A glamourous night out

Last week I stepped into the world of "Esprit Dior"at the Grand Palais. I do love the exhibits that are featured in this magnificent glass-domed roof building constructed for the World Fair of 1900. That's Paris for you. The past is part of the present and you are reminded of it every minute of the day in the city of luxury.

The event was all about the first perfume created by Christian Dior in 1947. I was lucky enough to attend the opening night of “Esprit Dior, Miss Dior” which turned the spotlight on the French brand’s signature fragrance as well as on the history of Dior and the couturier’s sources of inspiration and artistic influences.

15 female artists were asked to create a work that touches upon some aspect of the emblematic fragrance, drawing inspiration from the bottle and its bow, the juice itself or the face of Miss Dior, Natalie Portman. Honestly, I preferred Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich or Elizabeth Tayor as a CD icons to the stars of today.

As well as recounting the story of Miss Dior, the exhibition delved into the history of the couture house through a presentation of archival documents and photos and Dior couture gowns.

All in all, a refreshing take on a Parisian classic which transported me into the world of Hollywood stars, present and past!

Christmas is just around the corner

Time is flying by and in less than a month it is Christmas already. It seems like we just returned from the Toussaint break and before that it seemed we had just gotten back from summer holidays.

Having a rather mild autumn definately improved the Parisians' mood and the trees along the avenues are still showing off the most wonderful foliage of red and orange shades.

But this week the cold weather has arrived and with it the wrought up nerves and impatient honking that this city' dwellers are renowned for.

It also seems the entire city is on a shopping spree. I can't believe the French are so organized as to be Christmas shopping but there is definiately a great deal of consumption going on.

I took myself down to the Grands Magasins to check out the infamous Christmas window displays of Galleries Lafayettes and Printemps as well as the Christmas lights along the Champs Elysées. I am not exaggerating when I say I could harldy get past the tremendous crowds on Saturday evening, let alone get a glimps of the wonderful Christmas windows.

Galleries Lafayette in the pink

A glimps down Boulevard Haussmann

Printemps' Christmas teddy bears dressed in Prada

The Galleries Lafayettes tell the story of Lilly by Marc Jacobs

Touch of America

Never a spot without tourist souvenirs

Arc de Triomph in Christmas spirit 

Looking down the Champs Elysées

A picturesque weekend in Rome

Dinner is served

A midnight walk 

Butterfly fantasy

Tempting menu

Romantic Roman touch

Captivated by the fire artist

Trastevere by night

Treading in Audrey Hepburn's footsteps

Throwing a lucky cent into the Fontana di Trevi

Just look at those sunshades!

Following Napoli's treasure

Spot the carabinieri

Gelato, gelato and more gelato

La Madonna is omnipresent

 A place to have your portrait taken 

Piazza Navone

Quartiere Celio

A different take on the Colosseo

So much to see, so little time!

Cultivating that friendship garden

So, I have not been very active with my writing, admittedly. However, this is a good sign, since it means I have been too busy doing other things.

Indeed, we have been cultivating our garden of friendship. We have travelled to Rome to visit one of Expat Girl's friends whose Mummy happens to be a friend of mine too. A real girls' weekend... and what a delight it was.

Expat boy preferred travelling to Napoli to see his Nonna since Daddy was off on a bachelor party in Madrid for the weekend cultivating his childhood friendships.

A truely globetrotting family. Although we rarely split up like this, we all had to admit, that we did thoroughly enjoy our respective time away. When your home continually moves, the only constant in your life - apart from your family - are your friends. My hubby and I have always put our friends very high on our priority list - even before meeting eachother - and there our friends have remained. However, a friendship needs to be looked after and nurtured just like a plant, otherwise it will die.

The kids have somehow picked up on this and in turn created their own ties, to the various places we've lived in, through their own friendships. Expat boy's best friends has been by his side since he was four years old. He lives in Madrid. Expat girls BFF has followed her since age three. She calls Lugano her home. Oh, did I mention, I have known my BFF since age four? Her home is England. To us, it all makes perfect sense. Some might argue that a friendship cannot be a true bond if you don't see eachother on a regular bases... but who is to judge... and furthermore... a regular bases can mean once or twice a year or even a decade.

I must add that facebook has made it a whole bunch easier to keep up with your friends - and it is a regular feature in our household - but nothing beats a hearty, warm, bearhug where tears spring to your eyes yet your face is one huge smile. In that precise moment time stands still and a thousand words cannot express that ecstatic feeling of happiness of being close to your best buddy once again and experiencing the joy and sensation of true friendship.

A day in the life of a Parisienne

Today, I did what all my friends at home think I do. Well, maybe I DO do what all my friends at home think I do, but there is more to the story.... but that is an entirely different chapter.

Anyways, this morning I walked myself from school drop-off to the newly re-opend Fashion museum, under pouring rain needless to say. I had rounded up a couple of friends who did not know each other, two of whom had just arrived in Paris from other parts of the world. You see, you never know when your paths cross again. I had therefore decided to gather my favourite people in one place to join me on my adventures, hoping that they would hit it off together.

The Fashion museum was a hit. What girl would not enjoy an exhibition that inspires your reverie of red-carpet haute-de-couture dresses?

After four long years of renovations, Paris's Palais Galleria finally reopened its doors, treating its first visitors to an in depth and stunning look at the influential Paris-based couturier Azzedine Alaia.

A masterpiece of staging, the 70 dresses on display seem to hover in space, buoyed by transparent dress forms cut precisely to the lines of each garment and underscoring the sculptural quality of the dresses. Dresses that ONLY fit Naomi Campbell and the likes, of course.

We had to concentrate very hard to keep our hands behind our backs for our fingers were itching to touch the fabrics and stroke the patterns of these mind-blowing creations.

I couldn't help noticing the doorman wearing a tie that was colour coordinated with his orange socks!

To top off our tour what better place to have lunch than the fashionable Restaurant Monsieur Bleu inside the Palais de Tokyo across the street?

Seemed to me, we unveiled the Parisiennes' local cafeteria judging by the ladies' wardrobes and number of facial retouches and perfected hairdos. Much to my surprise the service was excellent, an unusual characteristic in a super-trendy Parisian restaurant.

My friends hit it off and it felt good to see four people close to me - from totally different stages in my life - bond and exchange their stories.

Oddly enough, one of the subjects we discussed was about how stepping out of your comfort zone makes you more creative because you need to find new reference points. Well, girls I have chosen you to become my new Parisian reference points. Let the adventures begin!

Now I am off for my manicure...

Zip Zap - from one home to another

Zip zap... and we go from Swiss mode to Spanish mode in less than two hours. The time of an easyjet flight!

We switch languages, phones and attitude. We drive cars with local number plates and are happy to order certain foods again - that we missed so dearly - but are unpronounceable for foreigners.

If anybody would have told me years ago that my family would have three "homes" and feel at home in three different countries, I would have replied that we are not schizophrenic.

However, time and expericence have taught me differently. We left Lugano heavy-heartedly this afternoon where we had settled for over four years with the intention of settling down forever. That, of course did not happen, which is why we now live in Paris - our new home.

Spain - where we lived for three years - is where we relax and still spend the summer. We also consider Madrid our home.

This evening, the minute we landed at Barajas airport, our nostalgia for Lugano had passed as we were greeted by our friend "Mamita Cubana" with a big smile, a hug AND dinner. What a treat?!

So, should I be worried about my kids not knowing where they belong? No, I believe that it is up to them to carve their destiny and when they are old enough they will decide where their home will be. In the meantime, all they need to do is switch the chip everytime the plane lands!

However, it will, without a doubt, be a bit more difficult to switch back to French mode when schools starts again next week.

What is a webinar?

Yesterday I came across a fellow blogger's post that recommended an Expat webinar. Ah, my interest was peaked.

What is a webinar, I wondered? Is it a conference call or a skype conversation? Can I wear my PJs while I participate? Given that the webinar originated in Australia and 10 am in Sydney equalled midnight here in Europe this was a valid question. Did I need to prop my background in case I am live online?

At 23:58 - and after having paid my 29AU$ - I connected to the webinar site and logged in. I was welcomed with a slide presentation and a lady's voice with a charming Australian accent, Mrs Trisha Carter is her name. Thinking about it, I had to sit back a second and picture myself: here I am, sitting comfortably at my desk at midnight attending a webinar being held on the other side of the globe with people from every posssible corner of the world. The mind boggles.

During this forty-minute interactive webinar, we discussed how expat partners can build satisfying lives in their new locations. Admittedly, after countless moves the discussion sounded very familiar and customary to me. I was along for the ride because of the medium - the webinar - rather than the practical counselling!

The best advice was: "Your fastest route to engagement is knowing your strenghts and using them on a daily basis." I can vouch for that.

A little disappointed that after 40 minutes we were left with only half the webinar completed which means they will be back for more money in order to complete the five pillars of well-being. THAT is not fair, this little detail was not mentioned when I signed up.

I guess I'll be staying up for a few more nights hoping I won't turn into a pumpkin at midnight! And no, they can't see me online!!!

Happy Birthday, Pumpkin

My thirteen year old just walked out the door waving good-bye to me on his way to a sleepover. With a big smile on my face, but a little heavy-hearted, I wave back.

When I see him tomorrow, he will be fourteen! What happend to my little boy? He is now taller than I, he beats me at tennis and outspeeds his Dad at karting.

I remember his first steps in Argentina, his fear of Cruella De Vil at Disney, the hours spent sitting on the floor in his room in Milano playing with airplanes and cars while it was pouring outside, the "Vamos Ronaldo" poster we painted which he proudly took along to his first Real Madrid football match, how happy he was to discover the huge football pitch behind our house overlooking the Swiss mountains, his disappointment when he stepped around the corner in Paris to see his school did not include a football pitch.

A few months ago he proudly declared that we soon could not go to the cinema together anymore because we did not enjoy the same kind of films. Feeling a little guilty, he added, unless maybe if it were a Bond movie.

When he asked me, last Saturday, to take him to a market in Paris, I did not make him ask twice. I jumped at the occassion knowing this will not be happening very often from now on. Admittedly, I ventured out to a rather dubious part of town for a real Parisian Saturday morning market experience, knowing full well he would be happy his Mummy was right next to him. Ok, so I was a little naughty!

But it is nice to know that you have raised a responsible, conscientious, appreciative young man who looks after his little sister and cares as much about his close friends as he does about his immediate family.

He is turning into a young adult, and I'll be nudging him along this path conscious and appreciative of every moment he still needs and wants his Mummy. It won't last forever!

However... he still has a long way to go before he beats me down the slope on skis!

Happy 14th Birthday Pumpkin!

Cooking with "Las Ketchup girls"

I consider myself a lucky lady. I might have lost a few friends due to their relocation but I still have "Las Ketchup"! Do you remember the Spanish lady trio singing: "Aserejé"? Well, my three Spanish friends - whom I have baptized The Ketchup girls - do love their food, as any respectable Latina. What better way to have lunch than to cook it yourself and be inspired by a chef concocting a new menu you can present at your next dinner party and impress you hubby with?

So, I rounded my friends up and enrolled all of us in a one-hour Express lunch cooking course at L'Atelier des Chefs. Located in a clean, well-organized atelier in the center of town, the professional but kind chef let us in onto the secrets of French cooking. Did you know the difference of cooking potatoes starting with a pan of cold water vs hot water?

Maria was forced to peel potatoes with an "économe", Belen got to chop "les châtaignes" and Arantxa was happy to spice up the salmon with some chili-peppered salt! I was busy taking photos while our Germanic friend was diligently mashing the pumpkin/potatoe mix.

The dirty cutting boards and dishes were miraculously cleaned away the minute we looked away. Can I have that kitchen fairy in my house, please? Within 30 minutes flat we had a delicous rosmary-steamed salmon accompanied by a exquisite pumpkin mousse covered with a splitter of chestnuts. Only the French manage to convert fish & chips into an utterly sophisitcated sounding dish... but ... delicious it was ... and it will impress our hubbies to no end!

Absolument excentrique

"Absolument excentrique" was the exhibit's title. How can I resist? I loooove excentric things. I like people who think differently and put their vision into a creation that differs from the norm.

Little did I know about the exposition I was about to visit.

The art came across as children's work but then again the citations alongside where adult thoughts - some of them written in child's caligraphy and others with an adult touch.

As I came to the end of the tour around the Hotel de Ville's foyer, I watched the documentary of this event and realized: The exhibition stages the artistic creation of persons with mental or psychological disabilities, allowing them to build greater social inclusion! For this, the scenery was meant to be accessible and fun, in the form of a brightly coloured maze and revealing works that could be read on many levels, which would not exclude any visitor.

What a brilliant chance for this group of youngsters to exhibit their art publicly in the center of Paris. These are the moments when you realize the potential of a grand city, a city like Paris, that has the interest and the framework in promoting art and culture.

There are many different ways to do so and this is truely an excentric approach which makes you stop your frantic city lifestyle for a moment to reflect about others.

A small but moving collection that is worth taking the time to visit.