was sick again the last 2 days. since i got back from boston, i have been sporting an undercurrent cold which surfaces for a few days then goes back under cover for a few days and then comes back in a different version. p was sick friday and for the weekend. it seems that i picked up his version this time. it was fine, since my wednesday was mostly free, so i just hibernated. but today i had lots of plans so i wanted to be well. i got up and walked maynard to the regular cafe where i met the moms of j’s friends. i love the idea of having a “regular” cafe. it was nice and warm out, probably 50 degrees, though a hint of damp. rain is forecast. this was the second such meeting that i organized, with the moms of friends. it really comforts me to know these nice moms who i feel largely on the same page in terms “permissibles and restrictions”. the girls are turning 16 now and think of themselves as adults, perfectly able to handle things and some are rarin’ to try all those temptations that are dangled in front of them in paris. well, i guess that’s not really true. they are good girls, but there are all kinds of things available and they are in the experimenting age. the discussion is often about controlling alcohol at parties. one mom said that she is often at the school and she watches the attitude of many of the older kids totally disrespectful of authority figures. (i know that sounds really old and crotchety but it does come down to how you treat others) many kids are entitled, spoiled rich kids. this mom said many of the parents are “hands off” not aware of what their kids are like. apparently many parents travel often, leaving their kids with nannies, who may live on a different floor. i’ve already mentioned one of jj’s classmates last year, who had his own apartment. he was 14 last year, but don’t know how long he’s lived on his own. though his parents live downstairs. some think their kids are angels, when they really are trouble makers.
at the end of the coffee, maynard’s second mom (doggy time share) came to get him. then i went to the “place des vosges” to meet a mom from boston, a friend of a friend, who is thinking of moving to paris and maybe to this school in 2 years. it was lovely to sit in place des vosges. i felt like i was playing tourist. i had signed up for a guided tour with the mom group – of the musee carnavalet, which is paris’ museum of paris. the lady who leads the tour knows lots of dirty little details about architecture, art and the people of the past. but before going to the tour, i set up a lunch with some of the other moms attending the tour – to go to the famous fallafel place in the marais. it’s called “l’as du fallafel”. really great. i was very pleased that one mom, an iranian woman who said she has tasted ALOT of fallafels, said this was the BEST one she ever had. actually she had a schwarma. the best schwarma she ever had. the marais is so great and lots of fun shops. we stopped into my favorite shoe store and i held back from buying another pair of boots. very good price. but i may keep an eye on it since it’s sale season, the price was very good and it might go down more. it was fun walking around the marais, one of the oldest neighborhoods in paris and one of my favorites.
then we went to the tour. i have to say that there was much more detail than i really wanted and we only covered a small number of rooms of the museum. i was happy to finally go to the museum, but i probably won’t go on another guided tour. that said, there was a lot of information that i have since repeated, so it wasn’t a total loss. i guess, i wasn’t sure i really wanted to know the subtle differences of chair styles between louis 14th, “la regence” and louis 15th. (so uncultured of me to use numbers instead of roman numerals). but i don’t really mind knowing now. she said one thing that i had to laugh at and quietly disagree with. she was explaining how in these 30 room mansions (called hotel particulier) there was a minimum of chairs based on maximum needed at any one time. the chairs were moved by servants, based on what room was to be used and how many people there were to be. the small tables were called “flying tables” (“table volantes”) as they would “fly” between rooms. she introduced this information saying that the people who lived in these houses were very practical and down to earth. i have never heard of the aristocrats of the era of louis XIV described as “down to earth”. the women wore big wide hipped hoop skirts, everyone wore wigs, their walls wore gilt twirly intricate carved decorations. seriously, this is not what i’d call down-to-earth. maybe she was kidding, but it didn’t seem it.
afterwards, i continued through the museum myself. then i went up to pick up our indian visas, which were just approved. we’re going to go to india in february, during the school vacation. i’m a bit scared. i don’t know how i will take to a country so underdeveloped and poor as india. i wasn’t really great in morocco. i was ready to go home after 4 days. and that’s a relatively wealthy and clean developing country. mexico was nice, but i was uptight about the food all the time. p. said to me too, “yes i don’t know how you and jj will do there.” but we are excited anyway. anyway, i really ran all around paris today, did lots of fun things and don’t seem to be sick anymore.
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