Everything under the sun

Sooner or later you have to leave old fears behind. Some people are scared of heights and others of open spaces and still others of closed ones. I'm not too fond of tractors. But you know, sitting inside the house when it's a beautiful spring day outside gets old quick. So I decided to confront my fear!

It helped that mama took up viticulture and went shopping for a baby blue tractor. You know, some people dream of owning a Maserati, mama just wants four big wheels and a plow.

Why not check out a few more pictures here: vineyards and tractor pulls

You can also check out my day with Tess and our mother's day guests of honor here: Matinée and a couple of parks

Short back and sides

Living in the 15th, you can't just let yourself go. I mean people know me here and the nosier ones are always watching what I'm wearing, where I'm going, and who I'm hanging around with. It's bad enough that a healthy (i.e. fat) balding guy drops me off at school every morning (I tell my classmates he's a butler) but the Gongo was starting to let himself go, at least his hair. I mean, this guy was looking like a hippie!

Fortunately, my coiffeur and confidant, Bruno, understood my dilemma. What would people think. I mean, in this world, it's guilt by association.

Last night, I told Gabriel about the giant ice cream that across in the 7th. How people spend nights on the rue de Bac thinking they might catch a glimpse. The kind of people who camp on the shores of Loch Ness hoping for a photograph that they can sell to the British tabloids so the rest of the country's indecisive heathens can read something that finally interests them other than drunken fights in football stadiums.

He took the bait and followed me up the rue de Sèvres to the rue de Bac. A short while later the Gongo was looking less like a 60s reject and more like Cary Grant. Of course, I couldn't pass up a chance to let Bruno's Rodin-like hands sculpt my hair into a follicular masterpiece, so I said that I needed a little change in my life and that a new hairstyle might do the trick. We took advantage of the sun and cut my hair outside.

After the usual bon bon, we waved goodbye and left in search of the giant ice cream. We found it but it tasted like plastic. I suppose the limeys wouldn't know the difference.

Why don't you check out a shamelessly extensive collection of pictures of me and the Gongo's Saturday here: No country for young hippies

May day, May day!

In France, there are half holidays and full holidays. Only the French know the difference. I'm French, so I can tell the diamond from the cubic zirconia, the real from the Memorex.  But if you're from out of town, there is only one surefire way to find out. Go to Monoprix.

If it's open, it's a half holiday, if it's closed, you know for sure that this is the real thing, a full-on, whole holiday.



In France, May 1st is about as whole as a holiday can get.


This year, May day fell on a Saturday, which kind of annoyed mama and papa because they don't get an extra day off and all the shops are closed. But my sister and I are born and bred Parisians, and we know a few things to do on whole holidays.

The market on Avenue de Saxe is open. That place reminds mama and papa of Dude and Chris. We bought some of that delicious green tapenade and the traditional May 1st muguet.


But on May first you want to do something a little different, something new. So mama and papa took me to the theater. My first time!

Yeap, mama and papa decided to slum it so we climbed aboard the Metro and headed east to the 13th arrondissement! After checking out the interesting types who take public transport mama gave me a whole lot of anti-bacterial gel and we walked to the theatre la cachette to see Lucine et Malo.




Inès fell asleep but I couldn't keep my eyes of the stage. Every time Lucine came on stage my heart started to beat a little harder. A bit sad though, because Lucine is an ondine. To most ordinary folk she might be mistaken for a mermaid, but she's not. I can tell them apart. A bit like whole holidays and half ones.

Why don't you check out all our pictures from May day here: I'm no commie but I love May 1st!