Wow, I don't even know where to start. I was just standing there and next thing I know my mother-in-law is in town for two weeks and then she's gone back to the states. So that was cool, and then next thing I know we're in Amsterdam for the weekend and that was cool also. And now there are less than two weeks left in the program, which means next thing I know I'll be back in a classroom and its September. Hmph, time flies when you are having fun. The time with Jeanie flew by, partly since I was teaching most of the time, which seriously cut into my sight seeing time. We went to Versailles, which was really amazing, almost unbelievable actually. I was going to write that I was amazed that the royalty was so out of touch with the common people, the amazing dichotomy between peasants and the ruling class, but then I remembered that George Bush Sr. during his campaign went to a grocery store and didn't know how much milk cost AND HAD NEVER SEEN A BARCODE SCANNER. So I guess la plus ca change, la plus meme chose, if you know what I mean. We also went to Giverny, the home of Monet, which was also lovely, but a bit smaller than I expected. Somehow I had gotten ideas about how big the pond was, and how big the bridge was, and they were both much smaller than that. The gardens were lovely, the pond and water lilies and bridge were lovely, and the weather was lovely. I got the feeling that the house felt melancholy. Seeing the pictures of the family around the breakfast table it was easy to imagine how the house would have sounded with all the children running around and laughing and playing in the house and yard and none of that was happing now. We spend Easter morning having brunch with a group of anglophone ex-pats, followed by an Easter egg hunt in Parc Montsouris. There were at least 7 couples in attendance, with their children, and it was really a lot of fun.
On a local note, the sycamores outside have leafed out finally, and the chestnuts are flowering. Spring is finally here! although there are still cold rainy days. Holly and I got to go out to dinner before Jeanie left. We splurged and went to a really nice restaurant across town. And when I say nice I really mean really quiet. It was the quietest place I've ever been to. The service was exceptional - the server came out with a little silver carpet sweeper (perhaps 10 cm (4 inches) wide) between courses and admonished us to let the wine sit for a bit before he poured it. Recently, Emma and I went to the Paris Ballet at the Opera Garnier (photos to come). The opera house is absolutely gorgeous, in an ornate kind of way - lots of gold trim.

Next time: Amsterdam!

Oh my God, it has now been three weeks since I've updated this thing. I mean I knew I was suffering from blog burnout, but this has gone way beyond that. I promise that by Tuesday night I'll have updated the blog with the lurid details of my mother-in-law's visit, thoughts on Paris, and our trip to Amsterdam. And I'll have up new pictures as well. Till then....

I was going to write a top ten list about living in Paris, but then I thought I'd rather write a top whatever list and not try limit myself to ten. But then a friend wrote me an email about cool things in France and I thought that she was absolutely right about many of the things she said and that they were some of the things I was going to put on my list. And then, while I was walking around with Finn waiting for Holly to finish getting reservations on the train to Amsterdam I wandered past an independant movie theater. I was gazing in the window and a woman came out and gave me a brochure about an upcoming film festival. I thanked her and kept walking, but it hit me that Virginie was absolutely right, that one of the best things about living here is the feeling that you are part of a community. A small community. Which is a funny feeling to have in a city of 10 million or so people. But the spatial design of Paris was intended by Baron Haussmann to create this sense of place. So, having a favorite cheese shop, and a favorite bakery, and a favorite wine shop, and a favorite pastry shop (everyone in Paris apparently knows that a good bread baker doesn't make good pastries, nor does a good pastry chef make good bread, and I'm inclined to agree with them) is a wonderful thing. We mourn the two days a week that the GOOD boulangerie is closed and we are forced to make do with mediocre baguettes from the OTHER boulangerie. Although if we walked just a block (rather than half a block) there are two or three more boulangeries that we could get our daily bread from, it just seems so far to walk. So, without further delay, some of the really cool things about Paris:
1) the electric meter is inside our house. It has an amber led that blinks more rapidly when we're using more juice, and the lcd display is selectable to show total power used, instant watts being used, instant amps being used, and four other readings that I don't understand. How simple and cool to know exactly how much electricity we are using.
2) the really cool small cars. I saw a new VW beetle parked on the street out in front and I actually thought it looked really big. Compared to the smart cars and the micro hondas and the renault clios, it really is big. But when you are paying $5 a gallon for gas, fuel economy is important. I've only seen 2 hummers here, and come to think of it, they were over in the section of town where the embassies are so they probably were owned by Americans.
3) excellent, inexpensive wine, bread, cheese, and food in general. $4 for a decent red, .93 for a baguette, and $10/lb for the really good cheese.
4) while I don't know anyone that actually grows the food we eat, it is nice to have the beginnings of a relationship with our bread and wine purveyors. Also very nice is seeing that older man walking his small dog every day. After about a month he would crack a large smile whenever he'd see me either running in the morning or walking with the kids in the afternoon. So much for that whole unfriendly french thing.
5) beautiful motorcycles that are only sold in europe. I'll be doing a whole series on French vehicles ( VW turbo diesel hearse, mercades minivans and garbage trucks, and other unusual cars and trucks) so the pictures will be worth more than a couple hundred words.
6) walking around and not relying on a car. Most places have free delivery with a minimum purchase. Which makes a lot of sense. After all if you own a motorcycle or a smart car, you are not going to be in a position to lug home a king sized bed set. But the grocery stores as well have the same service. I've read that the trend in Paris is to do online shopping for non-perishable items and have them delivered, and then go to your local neighborhood baker, cheese shop, butcher....which seems like a good use of resources and time somehow.
7) abundant parks and green spaces, not that you can actually walk on the grass, but they are nice to look at. I've seen posters up in many of the parks promoting "the secrets of spring", the new bulbs that will be popping up soon. It's nice that the asthetic appeal of the parks and green spaces is something that Parisians really care about. I was worried about going nuts with all the concrete, but I've gotta say, Paris is a beautiful city. If I had to live in a big city, Paris would be the one.
Well, that about wraps it up for tonight, I'm sure I've forgotten many other important things, but they'll have to wait until the next list.

Happy Poisson d'Avril! or april fish! The French apparently play practical jokes on each other on April Fool's Day and then present the victim with a chocolate fish (while crying out poisson d'avril). In keeping with my philosophy of adapting to local customs I convinced my cultural geography class that they really were having a surprise midterm exam today. I made up for it with hazelnut-filled chocolate fish though.

I am well aware that I've been slacking on the blog. I'll try to make this one short and sweet to try and encapsulate the last two weeks of our lives.

So Doug and Carol visited us and that was nice. We ran around Paris doing touristy things, but because we were showing someone else the sights, I felt somehow not touristy, but rather locally. The pictures from this period are up on the website, including the fabulous one of Finn parked, while sleeping, in front of one of the lamps outside the Louvre. I really just stepped away, shot the picture, and went back to him. Honest.

We also went to Italy. Specifically the Cinque Terre region, which is also called the Italian Riviera. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. On so many levels. We took the TGV, which is something that all Americans should experience. It travels at an average speed of 180 mph. Average. Top speed was 515 kmg, which is really moving. It was comfortable and quiet. And to think that every year Amtrack almost goes bankrupt in the US. Anyway, the conductors were great, although the Italian ones were way cooler (better fashion accesorizing - scarves, ear rings, pony tails - and this just for the men).

The pictures for the Cinque Terre are up on the site so you can look with envy at the scenic and picturesque town of Vernazza, where we stayed. Every morning we'd stroll down to the breakwater with a bag of fresh focaccia and pastries and get some cappucinos from the bar next to the sea. The cappucinos were the best I've ever tasted, and I worked in a coffee shop during college. Also they had attractive chocolate syrup swirls painted in the foam by the attentive barrista (see photo for more info). The children seemed to enjoy the local version of hot chocolate, which resembled a cup of warm pudding more than the traditional drinkable version they were used to. No one complained however. Oh, and there was a gelateria next door to the pensione we stayed at with (again) the best gelato I've ever tasted. Did I mention that the Cinque Terre region is just down the coast from Genoa (Genova), the birthplace of pesto? We also availed ourselves of locally produced pesto, pasta, and wine.

This region has been famous for its wine since Roman times. Somehow the relaxed pace of the Cinque Terre gave me hope for the future. I was struck by how little it had changed in the last 2000 years. Cars are not seen on the streets, travel is by train or boat, and the main product is wine. Geologists predict the end of cheap oil sometime around 2040. In many areas this will be catastrophic (LA for example), but I got the feeling that the Cinque Terre will just keep on keeping on. No cars? Okay we use sailboats then.

I really have to reccomend the Cinque Terre as a wonderful place to visit. I think I've run over my column space for today so I'll sign off, but I'll pick up next time with the tale of my cross-town excursion with kids and stroller and no wife to find an anarchist skateboard shop.