Paris, first 30 hours

[flexagon]

I wanted to get that last entry in before I got all distracted by being in Paris with norwoodbridge and his friends... I actually wrote it on the plane. Yes, second glamorous destination in less than a month. ^_^

Thus far, France is reminiscent of Italy for me, with its old buildings --grates on the windows, plants sitting in all of them -- and courtyards. Where Italy has cats sitting around, though, France has tiny dogs on leashes; and the language bubbling uncomprehended around us is headier, less deeply voiced.

Yesterday involved some napping, because I came over on a red-eye and needed it. There was some wandering, though. Then dinner with Norwood's friend group that we're here with. Our hostess was the one person of this friend-group who lives here (the other four of us are in a crazy-cluttered airbnb) and a fabulous cook; I learned some tricks.

Note to self: for deliciously crispy new potatoes you about halfway boil them (more than just blanch), then put them into a container with olive oil and garlic and shake the living shit out of them to kind of mash the outer layer, THEN roast them at 375 or whatever until done. SO GOOD. I probably won't ever bother to try cooking duck the way they did it, but I'm gonna copy those potatoes.

Also: Skinceuticals something something UV defense is REALLY nice sunblock for face. If I don't get something awesome in Paris, I'll buy that when I get back to the US. That said, it starts to seem like the best things to buy here are indeed pharmaceuticals: there's better sunscreen available here, and an ibuprofen cream (ditto), and an ibuprofen/codeine/caffeine mix that is sold for migraines but sounds useful for any number of things.

Comments

[nevers.livejournal.com]

i was so happy to get OTC voltaren gel (an NSAID) in canada! you can get iburprofen gel OTC at a compounding pharmacy in the US, fwiw (i got some in keene, NH; must be somewhere in boston -- or maybe your "ditto" means they have a BETTER ibuprofen cream, like better sunscreen?). but yeah -- this is one of the exciting things about for countries for me too :)

[flexagon]

Oh, I hadn't been aware that it was possible to get ibuprofen gel/cream for topical use in the US at all. At any rate, I'm gonna buy some here, because it's readily available. Tomorrow we hit the pharmacy. :-)