Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Oh Dear! It is December already! The past few months have been incredibly busy and eventful. Thus, I did not take the time to update my blog and must confess that I have neglected my friends...

So what happen between September and now? I have changed jobs for a start. I am now working in Quality at regional level (Europe) and spent the past three months trying to grasp the scope of my job, learn new things and travelled myself to death. I went from the UK, to Sweden, to Germany, to Belgium, to Switzerland, to the UK again and then Hong Kong. In parallel, I have been spending time with my boyfriend Manu, getting to know him , his friends, his family, introducing to him some of my friends and family etc...Furthermore, we have decided to move in together and we are busy handing notice, looking for a flat, organising our move while running around to find Christmas presents.

Is this a crazy life or just a crazy life??

As we are getting closer to the end of the year, I am craving for a break, some time off to reflect on the past few months, to contact my friends and get an update, spend time with my family, meet my nephew born in August and who I have not even had time to see yet!

If you read these few lines, I wish you a relaxing break, a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2008!

I am ready!

This reflects the spirit of the moment ! I just love this song (Zoo Station)
from U2 - Achtung Baby
Bonne semaine à Tous !!
***********************************************
I'm ready
I'm ready for the laughing gas
I'm ready
I'm ready for what's next
I'm ready to duck
I'm ready to dive
I'm ready to say
I'm glad to be alive
I'm ready
I'm ready for the push

The cool of the night
The wartmth of the breeze
I'll be crawling 'round
On my hands and knees

Just down the line...

Zoo Station Gotta make it on time...
Zoo Station

I'm ready
I'm ready for the gridlock
I'm ready
To take it to the street
I'm ready for the shuffle
Ready for the deal
Ready to let go of the steering wheel
I'm ready
Ready for the crush

Zoo Station (Got to make it on time)...
Zoo Station
Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, It's alright
Hey baby, hey baby, hey baby, hey baby
It's alright, it's alright (Alright, you can turn it up)

Time is a train
Makes the future the past
Leaves you standing in the station
Your face pressed up against the glass
I'm just down the line from your love...(Zoo Station)
You know I'm under the sign...(Zoo Station)
I've gotta make it on time
Make it on time...(Zoo Station)
That's alright...(Zoo Station)
Just two stops down the line...(Zoo Station)
Just a stop down the line...

Good, good, good, good vibrations....

I just had the most fantastic vacation in the US yet again with my Dear friend Cathy. Late August, we flew all the way to California to spend a week with Helen (Cathy's grand mother) and Jack (Helen's boyfriend) near San Diego. Helen has a house in Pauma Valley, at the top of a hill surrounded by avocado and orange groves.

I cannot start to describe the beauty of the place. The photos below speak for themselves. We had a fabulous time. Cathy was working and I did nothing but sunbathe, swim, walk and eat peanut butter and avocados (picked directly from the trees). Helen is an amazing woman. I shall not disclose her age but tell how she is a role model to me just as my grand mother Mimone. These old ladies are smart, energetic, curious, connected, stylish and I hope that I will age as gracefully as they do. Helen, if you ever read this blog, I would like to thank you very much for a warm welcome and making me feel so at home.

Following this relaxing week, there was another adventure ahead of us : the long awaited rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. We flew to Phoenix where we stayded at Gail's (Cathy's Mom) for 24h...

Now this is another of my favorite place in the US. Gail has one of the prettiest and most cosy house ever. I just love going there as I am always treated like a VIP, with a lot of kindness and generosity. Gail even understands my shopping craving & took me to Banana Republic (twice)...Thank you so much Gail for your patience driving us around, making me discover Little America and many other things...

We departed the next morning with Gail and Roger toward the Grand Canyon where we started our trip on the Colorado River. Again, the pictures will speak for themselves. I have been blown away by the immensity, beauty and magic of the place. No phone, no fax, no computer, no bed, toilet or shower (food was fabulous though !!)

I found two quotes (respectively by Albert Einstein and Clarence E. Dutton) that best describe it:

"The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the source of all true science"

"To the conception of its vast proportions must be added some notion of its intricate plan, the nobility of its architecture, its colossal buttes, its wealth of ornamentation, the splendor..."

Last but not least, I would like to thank Joel and June (Cathy's Dad and his wife) for helping us make this dream come true and organisazing the whole trip in the Canyon for us.

The Summer House

In the 60's my grand parents (Mimone & Bon Pa Georges) bought a piece of land near Royan and built 2 houses on it. The first one is called "La ribambelle" which translates as "throng" or "flock" in the wordreference.com website (???). The second one is "La Benaiserie" which means the place where one feels good. Later in the late 90's a 3rd house was built right next to the other 2.



Every single year, our entire family gets together during the summer. This is a great time to catch up, eat fabulous food bought fresh from the market every day, drink fantastic wines and just enjoy a simple life. Every little event is seen as an opportunity to laugh & celebrate. The atmosphere is quite unique (please refer to Cathy's blog on http://expatting.blogspot.com/ for she is much better than me at describing all of this stuff).

I have just spent a few days there and my stay has been enjoyable as ever. As I am writing about this paradise, I realise how lucky we all are.

Still another holiday is coming up!! I am going to the States for two and a half weeks. The first week will be spent in San Diego at Helen's (my dear friend Cathy's grand mother) and the second week in the Grand Canyon rafting and camping in the wild. While staying with us in La Benaiserie, Cathy had the good idea to tell my parents that beside wild waters, the Canyon is full of rattle snakes (some of them pink!) attracted to the warmth of campers sleeping bags at night, that the only way to get out of the Canyon was by Helicopter and later on a tiny (micro) plane (I call them flying moped).

Poor parents, the worries they have to put up with...but what can I do?
I like to live a dangerous life ;-)
Watch out for the post about the snake in my sleeping bag. Until then, bon weekend et bonne reprise à ceux qui ont déjà trop buller.

Welcome Batiste!

Long time no hear! I forgot about the blog as I have been busy running around between work and the summer house. This is just a short post to let you know that I am an Auntie again. Batiste was born on the 7th of August in Avignon. Both Carine & the baby are doing fine. We are totally thrilled! Welcome to the family Batiste!!

Watch out for my next post which should be out soon!

Viva Italia !!!

Quick word to say that I am coming back from Rome where I went for a work meeting. I am part of a European group who meets 3 times per year in various locations across Europe. Apart from working (hard), we visited a few places, enjoyed Italian food and wine, learnt to cook pasta(see below)...Gosh I love my job !!

This the last work related trip for a while.

Some peace and quiet : most welcome!!!

Bonne semaine à Tous!!

London and the Hampton Court Palace Festival

Last Friday I jumped in the Eurostar and travelled to London to spend the weekend with my friend Sarah. I met Sarah back in 96 when we both worked in sunny Basingstoke on a manufacturing site. We are so different and yet, she has become one of my closest friend over the years. She is the one who introduced me to NLP and we just love chatting away for hours about the world, relationships, work, the meaning of life and NLP of course!

We had the most wonderful weekend where we shopped till we dropped in Covent Garden and surrounding areas, went for a fantastic picnic in the gardens of the Hampton Court Palace where we also listened to music and enjoyed a beautiful firework. How quaint!

Life's tough! Thank you Sarah for such a fab weekend : - )

The law of attraction

As you may already know, I am a huge fan of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic-Programming). I have started with the NLP Practioner in 2004 and I am in the process of finishing my Master Practioner later this year.

For those who are totally new to the subject, NLP is a set of techniques that are used to better understand self and others, improve communication et most important how to manage change in our lives. NLP also states that all human beings have all the resources necessary for success within themselves.

I have been fascinated by the subject ever since I discovered it, had the opportunity to experience a few of the techniques myself and witnessed the amazing impact it can have on some people's lives including mine.

For the past few months, I have been reading about the law of attraction.

Basically, the definition as per Michael Losier in his book 'Law of Attraction' is that we attract to our life whatever we give our attention, energy and focus to, whether positive or negative. Each one of us sends out positive or negative vibrations and the law of attraction will respond to whatever vibration we are sending by giving us more of it whether it is negative or positive.

It says that whatever we are thinking is a perfect reflexion of what is in the process of becoming. Now, there is a way to influence if we follow the following steps :

1. Be clear about what we really want


2. Focus on what we really want


3. Allow it to happen

I shall say no more at this stage but only this : I am trying out some of the suggested exercises to see whether it works and I enjoy it tremendously. I find it energizing and fun. I do not know yet whether this will work or not but I will for sure keep you posted.

Bye for now and have a great weekend!!

Should you want to find out more, please check out the link below:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/203-1284977-9487902?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=law+of+attraction&Go.x=8&Go.y=16
I recommend Esther and Jerry Hicks as well as Michael J. Losier's books.

Searching for perfection

The word, "perfection" derives from the Latin "perfectio", and "perfect" — from "perfectus." These expressions in turn come from "perficio" — "to finish", "to bring to an end." "Perfectio(n)" thus literally means "a finishing", and "perfect(us)" — "finished", much as in grammatical parlance ("perfect tense").

Why does one strive for perfection? As I read recently, it gives people a sense of order & control and is an attempt to stave off criticism and avoid reproach. For a perfectionist, mistakes are painful. They are exaggerated in their negative importance and expose the fear of inadequacy and incompetence.

Sometimes, we create goals for ourselves that are unrealistically high, unreasonable and most often not aligned with who we really are as a result of beliefs acquired during chilhood or from a person of significance who might have held these expectations of us.

The need to be "perfect" carries with it a heavy weight. On the one hand, it magnifies the importance of any mistake one makes. On the other hand, it magnifies the perceived difficulty of any step one takes, at best resulting in stress and at worst resulting in inaction and eternal insatisfaction.

Instead, we should take the time to think about what we really want. It's easy, we know that we are on track when the thought of what we want gives us a sense of well being.

Then we just need to take the first step in faith, we do not need to see the whole staircase.

Crash

Thought you had all the answers
To rest your heart upon
But something happens
Don't see it coming
Now you can't stop yourself...

Now you're out there swimming in the deep...

Life keeps tumbling your heart in circles...till you let go
Till you shed your pride and you climb to heaven
And you throw yourself off

And now you're out there spinning in the deep...

In the silence all your secrets will raise their weary heads
Well you can't pin yourself back together
With who you thought you were

Now you're out there living in the deep...

Lyrics from "In the deep" Bird York - Soundtrack from L.A. Crash (One of my favorite movies)

J'adore cette chanson, elle reflète l'état du moment et c'est très bien comme ça...

La vie est belle!

Dog shit nightmare

Following my stay in perfect Singapore "the Asian Switzerland" , I was shocked coming back to Paris by the noise, the pollution and the speed at which people are living their lifes.

After over 6 weeks, I still cannot get used to the pace of living in Paris.

As I headed toward the Metro to go to work early April, I was first welcome by the smell of the sewer, the filth of parisian public transport...As I went from the metro to the RER I was shocked by the number of dog shits lying around!!! I had never paid much attention to those things before probably because I was so used to them.

Having lived in Singapore has changed my perception quite dramatically and I realise now how dirty Paris really is and how uncivilised many Parisians are when it comes to managing their best friend's droppings!

I arrived at work after 1 hour spent in the tube/train/bus, totally exhausted and stressed.

For those who know me, this will sound quite unbelievable but I have decided that I want to move out of Paris. Even though I still enjoy the city in many ways, it is time for me to find a bigger place, closer to work, with a decent kitchen, in a more quiet area where my plants are not going to die within minutes of being put on the mini balcony. I'll keep you posted!

Before I go, I wanted to share with you 2 videos on the subject mentionned in the title...
http://www.linternaute.com/video/paris/campagne-de-proprete-de-la-ville-de-paris/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/248391/dog_shit_on_bed/

I hope you are all OK. Bonne semaine à tous :-)

April's gone already

Time flies when you live in Paris ! I cannot believe that I have been back 4 weeks already...The weather has been fantastic so far, it feels like summer.


As my stay in Singapore ended, I was so much looking forward to seeing everyone, travelling to places in France, eating French food, drinking fab wines and just enjoying life !!


I have spent the past 4 weeks travelling the country and more, from Paris to Marseille, to Vienna, to Poitiers, to Cozes, to Royan back to Paris. What joy to see my family and friends again , to debate (politics is a hot topic at the moment = ) ! The market, the smell of fresh bread, roast chicken, the taste of my Mum's cooking (hé oui) , cheese wine and champagne!






Yet, I do miss Singapore and the way of life over there. As I came back to France as thought that I would be able to jump back into my life...It has become clear that it is impossible and beside the joy, I have felt quite disorientated and realised that my life could never be the same again.

Although it is unlikely that I will drop down everything to go back to Asia, there are many changes ahead. So what's next ? To be continued...

Singapore and a tribute to Alice and Jason!

What an experience lah! I moved to Singapore end of September 2006 for 6 months. This has proven to be a tremendous experience both from a personal and professional point of view.

I lived in the quiet and very green Pasir Panjang area and worked at NUS (National University Singapore). Within 6 months, I discovered Asia (7 countries in total) and its amazing variety of people, food, landscape and ways of speaking English...

I met many great people. Wil Loon and Sam, whom I enjoyed working with tremendously; Fanni, Helen, Mary, Valerie, and Maggie who took me places, made me run, swim, cycle and helped me to get started with my social life; Céline and Marc for the French touch and lots of laughs...Suxin, my massage therapist who has also become a friend.

Last but not least Alice and Jason...

You have made my stay in Singapore quite unique. I can never thank you enough for such a warm welcome, your kindness throughout my stay, your patience at answering all my questions, your willingness to share your culture, traditions and take me and my friends around Singapore.

Thank you All! I will treasure my memories with you!
Now how is life back in France? See the next post! To be continued...

Welcome to my new blog !!

As I return to Paris after 6 months spent in Singapore, I wanted to find a way to keep all my friends and family posted on what is going on in my life.

My friend Cathy has always been a source of inspiration. I have been reading her blog on a regular basis for the past 2 years (if you want to have a laugh, please read the post called "Berber humor" on http://expatting.blogspot.com/) and found it a fun way to keep in touch with everyone.

Those of you who know my passion for IT matters and the fact that 6 months ago, I did not even own a computer will be amazed...

I decided to write in English so everyone can read and understand (hopefully) but please bear in mind that this is not my mother tongue... so forgive any spelling mistake and/or inappropriate use of words. "Zis" will be part of my froggy charm....