Crossplanet

Yesterday, French national day, a moment of pure magic for the 120th anniversary of the "Lady".

Today is one of those days! When everything seems to go perfect, when life seems perfect. I woke up this morning early, just to see a bright blue sky, announcing a beautiful sunny day.

I jumped out to go running to the park, and that's a beautiful season to run there since the trees have begun to take their autumn colours, some are completely yellow, others burned brown, while others are still bright green, a real treat for eyes and mind. And also it was the first time I take back runnning since I broke that bone and sort of smashed my back in July. Everything seems to work allright.

Then I went to the market and there also it's a mixt between summer and fall, you can still buy peaches and strawberries, but winter vegetables are already there.

I then took the bicycle for a 45min ride to go for lunch at Montparnasse with a friend, a nice light salad and a wonderful apple pie! It means that another 45min ride to the office was most welcome!

And to end that beautiful sunny day, I'm off for a birthday party, in a very cosy bar, just around the corner, 5 min from home!

Isn't life beautiful?

Years ago a crazy man planted a few wine plants in big pots on the sidewalk in front of his bar, in Paris. Years later came the time for the harvest. And it happens every year at the beginning of september, the occasion for a big neighborhood party.

The tradition is: women climb up the ladders to cut the grape, while men secure the ladders (and take a good look at the women's legs). Then barefoot kids smash the grape in the barrels.

There is music, laughters, a huge picnic on the streets, and loads of empty bottles at the end of the day.

More pictures are here.

This is one of the goodies of my life in Paris. This week-end a friend of mine asked me to stay at her pace, as she was going away for 5 days and couldn't leave her old kitty alone. So I moved in on Thursday morning and stayed over till Monday afternoon.

First that's a nice feeling to go over for the week-end on your own city, it's like local tourism (and very local in that case since my friend lives 2 subway stations away from my place!). Second, it's also a nice feeling (at least I like it) to be alone in someone's appartment as if it were my own, sort of slipping in someone's slippers. Third, and that's the goody, my friend lives on the 13th floor with a wonderful view over Paris, from Montmartre to Montparnasse! So I brought my computer, to work there, enjoying the sunrise over La Bastille, the sunrise on the towers of La Défense, enjoying the variations of daylight through the day, watching the clouds passing over the city, the city lighting up at night, trying to recognize the monuments and neighborhood... Those were wonderful days, thanks to Tosca, the old cat-lady.

Around 80 dead people and hundreds wounded after the bomb attacks yesterday night in the crowded market streets of Jaipur. My heart cries for them.

This seems to be the new game in big cities: Freeze in public places. It's started in New York Grand Central Station, then in Trafalgar Square, London, last week, and an event is scheduled in Paris at the beginning of march. Kind of funny!

There are days when I feel the luckiest person in the world. Yesterday was one of them. Just a simple pleasure, for a simple friday lunch break with a few friends on the Pont des Arts, which is one of the most beautiful place in Paris.

And I felt so lucky, sitting on this wooden bridge, above the river, and wherever I looked there was something beautiful to see: the Louvre, the French academy, the Pont Neuf, the Eiffel tower, Notre-Dame, the Cité Island, etc. Friends coming and going during lunch break, sandwich, salad and strawberries. I'm so lucky to live here!