I drove all night

I took 2 weeks holiday. I had because if we don’t take the days before the end of the year, they’re lost. So I booked a car and I went back to France to visit Family and friends. I had of course a wonderful time but going from place to place almost everyday is no holiday at all. When I came back to work, I asked my chief if I could have a holiday to rest and he replied gently that I had to wait next year because I had no days left anymore. During this holiday, I took time to be with my true best friend like the brother I’ll never had. We know each other since school days and I hope we’ll keep up together until the end of our life. I agree we don’t talk neither meet much in the past years but you know, life … . He ‘s living in Paris with wife and kids, has a business to run and he’s a family man. I lived in many places in the world, doing a lot of jobs, being unstable, moving all the time, having affairs and short- and long term relationships. It was not always so. I had a stable life when he had the life I have now, only when we were younger. Now It is the other way round. Anyway, two weeks ago we’re talking over the phone and he says spontaneously that because It’s school holidays, wife and kids go away but he has to stay home because of the work, and he adds quickly : ”why don’t you come over ?”. Only the idea to spend some time alone with him thrills me so I quickly booked a car, called family and friends and planned the journey. Two weeks away. With the moving from Barcelona, the new flat, the job, the life by itself, I didn’t go back since more than 2 years. Those years just flew too quickly because really, It seems like yesterday I walked in my city streets. Nevertheless, I am always curious to see the changes. First my parents of course, then another very close friend who became mother almost 1 year ago. I came to Paris by car that I rented. This gives me the opportunity to visit some friends I can’t see a lot because normally I fly. So I made a stop in Karlsruhe and another one on the way back in Frankfurt. When I am in Paris, I eat French and very Parisian. I miss some tastes and I can’t help myself having for the first lunch Foie de Veau with gratin dauphinois. If you’re not French, forget it. Only the idea of the translation could make you sick. After that I just made a tour alone in the city because the weather was not bad and I enjoy the area. The next day, my best friend brought me to le Marais, in the 3rd arrondissement, where beautiful small shops are based, proposing nice things. We were too early for everything, shops open late in this neighborhood so we had the time to enjoy café and croissants at the café around the corner. Remember that life in Paris is very expensive and you don’t have to be surprised by the incredible prices you will be requested to pay. Actually, I noticed that Paris is an expensive city, but so are Barcelona, London and New York. It’s just that Berlin, when I compare, is not expensive. So the shock is mine. After the morning café, we headed to l’Habilleur. Shop front is dark and doesn't look open, but go on inside - its a special shop. Designer clothes from (at last look) Issey Miyake Pleats Please, Paul et Joe, Plein Sud, Cultura... list goes on and on and it may be different labels when you will go. Really amazing things at 30% of retail and Men’s labels are gorgeous. We had a walk rue Bonton, looking for something for the kids while they were on holiday (do your shopping without the kids, it helps) and then we decided to stop for lunch at le marché des enfants rouges. One beloved covered market dating from 1615, on the Rue de Bretagne in the third arrondissement, almost disappeared 10 years ago, but the uproar from the locals was such that the city decided to keep it open and renovate it. This required shutting down the market for six years, however, and when it reopened in 2000 most of the vendors had found premises elsewhere. The market was a sorry sight for some time, with many unoccupied stands and few customers, but today that has all changed. Not only can you pick up the catch of the day at the fish stand and organic tomatoes and plums at a vegetable stand or a bouquet at the flower stand, but you can also sit down for a meal at one of the dozens of tables in the open-air side aisles, after deciding whether you want to eat pasta, pizza, spit-roasted meats, Moroccan couscous or classic French bistro food. By the way, the market owes its name to a neighborhood orphanage, closed in the 16th century, whose small charges were dressed in red. We stopped at Le Traiteur Marocain: Moroccan pastillas, tagines and couscous. and had a wonderful time, though a bit cold outside. After lunch we carried on moving and because I am looking for new furniture for the flat, we headed to the shop of the designer Jean-François Lebrun, called tramp, rue de la Corderie. I just love every piece of furniture. In a very purified environment, chairs, tables and libraries surprise by their design. Every piece is built from what he finds like metal, old wood floor, school bench … that he collect anywhere in fabrics or warehouses. Then it becomes a unique piece. You also can ask for your own wishes and /or dimension. I was thrilled by chairs and a desk that would perfectly fit in my place ! We discovered as well the artist Christoff Baron who also has an atelier in Berlin, this is a surprise and I will have a look soon. We walked to Bastille and then Châtelet, stopped to other shops I like to pick up some ideas and took the bus home because we had an appointment for dinner at Le verre siffleur, rue d’Alesia, not far from the place. As per my friend, it is new since last winter and it is a big surprise because such a place was missing in the area. It is the place we love, an old café renovated, with ancient taste, suggesting good and simple food. Reservation was made for 8:00 p.m. and though we arrived on time, 30 minutes later, the restaurant was packed. So it is noisy, yes, because we talk a lot and loud. But we had no disappointments, and neither with the bill. We had a few drinks in two other bars in the area, but not really something to mention and too expensive. The next day, we could enjoy a wonderful weather and even café and lunch time outside. We made the usual way to Le bon Marché (I love Dyptique products), boulevard Raspail, just to have a look at Paul Smith, Galerie Sentou, and rue de Grenelle at Jean-Baptiste Rautureau. We walked by to Montparnasse and It was time for me to carry on driving. My parents always love Bretagne, at the very far west of the country. The location is fabulous, in the end of everything. There you will find more boats than cars and in the end of the street, you will find a bar and the sea. It is the perfect place to spend a few days alone to have a rest. Outside gardening, walking on the beach, eating crêpes and drinking cider, there is nothing else to do near Perros-Guirec but I agree, the landscape is one of the most beautiful. After 3 days, back to Paris, spent more time in town to drive 2,5 km than Rennes-Paris and this is another reason for me not to go back. Just the time to have a last dinner and to fill the car with things I wanted to bring back home and I drove back to Berlin, completely exhausted.