Printemps, Mon Cherie

Yesterday I crossed another thing off my To Do list by exploring Parc Monceau in Arr. 17. I happened to go around lunchtime, well French lunchtime - it was 1:45pm, so everyone was suited up and in high heels, kicking it in the sun before going back to work.

As you can see, leaves are still just peaking out, but this is what it's going to look like soon

a green garden paradise.

I started thinking that perhaps my best days of Paris are yet to come :-) In fact, I just bought my plane ticket home - both sad and exciting. Exciting cuz I miss all of you back in America, and Mex food (have I said that before?), and things like peanut butter with chocolate, and cooking, and tennis, and a normal non-bunk bed ... Also exciting cuz I booked it from Mallorca, Spain. Woot! That's right. I'm going to be staying with my friend Steph and her parents on a Mediterranean island for about 5 days to cap off my European extravaganza. And even more exciting, cuz I won't be leaving til the end of May, which means I have plenty of time to play in Paris and Europe while the weather's nice.

Here's what I'm envisioning for my post-work daily agenda of bliss in Paris:

• Wake up to the sun and the birds
  
• Go for a swim for some exercise
  
• Ride my velib bike through some uncharted Parisian territory
• Brake for some chocolate or patisserie
  
• Choose one of my fav parks (Luxembourg, Ponceau, Tuileries, Jardin des Plantes...) and laze about in the sun with a book for an hour or so.
• Poke into some boutiques and fun stores
  
• Frequent a cafe for dinner
• Spend an hour or two on my job search (for some productivity)
  
• Close the day by watching a sub-titled French movie on the top bunk of my bed
  

All of this was schemed in my head as I meandered through the park. It was a pretty posh park, BTW! All entrances were marked with golden gates like this

It's sort of in the neighborhood where I babysit, Rue Courcelles, and just like the park was posh, all the surrounding buildings are Frenched up! Like so

And the magasins and boutiques have deliciously tempting window displays



Speaking of window displays, and advertisements. I keep seeing two that merit commentary.


This Miss Dior, Cherie ad replaced a HUGE, wall-sized face of Jude Law that had been posted for 3 months above the apartment of my babysitting charge's best friend. I can't help but smile at it. It's like candy. I even tried the perfume on because I was so enamored with it. Unfortunately, not with the perfume. The commercial for it though is reminiscent of what my post-work bliss days of Paris will be like :-)

This on the other hand, always brings a quizzical look to my face. It's also posted all over Paris right now.
It spurs a few questions, non? In doing some research, I didn't discover whether this was supposed to be marketed to men or women (not to me, that's for sure), but I did find out that Caron, Pour un Homme was the first perfume for men. Whaddayaknow! I'm a fan. It all began back in 1934.