps in line with the one in France of the big dinner being held on the night of Christmas Eve. Santa arrives at midnight, about an hour from now. Paul’s daughter is in bed — another tradition in his family. Kids go to sleep for a couple of hours before midnight, then are awoken to open presents. Paul’s son, who turned 17 earlier this month, has decided this is the first year he is not going to observe the tradition, and he is going to stay awake as a grown-up. He and Paul are watching the movie “Wayne’s World.” I wanted to finish this, in keeping with my posting once a month through this entire year, and then go and watch with them until Santa arrives.

Bonne Fêtes, everyone! Sleep well, get nestled tight in your beds. I hope Santa is good to you all. Or, the Hanukkah, um, whatever. The Magic Dreidel? Or you know, however it is that you observe and whoever it is that brings you presents! I hope you have a merry time.

xoxo

Your Alien Parisienne

I am, still today, madly typing away at my NaNoWriMo novel. (You can see my progress here.)  I’m also still keeping an eye on the wee ones of Ms MJ, An American Mom in Paris, but only for a couple more days as their departure back to Seattle is imminent, aka next Wednesday. I can’t think too much about that, though, as now that I have gotten to know her kiddos so much better, I’m aching with the idea that I may not ever see them again. MJ has already promised to come back to visit, so I’m not worried about never seeing her again (hee hee).  While this is a very bittersweet time for her, I just wanted to say here how I have enjoyed her presence here in Paris and in the Paris Bloghood. Life will not be ever quite the same without her updates on Paris. She’d better write about re-entry into Seattle, though, or I am going to have to go over there and kick some a**.  Three cheers for the American Mom in Paris! Can I get a holla?!

Onward.

Some of you may remember at the end of this past September, I wrote about how I had a guest post that appeared on the Anytrip.com Blog (UPDATE 25 January 2012: now it’s the HostelBookers.com Blog!). It was the lovely Leah Prendergast who worked with me, asking me to contribute.

I have not used their services, but I have to say that if the interactions I have had with Leah are any indication, HostelBookers.com is a top-notch site from which to book trips and get advice about budget-conscious travel. Hopefully, there will be one day soon when I will be able to avail myself of their services and see some more of Europe using their travel tips and booking services. As a part of that, just so you know, I have in no way been paid or given any other promotional consideration in writing such. That’s just me, from the heart, based on the messages I had going back and forth with Leah and from reading their information on their blog. One of these days I will put up an official “Disclaimers” page that says as much for all my posts. But there you have it: I only put stuff on here where I have somehow had a personal connection with someone, and they seem like they are nice and have something cool to share. That’s it. I get no money from writing here, and I have never been paid to write about how X,Y or Z product or service is a good one.

That said, Leah has been kind enough to write a guest post on “Seven Great Things to Do in Paris for Free.” I’m really thankful to have something to put on the site this month as I am furiously still trying to write about 5,296 more words of my novel, resulting in a decent rough draft from which to create something truly spectacular over the coming months. *cross fingers*

Without further ado, please continue reading about some terrific FREE (ghetto Paris Karin loves FREE) and interesting things to do in Paris. Thank you, Leah!

Seven Great Things to Do in Paris for Free

This post was brought to you by Leah Prendergast from HostelBookers.com the budget travel specialists.

Paris is known as “La Ville-Lumiere,” the City of Lights. It is also known the world over as the City of Love. Visiting Paris is a dream for millions of people everywhere; however, the cost of traveling to the City of Love and Lights can make the journey seem impossible. Factually, a cheap Paris hotel is not difficult to find, and there are many things to do during a stay in Paris that are completely free.

1. Notre Dame Cathedral

Photo of the Cathedral Notre Dame by: dewolla

This Roman Catholic Cathedral is considered by many to be the most impressive example of Gothic architecture in Europe. Tours are approximately one hour long and are free to the public in a variety of language. The cathedral is open from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Saturday and from 1:30 PM to 6:30 PM on Sundays. Visitors are also welcome to attend mass.

2. Musée Carnavalet

Photo of the Musée Carnavalet by: Bertrand Dupperin

The Musée Carnavalet is an excellent choice for those who wish to learn more about this beautiful city. It is home to sculptures, drawings, photographs, furniture, coins, and many other numerous items dating back to Renaissance time and detailing the history of Paris. All permanent collection pieces are free to the public, but temporary exhibits, workshops, and lectures do require an admission fee. The museum is open from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Tuesday through Sunday.

3. Gardens of Versailles

Photo of the Gardens of Versailles by: woowoowoo

To enjoy the Palace of Versailles without having to pay the entry fee, plan a tour of the Versailles Gardens. Originally designed in the 17th century and commissioned by Louis XIV, the Versailles Gardens are made of expansive lawns, ornate sculptures, fountains, and beautiful flowers. The garden areas are open to the public from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

4. Hôtel de Ville

Photo of the Hôtel de Ville by: Edwin.11

The Hôtel de Ville is Paris’s city hall, but also is home to many stately statues and temporary art exhibits. Unlike many museums that charge a fee for temporary exhibits, the Hôtel de Ville offers viewing of these exhibits free of charge. Hours are 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Saturday.

5. Musée Curie

Photo of Le Panthéon** by: PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE’s

A museum that is a bit off the beaten path, the Musée Curie is housed in Marie Curie’s former laboratory. Learn about the history of radiology, scientific research, and the family legacy left behind by the Curies. Reopening in 2012, the museum has free guided tours for groups and individuals.

[**Note from Karin: The Musée Curie at the Institut Curie is located just to the south of the Panthéon, on rue d'Ulm. However, both Marie and her scientific partner and husband, Pierre Curie, were interred at the Panthéon in 1995 - source. Please also note that the Panthéon does not have free admission. Admission at the Panthéon at the time of posting is €8 for the regular adult fee. For more information in English about the Panthéon see this link at the Centre des Monuments Nationaux.]

6. Musée du Parfum

Photo of the Musée du Parfum by: Ariaski

Imagined by the Fragonard perfume company, the Museum of Perfume has on display antique perfume bottles, toiletries, and perfume making devices. Entry and tours are free. Hours are 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Saturday and 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Sunday.

7. Paris Greeters Tours

Photo by: bibendum84

Volunteer guides from Paris meet for two to three hour walking tours of the city. Tours are available for solo travellers or for up to six people. Requests for these tours must be made in advance via email and are subject to availability. Tours are free, but they do accept donations.

Other Free Things to Do in Paris

Occasionally, some of the most popular attractions in Paris open their doors for free as well. If travel plans can accommodate it, the first Sunday of each month offers free admission to such notable locales as the Louvre Museum, the Pantheon, Musée Rodin, Centre Pompidou, and Musée d’Orsay.

There are also a number of self-guided sightseeing missions that are budget-friendly. Take a stroll along the Seine or enjoy the view of the Eiffel Tower from the nearby Champs de Mars. Paris is also home to a number of public parks and gardens that can be enjoyed at no cost.

A stay in Paris is within almost any budget. Clean, yet inexpensive accommodations are easily found for the price-conscious tourist, and there are multiple attractions and activities that will create memories that last a lifetime.

It was in part because I took some cool photos that were begging me to share them with you, and also because of some wonderful readers whose kind words have inspired me to be ME again here in the blog, and carry on the way that I used to here at AAP, especially as I did a couple of years ago when I wrote something like 60K words here for NaNoWriMo. Call me nostalgic, but I just wanted to throw another bit of Karin Brain Spillage onto the page before I hit the crazy novel writing for the next 30 days. Maybe it is because the Muse is with me! I hope so…

I may also have some writing assignments in addition to NaNo that could pull me back here in the next month — obviously, there will be something posted here if I do. Otherwise, if you see me goofing around on FB or Google+ too much in the coming days, holler at me and tell me to “GO WRITE.”

First off, though, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween.

Another** cute window from Microlithe, the association at 59bis rue Olivier Metra, 75020

** I posted  about another one of their windows a year ago.

For more thoughts and photos, please keep reading!

***

The same day I saw the witch up there, I also caught this photo:

Someone needs graffiti spelling lessons...

I’ve been kind of quiet about it here on the blog, but one of the things that keeps me busy is a regular babysitting gig with a little Parisian guy. This is on our route home from his school. I’d passed it several times, and each time the “BONYCLYDE” cracked me up, so I finally snapped a picture of it. The little Parisian guy thought the face was funny. I do, too.

Now for a little more of “traditional Paris.”

Something to preserve the soul a little more.**

The same sunset view (different sunset, though) from Pont Neuf as in my previous post. (** ref. to the Victor Hugo quotation, “To inhale Paris preserves the soul.”)

A little more life preservation.

Before we leave the prototypical views of “Paris Proper” here is another autumnal shot looking up the Seine towards Île-de-la-Cité (the island with Notre Dame de Paris on it). On the left in the photo is the Place du Châtelet, and on the right you can see one of the towers of the Conciergerie.

Paris has a certain glow in autumn.

Back to the Ghetto Pad here in the ‘hood.

We just had our return to Standard Time here in Paris on October 30, a week before folks in the US. Here was the view out our apartment window at 8:09 am on Saturday the 29th:

And the same view out the same window on Sunday, October 30th, at 7:48 am:

What a difference an hour makes!

Of course, it is 6 pm as I am composing this, and it is already dark outside. I noticed that sunset was beginning a little more than an hour ago. And so the season of Living in the Dark Cave begins. *sigh*

Moving right along, here is a series of photos I took in the Métro while out with my friend, photographer Karin Crona (she took our wedding photographs when Mr. Paris Paul and I wed in September. Oh yeahhhhh, I was going to post some more of those, too… Maybe for our first anniversary. *cringe* Or when I think of it next. Not now, so sorry…). Karin and I were out and about to see the Diane Arbus exhibit at the Jeu de Paume, something I enjoyed very much (no photographs allowed in the exhibit, but you can get the idea from the website here: Diane Arbus at the Jeu de Paume. There is a downloadable PDF — only in French — that shows many of her photographs here).

Coming home in the Métro at station Opéra, where we had walked to after the exhibit at the museum (which is in the Tuileries Gardens), I saw these posters in the corridor, ones I have passed in multiple stations multiple times, and every time thinking the same thing.

Here's the corridor, lined with the posters for the Opéra Royal at Versailles.

A little closer view. No, it's not the men in their underpants...

It's the Blanche Neige Boobage (Snow White, for those not in-the-know).

Now, I am not really a prude. I get artistic boobage and yes, this kind of looks like the boobs in many paintings that hang in the Louvre. I think it is that in just about every case in the Métro corridors where I have seen this poster, there is not just one poster, but three, just like this, in stark repetition, and there’s that young chick’s round apples hanging out with the round apples, and I cannot help but GAWK every damn time! They are pretty, and perky, and rosy-tipped. They are very cute ta-tas. But I would NEVER, ever see this kind of poster in public in the U.S. and I think about this every time I pass not only this poster, but this kind of thing whenever I see such in Paris. Parisians (and perhaps the rest of France, too, I don’t have much experience with that) seem to really like their tits, and don’t mind them showing up in ads in the Métro. I guess I kind of have a hard time understanding why Show (whoops! Seriously, that was a Freudian typo, ha ha! The “H” key is just above the “N” key on my AZERTY keyboard), I mean SNOW White needs to be all bosomy in the poster. Are her naked breasts supposed to show her purity? *Serious cognitive dissonance for me here.*

Alors. I don’t know if there is much more that I can say about that. I mean, are you gawking now, though? Do you see what I mean?

UPDATE November 2: Wonderful Reader Maria shared this link in a comment below. I was so moved by what I saw that I wanted to share it here, so that you all could see it, too (in case you don’t see the comment). http://youtu.be/nuZm_VcyCIE Angelin Prejolcaj´s Blanche Neige – “The lover´s despair” extract. It is really terrific. If you can, check it out. It makes me want to see the entire ballet.

Change of topic…

Today I went to Office Depot to get another black ink cartridge and some paper anticipating NaNoWriMo and my desire to print up what I am writing as I write it. This will be a new thing for me! Last year, Paul’s old printer, which has since been sent off to wherever old printers go to die after the City of Paris people come to pick them up, ran out of ink last year, and it was so expensive to replace the cartridge I never did print up what I wrote. This year, a most lovely woman, the mother of the child I babysit, gave us a printer for our wedding (it was on our Amazon Wish List). And hell yeah! The black ink cartridge is ONLY €17 to replace! Booyah! It’s about half the price of what black ink cartridges for Paul’s old printer were costing us. I can print with abandon! Or, well, on “fast” mode because I am still pretty cheap and €17 ain’t nothing. But this year I can actually afford to print my manuscript as I go along, and use it for eventual editing, if it does not suck too much once I get finished. (<—- note positive assumption that I will finish).

While I was out on this beautiful last day of October, on non-Halloween here in Paris, but on the day before Toussaint, All Saints Day, I snapped a few fall photos of the Bassin de la Villette, which is where the Canal Saint Martin ends and the Canal l’Ourcq begins.

Also while I was out today, I saw something that I have walked past a few dozen times, at least, in the three years I have been in this neighborhood, and only just noticed today.

At the lower right of the photograph, you can see a placard — it’s dirty and gray, but it says on it “Société philanthropique été fondée en 1780″ or something along those lines. Then, at the top of the building, in green brick, you can see this:

1906

The Internet, Google Search and Translate, and Wikipedia (or Wikipédia as it is in these parts) are beautiful things, and a short search later yields the following:

The Philanthropic Society is the oldest non-denominational charity in France. It was founded in 1780 under the patronage of Louis XVI and state-approved in 1839 by Louis-Philippe (source — in French).

This link is the website for the society and explains (in French) a bit of the history. It’s one of those copyright protected sites, so when I went to copy and paste into Google Translate, it told me I was forbidden to do so. I think the gist of it is that it’s a society that is old and has been helping people a long time (heh).

What was even more interesting was this portion of a book Le Logement social à Paris 1850-1930: les habitations à bon marché by Marie-Jeanne Dumont which refers to this building at the address 5-7 Passage de Melun (Google Maps ariel view) in this passage here. Google Books is amazing, too. It looks like the area around where I live was full of social housing projects back at the turn of the previous century. It interests me as I live in a social housing project myself — not a huge one as some are in this area, but in a building with seven apartments that are rent-controlled and administered by the social housing organization France Habitation. It’s an area quickly becoming gentrified, but really is one of Paris’ original “ghettos” in terms of how it has been crammed full of people that were pushed out of living in central Paris back in the day (well, and today, too, honestly).

Oh, I could blather on about other things related to this, such as Hausmann’s renovation of Paris, and how a new book by Tatiana de Rosnay (called Rose in French and which will soon be coming out in English — I just learned from her site that the US book will be entitled The House I Loved) explores the issue of people losing their housing and needing to look for someplace to live back when the grand renovations of the late 19th century were happening. I’m going to be sure to get the book when it is out in 2012 as I have loved reading her other books in English.

But, it is late. I have spent more time that I intended putting together this post. I’ve had fun doing it — but it is tiring, and posting all those photos a bit of a chore. I feel very pleased, however, to have spent a little more time with my blog today, tending to it, and hopefully providing something interesting for you to read and look at.

One last photo. If you think of me in the coming weeks, this is where I will be working:

My Work Nook

I have commandeered Paul’s secretary desk as my own personal workspace, populating the surface of the fold out desktop with my laptop and stuff (ah! That’s right! This year I am writing for NaNoWriMo on my very own laptop! A dream come true! Thank you Paul, again, for this wonderful birthday present). I love this nook, even if the dining room chair is not very ergonomic and makes my rear end numb after a while. I’ll have to get up and stretch now and again while I work.

Wish me luck, dear Readers, and if you would like to follow my progress, I will Tweet, FB, and otherwise post my progress as much as I am able. My NaNoWriMo profile is here. You can see how I am doing there as well. If I can find a cool little widget to stick in the sidebar of the blog here as I have in years past, I’ll do it.

All right, I think that’s it. I’m off to have some supper and then chill out with the TV, then go to bed a little early so I can rise and shine and write my little heart out.

A bientôt.

Over and out.

Paris Karin

(an alien parisienne)

Hi everyone!

I have been trying to commit to monthly blogging, and I just realized it’s been a month. Thing is, this is kind of a non-post. For those of you who like the “old school” alien parisienne posts, this will be up your alley, though.

I’ve been so busy of late! I’ve had a special assignment this past week, playing Karin Poppins to two wee ones, whose mother happens to be this person. Some of her besties are in town, and she’s needed someone to mind the fort while she goes out and has a final hurrah in the City of Light before she heads back to the City of Flowers or the City of Goodwill, depending on if you would rather go with the 1942 Resolution or the 1990 one (see here).

A total aside –

Check it! The Peerless City (yet another motto!) has a song. A few of the lyrics, for you:

Hail to the Peerless City, Metropolis of the west, The gateway to the Orient, Whom grandeur hath caressed!

Her bosom’s gemm’d with pearly lakes, The mountains tower near; The fir tree forest skirts her bound; The beauty of earth is here.

Wow.

That is, like, a really sexy song. Caressed… bosom… forest skirts her bound… Yeesh. For 1909, that is some pretty racy stuff. Go Seattle!

So yeah, that’s one of the things that has been going on.

I am also gearing up for…

NaNoWriMo 2011 looms. A week from tomorrow, it is time to WRITE once more. This is the fourth year I will participate. In 2008, I wrote fiction, but did not complete the 50K-minimum word count (by a long shot). In 2009, I wrote here, on this blog, just over 60K words. Last year, in 2010, I wrote something like 62 or 63K words of fiction, with a fictional character doing fictional things (it was a total chick lit-esque POS – look under “Linguistics”– with a few interesting bits), but it was mostly just a good beginning and then lots, and lots, and lots of middle because I was writing by the seat of my pants, and had not really given consideration to a little, tiny thing called PLOT.

This year, the goal is to follow a plot outline, which I am already hashing out, based on what I learned last year and on what sources I found on the Internet addressing this pesky aspect of fiction-writing. This year, I’m going to focus on the Young Adult novel I started in August 2010 before life got crazy with child-minding (not my own, but another Angel of a kiddo), housecleaning (professionally, for said child’s parents) and other general life stuff. Plus, I just got kind of stuck with it, because of that PLOT thing I mentioned earlier.

Other than this stuff, married life is still fine, I have received wonderful greetings, gifts and good wishes from so many people, including from a special reader now living in Paraguay, who sent me something called a “güampa” and a “bombilla” for making something called “tereré.” I was really humbled by her gesture! Here I am, this chick living in Paris whom she’s never met, and she goes and does something really touching like this. For all the crappy stuff that can happen online or as a result of people abusing the Internet, I have to say that I have had very good luck in meeting and sharing with the greatest of people. And as my best Greek friend, who is also the voice of The Greek Report, would do because I have tempted the Fates in proclaiming that good luck, perhaps as an act of hubris, I must now spit three times: PTOU PTOU PTOU. It’s bad to tempt those Fates, you know. I’m not sure how the spitting figures into things, but in the five years I have known her (honestly, only online — we still need to connect F2F), I have learned this is a very important thing to do. Check out the Greek Reporter’s blog up there, please. She’s writing about what is really going in Greece right now, from an insider’s point-of-view. I am really interested in what she has to say. The reality for Greek people is becoming very — what’s a good word here? Dire. Yup, I think that “dire” is where this is headed, and it makes me nervous and sad. But the Greek Reporter really has a way with words, and yes, English is her second language, which you will not believe when you read her stuff. Her English is better than mine, no kidding. She amazes me.

I think that’s it for now. This is really “off the cuff” stuff — I pretty much just sat here and typed for the past, I dunno, forty-five minutes or so. I made the picture up there for a Tumblr post earlier tonight, and next thing you know, I am on my Posterous account to be able to cross-post there with my main WordPress blog. I’m on Google+, too — have been since July. I do like my social media outlets, I do.

My goal is to complete NaNoWriMo in November, so if need be, I will not post again here until it is finished on November 30. But certainly you can find me on Facebook (see the sidebar) and Twitter (ditto) as well as those other places I mentioned above. Feel free to add me at those places. I’m sure I will post updates about the writing and other things as they happen.

Happy Halloween to you, Happy Thanksgiving (US), Happy whatever else happens in November…

True love and art shall flourish here, The heart’s sweet, tender theme, Upholders of the truth here dwell, The dreamers of the Dream.

(More from the delightful Seattle Official Song, “Seattle the Peerless City.”)

Over and out,

Paris Karin

(an alien parisienne)

Hello everyone! I’m actually also sneaking this post on to my An Alien Parisienne Wordpress blog via my Posterous account, someplace I experiment now and again with events and publicity about events in Paris.

I wanted to let you know about an article I have written as a guest over at the AnyTrip blog.

AnyTrip is a London-based, budget-travel, online booking agency, and while I have not yet used their services, I am really impressed with the way they contacted me to be a guest writer for their site, and impressed with what they offer at their site. Many other terrific bloggers and writers have also participated in doing articles for this month’s Love Paris Giveaway. There are four chances this September to win a trip to Paris with AnyTrip’s Love Paris giveaway. For each prize, AnyTrip will set you and a friend up with a two-night stay at a Paris hotel, an activity, and £150/€170 in travel vouchers for the return trip to Paris.

For information on how to enter as well as the terms and conditions, visit the AnyTrip Love Paris post.

You have until September 30 to enter, so hustle on over to the site!

For some juicy personal news, please keep reading!

As far as my personal news, I have been horribly lax writing on my main blog (it has been over a month since I posted about the Katia and Kyliemac podcastiversary, I realize). Since returning from the hinterlands of Canada, Paul and I returned to Paris and a couple of weeks after that… got married on September 9. That’s right: I am now Mrs. Paul Prescott!

(photo by my friend, photographer Karin Crona)

This month we also jumped into the rentrée (French for “re-entry” but it connotes the back-to-work, back-to-school, re-entering of “real life” post-vacation), and as I’m sitting here, typing, I’m thinking to myself, “REALLY? It is the end of September already? NO WAY.” But indeed, here we are.

I have thoughts and hopes of blogging more regularly. I look all the time at the newest WordPress themes, and think about how I have had numerous people ask me to unclude their links for their Paris-based travel/information/lodging/expat-connections, and how I really ought to get that going. But somehow, up until this week, I have felt re-entry resistance: my brain has been stuck back at that wonderful lake in Northern Ontario.

I have, however, been posting to my Facebook page, my Google Plus page, and Twitter when I have not been posting at WordPress or Posterous (or even Tumblr… jeebus, just how many blogs and social networks can a girl belong to, eh?). Please do connect to me at one of those places to keep up with me in the quieter times on my blog(s). Or, oh yeah: Goodreads, too (I am woefully behind on it as well right now, though).

I hope this post finds you all well and settled quite nicely into another autumn season!

Take care.

Over & out.

Paris Karin

(an alien parisienne)

Have I got something good for you today. A party! A celebration.  A fifth birthday has arrived!

On August 20, 2006 a podcast was born.

Over the past few months, I have gotten totally hooked on the Katia and Kyliemac podcast, recorded live on most Saturday evenings here in Paris, France and posted on their site every Wednesday and Sunday. A couple of months ago, I had the genius idea to interview Katia and Kyliemac (aka “Kylie”), just like they interview guests on their show except in writing. So, I got in touch and asked if they would be willing to grant me an interview for my blog, and they were more than happy to do so!

To learn more about the wonderful Katia and the wonderful Kyliemac, please read on!

© katiaandkyliemac.com

So here’s the thing.

I am actually here:

Ontario, Canada

Probably, in fact, sitting in the screened-in patio you can see to the left of the main house, there, reading, or talking, or hanging out. The person who is writing now is the Ghost (Alien?) of Karin Past, who is hopefully successfully post-dating this entry so that you are seeing it on August 20, 2011 in the comfort of the civilized world where they have electricity and they don’t have toilets like this:

The Privy*

Here’s a view from the outside:

The Privy Outside

* For those of you not-in-the-know, a “privy” is an outhouse, an outdoor toilet, a fancy hole in the ground.

I jest a little. It’s not all as bad as that, although the privy is still fully functional and used daily. The cabin pictured has indoor running water and plumbing these days, plus a shower with hot water, heated via propane gas. The refrigerator and range are also powered by propane, but there is no electricity. We are able to check e-mail on a laptop when Paul’s dad runs a gasoline-powered generator for just such a purpose, but competition for e-mail time is fierce, and only available for brief periods of time, and not necessarily every day.

So Karin Past is writing and pretending to be Karin Future, while Karin Present (at the time of this posting) is far, far away from Paris in the hinterlands of Ontario, Canada.

But let’s not get off-track. The reason I am posting is what I have already written: the most terrific podcast from Paris, France, the Katia and Kyliemac Podcast, is turning five today!

Katia and Kyliemac: Dynamic Duo

Katia and Kyliemac, July 2011 at Angelina in Paris © Paris Karin

Who are Katia and Kyliemac and what do they do?

You know when you were in university, sitting around in your dormitory room with drinks and snacks, shooting the sh*t with your best friends and dorm mates, having a great time laughing together and learning about one another? That’s just like the Katia & Kyliemac podcasts, only they’re better because not only do Katia and Kyliemac share about their expat lives and adventures in France, they interview very interesting guests who share about their adventures, interests, and projects, too.

The podcast team are self-described on their site: “Where Country Australia & Mid-West America collide in the Katia & Kyliemac podcast. Twice a week they laugh about their adventures & share their unique perspective on the expat life in France.”

Katia (pronounced katie-ah) hails from rural Australia, and is a graphic and web designer and free-lance writer. She lives in Paris with her husband, the Muffin Man and their kitty cat, Symphony. She fell in love with a Frenchman and found herself in Paris ten years ago. She’s never been a francophile, but thinks Paris is a great place for adventures. She very much loves the life she and the Muffin Man have in France.

Kyliemac is a native Michigander residing in Paris. She’s been in France since 2003. She came to teach English as an assistant (like so many do) and ended up staying. She just this year received her Master’s degree in British, North-American, and Post-Colonial Studies at the Sorbonne Nouvelle. She also finished a “Licence” (a three-year French degree, roughly equivalent to the Amercan Bachelor’s degree) in English at the Sorbonne Nouvelle the year prior.

(You can learn more about both ladies at their “About K&K” page on their website.)

K&K Episode Number One, “the one where they talk about the Eiffel Tower… and stuff…” was posted on August 20, 2006. As the podcast team approach their fifth anniversary, I really wanted to share with my blog readers about the podcasts because A) I adore these ladies and their show, and B) if you like the style of my posts (especially my older adventure, stream-of-consciousness, “thoughts of the day” types of posts), I think you will fit right in with this dynamic duo. I. LOVE. THEM.

K&K Podcast Wallpaper - click to enlarge, then right click to save & use as desktop wallpaper!

Why do I love them so?

I think it was about a year-and-a-half ago when I first linked to the podcasts at Katia and Kyliemac. I’m not sure exactly how I found them, but it was probably on a search for my own blog on a topic about Paris or it was listed on someone’s blogroll. I tried to listen to a few episodes while I was doing other things on our once-upon-a-time lone desktop, sometime in the mid-to-late-300′s episode range of the K&K podcasts, but found that I was getting distracted easily and could not focus on the podcast, sitting still, at the desktop. Facebook and other things kept making miss stuff while I listened, and I’d find myself backtracking three or four times, “rewinding” to the bits I’d missed. It was not an ideal listening environment for me. For some dumb reason it never occurred to me to load the MP3s onto my iPod Nano until I was, like, one day, “DOH. Girl! Put the podcasts on your iPod and listen to them while you houseclean three hours a week!” It was a revelation.

I remember the first episode I downloaded and listened to in full was number 422, “the one where they learn more about the life of a trailing spouse… and stuff…,” featuring author Ann Mah, who wrote the novel Kitchen Chinese, and all about her adventures being the “trailing spouse” of her husband, who is a US Diplomat currently assigned to the US Consulate in Paris. I was completely hooked after that one, and I have been listening to each and every episode ever since. I have also downloaded several past episodes, including the first ten episodes from which Katia and Kyliemac lifted off (archives of all the episodes are here). From the get-go, these ladies have found their groove, delivering great discussions, wit, information, and just plain interesting, well, stuff.

In addition, now that I have a laptop of my very, very own (hurrah for Paul and his being a birthday present god!), I recently participated in my first LIVE episode on a Saturday evening, to which listening is extra fun because of its interactive chat feature. I was really excited because I actually got a mention as Paris Karin with something I commented on the chat, which thrilled me to no end. (episode 444)

That’s a little of how I came to the podcasts. Now, I’d like to get to some questions for Katia and Kyliemac that have been burning inside of me since I have been listening, the answers to some of which might just be buried in the 409+ episodes to which I have not yet listened. I may get there, eventually, but that’s a lot of listening (like 200+ HOURS, kids), and I want to know some of the answers more quickly than that. So, in honor of their fifth podcastiversary, let’s let Katia and Kyliemac speak for themselves!

*Note: While I met Katia and Kyliemac at Angelina on the rue de Rivoli in July to talk a bit about their answers, they were gracious enough to provide written answers for me as well. I did not record a spoken interview like they do, but hopefully I can bring to life the interview as if we were meeting up in the Alien Parisienne studio for a live show as well!

The Interview

Karin: Katia, Kyliemac, welcome to the Alien Parisienne “studio.”  I really appreciate your taking the time to answer all of the questions I have had running through my mind as I listen to the podcasts.

So first off, how on earth did you guys meet? I recall in episode nine, where you talk about the Internet being really, really great, you say that you met online. When did you first connect? Could you please share a little of that story? How does a girl from rural Australia hook up with a girl from the American Mid-West, pray tell?

Kyliemac: We first met on a Friday night in Paris. It was March 11, 2005, to be precise (and I had to look that date up), at the Klein Holland – a Dutch bar in the 4th arrondissement. I “crashed” a blogger meet-up hosted by Petite Anglaise that Katia was attending. I was invited to tag-along by two American bloggers I had met up with for the first time earlier that day – Vivi from Dispatches from France and Kim from Francophoney.net - both of whom I’d met through non-blogging means. I did actually have a blog at the time, but wasn’t connected to the Paris blogging scene. And that was really the beginning.

Katia concurs with Kyliemac’s response (“I met Kylie in 2005 at a bloggers meetup and we just became friends.”). She also has a blog, which she started in January 2003 and where she still posts occasionally, at aussielass.com.

Karin: Why and how did you decide to create a podcast together?

Katia: The podcast was created on a bit of a whim, but I’d been wanting to do something like this for a long time… Something beyond the standard blog that I had been writing and the likes of which could be found all over the internet – I wanted to do something different. For me, at least, it’s a fantastic way to explore my creativity and also to scratch that theatrical itch.

Kyliemac: We were at Ikea one rainy day, and as we were walking up the steps Katia said to me, “We should do a podcast.” And I said, “Okay.” Then we drank an obscene amount of coffee in the cafeteria (free refills! a rarity in France) and had a deep and meaningful conversation about Cap’n Jack Sparrow. (The Muffin Man had NO idea what he was in for. The poor man.) The next day I got a phone call from Katia saying that her husband had spent the evening looking up the equipment we’d need to do the aforementioned podcast and they were going to go buy it at that very moment and did I want to join them to do it. I did. So we did. And we’re still using the same equipment to this day – except that we’ve now bought even more of it.

Karin: I was originally going to ask you about the intro/exit music, but then I heard in episode nine (09) — and later confirmed on your webpage here — that the music is a song by a guy/band named “Little Thom” and is entitled “Inside Joke.” It’s a really fun song, and I think it makes a great intro/outro, but what were your reasons for choosing it? Were there ever any other contenders for the music? If so, care to share any of the rejects?

Kyliemac: Yes – our theme song is by an American musician named “Little Thom” – who happens to be married to an Australian woman. I remember us scouring some websites that catered to podcasters – there are quite a few that are “podcast friendly” – our song, if I’m not mistaken was discovered on the Podsafe Music Network. I don’t remember any of the “rejects,” though I know there were several, but I do remember not being bowled over by “Inside Joke” the first time Katia played it for me. But the title? Our whole show is an inside joke! Now I can’t imagine us using anything else. (And we’ve got it available for free as a ringtone on our website.)

Versailles fountain © cutestmidget (Katia) on flickr

Karin: You both have adventures together not only in Paris, but in other parts of France, too. Recently, you visited Versailles with Axel of Paris Urban Adventures, who also is a “fountain operator/assistant” responsible for turning some of the fountains on and off (which sounds a bit silly until one realizes it is quite a responsibility and not as easy as it is typed! Readers can listen here (443) and here (444) for more information about this amazing adventure).

I think it is in episode ten (10) where you have your first adventure(s) on which you report in the podcast: a visit to the Thanksgiving store in Paris to prepare for a Thanksgiving Day feast, and to Père Lachaise Cemetery. It was Katia’s first visit (after she’d already lived here for five years! I’m glad she finally made it there).

How many adventures in the past five years have you taken together, do you estimate? What has been one of the best/your most favorite adventures on which you’ve reported?

Kyliemac: How many adventures have we taken together in the last five years? Many, many adventures. Katia may have a better guesstimate than I do. It’s rather hard to break down because sometimes we have multiple mini-adventures inside of a bigger adventure – like when we went to England a few years ago. Katia & the Muffin Man had some friends visiting from Australia and the lot of us took the ferry over to England in two cars (which was in itself an adventure). We had some adventures in London all together – then they went one way and I went another – and finally we met up later in Nottingham, where we had a whole other set of adventures. In early shows, our idea was to visit a touristy place each week and do a kind of review. Obviously the show has changed since then. We’ve done things from visiting the Paris Sewers (on one of our K&K Get Cultured outings), to seeing the musical WICKED in London, to going to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show in Paris, to learning all about how Cognac is made in Cognac, to watching the “Soupe des chiens” at the château de Cheverny. But really for us, anything can be an adventure!

I’d have to say one of the most unusual adventures we’ve had is one of our more recent ones, when we went to a snail farm. This was both a educational and terrifying experience because it is the first (and so far only) interview that we’ve conducted entirely in French.

Katia: The number of adventures we’ve had together HAVE to be in the hundreds… Some of my favourites have been when we visited Cognac (and about 10 distilleries in one week), went on mini-breaks with friends in Normandy and the Loire Valley, spent hours wandering around the various food salons and exhibitions that happen in Paris every year, and our recent visits to a pastry shop (some photos here) and a snail farm!

Snail Escape! © kyliemac on flickr

*Note: You can see all of the photos on Kyliemac’s Flickr set here. You can also click on the pic above to go to the Flickr site.

Karin: In your earliest shows, you have conversations about things like Neopets (“Neo-Nerd Moments”) and other geek stuff (which is all very fun and a charming aspect to the show…), but it does seem like at some point (maybe episode 10?) things shift into more reporting about Paris (and France) and adventures themselves. There is a familiarity for me with episode 10 and the more recent shows I have listened to.

Could you tell my readers a little bit about the evolution of the show, and when it was that you really felt you hit your stride with, well, you know, the “thing,” the “gestalt,” the way that the show is today? When do you guys feel like you started to “hit the mark” for what you wanted; when did you “get your groove on” with the show and feel like it was really happening for you?

Katia:  As you’ve suggested, the show has evolved significantly in the last 5 years… We started off in 2006 doing one show a week, a little off the cuff and somewhat rambly, but very quickly we realised that we were having so much fun doing it that we began doing two shows a week and started to put some serious thought into what we wanted to talk about.

Our next big step was in 2008 when we launched two spin-offs of our original show: Katia & Kyliemac Learn French (where we talk about at a different French idiom every week, learn equivalents to that expression in French and English, and try to figure out who to use it with and when) and Katia & Kyliemac Tourist Tips (general hints about how to make the most of travelling in France).

We also had our first live audience show at the end of 2008, and our second in 2010, with listeners coming in from different places around the world just to participate in the show and watch us “perform” live! It was really thrilling for us to be able to meet all these amazing listeners and to see how many people were excited about what we’re doing! In early 2009 we also set up cameras in the studio and started streaming the recording of the shows live in front of an internet audience with a chat room, which added a real spice to things – this meant that we can get feedback in real time as we’re doing the show and integrate listener responses into our own discussions!

Author Ann Mah and her diplomat husband Chris on the podcast © cutestmidget (Katia) on flickr

It was in 2010 that we also started to expand our guest base. We began focusing on interviews with people doing interesting things around France and in relation to travel. We had already been very excited about what we were doing before this but we really hit our stride when we had the opportunity to chat with so many fascinating people: David Lebovitz, Stephen Clarke, Ann Mah, Heather Stimmler-Hall, Janet Skeslien Charlies, Amy Plum, and the list goes on…

Five years in and we’re only just getting started.

*Note: To find out which episodes special guests have recorded, see the List of Friends who have participated in the show on the K&K website.

Karin: Do you still play Neopets? If yes, WHY? If no, WHY NOT!? Actually, as a part of this, I am wondering how you have time for your lives and jobs and school in and around the podcast. I have a hard enough time blogging once a month, much less do a podcast twice a week. Do you guys live on your computers? (Kind of kidding about that… kind of not, lol.)

I can obviously tell, though, that the Internet seems to have impacted your lives very much, like it has in my life, too, and that you greatly enjoy what you do online (as evidenced by your activity not only on the website/with the podcasts, but also on Twitter and other social networking sites). How do you find a balance between online life and face-to-face, non-virtual life? How do your online lives enhance your non-online lives?

Kyliemac: I do, I must confess, still have a Neopets account. Katia was the one who introduced me to Neopets – and I think I’d feel kind of badly about totally abandoning them (despite the fact that they are pixels).

I think that by merit of doing a podcast with a co-host, there is already the potential of having a measure of “balance” between online life and face-to-face life. Katia and I only record our shows when we’re physically together in the same place (as opposed to some podcasters who do shows with co-hosts using other means, like Skype). So there is automatically a factor of human interaction already figured in just by merit of recording. We record our shows “live” in front of an Internet audience. To do the podcast, I’ve got to get up and dressed and brush my hair and actually leave my apartment to get to the studio. Plus, when we do have guests on the show, we get to meet with them in person and have a real conversation – not just on the show, but also before the show when the microphones are not on. We record all of our shows on Saturdays, and release them into the feed during the week – this leaves the rest of the week for work and other adventures & shenaniganery*.

The internet today, with services like Twitter and Facebook, can really give you an opportunity to connect with people in a way we couldn’t really do before. We’ve got a ton of listeners who are connected with each other and when we/they do get an opportunity to meet in person – even for the first time – for the most part they/we’ve got an idea of who that person is already, and it’s more like meeting up with an old friend than a new acquaintance. We really noticed this aspect after we started doing the live shows – once the listeners had an opportunity to interact with each other in real time, we had a jump in listeners de-lurking. And it’s ALWAYS exciting to find out more about the people on the other end of the Internet.

Katia and Kyliemac Neopets Wallpaper - click to enlarge, then right click to save & use as desktop wallpaper!

Katia: No more Neopets for me, even though I’ll always be a gamer girl at heart! Not that I didn’t love it, just that it was hard to find the balance. I work full time, then prepping and recording the various podcasts takes up a small chunk of the weekend, plus having a lively social life means that I don’t have as much time for gaming as I used to.

In terms of how our online lives enhance our offline lives? There’s not much difference between the two! Thanks to the podcast (and the internet in general) we’ve met some AMAZING people, many of whom I now count as dear friends. Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus – all this social media allows us to keep in constant contact with our listeners and friends and it all overflows into “real” life as well. Just as long as you know when to turn off the iPhone occasionally and make the most of the people you’re with.

*Note: Shenaniganery™ is what Katia and Kyliemac are up to on the show — their acts of playful mischief — and things they do during their adventures. Related to “shenanigans,” only better, and with less trickery.

Knitting - some Katia shenaniganery™ - click to enlarge, then right click to save & use as desktop wallpaper!

Karin: How do you decide what to talk about in each show? Not to sound too dense; I mean, part of it is you just talk, or converse/have dialogue/chat — something at which you are both very facile — but I know you often refer to “show notes” and I know that when you interview guests, you have lists of questions you want to ask them. There is a method in the madness! How long does it take to prep the shows? How do you prepare for them, and make decisions about what to say or ask?

Katia: Throughout the week we both keep lists of topics that come up in the news, things that have piqued our interest, or experiences we’ve had that we think could be interesting to share on the show… Then on Saturday we sit down in the studio and merge our lists together and come up with an interesting series of topics that we call our “show notes.” We use these notes as a base for the show, but most of the time we veer off-topic and get to chatting about other things. But we always have our show notes as a life-line to help us get back on track, so we never suffer from a lack of things to talk about! When we have guests on the show we generally need to do a bit more work – we’ll try to meet up sometime during the week before we record and nut out some topics together. Every part of this process is a team effort – it just wouldn’t work as well otherwise!

Our Learn French episodes, despite being only 5-10 minutes long, require a LOT more work – we each do research on our own, then we’ll get together and compile a base for each idiom, then we’ll chat with our “équipe de choc” – our network of native French speakers who help us in our understanding of the phrases and help us find the best French equivalents. It’s a huge job but we absolutely love doing it.

Kyliemac: Prep time varies. Sometimes it’s just a few minutes, sometimes it takes a bit longer. Sometimes there is a topic that is just begging to be talked about – or an experience one of us has had during the week that sparks a conversation. When we have a guest in, obviously, we take more time. If we have an author on, we want to read the book before the show – then we get together and talk about what sorts of things we want to ask. In a perfect situation, we love to have the opportunity to meet before the interview to just talk and get to know the guest first. It makes for a much better conversation. Of course, as you have listened to the show, you know that often the “show notes” get thrown out the window and we “derail.” But often those become some of the best shows.

Karin: How has doing the show changed each of you in the past five years? What have been the biggest rewards of doing the show? What have been your biggest challenges in keeping the podcasts going twice a week for five years?

Katia: In terms of rewards… Well, I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity, thanks to the podcast, to meet so many amazing people. Every single one of our listeners has a fascinating story and we love receiving their emails. It’s especially exciting when we have the chance to meet up with them in person here in Paris (and in other places too – we’ve both been able to meet up with listeners during our travels elsewhere in France, in the UK and in the US)! Paris is also a hub for some really creative, energetic and enthusiastic people, and I feel lucky that we’ve met so many of them! We’ve made many dear friends thanks to the show and I will always be thankful for that.

I recently went to the US for the first time, just to go to a wedding – of a listener who has turned into one of my dearest friends. If that’s not a testament to the power of this show, I don’t know what is.

One of the other biggest rewards for me is that I’ve been able to hone my storytelling skills! It can be hard to keep your thoughts on track when you’re describing events and I think my tales today are a lot more coherent than when we first started! I think I’m just able to express myself more clearly in general, which is always a plus! That said, I think I’ve still got a fair way to go… Especially after a couple of cocktails!

Our strength truly lies in the fact that we’re a duo. If I had been doing this podcast by myself I probably wouldn’t have lasted 6 months – or it would be a very different beast altogether. We motivate, support and bounce ideas off each other, which makes for a solid team and a much more interesting show!

Kyliemac: I have definitely loosened up on some things in the last five years of doing the show. I used to edit the episodes a lot more, and take out things like the “Um”s and “uh”s and the sound of the mic cords. Katia kind of had to smack me (metaphorically) upside the head and say, “You. must. stop. doing. that.” I finally mangaged to break myself from that habit, so there is very little editing that goes on these days – it really is just us having a real conversation.

The biggest reward has been the opportunity to meet so many people from all over the world. Of course, it helps that Paris is, in and of itself, a huge tourist destination. For example, we just celebrated Bastille Day here with our now annual Bastille Day picnic – and we had people come in from Belgium and London just to hang out with other people from the K&K Empire for the day. It’s just cool to be a part of something that brings awesome people together!

The biggest challenge is making sure that we are consistent for the listeners, that they have something in the feed every Sunday and Wednesday. There are times when Katia or I will be out of town and unavailable to record (which is rare, but does happen), and we have to have all the episodes pre-recorded and edited and ready to be released in the feed in advance. Organization is paramount! We can’t really cobble something together at the last minute, because there are a lot of steps (and equipment) involved.

July 14, 2011 K&K Annual Bastille Day Picnic © Paris Karin

Karin: Okay, since you have known one another as long as you have, I’d like you, Katia, to please describe Kylie in five adjectives/nouns, and Kylie, please describe Katia in five adjectives/nouns. (Be nice. Or not, lol — up to you!)

Kyliemac: (about Katia)

- Animal Lover (Show her a video of baby animals on YouTube. Go ahead, I dare ya.)

- Voracious Reader (I couldn’t find a stronger adjective than Voracious. Have you seen her Goodreads?).

- Scrabble Goddess (She’s amazing. Really. And she, unlike me, doesn’t have to cheat.)

- Cocktail-making Champion (She makes a mean margarita).

- Fabulous Foodie (My taste-buds have definitely benefited from this partnership).

Katia (and the Muffin Man)Wallpaper - click to enlarge, then right click to save & use as desktop wallpaper!

Katia: (about Kyliemac)

- Dreamer: she’s the one who thinks of the craziest ideas for the shows. K&K bobble-heads? Yep, she’s thought of that.

- Know-it-all: but not in a bad way! She knows everything about everyone and what everyone is doing, has been doing and is going to do. Amazing.

- Child-wrangler: taking care of kids for the last babillion years means that she knows exactly how to deal with temper tantrums and hissy fits. Useful when she has a podcasting partner who sometimes throws temper tantrums and hissy fits.

- Adventurous: she jumps out of planes. And she scuba dives in icy waters. And she will always try whatever weird thing is on her plate. Or someone else’s plate.

- Predictable: yes this MAY seem like a contradiction to the previous point but she is an enigma. She will always choose the same route. And she has read Pride and Prejudice 17,000 times. And we ALL know that she won’t traipse through the woods unless her jeans are tucked into her socks (even though that could be considered prudent. Have you SEEN the spiders in France? We have.). So perhaps this should’ve been “reliable.” But “predictable” will make her laugh so let’s keep it at that!

Kyliemac Wallpaper - click to enlarge, then right click to save & use as desktop wallpaper!

Karin: Why is “the Muffin Man” called “the Muffin Man”? (Readers: see the Cast of Characters here.) And what about Symphony the Cat? Is there a story behind the cat’s name, too?

Katia: Ahhhhh. The Muffin Man makes incredible muffins. That’s it. There is no need for you to know more!

The Muffin Man Wallpaper - click to enlarge, then right click to save & use as desktop wallpaper!

As for Symphony – The Muffin Man and I debated for a long time over the best name for a cat. I wanted to give her a name starting with S (we all have our quirks, right?) and it took us WEEKS to agree on something

Symphony the Cat Wallpaper - click to enlarge, then right click to save & use as desktop wallpaper!

Karin: A final question — who is someone you would LOVE to have access to for an interview on a podcast, and/or what is a French Adventure you would LOVE to go on, but have not yet done so? What would be your ideal dream-show, your best-evah! K&K podcast?

Katia: I honestly don’t have any dream guests (I expect Kylie’s list is LONG here!), but my real hope is that one day we’ll be able to really take this on the road and get insider access to some of my favourite places in France. I’d love to visit the Abbey at Mont Saint Michel or the underground area at Opéra, and to be able to talk to the people who work there and learn more of the history and secrets of these fascinating places.

Kyliemac: The first name that jumps to my mind is, of course, and not surprisingly, Johnny Depp. I even had a dream recently where I ran into him in Paris and asked him to be on the show. He said “Yes.” I like to think it’s a prophetic dream. As far as French Adventure? There are simply too many choices out there to choose just one! And my pick for best-show-evah? The ones we do after our K&K Tour Australia and K&K Tour America – ‘cause that would just be AMAZING. (Anyone interested in sponsoring those trips should feel free to get in touch with us! )

Johnny Depp Wallpaper - click to enlarge, then right click to save & use as desktop wallpaper!

Bonus Round

When I met up with Katia and Kyliemac in July, I wanted to ask them some things they asked their very first guest, Lisa Taylor-Huff from The Bold Soul, in episodes 23 & 24. It was a variation on the Proust Questionnaire, and they asked Lisa about five Paris-related things. While we were in Angelina enjoying hot chocolate (them) and tea (me), I tossed these questions at them. Here are their responses:

1. Have you climbed the Eiffel Tower?

Katia: Not to the top.

Kyliemac: More times than I can count on one hand — maybe six?

2. Have you stepped in dog poo here in Paris?

Katia: Never. I have “poodar” (like radar, but for dog poo). It’s my superpower!

Kyliemac: It’s been a while… measured in years.

3. What’s your favorite monument in Paris?

Katia: The Notre Dame de Paris cathedral. It’s the oldest monument in Paris, and right where Paris was born.

Kyliemac: The towers of Notre Dame de Paris. Everywhere you look, there’s a story –it’s been incorporated into stories, too. Quasimodo! I love its Gothic features and the fact that it’s in the heart of Paris.

4. What’s your favorite French food?

Katia: Foie gras, confit de canard, escargot.

Kyliemac: Baguettes.

5. Last but not least, what’s your favorite French phrase?

Katia: “C’est ne pas la mer à boire.” Literally, “it’s not the sea to drink,” which means something like, “C’mon, you can do it. It’s not that big a deal! It’s not like I’m asking you to drink the sea.” I use this a lot at work. Another one? “On n’est pas sortir de l’auberge.” Literally, “we haven’t exited the inn,” and means “we’re not out of the woods, yet.” 

Kyliemac: “Oh lala.” I really like the different ways of saying it and the way it fits for varying circumstances.

In Closing…

Not only do Katia and Kyliemac do terrific podcasts about the expat life and adventures in France on their website, but they also have:

Ciao!

I’m a lover of tales and I enjoy finding treasure, literal and metaphorical. For who does not enjoy a good treasure hunt?

And while my food allergies/intolerances prohibit me from eating many of the culinary pleasures in Paris, some of the things in which I can partake are Paris’ history and mysteries. It was therefore my great pleasure to have taken, in part, Time Traveler Tours’ presentation of “Beware Madame La Guillotine” on a rainy June afternoon along with its creator, Sarah Towle.

Here in another “Special Report,” I’ll share with you about the tour, a bit of Sarah’s story, and my thoughts on the my experience taking the tour.

To learn more, please continue reading!

Image: Charlotte Corday, Wikimedia Commons

What Are Time Traveler Tours? Who Are They For?

The summary on the Time Traveler Tours’ website About page sums it up best:

Time Traveler Tours are interactive StoryApp itineraries to the world’s most visited tourist destinations on your hand-held mobile device.

Written expressly for youth and the young at heart, each tour takes travelers back to a seminal moment in human history with a narrator/tour guide whose actions help shape that time.

In telling their stories, our tour guides reveal the story of their age and provide teens and tweens — and the adults traveling with them — an engaging and vivid understanding of the sites included in each Time Traveler Tour.

Image: Charlotte Corday, Wikimedia Commons

In its first tour, which has been in Beta production for the past few weeks and which will be available this month (July 2011) on iTunes, we meet Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d’Armont, an 18th century murderess. She was a twenty-four-year-old woman caught up in the political intrigue and oppression during the Reign of Terror in the years following France’s Revolution of 1789.

In the tour, Revolutionary Paris comes to life as we are guided around the Palais Royal in the heart of Paris’ 1st arrondissement, and then follow Charlotte to her prison, La Conciergerie, on the Île de la Cité, the island in the Seine where the city of Paris was born, where she was held before being executed for the murder of Jean-Paul Marat.

Why This Kind of Tour? What Are It’s Origins?

I don’t have an iPhone nor an iTouch, the two devices for which the StoryApp is currently being developed, though expansion for Android-based phones/devices will follow. But after meeting and talking with Sarah at the David Downie and Alison Harris meet & greet at the Village Voice bookshop for their book Paris, Paris (which I reviewed here) I realized that I really wanted to experience the tour. I was completely intrigued by the idea of interactive historical tours for youth (12+) and their families. The idea of history through stories, of learning though the tale of someone living in that time, sounded fantastic. I wanted to go on this adventure, one way or another.

Image © Time Traveler Tours

I contacted Sarah about perhaps taking a tour with her, and she agreed that we could meet up and use her iPhone to go on the first section of the tour, in and around the Palais Royal, a former palace of royalty in France which was transformed into the Palais de l’Égalité during the Revolutionary period. Home of King Louis XVI’s first cousin, Louis Philippe Joseph II, duc d’Orléans, it was the gathering place of every class of French society from aristocracy to the lowest of workers. Sophisticates discussed in the salons and cafés, gamblers took financial risks at tables, prostitutes plied their wares, and shoppers purchased goods at the boutiques and bookshops lining the arcades. Minus the aristocracy, gamblers, and prostitutes, in many ways not much has changed in the area. The restaurant Le Grand Véfour, established in 1784, still serves fine cuisine to its diners, for example.

Photo: Le Grand Véfour, June 2011 © Karin Bates

Sarah and I met at the Café de la Comédie on rue Saint Honoré, just on the place de Collette at Métro Palais Royal Musée du Louvre so that before going on the tour, I could get to know her better and understand the whys and wherefores of such a project.

Photo: Sarah Towle as photographed by yours truly (© Karin Bates)

Here is a bit of Sarah’s story.

“This project saved my life.”

On July 10, 2004, Sarah, her husband Jim their then eight-year-old daughter Lily arrived in Paris. Here because of Jim’s job, Sarah for the first time in almost 20 years had stepped back from her own career pursuits to be a full-time mother and trailing spouse. At the beginning, for about the first year-and-a-half, Paris was bliss with museums and cafés to be frequented and French language to be learned. But soon for this Hampshire College Undergrad (in Cultural History and Social Anthropology) and Teacher’s College at Columbia University grad student (in Applied Linguistics), it was not enough, and she began to slide into a depression.

To counteract her loss of professional identity (anyone who has had a thriving career and then stepped away from it for whatever reason will know this feeling), besides pursuing language study, Sarah began to develop interactive and culturally-based scavenger hunts for various sites in Paris for Lily. She put them in a pack that they could easily grab on their way to their favorite museums, notably the Musée Marmottan, close to Lily’s school. Sarah tried to make the activities not only interesting, but story-based and developmentally-appropriate for Lily, incorporating her background knowledge as an educator and linguist to create these materials.

Prior to living in France, Sarah had worked extensively in Central America teaching language and literacy development in Freirean-based literacy campaigns; she had spent time in Nanjing, China working with the College English Teacher Training Program at Nanjing University; and she worked with both the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Columbia Teachers College and Educators for Social Responsibility in New York. In addition, she spent five years in the New York City Public Education system teaching conflict resolution to teachers with the intention that they would share what they learned with their students, too. With such an extensive background in education, conflict resolution, linguistics, and world travel, it is not surprising that a void began to grow in Sarah despite her efforts to keep herself fulfilled by learning French and creating interesting material for her daughter to become more familiar with her cultural surroundings. As many might know, the trailing spouse of someone on a working visa in France does not have the right to work at jobs in France, although they can be designated as self-employed in their home country. Sarah needed to create something for herself to do. When it dawned on Sarah that Paris was likely to be their home for more than just a couple of years, she sought to redefine herself.

By 2006, Sarah was “going mad with the need for professional fulfillment.” It was on the sunny island of Guadaloupe during a much-needed vacation when she had the epiphany revealing the next step of her professional evolution. In that moment of inspiration, she announced to her family, “I’m going to write a book.”

Photo: St Sulpice Marché de la Bibliophilie, June 2009 © Karin Bates

An App is Born

And write a book is what Sarah did. For this part of Sarah’s journey, I am going to refer you to Laurel Zuckerman’s blog (author of Sorbonne Confidential) In a post entitled From Print to Digital Media: Why I Made the Shift, Sarah expresses how she wrote a Paris tour guide for children organized in small pochettes, pocket-sized books, containing itineraries, maps, games, and treasure hunts — all interactive and interesting – alongside historically-relevant information intended to both entertain and educate children visiting Paris. Reminiscent of Lily’s pack, the project’s objective was to “illuminate history through story.” The post on Laurel Zuckerman’s page explains how the idea for the book in print transformed into an interactive StoryApp.

Another key to the development of Sarah’s idea for the StoryApp tours can be found on Time Traveler Tours’ webpage under the tab named “Origins.”

Photo: The Conciergerie, September 2010 © Karin Bates

One day, Sarah was crossing the Seine from the Right Bank near Châtelet when she heard an American man describing the Conciergerie to his two tween sons. Thinking erroneously that the Châtelet medieval prison was also around and about, Sarah corrected him, and let him know that it had been torn down during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Empire. Watching the eyes of two bored boys glaze over, Sarah kicked things up a notch as she began to describe some of the gore and horrors which happened at the Conciergerie, immediately engaging the kids, who then asked their dad, “Can we go there?” The mother of the boys responded to Sarah as well, “I wish we could hire you for a day.” She explained that all the boys had wanted to do was get back to Facebook and their video games, and that this was the first time on the vacation that the boys had been this engaged. As it says on the Origins page, “Just like that, the Time Traveler Tours were born.”

What Was The Tour “Beware Madame La Guillotine” Like?

I loved it. When I was doing the tour, I kept thinking, “This is like Professor Layton meets French History!”

For those of you who are not familiar with the Nintendo DS games called “Professor Layton,” they are, just like this tour in many respects, interactive, problem-solving treasure hunts in which the goal is to solve puzzles and mysteries in a progressively-revealed story. In “Beware Madame La Guillotine,” we are guided through Revolutionary France with the aid of Charlotte Corday and an interactive map. There are games, treasure hunts, and problem-solving activities along the tour, which make it fun and accessible to youth. But I, as a 43-year-old woman had a great time doing the tour, too. It is by no means so childlike that an adult cannot have fun and learn something during the tour. It’s a sophisticated and smart tour.

The tour is divided up into 24 chapters, each of which reveals a piece of Charlotte’s story as it unfolds during the year 1793. Right now, you can find the core content of each chapter on the Time Traveler Tours site, starting with Chapter One of “Beware Madame La Guillotine” here. As release of the app approaches, Sarah intends to share each consecutive chapter with us to give us a taste of what the tour content is like. Interspersed amongst these chapters are interactive elements — games, puzzles, treasure hunts, and map quests — to offer a break between chunks of information, engagingly narrated from the point-of-view of Charlotte Corday.

I only went on the first part of the tour, the section at the Palais Royal, because that is what Sarah and I had time for that day, and the weather was also cloudy and rainy. While it was still enjoyable, the weather did put a slight damper on things. The tour is designed for a full day: morning at the Palais Royal, lunch at Le Café Procope (famous in part for being the place where coffee was first served in Paris), and the afternoon passing through the Left Bank to La Conciergerie, where Charlotte Corday was imprisoned. However, the single tour could just as easily be divided into two half-days.

We began in the forecourt of the Palais, the cour d’honneur with the (in)famous columns by artist Daniel Buren lining the open area.

Photo: Sarah Towle in the forecourt of the Palais Royal. © Karin Bates

We continued into the gardens and around the shopping arcades as the story of how Charlotte Corday came to murder journalist Jean-Paul Marat was revealed.

Because we were using the Beta version of the StoryApp, there were some glitches, but the good news is that is exactly what Beta-testing is for: to reveal those little things that need to be fixed for the final product. We found a few that Sarah added to her “hit list” of fixes to make before the final product hits the virtual app shelves later this month.

I think that if you are someone who wants to take a creative and interesting tour highlighting an integral period of Paris and France’s history, and if you have an iPhone or iTouch device, this would be a wonderful way to uncover some of the mysteries of the Palais Royal (and the Conciergerie as well, as I am sure that portion of the tour follows its predecessor in quality). I’m hoping that eventually I can finish the entire tour and discover what happened to Charlotte after the murder of Marat: her imprisonment at the Conciergerie and execution by guillotine on the 17th of July, 1793, 218 years ago this month.

How You Can Help Out

To learn more about the StoryApp from the creator herself, and also learn about how you can contribute to the project (with rewards!) head on over to Kickstarter.com. Contributing at least $1 can help ensure that this product sees the light of day on iTunes and that a bilingual version 2 will be produced as well. Pledges get you STUFF, good stuff, too, so head over to watch a video of Sarah narrating a detailed description of the tour and learn how you can contribute.

Update!

As of July 26, 2011, “Beware Madame La Guillotine” is available for the iPhone and iTouch at the iTunes App Store! You can find more information at the App Store Link here.

A Personal Note in Closing

In my previous post about photographer Chloe Lodge, it came up from readers in comments about how while they have enjoyed the “Special Reports” I’ve been posting about once a month since last November (2010), readers miss my more personal musings about my own daily life. I commented that I have missed them, too.

There have been multiple reasons for my going this route in the past 6+ months, some of which are closely personal and not blog fodder. It’s also because the amount of time I have to blog these days as compared to when this blog was born on July 5, 2009 (Happy 2 Years, Blog!) is much less. My life has changed and evolved. Some of the things I am doing and experiencing are“tricky” to blog about, yet very much a part of my daily life. It’s stuff I would like to be blog fodder, but don’t feel comfortable about writing at the moment. I hope if this blog is going for another two years that I one day might be able to write more about some of those things openly. I’ve been doing a lot of good growing here in Paris, though, and meeting up with and doing lots with others. Part of this growth is simply that I am a helluva lot more busy than I used to be! This is a very good thing. Less time for navel-gazing, which (in large doses) can become self-destructive, and is definitely a bent of mine! Sometimes this propensity can make for good writing. But it also means I am doing more than just taking photos out my dining room window, and this is not necessarily a bad thing. In the meantime, posting reviews and activities such as this has been my “solution” about needing to write and to keep this blog going without going into details about the thing about which I enjoy writing most: my life.

Still others have asked me with these reviews or reports I do if I am receiving any kind of income or recompense for them. Nope, and nope. The Special Reports I have put here are because I WANT them to be here. Yes, in a couple of cases I have received books from the authors or publishers, gratis, as review copies. But if I did not believe in or have positive thoughts about those books, tours, people, and places, I would not write about them. These posts are about people I have happened to meet here and there, often at events to which other bloggers go here in Paris, we connect, we get to talking, I like what’s going on, and I ask if I can write about what’s going on for my blog. That’s it. I do this because I want to, and it is good practice for me with a more journalistic and professional style of writing. I like doing it.

Some people ask if I receive money or pay, or if I make my living, from this blog, in general. NO. (Definitely NOT! Haha!) I created this blog because like Sarah Towle in her story, I was going to go mad if I did not have something to do with my time here in Paris. I was not in a good way my first year here, something I may get the inspiration to write more about one of these days. By July of 2009, I realized I needed something to do to keep my head busy and get out and see more of Paris. Also, when I discovered it would not be possible for me to legally have a job in France, I realized I also needed something to keep my mind active since I would not be able to do so in a working environment. Since I already had been keeping private blogs since 2004, especially getting into it by 2005, having a more “formal” blog about my life in Paris (instead of the “here’s how I’m feeling today” journal-type of entries I had been keeping) was a natural extension of what I had already been doing, and has turned out to be a very productive thing in terms of having a life here in Paris.

In fact, this past week, I received the honor of recognition by easyJet Airlines on The Ultimate Paris Travel Blogger List 2011. Thank you, easyJet! You have been the only airline I have ever flown from Paris to Nice and back to see my best friend, and to be recognized by you is really cool. I appreciate it. It also makes me realize that I have a commitment here, even if unpaid and solely a labor of love.

Photo: Canada 2009 (Upper Ontario) © Karin Bates

I have one more Special Report that I am planning for next month, which will be posted in absentia since I will actually be in the Canadian hinterlands at that time. I’ll be gone most of the month, and not able to check email or post on the blog during that time (no electricity! Only the essentials such as the refrigerator and range are powered by propane. There is solar power support as well as a generator for going online once every couple of days so that Paul’s parents — it’s their place to which we’re going — and we can keep in touch with civilization via a satellite Internet connection, but when you have more than six people vying for computer/online time for the hour or so the generator is on, only the bare essentials can be attended to).

Come September when I’ll be back in Paris, I would like to challenge myself to be more blogworthy, and perhaps set up a schedule for myself to post more of my own personal stories. I’m feeling them returning to me even as I type here, so let’s see if I can’t develop something and see it work for more frequent, personal posts as before.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate it when people do, very much so. And don’t be shy to leave a comment, either! It’s nice to know who is reading and what you have to say as well.

Over and out.

I’m your –

Alien Parisienne, Paris Karin

Those of you who blog and/or write may have had the following experience:

You have many things in mind about which you would like to write, some of which you have been intending to write for a long while, and that first sentence is one which causes you to get hung up because it is just so damn hard to find the right (write?) way to begin.

There.

I got that out of the way. Nothing like just jumping in, is there? Beginning this post after not having written for this blog for a while has been causing me to stall, choking like a tiny Cessna in mid-air, losing altitude (or in this case, my writing wings). But I can feel the sputters of the engine as it ignites, comes to full power, and once more, I’m flying.

Welcome back, readers.

What I have been intending to write about since around the end of March has been a post about photographer Chloe Lodge, whom I have had the great pleasure of getting to know as she has been studying for her Masters in Photography at the Spéos Photographic Institute here in Paris, France.

To learn more about this talented photographer, please keep reading!

Chloe Lodge - photo by me, Karin Lynn Bates (2011)

How Did I Meet Chloe?

I was introduced to Chloe by MJ of An American Mom in Paris. Chloe contacted MJ and made her the subject of a photographic project entitled “Virtually Connected,” a photo-documentary featuring MJ as an expatriate mother living in Paris. MJ said that Chloe was looking for other expatriate women to interview and photograph for what turned into a portfolio project and book called “Modern Women at Home in a Foreign Land.”

Chloe contacted me by email in mid-March 2011, sent a comprehensive questionnaire for me to respond to, and then we set up an appointment for her to come and meet and photograph me. She asked me to think of a place where I felt most at “home away from home” here in Paris and said that we would try to photograph me in that place.

The day Chloe arrived was cold and rainy, and while I had thought we might go to the Buttes Chaumont Park, after a cup of warming tea and some wonderful conversation, staying at my home seemed to be the best place to do the portrait.

While Chloe and I really connected with one another, and the photos she took of me in my home were really beautiful, neither of us was completely on our game that day — we’d both really shared from the heart when talking, and both of us carry a bit of heaviness within. Maybe the gray day also dampened the two of us: Chloe later felt that the photos were kind of “flat” and I told her that I had been feeling really “flat” inside for the past couple of weeks as well. We rescheduled for another photo shoot about a month later when spring finally decided to arrive in Paris, and this was the result:

Karin in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont by Chloe Lodge (2011)

She got it this time — she captured how I have come to appreciate Paris, and how the beginning of that was, in so many ways, because of this view in this park (the same view I use for this blog background).

Even before meeting up for this second photo shoot, however, I was really intrigued by our conversation and by Chloe’s story of how she came to professional photography and to Paris. After reading and answering the comprehensive questions she’d asked me, I realized I wanted to turn the tables on her and interview her as well. And that is just what I did.

Chloe’s Interview

Chloe and I did the interview both via email and in person over lunch at a nice “bobo” café on the rue des Pyrénées in the 20th arrondissement called “Aux Ours.” Chloe kindly submitted her answers in her own words and made posting this interview about her incredibly easy for me!

KARIN: I got to know you through blogger, MJ of An American Mom in Paris. You found her blog doing a search on expat women in Paris and asked her to be an integral part of your photography project. MJ and I have come to Paris for different reasons: she though her husband’s job and I because of my fiancé, who is American but has lived in Paris for over 20 years.

What about you? Where are you originally from? What has brought you to the City of Light? How long do you plan to be here?

The City of Light shines brightly at night, a Parisian taxi takes a drive along The Seine - by Chloe Lodge (March 2011)

CHLOE: I’m originally from the South of England. Two years ago I started looking for photography courses which would help me to elevate my previous interest in photography to a professional level. As it was a career break I was looking for an intensive course, the one year Masters programme at Spéos Photographic Institute fit the bill. Last September my husband and I moved here ready for my studies to begin.

KARIN: As an extension of the first set of questions, on a scale of 1 to 10, how “into” Paris are you? That is, how intentional was your choice of Paris as a city in which to study? (With 10 being super-intentional because you are a long-time Francophile and have a great love for the city, and 1 being you really don’t give a flip about Paris, but you found yourself here just the same.) Please elaborate on your choice.

Summertime by the Seine by Chloe Lodge -- "if you look really closely there is a true romantic Parisian sitting under the tree, inspired to write by the glint of the sun." (June 2011)

CHLOE: Most days its about 6, some days its closer to 9. Being English, France has always been ‘just across the channel’ so its never been somewhere I have been naturally drawn to, my desire was always to travel further. When I discovered the course at Spéos, however, I felt that it was drawing me here and that it was where I was meant to study photography. Now I am here, I love it and hate it, but most often love it. When something drives you crazy about the city there is always something round the next corner which makes you forgive and forget. I probably won’t realise how ‘into’ Paris I was until I’m living somewhere else!

KARIN: What is it about photography that attracts you not only as a hobby and/or passion, but also a profession?

A flourishing tree in Parc Buttes aux Chaumont, North of Paris, by Chloe Lodge (May 2011)

CHLOE: Photography is the one creative medium where I’ve felt truly able to express myself, growing up I tried painting, sculpture and even writing, but the results were always unsatisfactory in truly depicting my point of view. I love the freedom of photography, the ease of it, all you need is a camera, an interest in ‘seeing’ the world and away you go. Professionally, I also have been through a process of elimination, I love working with people and being creative, I’m also an organiser and as a job being a photographer is not just about the pictures – its about planning, researching, time management and delivering a great end result. In a nutshell, it ticks all my boxes!

KARIN: When we have spoken before, you mentioned that you are one of a smaller percentage of photography students in your program that has chosen to study the journalistic angle of photography instead of pursuing studio photography. What exactly is the difference between the two? What is it about journalistic photography that attracts you?

Lightening Strikes the City by Chloe Lodge (June 2011)

CHLOE: Simply put: being a studio photographer, you are inviting the world into your space and recreating something which wasn’t already there. Being a photojournalist, you are venturing out into the world and capturing what is unfolding in front of you. My intrigue has always been in the outside world, with moments in time which often happen through a series of fleeting consequence. I love the texture, light and substance of what is outside my front door, reality is often harsh but also very beautiful. In the craziness of life, with so many people, so many things around us, happening all the time – I love the challenge of trying to simplify it, too. As one of my greatest teachers taught me – remove all disturbing elements from your frame, this will make your images more powerful. And it really does.

KARIN: What kinds of themes do you find yourself drawn to in photography? In other words, of what kinds of things or subjects do you find yourself taking a lot of photos? Who or what are some of your favorite things to photograph?

Piazzo San Marco Under Water by Chloe Lodge (March 2011)

CHLOE: I used to take a lot of pictures of trees and flowers, trying to capture the real beauty in nature. I love order, too: symmetry, perspective, the classical point of view. I guess this comes from my years studying Renaissance Art at university. Now however, I have become braver and bolder and I translate this intrigue in natural beauty to people. Many photographers find it hard to capture people, never really getting close enough to be genuine in their intent. Its a challenge, but just as with learning to play an instrument, you have to do scales – over and over again. Its one of the reasons I chose to do a portrait series, and will continue this work. It is my desire to be a wonderful portrait photographer, so its simply a case of working hard to achieve that goal. Looking and learning all the time.

KARIN: What photographers have influenced your work? Which photographers do you find yourself emulating? Or, if you don’t really have any mentors in this way, what kinds of photographs do you find yourself appreciating again and again, and how do these preferences influence your work? In contrast, how is your work set apart from others at this point in time?

CHLOE: My taste in photography is a bit like my taste in music, I’ll love one song by an artist but maybe not their whole album. There are many beautiful photographs which really touch something in me and make me remember why I want to be a photographer, but really I would have to say my main influence comes from my six years studying Art History, right back from Giotto up to present day. I love understanding art, design, architecture — breaking a work down to the influences, the practical reasons behind the work, and, of course, the simple and pure indulgence of what was considered beautiful or aesthetic in any given period. I always loved the story-telling of Italian Renaissance art, the texture and colours of les Fauves and the light and depth of Rembrandt’s oils, the subject I conducted my degree dissertation on.

Strolling through the streets of Valletta, Malta by Chloe Lodge (May 2011)

I feel my work sets itself apart from others right now by being clear in its intent. I love black and white photography but I feel my strength is working with colour and often trying to capture beautiful light. My personal style is still developing. This is a lifetime’s work I know. But right now my simple aim is to capture the world through my eyes in a way everyone can understand and relate to. I am not trying to be clever or appeal to a narrow audience. My desire is that my work speaks to everyone.

KARIN: What is your biggest hope or dream for yourself when it comes to your photography work?

A lone politician listens intently during the 167th Séance of The Assemblée Nationale, by Chloe Lodge (May 2011)

CHLOE: At the moment my hope is to build a career as a photographer; with so much competition and so many economic challenges in the market today, to be able to earn a decent income from something I love would be a dream-come-true. If we are talking about the BIG dream – it was a childhood fantasy to work for the National Geographic. This is still a dream, but quite simply I would really love my portraits and reportage work to be published in magazines. I’d love to publish a book, and one day have an exhibition back here in Paris, and maybe New York… lots to work towards!

KARIN: What’s next for you after Paris?

CHLOE: My husband and I are heading off to Malaysia to live. He is from New Zealand and I grew up in England, so we are heading for an in-between point and we both love Asia. I am very excited to be heading somewhere which really inspires me. As Steve McCurry [photographer of the famous "Afghan Girl" photo featured on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic Magazine] said “Above all, I feed on the colors of Asia: deep henna, hammered gold, curry and saffron, rich black lacquer and painted-over rot. As I reflect back on it, I see it was the vibrant color of Asia that taught me to see and write in light.”

KARIN: As a final word (or words) about yourself, give five adjectives to describe yourself as a photographer or person, or both.

CHLOE: Creative, Independent, Organized, a People Person…

KARIN: … and I would add “Incredibly Talented”! 

A Masked Lady at the Venice Carnival by Chloe Lodge (March 2011)

There is so much more to Chloe’s story beyond the questions I asked her, such as the fact that she has traveled the world, planning only to be away for three months, but extending it to three years, doing such adventurous things as riding the Trans-Siberian Railway and spending four months backpacking in South-East Asia. She was the “right hand man” of  English adventurer, writer, and television presenter Bear Grylls, organizing and manning his Trans-Atlantic Arctic Expedition in 2003. She has worked in the world of event management and for large businesses such as Goldman Sachs, living a busy and social Londoner’s life. While living in New Zealand for two-and-a-half years, she not only re-discovered her very early love of photography with a new digital camera, but she met and fell in love with her now-husband, James, whom she married in 2010 in an intimate wedding on an Italian hillside.

But it was not until the tragic and shattering experience of her mother’s sudden death at the age of 58, three months to the day before Chloe and James’ wedding, that Chloe really took a step back to consider her life and realize that life is not only precious but also brief. It dawned on her that she could and should seize upon her hope and dream to study professional photography.

As Chloe wrote to me, “Is it possible for light to come from the darkness of utter tragedy?” She expanded with the following:

At the end of our year [at Spéos Photographic Institute], we had the joy of meeting Paolo Roversi. He came to speak with us about life, love, his work! And he said something which has stuck with me. He told us how he believes many people often think about photography as looking for beautiful light in a place, in a scene, but he believes what you really have to do is ‘start with the darkness and move to the light.’ Only then will you really understand the beauty of form and texture of light.

Isn’t this true of life as well? As it has been said before, only through darkness can we truly appreciate light.  Knowing that Chloe understands this about life makes her approach to photography (and life) a deep and rich experience.

You can find Chloe in the following places:

• Her website: ChloeLodge.com
• Her Tumblr blog: PhotographyByChloe.tumblr.com
• Her Flickr page: photographybychloe’s photostream
• Her Facebook page: Chloe Lodge Photography on Facebook

Finally…

As a part of “What’s Next?” for Chloe, she just learned this past week that the print she exhibited at her final exhibition at Spéos Photographic Institute this spring has been selected to be part of the “26 Years of Spéos” exhibition at Les Rencontres d’Arles — a photography festival in the South of France in July. The exhibition of  ”26 Years of Spéos” will then be shown again in the Spéos Gallery (8, rue Jules Vallés, 75011) in Paris during November and December 2011.

This is quite an honor for Chloe’s work to have been selected for exhibition. Congratulations, Chloe!

Many thanks to Chloe for sharing her photos with me and for generously answering my questions. I am on a quest to learn more about creative people and their stories. It’s my hope to understand my own artistic process and goals as I find out about what makes other creative people “tick.” I’m really thankful to her for spending time with me so that I can discover more. I hope that you enjoyed learning more about Chloe as an up-and-coming photographer. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for her! You can keep tabs on her and her work by following her at one of the links listed above. I know I will be keeping in touch with her to see how Chloe’s future as a photographer and creative soul emerges!

Yours,

Paris Karin

(an alien parisienne)

Monumenta 2011 - Anish Kapoor: KA-POW!

It’s huge. It’s gigantic. It’s enormous! NO, it’s MONUMENTA.

In brief:

What is it?

It’s a gigantic, temporary, contemporary art installation called “Leviathan” by renowned artist/sculptor Anish Kapoor.

Where is it?

It’s at the Grand Palais in Paris, France. Enter at the Main Entrance, Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008.

When is it?

It’s from May 11 to June 23, 2011, everyday except Tuesdays.

Mon & Wed — 10 am to 7 pm.

Thurs-Sun — 10 am to midnight.

Please note that the last entry to the exhibit is 45 min before the closing time.

This upcoming Saturday, May 14, for the Night at the Museums (Nuit des musées), the exhibit will be open from 10 am to 1 am (free entry begins at 7 pm). For more information on the Nuit des musées in Paris, see here: Nuit des Musées. Select “Paris” to view all 231 events in the city.

How much does it cost?

It’s 5€ for the full-rate, half-price for those who qualify (unemployed, those aged 13-18, etc.). Free for Under-13s, journalists with press passes, and others who qualify (see Practical Information on the Monumenta website ). There is a 10€ pass for unlimited entry for the entire duration of the exhibition. Paid admission allows the ticket holder into the evening events on the same day.

Why should I go?

You should go because the sheer scope and scale of the installation will blow your mind. KA-POW!

To learn more about my own experience and thoughts on the MONUMENTA 2011 installation by Anish Kapoor, for which I attended the Press Opening on May 10, 2011, please keep reading.

from my Flickr photo set 

Here I am, your Alien Parisienne, giving you the scoop on Paris from the alien angle, the geek perspective, the non-fanatic, ordinary-woman-whose-origins-are-middle-America, anti-“scene” point-of-view.

I’m a regular chick living in Paris, but sometimes I get a chance to do interesting stuff.

For example, I was invited to the press opening of an event called “Monumenta,” a contemporary art installation in the Grand Palais in Paris, France, which is exhibiting from May 11 to June 23, 2011.

The Grand Palais has hosted Monumenta exhibits by internationally-renown artists since 2007. This year’s invited artist/exhibit-creator/gigantic genius is Anish Kapoor, most well-known (to me, anyway) as the creator of the “Bean” (aka “Cloud Gate”) in Chicago’s Millennium Park.

What is MONUMENTA?

“Monumenta” is an annual exhibit within the soaring nave of the Grand Palais exhibition hall. A contemporary artist is invited by the French Ministry for Culture and Communication (Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication) to specially create a new artwork specifically designed for the space, which totals 13,500 sq m / 145,313 sq ft and reaches 35 m / 115 ft in height.

Previous exhibitors include:

• 2007 – Anselm Kiefer, a German painter and sculptor, who titled his Monumenta project «Chute d’étoiles», “Falling Stars.”
• 2008 – Richard Serra, an American minimalist sculptor and video artist whose work often involves large-scale assemblies of sheet metal. His work was entitled “Promenade.”
• 2009 – see note*
• 2010 – Christian Boltanski, a French sculptor, photographer, painter and film maker. He created «Personnes», which translated can mean both “people” and “nobodies.”

(*Note: This link  shows that the 2010 artist, Christian Boltanski, was originally scheduled for 2009, but his exhibit was moved to the next year instead. It appears that no artist displayed in 2009.)

Who is this year’s creator/exhibitor?

Anish Kapoor – photo © Paris Karin – an alien parisienne

Anish Kapoor is primarily known for his dynamic and massive modern sculptures and installation art.

He was born in Bombay (Mumbai), India in 1954. He relocated to London in the 1970s, where he studied art and became a part of the “New British Sculpture” scene in the early 1980s.

His works have been exhibited in several well-known galleries and modern-art museums around the world, such as the Tate Gallery in London, the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. He also is known for his public-space works of art. For example, besides “Cloud Gate” in Chicago, he is the creator of the “Sky Mirror” in Nottingham, England, versions of which have exhibited in NYC’s Rockefeller Center and at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia. To see a listing of all of Anish Kapoor’s works, visit his website at www.anishkapoor.com. The Monumenta site also has a media collection of the artist’s works here.

More about Kapoor is available on the Monumenta website, but I really enjoyed reading up on Kapoor’s life on Wikipedia, too.

His personal history is given there as follows:

Kapoor was raised in an Indian home. His mother was a Jewish immigrant from Baghdad. “My mother was then only a few months old. She had an Indian-Jewish upbringing. Her father, my grandfather, was the cantor in the synagogue in Pune. At the time, the Jewish community in Mumbai was quite large, mostly consisting of Baghdadi Jews.” [From a 2009 interview in The Jewish Chronicle]

His father, from a Punjabi family, was a hydrographer in the Indian Navy.

Kapoor spent his early years in India, first in Mumbai, and then in Dehra Dun at the Doon School. During 1971-1973, he went to Israel with one of his two brothers. He first stayed in a kibbutz, and then studied electrical engineering. He then left for Britain where he attended Hornsey College of Art and Chelsea School of Art and Design.

He achieved widespread recognition when he represented Britain at the 1990 Venice Biennale.

Anish Kapoor is a Royal Academician and was made a Commander of the British Empire in 2003. He is also a Distinguished supporter of the British Humanist Association. (Source: Wikipedia – Anish Kapoor)

Wow. Fascinating life-history so far, no? A little Jewish Iraqi/Indian kid makes good first studying to be an electrical engineer, and then achieves success in the art world. He lived on a kibbutz? He left his life first from India and then from Israel to “make it” in London? I’d love to know more about what precipitated the life-choice to seize the day with the decision to study art and become an artist. It sounds like it is a courageous and risk-filled story, and one with a successful result. Looking at this artist’s life and work, and understanding just how BIG a deal he is, well, it is fitting that he is an artist creating for Monumenta 2011.

Where is the exhibition?

Anish Kapoor’s installation “Leviathan” is in the nave of the Grand Palais in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

Grand Palais December 2008

It’s funny to think that when I was first in Paris, I took this photo of the Grand Palais before I even knew what it was. Six months into my living in the city (December 2008), my friend Michelle came to visit Paul and me. We were wandering down the Champs-Élysées and wound up at the Pont Alexandre III, passing the Grand Palais to get there. I knew so little about Paris back then.

I think Michelle and I figured out that the structure was called “The Grand Palais” from looking at the building itself:

Inset: Le Grand Palais

Either that, or it was from reading my Plan de Paris map book. In any case, I knew next-to-nothing about it.

Almost two-and-a-half years later, I know considerably more.

The Grand Palais was built for the Exposition Universelle held in Paris in 1900. Along with it’s “little brother building,” the Petit Palais, and the Pont Alexandre III, the Grand Palais was a part of the world fair “to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next” (source: Wikipedia).

Since its inauguration 111 years ago on May 1, the exhibit space has held not only art shows, but automobile, horse, household appliance, aviation, and fashion shows, most notably ones for Chanel during the fall and spring fashion seasons.

The Art Nouveau interior is soaring and inspiring:

Grand Palais Interior

For some other terrific photos of the Grand Palais, exterior and interior, recent and past, please take a look at the French site Paris1900.lartnouveau.com — Grand Palais.

What was the exhibition like?

My friend, photographer Karin Crona, has a press pass, and she also secured an invitation to the press opening so she could attend with me.

We arrived at the exhibition at 10 am, got checked in and received our press packets, and then we were ushered towards a revolving door. We arrived into a dark space. Once our eyes adjusted, I understood where we were: the belly of the whale.

Those of you who attended Sunday School as kids may remember the story of “Jonah and the Whale.” Really, though, “whale” is a modern-day translation of a word that has also been interpreted as “leviathan.” The leviathan is more than just a whale; it is the most terrifying sea monster envisioned by Biblical writers and, before them, the ancient Sumerians. In fact, conceptually, being ingested by a “leviathan” has the connotation of being swallowed up by Hell itself, lost forever in the inky torturous blackness of eternal separation from God. Leviathan embodies the Beast of the Apocalypse; it is a sea-serpent “capable of provoking cataclysmic natural disasters.” (Source: Monumenta Press Packet, page 14.)

Well, while it was really dramatic, I did not actually feel like I had been caught up in the maw of a gigantic sea beast. Rather, as my friend Karin pointed out, it felt a lot more like being in a uterus.

Mostly, it was just downright cool. Check it out:

from my Flickr photo set 

We heard that Anish Kapoor was to meet and greet journalists at 11 am. We’d gotten in shortly after 10, and waited around, inside of the “uterus,” for about 45 minutes or more, kind-of thinking where we were was all there was to see. The interior was interesting enough in itself, but things were a little dark and progressively getting stuffy, although the inner portion of the exhibit is fairly well-ventilated.

from my Flickr photo set 

Finally, there was hustle and bustle as Mr. Kapoor was ushered in, kind of like the rock star he is in the modern art world, and he along with the curator of the show, Jean de Loisy, spoke a few words as I snapped crappy photos in low light with my little Kodak point-and-shoot. (I have to say, I looked like a pretty lame journalist when compared with some of the photographic equipment I saw there. I had Camera Envy something fierce.) You can see a video post of some of what Mr. Kapoor said on the Monmenta Facebook fan page.

Mr. Kapoor exited the inner portion of the works, and (the other) Karin and I said to one another, “Shall we go see the rest?”

By that time, we had heard (to our relief) that there, indeed, was more. We were birthed back out of the revolving door to be greeted around the corner with these views:

KA-POW!

I was, frankly, stunned. After being in the dark whale-belly/uterus/inner workings of the massive sculpture, I could feel my mind expanding with the view before me. A single, complete GIGANTIC work of art caused me to soar inside with a sort of disbelief that anything so big could have existed with the confines of the Grand Palais. It was not unlike a kind of re-birthing experience — exiting out of the womb into a bright, large, expansive world. I was confronted with an enormous form, that, while a work of modern art more than a century younger than the nave that enveloped it, seemed to adapt and fit within the space, complimenting it completely in terms of color, shape, size, and flow. People walking about the structure looked tiny, as houses and buildings look from an airplane. Yet, I was still earthbound. It was a bit like watching the movie “Gulliver” with Jack Black, except no CGI magic was involved, and I was most present in reality.

It was pretty incredible that something which made me feel so small on the outside could make me feel so big on the inside.

from my Flickr photo set (photo taken with my camera by Karin Crona)

I encourage all my readers who are spending time in Paris in the coming weeks until June 23 to visit the exhibition. Beyond simply visiting the installation, various events are going to be held on Thursday evenings during the course of the exhibition as well. Photography of the installation is allowed and encouraged. A photo contest is being held at the Monumenta 2011 Tumblr site (link below).

For more information take a look at:

• the Monumenta website
• the Monumenta Facebook fan page
• the Monumenta Tumblr site
• and, the Monumenta Twitter page

I hope you get to check it out. If you are not in Paris, and cannot visit the exhibition for yourself, I hope that my post has communicated the essence of the work, and helped you to participate from afar.

I am your,
Paris Karin
(an alien parisienne)