Paris in Autumn Gold

Bonjour tout le monde! 

I hope you all enjoyed Benjamin's posts in my NaNo-induced absence. November was intense, and the only reason I was able to write those 50,000 words was because I had the priceless support of my long-suffering boyfriend (dinner dishes whisked away, endless cups of coffee & tea, a patient ear for my various plot problems, a kind-but-stern reality check when I was falling too far behind) and my friend and fellow NaNo-rockstar Corey, who checked in with me via twitter every day and encouraged me with cheery notes, bribes, and prizes. 

So my advice to anyone who wants to take on something challenging: have a backup team. I've done NaNo twice before on my own, and never made it past 15,000 words. I'm not kidding when I say I finished thanks to these two. And now I have a great heap of messy, tangled, coma-inducingly boring, sparkly, flat, intriguing, written words that I can now turn into something that might become a real story (after a lot, lot, LOT more work).

I am taking a short break from the writing so I can read it again with fresh eyes in a few weeks, and in the meantime I am happy to be back to our regularly-scheduled program of Paris-appreciation. We're now in the colder and wetter tail-end of autumn, with holiday lights and decorations beginning to pop up around town. 

Benjamin brought home our tree last weekend and I've been slowly adding new baubles to it every day. It's our first Christmas together and neither of us had our own ornaments, so it's fun to start fresh and build up a new collection together. My tendency runs towards an understated snowy white & silver palette, while Ben wants to add cheery reds and gold. I tried to make a case for some pink accents, but the look of horror on his face convinced me it wasn't worth the effort. 

In any case, it's wonderful to be free again to leave the house and explore and take photos and enjoy the advent of winter in the city. Will try to share more with you in the twinkling, frosty days to come...