They Met in Paris...

Ok, admittedly that title doesn't really mean anything, but I have a weakness for putting something odd for a title. (In case you haven't noticed.)

During the Easter weekend I actually did go to Paris, but contrary to what the title above might suggest I didn't meet the love of my life or anything. In fact I met up with my sister (who's studying in another city in France) and we spent the weekend sightseeing and chatting.

The weekend started Thursday when I took a fast train down to Paris (3.5 hours. I have to say it's quite neat to be able to go to another country in that kind of time. Especially considering that 3.5 hours is usually the time it takes me to travel just between my mom's town and my dad's back in Sweden.) Anyway, I arrived in Paris and had to find my way to the hotel at the other side of the city, where I was going to meet my sister. Did I mention I don't speak any French?
So, me being the lackwit I am sometimes of course I manage to get on the metro in the wrong direction. (I realised this the moment the doors were closing. Way to go...) I had to travel one stop in the wrong direction and then I jumped up and went across and took the metro in the correct direction. (Feeling very smart, naturally.) Once I got off close to where the hotel should be I wasn't sure where I was. In fact, I thought I was at a certain spot on the little map I had printed of the neighbourhood where the hotel was, so I walked in the direction the hotel would be according to the map.
Of course I didn't realise that I actually wasn't where I thought on the map, and I went in the completely wrong direction. Finally I managed to figure it out, only to find out that I'd been standing at the corner of the street where the hotel was.

I don't think I need to point out that the weekend obviously didn't start out all that well. Fortunately I can laugh about my own foolishness, so chuckling a little to myself (and probably getting some odd looks in return) I went down the street to the hotel.

The hotel we stayed at was decent, although the room was tiny. (I've heard that's normal in Paris though.) Breakfast was kind of boring, but that's also normal at many hotels. At least the neighbourhood was quite decent with lots of restaurants, movie theatres and shops.

During the days we did lots and lots and lots of walking. (My feet still ache at the memory!) We didn't get around to seeing as much as we'd have liked to, but at least we got a few things in.
Some of the things we saw:
- Notre Dame (Quasimodo, where were you?)
- Sacre Coeur
- Montmartre
- Galeries La Fayette
- Le Louvre (although we didn't have time to go inside, will have to go again!)
- The Eiffel Tower (and it's big...)

We saw a few more things, but those are the things that I can remember right now. If you'd like to see some photos from the trip you can have a look here: http://www.spellbound.nu/photos
It's a temporary link though until I finish adding all the info to the new design of the website. (I all of a sudden decided that I wanted to redesign it.. don't ask me why.)

On the whole I found the trip to Paris very nice. We had gorgeous weather with 20 degrees two days making it feel like spring had finally arrived. (Until I returned home to the Netherlands at least...)

Otherwise I'm doing ok. I got a new job so I'm biding my time at my current one during my resignation period and waiting for my replacement to be found and start working so that I can train them. (Dance, monkeyboy. Dance!)

I got a week between the two jobs, so I'm taking the opportunity to go home to Sweden and visit my family. I'm looking forward to that very much. I got a really cheap return flight, so that's great.

Ok, this is getting long winded so I better stop before I put someone to sleep. (If I haven't already.)

Oh, I'm proofreading and editing my manuscript and I keep thinking it's crap. I don't know whether writers normally feel that or if it's just me. Or maybe it really is crap. I don't know. I still plan to get it as good as I can though and then I will send it off to some publishers and start collecting rejection letters.

And so the story ends...

I finished the book! I really did it! I've managed to write an entire book. Not bad, eh? Even if it's crap at least I've written one, right? *lol* I've started proofreading and editing it now and every now and then I have to admit that I start to worry and doubt myself. What if it's not good enough, is there any character development, do I portray them well enough? And so on.. and so on.. and so on.. Well, you get the drift.

Anyway, if nothing else I can pride myself of having written a book. Whether or not I actually get it published, well... that's a different story entirely.

What else has been going on since last I wrote (I really should write more often, I know...) Well, today I got a new job *does a little happy dance* I start on April 25th and I'm really excited. It's as a recruiter in a large, international organisation so it's going to be really interesting and challenging.

I actually didn't think I would get it since I didn't feel that I did as well on the interview as I could have, but I was wrong and I did get it, so now I'm really happy. It's Friday and I found out this morning so that was a really good way to start the weekend. I think I might celebrate tonight with eating some nice dinner. If I liked wine I'd celebrate with some wine, but since I don't... Well, I'll settle for the dinner =)

I've started following a new TV show (ok, new for over here at least, I think in the US it's been running for a while already) called "Lost", and I really enjoy it. I've also started watching "Desperate Housewives" which is quite amusing. Only because I'm waiting for Gilmore Girls to come back on... *sighs* I really like the Gilmore Girls... There's something about the fast paced and witty dialogue that just pulls me in.

Next weekend it's Easter and I'm going off to Paris for a few days where I'll meet up with my sister. We're staying at a hotel and since it's my first time in Paris I'm guessing there will be quite a bit of sightseeing. Fortunately my sister can speak French so I'm not too worried about getting lost. (Cause else I probably would get lost... Don't ask me how, but I would.)

Well, that's all I can think of for the time being. I will try to keep updating this space. Not that I think anyone really cares about what's going on in my life, but it helps me to keep track myself and maybe one day I can look back at this blog and think.. Hey.. I forgot I did that.. oh, and did I do that as well? *laughs* You probably think I should just get a diary, but it's just not the same. Typing on the computer and accessing it from anywhere, it's so much easier.

A good weekend to everyone =)

Where did the spring go?

Tuesday was March 1 and I was hoping for some nice spring weather. Instead I got snow. Well, thank you very much! It's spring! Not winter! March = Spring. Is that so difficult to understand?

In the beginning of March 2005 the Netherlands got more snow than they had in the past 20 years. I would rather have had more sun than in the past 20 years. But maybe that's just me. I hate being cold.

Then again, I rather have snow and cold than rain and cold. Or wind and cold. Or the worst; rain, wind AND cold. It's very interesting because we have that a lot here. It means that you can't use an umbrella because either the wind is ripping it inside out or the rain is being thrown in all different directions (and your umbrella only covers one).

If one can ignore the winter outside I guess I'm doing ok. I had a nice surprise when I realized that I only need to write another 3 chapters for my book before my rough draft is done. That was a nice surprise for sure (assuming I can squeeze the ending into 3 chapters *lol*). Then of course there will be a lot of editing, but I'm quite looking forward to the editing.

This weekend I'm going out with a friend. Tonight we're going to a nice bar called Crazy Pianos which has live music, and tomorrow night we're going to the cinema to see Constantine. Fingers crossed that both evenings will be good ones.