Being nice is not that hard

Something really extraordinary happened yesterday. After I left my little note to my neighbors, I didn’t expect a reaction. My guess was that the guy with the magazine idea would contribute to mine out of solidarity. Boy, I was wrong.

What happened with my note?

Later that day, someone rang my door. Being in a lockdown for the past 6 weeks, this is an extremely big event. I cautiously opened and one meter from me a mother and her daughter were standing on the staircase. The little girl was as shy as I am and was hiding behind her mother. The woman asked me if I left the note and I stuttered a “yes”. She then reached out and gave me a whole bag with books and a note. She smiled and told me that there is a lot more where that came from. I had no words to express how touched I was at this moment.

I love these small gestures between strangers. I regret that I didn’t reach out sooner and plan to return the kindness. I’m thinking about baking banana bread and leaving it in front of their door. I’ll see if something else pops in my mind and in the meantime I have a lot of books to occupy me.

Books I read in the last months

In the last couple of months, I was focused on reading classic French literature to better dive into the atmosphere of the city. A lot of stories are written about Paris or take place in its streets. One of my personal favorites is Patrick Modiano. His melancholic writing style speaks to my soul like not so many other authors. He often addresses the topic of identity and what exactly makes us who we are. A lot of his characters are wandering the busy streets of this city and feel like they are alone. They usually are in a quest of searching part of their past that makes them utterly unhappy and incomplete. The books never finish with a happy ending because we never truly find ourselves.

Another book that I have recently read and loved was not from a French author but was still written in this type of “searching for the meaning of life” style that I relate to. “Twenty-Four hours in the life of a woman” shares the curious fact that one little event in our life can completely change us forever. Other than the magical story, I always take pleasure in reading a book about a place where I have been. This love story happens at Côte d’Azur.

While I was studying in Nice, my friends and I often took the bus and traveled to the cities nearby. My personal favorite was Monaco. The tall buildings, the yachts, the unusual town shape. Pure magic. I miss it a lot. The year 2016 was one of the best years of my life.

Before I can continue to enjoy my new books, I’ll be preparing a beloved Bulgarian dish for diner. I just bought all the ingredients and will do my best for I have never cooked this before and my reputation amongst my friends is not as the best cook in the world.

Little Red Bars for a Valentine’s Date

Since the very early age of 15, I discovered what a pleasure cocktails are. So in the last decade, I mastered the art of “cocktail tasting” and bar hopping. Discovering the new best bar in my hometown become my kind of sport. Of course, I never drink more than two a night.

Arriving in Paris, I got the opportunity to taste a whole new palette of savors. In the city of love getting drunk is not that hard. I started by googling the top places to drink cocktails. Little did I know, but 2 of the top 50 cocktail bars in the world are here in Paris. Being a Virgo, I can’t wait to get to the bottom of this new list that I found.
Starting with number 36 – Little Red Door. My first guess is that the name is inspired by the tale “Little Red Riding Hood”. Who knows?

You could never accidentally stumble upon this bar. It’s one of those places that you have to know before coming here. The street is the most ordinary one in the city, the grey facade of the building is in the typical Parisian architecture, only a bright red door catches the eye. Don’t be scared if the door does not open when you push it. The actual way to enter is on the left. Sometimes a guy is standing in front of the bar, giving you riddles or asking for a password. There is no password other than being nice and having a sense of humor.

The bar is a very small, cozy place. If you’re a cocktail enthusiast like me, you would probably prefer the bar from where you can observe the whole process of making the BEST cocktails in the world. Sadly, I did not come alone and the group decides to sit on the comfy chairs. The quiet chaos in the furniture is very pleasing to the eye – it’s the exact amount of hipster that a millennial would need to feel in his element.

The waiter/waitresses are very helpful with tips if you’re overwhelmed with the menu. Once you come here, you’re hooked. The menu changes often and you can always discover a new flavor. The names of the cocktails are inspired by words in different languages, often with a definition that does not exist in any other language/culture. To be honest, I don’t recognise most of the ingredients as well.

After a very long discussion, we decide to choose 4 different cocktails that we will all try. Our final decision is this:

Madrugada (Spanish) – The late-night silence of the walk home, the early morning city sounds

Mauri (Te Reo Mãori) – Our connection to each other and the world around us. We share a force of life, principles, emotions

Počemúčka (Russian) – Why is the sky blue? Why are strawberries red? Why does that person keep asking questions?!

Ubunto (Nguni Bantu) – I am because we are; together we are greater

Overall, it’s a great experience that one should try at least once. It could be a very nice place for a casual St. Valentine’s date.

Paris by Night: Hot Spots and Things To Do

Paris can be a bit overwhelming in the beginning. Personally, I still need to find where the best places are but for now I can show you some low key hipster bars and unusual activities.

Last weekend I spent my Friday evening in the Fifty-Fifty bar. Like every other French bar, this place is small, but cozy. The dim light contributes for the intimate atmosphere. We sat on the bar so that we could observe the bartenders. Since I was a bartender once upon a time, I enjoy watching their work. I have never been an expert, but I can easily make some basic cocktails and shots.

 

If you are a cocktail lover like me then you must try this place! The menu has a section with special Winter/Fall cocktails. Conveniently, they wrote some key words on the taste of each cocktail so that you can choose based on your taste preferences and not base on the main alcohol. My choice was called “JUST LIKE A WOMAN” and it had Dolin Blanc vermouth which is a light type of vermouth, Yuzuchu (liqueur made of citrus fruits), cranberry juice and tonic water. You could say that it resembles a Cosmo because of the ingredients but not so much.

My boyfriend tried “SIMON WANTS ACID”. To be honest, this would have been my second choice. It’s made of gin, St-Germain (elderflower liqueur), lemon liqueur and cardamon.

On Saturday I had to work, that’s why we skipped the second cocktail and went home early. After work on the next day, we had tickets for a classical concert. It was a nice event that was a bit more original than usual. The event is called “Candlelight concerts” and this week’s one was in the amphitheater of the Oceanography museum in Paris.

The organization of the event was great and the crowd too. They asked us in the beginning if we have already been to classical concerts and to my amazement a lot of people said no. In my hometown it’s always the same people that you meed in this types of events. This showed me how open people in Paris are to new things and new experiences. We have listened to three sonatas from Beethoven. Before each one of them, the pianist told us a small anecdote about it.

From classical music we changed the venue to a rock bar with live music. We drank a beer and went home so I could not make any photos of the bar.