Thursday, 31 July

Lately I've been busy getting ready for my holidays... finishing things at work and making a few improvements to my apartment as well as planning my holiday.

On Monday I went to the US Embassy in Paris to get my visa to attend my flying course. I arrived 30 minutes late because of a technical problem and spend more than 2 hours waiting. I finally got to work at 11.30am !

On Friday evening I went with some friends to Parc de la Vilette, where each year there is an open-air cinema festival. On Friday there was a triple-bill of Clint Eastwood films, though I only stayed to watch the first film - "The Good, the Band and the Ugly" (original title: "Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo"). We sat on the grass infront of the giant inflatable screen and had a picnic... a nice way to spend an evening as long as it doesn't rain... which it did, but only for the last half-hour of the film!

Open-air cinema

On Sunday afternoon I went to a little café near to Boulevard de Ménilmontant, called Le Lou Pascalou. The bar is hidden away on Rue des Panoyaux, on a little square. The bar is what I think of as typically parisian - with a zinc counter.

Rosé on zinc

Yesterday, after finishing some renovations at my place, I found the time to go to Paris Plages - an initiative of the Mayor of Paris to build a temporary 'beach' on the right bank of the Seine. There are several free activities such as the French game boules - I played a few games with some friends... very French!