Des gents sont fou!

Well, since I have been here in France, I have seen some crazy things. Some things that would never happen in the US and some that would would. I have seen a man tumble from a motorcycle in the middle of traffic, I have seen a man yelling at the top of his lungs at police in an airport and I have seen cars that looks more like children's toys than actual automobiles. All in all, it has been an eye-opening experience.

One beautiful Sunday afternoon, I was walking down to the market on the corner to do some grocery shopping. About half way there, I came across a man who looked like he was preparing for a motocross event. He was wearing about every possible piece of racewear possible including leather pants (lol). As I approached him, he was strapping on his helmet over a face mask of some sort and was about ready for departure. I casually walking past, as I normally would, and got about 10 feet beyond him when I heard his engine rev. Directly following this near redline revving sound, I heard a frightening sound, the sound of a bike hitting the pavement. I turned to look and here was this guys Triumph Speed Triple hurling past me on it's side with no passenger. I turn around further to see the man tumbling on the ground as if he was doing a backward somersault. I am not sure if he tried to do a wheelie or if he just made a simple mistake and the bike got away from him, but I have never seen an accident like this so nearby. As soon as the man finished his acrobatic routine, he stood up as if waiting for applause. He then casually walked over to his bike and picked it up and moved it to the side of the road. All this time, the cars and other bikes in the road were honking and yelling as if he was causing them an inconvenience (which I suppose he was, but come on) I wanted to ask him if he was ok but I had no idea how to say that. I do know how to say "Ça va?" which means "Are you ok?" in a "How is it going?æ kinda way. I am not sure that is what he would have liked to hear. Lol. I arrived at the market minutes later to find it closed. We were both having a bad day.

One morning, I was leaving fro Cannes for the NRJ Music festival. I arrived early with my Creative Director and another freelancer, so we decided to have a coffee and croissant. I was sitting in the café waiting for my plane to board when one of the craziest things I have seen in France occurred. Out of nowhere, screaming began from the other side of the airport. I had no idea what he was saying, but it sounded like he meant business. Personally, it sounded like a terrorist could have been taking over the airport. I would not have known the difference. So as this screaming came closer and closer, we finally saw the man making a ll the noise. It was a 30 something black male dressed decently well and still carrying on. We were sitting quite near the Police outpost n the airport, so as he approached us, I felt secure knowing they were there. As he past the officers, he continued screaming at the top of his lungs directly at the police. He just continued walking past and they did noting but stare back. I thought surely he is some sort of threat. Why not do something? Save me! He continued walking and came within 3 feet of our outpost at the café and then continued down the stairs to the exit, all the while still yelling his head off. Once he was gone, I asked the other freelance, "What was he saying?" He replied, "I want my baggage!"

Finally, on the car front, France has some of the smallest and most creative vehicles that I have ever seen. They range from a bicycle that has a small pedal-start motor all the way to those flat-faced Mercedes vans you seen in films so often. One vehicle I saw that I thought was interesting was a motorcycle that was enclosed all around the passengers except on the sides. So it had a windshield, and a roof and a rear window. I suppose it helps to keep you dry during rain, but should you really be riding a moto in the rain? Another one I saw that was an actual improvement was a motorcycle with two front wheels. The two wheels were very close two each other but I assume offer much more stability. They also offer two front disc brakes which help to get you to a stop much faster. Quite an improvement from these crazy Paris streets. Also, I have seen what is called a Smart Car. It may be smart on the environment but it would not be so smart if you were driving around the US in one of these deathmobiles. Although I am sure that the women would love one merely for the cuteness factor, these cars are nothing more than a large go-cart. There is no backseat, no trunk and no space, just 2 front seats and a window directly behind. Don't know about you, but I would not want to be rear-ended by a Hummer in one of these little guys.

Well, that is all for this post. Have a great day and enjoy some random photos...

These are from my new friend Nikki (hope you don't mind Nikki, I stole them from Facebook)

A Whole Lotta Random.

Holy crap it has been a while since I wrote anything... But here we go again. Be prepared...

NRJ Music Awards.
So where shall I begin? OK, first let's talk about this weekend. So, this is officially my last week of work here at NAKeD. Yey! I am completely ready to take a break and do a little exploring. But to wrap up the 3 months that I have been working with them, we are going to Cannes for the NRJ Music Awards. They are just like the MTV Awards but these are produced entirely in France. They will have about 10 performers ranging from Amy Winehouse to Rhianna to Mika... It should be a pretty cool show. But am not going down just to partake in the festivities. We actually produced all the graphics for the entire show. So we are heading down on Thursday to test the graphics on this huge screen and make any last minute changes that may need to occur. But our hard work will be well rewarded because not only do we get to attend the award show but my company is throwing an after party for the entire production with invites extending to all the hosts and performers. The producer (Jacques) just told me last week that they ordered 1200 bottles of champagne for the soirée! I think it will be an "OK" time... LOL...

Here is a video of one of the performers, MIKA:


Bonne Année!
OK, I suppose the time has come to discuss the New Year's Eve party here in Paris. For the most part the French like to party just as hard as anyone else on this night. But here are some details that stood out to me as a little different from my normal festivities.

OK, so what I ended up doing was heading to a house party with Danielle in the south of Paris. When we arrived there were about 10 people, half spoke English the other half spoke French. Usually, I end up drinking beer and shots on New Year's with a touch of champers for good measure. Apparently, in France, you drink wine and champers all night. Oh man, we are in for a long ride... As far as food is concerned, there was Fois Gras which is a paté made from duck liver. You eat it by smearing some on a small slice of toast. Very very good but somewhat unethically made... I will let you do your own research on that here.



Also, they had another dish which wasn't the most visually appealing but tasted like a bit of heaven. It was called Parmentier de Canard which is little pieces of duck pulled from the bone and mixed with puréed potatoes. Mmmmmmm! I can taste them now.



The music was interesting. It was a mixture of old French and American classics. Very cool because everyone that was French would bust out all the lyrics when their songs came on, and vise versa. Overall, it was a good mix and a fresh change.

Here is a sample of my friend's singing some French song on another night:



When that special hour finally came, there was a big difference than what we usually do in the States. Instead of every one having a "date" for the night and then making face with them at midnight, the French have a different way. When the hour struck, we all went around the room giving bisous (the kisses on both cheeks) to basically everyone and wished them a Bonne Année (Happy New Year). I actually liked this tradition very much. Seemed like a good way to meet everyone you didn't know very quickly. Lol... Also, at that moment is is normal to throw these little balls around the room. They are like the size of marbles and made of something a bit heavier than foam. But imagine hundreds of them coming from all directions. It was like an indoor snowball fight with miniature snowballs. (What a horrible analogy that was.) After it was all said and done, I had a great time at the party and really enjoyed my new way of celebrating the new year.

After the party, the Metro was supposed to be open all night, but for some reason it was closed. Me and Dee were lucky enough to catch a cab right away, but our friends were not so lucky. Check out this video of their adventure home on the Velib (the local bikes that cost 1 euro a ride):



The next day 8 of us met up to have on last night together before it was time to return to the States. It was nice. We had a chance to sit around and talk and learn a bit more about each other. Now if you remember from the last post, I introduced you to Peter (the Canadian Rocket Scientist from LA). Anyway, he told us about his brother and how he ended up where he is today. He is a Sommelier (highest level wine producer) who lives in Bordeaux since 4 years ago. Apparently, while living in Canada, he met a French woman, fell deeply in love and then was married. After that they moved to Bordeaux, France and bought a castle-like house. He furthered his interest in agriculture by getting into wine production. And after just 4 short years, he is almost at the top of the game. To me, that is a very impressive story. It says to me that no matter what you are doing right now, you can be in a completely different, better lifestyle in a very short time period. That idea makes me happy...

The night went on and we carried on story after story about our childhoods and drank delicious wine produced by Peter's brother. Then it happened... I brought my guitar to help liven up the party, but when Peter got control of it, things got a bit lively. Check out this vid of a song he sang about me, the Sexodrome and plenty of other good things:



I have a few more blogs written already but I am gonna wait to post them... Come back soon... :)

La Tour Eiffel

Well the holidays have come and gone. And so has Danielle Francis. Thanks for coming Dee, I had a blast. We have tons of photos to share and even more stories, but they will have to wait until next time...

La Tour Eiffel.
Bonjour Madames et Monsieurs, Je m'appelle Christophe et je vais été votre guide, aujourd'hui. Let me share with you the beauty that is the Eiffel Tower. The funny part is that when first erected (lol) in 1885, it was despised by Parisians. They thought it was an eye sore to the skyline of their beautiful city. Which may or may not have been true, but it has attracted nearly 7 million visitors since it's creation. It is also the most well known monument throughout Europe. It has attained all this in just 118 years. Not bad...

Here are a few other stats that I found to be quite interesting. It takes approx. 1 1/2 years to paint the entire structure and they paint it every 7 years, using 60 tons of paint. The city is going to start on the 19th coat next winter. Also, it does sway with the wind, but it only moves a mere 7 cm. Also, the tower was only to be left standing for 20 years to celebrate the French Revolution, but as it gained popularity through the years they decided to keep it standing.

OK, OK, enough of the stats... Let's see some pictures and video already! On y va! (Let's get going!)

Here is your chance to ride the tower from the ground to the third floor in about a minute. Enjoy!



And here are some day pics:






I have no idea why there were all these people on stilts:


This is one of the legs. You can actually ascend any of the legs except one. It is reserved for people who want to walk the stairs. Yeah, it is assumed that they are crazy!


And here are some night pics:


View to the North:


View to the South:


Along La Seine:


Is everyone keeping up with their New Year's Resolutions?

Joyeux Noël

Man, it has been a while since my last post! Almost 4 weeks have gone by. Have you missed me? I knew it...

I have so much new info to talk about that I need to break it up into a few posts, so please bear with me. I will get it all up though over the next week or so.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday so far. I don't know about you, but I only got to take off 3 days for Christmas (Noel) and New Year's. But I have a friend in town (Danielle Francis) and we should be partying it up, Paris style, in no time. I have no doubt in my mind that the French will be excited wish her a Bon Voyage after the next week. No offense D...

Joyeux Noël.
First off, I am not sure whether the normal Parisian gets the eve of Christmas off, but this American did not. I worked until about 6pm with only my Creative Director. Everyone else was, in my mind's eye, eating lots of food and partying. Mon patron (my boss) took off at about 5:30 and asked what I had planned for the evening. I wished that I had something amazing to reply with, but, "luckily" for me, I had come down with what I would consider to be flu-like symptoms the day before. So my night was full of laying in bed and reading a book about someone Else's turbulent travels in Paris. He understood, went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of champagne. He told me, "Sometimes, this is the best medicine..." I agree and wished him a Joyeux Noel.

On a side note, I have not noticed a single hospital in Paris yet, so when I became sick I decided to do a little research on how to get treatment. I came to the conclusion that France is far ahead of the US in this arena without a doubt. There are some major differences that I found a bit strange. For instance, doctors work out of their apt. So you may be living next door to a pediatrician, optometrist, gyno, etc... Seems a bit weird and unsanitary, but very convenient I suppose. Also, the doctors have a system of home visits that is quite amazing and reasonably priced. You can call a phone line (something like you might call an ambulance in the US but not as serious) and a doctor will be at your doorstep shortly after. He will treat you for what you have and be on his way. I have even saw this in action with my boss. He had some serious illness and called a doctor to come to our office. The doctor showed up very quickly, diagnosed him, and gave him a shot, all within the office. They give you your shot in the ass here too. LOL. Weird, right? Yep my boss dropped his trousers and laid face first on the office couch to receive his buttocks injection. Also, the only place to but anything with any type of medication is a pharmacy. Now these are located about every 20 feet and nearly impossible to miss because they all bear a neon cross that hangs just above the store front on the sidewalk. This is the spot you must go to if you need anything from contact solution to penicillin to a medicated shoe pad.

The sign above every single pharmacy in Paris:


Ok, let's get back on track here. So I spent my Christmas Eve "medicated" reading a good book called A Year in the Merde (merde means shit and it is refering to Paris). But then on Christmas day the fun began. I decided that even though I was a bit under the weather, I still wanted to do something memorable. "What is a better way to spend Christmas than in a cemetery?", you are probably asking yourself. I couldn't agree more, so in light of this I decided to go visit Père Lachaise Cemetery which is one of the most beautiful and historic cemetaries in the world. Before you get all creeped out by my trip to the land of the dead, you must understand that this is a very popular tourist destination as well. In fact, it is supposed to be the most visited cemetary in the entire world. It is not just a trip to a cemetery. It is a trip into the past.

The story of the cemetery is that it was established by Napoleon in 1804, but noone was having their funeral and getting buried there. In order to increase it's popularity, he began to bury famous people here. This eventually worked and it became the powerhouse of a cemetery that it is today. The first 2 famous folks to be laid to rest in this historic place were La Fontaine and Molière. Both were transfered here from other cemeteries. Even back then they had to "sell" people on the idea and apparently celebrities have always been a good selling point. In case you are not up on your 18th century hipsters, La Fontaine was a super famous French poet and Moliere was "the" top playwright/actor of his time(comedy was his thing, think Ben Stiller). Anyway, a couple other people of note were Georges Méliès, filmmaker, who created A Trip to the Moon, Jean de Brunhoff who created Babar the Elephant (loved that as a kid) and, my reason for the visit, Jim Morrison, singer of the Doors. One grave I think is worth mentioning is that of Victor Noir. It isn't that he is super important as a person, but his grave certainly provokes interest. In fact I may model mine after his design. As you can see in the photo below, he appears to be at least partially sexually aroused, his penis pushing his part-unbuttoned fly open. This site has been a symbol of fertility since it arrived and women have been seen kissing his face and rubbing his "area". So much, in fact, that in 2005, they put a fence around the site due to deterioration. What better way to "rest in peace"?



Here are some more photos of the cemetery:




I am not entirely sure what is going on here, but it doesn't look good:


This guy had the right idea, "Never Give Up":






As far as Jim Morrison's site is concerned, it is nothing to write home about (even though I am). He died at age 27 of an unconfirmed drug overdose. The French doctor was kind enough to declare heart failure as the cause of death, so no autopsy was ever required. Anyway, he was laid to rest in a modest grave. Nothing too exciting, just thought I should at least pay some respect to one of the greatest poets of our time. Take a look for yourself:





After bidding Pere Lachaise adieu, I wanted to spend the second half of my afternoon with more dead people at the Catacombs. I had not previously heard of the Catacombs until I watched the film, 2 Days in Paris by Julie Delpy. Excellent film, by the way. I could really relate to what the American in the film is going through. Here is the preview:



Anyway, in the film, the main character, who grew up in Paris, describes the Catacombs as her favorite place to go in Paris. Now even though this movie is fiction, I still believe there to be some truth in her conviction about the Catacombs. This is the reason I added it to my itinerary for Christmas. So I took the short Metro ride over there only to discover that they are closed for renovations until Feb 6th. What kind of renovations happen to a tunnel of death? Someone please elaborate... For anyone who is unfamiliar with what the Catacombs are exactly, please read the following... Apparently the Catacombs came into existence originally as a series of mines or quarries. Then in the 1700's cemeteries within the city limits of Paris were being overfilled and causing health concerns for those people who lived nearby. So the solution was the turn the mines into underground cemeteries. This sounds to me like it would have come from the mind of the times most prominent horror author, but no this idea was from the city. Anyway, all the cemeteries were moved to these underground tunnels and cemeteries were outlawed within the city until 1804 when Pere Lachaise opened. Today, the Catacombs are open to public self-guided tours(unless your name is Chris Abbey, in which case they will be closed during your stay). Take an online tour here or check out these photos I found online...









That was about the extent of my excitement on Christmas day. There was some drunkeness and Hard Rock Cafe dinner involved, but it wasn't worth talking about. So to conclude my reentry into blog world, I would like to introduce you to my new friends here in Paris, Mag and Clem. Mag moved to the US when she was 16 and then went to college in San Fran, but she is originally from Paris and just recently moved back and Clem Is also from Paris. He moved to the US for a couple years and just moved back with Mag. Here are some random party pics:







Oh yeah... And this is Peter. Peter is a Canadian Rocket Scientist who works for NASA and lives in Los Angeles. What are the chances we would meet in Paris?


Well, I hope that was enough to keep everyone satisfied for a few days. I have a post about my trip to the Eiffel Tower almost ready to go. There is even a trip to the top in 60 seconds so get ready... Talk soon...Bonsoir...

La Nova Radio.

Birthday.
I feel very productive right now (at this moment in time and in life). Today, I worked 8 hours, then had a 1 hour french lesson, then I went to the gym for an hour, then I went grocery shopping, I am now writing this post and afterwards I am gonna play guitar for a bit. That is a freaking full day.
For those of you who don't know, I am 27 years old now. (Je suis vingt-sept ans.) I spent my birthday weekend in Amsterdam. It was one wild weekend including the weather. The rain was relentless! Regardless, I managed to survive the weekend and have one pretty damn good time as well. Anyway, I will have a post about the whole experience very soon, but for now...

La Nova Radio.
Oh man! This is a very important topic. La Nova happens to be the radio station that I listen to at work (against my will) all day. Let me pass on this info: they only play about 15 songs on loop all day, which they cal: Le Grand Mix. It is ridiculous! And just so you can experience the same misery that I go through every single day, I have included the names of some of the songs that are played regularly.

Just go to this website: DEEZER This site is actually very cool. It is considered online radio. And because of that, you can access any song you can think of at anytime. You can't download the songs but you can listen to them whenever you want. Anyway, just go to this site and type in a few of these songs so that you can feel the pain I go through on a daily basis. If you are limited for time, at least listen to the first one. Believe me, it will be well worth the effort... LOL...

The Songs.
Worst:
Ska Cubano - Soy Campesino
Hocus Pocus - Recycle

Better:
Little Dragon - No Love
Jack Penate - Learning Lines
Radio City - The Hop

On the upside, on Friday nights, they seem to expand on the basic 15 songs with some remixes and stuff. 2 weeks ago I heard a very cool mash-up of Radiohead and Busta Rhymes. Very interesting!

Keep an eye out for my next post that will cover my trip to London from 2 weeks ago...

Work. (again)

OK here is a super quicky. Just some footage of my walk to work and a couple photos.

Have a look:


The sky can be so beautiful here:



Everyone here rides a Moto of some sort:

I am still here.

OK so it is time to catch up on some of the stuff I have seen and been doing over the last 2 weeks.

Le Cabaret
Let me start with Le Cab. Check out their website here. I was invited here my a friend of my friend Sydney (we worked together at Current TV). The friend's name is Rachel. I didn't really know what to expect so I checked the website first to see what I should prepare myself for. I found it on many of the "Top 10 Clubs in Paris" lists, so I knew that I was gonna be in for a night and a half.

So at first we almost didn't even get past the bouncers because one of the guys we were with was wearing sneakers, which as us Vegas people know, is a big no-no. But then this lovely girl comes out from the door and has a few words with the bouncer (none of which I understood). After a about 2 minutes of discussion, he unclips the velvet divider and let's us pass. I greet him with an grateful, "Merci" and cruise on through. I asked her what she said to him and she explained that she just flirted with him a bit. Shit, in the States, only money and bribes work at the clubs. Here you can just do a little flirting to make it past the gorillas.

There was no cover for this particular evening because there was a special event going on, but to give you an idea of the normal cost, the site lists it as about 30-40 euros. On top of that, my first venture to the bar set me back a cool 13 euro. Yeah! That's right, 13! And that was for a Heinekin beer. What the hell? But who cares right? It is an experience either way. So on I go to end of the bar and chat with my new friend, Rachel and explore the rest of the club. I was very impressed with the decor. Take a look at some photos:





I will tell you what I was not impressed with though, the music. How can I describe it to you? Let's see... OK, go back in time to the mid 90's and try to remember the candy-ravers and electronic beats. Exactement! That by far has been the worst part of Paris as a whole. The music here is like taking a time warp back 10 years and reliving the electronic side of the 90's. So just as I was coming to terms with the state of things, a strange thing happened. The next song came on and it was The White Stripes. Yeah, it didn't fit the style at all, but then something even stranger happened. Everyone started humming the beat of the song. Just to be clear, they were not singing the song, but like kinda yelling the beat to the song. If you can understand... It was very strange to say the very least.

Anyway, I danced for a bit and brought the night to and end around 1 am cause I had to work the next morning. I headed over to grab my coat from the coat check, which by the way, is common at all clubs in Paris, and costs 3 euro (just to leave a coat). Shit. how much am I making again? hahaha... I exited the club said goodbye to Rachel and her friends and headed towards the taxis. This was the very peak of the evening to me, because I only had to say my address once and the driver understood perfectly. Hell yeah!

Design Contre Design


I also want to mention this very cool design show that I attended at the Le Grand Palais. Check out the video on this page here. It was a furniture design showcase from the past 200 years. My favorite part of the show was that it was difficult to tell when a piece was created. This just goes to show that truly good design is ageless. Honestly, there were pieces that could have been for sale at a trendy furniture shop today and they were created 150 years ago. It was very cool to see where we have come from and where we are today, even where we are heading in the future.

Some Favorites
NOTE: These photos were taken directly from this website.

This section was more my taste in terms of classy design:

I love the random pieces of the couch that line the wall and floor. Random is great!


The table here appeared to be shaped out of a single piece of wood.


This radiator fooled me too. So beautiful...


This was called "The Womb House". It was in fact a womb of a woman and had all the aspects of an actual house. Kitchen, desk, toilet and bed complete with a vaginal opening for the children to enter the way they came out. LoL.


Finally, this was my favorite section in terms of creativity and fun. Everything is just made from leftovers or random junk:

Coolest dresser ever:


This chair is made out of old clothes:


This is 100% shredded newspaper: