Drama

Got my hair cut at the weekend. Hardly blog-worthy, now that it's very short and gets a trim every month or so. But I just caught a glimpse of the back of my head in a strategically placed mirror and noticed that I have a mini-mullet.

Shit, shit, shit !

Best. Thai. Curry. Ever.

...is what S made for dinner on Saturday. In fact it was so good we had the leftovers for breakfast on Sunday.

Reminded me of when we were dating (i.e. spending as many weekends together as we could afford*). We'd get more curry than we could possibly eat from the best take-away in Sheffield, have a feast, and then eat the rest cold the next morning with mugs of tea. Not everyone's idea of ideal food on a romantic weekend perhaps, but it worked out well for us.

* With heartfelt thanks to BMI Baby, purveyor of cheap fares between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Nottingham East Midlands.

Off to Gare du Nord

...in a little while to pick up the lovely Miss Cookie.

Started to make a list of things to do while she is here, but realized my list of things to do is actually a list of restaurants and food shops to visit and things to eat. I don't think she'll mind too much. Ah Paris.

2 days in Paris

Is a lovely film. I'm a sucker for movies that take place in Paris and I'm a sucker for movies about cross-cultural relationships, but having loathed Before Sunset, I went in to this one (which Julie Delpy directs as well as stars in) with lowered expectations, and came out delighted.

I could swear some of the dialogues are conversations I've had in real life, verbatim - only better, if that makes sense.

Adam Goldberg manages to play a sarcastic hypochondriac without sacrificing his masculinity - think Woody Allen-type humor, but with tattoos and a hairy chest. Julie Delpy's character is beautiful and neurotic and arty, but likeable and unpretentious.

The clichés are there (dumb American tourists! rude Parisian taxi drivers !) but Delpy has fun with them and uses them to wink at her audience rather than as the film's only comic motor, and it works.

Loved it.

Gluttony is

... walking an extra few blocks to the best boulangerie I know instead of going to any one of half a dozen perfectly decent closer ones, getting 2 lemons tarts for breakfast and one baguette, and eating half the bread, still oven-warm, on my way home.

Last night's dinner

Loup de mer, which I think is sea bass, poached.
New potatoes, just boiled in their jackets.
Sauce made of a fair amount of good butter, melted and warmed but not left to cook, finely chopped shallots, and juice of half a lemon, liberally poured over fish and potatoes. Mmmmmm.

What's in your bag ?

Inspired by a Flickr group, and my mother, who is always horrified by the weight when I ask her to hold my bag for a second.

Umbrella and sunglasses.
Plain glasses.
Lip balm and lip stick. (At least one, often more !)
A powder compact with a built-in mirror and a separate little mirror in a black velvet pouch. Why ? No idea. I don't even use the powder to touch up during the day, but it makes me feel better to have it.
Wallet and keys. (What's in my wallet is a whole other post)
Mobile phone and digital camera.
Public transportation pass and book to read in the Metro.
Waterproof hat in case of rain that warrants a little something but is not umbrella-worthy.
Pantyliner in case it all gets too much for the Mooncup and Kleenex. (In case of paperless public bathrooms and / or weepy films)
Random papers and ticket stubs and sticks of cardboard from Sephora that were once perfume samples but no longer smell of anything.