ALMOST NEW YEAR

It's the beginning of the last day of the year. I can't believe it. It was a very strange year, it went awefully slow and awefully quick at the same time. There were lots of happy moments and lots of the sadest times of my life. Lots of deaths....I knew and knew of about 12 people that died this year, some new ones were born. People split up and people got married. It was a year of black and white. I met as well as lost some great people. All the natural disasters. A big dose of reality, intense to say the least, in every way.

As I write this I have my IPod on, looking out the window the snowed rooftops of a nice Amsterdam neighbourhood, it's very cold outside, it's all white, it's all peaceful, it's all quite, I'm not sure how I'm feeling but today while I was walking in the snow, at night, with my tuck and my bag, and my gloves and my (skis) boots while it was snowing I had this great sense of joy. I was really happy for a few minutes, it was peaceful.

I decided to stay in Amsterdam to celebrate the New Year, I really like this place. The train to Prague takes almost 12 hours, so as January 1 is dead everywhere in the world, I rather travel that day and on Jan 2 continue the tour. So I'll probably be walking around the Damrak, dancing in the Dam, eating frites and drinking beer, who knows, I might even have some mariguana....uuuuuuuuuu!!! I think Cecilia is going to join, it will be great, but is she doesn't I know I'll have a great time, I really like my own company, and people are nice, I like talking to strangers, everyone has an interesting story. Supposibly it is going to be warmer, I hope so but if it's cold well, then I'll also have to have chocolate....that's good to keep me warm!!!

I probably won't be posting until the new year.

I wish each and everyone of you a thrilling, magnificent, fun 2006, full of all the blessings that you need to have the best year....ever!

AMSTERDAM - 2

The adventure continues in this gorgeous city. When I was in Paris I thought that would be the highlight of my trip, then in Brussels that feeling was confirmed and then I get here....a new high! So glad about it. I really like the canals, the bridges, the houses, specially the ones that are crooked, the streets, the people.

I have visited the Van Gogh Museum, the actual building was design with Vincent in mind as he was highly influenced by Japanese culture. In a patio they have this great "mural" that says "it's good to go to museums" in all different languages, it's really great.
I really like his work and even though some of the famous paintings like Star Night and one for the sunflower are not showing there are others like one of his self-portraits and his bedroom. The exhibit is in chronological order and it's very easy to see the transition, from dark gloomy colours and themes to energetic and colourful snapshots of how he saw things. I don't like all the work, but in general he is one of my favourite artists.

I wasn't to keen on going to Anne Frank's house, but well, it's one of those things you kind'a have to do, so I went and I'm glad I did. It brings the whole diary to life, seeing how they lived, what they saw, knowing that even a little step could be heard - as everything is wood - the stress they were under that time is just unimaginable.

The Rejkmuseum is great, I'm not that keen on Dutch paintings but I got a new taste for it. What i liked the most is that many of the paintings are very active, candid. There is this one painting of children trying to teach a cat how to dance, all the faces and body language is captured so brilliant that I had a good laugh when I saw it. The Rembrandt are fantastic, this ones I liked so much better live, in the books they loose some quality. I have been very attracted by the eyes of the Dutch people, and I think I figured it out today after looking at the paintings, their eye sockets and lids are very round in the center, so they look awake and the eyeball shows quite nice, even when they smile. I was looking at pictures of me when I smile or laugh and I look Chinese......hihihi, my eyes are not round, are more chinese almond or something like that! Behind the museum there is a big park with an ice rink, the day I went was very cold but dry, so people were skating, the light was rather bright and wintery and it was a scene straight out of a postcard, I hope the pictures sort of capture what I saw.

Last night Rina and I went to the Red Light District. That was really fascinating. Most of the girls we saw were gorgeous, tall, blond, perfect tight little bodies and very young. Some were fat and older but most of them looked really good. Even to be a hooker like them you have to do your job well. Some of them were just sitting there, looking upset, bored, high or in plain bad mood, talking on the cell phone or picking their nails while others were really working the crowd. Of course, after 10 or so hours I guess they probably just want to pick their nails and talk to their friends. There are ads of "store fronts for rent". Always an option if things get hairy....:-)

I will try to find out how much they charge. I think that if you are going to be a prostitute, better to be working like the ones here, much better to be in your little room, kind of protected, warm, comfortable than standing in a street corner hoping that the next john is not going to take you to some empty parking lot and kill you. We went into some of the sex shops and wow! the variety! in Vancouver there are 10 of one thing, here there are 80! Then we went for a drink to some punkish joing, they were playing the Ramones, I like it and there were armours everywhere. After that bar we continued looking at the hookers in the next canal and from there walked back to the house, but before we stopped for another beer at a nice bar, they were playing jazz. It was a fun evening.

There are these "food slots", I haven't tried them as they don't look to appetizing but everyone seems to get food fromt there. One thing I've noticed in this trip is that many people in on the run, everyone seems to have something in their mouth including hemp lollipops. I might buy a space browny one of this days, the only thing is that I don't want to get sick.... I already had my date with the porcelain god and don't want another one this trip!!

Today, Dec 30 started snowing!!! the whole city is white and it's very cold. I need to buy a new pair of boots as Prague, Budapest, Austria are all snowed. Mine are resistant to everything but I've walked so much that whatever track they had is gone and I feel like I'm skiing - I really don't want to break a leg. I have enough with having a very sour knee. My left lower leg is looking rather ugly, all shades of purple and green and it's very hard to go downstairs. Up is ok. I walked and walked but soooo slow, I was taking pictures and enjoying the panormaa, it's cute to see people in their bikes and all the bikes parked in the snow and no one fuzzes about it.

THE WAY THINGS ARE OR NOT

As I see a little bit of Europe (I've also been in London and Greece), I find that each part is very different from the other even though they are so close. The French are totally different from the Dutch.

How much are we really influenced by our surroundings?

Parisians and Amsterdamians. The Parisians are very well dressed, sophisticated and many might say pompous. The French language is like that too, so elegant, sounds so beautiful, so refined, they drink champagne and fine cheeses. How can they not be like that? If every day that you go to work you walk around a living museum, surrounded by palaces that are both extravagant and beautiful, where even the light posts have been well thought about so things look good. Even the modern buildings that are right beside one 18 C one is well thought out so it doesn't disrupt the flow. I really can't imagine Parisians walking around town in sandals with socks, with a backward baseball cap, and baggy shorts (OK, nobody should dress like that anywhere, hahaha).

Amsterdamians, the canals give the city a very friendly, cozy, relaxed feeling, so maybe they would look ridiculous dressing like the French, it's just not the feel of the city. Their language is -as they say- crude and it sounds strong, melodic though, kind of cute, very mixed with english and everyone rides a bike, I've seen very, very old people in bikes and people on the cell phone while riding and no-one wears a helmet! that would look ridiculous. I found cannabis lolly pops, maybe I'll buy one tomorrow, and they eat french fries with mayonnaise, so yeah, not like the French at all.

So, I have been thinking a lot about this like what comes first: the language or the architecture? Does the language affect the way we build our surroundings or the surroundings affect the language? What happens in big countries like ours? Is there really a Canadian style. In Mexico, you'll find colourful houses everywhere in the country, some poor some not, some made of cheap bricks, and some mansion but the use of colour is consistent in all the towns, the colonial style, the cobble stones, in this countries there is a certain style of architecture that is visible in many areas. So, well, who knows. I'm babbling, I think I'm really tired.

And another interesting thing, with the people that I've talked there seems to be this debate: Some feel European and some feel just Dutch or German or whatever and they really don't think of themselves as European, weird no? Maybe I'll write more about this one day when I'm awake.
For now, sleep well.

AMSTERDAM -1

OK, my mouth is open again. I been here 1.5 days and I'm already in love with the place. It has so much energy, it's safe, it's clean and it's totally different than any other city I've ever seen. I love all the canals, yes of course I've seen millions of pictures and movies and documentaries about this city, but once here I reaaaaaally like it. Today I took the canal taxi all day to get acquainted with all the canals and learned a few things. Many houses are really crooked, it's funny as they look like models, not real houses. The energy in the city is great, is positive, vibrant and definitely crazy. I think the Dutch people are a bit unusual, they sort of have an aura of "i don't care" but in a good way. I really wonder how many of them don't shower in days, I bet many, today the bus driver smelled like dutch cheese, gross!!. Women in Europe (even in Paris) don't seem to know what a brush is, but they still look good. The Dutch men have the nicest eyes I've seen, big and blue but a strange blue and the women are tall and rough looking but striking, very angular faces. Everyone speaks English and so far I've found the people here very friendly and polite and unpretentious. The language is nice too, not as rough sounding as German but apparently is a "rude" language, several people - dutch and other Europeans say the same and all the new residents say it's very hard to learn.

there are thousands of little bars and cafes and so much design...Paradise. Dutch design is world renowned and the typography is really something, I've taken many pictures of posters and stuff it's good material to show clients and students!

Today I went to a super cool cafe/restaurant/bar and as I was leaving a guy stopped me, he was, you were my teacher at Emily Carr. And yes, he was my student about 4 years ago, he has been working in Amsterdam for 3 years, and tonight he was moving to Geneva where he got a Creative Director job....cool no? I like to think that I had even a little bit to do with his education, he was a good student as I remember.

Also, my friend Mariana has a sister Rina who lives in Amsterdam, we met yesterday for a coffee and we got along and her and her better half Koen, very graciously invited me to stay with them for these 3 days, so of course I accepted, there is nothing better than seeing how "real" life is in the different parts of the world. What's amazing, and I've always found that when traveling is that people are the same everywhere, I don't understand why then people pretend to be different. They live in a very cute apartment close to Centraal Station and we have been having a really nice time. Meeting people, that is one thing that I really enjoy!

I went to the "Torture Museum", holy shit! it's insane, I felt sick literally. The people that came up with those machines were insane freaks that should have been locked up! The sad thing is that even though we might not use the Judas Chair anymore, torture, murder, death penalty, etc, still exist in our "civilized" society. I wonder how many people were killed and tortured around the many beautiful canals!....yeah, it gives it a very twisted twist.....

CHRISTMAS IN HOLLAND

Well, I spent Christams in Holland, in a town call Dommelen, south of Amsterdam about 30 minutes from Eindhoven, the 3rd largest Dutch city, where the Phillips company is from. The 25 and 26 are dead days, so it was good to be with family. The dinner was Salmon, Stoffed (estofado), spaguetti, salad, weird potatoes and lots of dessert. No Turkey!!! hihihi and of course lots of wine and beer. I didn't pig out, amazing, that's not part of my life any more but I still got sick, so maybe I did pig out after all though really who wants to pig out on salmon? not me.
Pelena's daughters got a whole bunch of gifts, I got a diary, a lipstick and a couple of bracelets made by my aunt, and a CD of one of Eric's friends who is a sax player and his music is awesome! OK internete about to run out so I'll continue later. Tata babies .

I'm back. so yes, I had a nice Xmas, weird to be the only one in "my" family and with no friends, I don't think I've ever done that. Of course my cousins are my family too, but it was more about their family, weird. though it's good that we've always been close so then you are just part of it.

My cousin's kids, Sara Elena(almost 4) and Isabel (2 months) are really cute girls, and also were my other cousins Vicky y Memo, Carlos, Mercedes, Luli and my aunt Lourdes, Bertha and Juan, so it was 13 of us, it was fun. Eric, Pelena's husband, the dutch guy was so nice and helpful and fed us well, his friend Jos spend Xmas with us, he is a sax player so I got a CD from him - and everyone else too. I stayed with one of Pelena's good friends, Nolfa from Colombia, way too nice to offer accomodation, I was going to go to a hostel but this was better as she lives 1 minute away from my cousin, so it was convenient. Xmas we went to bed at 5 am and the other days around 2 or so, so just having to walk 1 minute was good.

So that was my rest Pit Stop, got sick, slept and didn't walk much, just one day we went to Eindhover, on the 26 everything was closed except the ice rink and some restaurants. That day Winter decided to announce its definite arrrival. When we left the house to take the bus it was 9 degrees, by the time we arrive to Eindhoven (25 min by bus) it was snowing and fr%^&* cold!!!, mild winter is over!

Now I'm off to Amsterdam, looking forward to it.

BRUSSELS

Brussels was a nice place to go but 1 or 1.5 days would have been enough. My favourite thing was all the art noveau around town, I really like that style so it's very nice to see it as part of a city. The Horta museum is quite nice. In general I wasn't too impressed with the city, it doesn't feel safe and there's garbage in the streets. Everything seems dark and it was hard to know if the stores were open. At 9 everything was closed but there are lots of small bars and really beautiful looking little restaurants. The Christmas markets made the city very lively, the part that I liked the best was the market behind St. Catherines Church. It was really lively and fun. There was a group of carolers and everyone was dancing and singing. Around Brussels now there is the Winter Festival so several streets have a fair kind of atmosphere, this street so far is the best one. It's a boulevard and there is a ferry's wheel, a bar with a live band, several stands selling different things such as Escaragot (13 for 3 euros), strawberries and champaign, there is a full bar, sausages from Spain, Oysters, waffles, and I bought a bowl of potatoes cooked in a cream/cheese sauce with ham, and chives and it was absolutely delicios - and about 3 milllion calories - but well worth it. . Of course also all sorts of chocolate, waffles, crafts, etc.

I also went to mini-europe which is really a kiddy park but the models are so well done I really enjoyed it, at the end there is a Europe museum which I found really interesting. My favourite place of Brussels was the Grand Place, beautiful! during Christmas time they project stuff on the cathedral and aaah! I think I already talked about it. Anyway, I guess I'm annoying people here with me being online while they have dinner, but heck its 11:31 at night, I am not hungry and last night I had one of my puking episodes as something poisoned me and was too sick. The food smell is making me sick! Tomorrow I am heading to Amsterdam!! yuppy

BRUGGES

Well, now this is a Beautiful place, I loved it. I wish I had stayed there a couple of days. It's a truly different place, with cobble stone roads, quaint little shops, beautiful narrow buildings with pointy roofs. Very colourful. In the main square there is about 1000 years of architectural history, from romanesque, baroque and gothic, to a very modern structure created in 2002 by a japanese architect. The shops are so nice and with the Xmas season it makes it even more special.
The lace work is beautiful and the chocolates......mmmmhh!!! guess what I ate all day!! And fries with curry sauce, and waffles with chocolate and I had a stomack ache by the end of the day. Never mind that I ran half of Brugges looking for my tour bus as I lost them while I was getting some envelopes....they didn't leave me and I was lucky!

I spent my last day in Brussels, it's a nice city but 1 day or 1.5 day would have been enough, I would have liked to stay in Brugges better, anyway, the last day I went to Mini-Europe, it's really nice, a bit infantile but the models are amazing, all the details are awesome, also went to see the Atomium which is an impressive structure built for the 1954 Expo.

This morning I took the train to Holland, I am spending Christmas with my cousins, Bertha and Eric live in a really nice suburb, just got here and I better go and get changed as we are having our Christmas dinner in a little while.

MY KNEE

THe day I moved to my friends house in Paris, while getting off the bus I fell down in an spectacular way, even the bus driver got off the bus to help me. I got a golf ball like bump on my knee and now my knee is going black, it is hard to walk and it's hurting. I need drugs.....I got some from some colombians I met.....hahaha

BRUSSELS -1

I arrived to Brussels yesterday evening. I got a hotel right in the middle of the action as I was too tired and it was too dark to be looking for the hostel. My first impression wasn't that great, the signage at the train and metro stations is terrible, the tourist information centre closes at 5 pm and the city looks a little dirty. Everything was closed by 9 so I ended up going to a movie, In her Shoes, it's a sisterly movie, so of course I cried.

I slept soooo well, like a baby, a good baby, I have been sleeping really well lately, maybe because I walk so much. I am direction/map challenged so I have been walking double, somehow I tend to go in the opposite direction, all those maps are wrong for god's sake!!!! hahaha

Today I was feeling really lonely, sad, and miserable. I moped around Brussels most of the day, it's very nice, feels very old, doesn't feel as safe, it's very cold but cheper than Paris. At around 6 pm, again I got lost and ended up in a nasty part of town, took the bus in the wrong direction trying to escape and finally got to a safer area and I started walking with a runny nose as it was very cold, frozen feet, empty belly, missing I don't know what when I saw all these blue lights, a hugh christmas tree and the song "all you need is love" blasting from some public speakers. I walked towards the lights and there it was, the Grand Place....note: I have been looking for it since last night!!! oh my god, is so beautiful, I see why the Belgiuminons say that it is one of the most beautiful squares in Europe -I think the other one is in Warsaw-. It is so gothic, so gorgeous and all the Xmas decorations make it truly spectacular with big plastic spheres conatianign white xmas trees and some of the bubbles are silver colour. A big xmas tree with blue lights, the 4 buildings flanking the square illuminates with low blue light and a beatuiful light show projecting on the side of the cathedral, with music in different languages, different rythms and different images, beautiful, beautiful. All my blue feelings went away and I got a big smile on my face and remembered to stay in the moment and enjoy it. So I watched the show, and then as I was frozen went inside one of the restaurants and drand Jupitl beer - belgian - and soup de jour -carrot- and then i met some argentinian guys, really nice that are staying in the same hostel than me. Oh, yes, I moved to a hostel, first time in my life that i go to a hostel. It is really nice, but I feel like the mom of all the kiddies here, but well, that will keep me young. After there I went my own way, had a chocolate chaud - much better than my fav. choc at starbucks - and then I went to a hotel to ask for directions for a place where there was going to be salsa class. The concierge told me not to go there as it is far and not in a safe area and I would have to take a taxi as there are no metros near by, but he recommended another place. So I went there, behind St Catherines Cathedral. It is so nice there.

And the salsa place is right there and there is a class tomorrow night so I am planning to go, it should be fun. So yeah, my mood changed and suddenly the city looked much prettier. this travelling solo is getting harder than I anticipated, I am looking forward my family pit stop in the next 2 days. I know everyone is probably busy now, with xmas and all, but know that i love you all. I'll keep posting and will send Marcela the picutres as soon as I find a computer to download them to.

GRACIAS

I have to thank Marcela for taking the time to post my pictures: I know it´s king of a hassle but it is very much appreciated. Thank you

AU REVOIR PARIS

Well, I spent a good 10 days in Paris. Walked, and walked, and walked, did I say I walked??? the whole city is a museum. After my stay in the apartment that Sharon kindly passed to me, located in the suburb on Vincennes I moved to central Paris to stay with my friend Flor and her family, Bruno, Martine et Lucie. I have known Flor forever, her mom and my mom were friends since secondary school, in fact, when were little Flor and I used to say that we were going to live in Paris in an apartment with glass ceiling so that we could see the parisian stars.... many years later she is living there. Her twin daughters are really cute, today, Tuesday I spent the whole day with them, we went to the Museum of Fashion, appplied arts and Publicity, then we went for a raid in the ferris wheel right at the Concord Place and the view from there was amazing; then we walked to the Eiffel Tower had an ice cream and rushed back home for me to catch the train to Brussels. It was a ton of fun to spend the day with two 8 year old girls. Now I am in Belgium and as I don´t know where I am going to sleep I better postpone the search and come to the internet....it´s already dark anyway.

The Botazzis were super nice; it was great to see Flor again after many years and to meet her family: One night her and I went out for a nice very french dinner, with champagne and all and talked like parrots; as if we had seen each other last week, amazing; the power of friendship and the connections that are made so early in life that remain a part of ourselves forever.

I have the thought of coming going back to Paris on my way back to Canada as the sales start on January 11

PARIS

Of course the Louvre is the mother of all museums; impossible to see it all in 1 or 4 visits, so I headed straight to see the Mona Lisa. Then spend time looking at the Medieval Louvre; they have conserved a bit of how things were in the MA; then went to see Napoleon II apartment:::incredible luxury; looking at sculpture and some paintings; but there is so much the brain can process; after a whole day in the museum things start to blend in my brain: There was an exhibit on ancient jewlery, that i LOVE to see. Botticeli one of my all time favourite classic painters; the faces are the most beautiful ones in my opinion.

Museum D Orsay has amazing samples of impressionism and neo-impressionism which I also like a lot; Van Gogh and Lautrec my favourite ones; I love the coloring of Odilon Redon paintings; in person they are even richer than on books. But the actual building that houses the museum is worth the entrance fee; it was a train station and it was reconditioned with steel, wood and glass in a very modern aesthetic that blends beautifully with the old style of the station: From the top floors you can see the city through the massive clocks.

The Sacre Cour is a more recent construction but the location is great to look at the city; also around there are these small; windy roads that are really picturesque and a cafe where poets and artists like Picasso; Lautrec; Cezanne etc use to hang out, the pic of the windmill is the one that inspired Lautrec to paint his windmill: The lower part is really cheesy as Renee said; and not that fun: It is full of muslim men that have created great discomfort these days as they are very aggressive harassers.

......................................................................................................

Notre Dame is incredible; the gothic style is my favourite; i would have liked to see the whole cathedral when it was all colourfull; see the picture! it is massive and i wonder if god would actually be happy with such extravagance; but maybe he would as the guys that designed and built it were genious, so maybe that use of talent is appreciated; perhaps: The colouring of the interior of ND reminded me of the design of the Pompidur Centre with all the coloured pipes as a main architectural element: A great library is housed here; as well as movie theathre; galleries and museum of modern art: There was a massive DADA show; i bought the exhibit poster:

I could keep writing and writing but it will be too much; the whole of Paris is a museum; every street, avenue, building, i am so full of parisian art, beauty and pastries:::::tata

MONT SAINT MICHEL ABBEY

OK I know this is not very articulated but WOW. This is one of the most spectacular sites Ive ever seen: Highly recommended by Mariana and David and Erwin, and by my own fascination with the middle ages I took the tour to it; It is located in the north coast of France in Normandy right at the border with Brittany: The site was chosen to honor St Michel back in 708 and since then it has evolved through the years: Started as a modest chapell on a rock and grew a lot mainly during the 14 century; at that time they had the max number of benedictian monks; around 60 mainly dedicated to pray, meditate and create texts in the fashion of the illumination - colourful with lots of gold manuscripts: The abby combines roman style and gothic style and its really easy to see it, it was a stronghold during the 100 years war and used as a prison during the 1800: Today there are 7 monks living in there and 4 nuns in the town: UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1979.

Build in the Middle Ages the builders used the rock its on to build the monastery in some sort of pyramidal shape; going up to the abbey its a little town like the ones in the movies with narrow roads made of big rocks, little windows; steep: The rock is a small island; sometimes the tide comes in and surrounds it (happens maybe 4x year) the rest of the time is surrounded by sand; dangerous to walk on as there are rivers that run underneath and the salt and sweet water create a dangerous quick sand effect. In that area is where Camembert cheese comes from so that is what i had for lunch. It is sooo medieval, it is like being in a time tunnel; they could loose the souvenir shops but still is amazing: They have the monks tables, beautiful gardens; definately a place for meditation. It is incredible; misty, foggy, dark; cold and windy; perfect setting for all those stories of knights; crusaders, prisions and massive solitud to create the kind of work done there:

LINGERIE

OOOOOOOOOOOOOlalala

Well; this is lingerie paradise, even the stuff that is sold at any supermarket isle, next to the potatoes is sexier, prettier and more feminine than anything you would find in any lingerie shop in Vancouver. I am sure all the french women are wearing a pretty number underneath no matter who they are.

It is very expensive too: The Galleries Lafayette have a whole half floor dedicated to gorgeous sexy stuff with an average price of about 80€ for a bra and about 50€ for panties: Of course a lot of the stuff is way more than that, one day ill come back to get it by the truck load: The lingerie floor at Printemps has more funky stuff; they also sell all sorts of sex toys and the super cool lingerie is advertised as Mistress Wear... any thoughts of why that might be??

The stuff close to the potatoes or cheese is not as expensive of course, but it is not as nice either (ok; better than the stuff in our town) but once you see the gooood stuff; well you know what i mean;

REPORT ON FASHION

Well, I am in Paris so a fashion report is a must.....

Girls, boots are a must: tall, short, pointy, suede, leather, the more hair or fur the better and if they are cowboy boots in any colour and with a lot of embroidery better. Today I almost buy a pair of cowboy boots, chocolate brown; up to the knee; sueade and leather; gorgeous but didnt fit right; I also tried a pair of pink suede boots; that didnt fit either. I am looking for a pair of boots as the ones I brought are looking so terrible that they just dont fit in this fashionable city.

Tights: opaque black and all sorts of different knit patterns with boots and skirts, or pants just below the knee;

Heels: mandatory, needle or thick but heels or ballerina type shoes

Hair: well cut but not necessarily combed

Make up: a must; either very natural a la Chanel or very smoky eyes and pale mouth

Nails: medium lenght, well manicured either natural or french or really dark red or purplish, not to long and not square

Purse: the bigger; the better

Scarfs; the longer the better

Shoes: pointy; not too pointy but well polished and colourful

jeans: cool and either wide leg but more really thight tube ones to tuck inside the boots

Details
-the more hair, OK; fur if you can afford it the better whether it is shoes, purses, coats, necklaces or hair things;
-embroidery with stones and or sequences, elaborate, extravagant (not tacky; please note that)
-lots of texture in the fabrics and combination of different materials like knits with lace; brocades and jeans; that kind of thing:

Men
Pointy shoes
Funky wool coats
Cool jackets
Long scarfs
Short hair
No facial hair
Nice casual shoes
cool jeans


NO NO NO
runners
fleece
Sky type jackets
wind breakers
baseball caps
(the only ones wearing these are northamerican tourists or the really french low class)


I will update this section when i remember more observations: Questions??? ask the fashion observer, from Paris, carolina becerra reporting

WOW and more WOW

Paris; que ciudad tan hermosa y extravagante. The french invented the concept of EXTRAVAGANCE; holy cow! everything is grand:
Every building; every street; every poster and the shoes; the shoes.........

It is said that travelling illustrates the illustrated, true but it also illustrates the not so illustrated: I remember learinig about the French Revolution sometime in Grade 5 and then reading about it and hearing my dad talk about the battles and kings; but once here all those stories have come alive like a real time movie.

The French; from the beginning of history (even before they were french) have been extravagant; passionate; no barriers hold; in my eyes that is reflected in their modus vivendus; warriors, conquerers, artists, writers, cooks, architects, etc. From the Crusades to now; that they think so highly of themselves; Brutal too, they killed, murdered and massacred so many people during thousands of years. Unbelievable that Marie Antoinette was queen living in so much luxury and ends up decapitated in the middle of a public plaza.

Versailles, the perfect example of extravagance; WOW!!WOW!! it,s just amazing: Every detail, every wing, every door handle, and all those gardens....no wonder why the peasants revolted. But it is great that all the French kings decided that they were so grand - and God grander ? - and built all those amazing places. What I like a lot is that when I am there I can really imagine what it might have been at the different times and the time seems to stand still while I go off to Carolina,s land of imagination; I wish I could draw; i carry my book around and have done some little sketches, i am also really amazed that i went to art school for 5 years...nobody could tell .... they are not even amateur, but heck; i can say it is my own style; hahaha; Versailles, an impressive, magnificent site that i hope everyone can see at least once in their life:

OOOO-LALA-PARIS

Well; here I am; PARIS

Llegue el viernes en la manana a la Gard Norte: Me tomo como una hora figurarme donde encontrar informacion, metro; etc: Me dio un ataque de COATLICUE marca diablo; bien digo que NOPAL-e-france....
Quiet the experience to arrive to a place where i can:t communicate: I finally found my way around and took the Metro all the way to Chateau Vincennes where I arranged my accomodation; it,s a suburb of Paris; like North Vancouver: When i arrived to the station there i walked a lot; pulling my suitcase trying to find the place; i started cursing but i found it: The apartpent is really nice and big and comfortable so even though its out of the way it!s good as i have a little house for myself and it only takes 12 min by metro to Paris and 10 min walk from the station to the hotel. The only thing is that at night is very quiet so i have to walk really fast and my poor legs have a very short stride, but its safe and its really nice: They have a market every Friday; Sunday and Tuesday where they sell all sorts of things like scarago; fancy cheeses; cool clothes; fruit; fish etc:

After i settled in my temporary home i went straight to see the Eiffel Tower: I was expecting to see the tower as i ca,e out of the station; but NOTHING:: so I decided to walk left; ,ore or less a block and suddenly::::boooooo::::::: that was miss eiffel surprising me::::::::i was very emotional about it; it,s really awesome; so i had all this weird feelings ; awe because it was impressive - it was all illuminated and really what i imagined; and then i felt so sad; Paris; me; the tower: me, myself and I while waching all this couples kissing and taking pictures; it stung what can i say; so it was bitter-sweet; but after that my mouth opened and havent closed it yet; what a magnificent city:::::more to come

TAK TAK

TAK means thank you in danish. So thank you so much to the Jensen family, Gunnar, Roxana, Anna and Olga and the grandma and the boyfriend Kris. Kris likes to run like forest gump, just give him a few drinks and a few hours of not seeing his beloved and he will grow wings in his feet....now that is a real thing that happened and I guess will be a running joke of the family.

It was so good to be with good friens in a family setting, we ate together every day, I even cooked and made a cake. For farewell dinner Roxana cooked a traditional danish Xmas dinner that consists of potatoes cooked in a sweet-salty sauce BRUNE KARTOFLER, sooooooo good, red cabbage, gravy or something like it, and baked pork with skin, the skin is baked to a crips so it's Danish Chicharron called FLAESLEESTEG. It was soo tasty but very heavy. And I made my famous pondarosa banana cake and had that for dessert, I think I was just about a minute from exploting. Of course, great wine was with us....again!!! hihihi

On thursday we went to Illum (another department store) where Olga - the oldest daughter- works, I hadn't seen her, it was nice to see her again after many years and she really looks pretty much the same, as I remembered her. From there we were in a bit of a rush and guess what.......we had MacDonalds! as I had to get to the train station to Paris via Hamburg. Roxana and Gunnar took me all the way to the train, it was a bit confusing but got my spot all right.

So as words will never be enough to express my gratitud I can only say TAK, Gracias and Thank You.

It was a great and memorable week. Denmark is really beautiful, and somewhat magical, no wonder why Andersen was so inspired.

So next, I will be writing about my Paris experiences. Now that I'm out of the comfort zone of having company I am already feeling the effects of being with my thoughts alone. I have major PMS, a biiiiiiiiiiiig, phenomenal mother of all pimples on my left cheek bone, a slight bruced left eye (I banged it good in the train) and a bump in my head (I bumped it in the train). Also, I am a bit dizzy from the train motion, so, it wasn't my best Parisian debut, but here I am.

KØBENHAVEN

Spend 2 days in Koenhaven (that's the way the danish spell it), strollling from the Town Hall Square down Copenhagen’s famous high street Strøget – with bohemian street buskers, peach-coloured Hare Krishna processions, families with small children, Japanese city breakers and long-legged blonde girls – leads you to the fountain, Storkespringvandet; an informal gathering point. On rainy days, a lot of people go to the legendary Café Europa for very expensive coffee. From the fountain you can see the artist Bjørn Nørgaard’s gorgeous mosaic paving – but also of the crème of classic Scandinavian shopping: Royal Scandinavia with all its storesrithon this historic strip – silverware from Georg Jensen, porcelain from Royal Copenhagen, glassware from Holmegaard. And right there is Illums Bolighus where whole storeys of the best of industrial design are on display, and where furniture exhibitions feature works by, among others, Hans J. Wegner, Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl, Poul Kjærholm and Verner Panton, almost like a museum. I hope I can make it to the Royal Library in Copenhagen, which since its inauguration in 1999 has become the new symbol of the town and apparently is the new attraction outshining the Little Mermaid as the most depicted motif from the Danish capital. The Black Diamond – a black prism dissected by pane glass sections – is in stark contrast from the original library building from the beginning fo 1900.

Budgets, budgets, the only things I bought was a water container (I mailed to myself) and a few Nessas (the christmas elves) so cute. We went to TIVOLI, a park in the middle of the city, itøs so beautiful, and now as it's Christmas it's all decorated in the danish christmas tradition with Nissas, hearts, we ate waffles with chocolate on a stick, and a french hot dog...quite pornographic one, you'll see the picture. We saw the elve's country, had a beer and hot chocolate while wathcin a laser-fountain show, and then we met Gunnar at an excellent steak house in downtown, after a fab dinner we went to a downtown church to hear Anna sing in her Gospel Choir Group, really good, lively and animated. That night we stayed up until after 3 am, drinking a lot of wine and Bailyes and talking and laughing, of course today i open my alcohol marinated eyes until noon!!!