Paris - the elegant, the sad and the magnificent

Our time in Paris has been an amazing adventure and great education.  

We visited the Notre Dame de Paris, Eiffel tower, Galeries Lafayette, walked the Champs-elysees, climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, visited the Musee d'Orsay and Andrew and I went to see Moulin Rouge one night, which was a fantastic show. We walked to the river and crossed Ponte Alexandre III, the famous bridge, and have seen the Grande and Petit Palais. We walked to the Louvre and spent 3 hours on a tour, definitely not enough time to see it all. It's enormous and absolutely magnificent! We climbed to the first level of the Eiffel tower which was an amazing experience. On the first level, they have a cafe, and a "playground" with swings around tables where you can eat you ice cream. 

The sad thing is everywhere you go that is busy with tourists is also the perfect place for pickpockets. They are constantly harassing the tourists trying to distract them with cute little puppies, or trying to get the tourists to sign up to something or to sell them something while their friends pick pocket or smatch bags. 

When we went to visit the Notre Dame, there were several people either begging for money or selling bottled water for $1. One of them had an ear piece and was chattering into it. Minutes later we believe Andrew was targeted. We were waiting in line and as in slow motion, I saw an elderly man  casually walking directly toward Andrew as if to walk through the line. He did not look like the average Pasisian and not quite like the beggars as he was well dressed, but there was something not right about him. I held his eye contact until he walked on by. I told Andrew to immediately empty his pockets. Next we had a woman behind us appear from nowwhere, again dressed nicely, but something was just not right. She kept trying to get right behind Andrew and I kept positioning myself between them. Every time Andrew moved, she angled to get behind him. She kept at it until we entered the church, then just as we were to pay entry fee, she got on her phone and left. At the Eiffel Tower there were police and we could see them chasing the pickpockets away so gladly we had no further incidence. 

There is also a constant military presence on the streets of Paris which I found surprising as I wasn't prepared for this. Apparently there has been trouble in Paris recently and the whole city in on constant high alert. We even saw a riot squat of 6 trucks full of men holding machine guns escorted by the police on bikes  and in cars thought the streets one day. This gave me a real fright as I didn't know what was going on. 

Visiting the Sothys institute has been a long dream of mine and so on one afternoon Andrew and I were booked to enjoy relaxing treatments at the Sothys institute. The staff were very friendly and attentive and kindly gave us a tour of the Spa. There are 10 treatment rooms and one VIP treatment room. The spa was beautifully appointed in a modern, classic style. Every treatment room was ready and set up to welcome a guest, the candles were lit and each treatment bed had a beautiful display themed around the treatment the next guest would be enjoying. In every room there was a lovely product display, and I particularly liked the built in sound system with 5 chanels that a guest could select the music of their preference: jazz, classic, relaxing, etc. I also liked how they had the change area set up in each room, with a jewellery box for the guest, a small linen bag hanging on a coat hanger for the underwear, a deodorant spray to freshen up after a treatment and a hair brush. 

In the VIP room they also has a shower, hair drier, hair straightener, hair spray, and the Sothys ladies fragrance and homme fragrance. The staff showed us their dispensary and how they prepare the trays for each treatment. There was great attention to detail with an elegant touch to ensure complete comfort and sensorial experience for their guests. 

The treatments I enjoyed were the Hanakasumy body relaxing treatment and the new Hydra3 facial intensive treatment due to be released very soon. I felt like a goddess as I floated down the stairs after 3 hours of pampering. The skin on my body was polished, silky smooth and super soft. The skin on my face was radiant, refreshed and I particularly liked how plump my skin was, not a wrinkle in sight. 

We have been staying in the heart of Paris, only meters away from the Sothys institute, a block away from the presidential residence, about 10 minutes walk from the Ark De Triomphe and the famous bridge across the river, the Ponte Alexandre III. The Eiffel tower is about 1/2 hour walk so everything is very close. 

Traffic is not so bad in Paris, it's busy but flowing nicely. I think is has something to do with the fact that about a third or more of the people in Paris travel by bikes, motorbikes, and scooters, the rest walk or catch the bus. I have only seen small delivery trucks, semitrailers do not come into Paris, which also helps keep the traffic flowing nicely. There are parking facilities for bikes and motor bikes all over Paris, more so than for cars. There are bikes you can hire everywhere. For about 10 euros for the week, you can hire a bike for an hour a day. Pick it up at one place and drop it off at your destination. 

Paris is truly an amazing city and the people have been just wonderful. We loved the patisseries where we would buy coffee or a hot chocolate and pastries for breakfast to enjoy in the park near by. 

The people of Paris are very friendly, we are always greeted with a cheerful Bonjour everywhere. Most speak English so we have had not problem communicating. I was also amazed how my high school French has come back and every day I remembered more and more words. I think if I stayed here for a few months I'd be speaking French in not time. Andrew laughed how I was picking up the French accent already. 

Olivia commented how she has not seen ANY overweight people in Paris. It is true, they are all very slim, in Australia we might even refer to them as skinny. The people of Paris look very healthy, slim and relaxed. 

I have yet to find Mc Donald's (I have seen a couple small billboard advertising it, but have not seen one) there are no burger king, pizza hut, KFC anywhere in Paris that I have seen. I have seen one or two very small Subway shops. The people of Paris mostly eat at patisseries, cafes and restaurants and seek out places where fresh and local food is served. They are very much into eating fresh and fine foods. They prefer quality over quantity. Fine cheese, ham, eggs, fresh leafy greens served on a baguette (long crispy roll) would be the kind of take away foods you will find here. Most French people bring lunch to,work and have a substantial lunch of starters, main and desert as they do not eat dinner till about 9pm. 

Both men and women dress smart casual at all times. A kind of relaxed elegance. No joggers, track suits, revealing singlet tops, or very short skirts or shorts. The women wear mainly dresses, or skirt and tops. Nothing extravagant, but smart. You can spot a tourist immediately in white socks and sneakers, shoe string tops or singlet tops and shorts. 

What surprised me though is how little make up the women wear. They wear barely any make up. Perhaps a little tinted moisturizer, maybe mascara and that's it. It looks very natural by day. At night they may put on more foundation, a touch of bronzer and a touch of liner and mascara, the lips are natural and nude. Compared to the heavy vontoured 'Kim Kardasian' make up look that's so popular with young women in Australia right now, this is a striking and refreshing change. The brows are natural and soft, not the thick and sharp shaping that is so popular in Australia. You can spot a tourist woman instantly with the bright blush, thick foundation and powder, heavy contouring, coloured lips and strong eye brows. This has been an eye opener for me. 

The French do love their fragrance but keep it subtle. As I walked through crowds at the railway station I could pick up hints of fine French fragrances everywhere. It was not overpowering, but it was there. 

Visiting Galeries Lafayette, the famous department store here in Paris was amazing. The department store was 4 stories hight and was absolutely packed with tourists. Designer cosmetics, clothing and accessories of all famous brands you  can think of attracted huge crowds of people. The prices were surprisingly reasonable from our perspective. Designer jeans for under E100 . For foreigners the prices were reasonable, but as I later learned, for the French people it was a bit pricey.

I talked to one of the local ladies and she informed me that people in France earn on the average E1500 per month. The minimum wage is E1100 per moth . The beauty therapists earn between E1100 to E1200 per moth. The food and the clothing here is pretty much what we pay in Australia euro to dollar. For example, a sandwich was E6 we pay on average $6 for a sandwich. Main meals at a restaurant would be between E20-E30 which is comparable to what we pay. 1 little of milk is about E1, the pork and lamb are pretty much the same but beef sells for between E25-E30 per kilo. The French earn about 1/2 what the average Australian earns yet they pay about the same for clothing and food. Real estate is much lower that in Sydney. The lady we spoke to wanted to buy a 100 m2 house in Paris but found it unaffordable at just over E300,000. 

My impressions of Paris is that the lifestyle even tough elegant, is quite modest. I learned that the French people enjoy quality in manageable portions. They do not over indulge in anything, rather, enjoy the elegance of simplicity. This has been a very educational and interesting experience. I will miss Paris and will bring a little bit of it home with me to enjoy and share with friends and family. 

SUCCESS AND FEAR OF FAILURE

Successful people frequently choose to put themselves in challenging situations. They step out of their comfort zones and face their fears. Why? Because it is what makes them stronger and wiser. 

They either succeed or not. It does not matter. What matters is that they have learned something new and added something else to their portfolio of skills and knowledge. 

If they no not succeed at first, they try and try again using a different approach until they succeed.

Once they succeed and reach their goal, they can't sit still for too long before they set themselves another new challenge and a goal. 

Successful people have this insatiable need to keep learning and growing. 

So face your FEAR and rise to new heights! 

Easter in Slovakia

I have many lovely memories of Easter in Slovaka. 

As a young girl, the Easter celebrations at school were wild, wet and fun! The boys would chase the girls and spray them with water using plastic siringes ( before water guns were invented) perfume and even toothpaste. It was kind of like a food fight without the food. It was messy but it was fun! 

My grandmother lived in a small village all her life and told me about the Easter traditions. On Easter Monday, the village young man and boys would dress in traditional Slovak costume, and visit a girl they fancied at her house. They would shout out to her to come out, and as she came out they would whip her with a young willow tree branch. It was regarded as good luck for the girl to be whipped. All the boys in the village would go from house to house, chase the girls out and herd them to the village creek, where they would be chased into or picked up and thrown into the creek. My grandma told me it was good luck and washed away evil and back luck. 

I remember my mum preparing and decorating Easter eggs. She showed me how to empty the eggs without breaking the egg shells. She pierced a small hole on the top and bottom of the egg, then would blow out the contents. These were later used to make Easter cheese. We then painted and decorated the eggs. She also hard boiled eggs in water with food colouring to colour the shells, and made several batches in different colours. These eggs were used for decoration later eaten. 

Later when we lived here in Australia, my father would prepare the Easter basket, with sausages, bread, cakes, cucumber, tomatoes, decorated Easter eggs and Easter cheese. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slovak-easter-cheese-cirak/

We would take the basket to church and have it blessed by the priest. After fasting all day, once the basket was blessed, we could take it home, feast and celebrate. 

Easter was a family and community celebration in Slovakia and later here in Australia in the Slovak community. Sadly, as I grew up here and married, I have not been following these tradition and lost touch with the Slovak community. Thinking about it today, they are lovely traditions, and I should show my children how we celebrated. Perhaps it is time to introduce my family to these. One of them is to pour a cup of cold water on the girls on Easter Monday morning while they are still in bed. I wonder how they will take that? ;) 

HOW TO SET AND ACHIEVE GOALS

Weekends are great to take a breather, and think about you goals. Reflect and think about your week, your year, your life so far, what you like about it, what you don't, what changes you can make and set some goals. 

If you want to get somewhere in your life, first you need to know where you want to go, before you think about how you will get there. 

Get a nice journal and start writing your thoughts down. Even if you are not sure, start jotting down your ideas, your wish list, or your frustrations. 

A good tip I once received when I said "but I don't know WHAT I want" , I was told to write down what I DONT WANT. It was a great start, most of us know what we don't want. So write all the things you don't want on one side of the page, then next to each point on the other side of the page turn it into what you DO want. For example "I don't want to run out of breath and struggle like that when I climb that damn hill." will turn to "I want to be able to climb that hill easily and without loosing my breath". 

Once you have determined what you do want ( your first goal, yey!) think about how you will get there. In the case of this challenging hill climb, I know in order to climb it successfully I will need to get fitter. It may mean I will attempt to climb it only part way up until I start to struggle, then come back down. I know I'll have to attempt this frequently and try to go a little further each time. 

So I make some plans to take action. Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings I will climb that hill as far as I can go, and keep doing it, pushing myself that little bit further each time until I achieve my goal. 

Sometimes you will write a goal  down but have no idea how to get there, or perhaps think it's just not possible in your situation. Don't worry about it, leave it for now. Ask your mind to find a solution, and when ready come back to you. ( your mind is very much like a computer, it can work on problems in the background ) Trust yourself that you will come up with the right answer when you are ready and move on to your next set of goals. 

So in summary this is what I do: 

1. Reflect and evaluate my past experiences and jot down my thought in a journal

2. Write down what works what doesn't, what you like what you don't like, what you want and don't wasn't 

3. Turn things you don't like into what you would like. Things you don't want into what you DO want. This will be your first set of goals.

4. Think about each goal and what it would take to achieve it. Break it down to what actions you can take, and approximately how long it will take for you to achieve it. Put those actions in your diary, and DO IT. 

S L O W D A N C E

Have you ever watched kids

on a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down

Don’t dance so fast

Time is short

The music won’t last

Do you run through each day

On the fly

When you ask “How are you?”

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,

do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

running through your head?

You’d better slow down

Don’t dance so fast

Time is short

The music won’t last

Ever told your child,

We’ll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die

‘Cause you never had time

To call and say “Hi”?

You’d better slow down

Don’t dance so fast

Time is short

The music won’t last

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift….Thrown away…

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

Written by  Dr. David L. Weatherford, who has written many other beautiful inspirational poems.

Can you become more powerful through body language?

What a great way to start the day.
I can relate to this, I have been there when I was scared, had no confidence and was paralyzed with fear. Learning anout body language I learned, "fake it, till you make it". I like her take on it, and it is very true - "fake it, till you BECOME it." and "small tweaks lead to bigger changes".
http://youtu.be/Ks-_Mh1QhMc

Do you prefer shopping online or at a traditional brick and mortar retail store?

We have been hearing about how online shopping is steadily growing, and the local brick and mortar businesses are feeling the pinch.

Yet regularly, I see stories on the lifestyle and current affairs shows telling us about the latest place to buy products cheaper online overseas. I for one feel very let down by our local media running these stories especially encouraging people to purchase products overseas. They are encouraging people to take their money away from our local businesses and our local community but fail to inform the public of the possible repercussions.

Our retail businesses are struggling, and when customers choose to purchase their products online, and especially overseas, the businesses have no option but to cut costs.

One of the largest costs to a small business in Australia is staff wages. We like to get paid well in Australia, to support our modern lifestyle. So as customers shop elsewhere, we loose jobs. And what about the consequences to our economy when our earnings are sent overseas. No wonder we don't have money for our schools and hospitals. And all this is because, in many cases, people shop online just to safe a few dollars.

I buy online only when I can't find the products in a retail store or from a local retailer that sells online for convenience. I prefer to support my local small business. I have owned small businesses before, I understand their struggles.

Like many others, I still prefer to shop in a 'real' shop because I like to touch, feel, try on or see the product work. I prefer the people interaction, the advice I get and the support I get when things wrong.

Online shopping it's just sooo BORING!! Nothing beats the retail experience. Unless of course the retailer does not deliver what is expected of them!

People shop online for reasons other than to save money. Some local retailers really need to lift their game in order to attract the customers back to their stores.

Sadly there are a lot of brick and mortar retail stores that are simply boring. Boring product selection, boring displays, boring shopping experience. Watch how long people stay and browse in your shop, if they are in and out quick, then you haven't engaged them.

Some have poor customer service, staff may have an unfriendly manner, don't know how to answer questions about products (some are even too scared to talk) the business has little to offer in retail, they are out of stock or they have very poor selection on offer, or even worse, in order to keep costs down, they stock cheap and poor quality products. No wonder customers take their money elsewhere!

To stay in the game and cater to todays customers, small businesses need to make the shopping experience a fun, engaging and pleasurable experience.

Provide a shopping experience that will give the customer 'something to talk about' with their friends. An experience that they will look forward to, over and over again.

How can this be achieved?

Firstly, know your customers.

Know your customer demographics, their needs and wants. If they are not buying from you, they are buying elsewhere. Find out where and why? Is there a need you have failed to meet? And if you get the answer, ' I bought it elsewhere because it was cheaper' don't give up. Ask them, ' what would compel you to buy the product from us at the RRP?' and keep asking questions until you get the ideas you need to make the necessary changes.

Some ideas to get you started are: convenience, expert advice, follow up and support, incentives from a loyalty program, personalized attention, the chance to try before they buy, make it more fun and exciting.

Know your trade

Study the retail businesses, brick and mortar as well as online, see what makes them successful, and what makes others fail.

Study your own business, look at it critically to assess where improvements can be made. (Sometimes you may need outside help as you are in the business everyday it will be hard for you to see areas for improvements).

Are your staff attending regular training to keep abreast of industry trends? Do they keep updated with the latest product knowledge so that they can provide the best and latest service and advice? (Many small businesses don't send staff to training as they see it as an expense. I think it'll cost the business a hole lot more in the long run if the staff are not trained properly)

Do you offer a good selection of products and services to meet all you clients needs? Do you offer the best quality products, with a good reputation? (Many businesses choose cheaper products thinking it will be easier to sell, but especially in tough times, customers seek out quality, they want value for their money)

What makes your business unique? Why SHOULD customers buy from you? (These are critical questions that most small business owners have no answer for, and will be overshadowed by businesses who not only know this well but communicate it effectively to the consumers)

Do you have a well thought out and documented business, financial and marketing plan, updated yearly? (No one should be running a small business without these documents, these are critical to the business success and survival)

What is your marketing strategy? Internally as well as externally? (And I am not talking about advertising)

Is your business retail area designed for maximum impact? Is your retail and merchandising updated regularly and is current? Do you have a show-stopping display? Are customers encouraged to engage with the products before they buy? How?
What makes shopping fun and exciting with you? Why would customers choose to buy from you? (Differentiate yourself from your competition and especially the online competition)

Are your staff immaculately presented, well spoken, approachable, friendly, informed and can close sales consistently? Do they actively work at building a long term customer base for the business? What expertise can your staff offer your customers that customers cannot get elsewhere? (In small business, your staff ARE the business)

Is there a future for brick and mortar businesses in Australia?
In my opinion, absolutely! But they cannot continue doing what they have always done and expect to survive. Times have changed, and local retailers are not only competing with their local and national competition, but international via the online presence as well. And this will not go away. In fact, shopping online is fast becoming a fact of life even for a 'traditionalist' like me. I love shopping in real stores.

So my advice to small business is, shine above everyone else, make your business stand out, make it really interesting to shop at your store, give me something to talk to my friends about. I want to support you, and I don't mind spending the few extra dollars. But make it fun and exciting!