Happy Birthday little monkey!

The perfect kids birthday party.  Two four year olds!  Allie had a great time with her fun friend.  We kept it low key given all the hoopla going on in Allie's life right now.  Our neighbors from downstairs came over and greeted Allie with the best rendition of Bon anniversaire.  She loved it.  She may have even understood some of the words. 

Allie was fortunate to have been given lots of great gifts from friends near and far. Thank you.  She also picked up some French puzzles and crafts.

All in all, with the help of my mom and dad it turned out to be a great day and Allie slept very soundly after her first birthday party in Paris.  I get the feeling next year's birthday party won't be so calm. :)

Troy's short visit to the U.S.

I managed to slip back into the country this week, spending 3 nights in Arlington, VA.  I was back doing some work for the Godfather, for whom I worked the last 3 years, and I still work for now, in the sense that he writes my performance appraisal.  It started off shaky, as I greeted the girl at the Asian food place in Logan airport (for my layover) with a friendly "bonjour". Oh, wait.  Not in France anymore.

Dana and Allie couldn't go, since Dana's folks are here now and Allie still has to get settled at school.  I managed to have fun anyway, having a great dinner with our friends Luigi and Kim and catching a visit from friends Jake and Jackye as well. Plus it was nice to see my old co-workers.

Although I've only been away from the states for 4 months, there were still some things that stood out.  Those who have spent significant time in Europe probably won't find any surprises in these observations, but they were noteworthy to me.

1) I took for granted the space in the U.S.  The streets are a little wider. The buildings stand a little farther apart. It's as though objects decided not to be hurried and crowded, and all took a step or two back from you.

2) Burritos at Chipotle are good. Really good.

3) We live in a bubble of Babel as we walk the streets of Paris, since our French is not yet good enough to catch most of what the passersby are saying to each other. This week I learned that sometimes it's good when we can't understand the conversations of others.  Often they are irritating and inane.  

4) What a fabulous array of beers the U.S. has once you push past the Bud, Coors, Miller, etc.  Our variety and quality of beer is an overlooked national treasure.

5) Cheeeeaaap. Very cheap. Shoes, clothes, food. I spent like a drunken sailor, picking up 3 pairs of pants, new shoes, 2 new shirts, ties and various other items.

6)  Chipotle burritos are good. Did I mention that already? No, mean it.  Deeelicious.

Overall it was a good visit back home. But without the rest of the family, I had no desire to stay.  

Tomorrow, off to Bucharest, Romania.

C'est la Vie

We haven't blogged in awhile.  Suffice it to say real life got in the way.  We may live in Paris but we still have the every day drama and hurtles we had in the States.  Allie is having a tough time at school.  I am on the fence about what to do.  There are many choices and many opinions but for now we will stay with the Ecole Maternelle and take it day by day for a week or so.

Traveling season has started and there are a lot of trips away from home for T.  Nothing new from what we are used to except we are in a foreign country.  Thankfully, there has been plenty of time to build a good and reliable network of friends. (Thanks Kris, Sarah, Heidi and Liz)

Lots of visitors in the past month or so.  It is nice to have the parents here for support. The visitors help to pass the time between school hours and to get us out and see the sights.

All in all, everyday trials and tribulations occurring just like all of you.  It just happens to be in Paris.  

(More upbeat blog to come....don't give up on us!)

In our thoughts

Today, our thoughts are of course with our home country as well as with our troops in harms way.  We proudly put our mini American flags in the planters outside our window today.

The monkeys observe a moment of silence for all victims of September 11, 2001.

Random events on a random day in Paris

Interesting things that happened to me today in Paris.

1)  We have been put on notice that our elevator will be brought up to date (yikes, I have been riding that coffin upstairs for the last 4 months).  The work was supposed to start on 8 September but nothing has happened yet.  Except now there is a man who stands in our foyer all day.  Yep, stands there.  Not sure if he is watching for the elevator's demise or counting the amount of people coming and going in the elevator.  Who knows?  He just hangs out.  All day.  I would ask him why but I wouldn't be able to understand his response.  (Again, need to learn French)

2) The monkeys got a great haircut in our own apartment today.  Great price, English speaking woman, such a totally easy transaction.  This has been one of my greatest fears, going to a French hairdresser and asking for a haircut. Again, it is the lack of French language thing.  I have watched as Troy attempts this and comes out on the losing side of the scissors.  Sorry, I will try and assimilate as much as I can but my hair is a different matter.  

3) Took Allie to her favorite park today.  Maybe a mile away.  We brought the stroller.  The weather was great.  We strolled to the Bois de Boulogne.  Now, I know this one might sound weird but it was a particularly busy time for the...um...call girls..no...hookers...well those people.  They hang out on the edge of the Bois and even were creeping in on Allie's favorite play park today.  This is not a bad area at all...in the day.  To the French these women are part of the area.  They're accepted, I guess.  Anyway, it just seemed strange to see them doing so much business today but then again it was a sunny, warm day.  Of course, Allie is none the wiser and hasn't asked any questions yet, thank goodness.  Also, thankfully they do their business in white vans around the park so nothing to see folks. Yuck.

4)  I actually got to see a game of petanque on our way back from the park.  A bunch of old guys get together and play this game on the dirt.  It's kind of like bocci, where you roll/throw several heavy balls trying to get position or knock the other guy's out of contention. They looked like they were having a great time.  Cool game so we watched a bit, Allie and I.  Then one 70 year old looking guy decided it was time to relieve himself.  So he did.  Right up against the wall next to the game.  He proceeded to try and create a Picasso, waving his dried arrangement here and there, and that is when we hightailed out of there.  

5) Came home and elevator guy was still there.

6) Excited to watch Monday night football on TV which we can get the day after it airs on North American Sports Network, but alas our cable went out for a smoke. Drank some of our new Bordeaux wine instead.

All in a Parisian day.

French wine (part one of many)

A while back we mentioned several things that the French do very well, and contrary to the expectation of some, did not include wine.  We said that we would explain later.  Well, later is now!

Unquestionably, there are some great French wines.  I'd go as far as to say there are a lot of great French wines.  But you know what?  There are a lot of crappy ones too.  While that's probably true of just about every wine producing region, French wines seem to take an especially perverse pleasure out of living off of their prior body of work rather than on their individual goodness.  The legend of French wine has led in some cases to eyebrow-raising prices for some pretty mediocre product.  

I can't wax poetic about the virtues of Château Lafite or any of the other monster premier growths, because I wouldn't be willing to pay the going rate for a glass of it, much less a bottle.  We did splurge on a case of St. Emilion (Bordeaux) 2000 that is fabulous.  Not cheap, but well-balanced, rich and with lots of identifiable flavors and a beautiful complexity.  We have also gotten pretty good at experimenting with the low- to mid-priced wines here, however, and the quality is all over the map in this range.  As is probably no surprise, price is not a great indicator of quality.  We've had bottles for 4 euros that were nice and we bought again (particularly rosés in the summer) and 20 euro bottles that were watery and totally without character.

Please don't feel bad for us though.  France is still a pretty good place to have wine, on balance.  You easily get a wonderfully drinkable dinner wine for 3 euros, or about $4.75 at today's exchange rate.  You have a big selection of wines at your supermarket.  And where in the U.S. can you order a bottle of wine with your delivered pizza?

I'm sure there will be more on this topic, as it is such a pervasive part of life here. 

Ecole Maternelle

Boy, what a week! My life and Allie's life has been turned upside down. School started. French school started. Allie cried both morning and afternoon. She says she misses her momma. She doesn't say that she is scared or that she doesn't understand the teacher or the kids. Just that she misses me. I have to say I too miss her a lot. It is lonely without my little sidekick but I don't let her in on that. I am so proud of her for this endeavor. Right now we are taking it one day at a time and giving her encouragement and a bit of tough love. And although I have walked by her school a couple times this week and peeked in the window, she will be fine. That is the mantra for the next couple weeks.

Now, what to do with my free time is a whole different subject! Number one on the list: LEARN SOME FRENCH.

A long, long day

As you may know, yesterday was Allie's first day of school. I will leave the detailed story to Dana, but suffice it to say it was a very trying experience for both mother and daughter. There were tears. Lots of them, but D&A survived it.  I'm impressed with Dana's aplomb and grit under some tough circumstances, and with the way Allie bounced back after a long, sad afternoon.  Don't underestimate these monkeys!  They're scrappers! I'm proud of them.

Thanks too for the phone calls and emails of support. Yeesh, this is starting to sound like we lost a loved one or had major surgery or something, but really, launching your only child, not even 4 years old yet, into a foreign school system when you don't know the language and parents can't even enter the building is pretty stressful.  They done good. 

No Joke

I paid seven euros for two chicken breasts today.  On average that is about what they cost here. That works out to about eleven dollars.  

Wow.  Thank heavens for cost of living allowance.