The kitties went nuts, because of course these things sound like they're full of cat treats when shaken, so I had to make sure to get them way out of reach. This is the top of the tv cabinet. It's covered in my infamous kitty deterents (this time bottles instead of aluminum cans...)
We got some good news today. The housing board has approved our getting the cool apartment in Paris I was telling you about a while back. It's in the 17th arrondissement, not too far from the Parc Monceau. I'm getting more excited by the day. Now we can still end up living somewhere else, for instance if someone with higher seniority all of a sudden needs the apartment or something. But we're one step closer. A really fun site to check out if you are interested in knowing about the lives of english-speaking expats in Paris is the Paris Blog. It's a daily compilation of the best bits of other blogs so there's something for everyone. From there I've found a couple of blogs I now follow: The blog by the woman working at a 3-star restaurant is fascinating tho some of the pics of dismembered game birds has been disturbing. I also enjoy Rue Rude by an American expat that has a running tally of who's on strike in France. (boy, do I hope we get that apartment that is only a mile from the embassy so my sweetie can walk to work!)
I''m still sick, but slightly less miserable today. Yesterday my sweetie -- who has really been hit hard by this cold -- went on a Mythbusters binge on the Discovery Channel - at last they were showing a bunch we hadn't seen before. Have to say I prefer the English narrator that we got on the UK version better (we had the UK Discovery Channel in Cairo - go figure.)
the marracas are fabulous! I absolutly love the green one... Hope the housing continues to work out well,
ReplyDeleteOne quick question -- do you have to keep the bottles up so the cats stay off -- or after a while do the cats get the message? (I have a couple I'd like to train away from a couple of spots....)
My hubby found this funny article (well, funny to me) and I thought you may be interested in it since it is in regards to Paris. He read it to me and I thought of you... LOL... Denise
ReplyDeleteParis Syndrome" leaves tourists in shock
PARIS (Reuters) - Around a dozen Japanese tourists a year need psychological treatment after visiting Paris as the reality of unfriendly locals and scruffy streets clashes with their expectations, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
"A third of patients get better immediately, a third suffer relapses and the rest have psychoses," Yousef Mahmoudia, a psychologist at the Hotel-Dieu hospital, next to Notre Dame cathedral, told the newspaper Journal du Dimanche.
Already this year, Japan's embassy in Paris has had to repatriate at least four visitors -- including two women who believed their hotel room was being bugged and there was a plot against them.
Previous cases include a man convinced he was the French "Sun King", Louis XIV, and a woman who believed she was being attacked with microwaves, the paper cited Japanese embassy official Yoshikatsu Aoyagi as saying.
"Fragile travellers can lose their bearings. When the idea they have of the country meets the reality of what they discover it can provoke a crisis," psychologist Herve Benhamou told the paper.
The phenomenon, which the newspaper dubbed "Paris Syndrome", was first detailed in the psychiatric journal Nervure in 2004.
Bernard Delage of Jeunes Japon, an association that helps Japanese families settle in France, said:
"In Japanese shops, the customer is king, whereas here assistants hardly look at them ... People using public transport all look stern, and handbag snatchers increase the ill feeling."
A Japanese woman, Aimi, told the paper:
"For us, Paris is a dream city. All the French are beautiful and elegant ... And then, when they arrive, the Japanese find the French character is the complete opposite of their own.
Your Maraccas are very scary and really cute.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the apartment!
Feel better!
Hope you are feeling better. The empty soda bottle decor is certainly a look. Perhaps it will catch on...
ReplyDeleteThat shop where you got the maraccas HAS to be just a stone's throw from my daughter's apartment at Van Ness and Connecticut.
Well, my college French teacher who lived for years over there always said if you make no effort to speak their language, they have no time for you. Seems fair, Americans are always rather rude about expecting everyone to just know and speak English. Maybe Asians can't understand this well.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you are atleast on the list and approved for the apartment!! Now here's hoping some fancy pants' wife doesn't see it and want it!! I don't do bottle or cans, but I will put pictures and candles closer to the edge to keep jumpers..read, Pixel..off some places!
Congrats on getting the apartment! I've never seen bottles lined up to cats from jumping up on places. Does it really work?
ReplyDeleteI think someone drinks a lot of diet dr. pepper!
ReplyDeleteMy two cats don't mind the noise things make as they fall, they just cringe then when nothing hits them, go on about their business. Tape they dislike though. And Libby can't stand the squirt gun.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you and the apartment! I tried the bottle bit with Brownie but she just jumped up on the counter, waited until Macbeth walked by and then knocked them down on the poor dog's head....
ReplyDeleteSiobhan
First off, congrats on getting your apartment!
ReplyDeleteSecond, I love, love, love the maraccas. They are so neat. I wish we had fun stores around here.
Ha, I just read the article referenced above and was coming here to leave the link. I thought of you too. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15391010/?GT1=8618
I lived in the 17th for a semester while in college. Very quiet area but just a walk away from lots of tourist areas. I know that you will have a great time there.
ReplyDeleteoh good news indeed-both on the apartment and you feeling better-it's never any fun to not be well. How fun to choose your own birthday gifts..glad you found things that tickle you.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's cat loves to knock things down. He would jump up there and knock the bottles down, one by one, watching them as they fall. Now plastic bags.... those are really scary.
ReplyDeleteThe news about the apartment is good. I hope you get closer and closer, right up until you are in it! Are you enjoying being back in the states for a short time?
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll be feeling lots better in a day or two. Both of you. My husband loves mythbusters, also. Sometimes it's great, and sometimes I have to go do something somewhere else. =)
The news about the apartment is good. I hope you get closer and closer, right up until you are in it! Are you enjoying being back in the states for a short time?
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll be feeling lots better in a day or two. Both of you. My husband loves mythbusters, also. Sometimes it's great, and sometimes I have to go do something somewhere else. =)
Love those Halloween Birthday treats! I've only ever heard the English narration!
ReplyDeleteSo you might be living in Paris? Lucky you!!! I love that place... but not in the winter.
ReplyDeleteOh I'm so glad your one step closer for your apartment. I feel so lonely lately with out our emails! With you being sick and me being gone life just isn't the same!
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