Living in Paris: Simplicity and Fun

This weekend was my first weekend since I've been here that I've been in Paris for both Saturday and Sunday! So I made sure to spend some quality time exploring the city. 

Wednesday night I went to the Theatre where I live and watched Propaganda, a British/Australian play. It is by far THE most bizzare and interesting thing I have seen to date. During the hour, the acrobats which is consisted of a husband, wife and their children, performed amazing and bizarre feats that was consisted of nudity (Just the parents), health tips and acrobatics. 

Here's an example: 

You are sitting in darkness when suddenly a spotlight turns on. You see in front of you a woman's ass, who then begins hula-hooping. And as abruptly as it began, the hula-hooping stops and the lights shut off. 

The play ended with the couples bowing and the waving or more like saluting to the crowd while the children sat at their feet looking adoringly at their parents. Just before the lights shut off, the parents made out in front of us. And by making out I don't mean just a kiss, I mean full on 3 minutes of PDA.

Because I didn't sleep until almost 4 in the morning working on my TeleBears, I was pretty sleepy so I sort of dozed off during some parts of the show. So I really can't judge the play and say how amazing or horrible it was. But the crowd obviously loved it as the performers got at full 2 minute standing ovation. 

Thursday night, I went and watched Inception with my co-workers Thomas, Jules and Jonathan. I see now why everyone has been raving about this movie; the cinematography and the depth of storytelling was amazing! With the Dark Knight and Inception, Christopher Nolan has become one of my all time favorite directors :). It was also very nice and ironic that we recognized some of the Parisian scenes in the movie. 

*********SPOILER*******

Nolan's decision to cut back to Cobb right as the top began wobbling was a smart and ambiguous way to end the movie. Which left me think, "What really happened?" My three theories are:

1. It's a happy ending and Cobb actually makes it back to the states. 

2. Cobb is stuck in limbo.

3. It was all a dream.  

I noticed that he didn't have his wedding ring on at the end so it could be real, but then again, his children are still wearing the same clothes and haven't aged a bit... 

Very ambiguous stuff... maybe it will lead to an Inception 2?

Oh and LOVE the suits the guys were wearing, wish I had the dough to wear $3000-$8000 suits haha. 

****** End Spoiler*****

My Friday night, I spent going out to my first club with my co-workers, Sami and Jerome. The name of the party was F**K Me I'm a Stagiaire (F**K Me, I'm an Intern) and so ALL the interns in Paris were pretty much in the club partying away till 5 AM. The clubbing atmosphere is very different and challenging than what you will find in the US - especially for the guys. However, you can be sure that the party was a blast and I had a lot of fun even if the night ended with me getting elbowed in the right eye. =/

Saturday, I hung out with my friend and co-worker Mamoun. It is amazing how simple the French are. I had the opportunity of visiting the flat of my other friend and co-worker, Jonathan, earlier in the week (Thursday) and it too was very simple. While we Americans live like kings with our big screen TVs, large kitchens and air conditioned rooms, both Mamoun and Jon's flats were very simple. There were both decent sized TVs, a simple sofa, and a fan for the summer. (Air conditioning has not really caught on in France, simply because it's bad for the environment and electricity is very expensive. In fact most residences, restaurants, metros, and buses don't have them, only big department stores and American restaurants do.)

As simple as everything was, you can definitely tell that both were very happy with their lives. Goes to show that money doesn't always buy happiness :) 

Kicking it with Mamoun and Jonathan was a blast! At both of their residences, I got a taste of French food which can be summed up in three words: healthy, rich, and delicious. At Jonathan's, I had crunchy bread, crab, tomatoes, and this creamy sauce. At Mamouns, I had this very simple ham salad topped off with delicious fromage. As a side dish, I had some sliced bread topped off with taramatara, which was this pink sauce that was flavored with the eggs of cod -remember how I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that the French loved seafood? To end everything off we had cantaloupe and then ice cream. 

While the dinner could never compete in size with something like a traditional American baby back ribs and coleslaw, I would still take the salad over the ribs any day. It was just as filling, delicious, but also healthy. 

So thank you, Mamoun and Jonathan, for your hospitality and the food you provided. =)

Oh and here are some pictures of the delicious food I'm enjoying at Microsoft! 

The French take on American burgers:

Beef Carpaccio :)

My chocolate eclair: 

And turkish kebob without the bread!