Wishing everyone a magical Christmas this year!

Maya Muses: We won’t be having a white Christmas, not like last year, but at least the photos show how truly spectacular a white Christmas can be.

Both are simply beautiful.

Merry Christmas.

Photo Credits:  Google Images

Do I know something everyone else is just wondering or speculating about?  No, not really, but I do know human behavior and just watching and rewatching the final episode of America’s Next Top Model, I can almost guarantee that Lisa D’Amato was not the orignal winner.

People don’t change in general and most people react to important or spontaneous situations the way they always do.  If you look at Lisa and Allison at the final judgement, you can see a defeatist attitude in both of them.  When you come in second best and you know it - there’s really not too much to celebrate.

Lisa D’Amato was not one for toning down her emotions, not in this season of All Stars or in her 5th season.  Afterall, wasn’t she the girl who actually urinated in her diaper?!?  Yet when she found out that she had just won America’s Next Top Model All Stars, you would think that she would be over the top doing cartwheels or splits like she always was.

Instead her reaction was like someone had just told her, “Oh by the way, you’re having fish and vegetables for lunch today.”  “Uh, okay!”  Come on!!!  You mean to tell me this was her gut reaction to winning America’s Next Top Model All Stars?  Every other model who has ever won Top Model has screamed and jumped around in disbelief.  Who more than Lisa D’Amato would be screaming and jumping around if she had truly won?  (No one!)

Her calm persona saying, “It’s so weird, like I don’t even know what to do.  I just think this is amazing….” is one thing, but her looking at Tyra and then at the other judges and saying, “I’m not going to let anyone of you down.  That’s for sure.  None of you.” told the rest of the story.

What we can deduce from this is, Angelea somehow did let Tyra and everyone else down.  Why?  I don’t know, but she had to.  And the only reason why they would have come back to the States and redo the finale rather than show either Allison or Lisa winning in Greece is because more than likely Angelea Preston had been the winner.  There would have been no reason for redoing the finale otherwise.  They would have said, Angelea was disqualified and they would have continued on with a real reaction from the winner rather than a half-hearted reaction from a girl who knows that in reality she was only second best.

Maya Muses:  Just my two cents worth, or rather my intuition about this whole mess.  Word of advice to Tyra:  stick with your Top Models and forget about the All Stars.  I, for one would rather see a bunch of new faces than a bunch of girls who didn’t make the grade the first time around!

Photo Credits:  Google Images

I know, the race ended a few days ago, but still I keep thinking, What happened to the best reality show on television?  Why wasn’t my heart pumping and the adrenalin rushing through me as if I was the one running toward Phil to claim my million dollar prize like in all the years past?  Patrick had to tell me each season, “Calm down or you’re going to have a heart attack!” but that didn’t stop me from rooting my favorite team on in a fight to the finish line.  It truly was an amazing race and each year it didn’t disappoint watching the teams round the bend and sprint to the finish line.  And!  Strange as it may seem, my favorite team always won!

This year was an entirely different story.  Not only did the team that I didn’t want to win, was the team that won, but there wasn’t even a race!  The challenges that usually stumped a lot of teams in the past making it anyone’s game, wasn’t even an issue this year.  “Hmm, let me see, let’s type a letter shall we?  And for our final challenge we’ll just have to remember which  countries we went to in order!”  Duh!!!  Come on!  Where were the challenges?  They could at least have made them put the correct flag in the correct country to spice things up a little and I do mean a little!  Cindy and Ernie were so far ahead of the other two teams that they could have walked over to Phil rather than run and no amount of editing could make the last leg of this season’s race anything but boring!

Maya Muses:  Is this the beginning of the end for a great reality show?  I hope not, but the race hasn’t been as intense as it use to be, nor have the challenges been up to par.  One thing for sure - yes, I’m making a prediction here - come Emmy time, all the other reality tv shows who never won  best Outstanding Reality Competition have now got an equal chance of going home with an Emmy because the not so Amazing Race will not be bring home the prize come 2012, that’s for sure!

Oh yeah, remind me never to be on a plane with Marcus Pollard!  If an emergency happened, I would jump into the pilot’s seat before letting Marcus anywhere near the cockpit!

Photo Credits:  Google Images

This is the first Christmas Patrick and I will spend in our apartment since returning to Paris.  In 2009 we packed up all our things and shipped them back to France, so that year we spent Christmas at my mom’s house in Pittsburgh.  Wonderful memories with Katarina, mom, and the rest of the family playing games around the dining room table, baking cookies, and looking at the snow falling….

….and falling ….and falling!!!

Katarina, Holly, Rose, Joey, and Patrick in Time Square.

It was the same year Patrick and I took off with Rose, Holly, Katarina and Joey who had all come up from Texas to spend the holidays at mom’s as well and we went to New York City for New Year’s Eve at Time Square!  What an experience that was!

Last year we went to Normandy for Christmas with Patrick’s parents.  His brother Bruno and Bruno’s wife, Gina,  came with their beautiful children and we had a great time, not to mention all the time we spent around the dining room table as well, but mostly eating and drinking rather than playing games!

This year, however, we decided to stay home and spend Christmas in Paris.  Patrick’s parents will come and spend the holidays here with us and perhaps Julien (Patrick’s son) will come up from Nice to celebrate with us.

Russian Tea Cakes/Mexican Wedding Cookies - Rugelach

Swiss Spitzbuben                                  Walnut and Pecan Tassies

I spent the past weekend decorating the tree and the apartment and I am now full speed ahead into the Christmas spirit.  Soon I’ll start making my usual 4 standard Christmas cookies:  Russian Tea Cakes/Mexican Wedding Cookies, Swiss Spitzbuben, Walnut and Pecan Tassies, and Raspberry and Peach Rugelach with nuts and cinnamon.  This year I think I’ll try Mirabelle, Rhubarb, and Reine-Claude Rugelach - no plain old sugar cookies for me!!!  Then I’ll start writing our Christmas cards and before you know it the Holidays will be here and gone!

This weekend we plan on visiting the Marché de Noël on the Champs-Elysées and *sigh* Mark & Spencer!!!  I am so happy that they have returned to Paris!  It was one of my favorite places to shop in the 80’s and 90’s.

I was just telling Patrick a few weeks ago when we were looking at the Christmas decorations at Galleries Lafayette and the Printemps on Boulevard Haussmann, that Mark & Spencer use to be right across the street and how I missed their little fruit tarts and chocolate cake that I use to buy for Jean-Pierre.  He would eat them like hotcakes, not to mention …..well I could do a whole post on all the things I love about Mark & Spencer, but I’ll stop here before I get carried away!

Maya Muses:  I’m listening to Nat King Cole singing the Christmas Song and it’s raining outside.  Last year it was snowing in Paris at this time.  The only thing missing is our fireplace.  We had a beautiful cosy fireplace all decked out for the holidays, but we can’t complain.  We’ve been very lucky since our return to France and I’ll just count my blessings instead.

So the question is, do we go out in the rain to visit the Marché de Noël or do we just stay in and have a lazy weekend and I’ll start baking Christmas cookies? Hmm, maybe we can do both if I stop meandering here on my blog!

Photo Credits:  Personal Photos

Normally I don’t talk about Geraldine unless it’s to promote one of her new albums, but I know a lot of her fans come looking on my blog for information about her and because the news is out and it’s such happy news…..I thought why not?

It’s already a little over a year ago that Anne, Fernanda, and I were staying with Geraldine to celebrate her mom’s birthday and like any group of old friends, we had ourselves a great time bringing up memories of our days when all of us lived in the Cour Saint-Pierre.

All I can say is poor Sergio with four women in the apartment for a week, I’m surprised he didn’t go crazy, but he’s a real sweetheart!

Anyway, Geraldine told us one evening she was hoping to have a baby and, of course, we were all delighted, but mum (no pun intended) was the word!  So, when I got a call from Geraldine several months ago giving me the great news, I was thrilled.  I knew France (Geraldine’s mom) was ecstatic!

Still, my lips were sealed until recently when it’s become evident to anyone who sees Ger that either she’s been eating way too much chocolate or else she’s having a baby!  And now that it’s in Hola and has been announced on television, well why not here?!

Maya Muses:  She’s having a little girl and the baby’s name….I love it!  With two beautiful parents, I just know it’s going to fit the baby to a tee!

Photo Credits:  Personal Photos, Hola!, and Diez Minutos

Dinner with Patrick’s parents was anything but quiet and refined.  We ate, drank, and had one jolly good time!  (How often do I get the chance to use the word jolly?  Almost never!)  Patrick’s mom kept all of us entertained with her stories and antics that had us all laughing until there were tears in our eyes and our stomachs hurt from all the laughter!

Our stay with his parents was much too short, but we headed to our next destination which was Mont Saint-Michel.  We arrived at Patrick’s aunt’s house who owns a gîte (B&B) that has a wonderful view of the famous monastery right from her dining room window!  We left our bags and got ready to go have dinner at a nice little restaurant in Genêts.  It was already dark outside and as I was going to the car, my aunt and sister went zooming past me jumping into the car.

“Get in, get in!”  My aunt Dolores said.  “I think there’s a bunch of Satan worshipers or witches having a seance or something.”

“What???”  I looked around to see what she was talking about.

“No, it’s the Ku Klux Klan!” Rose said.  “They have on hoods and they’re burning crosses.”

I looked at my aunt and sister and back to where they were pointing.

At that moment Patrick’s aunt Gisele came over and said, “Oh look, there’s a bunch of young people who are making a pilgrimage from here to Mont Saint-Michel.  As the group of 20+ kids passed in front of us, they smiled and waved carrying crosses.  Gisele explained that they walk across the bay to the medieval  monestary, but of course you need to have a guide that knows the routes, the tides (that can come in as fast as a galloping horse) and last, but not least,  the perilous quicksand.  (Yes, quicksand!  Not just in the movies, folks!) Patrick’s uncle Henri has guided countless numbers of pilgrims for years.

So much for witches, satan worshipers and the KKK!!!

We then headed to a restaurant in Genêts for dinner.  Gisele, my mom and I headed for the restaurant with Rose and Dolores trailing behind.  Patrick went to park the car as a car pulled up next to my aunt and a man asked her if she knew where the restaurant Chez Jo was.

My aunt not speaking a word of French looked at the two men in the car and said, “No speaky Inglish.”

The two men stared at her and then at each other like….”Uh, were we just speaking English to her???”

Dolores called me over to see what they wanted, so they asked me the same question.

“Sorry,” I said, “were not from here, I can’t help you.”

They took off and just happened to park their car next to Patrick’s.  “You wouldn’t know where the restaurant Chez Jo is?” one of the men asked him.

“No, sorry.” Patrick said. “I use to spend all my summers here as a kid, but I’m not familiar with the town any longer.”

We were all seated in the restaurant at a big table when I asked Gisele, “What’s the name of this restaurant?”

“Chez Jo.” she answered.

At that moment, the two men entered and saw all of us sitting there!

Maya Muses:  Talk about a collective blush of embarrassement!  Opps!

Photo Credits:  Personal photos and Flickr

Aunt Dolores resting after a long trip.

Time passes so quickly and it’s already a week that my mom, sister and aunt were getting ready to return home after a whirlwind trip to France and Switzerland.  It was great having them here, but before you knew it, they were heading home and the apartment seemed so empty and lonely for several days after they were gone.   Too bad they couldn’t have stayed longer,….but, maybe next time.

Mom thought putting her legs up was a good idea; Rose getting her socks.

My mom and Aunt Dolores arrived from Pittsburgh and my sister Rose from El Paso, Texas on the same day.  They only had a day to rest because we headed off to Normandy the very next day.  The weather had been so beautiful in Paris, sunny without a cloud in the sky and 85° - I was praying that it would last, but two days before they arrived it turned cloudy, cold and gray.

We didn’t let that stop us.  We left early the next morning to Cherbourg with a stop in Honfleur for lunch.  A picture perfect little seaport town that didn’t disappoint.

We had a nice leisurely lunch of galettes salées and wine.  Each of us tried a different crêpe on the menu: Dolores had the ham and cheese, mom and I had the chicken and mushrooms, Rose the smoke salmon with cream and Patrick of course went for the one with sausages.  No one was up for a crêpes sucrées afterwards except for Rose who ordered one filled with chocolate (which we all tried) before heading for the beaches of Normandy.  It was a place that I wanted my mom to see.

When WWII started, mom had tried enlisting into the Marines!  Thank goodness she wasn’t taken and so she did the next best thing in helping to do her part in the war.  She was 20 years old and like so many of the women who remained home while their men were off fighting a war half a world away, mom became an acetylene (gas) welder building the LSTs (Landing Ship Tanks) at Dravo Shipyard in Neville Island from 1942 until 1945 when the war ended, so it was only fitting for her to see where those ships she had helped build landed.

Patrick and mom consulting which ships landed where.

It was quite moving taking her around the beaches and over to see the museum and the American Cemetery where so many young soldiers had died.  At the museum she told the lady at the ticket counter that she wanted to see her ships.  The lady looked at her like, “What?”  Mom explained and then the lady told her that she was more than welcome to go in without paying like any veteran of the war.

It was strange, but she was treated with such reverence.  Several people came up to her and thanked her for doing her part in the war.  One young woman from Holland who was there with her  young son came over and thanked my mom as well.  A man came and shook her hand, thanking her for her service.  Mom was surprised by the reception she received.

It’s true she had almost gotten electrocuted twice while working on the ships, but she didn’t realize just how much of a contribution she had made until someone told her that the war had been won not only thanks to all the soldiers who had served and those who had made the ultimate sacrifice (that, of course, goes without saying) but a turning point during the war came when ships were being built in the US faster than the enemy could sink them.

We had one final stop at Sainte-Mère-Eglise to see the famous church where the American paratrooper John Steele as part of the 505th PIR had his parachute caught on the spire of the town church and for two hours pretended he was dead as the fighting between the Americans and Germans went on below him.

As we were walking around we heard singing coming from the church, but the amazing thing was they were singing American tunes.  First they sang Glory, Glory Hallelujah, then (of all things) the Star Spangled Banner and finally It’s A Long Way To Tipperary.  As we entered the church we found out that they were having a special service for an American WWII veteran who had died in Texas!  History was all around us.

Maya Muses:  It had been a great day before we continued on our journey to Cherbourg where Patrick’s parents were waiting for us for dinner…..it promised to be some evening.  If you know how crazy my aunt is and how crazy Patrick’s mom is (they are!) and that’s before they even start drinking! Well, there was no telling after more than a few drinks if the two of them would be dancing on top of the table before the end of the evening!  (They almost were!)

Photo Credits: Personal Photos

Maya Muses:  I just received an email today that Matt Harding, from Where in the Hell is Matt, will not be dancing in Paris this time around, but he’ll be in Lyon on Saturday!  Too bad, if I had known ahead of time, I would have made an effort to be there to dance with him. (More advance notice next time, Matt - please!!!)  As it stands, the notice just didn’t give us enough time to plan a trip to Lyon.  Oh well, maybe next time!

If you would like to participate, here’s the info Matt sent me:

Lyon Dancing Event Info:

PLACE: Place Bellecour next to the statue of Louis XIV
DATE: Saturday, October 29th
TIME: 3pm

Here’s a Google map of the location:
http://tinyurl.com/5vsr947

and a photo of where we’re suppose to meet.

Facebook:
If you want to pass this around to friends, there is a Facebook event
page with the information included in this email.
You can view it here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=188354531241289

Meet-up Info:
I will be there no matter what the weather is like.

When you get to the spot, look for the guy who looks like the guy in
the dancing video. Just come on over, say hello, and ask if I am Matt.
If I’m not Matt, I will let you know.

Before we dance, I will need to get your legal permission to appear in
the video. I’ll shout some legal-sounding stuff on camera and you can
just nod and give me a thumbs up if you’re okay with it. Kids under
18, please bring a parent or guardian, or at least bring a photo of
one of their thumbs to hold up (just kidding, don’t do that).

I can’t guarantee the clip we shoot will end up in the final video.
There will be a lot of footage to choose from and some of it will not
be used.

Wearing distinctive clothing will make it easier to spot yourself in
the video, but please do not dress as a licensed character (Mario,
Spider-Man, Sarah Palin) or I will have to blur you and that will make
everyone think you showed up naked or something. Also, please do
not show up naked.

I don’t have a sponsor for this video. I am self-funding the
production. To help with costs, I will be selling shirts after we’re
done. The shirt says “I Danced With Matt”, so you’ll have
proof. It costs 12 Euros.
Cash or credit accepted. You can also view and order any size here:
http://store.wherethehellismatt.com/

You’re welcome to bring your own camera. After the shoot, I’ll stick
around for as long as anyone is waiting. I’m happy to dance with you
in your own picture/video, so don’t hesitate to ask, but I do request
that you wait until we’re finished shooting because I’ll be very busy
until then.

I know a lot of you are nowhere near Lyon. I can
only put together so many of these events, so I look at where I’ve
received the most emails and I try to invite people to
the event that’s closest to them.

Special Dance Groups:
I will also have a little bit of free time in France on Thursday and
Friday and I would love to meet with smaller, organized groups.
I am looking for dance troupes (any style of dance is great,
professional or amateur), classes of school children,
or any other group that might be interesting. I am open to all sorts
of possibilities and I can get myself to most places in the country,
although the southern part is easier, since that is the direction I’m
heading in. If you can arrange for a group to dance in my video,
please reply to this email and tell me about it.

Final Notes:
If you can, please click “I’m Attending” on Facebook if you plan to
attend, so we have a rough idea of how many dancers to expect.
If you’re not on Facebook, don’t worry about it. You’re not missing
anything.

We’re hoping to put the final video up on the Internet in early 2012.

Okay, that’s everything.

I look forward to dancing badly with you!

-Matt

Photo Credits:  Google Images

I’m excited!!!  I just signed up to dance with Matt Harding and I’m hoping that he’ll come to Paris once again!  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s about Where in the Hell is Matt?  The three videos that he made around the world were fantastic and it’s worth putting on my blog once again!  Enjoy!!!

Maya Muses:  Maybe in the next video, you’ll see me dancing with Matt!  If you want to dance with him, sign up here.

Matt in 2003 - 2004