Paris or Broke

Saturday, November 26, 2005

The Everyday - The Mundane

DUST

Is it because we have all wood floors, or because I am a lousy ‘housekeeper’, or because this is a large city with its fair share of pollution? There is exponentially more dust, and dust bunnies here in Paris than in Seattle. Clean stuff, and it feels like moments later there is a nice layer of dust/grime and errant bunnies on every surface.

HARD WATER

Why didn’t anyone tell us how hard the water is here? You scrub your bathroom/kitchen thoroughly, and the next day you’d swear it hadn’t been cleaned in ages. It is such an issue, that there are approximately a MILLION cleaning and anti-calcaire products for purchase in every store. I’ve taken to using a squeegee in the shower to help reduce the heavy deposits from appearing the glass screen in the shower. Also, I’ve taken to buying demineralized water for ironing – yes you can buy it. This is definitely a warning for those of you coming to visit us!

EYE CONTACT

People have been curious about the Parisien tolerance for making eye contact. This is a big city and it feels like a big city. Like New York, it is not normal to make eye contact on the street or in the Metro. Not only does one not make eye contact, but is very rare, very rare indeed to get any type of reaction from another person on the street. I’ve yet to have one of my ever-optimistic smiles returned on the street or in the Metro. It definitely doesn’t feel as restrained as New York, which is influenced by a good dose of fear, but people are just not open and friendly here.

CRIME

We thought the French were just paranoid. There are shutters on windows and doors – stores, apartments and houses. Houses are surrounded by high fences, which are designed to be locked and to conceal what’s within. On the contrary, I haven’t noticed that very many people use car alarms – you just don’t hear them going off very often. But there is clearly a high rate of home burglary here. When we first engaged our insurance company, they actually came to our apartment to “kick the tires” so to speak. They came and looked at the big ole’ lock on our apartment door, the locks on the building, the shutters. They advised about the best forms of security for the apartment – "close all shutters completely if gone for longer than 24 hours" (yes, really). In my class last week (15 people), my colleagues shared 3 stories of home burglary. These are all foreigners living in Paris for less and 1 year. Based on these very unscientific observations, I’d say burglary is common.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Photos of Erma and the Mosel

And, here is Erma. Her home in Domremy is next to the town's ancient "Relais" -- the place where in olden days, riders would exchange horses to continue a long ride. What you cannot tell is that there is a huge conical chimney above our heads - Erma explained that you can divert the smoke from the hearth and smoke sausages in this larger chimney.









This is in a village called Hattonchatel - in a small area which is riddled with walks and little villages such as this where you can stop for lunch, etc. It is in the Meuse Region.






oops, here I go again with the sideways photos -- this in the Mosel valley -- the towns are all cradled in among the vineyards.
















Mike at the gate of Cochem Castel.

Erma and Bin Laden

Soon after I arrived in France, Mike and I took off to Brussels and then to Essen, Germany, for Mike's work. After that we took a long weekend and did some sight-seeing in Germany and northern France. We toured the valley of the Mosel river in Germany -- its a huge white wine-producing region, picturesque with the winding river, the trees changing autumn colors, and tiny lovely towns dotted along its sides. Once in a while you also see a castle originally built to defend the river, and to extract payments from passing boats. Had some lovely zweibelkucken (onion tarte) for lunch with some local white wine.

We stayed in the town of Cochem and visited the medieval castle the next morning. A lovely autumn day (see photos in next posting).

Our last night, we found a Chambre d’Hotes, (a bed and breakfast), in a tiny farming hamlet called Domremy aux Bois, in the Meuse Region, which is northeast of Paris. Lucky for us, our host, Erma, whose entry hall was wallpapered with newspapers (yes, really), also does Table d’Hotes, which means you sit at her kitchen table and eat whatever she’s making for dinner for the family. We had an amazing evening with Erma, who hails from Luxembourg. She married into the Tchaikovsky family. She had lots of home-spun remedies, lots of stories -- all told in mostly French, some German and a very light dash of English. She had a cat named . . . bin laden . . . yes, you heard correctly. Very strange. didn't dare ask exactly why she named him that!!! (see a photo of Erma before her fireplace in the next posting).

She fed us a salad of lettuce just pulled from her garden. The main course was endives wrapped in thin slices of ham (jambon), and baked in a cheese sauce. It was truly delicious. She also plied us with various forms of alcoholic beverages and alcohol-soaked fruits which she had made herself. Sent us home with a bottle of her own grape juice and champagne aperitif – its quite yummy.

After dinner she showed me through her supply of herbal remedies. Lucky for me I could recognize some of them even in their dried states (angelica, for instance), and the others she tried valiantly to explain to me. Often because so many plants have Latin names, I could recognize them.

On our way back to Paris, we drove through the northern French countryside -- its mostly rolling farmland and forest with tiny hamlets every here and there -- reminds me a lot of Ireland, but there's a different beauty here -- it seems more gentle, with softer colors, and more tidy -- we could definitely fall in love with a little country place north of Paris.

We urge everyone to visit Erma at her Chambre d’Hotes in Domremy aux Bois. . . and bin laden, of course.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Photos of Alsace

See the next blog down for information about the Alsace Region. Last of the grapes cling to the vine -- that is Koeningsburg castle in the distance.


This is Biblenhof, where we stayed -- bed and breakfast, plus Table D'hotes -- meaning we were also fed dinner. Marrow soup followed by Pot-de-Feu (pot roast). All quite delicious.




Mike munches on a cookie outside Koeningsburg

Above right is a tiny part of several amazing mosaics which cover the interiors of the two chapels at Ste Odile - The Chapel of Tears and the Chapel of Angels.

Weekend in Alsace - November, 2005

We were in Alsace last weekend. Alsace is in Eastern France right next to Germany and Switzerland. It was a beautiful weekend. The sun shone all 3 days (Yes, another 3-day weekend) and it was much cooler then it has been so far this year. Typical Bellingham fall weather...including the morning fog.

(I'll promptly publish another blog right after this one with some photos -- I can't get any photos to add to this -- must be very limited space allowed for each publication.)

Alsace is a white wine growing region. Between the Rhine River and the foot of the Vosges mountains, Alsace is dotted with one after another tiny charming Germanic hamlet. The villages are old, with timbered homes and LOADS of charm. That area has a superabundance of the Charming Villages listed in our favorite guidebook.

Check out this website (you can select an English version) for some more information about the Alsace Region – its towns, wine, food, etc:

http://www.tourisme-alsace.com/

We spent the first night in a maison d'hotel called Biblenhof located in Soultz les Bains. In our typical fashion we didn't have reservations we just found a sign and drove up to the front door. It was a great find. A french family owns this huge stone hotel/b&b with ancient wooden beams and charming creaky staircases. We had dinner with the only other couple in the hotel; Helene and Patrick from Dijon. Gillian did a great job of keeping the conversation going and I piped in when I could string together enough french to make a complete a full thought. They were very nice and spoke slowly so that we could understand them.

The next day we visited a Chateau and a still active Monastery up in the Vosges mountains. The castel was called Konigsburg. It was the best example of a fully restored 16th century chateau that we have ever seen. The Monastery is Ste. Odile – which has a restaurant and a hotel – definitely worth looking into staying there – panoramic views of the Alsace, castles, little villages, forests. Beautiful.

We then found our way to a beautiful medieval village called Kesyersberg where we stayed in a cute yet modest hotel.

We almost ended up at another hotel called Hotel Chambard. We went in and had them show us the rooms that were still available. They were both very nice suites and even they were more than we would want to pay (129Euro) we thought "what the hell". So we went to get our luggage. Just as we were passing the front desk the second time it occurred to me to confirm the price. Sometimes I don't interpret numbers correctly and I wanted to be sure. Well it is a good thing that we did. It turns out that the room was 195 (in French: Cent Quatre-Vingt-Cinq) Euro per night. That's about $240...yikes. So Gillian and I exchanged quick glances and politely returned the key and departed.

On Sunday we had a lovely drive through the Vosges mountains and then headed back to Paris. We anticipated a late arrival home but the freeways are very good here and the speed limit is around 90 MPH, so we were home lickity split. It took us about 4 hours to drive from the Vosges to Paris.

We will definitely return to the Alsace region. Many more wines to taste, villages to wander around, and winter and summer hiking to be sampled.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

more apartment photos

Our dining room, looking toward our front windows and balcony.









Here's our kitchen - its quite spacious by Paris standards. Included is a washer/dryer, and a dishwasher -- I had to move to Paris to get a dishwasher! Our washer-dryer, which I insisted on has turned out to be quite troublesome. I've had many adventures trying to do our laundry -- things seem to come out permanently wrinkled in a way I never knew was possible. Needless to say, the second and third things I bought in Paris (after a hairdryer) was an iron and ironing board. Last night I came home and opened the door to remove some jeans (damp - the best way to go), and created a little flood in the kitchen -- I didn't think front-loading machines would open if full of water -- aaah, live and learn!










come on over for dinner!




Here is the parking that became a bottom line in our decision-making. As Mike has a company car, finding an apartment with parking became very important. In Paris such arrangements are unusual. We have the garage spot second from the right. We have to use a big shoe-horn to get Mike's car into the garage every night -- its a tight spot!

Monday, November 14, 2005

Origin of the word 'curfew'

For anyone interested in word origins, the following explanation, courtesy of Sarah Rose Werner (Diane's sister), might be interesting. The french word so much in the news these days is "couvre-feu".

Nowadays we think of a curfew as the time by which one has to be inside one's home. However, in medieval Europe the curfew bell was not only a signal to go home - it meant go to bed! When the bell rang, people were supposed to cover their hearth fires, put out their lights and retire for the night. Modern teenagers who complain about having to be off the streets by a certain hour should be informed that it could be a lot worse!

- Sarah Rose Werner

Friday, November 11, 2005

Blogging - what I know so far

Here's what I've learned about Blogs so far:

1. When you write a comment, everyone else who looks at the Blog will be able to read it.

2. You can sign in under an assumed name, as our never-before-heard-of-friend, Dr. Antoine Moon has demonstrated quite well. This can allow for more freedom of expression and/or create chaos -- should be fun.

3. I seem to only be able to download 4 pictures into each Blog posting.

4. Once I upload a photo, if its screwy (witness my last posting), I cannot yet figure out how to delete just one photo, rather if you select delete, it deletes the whole Blog.

5. The word 'Blog' is a derivation of 'web-log'.

6. There are Blog spammers out there -- no sooner had I set this up than an unidentifiable Howard put advertising on one of my blogs. This has forced me to turn on two protections -- word verification -- this will make anyone making a comment repeat a word before publishing. The next thing is that I activated 'moderation', which means that your comment comes to my inbox for me to ok it being published. So you won't have the satisfaction of seeing your comment published to the Blog until the next time I log on to my inbox and ok your posting. The only thing I'll be looking for will be GARBAGE from unknown entities.

Anyone with any insights to any of these things is welcome to comment.

yours in blogging, Gillian

picture gallery - early travels in France and Germany

We travelled south along the Mosel River Valley from Germany into Luxembourg and then France. This is the town square of Cochem, one of many beautiful villages which are dotted along the banks of the Mosel River, which was once a very important trade route in Europe. Mosel produces some of best white wine in the world, largely Reislings. Again, we were extremely lucky and got unseasonably warm and sunny weather for our long weekend jaunt down the Mosel.



Sorry, this one is sideways, and I can't seem to correct or delete it without deleting everything else! One little kink in the Blog thing.

Anyway, this is in the town of Blois when Mike was here seule. He drove about 2 hours south of Paris and made it to the Loire Valley, famous for its Chateaus. I described this huge dragon to some of you and you all thought I was good and drunk - so this picture is for you, Betty, Laurie, David, Phil, Shelly, Craig.



aack, this one is sideways too -- sorry. This is also in the Mosel Valley. Many Germanic villages with timbered buildings. Charming.











Well, this one deserves to be sideways. Here we are a restaurant in Cochem, having or about to have a Federweiser (I think), which is an autumnal traditional drink which is made either of apples or grapes and is cloudy, like Hefeweizen beer. Its yummy.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

picture gallery - early life in paris (ours)

Welcome to the Alimentation Generale (grocery store) close to Alliance Francaise, where we both take French classes.

And here's mike falling on the Metro tracks at Metro Saint-Michel, first stop on the left bank of the Seine.

Having une biere on the banks of the Seine. Yes, the Seine is in the background. Its night.

Here is a typical Metro stop sign. This one is St. Placide, which is where we both get off to go to our French classes.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

photo gallery - our apartment


View from our Balcony down to Avenue Foch.










Our master bedroom.

Paris Burning


Thank you to all of you who have written and called to make sure we are safe in Paris. (The almost invisible photo is of the Eiffel Tower at night with the moon to the right.)

Our experience here equals that of our experience in Seattle when there were World Trade Organization riots in downtown Seattle. That is to say, we have been thankfully completely unaffected by any of the disturbances. More than unaffected, blissfully, or you might say, shamefully unaware.

We today finally got our internet connection hooked up at home. We have yet to see English news on tv (also just connected today), likewise we have not found English radio. Thus our only source of information has been the International Herald newspaper, which we've been picking up now and then.

I must confess, Mike called me from Madrid last week to make sure I was ok, and that was the first I heard of riots and car immolation in Paris.

I picked up a copy of La Monde on Monday because of the picture on the front page of police in riot gear and a sea of debris in front of them, which had been used as missiles against the police. I'm struggling with understanding the article - it contains many words not in my dictionary, unfortunately. It tops the headlines along with a story about Avian Flu - a very controversial and high priority topic for the French, or so I'm told.

Unfortunately, I don't yet have much opportunity to get into discussions about immigration, unemployment and racism with the average French person, or Parisien. I wish I did.

I suspect those of you watching US tv or listening to NPR, etc. have much more information and insight into the issues here in Paris today than do we.

Suffice it to say, from a thoroughly insular and selfish viewpoint, I could conduct my everyday business, and have been, without any idea of the problems that are occurring. The only difference I have noticed is an increased presence of police of every ilk (there are several types of uniformed, more or less armed law enforcement groups in France), on the streets and in the Metro. However, one of the first things I noticed when I first arrived in Paris at the beginning of October was how frequently I saw police/uniformed officials milling about. So, now, it is an increase in degree of presence that I've noticed.

The areas most involved seem to be outlying areas, suburbs, if you will, of Paris, and some activity in places in Provence in the south of France. Today, I learned that there has been a curfew (courve-feu in French) declared in certain communities. Troubling.

Strange to be in a community struggling with such serious issues and to be unable to digest or access the information about it. Language.

There is a 10% unemployment rate in France. Among youth, the number is 25%. I can only imagine what the unemployment rate is among immigrants.

So, we are fine, and safe. Now that we have Internet at home, I'll be able to surf for information at a more leisurly pace. Feel free to keep me informed of whatever you might hear or be worried about.

That's all for now. Thanks again for your concern and e-mails.