did you know...

did you know...that in France when they play a TV show they usually play 2 or 3 episodes back to back or if it is a French TV show they will run for 2-3 hours.

I asked F why this they did this...and he said that French people (like himself) are used to watching one program in the evening...it used to be a movie but now with so many American TV shows making it over here they just play the 2-3 hours worth all at once.

Also, he explained that there are less commercials to take up 1/3 -1/2 of a program. So say for instance a "Friends" episode which in the US is 30 mins is only 15 mins here! So I guess it makes sense.

Commercials are not every 5 mins for 2-3 mins like in the US. They are usually at the end of a program (if it is a short program) for 5 mins or so...or if it is a longer program once in the middle and then again at the end of the program for 5 mins each.

did you know...

did you know...that Parisians are on vacation most of July and August?  August especially...they close up their shops and head out of the city.  Yes the Boulangerie, Pharmacie, Boucherie, Vegetable/Fruit Store, Flower Shops, Cafes all closed for 2-3 weeks straight!  

They didn't really give us and option on when to take our vacation.  Since everything is closed you kinda have to just leave too!  Especially if you want breakfast, meat and veggies! 

Yesterday was the first REAL day that most (BUT NOT ALL) of the shop owners were back...and I got the below present from my wonderful husband!  He said he has been trying to buy me something from a flower shop for 2 weeks now...every shop was closed that he went to!

So keep in this in mind...if you want to come in August it is going to be a ghost town.  Not alive and bustling like it normally is ;-)

bois de vincennes

For my birthday we decided to get back to nature after living in the city for 1 1/2 months.

Bois de Vincennes is such a nice park...It is three times larger than Central Park. Originally it was used as a hunting ground for the king then used for military exercises and then Napoleon III made it into a Public Park. There is a Chateau on the grounds (2nd home for the 14th Century Kings). We walked and walked and walked. We did not make it to the children's playground this day. But we made it to all of the islands and the Buddhist Temple. We probably only covered 10% of the park.

We are very lucky that this park is just a 20 min metro ride for us (on the same line).

We plan to meet F for a few lunches before the weather gets too cold.

I would give this park 5 stars...Like I said I have not seen the playground yet but I'm sure it is excellent. I will report back when M has tried it out

vacanes

Here are some photos from our week in Cannes and the surrounding area.

I really love it down there. Every town has something to offer (pottery, perfume, beaches, old villages, beautiful views).

painting fiasco

We had wallpaper in our living room that we could not live with any longer.

Since we plan to fully remodel the living room at another time (after the new year) we decided to just paint over the wallpaper instead of spending the time to take it down.

We painted 2 coats of primer because it was textured wallpaper.  We picked out a yellow color that we thought was similar to the yellow we had in our Florida Home.  It was not...before we took the time and tested multiple colors before painting all of the walls.  Well here we just chose a color in the store - BTW the paint is premixed here and ready to go...OR you can also have it mixed. 

So we chose a yellow and didn't test samples and we didn't stop at painting at the first wall.  Never Never Never pick a color from a brochure and always stop at the first wall.  After we finished the first coat of yellow on ALL of the walls we decided we did not like.  The YELLOW pictured here is not a good representation...it was soooooooooooooooo bright and we could not even turn on the light or we would be blinded ;-)

We had to paint the walls white before we could paint our new color (which was 2 more coats).  Then we chose a beige/green.  This paint was the exact same paint as the yellow but for some reason it was runnier so we had to do 2 coats.

YES a total of 7 coats of paint.  It was really exhausting 3 days!

I will post more photos after we have hung up our paintings/decor...

en vacances...

If you were wondering why there were no posts...

We are in Cannes and I will report back on our adventures when we get back to Paris.

Bonnes Vacances!