impromptu

I had to go to the post office so I took the bike (http://www.bicing.com/). Because the system is improving everyday I had to wait a little bit for one bike to come at the station then drove. It was already almost 9.00 p.m. and I had the feeling to have aperitif (red wine of course). Luckily, A called to ask what was up. Just the perfect question for a purpose to meet, don't you think ? So of course on my way to Cactus. One hour later, "ohhh come on, I don't really want to go back home and cook something, why don't we have something outside, the weather is fine". At the beginning of Passeig del Born we stopped at sandwich & friends (http://www.sandwichandfriends.com/) but already full (terrasse and inside). Because with the bike it is very easy to move from one place to another we took it to go to the beach and went to our beloved Sal Café. Even after 11.00 p.m it is very busy but lucky us after opening the wine bottle (de la casa, it's good enough) and smell the sea a table was free. The conversation went on and on and it was already very late when we decided to ask for la cuenta. Because it was thursday we forgot bicing is available until 0.00 so we had to walk back home. I forgott how difficult it is to walk, in the warmth, a bit drunk ....

remember this ?

Silvester you make me feel

à table !

San Juan

Why because I don't apply to what the others do, I am considered as a not outgoing person ? I had a very good time with friends even if I did not go to the beach. I explain : San Juan in Barcelona. This is a big time in the city, one of the biggest fiesta on the beach. San Juan is celebrated with a lot of fireworks, concerts, all chirigitos (those bars on the beach) are open, it's a lot of noise, it's a lot of people you can't imagine... and I don't like it. The crowd is stressing me. So we decided to do something else. First aperitif at Cactus, of course, Passeig del Born www.cactusbar.cat . The owner was previously at the Pitin bar and for whichever reason sold it to open this one, next corner ! Same concept, the people followed, cool. Then dinner at La Reina, hidden behind Santa Maria del Mar,
sant antoni dels sombrerers, 3 BAJO
Tel.: 933 195 371, very good food, and of fish which is not so often in the city (don't forget you're on the mediterranean side, so no big choice)
then first drink at Gimlet (Santaló, 46 Tlf: 932 015 306) as usual very busy but recommended by Wallpaper so I guess we know the place to be.
Back to Cactus again and to another one to dance (the Mix in C/ Commerz, close to Princessa) with the ladies and after disco but it was very foggy at this point so we went to bed. I didn't have the time to go to the beach anyway ...

Paris Malcolm McLaren

Paris

paris skyline

Paris je t'aime moi non plus

It was nice to go back to Paris again. It was my best friend's wedding so there was a purpose but it's also because once in a while I am pleased to return to where in the end I belong. One of my close friend never stops telling me that sooner or later I will move back. At this point I have no answer. It is true that it is an amazing city. How many people I met from abroad saying that I was so lucky to be born there. "But why did you leave ?" because ...
Every tourist will tell you how nice looking the city is, how nice looking people are in the streets, how nice looking are the monuments, shops, department stores, restaurants, bars .... Of course. When you're a tourist, you only feel the positive vibrations of the place. But try to settle yourself in Paris :
- people : we are the most arrogant and selfish people I know. It's all about how you look and how much money you spend. You belong to a class or you don't belong at all. It's probably why there are so many bachelor and lonely people in the city because meeting people is not that difficult, what is difficult is to maintain a relationship because sooner or later there is something better and nicer on the other side of the street or you met someone at this cocktail or dinner party and informed in a delicate way that everything you do or tell is so "passé, darling". In one word, if you have no agenda, no social life : forget.
- money : you have to understand that you find the city nice looking because we give the money for that. I can't afford leaving in Paris anymore. The price of the flat, food, drink, taxes, transports, .... is so expensive that "credit card" is suddenly a plastic thing you can't live without and takes all its sense (and for your bank as well). and if you don't live at the right place, I'm afraid you will not keep your so called friends.
- city : look at a map of the city. You will notice a left side and a right side settled by the river Seine. This is also a frontier. "... and where do you live" ... "15th" ... "ohhh left side" (lucky me, and in an area which is told as "bourgeois". It's just that I always stayed there, I like it and it was close to work). But once you told where you live, people figured out they know you by heart because it's only a matter of clichés. I know people who will never move right side. I know people who will never move from the 5th because the rest is unknown or not good enough following their criterias. I know people leaving on the left side who will never have dinner with other people, even if they're close, because those live on the right side. and in the middle ? have an ice cream at Bertillon at sunset.
It is also understood that we love our city, we have this special attraction to it. We love people saying that it's wonderful (please throw more flowers and compliments to me please, you might have the right to sit next to me... but not sure yet) but it's also understood that we pay enough taxes to not clean the poo of our dog which is now under your left foot (if you're lucky) just when you arrive at your job interview. Just because we expect someone to do it.
- public transports : try a friday afternoon at 5.00 p.m. when the only idea is to go home, pick up the kids when you're already late at school, you need to go shopping (at la Grande Epicerie of Le Bon Marché, of course) because you had the wonderful idea to organize a dinner at home (of course social life oblige) and you thought It will leave you the week-end free, that you did not manage to clean the house, all those things. One advice : make yourself as small as you can because in this particular time and space, you have no right to be there nor being alive. My second advice : walk or sit on a bank in a public park and don't move. All people are tired of all this agressivity in the metro, bus, RER. The atmosphere is bad, the smell is awful, no air conditioned, the light is not at your advantage, and you look so tired, dear, in the rear window of the bus. And of course, it rains. So that leads us to :
- traffic : don't even think about it. I was driving once with my friend from Germany and took Place de la Concorde in the late afternoon and then drive the Champs Elysées up to Arc de Triomphe (sounds romantic, isn't it?). Don't try. My friend told me after that drive that he was remaining so silent not because he enjoyed the view but because he was scared to death in less than 5 kms. Which is for me a normal way I can take everyday (but frankly said, I have my own route). Public transports make the people take their car. You preffer to spend a third of your salary into car, insurance, gas, maintenace ... and a third of your day time as well, instead of smelling for 20mn the arm pit of your seat neighbour (if you're lucky to be sat, again). You also have to understand that Paris is not made for the cars. Read Raymond Quenau who translated very well the absurdity of the traffic situation in the city. If you go to other cities, you will notice the plan of it. Again take a map of Paris, you'll understand nothing. My advice : bear in mind the nearest metro station.
In winter (otherwise it's not funny) 1995, there was this uge strike (that's another story but we love to demonstrate for whatever, but generally it's mostly public administration because they want to keep their advantages that working private we don't have. Well anyway, this winter : no nothing. The townhall could not face the situation. They tried to establish a service by boat and they failed too (I never understood why it was never developed, like the tramway newly built : the railways already existed a bit more inside the city, I can show you). When I spent almost 3 hours to nearly drive 2 kms, I sold the car the next day and bought my motorbike. It was more dangerous but much faster as well and I could scared other car drivers, finally. So how do you go from one point to another ?
- taxi : ah ah ah, you are so funny ! did you ever have one ? and even if you did, they lead you to the wrong place and they will charge you for that. Even if you can argue or not. It happened to me too.
My advice : walk. Everyone will tell you : we walk a lot in the city. It is in the end, the easiest and sometimes the quickest way to go from one point to another.
- bike : oh yeah, that's a funny one too. we saw last week-end that Bertrand (the mayor of the city) picked up the wonderful idea (we have the system in Barcelona since..., I saw it as well in Berlin) to create bikes stations, like metro stations. You register yourself for the year and pay the use of the bike every 30 mns. But where are the cycling paths ? Trust me and my experience, I will never drive a bike in the city. And it will be stolen or damaged anyway. But I love the idea. I wish it will be a success... . that's typically the contradictory way of thinking of the parisians.
- and to chear you up, enjoy the city as much as you can because it will cost you so much money that you won't be able to afford it a second time shortly. The food at café terrase is good, the fashion in the street is really there, bla bla bla ...

garden

the day before you came

I will never understand how it works. Don't expect to make any contacts here at the gym. Or they're from abroad. Even for whatever you phantasise under the shower. I guess it's because of the weight of the education (they're over-protected), the religion (church has more power than government), their incapacity to admit that they can go OUT of the circle and have their own way.
It's a non-issue story. You go to the gym, you take off your clothes and compared to other ones, you admit that you're not that bad finally... and around you, ouh ouh, there are nice specimen too. You don't want to do anything, just, it's nice to watch and everybody does the same, except ... strangely the ones who work out the more their body, the less they show off. They still go under the shower (when they go...) with the towell around the hip, and they are under the shower with the bathing costume. Helllooooooooooo ... !!!
Well anyway, if you want to look, feel free to do. If you're too afraid to watch, have a life somewhere else but plleaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssseeeeeeeeee accept that there are other possibilities and don't feel frightened or threatened because someone is watching your dick which is not always bigger than mine. It's natural and I don't ask you to go like a dog sniffing my ass to evaluate the potential. and another ppppppllllllllleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeeeeee : SMILE !
that helps for contacts.
Thanx

playa

j'ai mal aux cheveux

The good thing with Barcelona is that friends feel free to come for the week-end. It is a very attractive city and for a short time you can enjoy it. Again this week-end friends from UK are there. Now they are at the beach and I'll join them in a while. Meantime I still have to recover from last night. We met at the hotel I book everytime : chic and basic www.chicandbasic.com . It is very good value, very nice design, good service and next to it the white bar to have breakfast (though I would not recommend for dinner, quality is not what it was when it opened, sadly). Then we booked the dinner table for 10.00 p.m and we went to Barceloneta at de mercat www.husarestauracion.com , plaça de la font . It is a very good fish and sea food restaurant which is rare for a front sea city. Tapas and meat are more successful and we were very happy there, the food was excellent and fresh. It is worth the walk and the price and you can book the table outside. Then quick cocktail at the HOTEL 54 BARCELONETA barcelona, downstairs at the Suite Royale. The terrasse is very nice as well but the city is still windy so no fun with the ladies and their very light dress. Maybe too early for a saturday night or maybe too much activity at the port because of the sailors exhibiting their "treasures" (you can watch your best fantasies passing by in the city these days) so back to el borne. We like very much coktails at Gimlet, Rec, 24 close to Passeig del Born so easy to find. I noticed the other day that it is recommended by Wallpaper, which is a good reference. Very crowdy, noisy and smoky but we can stay there for hours. A bit of air was needed so back to Cactus of course, www.cactusbar.cat and finished at Salvation because it's the disco nearby where we can have fun (2 dance floors, one with spanish pop and the other one techno) www.matineegroup.com . But I guess we started to be slowly drunk and the moves were not so glamourous nor coordinated on the dance floor so was better to go back home.

dark mood

the end of the pirates

went to see the third part of pirates of the carribean
the first was interesting
the second was confusing but I guess as every second part is
the third is not understable, not interesting and I was tired so I fell asleep.

grand palais

dîner en ville

I love my dîner en ville (dinning out) especially with French people. First because it is my first language, secondly because only with French people you can mix food, wine, sex and politics. I never met this situation with any other culture. Whith Spanish people, everybody will talk at the same time and the louder you can so in the end you take part to every conversation and to none, when with German people you will debate about the problems of everyday's life ; with French, you rebuild the world.
Talking about politics at evening dinner can ruin your event. When you are at the restaurant, you still have the possibility to leave (like you do at the cinema when you don't like the film). At home, if you're the host, your only possibility is to re-orientate the debate or try to cool down the fire... because we love to argue and we always think our opinion is the best and the guests should apply to it (you don't even understand how there can be another way). So before leaving the table and transforming the dinner in the coldest place ever, my advice for security purposes : avoid.
Second subject : sex. Don't think it is about private jokes you can make or you heard at the office. It is mainly about sexual experiences and how you live your sexual behaviour, but never in a slang way. Whenever the topic is on the table between "fromage et dessert", French are not afraid to laugh at themselves and you might learn new things. The best conversations are when every "group" is represented (straight, married couples, singles, gays, ...). There was once German and English people around the table who completely hallucinate with what they heard and hardly could participate (though they were asked to share) because they were too shy. We're not. Ladies can talk about their periods (ok don't bring the meat at this moment), men will talk about their fantasies and their thrills. Gays explaining to straight women what men expect in bed can be rather funny but is even funnier gays trying to explain (and ideally trying to make understand) that in bed between two men (or women) there is no woman or man. It's not a role play. It's a share. There was once this married man (unfortunatly his spouse was not there, she kept the kids at home, this is true!) who explained to us that if he does not penetrate his wife, there is no sexual intercourse. The gays explained that there are so many other ways to have sex that this guy never understood. Men debate about the fact as well that making love to a woman is "hard" work. When the woman is expecting pleasure, the man is experiencing performance. So obviously from this point there is a lot to share. Open a new bottle of wine and you'll see how far it can go.

playa

who do you think you are ?

I was looking at a catalan father with his baby daughter at the pool while relaxing. The father seems to be happy teaching his baby that nothing is wrong with the water. But the mother arrives. And of course she takes care of everything, takes the baby in her arms, and goes away in the water line. Suddenly father can’t tell nor do anything. That’s how it goes. Strangely it is not the first time I’m the witness of that kind of scene. I understand why catalan people are so difficult to approach. I think for them we are too free, wild, without any education whatsoever because we don’t have this particular more than strong relationship with our family. I would not say that. It’s just that my relationship with my family is different. But you know … difference is rarely accepted.
Anyway if you’re around Barcelona beginning of August, try to reach the airport and have a look in the waiting room. I made the test while waiting for my flight last year. I was with a friend who leaves here since years and he knows more than I do. You’ll notice the whole family all together going on holidays. But I mean it : the family (parents and children, grandparents, uncles, ….). My friend instructed me that they leave together, do everything together, share together. Now I understand why in winter, on Saturday night, you’ll notice cars parked along the way with young couples inside learning things of love between the wheel and the gear. In summer it’s easier, they can stay outside but it’s the same.
Pressure (because from my point of view it is pressure) of education, religion, family, fear of being judged … is still really strong here. Where from the outside Spain is showed as a very advanced country compared even to France for example and its history of revolutionary people, inside it’s opposite. Young people meet in the parks to get drunk just to go out of the house but too poor to really go out. I agree life in the city is expensive and money is low. But I remember seeing a work colleague in a disco the other night and wave hello just because but he turned his head. It happened many times and not always with the same people. Afraid of being recognised, not to be seen at the right place. Even the guy in front of me at the sport club do not hold the door in front of me. Is this normal ? Am I too touchy maybe. My parents told me it’s worth holding the door to the one behind you. You deserve a thank you. Maybe the start of a new adventure. But no. I reported this to Spanish people, including catalan. They all agreed. They know the fact but would not change. They believe they’re right (why shouldn’t they be ?) and they rule the world. The fact is outside of their place, nobody cares (even inside …). At a dinner we made the approach from History and one pointed out that we should not forget it’s not that far that Spain was under the power of Franco. We easily forget that this country is a democracy only since 1973 (if I’m not wrong). But where cities like Madrid created la movida, catalan people stayed in their so called supremacy because it is the richest county of the country (industry is powerful here). And it’s not because I have a big spot on my nose that I don’t succeed to create local contacts. It was approved by other fellows of mine (foreigners who want to stay here for a while). This explains probably why the turnover of people here is so important. I even notice it at work. After , let's say, 7 months, people go away because they don’t feel comfortable here enough to establish themselves. Which is exactly contrary of the idea of tourists who think it’s a wonderful city. Indeed ! but tourists only stay for the week-end and then return. We stay. Well, anyway, it’s back to sun so let’s have tapas at the terrasse.

la mer

Whenever you go to the beach why do you automatically face the sea ?

besos