Things we won't & will miss about Paris...

We are almost ready to leave, so we decided to make a list of will and won't miss.

WE WON'T MISS: 

Josh: dog poop, crowded metro, my apartment, the accent on french words, pickpockets, the rain, rats, the homeless, homeworks, the teachers...

Isa: the waiters in the restaurant, the teachers, the bank, the drunks and the homeless all over the city, the dirt, the rain, the dry-cleaning close to home, the security doors in the metro, the stairs to our front door, the smell in the metro, the weirdos all over town, the hairsalons, our noisy neighbors, the dust on the furnitures, carrying luggages in the metro without elevators, the clercks in public offices, Orange telephone customer service...

WE WILL MISS: 

Josh: crepes, baguettes, pain au chocolat, the view from the Eiffel Tower, the museums, my friends,
casual conversations with people you just met, going to buy groceries across the street all by myself, staying at home while mom and dad are having dinner in a close by restaurant, macaroons...

Isa: the musicians in the metro, the fromagerie and the boulangerie at the corner of the street, picnic in the public parks with cheese and wine, the old buildings, the cabblestone, the health system, my friends, the moules frites, the escargots, the courtyard of our apartment, free museums for the kids, the ads , my colleagues, the monokini, the farmer market every other day, the English bookstore close to the school, my Monday morning coffe-breaks with the other moms, walking around the city at night without fear, not using a car, the poems, french books, the chocolate store, crepes, les baguettes aux cereals, my Navigo card, rock salt, my son talking in French, smoking in a bistro, concerts in churches...

14 Juillet ...it's time for celebrations in Paris

I've been dreaming of a pic-nic "en plein air" in a park, at sunset since the last couple of months...unfortunately the weather has been awful. So I almost gave up but then, on the 14 of July, this opportunity came up again and I was able to fulfill this little dream of mine.

Together with another couple of American friends, we packed some cheese, baguettes, delicatessen and of course wine and we went in the most unusual spot in Paris where too have pic-nic: south of Montparnasse , along the avenue Pasteur, there is a small green area, almost big as a tablecloth, on a steep slope on one side of the curb.

At first sight, you wouldn't think of this spot as a desirable place where to sit and eat on the grass while chatting....but, as usual, we were wrong. After a few minutes from our arrival, the place was packed with people waiting, as we were, to admire the fireworks.  The amount of spectators was close to a thousand, on the grass, on the curb but mostly in the middle of the street, which had been closed to traffic by 9:30 pm. When we arrived there, we understood why this place was so popular: the avenue Pasteur is in straight line pointing to the direction of the Tour Eiffel and this particular area is elevated with respect to the rest of the nearby buildings so that you can enjoy a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower !

The fireworks celebrating the "Prise de la Bastille" were spectacular and lasted more than half an hour , for Josh's greatest enjoyment.

 What a night!

Catamaran stage at Ile d'Arz

The decision of sending Josh to a one week sailing stage was part of the deal: you work hard to learn French, then you'll get as a reward an entire week sailing on catamarans with other kids in the Golf de Morbihan (Bretagne). He did it. So we enrolled him with Jeunesse et Marine, a well know organization here in France,  we provided him with all the necessary equipment (40 kg in the backpack....almost as much as he weights!!!)  and here he was, ready to board on a train with a group of other French kids. Of course I gave him a mobile phone, just to be sure he could contact me. 

At first, I was somehow worried.... I wouldn't see him for a whole week, the kids in the group were a bit older than him (13 - 15 y.o.) and, even worse, all of them spoke only French. Would he survive? During the first hours, it was all about texting messages and calling back several times. Then, magically, the phone stopped ringing and whenever he called me or sent me a message, it was only to let me know that everything was great and that he was having a great time. 

Just for informative purpose, this is the place: 

The train trip took about 5 hours, after which they arrived at the campsite. The kids (24 overall) were assigned to big tents (6 kids in each)....I can only imagine the mess at the end of the week. Supposedly they had day shifts so that someone would keep it clean but apparently no-one seriously supervised them...

Their day started at 8 am, with breakfast (caffe latte and cookies) then the daily briefing about safety, manoeuvres and knots. After that, they spent spent all day on the catamarans: 3 kids on each catamaran and the moniteurs (coach) on the motor boat following them and giving them (actually, yelling them...)directions and instruction. 

The environment was very friendly and the camp supervisors were fantastic: Josh had so much fun and made a lot of friends. He learned how to make some knots (noeud de chaise, en huit, de cabestan), he learned the technique of tacking and beating, port and starboard, etc. He was also allowed to build his own bow and arrow. Cool! Of course, being surrounded by older kids, he learned all other terms, cursing mostly, in French (at least back in LA the other class mates won't understand...). They had sailing competition but also "passing gas" and "burping" competitions, much more amusing! What do you expect when parents are not around!
At the end of the week, all the kids packed their belongings and went on an 2 days adventure to conquer a small island, set up a bivouac camp, eat and sleep there and then come back. 
Overall, it was a great experience. I am so happy that he did it and we hope he'll continue next year. 
The worse part of the entire adventure was when I opened his back pack....OMG !!!!!!! 

 

Paris: city of light, love...and affairs!!!!

If you happen to go around Paris these days, look carefully at the advertising billboards that are located in various corners of the city, particularly in the subway stations. Perhaps, as it happened to me, your eyes will fall upon the gigantic pink posters advertising messages entirely unconventional, as theses: 

These are ads posters, somewhat audacious, of a popular website for extra-marital exchanges, which, in contrast to other similar agencies dedicated to singles, has no qualms to promote....yes, cheating! I admit, these ads are original and impertinent, although they look perfectly at ease in a city where infidelity is a value much more advertised than morality. Only in France?

Emergency room in Paris...

Today I had to go to the Emergency Room at the nearby hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière (the one famous for Lady Diana's death....), which is one of the biggest hospital in Europe. 

I couldn't handle the pain any longer but there was no other alternative. The problem is that, not only it's a huge and extremely busy hospital, but we also are right in the middle of the high-touristic season so I expected a very long wait. I couldn't be more wrong. I arrived at 11:00 am and with nobody in line in front of me, I was registered at the "accueil" within 1 minute. I was only asked an identity card and my Carte Vitale. I used my Californian driving license, which they accepted without problems. Of course I had my Carte Vitale with me and they registered me as Madame Caire (so funny!). I was asked my french address, which I gave them. End of the questions. The guy was nice and kind and in excellent mood: he didn't have any problem with my accent and invited me to wait in the triage room where a nurse would take my vitals as soon as possible. Again I sat on the chair, psychologically prepared to the longest wait ever. The building is old (about 400 years) and didn't look sparkling and sterilized, but definitely cleaner that the County L.A.!!! At 11:25 am the nurse called me in the room, took my vitals and some generic medical information. I was assigned a code and asked to wait outside the door for the surgeon to visit me. I stepped out of the room, thinking: "Here is it, now it will be at least 2-3 hours....get out your book and read and be ready to alert another parent to pick up your son at school at 3 pm". Wrong. As soon as I sat on the chair, I heard my name being called from the other end of the corridor: I looked at my watch. It was 11:30....I couldn't believe it. The surgeon, a smiling 50-55 years old guy, dressed with his white coat with his name clearly visible, introduced himself and  started visiting me. His words were clear and he made also some effort to speak in English, just to make sure that everything was perfectly understood. He asked all pertinent medical information, much detailed, as I expected him to do. At the end of the visit, he typed all the information on the computer, went through all the details of the drugs he was prescribing me and asked me if something wasn't clear. He was very nice, polite and patient. The visit was finished. It was 11:50 am and I was ready to walk out from the ER with everything clear in my mind except .....the payment. I asked him where could I take care of the payment for the consultation in the ER and he told me that I would receive the bill directly at home (not more that 25 euros, according to him). Awesome!!!!! 

Can someone please explain to me what is the problem with socialized medicine? Because I don't see it!!!! 

Update (July 07): I just received  the bill in my mail box.....6.23 euros.....I don't know whether to laugh or cry !!!! 

At Musee Pasteur....where time is an option!

The Museum itself is interesting but, boy!, is it hard to get in. Keep in mind that none of the following information is posted on their website. We arrived around 15:30 and as soon as we started to walk through the gate, we were stopped by an armed guard. They made us stop at the check in, where a non-smiling lady took our identity card (California D.L. works fine but passport is better...), signed our names into the visitor data base, and handed us some badges. Then we waited about 15 minutes before we were allowed into the Museum. 

There, at the second floor, again we waited other 20 minutes for the guide to walk us in... Finally the guide walked us inside the laboratory, and after handing us written information about the exhibition, she closed the door behind us....and left! After a while a cracking noise came out from the speakers around the room, noise that we recognized as a French recorded guided tour. Aside from these pitfalls, the laboratory room was interesting, with all the custom-made glass beakers and microscopes displayed on the shelves. 

After the laboratory we visited the apartment where Louis Pasteur spent the last seven years of his life: bedrooms, sitting rooms, a bathroom, stairway, etc. Every room was furnished in Victorian style, unfortunately covered with dust from the Victorian age!!!!

The most interesting part of the visit was the crypt: just by walking in it you understand why Pasteur's family refused to have him buried in the Pantheon...

This place is amazing: the walls are completely covered with mosaics describing his discoveries (fermentation, immunization to anthrax, study on chicken cholera, vaccine of rabies, etc). Now this is worth a visit! 

Just walking around....

It doesn't happen every day, with all the rain we had so far, to see it from this point of view....

 

nor from this other point of view..... 

The Olympic fever in Paris...

In the past couple of days I noticed, in various Metro stations here in Paris, some interesting and certainly eye-captivating ads: the campaign promotes the Eurostar, a train that is well know for connecting Paris to London in just a bit more than two hours, as one of the sponsors of the Olympic games that are about to start in London this summer. But, as you can see from your eyes, there's more than that....

Here the Greek-style statues seem to have been used to mock the well known British stereotypes of athletic heroes, at least in the French view: overweight naked bodies with beer bellies playing darts and snooker! 

Perhaps the French company that is responsible for this ads is still suffering from the "defeat" (in terms of numbers of medals won) in Beijing....

I would love to see how the ads are in Metro in London... French athletes shooting snails or throwing goose liver instead of the javelin? 

The boys are back!!!!

Last Friday, while I was giving a talk at a conference here in Paris, Giuseppe took Giovanni to the Train Station in Montparnasse: I couldn't believe it. He was going with the school for a vacation-trip to Belle Ile en Mer, in Bretagne. Already? Yes, he is no longer in kindergarten. The group was formed by two classes: the Adaptation class (with 4th and 5th graders kids who mainly speak English and are learning French) and another class of 4th and 5th graders in regular French class. Total: 40 kids and one brave (or should I say crazy?) teacher, Mrs P. accompanied by a couple of supervisors. 

They took the train from Montparnasse Station and after five hours of train plus half hour of boat-trip, they arrived in the Domain that hosted them. 

The place is actually huge, around 50 acres and has horses, animals, playground, soccer field, etc. etc. The kids, who weren't allowed to bring with themselves any electronic device, discovered that there is so much more than video games and TV in life...like  hiking, playing on the beach, catching crabs, playing soccer and they also writing a book, with the help of a poet who instructed them every day: the title is "Je suis amoreux d'une pirate" and tells the adventures of a Canadian boy named Horatio who falls in love with a pirate named Laure. Extremely well done!

Final drawing, by Giovanni Sebastiano

They even had a party of the last night, with music, stroboscopic lights and dance! What a blast! That's when all the drama about who was going to invite who started!!! Already? I guess so....

Of course not everything went perfectly well, as we expected: Giovanni was once sent out of the dormitory room since he tried to engage the other kids in a pillow fight just before bed time....and he was caught by the supervisor! 

During the entire week, we weren't allowed to call them: the only communication system available was a recording machine on which Mme P. and the kids would leave their messages for the parents in the evening. Great system! 

Here he is, back at the train station: when I arrived, I saw a crowd of mothers and fathers, surrounded by kids with their luggage and I couldn't see my son...then....a kid step out of the crowd and start running toward me, jumped on me and hugged me: Giovanni!!!!! How much I missed him!

Kayak in Ardeche...when we almost lost Josh...

It's been two weeks now since we came back from our trip to Ardeche but I couldn't find the words to tell this adventure. It was beautiful but also the scariest moment of my life.

It all began a couple of months ago, when I decided to organize with  some old friends in Biot (the place where Giuseppe lived from 1998 until 2005) a "reunion" to celebrate both Giuseppe anniversary and also our 7th wedding anniversary. Some of those friends came  along with us in Ardeche already 13 years ago, for a kayaking week-end. At that time, since none of us had kids, we descended the river in two days, camping in the Bivouac de Gaud at night (we had the tent, the sleeping bags, the bbq, a lot of wine and beer....what did we need more?). This time of course we had to organize our trip a little differently, since the other two couples had respectively two and four kids. But we did it.
After hours of driving across this country, surrounded by magnificent landscapes and lush countryside....we passed near Montelimar where the immense 4 chimneys of the nearby nuclear plant reminded us, shockingly, that the French, in contrast to Italians, are not worried of getting 70% of their power from nuclear sources!

After almost ten hours of driving, we arrived to The Camping du Midi, where we had our two cottage homes: two double bedroom, living room with dinette, bathroom, shower room and veranda. Not bad! 

 It was great: after so many years we still had so much to share and laugh about! Additionally all the kids (7 in total) connected immediately, despite the language (they all speak French!). Josh was extraordinary: not even one moment he felt uncomfortable with the language. The first morning, since it was raining... 

 

...we decided to visit the Grotte de la Madeline: a magical place highlighted by a show with special sounds and lights effect . The place has huge and amazing concretions. Wonderful. 

Then in the afternoon we had our first experience in the Gorges de l'Ardeche with the kayaks. It was awesome! 

 

The expedition was formed by three kayaks: the Knopp's (Cathy, Raymond and 9 y.o. Michael), the Kohrs's (Arndt, 10 y.o. Noah and 7 y.o. Alan) and the Caire's. 
Only 8 km (almost 5 miles) to begin with but enough to experience the cold water, the first white water and to familiarize with the whole paddling thing.  Josh was constantly asking us to go in the hardest part of the rapids: I can't blame him! It's fun, you get splashed and you have to move quickly in order to get out from that hell, but it's a wonderful experience. We ended the afternoon just after the 60 m stone arch which spans the river: the Pont d'Arc.

In the evening the kids played ping-pong while we prepared dinner. Then they had a very special treat: s'mores, just like in the USA.
On the next day we started around 10 am the longest ride: 24 km (15 miles) down the river, without any chance to stop in the middle. There's no way that, if you change your mind, you can climb up. The river walls are limestone cliffs up to 300 m high. In the morning, during one particular white water, both the other two teams flipped over and we all paddled back to help the kids. Of course they were scared, but overall it was fine, since they only got in the water. The "sapeurs pompiers" (rangers) are constantly monitoring the difficult areas of the river and they helped us retrieving the shoes, the paddle, the hats, etc.
Around noon we stopped for lunch: fortunately all our stuff was "sealed" into special containers, so our cheese and salami were still eatable. Then, just after we restarted our second part, that's when it happened. I was in the front, Josh in the middle and Giuseppe in the back . We were going through a white water, the Dent Noir, which is particularly difficult because there's a rock right in the middle of the river and most of the kayaks crash in the rock and then flip over. Actually we completed the white water without turning upside down and without hitting the Dent Noir, but, just when we were about to get out of the fast running water, I wasn't able to turn the kayak toward the center of the river so we crashed with our left side against a rock on the left wall. Completely. What about all the tips that the guy told us about trying to jump over the rock before tipping over so you're not stuck under the kayak? Useless, at least when everything happens in less that 2 seconds. Others before us had just hit the same rock so they were stuck against the rocky wall as well. Two kayaks, once next to the other. With the left side of our kayak against the rock and the water running against our right side so fast, we immediately tipped over. As soon as I had my head out of the water, able to breath again, I was taken away by the current. I tried to swim upstream, with all my strength, but I just couldn't. I was calling for Josh, trying to see him but in vain. After a few seconds I saw Giuseppe taken away by the water and our kayak going down the river along with him, but no sign of Josh. The other kayak, the one that was already there when we crashed, was still upside down against the rock...that's when I panicked. What if Josh was stuck under the kayak and couldn't get out? It was already about a minute and I still couldn't see him. I kept calling him but nothing, no answer. Then I guy over a rock on the side of the river gave me a sign and I saw my son. He was pale, terrified, completely in shock. After swimming back and holding on the rocks, I was finally able to reach him. That's when he told me that, not only he was stuck under the kayak, but also that the rock we crashed against had a "submerged cave", about 2 meters wide, just beneath the level of the water. He was stuck there and was pushed against the bottom of the "cave" by the current. When he realized that he had no way out, he swam with all his energy against the current, and was finally out. 
Here is a video I found on YouTube about the Dent Noir white waters: 

 

I am still shaking, now, even after two weeks. This place is advertised as one of the safest rivers in France: it's actually open to kids over 7 years old and during the same weekend we saw literally hundreds of kids with their family. Who on earth could imagine that there is such an unsafe area there, with a "hidden trap" underwater....A couple of days after we came back, I almost fainted when I read on a French newspaper that just the week before, a 37 y.o. guy died in exactly the same spot. Horrible. 
What or who do I have to thank for this "happy ending" we were blessed with? The almost five years of weekly swimming lessons? Someone up there that didn't feel it was the right moment for Josh to leave his crazy parents?
After this dramatic moment and after taking a long break, we had to go back on the kayak: as I said previously, there is no way you can get out of the canyon without kayaking.
Of course until the end, we were very careful to avoid all possible dangers, even though we turned upside down once more (tired, mistake...who knows?). This time I grabbed my son's hand while we were still halfway between air and water...this time I was going with him, no matter where! 
We finished around 7 pm. By that time Josh and the other kids were no longer scared or shocked. They were just exhausted and happy that everything was over.
The bus took us back to the campsite and then, after the last kisses and hugs, we drove to Avignon, just 80 km away. But of course, without the GPS app of my smartphone (right, the phone was  the only victim of the adventure....together with all the pictures and movies....no regrets, I have my son, I don't care about the pictures!) it took us more that 2 hrs to arrive there.
Let me give you a tip: don't ever try to drive your car in Avignon. It's a nightmare. Impossible. The craziest labyrinth of one-way streets and "no-parking" signs I've ever seen. We arrived in our splendid hotel: it's called the Hotel Restaurant Palais des Papes, right in the central village. It is really nice and elegant...the stair is unbelievable:

The best thing? The view from our room: 

In the morning we woke up, we had breakfast, then we crossed the square and visited the Palais des Papes and the Pont d'Avignon...then it was time to go back to Paris.
In the end, everything was fine...we were together, safe and happy. No nightmares, no post-traumatic stress...but I'm not doing it again. At least not with my son.