More big changes!

Well, Metro and I have put in an offer on a house, and it has been accepted. We are now underway...

A house! If the deal is completed as planned, we will take possession June 28th.

We have had the busiest 2 months -- married, moved, employed, and now housed! And we managed to slip a trip to Paris in there as well...

I mean, how impressive is that?

Lori

No scandals to report

I hate to disappoint my loyal readers, but I have no scandals to report. Yet.

But I now have the inside track to this community -- I am officially the new manager for the Penticton Farmers' Market. Part of the community, no longer the outsider...what a difference it makes to one's perspective!

Not to mention other people's perceptions of me!

I'll keep you all posted.

Lori

A Penticton Update

A moment to write...at the beautiful new Penticton Tourist Information Centre. Convenient, free Internet access for the likes of me.

So, here's a quick synopsis of our life so far:

• Metro is really enjoying his job. His first week was, I believe, more than he had hoped for. He wrote, he edited, he contributed ideas, he bonded with his new co-workers.
• The rental market is unbelievably tight right now. May is the month that the people who spend their winters in the motels hunt out any apartments. I'm hunting any apartment. It's a little scary how white trash some of the places are that I'm having to consider.
• The buying market is better -- I'm looking forward to getting into it, probably sooner than I expected, just because of the rental market.
• We are living in a partial basement suite...not a full kitchen. Comfortable, furnished, convenient enough, and we can stay there until the beginning of June.
• I'm networking like a mad fool -- found us that basement suite, made connections with some of the festivals in town, got an invite to a Rotary meeting...and applied for a job managing the local Farmer's Market.
• The cats are fine -- and may even be getting used to the sudden changes in location. Or, at least, the hiding-under-the-bed time is getting shorter.

So, the adventure continues. I'm a little uncomfortable with our living situation in Limbo, but that should clear up soon.

More soon.

Lori

Paris...the fourth installment

Okay. I'm back for one last kick at the blogger can before I pack the computer. At the moment, the next couple of weeks are a little up in the air, quasi Limbo-esque, so please be patient.

Today's theme is Art & Life.

Metro and I visited L'espace Dali in Montmartre. If you get the chance...well, to be in Paris...go to this museum (even though it's not on the Museum Pass).

To the right is a piece of Dali's mirror art. Very cool.

The best thing to spend your money on in Paris, besides the cheese and wine, is the Museum Pass. Anecdotal evidence of its fabulousness:

• During my first visit to Paris, I had a leisurely lunch around the corner from Musee d'Orsay, then wandered past the 40-minute lineup to enter at the gift shop entrance.
• I discovered my favourite museum (the oft-mentioned Museum of the Middle Ages) in Paris by toodling past, checking it on the list ("Yup, it's included!") and going in.
  
• I visited the Louvre on Easter weekend, this time bypassing a lineup that meandered around the pyramid, and into the next courtyard -- at least a 2-hour definition of hell -- by popping into the side entrance on the Richelieu side (in the underpass from Rue de Rivoli). Visit the Louvre on a couple of different days, and relieve the pressure of trying to see it all at once.
• On this visit, I was able to slip into the Sainte-Chapelle an extra time to sit and watch the looks of wonder appear on people's faces as they climbed out of that medieval stairwell.
• Climb the towers of Notre Dame. See the archeaological dig under the Notre Dame plaza. Climb l'Arc de Triomphe.
• Don't wait in line at Versailles.

And we of course visited the musee d'Orsay -- the mecca for lovers of Impressionists and Post-Impressionists (on the Museum Pass).

Some art-lovers in the larval stage.







My "Name the Toulouse Lautrec Painting" Contest -- Which painting features this wacky detail?









And if you go to Paris and do not visit the Rodin Museum, you have missed one of the most amazing experiences of your life. And, as an added bonus, it's included on the Museum Pass. (Have I mentioned the Museum Pass?)

Here is his infamous statue of Balzac (apologies for the lighting). And here, a detail from his Gates of Hell.



















Next is not really Art -- or is it? The Pantheon is a wonderful building...full of pomp, history, and dead famous people. And home to Foucault's Pendulum.

Not worth the price of admission though, really...unless of course you have the Museum Pass, then it's utterly cool.







And, what you've all been waiting for, Metro himself, in what I think is a brilliant tourist shot of the awe inspired by la Sainte-Chapelle:
He's reading the card provided that tries to tell you about the stained glass -- "in the third lancet, on the eight level...."




What? You can't quite see his face? Okay, here is Mr. Cowfish himself, as we walk up our street towards the Seine, and our apartment.

Here is what he notices -- a picture he took of truck parking (the sign & the reality).


And my favourite tourist shot of all...me, buying a book from a vending machine. How cool is that?!?











Whew! Well, I don't know when I'll be blogging again, but it shouldn't be too long of a wait. Leave comments, and maybe I'll be inspired to come back sooner!

On to our new life in Penticton!

Talk to you soon.

Lori