Lately...

I guess by "lately" I mean the last month or so:

A spiral of a tree's skeleton as leaves (finally, finally) emerge on a rare sunny day in June.

Me, my friend Lisa and our great ol' pal BJ Novak chilling out and having a glass of rosé at Shakespeare and Company, no big deal. Yeah, as much as we acted like we were friends from way back, BJ apparently was just being nice to us. (If you're interested you can read Lisa's detailed account over at her blog, Ella Coquine.)

Later that night, we happened upon a fabulous brass band playing beside the Seine. They sounded great and Lisa and I started up an impromptu dance party. (Jenna dancing, on purpose, in public? I think my fellow Pengabears would be proud of me.)

A free weekend concert at Place de la République. I saw an actually-cool German folk band. I was obsessed with watching everyone in the crowd, most of whom were clutching onto each other and dancing together as the warm weather has seemingly brought out all the lovers.

(Including the couple on the lower right of the shot below, who consisted of a girl in a wheelchair and her hippie boyfriend, who'd propped her up in the front of the crowd and was dancing joyfully with her until she began to smile and danced with him. Okay, I guess that was pretty sweet.)

A window across the street, completely aglow with golden light from inside the apartment and green leaves and heat.

You guys, I'm totally a chef. Here is the summer version of my endless possibilities with basil and tomato. I call it Jenna's Pasta Salad. It's cold fusilli, cherry tomatoes, basil, salt/pepper and - secret ingredient - goat cheese. AND I will have you know that I recently started cooking meat so a little grilled chicken really took this dish to the next level. Maybe someday I'll open a restaurant called Tomato & Basil.

On 14 Juillet, or what's known to Americans as "Bastille Day" (which no French people say), the day was HOT, in the most pleasant and rare-for-Paris way. I went down to Parc Montouris and caught a free concert by a young cellist and harpist. It was beautiful.

The harp was ridiculous. So ornate.

During the harpist's solo song, the cellist stood to the side and looked very judgmental about the audience for about ten minutes.

But the crowd was a good one, and it always makes me happy to see how many people will turn out (and even stop by as they walk past) a classical music concert.

Including this redhead, who was so French it was just killing me. Her hair was so wild, she watched the concert so contemplatively, and she just sat there and smoked a cigarette right in the middle of this crowd like it was no big deal. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't fly in any public space in America! I think she probably thinks she's living in a French New Wave film.

Later that night, I wandered over to the Sacré Coeur to watch the fireworks. The steps in front of the church were just bananas full of people. SO MANY PEOPLE. I don't think I've ever been amongst so many other humans at the same time. The silly thing was that that spot is the worst place to see the fireworks. I knew they'd be just beside or behind the Eiffel Tower, which is pretty much the only thing in Paris you can't see from the steps of the Sacré Coeur. (To be honest, no place up here would have been "ideal," but I wanted to stay in the 'hood and didn't feel like going all the way downtown, so this was the best I could do.) So I walked past the crowd and ended up sitting along these steep steps just behind Place du Tertre. I love these steps. They feel kind of hidden away and sometimes there's a guitar player there. At the bottom is "Chez Marie," a beautiful, red, little family-run restaurant I went to once with Stephanie. Anyway, I knew I'd at least be able to peek at the fireworks, so I installed myself beside a hundred other people and waited.

When the fireworks started, people got all agitated that they couldn't see perfectly and started to rush away to look for a better view. While I know that it wasn't the optimal view, for me it was actually the ideal spot. I could see the Tower and the fireworks through this latticework and tree, like spying on a neighbor through the peephole. I got to enjoy 14 Juillet in my neighborhood, in one of my favorite spots, and since everyone else scattered to find a better view, there were hardly any people in front of/around me. Just these ten:

(Yeah, I know the photo didn't turn out well, but it actually was a nice and relatively calm experience.)