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 !!!!!!! 

 

Welcome back !!!!

We missed you so much!! 
Love, 
Gio, Isa & Beppe

School is over !!!!!! Arrivederci !

After endless dictation tests, math, history, geography, poems,  painful spelling and grammar exercises, countless hours in the class, exhausting home works, several field trips...the school year is over. It seems impossible but it's true. No more 6:45 am alarm clock, no more rushing to the metro, no more Mme P. 

Josh made it, we made it. 

Pretty soon we'll be back to our "regular" life in L.A. and French will only be a weekly class in Pasadena. 

It's been hard but exciting...and the memories will last forever. The people we met, these amazing kids, full of energy, passion and enthusiasm, their parents, so inspiring and brave, with their incredible background of experience. We laughed, we supported each other, we visited together this city, we had breakfast and dinners together, play dates, we kept in touch for emergency situations, we shared fears, disappointments, but also happiness and pride for our kids. In this city where we were all, more or less, foreigners, we bound and held on to each other as a team. Without the kids and the parents we met, this whole year would have been impossibly hard. 

Each of them has his/her spot, in my memory, in my heart. Each of them shared some of their time with us and I will always cherish their friendship. 

last day of school in front of EABJM

the Cafeteria next to the school

at "Cafe' Cosmos" for our last coffee after drop-off

farewell party at Square Saint - Lambert

As a dear friend once reminded me, “Arrivederci” in Italian,  means “until we see each other again”. So, to all of you, arrivederci and thanks for this year.

From Altadena to Paris...

When my friend Etta called me last week to get details on what kind of sandals to bring to Paris, I replied: "Never mind the sandals, just get rubber boots, an umbrella and a raincoat." She freaked out  and began to search desperately these items around Pasadena and Altadena, without success. Etta, don't you know that you find them in any subway station? They are the number two souvenirs for the tourist, aside from the Tour Eiffel snow-dome. 

But I must admit that I was somewhat pessimistic: in fact, during her six days of vacation here in Paris, she could enjoy the sun even for two days in a row. A windfall!
I must say that her choice of staying in Versailles seemed crazy to me, but then I realized that she could enjoy a magnificent hotel and rest in the train after the long rides around this town. We walked around for kilometers, we ate foie gras (last chance before moving back to California) and escargots, we had excellent wine (yes, the kids tasted it and they asked for Coca Cola after that!!!), we laughed, we made ​​long lines together with the other thousand of tourists, we told each other the latest news, our children had a good time and everything went well . 

See you soon, in Turin, and thank you for everything!

School agenda...

I remember when I was in elementary school, my main concern in the late summer was to choose the school agenda. It had to be of adequate size, updated, easy to use but also trendy. The front cover above was to express in a single image, the personality its owner, or mine. Obviously, the brand agenda then determined the choice of the box, notebooks, folder. In short, every year my grandmother or my mother led my sister and me in the most supplied stationery store in the area and after about an hour we left with all the necessary for the school year. A real adventure.
Things have changed a lot: in the US, since our son started his school adventure, I've never seen a school diary. The teachers give each week a stack of sheets of papers to fill out and it all ends there. Not worth the effort for the kids to write every day tasks for the next day. Everything has been chosen and decided by the teacher: photocopies are already stapled by a class parent and distributed by the kids. Not worth the effort for the kids to write every day tasks for the next day. Everything and 'already' choice and decided by the teacher: photocopies are already 'ready and stapled.
Here it's as Italy 30 years ago: throughout the year Josh had to mark on his school agenda every homework for the day or the following week with results nothing short of .... exhilarating: our son marked the tasks on the first available page. Too bad the first page was the one corresponding to 27 August, while the school started on September 5! You see? Not only the agenda serves the purpose of empowering young people (they have to listen, understand, write, read, understand...) but also to enable them to appreciate the lapse of time, important facts as how many weeks are missing until the Christmas holidays, etc..

Although the school has almost 'comes to an end, are already' out the new agenda for the next school year. So, to continue the family tradition, I brought in Josh stationery store near the school and gave him "carte blanche" choose between the many agendas: there were of all colors, titles, photos, forms, etc..
Of course my son has immediately chosen the only agenda that certainly will not have the opportunity to use the Marengo: here it is.

 
That's right, those noodles colored with crowns on their heads and colorful clothing are "just sperm" ... "what 's wrong, Mom? Even my friends have this agenda ...". I know, there 's nothing wrong for a nation of libertines like the French, who probably use the school agenda to clear the tabu of sex already in elementary school ... but I doubt that the agenda itself would be considered as "appropriate" in the American school!

He chose the one with the Union Jack's flag. 

Puck and other "encounters" at the Bois de Boulogne

Today, for some inexplicable reason, it wasn't raining...such a surprise! After spending one week in planning how many raincoats and umbrellas and boots I should have packed to go to the Bois de Boulogne, all of a sudden I realized that a simple t-shirt would just do it. I've never been to this park, even thought it's just around the corner where I work. So I thought that the regular planning with my interactive metro-line application would be enough. Soooo wrong. As soon as we were out of the metro, I looked at the directions on my smart-phone...and I realized that this stuff is not smart at all. How on earth can a GPS application give me directions when it can't locate me without less than 4 km approximation? That's the entire Bois de Boulogne. As a matter of fact, we got lost. We went all the way north just to realize that we were heading toward the wrong direction...the blue arrow still immobile on my screen. Stupid app! Finally I got in touch with a friend of mine who was already at the Jardins de Shakespeare and she gave me some advice. So we walked...approximately half an hour. 

It was 2 pm and there were thousands of families in the park, playing, sunbathing, reading or just having their picnic. Kind of an awkward setting for prostitution, right? In fact when Josh asked me what was that "lady" doing, with her short skirt, sitting right in the middle of the curb...I didn't even have the time to come up with some ridiculous and totally false explanation...I just splatted the truth right in front of him: nothing, honey, she's just selling sex for money! Yeap! Like that....Just the time for him to turn around and give her another quick interrogative look, that the "lady" was carried away by a client in his car. No more comments from my son. I know I can't hide him forever from the ugliness of this world, but I wish I was less direct.

We finally joined the group of parents from the school, had a quick lunch then we entered the open-air theater where the "Midsummer Night's Dream" was played. Four girls from Josh's class were acting in the play and they were absolutely wonderful.  The setting was incredible: the Théâtre de Verdure is considered, for good reasons, one of the most beautiful open-air theatres in the world.

The audience sits on a large lawn around which are planted the flowers, trees and plants, so that the stage is completely natural and perfect for the play: the actors came on stage from different entrances and exits, and there are all sorts of narrow paths and steps for the cast to gamble around. The Théâtre de Verdure is worth a visit even if no performance is scheduled. Of course, you'll have to work hard to find it, first! 

The picture above? There is an explanation: the weather, this crazy Parisian weather, as usual played a trick on us: this time it wasn't the rain, quite the opposite. We spent 2 hours and 15 minutes burning and sweating under the torrid sun. Some of us literally collapsed!
Can't we just have a regular day? Can't there be something in between a thunderstorm and a Saharan sun? I'm puzzled...

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!