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.