Red Pants For Madison

While on a trip back to the U.S. this summer, Minnesota specifically, I was treated to an afternoon with The Girls.  Cousin Madison, Aunt Laney and I spent a morning shopping, followed by a nice lunch out at one of our favorite places - yay! While walking through the men's section at Macy's, I mentioned that we would have to come back with Matt as he needed to buy some pants - red pants. As soon as I mentioned Red Pants, both Lane and Madison stopped and turned to look at me as if I were from another planet. Whaaat?!?

I tried to convince them that the men in Paris do not dress the same as the men back home. Men don't where baggy khakis here.  They where things like...well fitting red pants. I told Lane and Madison that Matt had already purchased some bright blue pants in order to "French-ifiy" himself, but that he was looking for a pair of red ones to round out his wardrobe. I got the distinct impression that Madison and Lane didn't believe me!

On our way back through town we were able to have one more visit together and this time we decided to let the boys come out with us. We headed back to Macy's and helped Matt try on all the different red pants that were available. Yes, he finally found his pair. I think he's a bit disappointed they are a little more of a brick red than a bright red, but they'll do!

 After all that, Madison was still doubtful that Matt wasn't crazy, or at least had really bad taste, so she asked me to take some pictures of Parisian men wearing red pants - proof that I wasn't completely exaggerating it all! At first I didn't think I could do it without being overly conspicuous and causing myself a lot of trouble. But after I dared to take my first couple of photos, it quickly became an exciting secret mission!

The Proof (mind you some of these were even taken in the same day):

 


 

 

This last one was where I finally got busted. Not by the guy in pants, but by one of the women I was with who exclaimed in a very loud voice (imagine this in a heavy Spanish accent) "What Are You Doing?!?" Turns out she thought it was weird that I would be taking a picture of such an ugly building. Feeling sheepish at finally being outed, I figured it was time be done taking pictures and just get the blog post up!

On a side note, when I shared my story of the red pants with the group of women I was with, they all admitted that each of their husbands had a pair of red pants as well. What's more, they informed me of what's coming down the pike in terms of men's fashion: pink pants!!!

Kind of like the color of this guy's shirt! Madison's never going to believe it....

Floods, Strikes and Other Things

We went to look at the Seine last week (along with the rest of the city) and saw that it was indeed flooded.

Normally you can see this guy's feet.

...and this is supposed to be a sidewalk.

I had seen on the news earlier in the week that the garbage collectors were now among the many groups of workers on strike here in Paris. I found this strange as our garbage had been collected as usual. Maybe it's in a different part of town, or maybe there are different groups of sanitation workers like in Seattle? Satisfied with my assumption, I went about my business. By Friday I started seeing the garbage piled up next to the trees on the sidewalk in front of our apartment. Matt saw a notice posted in our apartment building asking everyone to refrain from filling up the garbage and recycling bins. But what are we supposed to do with our garbage?! Turns out it wasn't a problem. Later on that same evening a big truck pulled up next to the sidewalk out front and took away every pile of garbage. A few blocks in each direction and folks weren't so lucky. All of this goes to show that we have no idea what the hell is going on.

I wonder if they only strike when the weather is warm to enhance the smell?

As far as all of the protests and demonstrations are concerned, I avoid hanging out in the part of town where they are taking place. At my age it is no longer cool to be tear gassed.

We have not been immune to drama though, as there was a recent raid on Google's Paris office by French police. Matt was pretty unaware of the whole thing until he unknowingly asked a detective if he had the proper Google badge necessary to enter the building. Apparently it was a bit embarrassing. All in all the raid sounded very polite, despite the fact that all the cops showed up donning bullet-proof vests and machine guns. You never know with those engineering types....

As for me personally, I deal with protest, drama and civil disobedience every day no matter where we are living:

I won't come out unless you meet my demands!

A Week in Provence

While Provence is not my favorite part of France (I prefer the lush, green spots to the arid ones) we keep going back because there is so much to do and see there. I think we really could spend A Year in Provence and keep ourselves quite busy. As it is, we had a week this spring and that was great!

Given that Provence is filled with cultural and historical significance, we weren't surprised when Theo and Sam discovered their favorite museum there: Le musée du bonbon Haribo. Translated, it's the Haribo Candy Museum.

Yes, outside the little town of Uzès there is a museum dedicated to the making of candy. No matter that Haribo is actually a German brand of candy, there's a plant in France so we're calling it French!

While not the most exciting place for Matt and I, Sam was thrilled that instead of the paper variety, our entry tickets were actually bags of candy. The museum also gave detailed explanations of the history of candy, the different ways all of those gummies are fabricated, and the packaging process. Of course our kids enjoyed watching the video presentation the most.

Sam wants it all for himself!

Theo is shocked at the new spring line of candy wrapper fashion

The best part of the museum came at the end, when the boys got to put the magic coins that they received upon entry into a machine that would distribute and package up a bag of candy right before our eyes. Problem is that each boy was given two coins, and each machine spit out not one, but FOUR bags of candy. You do the math. I'm sure you can also guess who got to hold all of that candy after it was all said and done. I looked like the Michelin Man with bags of candy puffing out my coat pockets.

Finally, it's my turn!

And, as if that weren't enough, Vanna White's French counterpart was there to great us at the end of the tour. Sam spun the wheel and it landed on...you guessed it, more candy! A LARGE bag this time, in case the multitude of small bags falling out of my pockets weren't enough.

Wheel. Of. Candy!

Like any good museum, this one placed the exit door at the very far end of the gift shop. It was like Costco in there, except all the merchandise was candy.

Candy - as far as the eye could see.

 And people were buying giant tubs of it!

Really???

While the museum didn't quite live up to my Willy Wonka fantasy, there is a certain joy that comes with being showered in candy! If you ask Theo and Sam about Provence, I'm sure the candy museum will be the first thing they mention. After all, it was much more interesting than going to see this old thing:

Two thousand year old Roman aqueduct or a museum full of candy - which would you prefer???

Visitors!

Looking at the date of my last post, it's apparent that I fell off the blogging wagon for a while! School vacations, visitors and language school have kept things busy enough that typing at my computer sort of fell by the wayside. Now that things have settled a bit, I am ready to get back at it.

The month of April (and earlier) we were blessed with family and friends coming to Paris to share the experience with us.

Emilie, Rick, Graham and Ruby paid us a visit from Finland before moving back to Seattle. Emilie and Rick's move to Finland was the catalyst to our whole crazy move to Paris. Matt and I had long had the goal of living abroad, preferably in France. When Google opened an office in Paris 6 years ago we knew that our move could be a reality, but it was still something that we just talked about. After learning that Emilie and co. were actually making the move to Finland (with Microsoft) we decided to really consider Paris as an option. One year later and here we are!

Watching our kids chase each other around beneath the Eiffel Tower last February was surreal. It was so cool that I didn't want to miss it by stopping to take a picture. I did get some pics at lunch the next day though when everyone stopped moving for a moment or two.

Note that Emilie's child is the one without a napkin on his head.

Emilie discovers the joy of a
Café Gourmand - you get a
sample of three different desserts
along with your coffee!

My parents, known in our house as Grandma and Grandpa Shaw, stopped by Paris for a few days after their trip to Hungary.

At least no one is wearing a napkin on their head this time.

One of the things my kids had been missing was jell-o! So Grandma Shaw brought several boxes for us in her suitcase, along with baking soda (surprisingly hard to find here), crushed red pepper (equally difficult) and measuring cups & spoons (I'm tired of converting to metric!).

Mascha and Felix had been neighbors of ours in Seattle up until we had the brilliant idea to move into a new house right before moving out of the country (as an aside, it's not the greatest idea!). We were fortunate that they took a couple days out of their trip to Germany to come see us!

Commuting by metro makes everyone a little nuts.

...and ice cream calms them all down ;)

Mascha and Felix inspired me to truly embrace the spirit of France.

Matt's parents, a.k.a. Nana and Bubba, came to Paris for a while and traveled with us 2 hours south of the city for a few days to visit Chateau Guédelon. We call Guédelon the "castle in the making" as it's a new castle being built out in the countryside using medieval techniques. A thank you to Matt's Aunt Laurie for recommending it to us!

The human hamster wheel used to pull heavy loads to the top of the wall.

Chipping away at a log with a hatchet
in order to make a plank takes a long time!

Sam now wants to be a blacksmith when he
 grows up. I think he just likes the open flame.

Theo wants to be a wood worker.

We spent some time in the little town of Briare, which is known for it's canal.

Family photo along the Canal de Briare.

I love being in and on the water, so a boat ride on the canal was a must. When I mentioned to my mother-in-law that the kids didn't enjoy the boat ride around Strasbourg, she asked "...then why exactly are we doing this?" Because this canal was different! We were out in the country so we'd see more nature this time. We'd get to go through a big lock and watch our boat rise and fall with the water draining out and rushing in. Plus, this canal stretches OVER another river below and how cool is that?! The kids would love it, I assured her.

Well - this is what Theo and Sam thought of the trip on the Canal de Briare:

 

I have a plan to do a multi-day canal trip somewhere in France before our time is up. I'm sure that if we're the one's driving the boat and we get to go where we want and do what we want, the kids will really love it. Really, it'll be different next time! ;)

The Great Apartment Hunt

The first couple of weeks the kids were in school I spent my days wandering the neighborhood around their school with the idea that we would find an apartment within walking distance.  I was trying to find the parts of that area we liked and the parts we didn't like, and as it turns out we didn't like most of it! Much of the area around their school feels very residential and quiet. In our apartment in the 9th arrondissement we are used to having a boulangerie on every block, not to mention a butcher, green grocer and grocery store all less than a block away from our front door. They have these same things in the 17th, except they are much less prevalent and so more spread out. What can I say, we were spoiled there!

Our (former) boulangerie.

Why don't we stay in the area where we currently are then? Because every morning on our way to school the train pulls up with people literally smashed against the doors - and then we have to try to fight our way on. Because it's so crowded it takes longer to get to school and it is unpleasant the entire way. Not a great way to start the day for the next 2 years.

The number 2 line - not as crowded in the middle of the afternoon!

The good news is that I had been able to identify a couple of pockets of the 17th which seemed to be just what we were looking for. Both areas were centered around market streets and decent metro lines. The next step was actually locating a suitable apartment in those particular spots.

Finding an apartment on our own had proved a bit difficult thus far. I spent lots of time online pouring through ads and sending appointment requests. I barely heard back from anyone. It could have been because I had transposed a digit on my new french phone number when filling out the contact forms, but not much changed even after I corrected that error! After seeing one apartment along with another 8 or so other people and barely deciphering the agent's answers to all of their questions, I decided we were in over our heads and we needed help. Some friends had recommended an agency. I called. She spoke english (a New Yorker originally). Sign me up!

We relayed to the agency our criteria and picked a date to go hunting. The way the agency worked was to schedule all of the viewings in one day. We dropped the kids off at school and the agent met us with her car. The first apartment wasn't bad, but looked as if it had been furnished by someone's grandparents. The next was in the exact location we were interested in, but the apartment directly faced the post office across the street. I spent too much of my life working in a cubicle to spend my time in Paris watching others work in cubicles. Another was in the second location we really liked, but there was a giant mushroom growing on one of the bedroom walls. Another was too far away from the school. Another felt as if it were in a cave....

Out of the 9 places we looked at, there were a couple that we actually liked! Not perfect, nor in the areas we had identified as "desirable", but they were good options. After thinking it over we reached a decision on what would be our first choice. It was a quintessential Paris apartment with a fireplace in every room, beautiful moulding on the ceilings and chandeliers for the lights. It was beautiful. I loved it! ...and we didn't get it. Turns out the owner had accepted another offer the same day we put ours in. Unfortunately we didn't learn that until several nail-biting days later. Luckily our agent held our #2 choice on the line and they waited for us (they had another offer, but for only a couple of months whereas we want 2 years).

...one of the many fireplaces in the apartment
that was not meant to be.

When I thought about where we would be living in Paris, a 60's high rise was never what came to mind, yet here we are! The building is ugly enough that I am not even going to post a picture of it! But - this is what we get to look out upon every day:

The view from the living room window:
La Tour Eiffel and the Arc de Triomphe

Sam thinks it's pretty cool too.

Alsace

After heading west the first weekend of the kid's break (they are off of school for 2 weeks every 6 weeks throughout the year) we went east for the last week. Strasbourg was a lovely city, although we only spent time in the Old Town and old town's are always great. I have no idea what the real city is like! But what we saw reminded me of Amsterdam; canals and lots of people on bikes.

 

The cathedral was impressive, even if it only had one spire ;) It was too tall to get the entire thing in one shot!

Some people are reluctant to pose for a picture.

Up 332 steps to the top of the cathedral where a view of a rainbow awaited.

Both the astronomical clock in the cathedral and the boat ride on the canal were highly touted by several travel books and travel blogs. Theo, Sam and I all thought they fell a bit flat. The clock itself was spectacular, but the presentation that we spent an hour waiting to see was a little bit disappointing - the rooster crowed and the 12 apostles went around in a circle and that was about it. I found the baby turning over the hour glass every 15 minutes to be more interesting! The boat ride was warm and cozy on a rainy day, but after a while the boys became bored and I became claustrophobic. It was very informative, however. Theo learned that back in the middle ages they would take "criminals who killed their parents or their children and lock them in a cage and dump that cage off the bridge into the canal." This prompted a lot of questions from my 7 year old. Matt and I were nonplussed by how many times syphilis was mentioned in the audio portion of the tour!

The clock!

Inside the boat. This was at the beginning of
the ride before he ended up in a pile
of boredom slumped in his seat.

The favorite ended up being the carnival rides in Place Broglie, of course.

We didn't think Sam would like to get hit, but he enjoyed crashing into Theo too much to care.

Yes, we got his other boot back.

After Strasbourg we headed to a little town in the mountains so we could visit Haut Koenigsbourg castle. It's a medieval castle fully restored by Kaiser Wilhelm at the beginning of the 20th century and it was super cool. You could wander from room to room and get a feel for what it was like to live there way back when.

...still reluctant to pose.

En garde!

This was before the big snowfall, in the park across from our apartment

The town we stayed in was called Le Howald and it was lovely. We were up at a high enough elevation that there was a little snow when we arrived and on our last evening there was a big dumping of new snow. As a Minnesota transplant to Seattle I miss snow every winter so I was ecstatic. Theo and Sam were psyched to have lots of snowball fights with us. I was less excited as Theo's aim has gotten too good and I had one too many snowballs hit me in the face ;)

The kids quickly had the advantage in our snowball fight when they found higher ground.

Sam proudly displays his snow baby.

....and Theo his snow tortoise.