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???