oysters & pink champagne

october is the time of year when oysters come to paris. just back from boston, i looked out the window and noticed that the brasserie across the street had oysters displayed. i got excited! p. went down and came back with a platter. oysters to go! all opened and arranged on a bed of ice in a styrofoam plate. we pulled out a bottle of pink champagne that had been left in our fridge by either the landlord or the previous tenants. this was a paris moment. it made me very happy.

maynard in paris

if you recall, maynard, the dog was not able to come to paris on our flight because the weather had been too hot that day (airline regulations). he had been living happily and comfortably with some friends in the boston countryside. in fact, he was having a great doggy life there, running in the woods, freely chasing squirrels and hanging out with his doggy buddy, jarvis, the yellow lab. the family said they would love him to stay with them, but we missed him and felt that he should join the rest of the family.

i was planning to go back in september but hurricane earl came through, and i rescheduled. there were plenty of volunteers who were willing to bring him to us, but in the end, i decided to go back and visit my mom and pick up some more luggage. i spent the 2 days in new hampshire with my family, then 3 days around boston. i had to do some official doggy things to allow him to come, including a trip to the vet and then a trip to the usda office to bring paperwork for them to stamp. the drive out took 45 minutes, they stamped to docs in about 5 minutes and then 45 minutes back. i didn’t really want to go back so soon, but when i got there, i was happy to see everyone.

anyway, it turned out to be a smooth trip and a smooth flight back. maynard did very well – he flew in his crate with the luggage. he is adapting well from country to city life, though a little nervous on our walks. it is much more noisy here! interestingly, it seems that people are a little hesitant with dogs here. they clearly move to the side to avoid him (maybe it’s that black dog thing) and people with dogs clearly pull their dogs away. some dogs seem to be more hostile. maynard is hesitant with the other dogs too. i wondered if there was a variation in doggy culture here. it could be that because the people are different culturally, that they have conditioned their dogs to be different too.

rose in paris

jj has a friend, rose, who moved to india with her family. jj and she are doing a joint blog, called “postcards from india and france”. rose was actually in france with her french class doing an exchange to a small village for a week. they were passing through paris on their way home and jj was hoping she would be able to go see her. the class was to be at the eiffel tower this evening and rose was going to call with more info. jj was waiting for the phone call. meanwhile, i wanted to go to a school meeting, but told jj that i would have my phone on vibrate, to be ready to come home and escort her wherever she might need to go. p was still in london. sadly, but understandably, it was not easy for rose to coordinate a meeting, but, in the end, she did call and jj and she had a long conversation.

london

we went over to london to attend a luncheon for p's parents' 50th anniversary. we got up early saturday, took the eurostar train and arrived in london in 2.5 hours. pretty amazing how quickly you can get there now. it just makes the difference between the 2 cultures so much more striking. up until the eurostar, the 2 cities were so far apart. the cities really feel so different.

we met up with p’s brother and family and then went to take a walk to buckingham palace and it’s park. it was a beautiful warm day. the park was crowded, but i rarely heard any english spoken! lots and lots of tourists.

the luncheon was held in the oxford and cambridge club, a "greek revival" building built in 1838. it was a lovely event, attended by 56 people. we started with champagne and mingling in a large living room. jj’s cousins and aunts and uncle were there. in addition, she got to meet p's 2 godfathers and various other people who had worked with p's parents (who had been diplomats) around the world . jj was thrilled to meet so many people who knew her dad as a child. afterwards, we went to the beautiful banquet room, with high ceilings, chandeliers and lots of rich details. we had a fresh mozzeralla/tomato salad, then lamb and potatoes, and finished with a wonderful poached pear in caramel sauce with mint leaf garnish. it was very delicious. p’s dad made a speech, as well as did p‘s 2 godfathers. it was very touching. it was easy to imagine these guys as young buddies in college.

afterwards, we walked around the area and then caught a train back to p’s parents home in the suburbs. jj and i returned to paris on sunday and p was to stay until wednesday. the nice thing about being here for this year is that jj will be able to see p’s side of the family much more. jj will see her grandparents at least 3 times in these first 4 months.

maynard portrait

"maynard at the door"

acrylic on canvas

18" x 22"; 46cm x 56cm

crisis, resolved

crisis, day 2
according to jj, the day proceeded as follows: the kids were gathered and the principal spoke to them, again scolding them for their behavior. she then got upset that one of the girls in the class “grinned rudely” at her. later, the head of the program told them that the person who whistled yesterday and the girl who grinned rudely, should give themselves up – and apologize. then all would be forgiven but if they did not step forward, the head of the program would show all the id pictures of the students to the principal and she would identify the guilty parties. they would then get a “red mark” in their book and 2 red marks would mean suspension from the school. (though this was what jj understood of the conversation - according to the school handbook, a student could get a “mise en garde” (a warning) and 2 “mise en garde” (sounds like fencing!) would become an “avertissement” (official warning) and 3 avertissements would lead to a suspension.) anyway, jj’s group of friends, most of whom are well behaved, never-been-in-trouble types, were thrown into confusion. they didn’t know if perhaps one of them had made a reflex grimace of fear that might have been misconstrued as a “rude grin”. they discussed this among themselves and then went to the head of the program to ask her advice. she said that they should go apologize to the principal. so they decided to go as a group – which i thought was brilliant.

meanwhile, one of the moms had called me up to ask what i thought of this crisis. her husband was out of town and she had no one to discuss this with. i told her i thought it was mostly a cultural thing, but recommended that we go ask an experienced “adaptation” mom. there is a cafe across the street from the school which is the official hang-out for the school. every morning there are many moms and a few dads having coffee there. they even have an official session for the first 3 weeks of school, where they have an experienced mom sitting there to receive questions any new parent might have – relating to anything about school or living in paris. so we went and there was an italian mom whom i had already met, who is very accomplished and very kind. she had some wise information and advice. she said: yes, the school culture is very different in france. france is very strict, america is very relaxed and italy is somewhere between. she has 2 sons in the school and in the last 2 years there have been 5 similar crisis for them. for the teachers, it is important to punish an infraction – regardless of whether the punished child is the guilty child. an example – someone in her son’s class dropped a book loudly on the floor while the teacher had her back to them, writing on the board. she wheeled around and pointed at the son (an innocent party) and said “you, out.” they don’t want a discussion about it. they don’t care who did it, just that someone is punished. at first this sounds so unfair, but consider that a discussion would include excuses, whining, back and forth and time wasted, whereas a quick punishment inflicted makes the point. plus, the actual guilty party would feel remorse for someone else getting punished. then the event is done and the crime forgotten. there are no long held grudges against the child. as a parent, don’t get involved. don’t call the teacher and ask for a meeting to explain your child’s innocence. they will just look at you blankly and say, “what do you want to discuss?”. the event happened long ago for them and is a non-issue. she also said that, for now, the kids are learning the culture, but in 6 months they will know it. heed their advice in regards to your interaction with the school. when they say “no, mom, don’t call...”, listen to them. her american doctor has said that in america, they find something good in each child, to praise them, whereas in france they find something bad in each child to scold them. the mom also told me that the principal has a particular problem with the teenage girls who dress too provocatively. i guess i have to agree with her on that one.

in the school there are some old fashioned french teachers and some progressive american teachers. they each have their own style. the french teachers expect the kids to stand up when they enter the room. jj’s american science teacher talks to the kids more casually. jj certainly felt more comfortable in this class, though she noticed that the french kids didn’t know how to react to the informality, and were a bit unruly. anyway, the principal is on the top of the heap and expects the most respect. when she entered the hall and the kids didn’t jump to their feet, (they didn’t even know who she was) that, in itself was probably considered rude. then when she complained to the head of the program, well, that is the boss complaining, and of course, there had to be an action.

crisis, day 3
a group of the girls went to apologize to the principal who was charming and smiling and said, “oh how sweet of you, that is very nice, no, no, it was none of you.” crisis gone, at least for now.

classroom crisis

this is the 2nd week of school for jj (and 3rd of the school year) and we have already had a crisis in the classroom. we got an email from the head of the adaptation program last night of a grave interaction that transpired at school. apparently, the 8th grade science class had “chatting, inattention and lack of focus” and THEN another event. the mixed 8th/9th grade “global issues” class were sitting on the floor of the hall, waiting for their classroom to open. the principal of the school happened to be walking by and had to remind them that this was rude and unacceptable and created a disturbance (understandable since the halls are narrow). apparently she heard someone whistle (jj did not hear this), freaked out and threatened them with suspension. so the conversation in the house has been about the event, but more about the reactions. jj says she really didn’t think it was very bad behavior. since we were not there, we cannot sense the atmosphere at the time which could have been very much more serious than what is conveyed in the email. however, it seems to be a bit of an overreaction. jj says she thinks the principal hates them... perhaps a teenager’s sensitivity, but i’m sure she senses something. we were told that the adaptation class is of core importance to the school, which has as its mission “to develop international understanding through bilingual education”. there is great pride in the students who arrive knowing absolutely no french, who become quickly fluent and go into the mainstream school after one year of adaptation classes. i wonder if it is a pygmalian pride. ‘we took these barbarians and molded them quickly into civilized beings’. so perhaps the principal looks at them at this stage of their french experience as rude, raw material. i wonder if this is a misunderstanding, that the “whistling” was an oblivious american’s expression of “whoa!” and not “hey, babe” or whatever else might have been interpreted. we are just trying to understand. we know that the french school system is more strict and rigid. some of the older american students who acted as our guides told us that they thought the teachers of the younger kids were much more strict than the teachers of higher grades. she figured that they had to get them all well behaved early and then the older kids didn’t need as much obvious discipline or reminders of the authority of the elders. the french school culture seems to involve a lot of yelling and harsh discipline. p had a theory that, as with badly behaved kids everywhere, the more you yell at them, the less effective it is. they develop a thicker skin. this would explain why someone could park blocking a small one way street and be unmoved by the honking from others. it is a constant sound of the city, long term honking. (i was at the open air market the other day and heard extreme honking followed by long tirades of yelling. even the vegetable vendor rolled her eyes and made some remark.) they know the rules and where the line is, that should not be crossed. every year, in protest of some new proposed rule, small business owners will riot and burn cars, which seems to go unpunished – just part of the tradition. whereas, our landlord knew that no one would cash the deposit check he lost, because they would go to prison for that. anyway, it seems that this classroom crisis is much ado about nothing, but that might just be a reflection of this badly behaved american. perhaps the french could point to the incredibly disrespectful and out-of-control american classrooms, though, there seem to be plenty of those in france as well. this is a highly respected school and of course, they expect the highest quality students. i guess, our foreign kids just need to learn the rules.

minor frustrations

in addition, to hanging out in cafes and shopping in the open air marches, there are other things that make up french life. they are not all wonderful, but i try to appreciate them as part of the experience. this helps me get through some of the more frustrating aspects of life here, without expending too much negative energy. they are just more material for the blog.

firstly, i'll just mention briefly that i went to the bank to change my address and there was one person in front of me and it was 30 minutes before i got to the window. i relished the pain. the good news was that i was able to accomplish my task. p and i have a joint account in another bank, and after several meetings, we have not been able to change that address because i do not yet have the official "identity card".

this official identity card, called the "carte de sejour" will allow me to be an official person in france. i will be able to work and do other official things in france, (like change our address on our bank account). i am entitled to this card because i am the spouse of a european citizen.  however, getting the carte de sejour is going to be an epic adventure. i know i will not be the first nor the last to tell a long tale about this quest, but i will tell it all the same.  please skip this entry if it gets too boring.

attempt 1: in september, i made my first attempt. i got dressed up, so as to look respectable and not like one of the perceived "teaming masses". i arrived at the office at 1:15, but there was a sign on the door that the office had a special closing that day between 1 and 2:00. (everywhere i go there are "special closings" during normal office hours for whatever reason). i waited till the office reopened and was successful in meeting with an agent who told me that our lease, would not work as a required "lease" to prove that i had a residence. perhaps because it was not the normal 3 year lease. i needed to have an electricity bill in my name. the electricity is in our landlord's name. so she said that his bill might work but we would have to get a copy of HIS identity card. i knew i would need some of p's pay stubs to prove he had a job, and a bank statement to prove we had some backup resources to live on. however, since his job is not in france, those pay stubs won't work and i need a statement from a FRENCH bank. i had proof of health insurance.

attempt 2: a month had passed, i collected various things and thought i'd try again. on friday, i dressed up. i arrived at the office to find a line at the front door on the street. this was expected and i had brought a book. i got in line. it seemed to be moving very slowly. after 1/2 hour, we were told that the computers were down and they didn't know how long it would be. after another 15 minutes, we were told that they were still down and perhaps we should come back monday, so i left. i hadn't even gotten in the front door.

attempt 3: monday i wanted to get to the office before it opened. i did not make that, but did get there early in the day. i waited outside in line for xx mins. i got in and took a number in the office and got to the desk after another xx minutes. to be fair, the lady was very courteous asked me various questions and typed a lot of stuff onto the computer. she said i needed a better proof or residence and told me to get apartment insurance in our name. i also have to go to the town hall with my marriage certificate (luckily it is a french marriage certificate, as p and i were married in paris 15 years ago) and get it authenticated – to have a current status of marriage. might need to bring p as proof. then she gave me an appointment with the big office – prefecture du police on the ile de la cite, in the center of town. this was progress! the appointment is for end of november.

to be continued...

heritage day

today was one of the “journees du patrimoine” which takes place throughout europe. it could be translated as “heritage day”. here is a description of the day from england:

“[it] celebrates [the country’s] fantastic architecture and culture by offering free access to properties that are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission. every year ... in september, buildings of every age, style and function throw open their doors, ranging from castles to factories, town halls to tithe barns, parish churches to buddhist temples. it is a once-a-year chance to discover hidden architectural treasures and enjoy a wide range of tours, events and activities which bring to life local history and culture.”

we took velib bikes over to the city hall of paris, the “hotel de ville”, to visit. it was another harrowing bike ride for jj. i thought certain roads were to be closed, but they weren’t. anyway, we survived, but in the future we will only pick up the bikes when we are ON the closed roads. the hotel de ville, normally closed to the public, was re-built in the late 1800’s and so was decorated by the artists of that time. don’t know exactly what style they fall under, but the paintings are beautiful and dramatic – sort of pre-raphaelite like style. we walked through the rooms and halls on a guided path and came to a big ballroom which was filled with displays hosted by the maintenance workers of the hotel de ville (who also maintained other period buildings). there were clock makers with display clocks and their innards, flower decorators with exhibits of their work (really beautiful arrangements), historic plumbing specialists, antique hardware (like doorknobs) specialists and locksmiths. there were even the people who maintain the wood floors with their buffing and polishing machines and cleaning people with their mops and buckets displayed!

elevator rescue

it was a lazy day. we got up late and hung out. jj decided she wanted to make crepes so she searched the internet for a recipe and made them! they were really good. we were very impressed. afterwards, p and i went to a nearby street antiques fair and then it was evening.


jj had a birthday party to go to near the “etoile” and the arch de triomphe.
it was her twin’s party. we all walked across town to drop her at the metro stop where she was meeting the others. as we approached the metro stop, the 3 korean girls from jj's class emerged from below. jj at this point “shooed” us away. we left without having any other info, not the parents’ address or phone number, not the restaurant they were going to, nor a time that it would end. we assumed it would be fine, but as we walked i got more and more stressed at how we had not properly prepared. since we were going off to another part of town, they might be finished much earlier than us. p told me to lighten up, that it would all be fine. we went to the opera neighborhood. first we had drink in a pub. very enjoyable. it was part of a hotel and they had paintings on the wall of classical renaissance portraits, but with current political leader faces, bush, putin, etc. similar to my “p. van gogh” idea. afterwards we went to eat in the japanese area, full of sushi restaurants. interestingly, sushi is the cheap meal now, possible to eat for about 10-15 euros – so lots of students and other youth filled the streets.
then we headed back to meet jj. great timing, we got a call that she was coming down and would meet us at metro stop. then she called to tell us she was stuck in the elevator. 15 minutes went by and another call came, a bit more panicky. we got the address to the apartment and went over. 5 fourteen year old asian girls jammed into a little glass elevator stuck between floors. jj was nervous that it might fall. i could talk to her through the glass and assured her that there was technology to prevent that. they had tried the emergency button - which only rang a bell in the deserted lobby downstairs. not very helpful. then they tried the phone button which called the elevator company and got a recorded message in french, saying something like: " thank you for your patience, your call is important to us, an operator will be with you shortly" which continued to play for 15 mins. the birthday girl's mom was also on the phone trying to get through to the elevator company. but it was saturday night. p called the "pompier" - the firemen. (confusingly, there is not one emergency number like 911 – there are 3. one for fire, one for life threatening emergencies, one for less threatening emergencies – you have to know which number to call). anyway, very promptly, 3-4 young, handsome, clean-cut french firemen arrived. one opened the outer elevator doors. the others went below and determined that the “parachute” (i assume that means the “brake”) had been triggered which had stopped the elevator. (later i got the full story – one of the girls, to be funny had jumped in the elevator. i HATE when people do that. anyway, that was probably what caused this.) the elevator was between floors, and the brake would prevent it from going down much. however, to pull passengers out of a stuck elevator, you need to have a good amount of space just in case it does slip down a bit (remember this for future reference). so the firemen actually pulled the elevator up by the cable, high enough to enable the girls to climb out (quickly and one at a time). jj was a bit freaked out about the whole thing. the other girls hugged her and we all went home. (this just gives jj one more thing to be afraid of. she's also afraid of flying because, at the end of the last school year, the kids had some extra time and - i don’t know WHY they did this, but - they played an episode of “LOST” with the scene of the plane crash.)

violin teacher

another big task for me was to find a new violin teacher for jj. the mommy network was very helpful. i spoke with an american mom who explained the french music education system to me.
there were 3 ways to go:
1) public conservatories – another wonderful thing provided by the city government. each arrondissement has a music conservatory. kids can get very reasonably priced music lessons subsidized by the city. down side – it is in keeping with the rigid, old fashioned educational system. teachers yell at the kids and tell them all the things they are doing wrong. they are not gentle.
2) private conservatories – higher standard music education, more expensive and also old fashioned french style teachers.
3) private teachers who teach in their homes or yours.
another mom told me that the conservatories were already filled for the year. i had been surfing the web looking for teachers and there were a couple of sites which were specifically advertising music teachers. i didn’t know how to choose without a recommendation. one teacher, though, stood out. she had a website advertising her contemporary music trio (http://www.zodiactrio.com/) made up of a japanese pianist, a russian clarinetist and her, playing violin. she is french, but was partially educated in the u.s. i gave her a call, and wanted to sit in on a lesson – which is how i’ve looked for teachers in the past. this was not possible since she taught in her students’ homes, but she offered to just give a lesson to start. so we tried her out and both j and i liked her. she speaks english well, but i took the advice of one of the moms who said that having a private music teacher was an opportunity to work on language. so the lessons will be in french. it was an intense hour with not a moment of rest. the teacher asks jj to evaluate herself after playing, so she can get in the habit of listening more critically. the teacher’s style is a bit french, but since she has studied in the u.s., i think her approach will be slightly more tempered, which is perfect. her playing is very dynamic and she tries to push jj that way too. the nice thing is that she comes to our home, and there is no commitment, we just schedule a few weeks at a time. when she travels with her trio, there will be no lesson, but more work to cover the missed weeks. so far, so good. we’ll try it for a while and see how it goes.

swordfish with pesto

wednesday and sunday is market day in our neighborhood.  sunday market is very crowded so i have gotten into the routine that wednesday is fish from the market day. 

swordfish with pesto – really simple.
swordfish steak (preferably ¾-1” thick) - put olive oil, salt & pepper on both sides.
grill or put 1” under broiler at highest heat – 4-6 mins/side.
put pesto on top and serve.
you can use pre-made pesto, your own recipe or following simple recipe from jamie oliver:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/basic-pesto

delicious!!! thank you, janet in cambridge for serving this to us last year.

was enjoying dinner so much i forgot to go to school for the curriculum meeting. oh, well.

back to school

hallelujah!  jj had her first day of school.  she carefully picked out her outfit to not be too informal, yet not too showy.  she wore her new blue striped french sailer shirt and jeans.  i walked her to the bookshop to help her buy a required book, but then she wanted to walk the rest of the way to school on her own.  she does not need to arrive until her first class which starts on mondays at 9:15.  the lower grades all start at 8:30, so when she got there, the front door was closed and she wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to enter.  luckily her "double" appeared down the street who showed her to ring the doorbell, and she would be buzzed in.  as i mentioned before, her double is the other half asian violin playing girl from boston.  and guess what she was wearing?  yep, a blue striped french sailer shirt and jeans!   so, it didn't take long before they were being referred to as "the twins".  it was predictable.  anyway, jj had a good day.  she joined up with her new friends and their new gang, who were mostly other "adaptation" girls (non fluent in french, recently arrived from foreign lands).  she went through the day, learning the ropes of where to go, which hallways were one-way and how to get lunch.  she said most of the day was in english.  the directrice of the adaptation program has encouraged them to speak as much french as they could, knowing that it was actually too easy to speak english.

when jj is home, i spend a lot of time hovering over her trying to keep her from spending the whole day in front of the computer or trying to get her out to do an activity.  we have been spending a lot of good family time together, for the last 2 months.  right now p is away in amsterdam at a conference and jj has finally gone back to school.  i hadn't realized how i had been missing my solo time.  i came back to the apt and got right to painting.  i was very happy. it was easy to get to work.  i have been spending a lot of time on the maynard, the dog, portrait.  lots of details.  i am keeping a record of how long it is taking me.  as with any human portrait, there are many subtleties to get right to get a likeness.  anyway, i will post an image soon.

recovered

jj is better finally. phew. 6 days of fever and/or tummy problems. she ate a whole plate of home made fried rice last night at 9pm. that's when i knew she was better.

another sound of paris - real church bells ringing the hour. makes me happy.

was shopping yesterday and laughed when i realized that the delicious canapes that were served at the school function were from a frozen food shop. of course, that made sense for a school function. just because it's frozen doesn't mean it's bad. just like some of the delicious "trader joe's" foods.

working hard trying to finish new painting. hope to post it in 2 days.

missing first week of school

p left this morning early for amsterdam for a conference. there is a subway strike (tis the season for french strikes), but he got to the train station ok.

poor jj has been sick for 4 days now. tummy problems and intense pain, fever and headaches. she's so sad that she's missing the first week of school. luckily, we had a dr appt set up for today for her school medical forms. she was well enough to make the trip. i was nervous about how i'd get her there, but i successfully called a taxi. it seems trivial, but just didn't know what the procedure was or what was the correct number to call. i used google maps to get some phone numbers. i just had to do it once, to be comfortable with the idea. anyway, the doc said it is just a bug that we needed to let play its course. even though it is still terrible, it helps to know that its not serious. i also am able to talk to my sister, the dr, for more advice. (skype and google phone are amazing!)

this will be fun!

when i was living in paris before, i was working freelance for various companies. my jobs would typically last from 3-8 weeks. during every job i had, there was always a reason for the champagne to come out – whether it be a birthday, an anniversary of the company, whatever excuse. i loved it.

tonight there was a school meeting for all the new parents, hosted by the parent association which started with champagne. we’ve been with the school for a week and a half and i have to say: “what took them so long!”

the meeting was to present all the activities organized by the parents FOR the parents. i have to say that they have really done everything right. this school is made up of an interesting group of people who are predominantly international – whether foreigners living here or french returning from abroad. they all appreciate that time in paris is special. they have organized the parent activities which creates a wonderful and very social community facilitating meeting others and taking advantage of the city and region. they also help newcomers adjust and maneuver the setup process. there are multiple conversation groups for people to practice their french and english (45 mins of each), garden tours, tours with historians or people knowledgeable of whatever specialty, hikes outside of paris, WINE TASTING, WINE trip to Bordeaux, COOKING classes, pot lucks, visits and demonstrations at specialty shops (like the most favorite MACAROON bakery). with every “club” or event that was presented, i just kept thinking “oh my god, this is going to be soooo much fun!”. every parent in the group was smiling broadly. then, the website is very well done and a fabulous resource. along with all the other types of school information, there are places to get help, ask questions, get advice. my favorite is a page called: “carnet d’addresses” which is written by individual parents listing their favorite places to go or eat in paris, or things to do with kids, etc.

after the meeting, we retired to another room for wine and “canapes”. i have to admit, these were the best finger food at any school event i have ever attended. but i’m sure there will be even better ones this year! i am thrilled and we are so lucky.

sick/malade

tomorrow is the first day of school. unfortunately, today jj is sick. she woke up with a temperature of 102. looks like she’ll be missing the first day.

mirama

we had chinese food in my favorite "mirama" in the latin quarter (17 rue st jacques,75005.). authentic chinese restaurant with ducks hanging in the steamy window. am a big fan of the shrimp wonton soup with noodles. i found this restaurant when i moved to paris in '92 and had an apt nearby. when i first tasted the food i said that there was no reason to go home to new york anymore. everytime we come to paris, we go to mirama. the same waiters are there, only they look younger every year. must be the msg.
afterwards, we walked around the latin quarter which is now a crowded, touristy area with greek restaurants (should be called the "greek quarter").  visited "shakespeare and co", english bookstore with a history.  cool place to hang out and write.  will make a point of going back. we walked home, across town and the streets became more deserted. across the street, a drunk man was peeing facing the street. we blocked jj's view, but she was fully aware what was going on. the sound of water running... ahhh, city life.

independance

jj and her double (the other violin playing girl from boston, with asian mom) met today to hang out. the double was coming on her own from the 16th via metro and they would rendezvous at the school at 2:30. as j was leaving, she asked, what time should i be back? i said, “i don’t know, how about 10:00”? she laughed. then i said, “how about 7:00?”
the 2 girls went to get ice cream down the street and then walked around the neighborhood, doing a little shopping.

what we find amazing is how quickly everything has changed. suddenly jj is heading out of the house to go wandering around freely on her own. i remember last year when some of the parents at the school in cambridge were discussing whether they would let their kids go to harvard square on their own and here we are a year later, and she’s free to wander in paris. well, not all of paris yet, but i’m sure soon enough, paris will be her playground.

i had gone out and when i came back, p told me they might be going to a movie. “really? a movie? on their own?” i was a bit taken aback. i imagined them getting on the metro and heading to the center of town, but it turns out there is a little cinema in the neighborhood. it made me realize that we hadn’t discussed parameters. so later, i told her that she should text me if she ever decides to go further afield that our little “quartier”. and she replied “i’ll try to remember”. (meaning she’s so comfortable wandering further that she wouldn’t even think about it?)

she and her friend decided to go to the grocery store to buy a big bottle of nutella, and i told her to pick up some porc at the butchers for dinner. it was a good challenge. i told her to ask for some slices of “porc roti” which i thought was how you said roast pork (because roast chicken is “poulet roti”). the butcher didn’t understand. she said it again “porc roti”. he was confused. then another lady asked “roti de porc?” oh! THAT’s what you want. hard to figure that one out! then he asked something that sounded like “croo-oo-cui” - which stumped her. she didn’t understand. “croo-oo-cui” he asked again. she said she didn’t know. then he showed her a raw one (cru) and a cooked one (cuit) – (“cru ou cuit”). oh! – she guessed that i wanted it cooked. anyway, it was an achievement and great that she had her friend there for support.

lots of orientation

we had 2 orientation meetings of 2 hours each, this week. for the first one, the kids were told to bring a notebook and pen and the parents were told to bring a checkbook! we wrote checks for all kinds of things – cafeteria, book deposit, locker deposit etc. they went over the basic way the school worked (rules on how to enter and exit, what to always carry with you and what never to forget).

the second meeting went over the very complicated schedule – 2 different week schedules A and B and actual day to day class schedule. quite overwhelming. we had another tour of the campus led by a group of seniors called “peer leaders”. they were amazingly confident and well spoken, an impressive example of what these children can become. i learned that the teachers were very strict with the younger kids so that they would all be well behaved when they were older. they also talked about fountain pens. they said some of the teachers were very strict about it – you had to use a fountain pen or your homework would be ripped up. what? this was the first i heard about this. a fountain pen? what do you mean? you don’t mean those ancient pens with the tips you dip into ink – with the big feather? well sort of. the teachers are very adamant that the children use fountain pens – the ones with a real tip – like for calligraphy, with ink cartridges and insist that the writing is better. it forces one to be very neat – because the ink will smudge otherwise. pencils are outlawed. this may be a problem for jj who is left handed.

getting outside

i am in a transition stage, of course. moving to paris is a big change. i feel that i had gotten a bit suburban and i see that now as i hang out in the apt. in belmont, i would hang out in the house. all of paris is at my feet, and we are in the apt. i know these are the last few days of summer vacation for j, and she is happy just hanging out, inside. strange, but it is an effort to go out. so i have made that effort.

yesterday, i lured her out to go to a fun “shopping” area – around the odeon. we took the metro, and then we wandered around, exploring little windy, ancient streets. this is one of the things i love most about paris - just walking around and looking at things. she enjoyed it. we made our way home. (p has been working diligently in his makeshift office in the bedroom.)

today, we went to the “orangerie museum” at the base of the tuileries guardens – which used to be the green house for the gardens. we went to see monet’s water lilies that are resident there. they are always beautiful. jj loved seeing them too. they are amazing for several reasons. firstly, monet’s eyesight was deteriorating from cataracts when he was painting them. up close they seem very abstract, with lots of big brushstrokes in various vibrant colors, seemingly random. as you step back you see a beautiful rendition of water lilies in a pond with reflections of trees and sky and clouds. often the reflections are painted in vertical strokes and the lilies in horizontals – so the brushstroke directions differentiate them. it is very clear that the lilies are sitting on top of the water. he did 250-300 canvases of lilies. in the past i had gotten overexposed to monet and thought i didn’t care about his stuff anymore. then i went to see the water lilies, and was blown away. now every time i see them, i am amazed at how beautiful they are. good job, claude. (there’s another group of them at the musee marmottan in the 16th arrondissement)

blocking traffic

there is a different attitude here. a driver will leave his/her car in the middle of a small road, even though there are parking spaces, because they feel that they will only be a few minutes delivering something or other, and it would be easier to just leave the car there. any car coming down the street from behind, just has to wait. either that or do a very french maneuver which is to back out of the road. the sound of paris to me is the sound of a car accelerating in reverse. you know the sound – when the engine tone just rises and rises? even the parisians curse at the selfishness of the parisian drivers.

our apt is above a small shopping street. it is a narrow one lane, one way. there are often bouts of honking. typically, some delivery truck has ignored the special delivery parking spots lining the street and instead chosen to stop directly in front of its shop blocking all traffic from passing. i am surprised, actually, at the patience sometimes shown by the other drivers who quietly wait. i guess there’s an allowance of 2-3 minutes. this morning, at morning rush hour the honking seemed to be going longer than usual. after about 10 minutes of honking, i poked my head out the window to see what was going on. a truck had decided to park in the INTERSECTION of 2 streets, blocking all traffic from BOTH. there was a delivery space available a very short distance in front, but that didn’t matter. i called jj and p to come watch. it was a big delivery to a clothing store on the corner, so it was a long wait while they unloaded. more and more cars came down the street and lined up and we could see cars on the other street too. the honking continued for 20 minutes, but the truck driver ignored it. unfortunately for him, there was a police car in line waiting, who finally came out and gave him a ticket. he kept unloading anyway. i guess he figured he already had his ticket. jj was laughing hysterically at the selfishness. she couldn’t believe it. she was also thrilled at watching the cars reversing back up the street. she’d watch, waiting for the next car to start reversing, and then laugh, saying “there goes another one”. now, everytime there is honking, she runs to the window to watch.

french language

p is quite fluent, but my command of french is not great. trying to set up all the personal infrastructures for everyday life in a relatively unfamiliar system involves enough contact with bureaucracy and quick speaking natives that is quite challenging for me. but i guess stressing the brain is a good form of exercise. i have already gone to the office to try to get my official residency card, the “carte de sejour”, which will also allow me to work. i brought triplicates of everything i thought they might need, but did not expect to succeed, which was good, because, i didn’t. to prove residency, i brought our lease, but i need a utility bill as well and probably a copy of the landlord’s identity card. we have requested this. this process will not be easy.

j says she is understanding a lot of what is said. she had been in a french school between the ages of 3-6 and has taken french for the last 2 years. we know it will come quickly to her, but it is still very exciting to see her improving. she is still shy in speaking. i try to put her in situations where she will be forced to speak.

in these last days of summer, she has been watching tv. of course, the excuse is to help her french. she has been watching cooking shows – and picked up a bit of the lingo. she complained about the chef who said repeatedly: “et c’est parti!” when he got something going. “and, it’s on its way”. but now she knows that expression.

she has also been tickled to watch the vapid disney teen sitcoms, in french. it sounds as vapid in french as it does in english. it’s not too hard to figure out what they are saying.

chocolate

j had the idea that she would learn pastry making here and then open a pastry delivery business in cambridge. she started surfing the web on the ipad and came upon the idea of making chocolate from scratch. some website said "it's easy!" and j was convinced. she went to buy the things she would need. she was going to follow the recipe from the website which called for cocoa, sugar, vanilla, butter and milk. also needed was a candy thermometer and chocolate molds. so we went shopping to the kitchen supply area of paris - near the cathedral st eustache, above les halles in the 2nd arrondissement. that's also where you can buy beautiful copper pans. (3 shops we know of: e. dehilleron, mora, and la bovida). she picked out one mold with several different shapes, but forgot to buy the candy thermometer. j was so hot to start making chocolate that when we got back, she decided to try it without the thermometer. she read about the "softball" stage - when the candy is hot enough to form a ball when dropped in water, so decided to try that method.

try 1: she added the butter and vanilla too early. she boiled and boiled the mixture and dropped it in water to test if it was "softball" stage. finally decided it was ready and poured it into the mold. it was a gooey, sticky mess and tasted burnt. even after 24 hours in the fridge and freezer, it did not harden.

j went by herself to the cooking store around the corner and using her limited french, proudly succeeded in buying a thermometer. but when she came back, it didn't seem to be the right type at all, since it only went up to 50 degrees Centigrade. she didn't want to go back, but in the end, we both went down and had a long talk with the owner who also gives cooking classes in the shop. j was glad that i was there because she only understood about 1/2 of what he said. he was very informative. he said that the recipe didn't sound right - that there were 2 enemies of chocolate - water and temperature. water ruins chocolate and keeps it from hardening. the recipe called for milk - which was mostly made of water. he said that normally chocolate should not be heated to over 55 degrees centigrade, but the recipe required 116 degrees and then putting it in the freezer. he said the thermometer she bought was a chocolate thermometer -used for "tempering" the chocolate. if you start with a chocolate bar and melt it, it will only harden again if you temper it - which is to bring it up to a temperature, then cool it to a certain temperature and then heat it again a tiny bit to another temperature. when it is tempered it is shiny and will harden. he said he had never tried making chocolate from scratch, but the 3 ingredients should be cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar. we bought a candy thermometer, and kept the chocolate thermometer for later.

try 2: she decided to try the recipe again, just to test it, this time using the proper candy thermometer. she put everything together and tried to get the mixture up to 116C. but guess what? centigrade is defined by the freezing and boiling point of water. 0 is freezing, 100 is boiling. since milk is mostly water, it did not rise above 100 degrees. the recipe was ridiculous.

she saved the chocolate liquid to drink as hot chocolate. (we tried drinking it later and it was just too sweet. we tried adding more milk etc, but we ended up just pouring it out!)

try 3: she went back to the store and bought cocoa butter. she followed a different recipe. it called for very fine sugar - powdered sugar with no starch added. it called for powdered milk. we only had normal sugar, so that is what she used. she bought some powdered milk. it was a relative success. she made thin chocolate slabs which tasted good, though gritty from the sugar. i kind of liked it that way.

try 4: she made some more

try 5: tempering chocolate. she took her chocolate, melted it, brought it to temperature A, cooled it to temperature B and raised it again to temperature C. though it was a bit inexact, she poured the finished liquid into her molds and put it in the fridge. it worked and beautiful little chocolates (though a little gritty and crunchy) popped out of the mold.

j is acting a bit the purist about things. she's talking about making chocolate from scratch extreme. she wants to get the beans and grind them up. she wants to grow the tree and pick the pods and do the WHOLE process. not to be discouraging, but i told her that she would have to move to within 20 degrees from the equator. i told her that when i bake cakes from scratch, i don't grow the wheat and grind it into flour.

we went to the chocolate museum in the 10th arrondissement - called "choco-story". very informative and perfect for j. chocolate pod and bean displays, history (maya and aztecs used it in spicy drink and evolution to current sweet chocolate in western world). cocoa beans were a measure of wealth and used as currency. but more importantly were the displays of the process - beans are ground and create a paste referred to cocoa mass which can be squeezed to separate out the cocoa butter and the solids which become cocoa powder. all kinds of historic chocolate paraphernalia was displayed - cups, stirrers, molds.

we were gathered to watch a demonstration. this was the best part. the lady had a big machine that constantly stirred a vat of chocolate and then dispensed it into a mold (plastic grid of chocolate shapes) with a grid of poured liquid. she let it sit for a minute and upended it to pour the chocolate back in the pot - but leaving a thick coating in the mold. she used what looked like a masonry scraper to clean the mold. put in the fridge for 10 mins (she had one already prepared) and pulled it out to put in the filling - praline. put in fridge for 10 mins, and then poured chocolate on top and scraped clean and back in fridge. then she banged the mold hard to have the chocolates fall out. this was valuable for j to see exactly how to handle it. then we all got to taste them. delicious.

p asked how hard it would be to start from grinding the beans. the woman was shocked. she said that you'd need some serious machines to pull off the skins and grind them and squeeze them (or something like that). p asked about using fine powdered sugar as an ingredient- she said no, you should use glucose. hmmm, sounding quite industrial.

at the end of the exhibit there were sculptures and clothes made out of chocolate. also, there was a display explaining why chocolate was good for your cholesterol and for losing weight. not sure how objective these observations were, since the museum is sponsored by a large belgian chocolate manufacturer.

final eddie bunny

"eddie bunny"
acrylic on canvas

12" x 9"; 30cm x 24cm

eddie bunny

work in progress

painting 2: eddie bunny, 24cm x 30cm; approx 9"x12"

we are a "type"

i have never been really excited about the eiffel tower. it’s too cliche. but somehow, we have landed 5 mins from it. i jog by on my morning runs. i am softening to it though, since seeing it reminds me to appreciate this special place and time.

today was the school social get-together for the new families, that took place on the champs de mars – the park under the eiffel tower. j’s new school is a bilingual french/english school which has a special “adaptation” class for newly arrived non-french speaking or writing kids, who will spend a year getting their french up to speed. after that, they go into the mainstream curriculum. we were excited that we would be part of an international community again. her class has around 14 kids. there seem to be a few koreans, a few italians, and unfortunately quite a lot of english speakers from england, australia and the u.s. (p and i would be happier if there were fewer english speakers, as we worry that it will be too easy for j to just speak english all the time.) j got to meet her classmates and the parents got to meet each other.

i have to admit that at first, we were a little proud of our plan to move to paris. we felt brave and different. we were then shown up by j’s friend who announced that she and her family were moving to bangalore,india. they sold their house and cars and shipped all their belongings. we greatly admire them for it, but it made us feel like wimps! worse than that is that now that we are here, we find that, not only are we not brave, but we are not unique at all. we are a “type”. we’re so common that there is a word for what we are doing: “family sabbatical”. it seems that adam gopnick and his book “paris to the moon” about moving his family to paris, inspired and gave courage to many other american families to do the same. apparently the school is full of them. we walk around paris and hear LOTS of english and LOTS of bilingual little kids. then to add to our feelings of being non-unique, we find that one of the girls in j’s class is from the boston area, has played the violin for many years, AND has an asian mom. this may be confusing for the other families...

as usual, j will be our social link to the community. in san francisco, because she went to 2 different schools, music lessons and a plentitude of fancy specialty camps and afterschool activities, she was always recognizing kids around town. amazingly, at this school function, she recognized a younger kid with whom she had gone to camp this summer in boston. also, j’s assigned school buddy who had lived in sunnyvale, california for 4 years, and gone to the sunnyvale french school, knew a family from j’s violin school in s.f. another family we knew in s.f., who had gone to the s.f. french school with j, have just moved back to paris. i got an email from the mom saying that she saw us from the bus as j and i were wandering around town. then, saturday afternoon, we were across town and j greeted a kid on the metro, who she had met just that morning at the school get-together. all these encounters in the last few days and we’ve only been here a month. paris, our new small town!

vines & ikea

this morning, i went for a run among the vines. it was lovely. then we had breakfast and i brought p and j for a walk in the vines. i needed to take some pictures for an idea i have for a series of paintings. then, we headed back to paris, stopping at ikea to stock up on things for our apartment. j had been craving swedish meatballs, so we had dinner there and then, amazingly, we were able to fit all our stuff in the car, next to our wine and luggage.
was happy to be back "home" to settle in.

macon area

drove through aix this morning. it has such a lovely color. lots of people out on the street. clothing marche day. had breakfast with amy and bob in their lovely garden. wonderful ambiance. this is the life...

heading back towards paris, but only going halfway again. (just want to mention here how amazing it is to have an ipad with which we can consult google maps for real time TRAFFIC! allows us to detour around terrible traffic jams. amazing!) p was able to book a bed and breakfast in macon wine country. we drove through the lovely hilly countryside, dense with vineyards and found our b&b in an old stone farm house at the edge of a very small town with narrow streets. we dropped our bags and headed straight out to find some wines to taste.

when j was born, we were living in paris. it was summer, and we had rented a house in macon for a few weeks after her birth, so we could get out of the hot city. my mother and p’s parents and sister came over to join us. now, 14 years later, we were back in the neighborhood. we didn’t remember the name of the town, but knew that the local wine was “st. veran” and it was over the hill from the town of fuisse where they make “pouilly fuisse”.

so today, we headed out on our first mission to see if we could find the town and maybe even the house where we stayed. p. recognized the town name of “leynes” and then recognized the landscape. i recognized the doorway that looked out over the main street and onto the hills of vines. p. recognized the owner’s name. we pulled in and were pleased to see that the owner was there. we explained that we had rented his house all those years ago, just after j’s birth. we asked if we could do a tasting and he happily brought us down to the cave. i remembered thinking that his wines were ok, but not great. we were pleased to find some decent and very reasonably priced “st veran”s. we bought 6 – 2 st veran, 2 macon and 2 cramant – which is a bubbly wine made with the champagne process. we drove through the town of leynes, which was very quiet. then we headed to fuisse, where we had hiked to, years ago. we found another very quiet town, but with places to taste wines. we knocked on one door on the street. it felt like a children’s tv puppet show when the big round man with googley eyes opened the shutters above the door and said in a booming voice “aah-oui?”. when we asked if we could taste his wine, he said that he would be right down. then, like in a puppet show, we heard the sound effects of feet clonk, clonk, clonking down the echoing stairs. he had only one wine to taste. it was markedly better than the “st veran” and a little more expensive. when we said we would take one bottle, he said “ah, no”, “[the minimum is 6 bottles. i am not running an epicerie (deli) here]’. 6 bottles was really more than we wanted so, we said, “no, never mind”, and he then offered us 3 bottles. we agreed, though i guess we could’ve negotiated ourselves back down to one bottle.

we then drove into macon, which being a larger town, had more to offer for restaurants. we had a lovely meal along the river and decided we really liked the town. it felt big enough to offer everything, but small enough to feel manageable, old enough to have interesting buildings and rich enough to have nice shops. in addition, it is close enough to the vines that one can be back among them in 10 minutes.

the south

aix-en-provence synopsis:
saturday we hung out in the house in the morning and i started my first painting of this new era... in the late afternoon we walked around aix with amy and bob. there is a great energy in aix en provence. lots of people, beautiful, warm light. yellow houses. lots of very small streets and very much an upscale shopping town. it is a very old town with small windy streets, encircled with a ring road and then bisected by a shopping street called the “cours mirabeau” which is lined on one side with cafes. north of this is the touristy crowded shopping, restaurant area. south of this is the university area, which was very quiet – but it's still summer. we went searching for a crepe for hungry j, but couldn’t find any, it being late afternoon. she had to be happy with some french fries. then we went back to amy and bob’s place to prepare dinner. we got to eat on the millstone again. we had bought a rotisserie chicken and then cooked salmon and green beans and j made mashed potatoes. we had wine and a cheese course and then the 10 flavors of macaroons we bought in town. j wanted to try every flavor, so divided each one (only 2" diameter) into 5.

sunday was a beautiful day. we all went to “l'isle sur la sorgue” – a town that was famous for its canals and beauty but later made a name as the antiques town. many antique dealers here normally, but every year, the weekend of august 15 (assumption holiday), has a special antiques fair with many more dealers exhibiting in the open air. lots of crazy and fun stuff - like giant metal pergolas, a 1920's wrap around shower with 10 heads pointing in, tables made from antique doors and retired industrial machinery.

monday we went to marseille to tour around. saw the beautiful church on the hill, “notre dame de la garde” with a stunning gilt tiled ceiling and wonderful model boats hanging from it. (these accompanied many paintings of boats in storms - marseille being a sailor's town, people gave thanks to notre dame for being saved at sea.) gorgeous views looking down on marseille and the sea. then we headed to one of the nearby beaches – sormiou, where you have to park and then walk for about a ½ hour – up and down a big hill to get to the beautiful white cliffs and blue water. unforturnately, we had been having a bit of wind which cooled down the water temperature to “cold”.

tuesday we hung out in the house and i worked on the painting. in the afternoon, we went to another beach area, called “cote bleue”. the water was still cold...

wednesday we went to visit the pont du gard (huge roman bridge extending aqueduct over the river “gard”). we had a picnic lunch and then p and j swam in the river. we went to the museum afterwards, which was very interesting and well done. the romans were quite the engineers. the bridge was built with stones that were cut to fit and then were layed on top of each other without using any mortar. they built many aqueducts and this one happened to extend 50 miles (into town of nimes) with a very slight angle of decline. on exhibit were some very modern looking lead pipes that were made by the romans. one amazing video taken by parachutist and small plane followed the aqueduct from the air. most of the aqueduct was underground and you could see the indentation in the earth. apparently, after the roman empire started disintegrating and the aqueduct was not maintained, little by little the water in the system got muddier and muddier. eventually, people stopped using it. i finished my painting and have included it here.

arrived in aix

we left beaune thinking we’d find a cafe in one of the little wine towns. we headed to volnay, but discovered that it was such a small town, that at our late breakfast hour, there was no cafe open - maybe no cafe at all. i didn’t want to lose the opportunity to buy some wines directly, so on empty stomachs, we went looking. there was a man at the door of a winery and i went and timidly asked if it was too early to do a tasting. he looked at me shocked, and said, “[no, of course not]”. so we tasted his 3 wines and bought 2 of each. we eventually found a town big enough to have several cafes open.

arrived in aix. went directly to see amy and bob, who have keys to their friends’ house, where we will stay. they have a beautiful apt which is part of an older house with a lovely garden protected from the street by a wall. part of their space is a building that used to be an “orangerie” or conservatory. it is long and narrow with one long wall made of a series of arched windows. it was beautifully renovated to be a little modern and like a loft. the owner is always digging up roman artifacts on the property and the outdoor tabletop is an ancient millstone that he found. there is some sort of roman underground water system that he might use to make a lap pool. there are grapes hanging off vines which wind up an outdoor stairway. we had dinner outside, and it was lovely - exactly what i had been looking forward to in the south.

heading south

after unpacking and settling into the apt for 2 days, we took off for the south. we were heading to aix-en-provence to visit my “cousin”, amy (close and longtime family friend) who has been living there for the last 3 years. it’s a 7 hour drive from paris, so we decided to break up the journey by stopping half way. we stopped in beaune, the historic market town of burgundy, where all the local wines were traditionally sold. it is an old town, with red tile roofed stone buildings lined higgledy piggledy down narrow cobblestone streets. it seems to cover a space of no more than 10 city blocks. it is a working wine town, but also a tourist town with lots of cafes, restaurants and clothing and shoe shops. it was a beautiful, sunny day and there were plenty of tourists milling around the pedestrian streets.

p and i wanted to go back to the “marche aux vins”, a great place where you can taste many types of local wines. we had come here years and years ago and in my memory, there were over 50 wines to try. perhaps it was because i had no alcohol tolerance then, and the actual 15 (or so) wines seemed like a huge number to me. in fact, the “marche aux vins” is really a store selling its own collection of wines but it does offer the opportunity to try a variety of wines from different local towns. the other fun thing is that it is housed in an old church. they charge 10 euros for the tasting, hand you your “tastevin” ( little silver wine tasting cup), and you descend into the “cave” and walk along damp, mildewy underground tunnels lined with wine bottles and barrels. at each station there is a barrel set on its end with an open bottle of wine on top for you to pour into your tastevin to taste. if you like it, you can go to the shelf and take a few bottles to put it in your wire shopping basket. as you go along, the wines get progressively better and more expensive. at the end of the tunnel of cellars, you climb up some steps and emerge in the main nave of the old church to find the finer wines. the first time i had come, i discovered that my favorite wine of the region was a “volnay premier cru”. the second time i came, i just passed by the wines in the cellar and came straight to the upper church. this time, i wasn’t as bowled over by the wines, but it i always like tasting and comparing wines, in the effort to broaden my wine sense. however, the most interesting thing on this particular trip was not the wine, but something else that happened.

we figured rather than following us around the dank caves watching us drink, j would be happier in the middle of the main square sketching drawings. so we left her in the middle of the bright center square, also thinking this might give her more practice in being more autonomous. as we were down in the subterranean part of beaune, p got a text from j, who said she was going to explore the town. we both looked at each other with raised eyebrows. hmm, this was progress. j has been typically timid about being independent, but i guess her recent shopping phase had enticed her into exploring on her own. when we emerged from our tasting, we were very pleased to meet up with her and have her show us around town. she dragged us to several stores in which she had found things she liked, and got our approval to buy some clothes. she got some really good deals too!

moving day

to make a long story short, there was another big run-around spanning several days,to get cell phones, with many things required, but finally, j and i each got one. then, we packed up our bags and moved our stuff to the apartment to take up residence. we are very pleased with the apt. it is in an older building (adds charm), has creaky uneven floors and is up 3 flights of stairs – no elevator. the layout is reasonable, with rectangular rooms (no weird shapes) and the living area is separated from the bedrooms by a door. it is 72 sq meters – or 775 square feet. this is quite a bit smaller than our suburban house of 1900 sq feet, not including finished basement and attic storage space, but it’s enough space for us. we knew it would be different. we are quite pleased with having everything furnished. unfurnished paris apartments sometimes have unfurnished kitchens, which means no stove, oven, fridge, microwaves or cabinets. this apt has beds, couches and even sheets and towels. i was thinking i wouldn’t be able to fit my clothes in the limited amount of drawers and wardrobe, but since we could only bring what would fit in our 2 suitcases, we have plenty of room. we are over a metro line and can hear and feel the rumble of the subway train every few minutes. loud motorbikes speed by on the road below the windows. but we have a famous cafe across the street, a fruit/vegetable shop next to it, a pharmacy downstairs and a park at the end of the block. we went to the cafe for dinner.we knew we would have a different lifestyle here, so this apt’s size is fine. we have a dual washing machine/dryer. i’ve always been skeptical about the dryer part of these machines and have never seen one actually work. i tried it and it seems to just heat up the wet clothes so hot that (when i gave up on it and pulled the clothes out) i could barely touch them. i thought i would not be able to live like the old days without a real dryer, but, i find that it’s just not a big deal to hang up the laundry over the tub on a rack. i set up a laundry line in the bedroom. anyway, there is a laundromat around the corner when it is too cold to keep the windows open.

velib bikes

we got our velib bikes and went biking up the road where we were staying, blvd richard lenoir, a large road built over a canal. we followed the road up to where the canal comes out of the ground. above that, the road was closed for bikes and pedestrians for the day. at the point where the canal widened with a park along its banks, we dropped the bikes. “paris plage” was happening here too, and there were all kinds of free events. we watched a fencing lesson for kids. there were pedalo boats, canoes and upright bike-boats. j’s favorite were giant inflated human-sized hamster wheels in the water, called “spheres flottantes”. several people can fit in the middle and run along the side like hamsters, to make it roll through the water. we weren’t able to do it, as it was totally booked for the day. j. vowed to come back.

smell of paris; l'ebauchoir

this morning we had a very expensive coffee and croissants in marais - need to remember not to do that. avoid cafes in the upscale neighborhoods.

the smell of paris in the cool morning = coffee + cigarette smoke + car exhaust mixed with a slight whiff of stale human urine - but emotes the feeling of freedom and adventure.

we went with the parents back to “paris plage”. j and i snuck in some shopping in the middle. the rue francs bourgeios is a great shopping street in the marais. the street runs out of the place des vosges and is narrow and lined with old buildings. what used to be my favorite bus, the #29, runs along this road. it was an older style bus with an open balcony in the back. it would run the length of rue francs bourgeois through this ancient part of paris and you could stand in the back, outside, with the wind and swirling exhaust and look in the eyes of the drivers of cars and motorbikes following. the feeling was a cross between being on a sightseeing bus and being in an old french film. sadly they have replaced the buses with modern ones that do not have the balcony. we also walked down the rue des rosiers – which is a sort of jewish section, with orthodox jews hanging out on the street next to the famous felafel shops and cool fashion stores. in addition to having the old jewish section, the marais is the gay/hip area, with the feeling of greenwich village, (though with many fewer people from new jersey).

it was p’s parents last evening and we went to an old favorite bistrot – “l’ebauchoir” in the 12th arrondissement – our old haunting grounds. it was still there and doing well, for good reasons. we were hoping they would have kidneys or something like that on the menu since the parents like that sort of thing. they didn’t, but we did have a wonderfully, delicious meal. i had lamb cooked with lavender goat cheese though i didn’t taste lavender or see goat cheese. j and parents had pork with honey sauce, which strangely DID have a subtle lavender flavor... both dishes were balanced, interesting and melt in the mouth tender. (when p and i were married, we went to the town hall in the 12th arrondissement and were married by the “mayor lady”. we had a few friends present but were mostly pretty informal about the event. when we were done, we came out onto the street, looked around and said, “ok, now what?” well, it was a little before noon, so we thought, “how about lunch?” and the 12 of us wandered over to “l’ebauchoir”. we arrived just before the lunch rush and so were able to get a table for all of us. “l’ebauchoir” is an authentic feeling bistrot and having our wedding lunch there, unplanned, was the equivalent to heading to a diner in the US. it was perfect. )

navigot and marche

getting any kind of official card in france is usually a paperwork nightmare, and typically will take 3 tries before you succeed. there is always some piece of paperwork that you don’t have or some part of the french system that foils you. after several previous attempts involving lack of various papers, bad timing, special summer hours, and reduced staff because of vacation time, j and i were successful in getting our “navigot” cards - a metro card that you can put a week or month pass on. we actually wanted the cards because they allow you to get a subscription to the cheap bike rental all around paris, called “velib”. this is sort of like zip cars, but for bikes. on our last try, everything went so smoothly, we were shocked and then even pleasantly surprised to find that there was no charge for the card.

“velib” is a publicly funded cheap bike rental program that has bike stations throughout paris. this is really a wonderful and forward thinking program. first, you subscribe – either 1 euro a day, 5 euros for a week or 30 euros for the year. you can pick up a bike at any velib station and ride it for ½ an hour for free, and then minimal costs for more time. then, you can drop the bike off at any other station. there is a deposit of 150 euros to prevent people from keeping the bikes. it works very well. you can see people all over paris on the slightly funny looking velib bikes.

anyway, after getting our cards, p’s parents wanted to see our new neighborhood, so we went there and walked around and went to the open air market. for me, one big reason to be back in paris is everyday life things like going to the marche for food. fish mongers, meat vendors, fresh vegetables and the rotisserie chicken guy. it’s not just the restaurants that have good food. the basic ingredients taste better. i don’t know why. are the vegetables picked when they are ripe? are the chickens treated better? even the potatoes taste better. is it just fewer days from harvesting to the table?

first visitors

p’s parents have come from london to visit. we are looking forward to seeing them more often. they have a room at a hotel near “place des vosges” – a great location, and only a few blocks from where we were staying.

(places des vosges is the oldest planned square in paris - 1605. lined with all the same style beautiful brick and stone buildings which sit over a vaulted arcade for the sidewalk – and one of my favorite places. contains shops, galleries, restaurants and cafes, overlooking the center garden). we went to “cafe de l’industrie” again for dinner.

feels normal

one strange thing about being here, is how normal it feels on some days. since we had lived here before, getting back into the paris rhythm is relatively easy. a familiarity with the everyday things like food shopping and navigating the city comes easily. (that said, there are other days that are tougher. past experience doesn’t make dealing with the official paperwork any easier, it just prepares us, psychologically for the hassle factor that accompanies it. )

j. and i went to the art store to get our supplies. j. bought watercolors. i bought some canvases and a set of acrylics. i love oil paints, but our apt will be too small, and oils are too smelly. so i will experiment with acrylics to see if i can get what i want out of them. one goal of this year is to get my art thing happening. i am going to make art my job- ie. paint or draw pastels everyday and to work on selling them. i will post each painting or pastel on this blog, as i finish them. maybe i’ll show a work progressing.

paris plage

after our breakfast on sunday, we walked down to the banks of the seine. the city of paris is amazing in terms of the extra entertainments and cultural things it sets up for the residents. "paris plage" translated as "paris beach" is a summer installation that has taken place for several years now. for 2 months, the highway along the seine is closed and divided into sections. the side of the road of one section has sand and beach chairs, another has shower-like pipes emitting a cooling mist over tropical plants. there are tai-chi lessons offered, trampolines, and art activities for kids. most activities are free. there are also cafes, smoothy stands, crepe bars and other food vendors. meanwhile, the road is open to pedestrians, bicyclists and roller bladers.
we walked along paris plage and enjoyed the festive feeling. towards the end we even found free "10 minute massages". p and i happily took part.

sunday breakfast

we were saving our breakfast trip to “cafe bastille” for a celebration of finding an apt. to me, cafe creme with a croissant is the taste of paris. maybe it's for nostalgic reasons that we like cafe bastille. the nice thing is that it is a little further away from the main rotary of the bastille, next to small road “rue de la roquette”, so it is a bit quieter.

sitting here watching paris life. rue de la roquette was closed to traffic by a lady cop dragging a giant sign to the middle of the road saying "rue reservee pour pietons et cyclistes" for pedestrians and bikes. we watched as she turned away cars, each driver getting out and having a ten minute discussion with her, but ultimately losing. she did let a bus go by struggling with the 6 foot sign, getting help from a lady passing by... doesn't seem very efficient.

i had a delicious rich and runny omelette, j had a crepe and p went with the breakfast special menu with cafe, oj, croissant, 2 soft boiled eggs and bread. but this particular experience is not going to be a regular thing since one coffee was $7 and our total bill was over $50.
it says on the menu that “cafe bastille” was opened in 1789. that was just after the revolution. probably, when the bastille prison was dismantled there was suddenly enough space for a cafe...

actually, the bastille is circled by cafes. across the way is the cafe de la phare, which has a special philosopher’s session on sunday mornings. apparently, it’s a philosphy free for all, with philosophers stopping by to discuss and argue whatever the topic is for the day. philosopy is big in france and i love that a person can list their occupation as "philosopher". they are often shown on the news commenting on some current issue or other.

paperwork

we went to the bank, AGAIN to add enough money for the deposit. then we headed back to the apartment to sign the lease and leave the deposit check. we celebrated by having lunch in the lovely cafe down the street looking out onto the park. a wonderful lunch in a place i think i will be spending a lot of time. j said this was the best meal so far this trip. she had a creamy chicken and mushroom pasta. i had a great salad with country ham - sort of like prosciutto - served with goat cheese melted on toast. p had pizza.

we toured the upscale shops on the street: sephora, amorina (fancy ice cream chain), etc, and j was thrilled with the idea of living in a mall. perhaps our idea of showing her a different lifestyle is going to backfire on us! then, as we were going to leave the area, the landlord called to say he had lost our check. it had fallen out of his pocket and we had to go and stop the check. so we went to get an official letter from him, addressed to the bank and we raced to get BACK to the BANK before it closed for the weekend! after not seeing me for 12 years, they are really getting to know me again.