Aug 18, 2013
Project 365 – Week 33
I’ve been working on a bit of a side project in recent weeks, and it’s taking me away from writing this blog as regularly as I’d like to. I don’t explore the city as much either, sticking mostly within my own neighbourhood. At the same time though, a neighbour in the building is doing some renovation work, and the constant drilling and hammering proved to be a nuisance and often breaking my concentration. If only my laptop is not one that requires attachment to the mains all the time, then I could head out somewhere new and work out there at the same time. Wouldn’t that be ideal?
* * *
12 Aug: A couple of weeks ago, Chloé and I went to the Disneyland for a little bit of summer fun. However, the day was long and the heat was getting to us too. We skipped the closing lightshow and fireworks for another evening, i.e. this evening! It was a magnificent show, synchronised to the many catchy tunes, featuring well-loved Disney characters. If only they would start the show a little earlier… Pretty much everyone was good to watch the show by 10.15pm, 10.30pm, even 10.45pm, but no, they held off until 11.00pm. It was starting to get chilly without the warmth of the sun, you know.
13 Aug: You know how we always see sake being served in small ceramic flasks? I was therefore rather perplexed when I first saw these large casks at the window of a Japanese restaurant on rue Ste Anne, until I figured out that these casks are for storing and transporting sake to start with. The hints lie in the kanji. How many of those tiny flasks can be filled from a single cask alone? Each of these cask is about the size of a drum (yes, the musical instrument variety)!
14 Aug: The great August exodus would be taking place over the next four days. Parisian who were not already on holiday (or had just return from their holiday) would be taking advantage of le pont and Paris would become the veritable ghost town. Many businesses have already been closed since earlier in the month, and many more would shut down this long weekend. We would be the minority few that opt to stay in, and luckily some cinemas remain open so that we at least would have something to do.
15 Aug: How deserted can Paris be? Very. We passed by the Luxembourg Gardens this afternoon and the park was near devoid of activities, apart from the hums of the bees that were dancing around the flowerbeds. The playground section was completely empty, groups of petanque, tennis and chess players were not congregating at their usual spots, and even the guy running the pony ride service was standing idle. Oh, and the streets we’ve walked today – barely any traffic. It’s starting to feel a bit spooky…
16 Aug: Have I ever mentioned just how much F hates the motorbikes? At times, I don’t blame him – they *are* very noisy and many of the riders also seem to think they own the roads to do as they please. On the other hand, don’t the mirrors of these bikes make interesting photo reflection? Perhaps we should lobby with the mayoral candidates to ban motorbikes that fail to pipe down on the noise from entering the city. Sounds like a reasonable middle ground to me.
17 Aug: This is the kind of scene that plunges me back into what I dubbed “the nostalgic Paris” mode. It must be the black-and-white photos. When displayed right next to the quintessential Parisian street sign, and a musician nearby started playing la vie en rose, everything seems to fall into places and all I wanted to do at that point was to dance on the street. Does this make sense, or am I just rather weird?
18 Aug: We had just seen one of the funniest movie of the year. La Cage Dorée is a movie built on a lot of clichés (Portuguese female concierges with husbands working in construction, the haughty residents in their buildings etc) yet at the same time, gives us a glimpse into their importance in the French society. Still high on post-movie laughter, F and I headed to La Rhumerie for a little cocktail each while snacking on accras. Ah… Sunday doesn’t get better than this :)
looks like another great week ;) ur laptop has battery problem?
didnt know disneyland opens till so late!?!
it’s a few years old now and the battery started dying at about 2yo onwards? what i need is a netbook with minimal stuff but long battery life so i can write outside of home for a good few hours.
yup, they are open super duper late in the summer. and trying to leave at the same time with everyone is a veritable bazaar! but the lightshow is worth waiting for though ;)
i see….check out macbook or sony vaio ;)
ohyes…can imagine the traffic at closing time hoohooooo
I’m searching more for a netbook this time, for portability. At home I can keep to using this old trusty laptop ;)