this is old news but..

i had a battle with the escalator at gare saint lazare the other day...and totally lost. aka i fell when exiting the metro station on the escalator for no reason other than i was tired and hard already climbed up 4 flights of stairs at that point in my exit process...

...i was wearing jeans but still got some lovely scratches on my new and bruising! why am i writing about it now? bc its still ugly and tender.

damn escalators... or rather.. putain escalator!

profitez bien

I had my first coca cola here the other day. It tastes a bit sweeter than what we have in the US. maybe different type of sugar is used.

today, so happy, i found a really cool store that had a mini bookstore inside with all kinds of books about modern art/fashion/graffitti art etc. i picked up an issue of VICE there (which is free, you just have to know where to pick it up in new york, paris, blah blah. really excited its full of articles in french (although many of them are translated from "americain" which means theyre probably in the new york issue as well). it's going to take me a while to read that.

also found a little bookstore today, yay... kinda a walk from where i live.

what else... not much to say. just cant describe how lucky i feel when i am walking along the streets looking at the architecture, the little parks, and things like that. it's not dirty (at least where i live) and i'm glad i dont have to dodge dog poop all the time.

went to the boulangerie this morning thats 1 min walking distance from my place, got a fresh baguette-- yum yum.

i feel so happy here. will set an alarm for tomorrow morning as id like to get up early to walk around pigalle/montmartre.

i do have momentary freak outs though, inner monologues like : WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE????!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!

eep.

believers in their own way

oh france. secular country really. lots of churches (mainly tourist attractions)

but you have to hand it to them... if god said that sunday is a day of rest then dammit sunday is a day of rest.

there is nothing open on sunday. when at 1pm, in the us, stores are packed with shoppers buying clothes, food, or going to restaurant... here the streets are deserted. maybe a couple cars here and there... some random people walking... even the boulanger is closed (though possibly it was open at 10 this morning not sure).

and, saturday, more than half of the things are closed by 6 pm. only the bars are open because quel horreur if you have to work in the mall on a saturday night! ;)

the soldes (sales) end this week. which means there will be nothing on sale in france for another 6 months. maybe i should take a peek into the galleries lafayette or au printemps before it all ends, just to see what the scoop is (though so far it doesnt compare to san marcos)

sun is out today, little to no wind, a beautiful day in paris.

la fleche d'or : cool club, sketch neighborhood

last night i went out to la fleche d'or, a club in the 20th arrondissement. it was packed, lots of people. as typical, i was right in front of the djs bc i like to watch what they do when they play, and that way i dont have to dance with anyone. the atmosphere was cool when pharell of fluokids played-- he threw down a lot of tracks i really like for example some crookers stuff and herve remixes, but i really didnt enjoy thieves like us, unfortunately.

tonight, i'm going to stay in, watch a movie... be a bum.

still love it here, thought it is a bit chilly tonight. i can feel my once healthy tan completely diminishing as i type.

really want to stay... really really really want to stay...

who needs an alarm?

when i can wake up to the beautiful sound of cars honking incessantly just below my window.

BONJOUR to you too PARIS*$#$@%^#$^%^#%&^

haha

vous n'avez pas 62?

without fail, everytime i go to the monoprix (supermarket), they ask me "are you sure you dont have exact change?". and while i carry a million little coins with me, no, i dont have exactly 62 cents on me. every. time.

its a nice day, weather is not too cold, sprinkling very lightly.

ive got chips and salsa with me that i bought at the monoprix.

note: the chips are nthing compared tostitos and the salsa... well it claims to be "hot hot hot!!"but yeah it's like Mild pace picante sauce.

oh and did i mention how much i love cheese here and how cheap it is? yeah. and it tastes different from the US stuff (even the imports). i guess less pasteurization does have its benefits ;)

good news!

Sooooo I just moved into my new flat in the 8th arrondissement. it rocks my socks.

it's a beautiful parisian day (aka cloudy, no sun to see, and cold)... about to go to a photography exposition at hotel de ville with friends. should be fun =)

now that i have a place, etc. i can finally relax and start hitting up all the museums!

working on getting job so that i can get the papers to get a work visa upon my return to the US so i can come back. french life agrees with me. =)

finally getting used to pain au chocolat for breakfast (its like a croissant with pieces of chocolate inside). the orange juice is definitely NOT as good here as it is in texas. neither is the pink grapefruit juice for that matter.

i don't understand the concept of putting syrup in water to make it flavored. yuck. yuck.

another funny thing- they have specialty frozen food stores here that sell only frozen food hahaha and theyre quite popular.

but, as my apt is a bit limited in the kitchen sense, ill be sticking to the usual stuff: bread, liquids, cheese, soup blah blah

miss my family, but am so so so so glad to be here, even if the metro doesnt stay open 24/7... or mcdo...or anything else for that matter. new york def has paris beat in that respect: that city never sleeps, this one rolls up the sidewalks (except the bars which are open til like 4.30/5.00

Paris paris paris

Well so back in paris from the south.

Its lovely here as usual. glad to be back. seems like i cant stay away for too long from this place.
french skills improving, rapidly thank god, but i'm still pretty quiet in crowds bc i get a bit anxious about making mistakes etc (although beer helps).

oh-- speaking of beer. UNbelievable. people here drink corona like it's frickin awesome stuff and i tried to tell them no, this is piss beer. it's terrible. its cheap. but yeah, its like 8 euros a bottle here and they drink it like its dos xx. i guess just because its from mexico, which is so far away. who knows. also another pop beer here is desperado. i havent tried it. it looks like crap too.

hmmm what else... it's still not as cold here as i originally thought it would be. which is good. it's cold but i think when we were in illinois for xmas a couple years ago and it was all snowy that was worse. today the sun is out, and yesterday it was too.

i should be moving into my own place sometime this week if all goes well =) its in the champs elysees district, so very safe, calm, etc

still need to go to the louvre. which means i need to get up in the morning. that hasnt been working out too too well as of yet but theres still time.

Papi this is for you:
yesterday i was at a little cafe, and i heard these guys talking at the table behind me. they were mexican. how did i know (you may wonder)? well, first the accent. second, every other word out the guy's mouth was "a la verga guey!!!!" lolol typical. so so typical.

ahhh i want to stay here. don't wanna go back. it's just too awesome, i like it, so much to discover. i wonder how ic an get a work visa to stay (artists visa for cinema or normal just visa for work???)

love to all
still missing spicy food....pico de gallo...and yum yum burgers.

Yum Yum Burger

ahhhhh what i would give for a burger from PLAYERS oooooor HUTS


ahhhh burger where are you when i need you in my life!

french food oddities..

...so they always eat sweet stuff in the moring. like we're talking chocolate covered or filled things, pastrie type stuff. seriously it makes me feel sick its just so bizarre. all i want is like barbacoa with salsa verde and corn tortilla.s

speaking of which last night at the grocery store i saw some "mexican chips" and "sauce mexican". yeah, definitely not the same hahahahahah pretty not good actually...


oh and every time i eat the pizza here i feel a little queasy afterwards. so odd. must be some type of preservative they use that i'm not accustomed to..

people dont really drink plain water here either. they pour syrup flavor stuff in it (like grape, blah blah), again, reallllyy sugar-y.

ugh what i would give for some pico de gallo right now. i found all the ingredients for it last night at the grocery store except the most important thing= the peppers!! wtf i dont think i can make pico salsa with no serranos (or jalapenos). all they had were red bell peppers.

what else is different....

thats that for now... more later.

love to all. mish you mom dad sarah bear taco terry mash mash holly etc etc etc etc

le SUD sud south south

Aix en provence....avignon... apt... montpellier... many cities in many days!


it;s in the 50s here so the weather isnt too bad. my french is improving quickly (thought my accent is still quite strong). although i can distinguish sometimes the accent differences now between here and paris...

the architecture is different, very pretty. ill try to remember to take photos. i must admit that when i get carried away just enjoying things i forget to utilise my camera.

so far i havent seen many hipsters. i dont think they really exist that much here. although there are a few fluo kids. hmmm at the club le prive in avignon there were all these kids dancing le tektonik (which i hate) i felt like i was in mexico kinda. all these really wannabe fresa looking guys were around. i refused to dance with them. and the djs that night werent playing the best sets so it wasnt too awesome... but the night before in Aix en Provence (pronounced "ex on prove-ahnse") it was surreal! so cool. the djs played AWESOME sets. it was such a blast. really cold that night, though.... and when i left at 6 in the morning the club wasnt near closed! ridiculous. completely ridiculous.

oh: the secret to french skinny-ness: smaller portions, better food, more walking, and shitloads of cigarettes. seriously these people are like chiminey stacks (not all, but a lot).

the cheese here is to die for. completely different than in the US. even the chevre and camembert is different tasting. soooo creamy and good. and way cheaper. the wine too, good and very much cheaper.

hmm what else... they served me mayonnaise at mac-do (mcdonalds). ewwwww. gross. frenchies loove that mayo on their everything i swear.

later this week i return to paris. i have a couple meetings to go to, more networking to do and also a few fetes (parties) that i have been invited to. paris is wonderful. it doesnt have the speed of new york (which is breakneck) but it feels very much alive. so many things to discover. you can walk pretty much everywhere. the metro is 1.5 euros one way (though you can buy passes for the week or month which are cheaper)... oh and with phones here you are not charged when you receive calls or texts, only when you send them!

so far seen: jim morisson's grave, chopin's grave, cities in the south, all the famous monuments in paris...

to be seen still: the inside of museums. christian louboutin (shoe store), etc etc


so hopefully things go well in paris and i have better internet there than i did when i was there last week.

pics are up in an album on myspace. myspace.com/katyanimal. though there are like 5 on facebook as well.

French people cant dance!

ok yeah, nuff said. seriously. ive seen them try to dance to so many kinds of music. o one can keep a beat. its the same movements for hip hop, latin, and techno... and speaking of techno...


i HATE tektonik!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


srsly


oh- and the south is completely beautiful. so gorgeous. but i think im def more of a city girl ((easier to get around)

Alive!!!!!!

Ok,
So i made it in, as I'm sure most of you heard.

I'm at McDonalds (mcdo) and yeah, the coffee is better, the fries nto that terrible. but the hamburger ewww...

Last night for the new years eve, i went out with some friends. first to a house party, then to anther house party with LOTS of walking in between.

for the new year, the metro was free to take after 5 pm, so that was nice. i had champagne, some wine, blah blah. it was a lot of fun. everyone was screaming "BONNE ANNEE" in the streets like it was mardi gras (minus the boobs- too cold for that).

also last night i met another actor who is irish, he is friends with my friends so he's going to email me the number of his agent here, who books people for english speaking jobs in film. said he did 3 movies this last year so shes really good at finding work =) also, met a half american named melanie who is also mutal friends and she has also worked in cinema here, has great contacts and told me she would email me a list of contacts emails, etc (directors, producers) direct. she did warn me thought that its very hit or miss. but everyone has been very nice, theyre already trying to find jobs and appartments for me hahaha

oh- loooots of english speakers here. irish, australians, etc etc. and of course everyone can hear my accent =)

its not as cold as i thought, but it is getting colder and colder =)

oh--- now in bars and restaurants in paris its just like austin- NO SMOKING. crazy. who ever thought that would happen in paris????

what else.... what else.... i see so many people wearing converse shoes!

i do love it here. my fingers are cold, so sorry for the crappy typing. mmmm going to start scrounging for alittle flat. apparently if you get one matchbox size you can find one for like 400 euros. thats almost cheaper than austin. what the hell hahah and thats IN the city, not outside in the suburbs...

oh- the metro is a MAZE. inside. so many little halls and stuff. i felt like a hamster.

oh- and no one has said anything to me in the streets (yet). all the people here tell me its changed drastically in the last 5-10 years bc of the mayor. no more dog shit in the streets (apprently they dna catalogued ppls dogs, and when they left dog shit in the street, there was a special team of ppl set up who just dna tested the dog shit to send the owners fines!!! hahaha). oh and no pissing in the streets either- there are free little bathrooms all over the place. aaand what else. big glass recycling bins (for the bottle everyone drinks in the streets) aaand....

yesterday afternoon i was in the 18eme (montmartre), annnd i had wine at the cafe where Amelie was filmed...and a cafe at this little place where there was a hooker tranny saying hi to all her "freinds" and having to tell one of her regualrs that she was NOT working on new years eve, thank you very much, and see you tomorrow night. hahahah

anywho, love to all. miss youuuuu but loove it here so far! i ordered in my own meal in french at mcdo and they understood me! progress...