Back to Paris !!!

Yeah !! Finally !!

Café Hugo, Xmas at home, seeing friends, family, and Paris ... very quick but so good !!

Sur le pont de Londres, ... on y danse, on y danse ;)

ok je sors :)

... Charlotte visiting from Avignon ...

Celine in London !!

Friends, more friends visiting ...

And a very good one for this nice weekend ... a bit rainy though ... but welcome to London, ma p'tite blonde ... ;)

A visit from Brussels !

Sylvia and Greg in London ??

First visit from the belgian expats !!

December Mindfun ! ... 80's night !

As every month, Mindfun of december happened and we decided to go to the Reflex, an 80's club next to Saint Paul's ...
Very nice cheesy music and a few shots of course !!

Carole, Virginie and Stephanie in London ...

End of November I've had the visit of 3 of my good friends : Carole, Virginie and her sister Stéphanie !
We had a really good time visiting London, chilling out in Soho, going out for Indian food, eating tartiflette at home and getting to know a few new pubs :)

Award night ... and the next day :s

Yesterday evening we went to the "MCA Consultant of the Year Award Ceremony" ...

Basically, consultants from different backgrounds and companies, nominated and recognised for their work this year ...

Evening was really nice and a lot of alcohol and food ...

The most difficult is probably the next day when you go back to the office :) (Ask my colleague Jude ...)

A comedy next to Leicester Square ...

Last Tuesday i went to see a comedy in the center with harry who's working for Orange here in London ...

That was one of the most incredible experience I had since i arrived !!

Imagine a small room on the first floor of a pub ... full of people with beers (of course !! and the show stops 2 times so you can grab a fresh one downstairs ...)
Then you have 4 comics coming and doing a show for 20-25 minutes each ! Really funny, a lot of improvisation, interaction with the people ...

A real british experience !!

Leo in London ...

If you mix a girl from Lille + AIESEC + crazy party londoner ... you get Eleonore ...

You never know where you start ... you never know when you finish ... but the night is always amazing ;)











Live bar in Notting Hill
















Meeting new people ...













































... and going around London by night ...

Hash Run ... 20/10

I'm sure you're asking yourself ... what is a Hash Run ??

Well ... i'm still not sure if this is something that really exists but we had a lot of fun !!

It has been presented to me as the following : "A running and drinking club ... except that we have a running problem ..."

So mainly this is starting by a bit of running ... for around 20 minutes ... ( and actually i think my grandma is running faster than we did ...)

And then, you share shots of beer with your friends and talking bullshit all afternoon ... (oh yes ! because it's starting at 4pm !!! ... )




















That was good fun ... crazy AIESECers ...

Sonicka in London !!!

My dear friend Sona is the first one to land on the Brit capital for 3 days of fun, visits and party !!

Real London touristic tour starts with good english breakfast ... eggs, baked beans, bacon, sausage, toasts and a cup of tea ...





















Then we walked to Camden Market in the north ...













Back to the center and going around Covent Garden ...





















China town !















Evening on picadilly Circus













.. and Trafalgar square ...




















Then next day in the city ...


















and around Thames :)






























St Paul's














London sunset ...













Big Ben ....


















And busy London by night







That was a great week end !!!!!!!!!!

Mindbench + Fun = Mindfun !!

Yes having a team night is really common here and this time we went to a mexicano near Waterloo !!

Nothing big to explain ... pictures talk for themselves ;)










Jude and Richard ...











Me with Faye ...















Richard, Ed and Beci















Jude and Mexican food ... and hat :)



















Faye ... (after a tequila shot ?!)

First working week ...

My first working week has been really busy and intense, a lot of things to integrate, understand and many things to be working on soon ...

The company is quite young and it reaches a interesting point. Company is financially good and i'm arriving at a moment when a lot of things can be done and space for creativity and improvement is there.

Basically first week was induction but again really different from any other induction I had before ...
Richard is the managing director.
Ed and Jude are the two consultants i'll be working with at the moment.
And Faye is our Recruitment coordinator ...

On Wednesday evening we were having a beer with Beci who should join the team soon as a new consultant ...
Thursday evening was Candidate evening and around 15 candidates came to meet us, have a presentation on interview techniques and enjoy nive food together ...
And on Friday afternoon, we all went to a pub next to the office to review last year's results and prepare the goals and actions for next year ...

All this made a great week, rich in sharing and networking and amazingly useful as an induction ...

Second week is starting now with the real job ....

A week in Paris !

Before starting my new job, i came back to Paris to rest, see my friends and enjoy Paris !
Well, actually it was a crazy week :D

I arrived on Saturday and had a drink with Sona, Neli and Ka in the center ....
Then nice chill out bar in Oberkampf with Virginie, Of and Laurence.

Sunday : Brunch with Sonicka, Neli and Ka and visiting Paris as it was open doors for many monuments and goverment buildings .. then Rugby game (France vs Namibia) on the Champs Elysées ...

Monday : Diner with my Dad, my brothers and Belle Maman ;)

Tuesday : Lunch with a colleague from SocGen, Diner with AIESEC friends (Sona, Carole, Flore and Jo)

Wednesday : Lunch with Loutchi, Café Hugo with Laurence on Place des Vosges and Diner with Céline at Chez Prune next to République ...

Thursday : Pick up my grand Parents at the train station, Drink with Marta and Clementine, Diner with Alan and Sonia

Friday : Lunch with Sonicka (well .. coffee :p), Rugby night for France vs Ireland ... we won ! Diner at a south west of France restaurant and a huge Ice cream at Haagen Dazs

Saturday : Lunch with my mum, brother, beau papa and grand parents ... Diner in Cour St Emilion and let's go to party for Le Bal de l'Elysée Montmartre till 4-5am then Kebab in Grands Boulevards and directly go to the train station to catch up my train with my 50 (60 ?) kilos of luggage !

Great week ... but didn't rest at all :)


Some pictures ....










Sonicka














Ka and Neli


















Paris !!














France vs Namibia ... we won as well :)

















Paris

















Clem ... yes it's her !
















Flore and Carole ...













Jo

Job and Apartment in London !!

Here it is, I did it !
I finally got a job in London in a really cool company called Mindbench, a recruitment firm specialised in Management Consultancy profiles ... working with big companies (Big 4 ...) and smaller niche consultancy firms ...

My role her will be as researcher ... which means finding the right candidates all over the world for our clients ... basic researcher role but as well using new media (LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs ...) to find them ...
Aside from that, i will be in touch with Business schools to strengthen our relationship, working on marketing aspects of the company.

People are really nice, young team and a lot of opportunities to be involved in projects ...

The recruitment process has been really different from any other i've been through ...
First and second interviews have been quite normal ... but last part was a social drink with the team during 3 hours and after 4 pints of beer, i can assure you that the discussion was hard to follow ... imagine English people talking after 4 pints with a French guy at the same level ... :D






Apartment !!

I found a really nice 1-bedroom apartment in Holborn, close to West End and from everything happening in London ...
















I am around 30 minutes walking from work, 10-15 minutes from the Center (Picadilly Circus, Oxford Street ...)






























































Everything went really well and i'm starting to get settled in my new life !

My First Italian Wedding - 6-10 Sept.

Three weeks ago, I went to my friend Mabe's wedding ... and it was greeeaaat !!!!




















I arrived in Rome on Thursday ... and had time to visit till Friday morning when Odette & Coco arrived and Sonicka in the afternoon ...









Coco, Soňa (say [sonia]) and Odette ...










Rome is a really nice City and I really enjoyed the beauty of it ...






























Then the four of us took the car to Santa Maria degli Angeli, next to Assisi where Mabel and her husband are living. Assisi is center (from North to South) / center (from West to East) of Italy ; on top of a hill with really great landscapes ...






After two years, we are finally back together, French MC team 04-05 !






















On Saturday we visited the city and went out in the evening for a pizza and a crazy party in an old castle ... Great moments to bond a team of 12 people / 10 different nationalities and the future married couple :)






























From front to back, left to right :
Sonicka from Slovakia, Barbara from Malta, Odette from Malta, Coco from France, Neil from Scotland, Leo from Ecuador ...














Antonio from Italy, Janelle from Puerto Rico











Neil from Scotland






and missing ... one Romanian, one Kenyan and one German ...


Sunday : the wedding !
Preparation, visiting the bride, going to the wedding ... so nice in a small church, typical Italian style







































































and dinner ... well if you could call that dinner :
1st : drinks and appetisers ( which means a lot of food !! - cheese, vegetables, sea food, pizzas, salads, ham, ...)
2nd : the dinner itself ! Risotto as starter, Pasta as starter ... again, main meal and buffet of desserts ...











































and then chill out on the terrace with a drink ... or dancing ...














Then, back to the hotel around 3am, we decided to go for a room party ... to finish this amazing week end ..



















Next day was back to Rome and everyone was leaving ... back to their different countries ... Odette to Malt, Coco to Bremen, Sonicka to Paris and I to London ... wow good to be back home but was a great experience !

Week end in paris and Birthday Party !

I spent last week end in Paris visiting my parents, spending time with my brothers and above all celebrating my friend Ophélie's birthday !!
It was short but i really had a good time ... not so many pictures but everything is in mind ;)










Birthday girl !



















Virginie and Nico ...



















Do !


















Dina !














Virginie and I ... p'tite mine dis donc :)













Do, Virginie and I





















HAPPY BIRTHDAY my dear !! All the best for this year !!

Notting Hill Carnival - 25/26/27th of August

10 days ago was taking place the Notting Hill Carnival, a huge internationally known event where Carribean and African culture is promoted, shared and put ahead to millions of people. Around 2 millions of londoners and foreigners came to discover this colourful event.











Notting Hill
















Carribeans !!


















Food :)





















Saturday in Hyde park, Steel Band contest













Sunday - Children's day




































Monday, Carnival day













































































































































































































Movie for the ears ...



Movie for the eyes ;)

Another crazy week end in London !!

What I love about London is being able to see so many different people in an afternoon by just walking around the city ...

We first left for Camden Market - quite famous place in the North of London ... the market is placed in old stables and known for its specific population mixed with gothics, techno/rave party people, piercing and tatoos ...























































































































If you want to find old vinyl discs and antiques, there is quite a few along the canal as well ...

That is a really good experience to live, however, the market is going to close soon and be rebuilt as a shopping mall and loose all its deep nature ... if you've ever been to Camden you'll know what I mean and if you don't want this to happen, please put your name on the petition SaveCamdenStablesMarket

Then we moved to Trafalgar Square where the India Now Festival is continuing till end of August ...
Flying painters where creating a huge Bollywood style poster, colourful, giant, as big and amazing as this wonderful country where it's coming from ...
















And we finished our day by passing through Soho and its Soho Pride that was taking place ... Quite diferent but really animated for a Sunday afternoon ...



















Welcome again to London !!!

Frenchies love their country ?? who knows ....

What is the first thing you do when you enter a Waterstone's in London ??

You look for LP about France !! No, we - French people - are not chauvinists :)

Tartiflette Power !!!!

Yes we did it !!
Tartiflette with my friend Choupi !!

... remembering the good time we had in cold east France ...





3 smelly reblochons for 4 people ... French eaters are in the place !!

Marie-Soleil to sell ...

One of my good friends here in London, she is as well looking for a job ...

Don't worry, she is really looking for an honest job sitting in an office and everything ...

Prince in Concert - O² London

Last Tuesday I had the chance to go to see Prince in Concert (thanks to my friend Marie-Soleil and her extensive network ;)) and that was a really nice experience ...




















O² is a huge Exhibition/Concert hall center - east of London ... quite impressive , where many English bands and international artists are playing ...


























































With a huge Love Symbol stage, Prince has played some of the songs of his latest album - Planet Earth - and of course some of his hits , Cream, Kiss and Purple Rain ...

Thank you, Julie !!

A quick post for Julie Vettraino ...
Who is she ? I had an interview with her the first day I arrived in London and since then she is either calling me or sending me emails almost EVERY DAY to arrange interviews and meetings with her clients so I can find a job !

She is really professionnal and proactive ... i could not have dreamt of a better consultant to take care of me ...

If you are looking for a position in a recruitment company ... she is the one you need !! ;-)

A bit of English humour ;-)

I love it !!

And walking Sunday ...

We started our day by going to Notting Hill and Portobello Market on Portobello Road ...
This is a really nice part of London quite colourful and different from other parts of the city ...
On the 26th & 27th of August you will be able to see in that area the Notting Hill Carnival with people mainly from Carribeans and Africa ...





























































And for the ones who know me : the nicest shop in london ever !!












































;-)



After that we went to a totally different world : Gunnersbury Park next to Chiswick (West London) where a huge festival was taking place : The London Mela, one park, full of Indian people, celebrating their culture, dances, music, from classical to contemporary ... that was huge cultural sharing ...

















































hmmm Kulfi ...















And we went back home walking next to the Thames passing by a wonderful place close to Chiswick ... a piece of heaven in London ...















A marina bay in the middle of a residential place ... for parisians : imagine living in St Michel and having your Yacht in the middle of your building, ready to sail on the Seine ... you'd call it Chiswick Quay !















After more than 12 hours outside - walking, dancing, discovering, we're quite happy to find our beds at home !

Saturday in sunny London ...

After a late sleeping, we decided to enjoy the nice weather and have walk in the city !

Our first stop has been at the Leighton House next to Holland Park. This house has been decorated by a weird guy (Lord Leighton) and the entrance hall is called the Arab room ... it looks like a spa ... and totally different from the rest of the house which is really classic in comparison.























Then our walk brought us to Buckingham Palace. Can you see the Queen just behind ;-)

















Covent Garden ...





















China Town ... and its UK Newspapers ... in Chinese !
















And after the Queen in Buckingham, the King on Leicester Square ...