Finding that 'umph'

Do you know what I am talking about? That feeling of love and appreciation? That special connection? That light bulb? I'm not sure how to explain it.... But when many people come to Paris they find that love for this city... I'm not sure... I don't see it. Being the lucky person that I am though... I have had many people give me a hand with trying to find it. My lovely cousin Ayesha in London ordered the movie 'Sabrina' from Amazon.com and had it shipped to me as my first piece of mail. How sweet is she!!!!!

SYNOPSIS: Sydney Pollack directs Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond in this remake of the 1954 Billy Wilder romantic comedy. Ford and Greg Kinnear portray a pair of brothers who are both potential heirs to the Larrabee family fortune. David, a dashing playboy, and Linus, a sensible stodgy businessman, both end up vying for the affections of Sabrina (Ormond), the chauffeur'sdaughter, after she returns elegantly transformed from a sojourn in Paris. Pollack presents an effortless contemporary telling of this classic Cinderella story.

Now I must admit... I loved the film and thought that it was a very cute little love story... and I think it definitely helped a little bit with finding the special things Paris has to offer but here are some things that 'Sabrina' and I don't have in common.

- Paris is the city of love

Sabrina: She met a hunky french man who took her around the city and took pictures with her.

Me: I haven't met a hunky french man to take me around the city (yet) hehe.

- Employment

Sabrina: She got a job working in Vogue... she was put right smack in the middle of the Parisian fashion scene.

Me: I'm working with other Canadians on 'canadian' soil AND in an office!

- Older/wiser french woman

Sabrina: This is what Sabrina had...someone to help her change her perspective and appreciate Paris.

Me: I don't have this... although people have been helpful.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the movie, thought it was well done and am super grateful to my cuzzie for sending it to me to help me out :)

Also... one of my friends/coworkers from Canada (Romy) gave me her sister's information and we have since been in touch. She is lovely!!!! Régine, her husband and their two young boys and I strolled around Paris a couple of weeks ago. They showed me some neighbourhoods I had no idea about!!! They also gave me the scoop on stores, shopping, and sales; ie. the important stuff! Also... last Saturday her youngest son was Baptized and I was so happy to have been invited! I had the most wonderful visit with her mother from Toronto- whom I had met in Vancouver and her grandmother from Lebanon whom has given Romy and I an invitation to visit her in Beirut! Lets start planning Romy!!!! I would like to say a special thank you to Régine and Yannick for their warm welcoming :)

Last Sunday, I was very fortunate to have a lovely co-worker of mine take me around Paris. Luc and I met at around 11am; walked around Paris, taking pictures of various little areas...plus I need to know these things so that when people come to visit me, I will have somewhere impressive to take them!

Luc is wonderful... he is a co-worker from Ottawa who speaks perfect french and perfect english...with a perfect accent in both! He has been very patient with me and has been correcting my french... which I am very grateful for! He is also a very talented Opera singer!!! He asked me to post his website on my blog for publicity... but then when he asked how many followers I had, I said 9, and he laughed and said don't bother (joking). I reassured him that many people have been reading it who aren't registered followers... so those of you who read it often but aren't registered....come on, register... get my numbers up!!!! Anyways... here is his link!

http://www.luclalonde.ca/

LUC LALONDE, BARITONE

Canadian baritone Luc Lalonde had great artistic beginnings. Born and raised in Bourget, Ontario, into a family of musicians, he studied music in the Arts Program of De La Salle High School in Ottawa, where he had his first contacts with the stage. After being accepted as a chorister with Cantata Singers of Ottawa and Opera Lyra Ottawa the pleasure in his initial experiences in the professional world lead him to study Voice Performance at McGill University, in Montreal.

Opera McGill played an important part in Mr. Lalonde’s studies. He sang many roles while studying for his degree; Pistola in Falstaff (Verdi), Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart), Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’Amore(Donizetti), Thomas Putnam in The Crucible (Ward), to name a few and in January 2003 sang his final role with the ensemble - as Leporello in Don Giovanni (Mozart).

He was acclaimed by the International and National Press for his performance of the title role in the Canadian opera Louis Riel (Somers) which took place at the Place-des-Arts in Montreal, in January 2005. This same production received the OPUS prize 2004-2005 for the Best Artistic Production of the Year. In the Canadian opera scene, he has performed with Toronto Operetta Theater as Captain Bloodswigger inLeo, the Royal Cadet (Telgmann), with Opera in Concert as High Priest in Samson et Dalila (Saint-Saens);Don Pedro in La Perichole (Offenbach) and with Opera Lyra Ottawa as the Imperial Commissioner inMadama Butterfly (Puccini), Hermann in les contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach) and as Gregorio in Roméo et Juliette (Gounod). In the Summer 2003, Agnes Grossman invited him to sing Dandini in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the Orford Arts Festival.

In the Summer of 2007, Mr. Lalonde sang the roles of Dr. Grenvil in La Traviata (Verdi) and Hermann inTales of Hoffmann (Offenbach) for Belle-Ile-en-mer’s Lyric Festival. In January 2008, he performed the title role in The Bear (Walton) for Les Envolées Lyriques, at l’Espace Beaujon, in Paris. Mr. Lalonde worked for the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on the workshop and production of Howard Shore’s opera The Fly. In this he had the pleasure of working with conductor, Plácido Domingo; stage director, David Cronenberg; and the composer himself (also known for writing the music of such films; the Lord of the Rings and Mrs. Doubtfire). The opera premiered in Paris in July 2008 and went on to Los Angeles in September.

Mr. Lalonde is very active on the concert scene and has sung on many occasions with McGill Symphony Orchestra, Cantabile Orchestra and Choir, Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, the Ottawa Youth Orchestra, Canadian Centennial Choir, Choeur Classique de l’Outaouais, Sacred Music Festival, Calgary’s Spiritus Chamber Choir. In October 2008, he made his international solo-recital debut at the Palacio Nacional da Ajuda in Lisbon.

Mr. Lalonde now resides in Paris, France.

So I have been living in my apartment for about 3 weeks now and I hadn't really spoken with my room mates until tonight! We decided to meet up for dinner so we could get to know each other! They are from the west coast of France and go home often and with working hours... we often miss each other. So we decided to make it a date. It was wonderful! They are so lovely!!!! They said that the next time they go to the town where they're from to visit their friends and family I am also welcome! How sweet!!!! So I will be going to the ocean side town where they are from sometime this summer to spend the weekend with them! I was so honoured they invited me! They also invited me to join them and their friends for summer evenings along La Seine (the river in Paris). They are super sympa et cool!

All and all... I am slowly but surely finding the love that Paris has to give. I was speaking with a dear friend who said that she believes that it is the people who make the place. I totally agree with her. Maybe that's just it... living amongst Parisians isn't like living amongst others. They aren't as friendly as others in this world...lets just say that. And so...maybe that's just it! I do know that I don't want it to be December, my time has passed, and the whole time I lived her I wasn't happy... so don't you worry... I'm on a mission to find my niche in Paris! Maybe it's the weather too? It has been quite rainy, cloudy, and grey!?