Once upon a wine

So last week was sort of bittersweet as I happened to lose another good friend here in no-where-land of France. We first made time for some tea and food in our favourite café in Fontainebleau, followed by a crepe dinner a few days following. It is always sad to say bye to a friend here, especially cause you don’t know when you will see them again (but in this case, Berlin in July!!! See you soon girl).

Crepes for dinner, because when in france.. 

The weekend also started off so nicely. After seeing how inconvenient the train schedule was at night (i.e I’d have to sit on a sketchy bus for about 2 hours) my host mom suggested I take the Saturday morning off and just spend the night in Paris.

So Friday came and I left to Paris for a friend’s birthday party. The atmosphere, the people, and the music were just perfect. First there was wine, then there were familiar faces, then there was wine, then there were Russians, then there was more wine, then there was home cooked appetizer-foods, then more wine, then the guitar came out. Ah it was perfect! 

Unfortunately a blurry picture, but the only picture I took of the birthday girl and her musical husband.

Then my friend and I had to maneuver the last metro trains back to her place on the other side of Paris.

As we were getting out there was a drunk man who kept shouting at us. Saying something about Germans and Germany. Neither of us spoke German, nor look like Germans (although I guess it might be debatable in my case with the blonde-hair-blue-eyes) but for some reason he was insistent. He happened to follow us all the way down the street. At first I was calm and collected as I find “if I don’t look, they won’t bother me”. Then we watched as he walked a little further up and only then decided it would be safe to cross the road behind him and head in the direction of the apartment. As we began to cross he turned around, faced us, shouted whatever he was shouting, and started to slowly maneuver towards us. That’s when I lost my cool, and totally started to freak out. So we just fast-walked along and finally turned on the street we had to, escaping the crazy man.

OR NOT.

All of a sudden out of the corner comes this man!! You know how you watch zombie movies and you think the calm has finally commenced and then JUMP SCARE. Yes, that is exactly how I saw this event occur. So we, being the slightly intoxicated and not-so-slightly terrified girls, we decided to hide behind a car and call my friends fiancée to come get us.

To put everyone at ease, we got home safe after that and didn’t see the guy again.

Mom don’t worry, Paris is safe I promise!

The next day was kept pretty calm after some Indian food, salon hopping, saying goodbye to my friend, and then meeting up with another friend for some Starbucks. I swear I should stop with the Starbucks… it is way too expensive here in Europe. Like you Canadians back home think Starbucks is expensive, trust me Canadian Starbucks is like Tim Hortons compared to European Starbucks. Anyways, I can’t always explain my spending habits. Maybe that’s why I’m broke.

So on the Sunday I figured it would be a good idea to go to a free wine tasting with some girlfriends. It happened to be so, that I got an email about a free wine-tasting in Paris as long as you print out some coupons. Sounds like a trick right? Nope, I printed out those coupons and off we got our little wine glasses, which we’re filled immediately with wine (Come on we’re at a wine tasting what else do you expect our wine glasses to be filled with… oh wait there was cognac).

So fortunately for me I’ve had experience with wine tasting (Alberta + boyfriend + filled glasses of wine which we would down + little food + (- water) = den den holding my hair back while I threw up on the side of the bed in a bucket [sorry about that imagery. Unfortunately I am reminded of this finale regularly by den den]).  I learned my lesson from the last time and actually only tasted the wine rather than finishing every glass, and did not even bother to drink much of the wines I really disliked. Surprisingly, or maybe not for some people, this event was much bigger than the one in Alberta (wine population wise), and all the wine came from France! The one in Alberta had wines from all over the world and it was all in one gymnasium, this one had like 7 rooms (or more for all we know, it seemed infinite).

See you girls did make it into the selfie!

So after a very French day of wine and baguette we all headed home for a nice relaxing time of the Walking Dead (you see now why I used the zombie reference, and also why I am spooked in the dark now…)

Goodnight, don’t let the zombies bite.

How to become a Parisian in one hour.

I got this now, I am an expert. It helps that I spend any spare minute I get in Paris.

This Friday I had the day off and [surprise] I went to Paris.

I was just waiting for a friend at Hotel de Ville when a guy across the street on a motorbike points to me. So being the person that I am, I just point back… Then he waves me over… Now again I remind you this all happens across the street… as in he has stopped his motorbike halfway across the busy street in Paris… So at first I thought it was a person that I knew but just can’t see very well (I’m blind), so I head over. Once I make it to the middle street barrier thing I realize I do not know this human. But then he goes:

Him:“русская?” [“Russian?”].

[rest of the conversation was also in Russian but I hate using the on-screen keyboard and I’d have to translate it all anyways so I’ll just continue writing in English].

Me: “yes”

Him: “What’s your name?”

Me: “Anastasia, you?”

Him: “Sasha”

Him: “What are you doing tonight come to a party with me.”

Me: “Sorry I have plans. But I am more interested to understand why you thought I was Russian and decided to scream that across the street to me”

Him: “Because you just look Russian. I instantly knew.”

Me: “Well I’m flattered thanks, but I won’t be going out with you”

Him: “Well how about tomorrow, take my number”

*proceeds to give me his number

Me: “Yeah, thanks”

Him: “Ok I will be seeing you soon I hope”

Me: “Right, drive safe”

Anyways it was more entertaining than it turned out written down, but it was still really weird! Like who calls out someone by their nationality across the street… Like what if I made him look like an idiot and said “no I’m chinese”, or something. Like it really is mind-boggling to me how he was so confident he knew my nationality.

So after that, I finally met up with a friend who showed me: the oldest thing in Paris, the oldest park in Paris, and the oldest building in Paris [but this one is obviously debatable, but the picture looks cool so whatever, we’ll pretend]. It was a day of exploration. I love days like that. While I do enjoy the days where I just wander around Paris, losing myself in it’s Parisian-ness, I also love days where I actually learn something and see something special.

So anyways, for the folks that are unable to explore Paris here’s the pictures of the things mentioned above:

The oldest place in Paris is this sort of stadium (think Gladiator) built by the Romans in the 2nd century. I'm surprised it is so hidden away and completely unrecognizable to tourists. Instead it's a great place for french kids to play football after school. Still this was really cool thing to see. 

The oldest park... and all you see are these bushes.. I don't know what I was thinking and why this is the only picture I took of the park. It's called Place des Vosges and it's the oldest park in Paris. 

Also I just took pictures of these houses because they stood out quite significantly. They are clearly older than the surrounding buildings... but I highly doubt they are the oldest in Paris. 

Oh we also went to “Jardin des Plantes” – translates to garden of plants if I’ve spelt that correctly – but our first “attraction” was in fact kangaroos…. Yes I had the same confused look that you might be wearing at this moment. What in the world are kangaroos doing in the garden that is literally named “Plants”. Well turns out there is also a zoo nearby and the kangaroos are like a tease of what you can see at the zoo. Although I still don’t see the logic.

It was quite adorable as some of the mom's had joey's with them and they were so cute and tiny. 

We also spent some time by the Seine, surrounded by guitar, drinks... and naked men bathing in the Seine... yes I am serious. 

We walked through some square that I've already forgotten the name off, but it was surrounded by some really nice cafe's that I've got to check out. 

True Parisian parking... 

I then went to meet up with another friend for drinks (wine, obviously, I’m trying to fit in).

The Saturday was where I really got my lessons on how to be Parisian.

At first I went to grab coffee with a friend and we had an interesting conversation about crazy ex’s. Then I headed over to meet my host mom and some of her girlfriends for a night out at the theatre. We went to see the lovely one-man show “How to be a Parisian in one hour”.

So let me just say, if you are in Paris definitely check out this show! It is so hilarious and the interaction with the audience is really engaging. BUT WARNING. Do not take your parents or parents-in-law or grandparents (you get the picture) because there is tons of swearing and tons of sex-related conversations. It was quite hilarious because one of the audience members who got picked to come on stage came with his girlfriend… and mother-in-law. We had a good laugh.

What is the best part about the show, or about most humour, is how relatable it is. So again, if you are in Paris check out the show!

Just acting like the Parisians do. The man is Olivier Giraud, the creator of the show and truly a hilarious man. 

On the Sunday I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was relax and sleep. I had cancelled all my plans for that day in Paris and stayed in my pyjamas until 2:30. I had to finally get out of them as I had a friend coming over, and well I needed to be somewhat presentable. She came by and then we had a 10 minute discussion on what we should do…. Guess what we decided… obviously we went to Paris.

But this time it was different because we took the car to Paris. Now Paris is one of a kind for driving… you don’t do it unless you can and are not afraid of most likely having your car smashed (you’ve seen the parking photo). Anyways when we got into Paris we found parking almost right away… and it was FREE. WHAT?? I know…. It was free parking in Paris… that’s like finding gold. We then took the metro (it was free this weekend) to Montmartre where I finally saw the Moulin Rouge and Amelie café!

We returned and there was no ticket... It was definitely free. 

I had to get the "Amelie special". It was the best creme brulee I've ever had! 

We finished our day off at the Sacre Coeur and ate some cookies.

This has been one of my favourite weekends in Paris.

Cause you’re hot then you’re cold… wait no you’re mostly cold

The secret is out! I get cold… like all the time. No matter where I am, I am cold. I am that person who brings a sweater in 20-degree weather “just in case”… and uses it. And you can remind me as everyone else does “but you are Russian” and “don’t you live in Canada”, well Sir or Madame, thank you for pointing this out, but clearly the Russian genes got cancelled out in my DNA and I have to hibernate during the cold months (which in Canada is about 6 months).  As my new LA friend pointed out (yes I now have friends from LA…. I’m cool like that), I should just move to California; I’d survive better in that weather. I’ve apparently got the attitude down.

Today I had one of the best meals since coming to France. Best Part Number 1: it was free. BP#2: I got to enjoy it with friends. BP#3: event was made for us, around us, and pretty much we were the center of attention.

“How”, you might say, “do you land such an opportunity?”

Well when you’re sexy like us… just kidding. It’s mostly because (and I’ve mentioned this before) I have an awesome host family. My host mom is a teacher for apprentices, waiters included. So this was kind of like a mock test for the students. We had to evaluate them on their oral english throughout our meal. It was so cute how nervous the 3 students were! All I wanted to do was help them out when they struggled or stumbled over words. It was a really wonderful experience and I am so grateful to my host mom for inviting me to such an affair.

The one and only photo I took of the food. It was all just outstanding, Presentation and taste. 

Now is the time of picnics and Parisian-garden-exploring, which I just love (even though the weather isn’t up to “Stasi standards”)! My mission is to try and actually make something home-made for our next girly picnic coming up.  Clearly this blog is food and weather related. But I am sure more wine-related blogs will soon follow.

A second thing I should mention is that I really do love meeting new people and learning so many new things from them! Whether it’s museums, culture, advice, you get the picture. It really shows you how you can’t be that person who only wants one friend, your life can get pretty sad that way, you’d just never venture out of your little bubble.

So if you are that person, ad-venture! 

Dear Apple Store,

I am sorry for having spent almost a month stealing your internet. I am not so sorry for how you tried to subtly kick me out of your store after I’ve been sitting in there for two hours. The “genius” kept telling me to move, so I did… to another table, and like that it would go for about an hour; of me just shuffling around the store.

Quick Rant:

You know what is one thing that frustrates me about driving in France, the stupid roundabouts. Now it isn’t the roundabouts themselves (in reality they are a great concept for smoothly moving traffic along), but it is the people in them! Not everyone knows how to use roundabouts or is simply too lazy to do it right. Well sometimes people are just plain stupid and try to cut me off while I am in the roundabout, doing my roundabout thing, and they are trying get in without looking even though it clearly says at every entrance “Vous n’avez pas la priorité”, you don’t have to be an idiot to understand that YOU DO NOT HAVE THE PRIORITY to get in the stupid roundabout. So calm down and wait for me to pass rather than cutting me of and almost causing an accident.

Secondly, the people who don’t know how to use their clicker, really piss me off too. If you are exiting the roundabout please let me know so I could advance. It is really annoying when there is traffic and no one is showing that they are exiting right beside you (meaning you could have advanced). I am giving you the priority, but you don’t deserve it!

Anyways, it has been so sunny here in France…. Except when it came to the weekend… But that doesn’t mean that I’ll stay at home and sulk. On Saturday I wasn’t feeling so great so what do I do? Shopping, obviously. Food, clothes, jewelry; while I didn’t buy it all, I was definitely tempted (except for the food… I always buy the food. It’s like it calls to me).

Next I went to meet with some people. One of the people who was with us was a man from Africa who spoke fluent Russian (he lived in the USSR for 13 years, or something like that, when he was young). He then began to aggressively hit on me, which made me incredibly uncomfortable. So I told him I was unavailable. To which he replied with a “well I am married, and yet I am still available”, and then continued to lecture me on how life is short and we should enjoy it. He kept calling the other women his “lovers” (he had many). It made things even more uncomfortable! So I got annoyed and straight out told him that not only am I unavailable, but he can definitely count me out of his “lovers circle”.  Unfortunately that did not work as well as I planned, but thankfully my station was coming up and I was getting off the train before him.

The next day I went with a group to the REX cinema. It is the oldest cinema in Paris, built in the 1930’s. It has had lots of famous visitors from Jennifer Lawrence to Bradley Cooper (did you know he speaks French?!) and many others. What made the experience much more exciting was how the museum is an interactive museum! So at one point I got to be in a movie… I know pretty badass, you can start lining up for autographs.

Oh I also met another Russian man here, but he was much better than the one from the previous one. We had just a regular conversation. And it was quite funny how we met, as he came in right when I was explaining to people where Volgograd is (my go to explanation is always “Well do you know Stalingrad? Yeah it’s the same thing, they renamed it), at which point he comes in and is like “cool I am from Leningrad”. Some historical Russian humour for you here.

Like 1/5 of the wall showing the artists that have come by the REX

Also got up close and personal with superman

Some creepy guy who freaked me out, as he just opened the door suddenly.

Tunnel of spinny lights that make you feel like you are drunk walking through.

Then I ate a pizza bigger than my head. But it was delicious.

All is good overall. Kids seem to grow in energy as the sun stays longer up in the sky, which is quite fun. And the older girl is going through some changes into adolescence, which is a treat. Was I really like this when I was younger? I imagined myself as this quite kid, but I think I’ve been lying to myself. I think I was just as energetic and moody.

Also Leo is obsessed when ever I get ready for the day in Paris, she loves watching me put on makeup and get all jewelled up. So we figured we would do the same for her (minus the makeup obviously). The love the way she poses.

Oh and speaking of children who give attitude, I recently found out my sister has been role playing as me… which included taking the contacts that I’ve left at home and playing with them. Yes that is contacts that I’ve paid over $300 for… and yet she still has the nerve to give me attitude for being mad at her! Oh for god sakes, why are kids so difficult sometimes?!

You won’t give up, if you really want something.

Internet update: still nothing. Neighbours still haven’t noticed my continuous camping outside of their house. But good news, I finally have my internet data back on my phone… but I need to learn from my mistakes and not use it all up in one week. Terrified of this months cell phone bill…

I have awesome news! I have been accepted to the Masters that I have been trying to get since August 2014. Since the first email I sent out, I went through high’s and low’s. At first I was told that “you are a great researcher, I am really interested in having you, I’ve heard only great things about you…. BUT I don’t think I’ll have the money to support you”. When I want something I will not give up. So we kept emailing back and forth with my hopeful-future-supervisor, only sharing good news with each other about how maybe there might be an opportunity, etc etc. However, in November I get the dreaded “I apologize but I definitely won’t have money to support a project for any future students”. NOOOOOOOOO. Not only did my heart break (I am so in love with this research, interestingly enough it’s what I like to read up on in my spare time, think of projects here and there, and alone in my room question other works on this topic), but I was also completely screwed because by November I hadn’t applied anywhere else…. This supervisor, this school, was my first and only choice that I really wanted to pursue.

Like I said I don’t take no for an answer, so I set up an interview with this professor. In person he can see my passion, my determination, and my willingness to do whatever I can, to find the money and work in this lab, I just needed some help that was all.

In December was when I had the interview (conveniently it was because I was in Canada for the month, and also travelled to the University city). We talked about how awesome it would be to work together, but how unfortunate it is to be a biologist at this time in Canada…. You know funding cuts, environmental space shut-downs, the refusal to take scientific research into consideration… yes clearly all logical choices that are only for the good of science… Anyways, I really admire this professor for still showing me around, taking the time to talk to me about my interests, and suggest other professors I could apply to. I didn’t go into the interview with an expectation of hearing “we found a secret treasure that can support all research everywhere!”… Although it would have been nice.

So after returning back to France, guess what email I receive in the beginning of February “Anastasia there is a slight chance we might be able to take you on! I’ll let you know soon” WHHHHAAATTT!! How exciting! Well a month had passed and nothing… Although the silly human that I am I still had so much hope that I’d soon hear good news. So I took things into my own hands and contacted the professor with a simple “Any update?” Turns out he had some email problems and had already sent out my “good news” email!

So after all the struggle, all the stress, and all the support from my friends and family I can proudly say I will be starting a Masters program at my number one choice university, researching topics that I’ve been passionate about since second year of University! YES!

Some Disclamers:

Email’s are not word for word… more like really paraphrased.

No I will not mention where I am going and who I am working with on a public blog that is viewed around the world (seriously my 2^nd highest country to view this blog is Ireland… that’s so awesome, just really unexpected) because that is unprofessional and irresponsible.

All in all, if you want something DO NOT GIVE UP… if you do, then you clearly did not want it that badly in the first place.

Back to France blogging next post, I did not have much to write about this week anyways other than how I’ve painted, got motion sickness from the swings, and found a dead rat that I then had to maneuver into the bushes with a stick. So not so interesting.