From May 2006, I think. My first, but now one of quite a few pairs from Pedro Garcia. Window shopping in Rue de Rennes, Paris, suddenly turned into REAL shopping. Fell in love instantly. They are half-a-size too small, but simply worth cramming my toes into. The skull with the Swarovski crystals , "ah, j´adore ca"!
And - they remind me of this great trip to Paris with a close friend. (That is what souvenir shoes are for - memories!) Champagne and macaroons at Ladurée*. Lunch at Brasserie Lipp in St. Germain, being served by the world´s rudest waiters. And - more champagne (in a paper bag - we are very clever) on the TGV down to Lyon, for a work conference. I think I really should to go to Paris to practice my newly acquired French skills. Sometime soon. Only - SAS is opening a direct flight to NY again. Tempting. Oh, the decisions.
Wednesday = French class again. We are now approaching the end of level ZERO. We are at the stage where we need to start adding some gesticulation and all the "oh"-ing and "ah"-ing ("la-la-la" is level 1). This whole spectacle is to make the little French we speak a bit more credible, and steal the attention away from bad grammar.
This does not come very naturally for a person with my background. The part of Norway that I originally come from is not really known for outbursts of emotion, to put it that way. Just listen to our Minister of Finance**, that will give you an idea. As you can see, this was a tough evening for me. That is - until the teacher wrote "Le champagne brut, j´adore ca!! J´aime ca!!" on her whiteboard. When asked to pronounce THAT with gusto, I had no problems whatsoever. So I guess the things you say in this manner must truly come from the heart.
We were, of course, also taught how to respond to things we did NOT fancy. I was not really impressed when the chef (?) exclaimed that he HATES olives. Give me a break! Olives?! Really sophisticated taste buds for a gourmet chef then. NOT. It makes me wonder whether this guy is actually more of a burger "chef". At McD´s, maybe?
To be honest, I haven´t really had as much time available for my studies as I had hoped. So - I asked the teacher yesterday if it maybe could be a good idea for me to do level zero again, before continuing to level 1. Should NOT have done that. It was like opening a box of very angry wasps. So, now I know what the French think of the Norwegian school system. And the (lack of) learning habits we acquire through that. We are lazy, you see. Wow. Sorry. Wonder why the French speak other languages - like "iiiiiingliiiiish" so badly then.
Was happy to get an e-mail from the NY office of our concierge service telling me that my Tory Burch shoes have now been reserved at the store, and that they are now just figuring out how big my discount should be (when you buy shoes in bulk, you get a discount). I must book a pedicure, so that my feet look their very best when the new members of my shoe family arrives. I am all butterflies, when I think of them. Oh. Ah.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladurée
** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neSZaUxc1Og&feature=related ***
*** I tried linking to a clip there where he speaks English, but he came out so differently in another language. Quite professional, in a way.
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