Alive and Well & Living in France, now Italy!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Luxembourg Gardens

Luxembourg Gardens is a beautiful park in the 5th. You can grab a chair or two, your picnic and enjoy the scenery. And yes, there's alot of it!! Also, right in the center is a beautiful lake where children can sail a boat for a ridiculous cheap price of 2 euros for 1/2 hour ($3.30). You are given your boat and a baton* and spend the next half-hour chasing your child 'round this lake as they try to guess how their boat will traverse. When the boat finally reaches the side, you use the baton to push it out again, and away she sails and off the child goes to find their boat again.

In another corner of this lovely park is a bee garden. Yes, Thousands of bees humming along in their hives making their honey. It's amazing to watch. Apparently, in the fall, one can purchase the honey as well. In the meantime, it's a quiet place to grab a chair and watch the bees "work" away.

This park is by no means a hidden gem, definitely a big tourist draw, but still a wonderful place to come.

*baton - stick

Sunday, April 26, 2009

UnCivilized Driving

Driving on the left side of the road is not as simple as it sounds, and of course the steering is on the right as well. While in Ireland, I tackled this driving situtation, not too simply, I might add. The first hour of our arrival, the GPS put us on a remote country road where I was sure I would take out a sheep or two. Well, even worse, we ended up in a ditch!! And how were we rescued!!!??? By a tractor of course!! The next day, I managed to drive around the rotary the wrong way and completely stopped traffic. I guess the drivers thought it would be better to stay put and let the idiot American driver sort herself out. As well, even the lanes for slow and fast are opposite - didn't know this and couldn't figure out why all the drivers were flashing me in the right hand lane!!

Oh well, at least we didn't end up over the side of a cliff and I didn't injure any cows or sheep in the process!!

Balancing Act

Sometimes when you want something so badly, you find a way to get it, in this case (not very exciting, but something I wanted) a wooden folding table. Well, sounds easy, but if you have no car, transporting it home becomes somewhat of a challenge. Bikes become your wheels for everything. I always seem to purchase way more than my saddle bags can carry and ride with bags on handlebars, groceries in saddlebags. Well, yesterday my girls and I were in Monoprix, and the spring folding tables had finally arrived!! I was determined to buy one as Rachel said, " Mom, how are you going to put that on your bike?"Well, I figured, where there's a will, there's a way. It started out a bit precarious, but eventually I managed to hook it to my handlebars - courtesy of a suggestion by my 10 year old - why are they so much smarter than we are?! So I proudly rode home with a folding table hooked to my handlebars.

Later that day, my friend casually mentioned to me that her boyfriend and all his friends told her to "Tell Tama that bikes and tables don't go together" (loosely translated from french). I was mortified that they all witnessed this hilarious event sitting inside the café. Of course, my comment was, why didn't they come out to help me??!! Oh well, c'est la vie!!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Parc Buttes-Chamont

Discovered a new beautiful part of Paris today... the 19th arrond. Quiet, unassuming, no tourists. The park itself is beautiful. Apparently the former park land was a former dump turned into man-made grotto and huge rock with fake stalagtites and stalagmites. You walk along a railroad tressle to you reach the top where there are sweeping views of the 19th. A very artsy area as well, lots of "tag" art here.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Paris Walks

I was meandering around the Pigalle area near Montmartre when I turned down a street away from the seedy bars and cabarets. I stumbled upon a tiny chocolate shop on rue Fontaine called L'etoile d'or. I perused the window, well, actually drooled all over it, eyeing all the different chocolates. I walked in and the aroma of the chocolate overtook me. Everywhere in every corner was chocolate!! A chocolate lover's paradise!! Various reviews from magazines assured one this was the place to be. The magazines all featured this cute lady at different ages in silver-blonde pigtails, plaid shirt and pleated skirt - a sort of schoolgirl marm. Lo and behold there she was serving the chocolate. She says one should not taste more than three chocolates at a time for the full experience on the palette. This might be my only disagreement, but hey, I'm no conoisseur. I just wanted to purchase a "petit paquet" for my family to try. She helped me choose 5 of the yummiest pieces of chocolate and even though it was not "pour offrir", she put them in a clear plastic sachet and tied them with a ribbon. I left the store, vowing to be back very soon to partake in another sampling. Vive la chocolate!!

*petit paquet - small package
*pour offrir - gift

Paris Walks

I don't walk as much as I like around Paris, but I was strolling the Canal St. Martin last week and what a beautiful area. One almost feels like Amelie Poulain when walking this area. In the spring, one can take a canal cruise. There isn't much around in terms of shops, however there are a few. We happened upon a tiny pizza joint called Pink Flamingo where they were serving up some very different pizza combinations. We decided to live dangerously and order one with ham and figue. It was absolutely amazing. The shops of Antoine and Lilli are over in this area. Can't miss these shops with their bright green, pink, and orange colors. Fabulous for browsing.

28 February 2009

It turned out the grève wasnn't as bad as most people thought. But.....another one is coming the 19 March - C'est la France!!

Foie Gras in the Cantine

The girls and I enjoy some good albeit interesting lunches at times. It is quite different from any school lunch we are accustomed to. We always have a starter and bread of course, followed by a main dish and then cheese and bread and of course yogurt, fruit yogurt, flan, chocolate, yogurt with sugar, you name it, we have had it!!

One Friday we had foie gras for our starter!! The children actually spread it on the bread and then eat it. Even the two year olds were given this. I guess that's one way to introduce the palette to different tastes at such a young age. Did Rachel and Isabel eat it? What do you think???!!!

A La Marché

I love the markets and the girls do as well. We pull our cart up to the market, yes, we have one of those "old lady carts" and savor what vegetables and fruits are in season. We have our "favorites" - we visit the same fruit and vegetable stand every week and when they see us coming, they always try out the little bit of English they know on us. The jolly old cheese man who gives the girls endless samples of his yummy cheese, the "chicken man" who has the best tasting poulet roti I have ever had, even the women who sells children's clothing is always eager to help us find exactly what we are looking for. These vendors take pride in their wares and take the time to ask you when you will eat the fruit, ensuring they pick the best one for that day. The customer service at these markets is probably something French people take for granted and just assume it's the norm, however for us, it is a nice change of pace to know you can purchase something and it has truly come from the heart.

You Are Charging Me How Much???!!!

7,50 euros for an application of mousse!! That is what my itemized bill said after I dared to look at it upon leaving the hairdresser. I feel certain I have paid for the entire case of the stuff for a month. For every bit of extra service one needs, you pay for it. I cannot figure out if our prices in America are so inflated that we don't even know we are paying exhoribitant prices or the French are nickel and diming every foreigner they can to get back at their own government for the high taxes they must pay.

Its All Relative

The living situation in France bring a whole new meaning to the word "small". Obviously people are smaller in both size and stature here, and their defination of "personal space" is completely opposite of mine, but come on!! 140 cm for 2 people. Basically this is the size of an american twin/double. I told my husband he better stop making extra trips to the bakery or we are going to have to get an extend-a-bed to fit him!!

I am still trying to imagine how anybody over 170 pounds fits in these french tubs. If you have wide hips, forget it. I am sure the pompiers have been called on more than one occasion to yank someone out of the tub. I do like the fact the toilet area is separate from the "douche" room, however, being the claustrophobic I am, have the toilet in a space the size of a closet just doesn't go over well with me. Even when you are there for just a bit, there is no ventilation, thereby causing one to continuely keel over from the sheer odor. I am sure my whole family will be diagnosed with some form of rare cancer from all the "odeur de maladie spray" we use everytime we exit "the closet".

Nothing Seems to Work Properly

Not even the liquid soap works correctly. I was warned about things not working well and the level of service one expects from living in the states. I am confussed why everything I have purchased thus far has broken or failed to live up to its expectation. I am trying to rationalize whether one pays a high price for each item they want just so they can have the thing live on way beyond their lifetime. This way, indeed they can pass on that foot pedal trash bin onto their children and even grandchildren if they are lucky to have it endure for that long.

My children are lucky, I think..... our 50 euro trash bin complete with a foot pedal broke after a month. They'll be able to put in for the "upgraded" model and the foot pedal won't get kicked around the kitchen floor all day long.

Many of the items from France are shipped from China, (Gasp) but the route is shorter. Maybe the items going to the states have an opportunity to ferment longer at sea, thereby creating a more rugged product. By the time the product reaches America, that liquid soap can handle lots of pushes. The route from China to Europe is much shorter, leaving me to believe not enough salt air has aged the product.

Le Bisous

Instead of a hug, one greets their friends, lovers, male, female etc with one kiss on each cheek - really almost an airbrush kiss. It takes some coordination to make sure the kiss lands on the cheek quickly as before you know it the person has turned their head to have the other cheek kissed. I have to admit I like this greeting. It is a bit more personal and takes some getting used to, but it is a very sweet way to greet or say goodbye to someone. However, one has to know when it is appropriate to use "le bisous". I wait for someone to initiate it as I am not sure if or when I should even be initiating this greeting, for fear of appearing over eager. Now, not everyone is the reciprocal of "le bisous". There is sort of an initiation to being on the receiving end of a kiss. It appears that one must have made your acquaintance at least a few times before, or just a "bonjour" or handshake is given. On that note, I'd say make lots of friends and give lots of bisous!! Remember one has to kiss both cheeks, if just one is done, it could be construed as the "kiss of death"!!