During the past four months I've seen several "curious" facts in the Metro: countless clochards of every age and nationality, musicians or pretended musicians (some are actually really good), artists of all sorts...I've seen several men peeing in the Metro (disgusting, Emily was in shock!)...but today I saw a pair of women's underwear on display on the wall, with the price tag still on. I couldn't resist.
Here's the picture. I'm still laughing. I mean, I know the French invented lingerie in 1600 (at least, this is what they claim...but I don't want to get in the discussion), but shouldn't it stay "under" or in a shop?
Don't you feel it? The rain, the clouds, the mist, the music....Here in Paris it looks even better. I took Josh to visit the Village de Noël des Champs-Elysées and it was magical. Hundreds of stands where you could buy crepes, macaroons, churros (just to make you feel closer to L.A....) and all sorts of Christmas decorations.
We stopped by the Patinoire and Josh ice-skated under the heavy rain.
Finally we walked until we reached Place de la Concorde with its Grand Roue de Paris but honestly, it was late, dark and cold so we decided to skip this part.
I turned back and I saw the illuminated Champs Elysees with the Arch de Triomphe at the end, the Luxor Obelisk, the Tour Eiffel, the top of the Grand Palais... all in just one glance. Spectacular!
La Seine a de la chance Elle n'a pas de souci Elle se la coule douce Le jour comme la nuit Et elle sort de sa source Tout doucement, sans bruit... Sans sortir de son
lit Et sans se faire de
mousse. Elle s'en va vers la
mer En passant par
Paris. La Seine a de la
chance Elle n'a pas de
souci Et quand elle se promène Tout au long de ses quais Avec sa belle robe verte Et ses lumières dorées Notre-Dame jalouse, immobile et sévère, Du haut de toutes ses pierres La regarde de travers Mais la Seine s'en
balance Elle n'a pas de
souci Elle se la coule
douce Le jour comme la
nuit Et s'en va vers le
Havre Et s'en va vers la
mer En passant comme un
rêve Au milieu des
mystères Des misères de
Paris...
J.Prévert
This is Josh's fourth French poem to learn by heart since the beginning of the year (after L'oiseau lyre, La Chanson d'automne, Le Pelican). It is by far my favorite and also his.
By the end of the year the teacher will put in a bowl the title of each poems the kids will learn during the year (around 20...), pick one randomly, and have the kid recite it. I hope it's this one!
I'm here, at home. It's 6:14 pm, on a rainy Saturday evening, winds 60 km/hr, waiting for Josh to come back from Disneyland where he spent the day with some classmates to celebrate Anna's birthday party.
I am wondering: are they going to bring him back home from that busy overcrowded place? Or is he going to get lost?
This morning I took him to school, where he was supposed to meet all the others. Two adults ("the Braves" Sven and Tom) and a group of crazy wild and uncontrolled kids. It was fun to see them leaving in a black van, with dark glasses and the Diplomatic plate on it. But, hold on, where are the bodyguards?
Then I thought: Sven is the Ambassador of Estonia, he is used to have greater responsibilities than just looking after a bunch of kids, right?
Here is them, before the trip.
Still waiting for the bell to ring.....
Update: it's 19:35 and Josh is at home. Everything is fine! And I can breath again.
Jackie, a dear friend that I met in L.A, with her three kids Marco, Michele and Francesca, just arrived in Paris for a very brief vacation. As usual, Maurizio was sick in the hotel.... They spent the entire day at Disneyland Paris and then, famished, they came to the appointment in Pigalle by 9.30 pm. We walked up on Montmartre and we ate at the Taverne de Montmartre...soup d'onion for the kids and pierrade for us! Soooooo delicious! I thought of Nico: he would have loved all that meat. And of course we thought about Etta: you really should have been there!
After dinner we went for a walk to the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur where we spent some time looking at the panorama. It was dark..and fogghy :)
Then we realized what was going on around us: drug dealers, pot-smokers, drunks...Not exactly the right place to be around midnight with kids. We took the Funicular for the fastest escape route. Save!
Jackie went back to her hotel by taxi. Next time we'll meet in Rome. We went back home by Metro.
Of course, what does a 10 years old kid do at 1 am, in the Metro in Paris? Read....
Josh invited his new friend Owen home for a movie-sleepover. Owen is his class mate and he is really sweet and funny! Josh was truly excited. I was supposed to feed them and then take them to the movie to watch "Tin Tin". Coming back we would stop at the "Creperie" for some chocolate treat....well, it didn't go exactly as scheduled.
Of course, as soon as the boys arrived at home, they started playing Lego and they totally forgot about the movie. They even decided to skip the crepe and keep playing. So it was pretty easy for me.
They had a huge Kung-Fu/Greco-Roman wrestling fight just before going to sleep, then bed time story and sweet dreams. I gave up my bed, since I didn't want Owen to wake up in the middle of the night and fall from the loft bed....With his big eyes and his curly hairs, the face of an angel and the voice of innocence, he told me: "Mrs Caire, you can't imagine how my dad is going to be mad at you if something happens to me.". No, honey, I don't want to think about it. Just sleep in my bed, I'll go on the loft bed...
The first time I've been here, about twenty years ago, I was on the back of a motorcycle, it was raining and we didn't even stop to visit the place....I only have memory of a zoomed image of the Abbey. This time everything was perfect: right company (my two favorite men in the world), perfect weather and a comfortable car.
The only thing that I miss about that period is my shape...how on Earth were those Monks able to go up and down the stairs 7 times a day? No doubts, an immense Faith was moving them. Also, did you know that there was only one bathtub in the entire Monastery and that all the Monks used it only once every 6 months? But the worse part is that, since it was too difficult to carry the water up, they all washed in the same water....just imagine the last guy!
We didn't have the chance to try the famous Omelette de la Mere Poulard: instead we went for a walk in the bay and Josh loved it so much. Those quick-sands are really deep! While at the beginning you feel like you're walking on the Moon (not that I have any experience about it!) and you actually feel that the ground is sinking, then, in a few second you realize that the sand/mud is actually sinking and you are going down (where?) with it. So wicked!
In the evening we went to our B&B: this time we weren't as lucky as in the previous days. This time "Mortimer" opened the door, he didn't say anything more than: "Room. Upstairs" and went back in the living room on his rocking chair, staring at the door.
Giuseppe asked me if he was talking to his imaginary mother....
We double locked the room that night, you never know!
As a final gift we drove to Saint Malo: ten years ago, when Josh was only 9 month old, the two of us came here for our two weeks of sailing class with Les Glenans (what about the separation anxiety?). On our second week, we sailed from Paimpol to Saint Malo: 22 feet of tide twice a day, tide calculation, rain, wind, freezing water, French language, sick skipper and arrogant crew members...Such a wonderful experience!
As much as the city looks impressive from the ground with its walls and fortress, it's nothing like when approaching it from the sea. We arrived in the evening on our 34 ft sailing boat, exhausted: we forgot to give the right of way to the Ferryboat so we almost got all killed, but then we slept in the port. At night, with low tide, the walls were towering upon us and we felt so small. In the morning, surprise! High tide and we were at the street level. Unforgettable.
Oops, I almost forgot. We decided to get a coffee in a restaurant.
Well, this also was an experience we will never forget: listen to what Giuseppe has to say about it.
Normandy is such a beautiful area...we almost decided to change our retirement plans: instead of Antibes, perhaps we'll buy a nice old home close to Honfleur (prices are apparently excellent), with the freezing sea and the windy beaches...well, perhaps not. Let's say we stick to our plan and sometimes we take a plane and come up here, better in November, just in time for the Scallops festival. I'm not sure how the Summer is here, but certainly the colors of the leaves during the Fall are extraordinary. I can understand why so many painters came here to find their inspiration. I'd never been on the East Cost during the Foliage, but Giuseppe told me it's quite similar, just more on the green side here.
The food is obviously great...I mean, it's still France (I'm not a big fan of the grenouilles - frogs - though, but I love les escargots).
When we arrived in Omaha
beach, we were surprised to see so many Americans around, but then I
realized that we were on the day of All Saints, so probably many of them
had relatives buried in the nearby American Cimitery. What a sight! So
impressive...everything was quiet, then all of a sudden the American
Anthem started, the flag was lowered.
I was not in France, I was back in USA.
We
spent most of the day on the Normandy Landing sites. This is what Josh
asked so many times, and I don't think he'll forget all the crosses.
Sometimes a good experience is worth more than the books, when you need
to learn history ...and its mistakes.
Later we went
to our guest house: another great couple, the house was perfect and
there were decorations everywhere for Halloween...even the ugliest cat
I've ever seen. I though it was an ornament, so scary, ghostlike...but
then it moved! The best Halloween decoration ever :)
The guy took
us to a nearby Calvados Farm and, OMG, we couldn't resist. We bought
Calvados and one of Cidre (better the first!). No we can get drunk at
all times, between the Absinthe, the Rhum (from Rio) and now this.
Unfortunately (and hopefully for Josh) we were late to visit the famous Bayeux Tapestry but it's a good excuse to come back here one more time. I absolutely want to see it.
The journey was long, we were exhausted and, honestly, Bayeux doesn't offer quite much in term of nightlife...pretty boring actually.
Better sneak under the blanket and have a good night sleep. Tomorrow is another day, tomorrow we go to Le Mont Saint-Michel!
