Friday, June 24, 2011

Medievel Festival in Provins

We have been go go go lately and we have Hicham's friend visiting for a couple days and we are cat-sitting and and today is the start of the three day outdoor music festival (like lalapolooza) about a 10 minute walk from out apartment.  Super excited for that.


But before too much time passes, allow me to share some photos of the festival we went to last weekend.  It was in the medieval town called Provins.  Hundreds of people dress up and the entire authentic village is the landscape providing a feel for another time. There was music, food, crafts and a parade.  I have posted 40 pictures, these are the cream of the crop!  I took several hundred, part of the delay was going through them all.  There were so many good ones! And as always, to get a bigger view, click on the picture.  Enjoy!

As I was choosing the pictures and then adding captions, I was once again blown away at how authentic many of these people looked.   Both their interesting and unique faces combined with thoughtful and well made garments made me really feel like I had stepped back in time.  I look forward to more of these festivals, which are all over Europe, non surprisingly.


The castle
music

It was not just a time for princesses and knights, there was rampant disease and poverty.


what a face. what a hat.


i am not sure why she is blue, but i like it



tribe of swordsman

hot swordsman

no joke



Usually the diseased are not represented at these affairs

love it!

what a pair of splendid wings

lovely lovely

it is hard to fathom just how enormous this dog really is.  he is like a pony

incredible costumes and faces

look at those smiles!

her holy-hatness

aw

must. have. these. boots.






the jesters




Forest people

another hot hoodness

this guy does not belong in 2011

yup, they even made crepes during the middle ages!

Sabine!

Sabine being cute

bread (GIANT)



she was amazing

This is the artist of this incredible book.  She was incredible too!  She signed it for Sabine and even drew a little sketch of her little 17 month old face in the front cover.  She was so kind.  Her paintings are breathtaking.  Check out her website, bonus: in English!  http://www.pineaux.com/en/paintings.html#reload


Saturday, June 18, 2011

Being Rich in Paris

The title of this post really has nothing to do with us actually.  We are not rich, but we did get some star treatment last night as we stepped onto the banking world's soiree on a big boat on the Seine River.










   



An evening like that makes you realize how lovely Paris can be with privilege and money.  Most people who take boat tours spend about 15 bucks and sit with hundreds of other budget-minded tourists taking the airplane like seats up and down the river while clutching their overpriced cans of coca-cola.  I know, because we have done this.  And it is annoying, you can barely see anything because of all the other people, the loud speaker is blasting tourist tid-bits and the chairs are hard as hell.  When you get off you can pay the inflated price of something like 20 bucks for the picture they took of you "on your Parisian cruise".  Ha ha!

But the upper-class, privileged and tourists who are living for the moment have access to a different kind of Paris.  These are the people who LOVE Paris.  These are the people who talk about Paris restaurants with orgasmic expressions.  The ones who stay in hotels with beds that are meant for two adults and wake up with quaint views (the full bed is standard hotel size).  The ones who see the opera with good seats and do shopping without being bumped into every 5 minutes like those of us shopping at Zara or H&M.  Yes, Paris is no doubt an amazing city if you have money and privilege.

Well, we have access to the privileged world occasionally.  Part of me also thinks it is an evil ploy by the higher-ups who get paid literally millions while people like Hicham help make them and their friends even richer.  He works in investment banking, btw.  It's like, "Let them eat cake" said (misquoted) Marie Antoinette.  While H makes enough that we live comfortably (especially since we are frugal as hell), we live pretty simply.  So, going on this luxurious boat for us was a pretty big deal.

(As always, IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE LARGER, CLICK ON IT)

this game involved guessing the type of wine, red-white-rose by taste alone.  much harder than you think!

we made friends with one of the guys working there because he liked my tattoo

Showing tattoo

yup, that is what you think it is...

The festive crowd (not so much)

Another private boat party, but with a DJ and a band. 


i mean, cool huh?

The french have interesting ice cream flavors.  This one is tomato.

artsy shot


It seems everyone was eager to go home, they haven't even docked yet and people are crowding at the door.  Weird.

I was delighted to have an empty wine glass provided to wear around my neck.  Since we didn't use them, I presumed they were to take home.  Since so many people didn't seem to want theirs, I put a few extra in my purse (you know to make a set).  Imagine my horror when as we were leaving, the guy at the door asked for the glass.  Luckily my tattoo-loving staff member stepped in and said I could have it.  I wasn't about to dump out my bag and make a complete ass out of myself.  I felt incredibly tacky! But, I was also like, what the hell were those glasses for then?  Not one single person used them, they just wore them around their necks.