Ever since we started dating, Blaise and I (and the kids) have spent Christmas in Atlanta with his family. Of course, this year we weren't going to be able to do that, given the cost of international plane tickets for 5 people. That meant we needed to find something else to do on Christmas Day.
When we bought our Disney passes last summer, we noticed both that Disney was open on Christmas Day, and that our passes were valid on Christmas. (We have about 30 days when our passes don't work over the course of the year. There is a pass that works all 365 days a year, but we judged that it wasn't worth spending the extra 30€ a person for it.) Naturally, it seemed like it would be fun to go to Disney on Christmas, and we expected that it probably wouldn't be that busy either, after all, don't people have better things to do on Christmas Day?
Shortly before Blaise's parents left (so about 2 weeks before Christmas), the RER A went on strike. We figured the strike would surely be over by Christmas, since none of the other transport strikes since we've been here have lasted for more than a few days, and most have been only a single day. Christmas Day arrived and the strike was still going on, though it seemed to be weakening. The claim on the RATP website was that they were running 3 trains out of 4, which worked out to 4 or 5 trains an hour. Not too bad, even though we wouldn't know until we got there exactly which 3 out of 4 trains were running.
We headed for the RER station around 10:00, and walked down to a completely deserted platform. Evidently, a train had just left; further evidence that there would be trains running with some regularity. At 10:25, the signs on the platform announced that our train was currently at La Defense, on the opposite side of Paris, about 35 minutes away. We watched the signs update as the train passed through all the stations between La Defense and Val de Fontenay, then noticed that the arriving train was only going to Torcy rather than all the way to Marne-la-Vallée and Parc Disneyland. No matter, we would get on anyway, and just pick up the next train from Torcy. Perhaps they were running trains between Torcy and Marne-la-Vallée? We arrived at Torcy after a 20 minute ride, and discovered that virtually everyone on the (extremely packed) train was waiting for the next train to go the rest of the way to Disney. We also discovered that the next train was at . . . La Defense, and would not be arriving for an hour or so. Once it finally did arrive it was also completely packed, but we managed to shoehorn everyone from the previous train onto this one.
Around 12:30 we arrived at Disney and headed for the Disney Studios, which we hadn't visited before. Blaise was excited about the prospect of riding some of the roller coasters in that part of the park, so we headed over to the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, which claimed to have a fairly short wait. We then discovered that although Sapphire was tall enough to ride, Ezio was just a fraction of an inch too short, and would have to wait outside with Cherry and I while Blaise and Sapphire rode together. He sobbed through their entire ride about the unfairness of it. Ezio was tall enough to ride the Tower of Terror with Blaise and Sapphire though, while Cherry and I tried (unsuccessfully) to stay warm in a gift shop.
We headed over to the main park after that, since the other coaster was closed for repairs, and we weren't particularly interested in sitting through any of the shows. We rode a few rides, and then headed for the exit, and over to the RER station. According to the signs there, our train would not be departing for another 40 minutes, so rather than sit on the station platform for that long, we went up to the Marché de Noël outside Disney Village. We ended up catching a second train 10 minutes later than our intended train, and had our car almost entirely to ourselves the whole way home. (The first train had reached sardine-like levels five minutes before leaving the station. I think we were still the only ones who chose to wait, even though the second train was on the board well before the first left.)
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
In which we celebrate Christmas Eve
In France, the traditional Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve night, after midnight mass, and is quite elaborate, with many courses, and, of course, a bûche de Noël to finish the meal. We began the process of preparation on Wednesday. There were a couple of complications.
1) We weren't going to drag our kids to midnight mass. Perhaps more relevantly, we weren't going to force all the other people at midnight mass to listen to our exhausted 3 year old scream through the entire service, so we would be eating earlier than midnight.
2) We had some unexpected expenses early in the month, and payday was Christmas Day, so we had 60€ remaining with which to buy food for our feast. (Not to mention Christmas Day itself, and the day before Christmas.) That meant we wouldn't be having the traditional foie gras, oysters, three kinds of roast game, cheese plate, etc. The bûche was nonnegotiable.
We ultimately decided on Boeuf Bourguignon for dinner, along with mashed potatoes, salad, and brussels sprouts. We bought a bûche at the local bakery. (Next year, I'm going to make one for Christmas dinner. Consider this as laying claim to planning the dessert!)
Christmas Eve morning we went to the library to pick out some new books. Sapphire discovered that they have tons of Babysitter's Club books. I discovered that it isn't easy to find books that are difficult enough to challenge Ezio, but not too intense for a not quite 7 year old. Unfortunately, he's pretty much exhausted the Asterix comics at this point.
After lunch, I started cooking. Blaise stopped at the ATM and discovered that we'd been paid a few days early, so we took out some cash for our Christmas Day plans.
Dinner was very good, as was the cake. I'm happy to report that my children like brussels sprouts. Afterwards, Cherry went to bed, and Ezio and Sapphire and I played some cards.
1) We weren't going to drag our kids to midnight mass. Perhaps more relevantly, we weren't going to force all the other people at midnight mass to listen to our exhausted 3 year old scream through the entire service, so we would be eating earlier than midnight.
2) We had some unexpected expenses early in the month, and payday was Christmas Day, so we had 60€ remaining with which to buy food for our feast. (Not to mention Christmas Day itself, and the day before Christmas.) That meant we wouldn't be having the traditional foie gras, oysters, three kinds of roast game, cheese plate, etc. The bûche was nonnegotiable.
We ultimately decided on Boeuf Bourguignon for dinner, along with mashed potatoes, salad, and brussels sprouts. We bought a bûche at the local bakery. (Next year, I'm going to make one for Christmas dinner. Consider this as laying claim to planning the dessert!)
Christmas Eve morning we went to the library to pick out some new books. Sapphire discovered that they have tons of Babysitter's Club books. I discovered that it isn't easy to find books that are difficult enough to challenge Ezio, but not too intense for a not quite 7 year old. Unfortunately, he's pretty much exhausted the Asterix comics at this point.
After lunch, I started cooking. Blaise stopped at the ATM and discovered that we'd been paid a few days early, so we took out some cash for our Christmas Day plans.
Dinner was very good, as was the cake. I'm happy to report that my children like brussels sprouts. Afterwards, Cherry went to bed, and Ezio and Sapphire and I played some cards.
In which we go for a walk
It's been a rather damp and chilly December here in Paris (which I understand is nothing out of the ordinary), and Wednesday was no exception. By Wednesday evening, things had dried out a little bit, and so after dinner we all headed out for a walk. (Between the weather and Cherry's stomach bug, we'd been stuck inside more than was good, and Ezio was beginning to climb the walls.) Sapphire and Blaise had discovered a big apartment building with lots of decorations a few nights earlier, and Sapphire was very excited about showing it to us.
We headed off, up the steps across the street. When I saw which direction we were generally heading, I suggested that we swing by the Mairie on our way to the apartment building. Fontenay-sous-Bois had set up a bit of a Christmas forest in front of the town hall, complete with an atelier de Père Noël (Santa's workshop) in a little cottage. The kids and I had seen it during the day, but wanted to see what it looked like lit up, and Blaise hadn't seen it at all. Since we were the only people there, they had great fun chasing each other through the lanes while Blaise and I chatted and watched them run.
After 15 minutes or so, I suggested that we head over to the "long building" as Sapphire called it. (It's right next to what she calls the "tall building".) We can see this building from our apartment, and from there it looks quite ordinary, but we walked around to the other side of the building that night. Most of the building was pretty ordinary looking, but there were probably 20 balconies that were lit up like Christmas trees, each different of course. We admired the lights, and the kids chased each other around for a while. Then we realized that the area they were chasing each other in had a 6 foot drop off to a parking area on the other side, so we rounded up the kids and headed for home.
We headed off, up the steps across the street. When I saw which direction we were generally heading, I suggested that we swing by the Mairie on our way to the apartment building. Fontenay-sous-Bois had set up a bit of a Christmas forest in front of the town hall, complete with an atelier de Père Noël (Santa's workshop) in a little cottage. The kids and I had seen it during the day, but wanted to see what it looked like lit up, and Blaise hadn't seen it at all. Since we were the only people there, they had great fun chasing each other through the lanes while Blaise and I chatted and watched them run.
After 15 minutes or so, I suggested that we head over to the "long building" as Sapphire called it. (It's right next to what she calls the "tall building".) We can see this building from our apartment, and from there it looks quite ordinary, but we walked around to the other side of the building that night. Most of the building was pretty ordinary looking, but there were probably 20 balconies that were lit up like Christmas trees, each different of course. We admired the lights, and the kids chased each other around for a while. Then we realized that the area they were chasing each other in had a 6 foot drop off to a parking area on the other side, so we rounded up the kids and headed for home.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
In which Rebekah wraps up the events of the last couple of weeks
In a desperate attempt to get current, and because we didn't do anything that was all that exciting recently, I'm going to attempt to write a single post which covers the time from December 10th until the 22nd.
December 10--Blaise and his parents and brother visit the Louvre.
December 11--Blaise's parents and brother leave for Atlanta.
December 12--Our trip to the library to get new books is complicated by the fact that the RER A is on strike. (Actually, it's still on strike, though things seem to be easing somewhat.)
December 13--Both the RER A and the RER E are on strike. We stay home.
December 14--Today is the beginning of the last week of school before Christmas break.
December 15--Blaise gets a letter with his social security number on it. Yippee! Now he has health coverage. (Actually, so do the rest of us, and we have all along, but he won't have to pay up front and get reimbursed any more.) Ezio's goggles get stolen at swimming, which is part of the regular school curriculum here.
December 16--The kids and I take the train into the city to go to the Cité des Enfants. All three kids go to the big kids section, which is overrun by centre de loisirs kids. (The centre de loisirs is the name given to the before/after school care, as well as the care given on Wednesdays and during school vacations. It's run at the schools by the municipality, and cost is entirely dependent on family size and income.)
December 17--Sapphire and Ezio have their Christmas lunch at school, complete with 3 different desserts, and venison terrine. Cherry's maternelle has a Christmas program after dinner. She is very excited to be in the program, and happily goes off to her classroom to line up before the program. When her class files out, she sees all the people in the audience, can't find us, and bursts into tears. She spends the rest of the program sitting on my lap. The rest of the kids sang very nicely (including a couple of 4 and 5 year olds who sang solos. I was impressed by how self possessed they were.) We get 3 inches of snow. In case you were wondering how Paris handles snow, the answer is "not very well".
December 18--Cherry wakes me up at 4:30 with the words, "Don't worry Mommy, I can throw up by myself." No school for her today. Today is the last day of school before Christmas vacation for the big kids.
December 19--Our plans to go to the kids' Christmas party at the American Library are cancelled because Cherry is still vomitting. Sapphire spends all day playing with Blanche. Blaise gets a letter telling him that his Carte de Séjour is ready to be picked up at the sous-préfecture.
December 20--Still sick. At least noone else seems to have gotten it.
December 21--Blaise takes the train and bus to the sous-préfecture because the sidewalks are icy. Cherry and Ezio and I walk up to the Mairie (town hall) to pay the kids' lunch bill for November. We also are finally able to complete the social security applications for the kids and for me, because we now have a letter with Blaise's social security number. There is a beautiful fôret de Noël in front of the Mairie. Afterwards we go to the playground at the park behind the town hall, and discover that it is closed. (All the big playgrounds are closed on Mondays for maintenance, a fact which I had forgotten.)
December 22--Blanche is grounded, which means that she can't play with Sapphire. We try to go to both the Parc des Epivans and the Parc Hôtel de Ville, but they are both locked (and it isn't Monday). Perhaps they are worried about someone getting hurt in the snow?
December 10--Blaise and his parents and brother visit the Louvre.
December 11--Blaise's parents and brother leave for Atlanta.
December 12--Our trip to the library to get new books is complicated by the fact that the RER A is on strike. (Actually, it's still on strike, though things seem to be easing somewhat.)
December 13--Both the RER A and the RER E are on strike. We stay home.
December 14--Today is the beginning of the last week of school before Christmas break.
December 15--Blaise gets a letter with his social security number on it. Yippee! Now he has health coverage. (Actually, so do the rest of us, and we have all along, but he won't have to pay up front and get reimbursed any more.) Ezio's goggles get stolen at swimming, which is part of the regular school curriculum here.
December 16--The kids and I take the train into the city to go to the Cité des Enfants. All three kids go to the big kids section, which is overrun by centre de loisirs kids. (The centre de loisirs is the name given to the before/after school care, as well as the care given on Wednesdays and during school vacations. It's run at the schools by the municipality, and cost is entirely dependent on family size and income.)
December 17--Sapphire and Ezio have their Christmas lunch at school, complete with 3 different desserts, and venison terrine. Cherry's maternelle has a Christmas program after dinner. She is very excited to be in the program, and happily goes off to her classroom to line up before the program. When her class files out, she sees all the people in the audience, can't find us, and bursts into tears. She spends the rest of the program sitting on my lap. The rest of the kids sang very nicely (including a couple of 4 and 5 year olds who sang solos. I was impressed by how self possessed they were.) We get 3 inches of snow. In case you were wondering how Paris handles snow, the answer is "not very well".
December 18--Cherry wakes me up at 4:30 with the words, "Don't worry Mommy, I can throw up by myself." No school for her today. Today is the last day of school before Christmas vacation for the big kids.
December 19--Our plans to go to the kids' Christmas party at the American Library are cancelled because Cherry is still vomitting. Sapphire spends all day playing with Blanche. Blaise gets a letter telling him that his Carte de Séjour is ready to be picked up at the sous-préfecture.
December 20--Still sick. At least noone else seems to have gotten it.
December 21--Blaise takes the train and bus to the sous-préfecture because the sidewalks are icy. Cherry and Ezio and I walk up to the Mairie (town hall) to pay the kids' lunch bill for November. We also are finally able to complete the social security applications for the kids and for me, because we now have a letter with Blaise's social security number. There is a beautiful fôret de Noël in front of the Mairie. Afterwards we go to the playground at the park behind the town hall, and discover that it is closed. (All the big playgrounds are closed on Mondays for maintenance, a fact which I had forgotten.)
December 22--Blanche is grounded, which means that she can't play with Sapphire. We try to go to both the Parc des Epivans and the Parc Hôtel de Ville, but they are both locked (and it isn't Monday). Perhaps they are worried about someone getting hurt in the snow?
Saturday, December 19, 2009
In which we celebrate Christmas
First, an apology for being so far behind. With luck, I'll be able to catch up over the next week (though with the kids out of school that may be a bit trickier). So, we're currently back on Wednesday, December 9, in case you're trying to keep track of what's happened when.
Wednesday morning there were still many last minute things to take care of before we could actually celebrate Christmas. Many gifts still needed to be purchased. Some kind of a festive meal had to be planned. The gifts that we did have needed to be wrapped. Early in the morning, even before we ate breakfast (later than normal, since there is no school on Wednesday in France), I headed over to the Auchan and bought Cherry's gifts. When we were there Tuesday she had explained that she desperately wanted a baby with a stroller, but I was not about to buy it for here while she was there with me. I also picked up a very cool Usborne Christmas sticker book.
After breakfast, Blaise's parents came over (Danny had decided that our couch was better than 3 adults in a hotel room). The men (Blaise, Danny, Max, and Ezio) headed into Paris to go to the Musée de l'Armée. (Since I wasn't there, I have no idea what happened, except that Blaise inadvertantly got a sandwich with mayonnaise for lunch, and that Ezio was very nearly suffocated on the train ride home.) The women (Ginnie, Sapphire, Cherry, and I) headed over to the mall and the Auchan to complete our shopping, which went something like this:
Shoes for Cherry--check
Shoes for Sapphire -- fail
Scarf for Sapphire -- check
Art supplies for Sapphire -- check
Sticker books for Cherry -- check
Asterix book (in French!) for Ezio --check
Umbrellas for all three kids -- check
Food for dinner -- check
Cookie ingredients -- check
400 g Milka bar -- check (admittedly, half of this was actually for the cookies. Please don't ask how long the second half lasted me.)
Wine -- check
Our shopping done, we headed home.
By this time it was almost 2 o'clock, and we were all starved. After lunch, Sapphire did crafts with Grandma, Cherry fell asleep, and I wrapped our gifts. We made cookies (only one kind). Ginnie wrapped gifts. We started dinner. I began to wonder if the men had gotten lost. Finally, they arrived, and Danny went to wrap his gifts. We opened gifts. Cherry loved her stroller and her bébé (who has been named Baby Junior). Ezio's favorite gift was a light saber. (Evidently I should have wasted luggage space on one back in June.) Sapphire promptly demonstrated to everyone the proper French way to wear a scarf. Blaise and I got luxurious hand knits from his Mom.
After dinner and dessert, the kids were packed off to bed, and Blaise's parents headed back to the hotel.
Wednesday morning there were still many last minute things to take care of before we could actually celebrate Christmas. Many gifts still needed to be purchased. Some kind of a festive meal had to be planned. The gifts that we did have needed to be wrapped. Early in the morning, even before we ate breakfast (later than normal, since there is no school on Wednesday in France), I headed over to the Auchan and bought Cherry's gifts. When we were there Tuesday she had explained that she desperately wanted a baby with a stroller, but I was not about to buy it for here while she was there with me. I also picked up a very cool Usborne Christmas sticker book.
After breakfast, Blaise's parents came over (Danny had decided that our couch was better than 3 adults in a hotel room). The men (Blaise, Danny, Max, and Ezio) headed into Paris to go to the Musée de l'Armée. (Since I wasn't there, I have no idea what happened, except that Blaise inadvertantly got a sandwich with mayonnaise for lunch, and that Ezio was very nearly suffocated on the train ride home.) The women (Ginnie, Sapphire, Cherry, and I) headed over to the mall and the Auchan to complete our shopping, which went something like this:
Shoes for Cherry--check
Shoes for Sapphire -- fail
Scarf for Sapphire -- check
Art supplies for Sapphire -- check
Sticker books for Cherry -- check
Asterix book (in French!) for Ezio --check
Umbrellas for all three kids -- check
Food for dinner -- check
Cookie ingredients -- check
400 g Milka bar -- check (admittedly, half of this was actually for the cookies. Please don't ask how long the second half lasted me.)
Wine -- check
Our shopping done, we headed home.
By this time it was almost 2 o'clock, and we were all starved. After lunch, Sapphire did crafts with Grandma, Cherry fell asleep, and I wrapped our gifts. We made cookies (only one kind). Ginnie wrapped gifts. We started dinner. I began to wonder if the men had gotten lost. Finally, they arrived, and Danny went to wrap his gifts. We opened gifts. Cherry loved her stroller and her bébé (who has been named Baby Junior). Ezio's favorite gift was a light saber. (Evidently I should have wasted luggage space on one back in June.) Sapphire promptly demonstrated to everyone the proper French way to wear a scarf. Blaise and I got luxurious hand knits from his Mom.
After dinner and dessert, the kids were packed off to bed, and Blaise's parents headed back to the hotel.
Monday, December 14, 2009
In which we prepare for Christmas
When Sapphire discovered that Grandma and Grandpa Arana were coming to visit us in December she was ecstatic. When she discovered that they were coming at the beginning of December, rather than for Christmas, she was demoralized. After all, in her memory, we always celebrate Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Arana and Uncle Danny. (We missed when she was 2.5, because I was almost 9 months pregnant, and no airline would have let me fly cross country, but she doesn't remember that.) So, in consultation with Grandma and Blaise, it was decided that we would instead celebrate Christmas on Saint Nicolas Day.
Saturday came, and Sapphire went off with Grandma to the Auchan to buy her presents for everyone. Uncle Danny had (wisely) bought his presents ahead of time and put them in his suitcase. There were school pictures from the kids. But that was it. Grandma and I had neglected to do any shopping, and it was late and we were tired. So, much to Sapphire and Ezio's disappointment (Cherry can't read a calendar yet) Christmas was postponed to Wednesday.
Tuesday morning I made a trip to the store and picked up Sapphire's present, then spent an hour wandering fruitlessly around trying to find something that I thought Cherry or Ezio would like. After lunch, I took Cherry and she informed me that she desperately wanted a baby with a stroller. (I picked it up Wednesday morning, before breakfast.) Ezio was harder.
We (the kids and I) met Blaise and Danny and their parents at the Galeries Lafayette in Paris that evening (they had spent the day gallivanting about the city), and once we had looked at the Christmas displays outside we headed inside and on up to the toy department. Ezio spent most of his time lusting after enormous Lego sets (which he knew he wasn't getting), and Cherry and I wandered around hoping to find something that he would like that was in our budget. I found some Meccano (like an Erector Set) and picked up a set for him, after checking with Danny (Blaise had wandered off) that it would be something that would have appealed to a 7 year old boy. (I later learned that it had been one of Max's favorite toys as a child.)
We headed back home, and agreed to finish our preparations Wednesday morning, and open gifts before dinner.
Saturday came, and Sapphire went off with Grandma to the Auchan to buy her presents for everyone. Uncle Danny had (wisely) bought his presents ahead of time and put them in his suitcase. There were school pictures from the kids. But that was it. Grandma and I had neglected to do any shopping, and it was late and we were tired. So, much to Sapphire and Ezio's disappointment (Cherry can't read a calendar yet) Christmas was postponed to Wednesday.
Tuesday morning I made a trip to the store and picked up Sapphire's present, then spent an hour wandering fruitlessly around trying to find something that I thought Cherry or Ezio would like. After lunch, I took Cherry and she informed me that she desperately wanted a baby with a stroller. (I picked it up Wednesday morning, before breakfast.) Ezio was harder.
We (the kids and I) met Blaise and Danny and their parents at the Galeries Lafayette in Paris that evening (they had spent the day gallivanting about the city), and once we had looked at the Christmas displays outside we headed inside and on up to the toy department. Ezio spent most of his time lusting after enormous Lego sets (which he knew he wasn't getting), and Cherry and I wandered around hoping to find something that he would like that was in our budget. I found some Meccano (like an Erector Set) and picked up a set for him, after checking with Danny (Blaise had wandered off) that it would be something that would have appealed to a 7 year old boy. (I later learned that it had been one of Max's favorite toys as a child.)
We headed back home, and agreed to finish our preparations Wednesday morning, and open gifts before dinner.
Friday, December 11, 2009
In which we go to Montmartre
Sunday morning, Blaise's parents came over around 11, with their bags all packed. They were going to spend Sunday and Monday nights at a hotel in the Latin Quarter, near the Sorbonne. In order to facilitate things, they had carefully selected a minimum of things to bring with them, all of which fit into a backpack, and were planning to leave their big (OK, they weren't actually that big) suitcases here with us. That meant that we could spend the day in Paris without having to drag heavy suitcases with us, or having to come back out to the suburbs to pick up their luggage.
First we toyed with the idea of going to the Musée de l'Armée, even calling to see whether or not they were open. (There's been an ongoing museum strike that has closed most of the museums here sporadically.) They were. Ultimately, we (that is, Blaise) decided that the best thing to do would be to go to Montmartre and see the area that we lived in 2 years ago. So off we went.
We got off the train at Abbesses, at the top (or near the top, at any rate) of the Butte Montmartre. (I'd actually never been in that metro station before. We lived relatively close, and so when I needed to be up there, I just walked. In fact, since our favorite bakery was located near Abbesses, I walked there virtually every day, and often twice a day, with Cherry on my back in the Ergo. Now I would make her walk it too.) We first walked over to our favorite bakery and bought sandwiches and pizza and fougasse for lunch, then sat in the park to eat them.
Midway through our meal it started to drizzle, and we took shelter under an overhang to wait out the rain. It quickly became clear that unless we wanted to spend our entire afternoon under the overhang wating for it to dry up, we would have to deal with getting a bit wet, so we headed up toward the Basilique du Sacré Coeur. To get there, you first come to a big plaza area, from which you have a very nice view of the church. To get closer requires climbing lots of stairs, or paying for a ride on the funicular, which zips right up the side of the hill, but costs a full Metro ticket for a 2 minute ride. Blaise's parents rode. The rest of us climbed. Once we'd finally reached the top, it was evident that a cloudburst was imminent, and so I herded the kids inside the church while Blaise and Danny searched for their parents.
Afterwards, we went around to the side of Sacré Coeur, and visited Saint Pierre de Montmartre, which is the oldest church in Paris. (It was dedicated in 1147. In contrast, Sacré Coeur is quite new, less than 150 years old.) Afterward we bought roasted chestnuts and mulled wine and water at the Christmas market outside, and then began the trek down the hill toward Place de Clichy and our old apartment.
We walked past the Place du Tertre, and down Rue Lepic to the Moulin Rouge, then along Boulevard de Clichy and up Rue Cavalotti to our old apartment. I'm fairly sure that the same homeless guy was still living on a ventilation grate outside the Flunch, though he has now built himself a makeshift shelter out of cardboard boxes. I wonder if he has his office chair in there?
Then the kids and I got the train home, and the other adults walked through the cemetery and then headed over to the hotel. ( I made the mistake of deciding to transfer at the Gare du Nord from the 2 line (La Chapelle) to the E line (Magenta). We walked nearly a kilometer between the lines, went from an elevated line down to one 4 levels underground (i.e, there were 3 underground levels of track higher up), watched 3 guys being frisked by the cops, and walked through an army security area. Next time, I'll stay on the 2 line till Nation where I can switch to the A.
First we toyed with the idea of going to the Musée de l'Armée, even calling to see whether or not they were open. (There's been an ongoing museum strike that has closed most of the museums here sporadically.) They were. Ultimately, we (that is, Blaise) decided that the best thing to do would be to go to Montmartre and see the area that we lived in 2 years ago. So off we went.
We got off the train at Abbesses, at the top (or near the top, at any rate) of the Butte Montmartre. (I'd actually never been in that metro station before. We lived relatively close, and so when I needed to be up there, I just walked. In fact, since our favorite bakery was located near Abbesses, I walked there virtually every day, and often twice a day, with Cherry on my back in the Ergo. Now I would make her walk it too.) We first walked over to our favorite bakery and bought sandwiches and pizza and fougasse for lunch, then sat in the park to eat them.
Midway through our meal it started to drizzle, and we took shelter under an overhang to wait out the rain. It quickly became clear that unless we wanted to spend our entire afternoon under the overhang wating for it to dry up, we would have to deal with getting a bit wet, so we headed up toward the Basilique du Sacré Coeur. To get there, you first come to a big plaza area, from which you have a very nice view of the church. To get closer requires climbing lots of stairs, or paying for a ride on the funicular, which zips right up the side of the hill, but costs a full Metro ticket for a 2 minute ride. Blaise's parents rode. The rest of us climbed. Once we'd finally reached the top, it was evident that a cloudburst was imminent, and so I herded the kids inside the church while Blaise and Danny searched for their parents.
Afterwards, we went around to the side of Sacré Coeur, and visited Saint Pierre de Montmartre, which is the oldest church in Paris. (It was dedicated in 1147. In contrast, Sacré Coeur is quite new, less than 150 years old.) Afterward we bought roasted chestnuts and mulled wine and water at the Christmas market outside, and then began the trek down the hill toward Place de Clichy and our old apartment.
We walked past the Place du Tertre, and down Rue Lepic to the Moulin Rouge, then along Boulevard de Clichy and up Rue Cavalotti to our old apartment. I'm fairly sure that the same homeless guy was still living on a ventilation grate outside the Flunch, though he has now built himself a makeshift shelter out of cardboard boxes. I wonder if he has his office chair in there?
Then the kids and I got the train home, and the other adults walked through the cemetery and then headed over to the hotel. ( I made the mistake of deciding to transfer at the Gare du Nord from the 2 line (La Chapelle) to the E line (Magenta). We walked nearly a kilometer between the lines, went from an elevated line down to one 4 levels underground (i.e, there were 3 underground levels of track higher up), watched 3 guys being frisked by the cops, and walked through an army security area. Next time, I'll stay on the 2 line till Nation where I can switch to the A.
Monday, December 7, 2009
In which we go to a Christmas market
One of the things that Ginnie wanted to do while they were in France was go to a Marché de Noël, or Christmas market. Actually, she had wanted to take the train to Strassbourg to go to a market, but we managed to convince her, with some difficulty that that was unnecessary. There would be plenty of Christmas markets in the Paris area, and it would be much easier and less time consuming to go to one of them instead. So, she did her homework, and discovered that there was supposed to be a big market under the Grande Arche at La Défense.
After lunch on Saturday, we set out, leaving Danny at home to nurse his stomach flu/food poisoning. (Since none of the rest of us have it, I'm going with food poisoning.) We transferred from the RER to the Metro at Charles de Gaulle-Étoile, and then rode line 1 to the Esplanade de la Défense. (A note to explain the detail: The Paris area is arranged in zones for transport purposes. The city of Paris itself is zone 1, and then zones 2 - 6 circle it like the stripes on a target. All rides on the metro are considered to be within zone 1, although many of the terminal stops on the metro lines aren't in fact within the city of Paris. In particular, line 1 ends at the Grande Arche de la Défense, which is actually in zone 3, at least if you take an RER line there. We live in zone 3, so, by switching to the metro line in Paris proper, we were able to use a cheaper zone 1 to zone 3 ticket, rather than a more expensive zone 3 to zone 3 through Paris ticket.)
The walk up the esplanade to the Arche was very beautiful, in a modern sort of way. Evidently someone had sponsored artwork in the form of gigantic cylinders (think 3-4 stories high and 20 feet around) decorated in a variety of different ways. Cherry (and I) used the (non public) bathroom at the La Défense museum. (I highly recommend bringing a 3 year old with you to Paris. Pretty much no-one will deny a bathroom to a preschooler here, and they can be difficult to find.) Then we dove into the Christmas market. Forty five minutes later, we'd had donuts, mulled wine, chocolates, and raclette, and we were all more than ready to escape from the claustrophobia inducing crowds. We then made the mistake of entering the enormous mall alongside the Grande Arche, hoping to find shoes for the kids. Fortunately, we were able to escape with no major injuries and all of the children, but it was a close thing. We eventually found the entrance to the Metro station, and took the trains back home.
We celebrated Max's 70th birthday with coq au vin (next time I'll pick a quicker recipe since we didn't eat until well past 8) and pastries from the bakery down the street. We all sang in English, and then Sapphire and Ezio sang in French as well. (Cherry fell asleep before dinner, though she can sing Joyeuse Anniversaire as well.)
After lunch on Saturday, we set out, leaving Danny at home to nurse his stomach flu/food poisoning. (Since none of the rest of us have it, I'm going with food poisoning.) We transferred from the RER to the Metro at Charles de Gaulle-Étoile, and then rode line 1 to the Esplanade de la Défense. (A note to explain the detail: The Paris area is arranged in zones for transport purposes. The city of Paris itself is zone 1, and then zones 2 - 6 circle it like the stripes on a target. All rides on the metro are considered to be within zone 1, although many of the terminal stops on the metro lines aren't in fact within the city of Paris. In particular, line 1 ends at the Grande Arche de la Défense, which is actually in zone 3, at least if you take an RER line there. We live in zone 3, so, by switching to the metro line in Paris proper, we were able to use a cheaper zone 1 to zone 3 ticket, rather than a more expensive zone 3 to zone 3 through Paris ticket.)
The walk up the esplanade to the Arche was very beautiful, in a modern sort of way. Evidently someone had sponsored artwork in the form of gigantic cylinders (think 3-4 stories high and 20 feet around) decorated in a variety of different ways. Cherry (and I) used the (non public) bathroom at the La Défense museum. (I highly recommend bringing a 3 year old with you to Paris. Pretty much no-one will deny a bathroom to a preschooler here, and they can be difficult to find.) Then we dove into the Christmas market. Forty five minutes later, we'd had donuts, mulled wine, chocolates, and raclette, and we were all more than ready to escape from the claustrophobia inducing crowds. We then made the mistake of entering the enormous mall alongside the Grande Arche, hoping to find shoes for the kids. Fortunately, we were able to escape with no major injuries and all of the children, but it was a close thing. We eventually found the entrance to the Metro station, and took the trains back home.
We celebrated Max's 70th birthday with coq au vin (next time I'll pick a quicker recipe since we didn't eat until well past 8) and pastries from the bakery down the street. We all sang in English, and then Sapphire and Ezio sang in French as well. (Cherry fell asleep before dinner, though she can sing Joyeuse Anniversaire as well.)
In which we take grandparents to Disneyland
One of the things that we wanted to do with Blaise's parents and brother was go to Disneyland. Unfortunately, it appeared that the weather on Saturday and Sunday was likely to be sketchy at best, and Disney was going to be an outdoors all day kind of an event. After checking the forecast for the entire length of their visit, we decided that Friday looked like the most likely day for an outing to Disney.
Friday morning, I called Sapphire and Ezio's school to let them know that the kids wouldn't be coming (I told Cherry's teacher on Thursday) and we set off for Disney. We had to stand in line to buy tickets for Max, Ginnie, and Danny (we have passes), and then we headed into the (not very busy park). By the time we ate lunch at 12:30, we had already ridden Peter Pan, the Pirates of the Caribbean, Great Thunder Mountain Railroad (Max and I stayed with Cherry, who got her picture taken with Tigger), and the Haunted House. In other words, we'd managed as many rides in 2 hours as we did in 8 hours when we last went.
After a pizza lunch (which may have given Danny food poisoning, we're not exactly sure) we headed out for more rides. All of us rode It's a Small World, which now, interestingly, does have Israel represented. I'm fairly sure that it didn't last time we were there. We rode the Buzz Lightyear ride, which always seemed to have a huge line, and shot lots of Zurg with our laser blasters. Then Blaise and Danny wanted to ride Space Mountain, and Sapphire wanted to join them. We weren't sure that she would be tall enough, but she was, just barely, and so Ginnie joined them. Since Cherry and Ezio weren't tall enough, Max and I took them back on the Buzz Lightyear ride, at their request. Then Max, Ginnie, Blaise, Danny, Sapphire, and Ezio rode Star Tours, and Cherry and I rode, you guessed it, Buzz Lightyear. Again.
Blaise and Danny wanted to ride the Indiana Jones ride, (the kids were all too short), so we headed over there, detouring for rides on Pinnochio, Snow White, the Hedge Maze, and the Spinning Teacups. Then, they walked to the coaster with their parents (who didn't ride it) while the kids and I climbed way up into the Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse, and then back down the other side. Then, Sapphire wanted to ride Great Thunder Mountain Railroad again, so they did. We finished off with another ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean to warm up, and then headed home for dinner.
Total Time spent at the Park: 8 hours
Rides Ridden: 14+, depending on how you count
Longest Wait Time: 30 minutes (Star Tours)
Shortest Wait Time: 5 minutes (Lots of stuff)
Friday morning, I called Sapphire and Ezio's school to let them know that the kids wouldn't be coming (I told Cherry's teacher on Thursday) and we set off for Disney. We had to stand in line to buy tickets for Max, Ginnie, and Danny (we have passes), and then we headed into the (not very busy park). By the time we ate lunch at 12:30, we had already ridden Peter Pan, the Pirates of the Caribbean, Great Thunder Mountain Railroad (Max and I stayed with Cherry, who got her picture taken with Tigger), and the Haunted House. In other words, we'd managed as many rides in 2 hours as we did in 8 hours when we last went.
After a pizza lunch (which may have given Danny food poisoning, we're not exactly sure) we headed out for more rides. All of us rode It's a Small World, which now, interestingly, does have Israel represented. I'm fairly sure that it didn't last time we were there. We rode the Buzz Lightyear ride, which always seemed to have a huge line, and shot lots of Zurg with our laser blasters. Then Blaise and Danny wanted to ride Space Mountain, and Sapphire wanted to join them. We weren't sure that she would be tall enough, but she was, just barely, and so Ginnie joined them. Since Cherry and Ezio weren't tall enough, Max and I took them back on the Buzz Lightyear ride, at their request. Then Max, Ginnie, Blaise, Danny, Sapphire, and Ezio rode Star Tours, and Cherry and I rode, you guessed it, Buzz Lightyear. Again.
Blaise and Danny wanted to ride the Indiana Jones ride, (the kids were all too short), so we headed over there, detouring for rides on Pinnochio, Snow White, the Hedge Maze, and the Spinning Teacups. Then, they walked to the coaster with their parents (who didn't ride it) while the kids and I climbed way up into the Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse, and then back down the other side. Then, Sapphire wanted to ride Great Thunder Mountain Railroad again, so they did. We finished off with another ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean to warm up, and then headed home for dinner.
Total Time spent at the Park: 8 hours
Rides Ridden: 14+, depending on how you count
Longest Wait Time: 30 minutes (Star Tours)
Shortest Wait Time: 5 minutes (Lots of stuff)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
In which we see churches, 1, 2, 3
Blaise's parents (Max and Ginnie) and brother (Danny) arrived from Atlanta Wednesday morning (at 6:04 a.m!), and so Blaise headed out to the airport around 5:05 to go pick them up. By the time they had cleared customs and passport control and picked up their luggage and taken the train back to our house, it was nearly 9:00, and we were all ready for breakfast. After breakfast, Max took a nap, and the rest of us headed over to the grocery store to pick up food for lunch and dinner. It was a very slow trip, because Sapphire wanted to show Grandma all of the Christmas chocolates and decorations, and Ezio wanted to show Uncle Danny all of the toys, and of course we had to pick wines and look at the huge refrigerator cases full of foie gras. We did eventually get out of the Auchan, and headed back to the apartment for lunch.
Once we had eaten lunch, we needed to do something to keep everyone awake and active, as a means of getting everyone onto European time as quickly as possible. Blaise had agreed to meet a friend from Claremont-Ferrand (in central France) to pick up some Cantal that had been made by his (the friend's) cousin, so it seemed to make sense to go into the city. We rode the RER to Chatelet, and then walked along the Seine and over the Seine until we reached the Cathedrale de Notre Dame. We spent about 45 minutes wandering through the inside of the cathedral and around the back to see the flying buttresses (which Ezio thought was extremely funny). At that point it was 3:40, and we had just under 2 hours to fill until it was time for Blaise to meet his friend at the Sorbonne. Since we only had an hour and a half or so until we would have to walk over to the Sorbonne, we didn't really want to pay admission anywhere, and since it was windy and drizzly and generally not very pleasant out, we didn't really want to find a playground (there is now one alongside Notre Dame, in case you ever need one there). That pretty much left churches as an option.
I remembered that my mom and I had passed Saint Severin and Notre Dame on our walk between Cluny and the Musée des Arts et Métiers, and figured it must therefore be somewhere in the area. Since it was on our list of churches that we wanted to see at some point while we were in Paris, I suggested that we walk over there. As it turned out, we took the wrong bridge (evidently we had seen the front of Notre Dame, but I had remembered seeing the back) and ended up sort of wandering around until we spotted the back of a church, which was clearly not Saint Severin, but which at least promised to be warmer and drier than where we were.
So we went around to the front, passing through a gaggle of guys drinking in the churchyard, and discovered that we had found Saint Julien le Pauvre. (The website is put together by a KU person (student, perhaps?), and is really well done. Definitely worth a look.) This was good for two reasons. The first is that it gave me a much better idea of where we were. The second is that it is one of the oldest churches in Paris, and one that I had wanted to see (Blaise, perhaps, not so much). We weren't certain at first whether we would be able to get inside, but eventually found and open door and went it. The church is quite small, and though it was built (in the 12th century) as a Roman Catholic Church, it is now a Melkite Catholic Church. Cherry and I walked through it, and everyone else sat in chairs and admired the view from there. (One must keep moving in churches with Cherry, or she is inclined to squawk, and you will get nasty looks, at best.)
Since we now knew where we were, we were able to find Saint Séverin easily enough, and walked around to the front to find that it was indeed open. Once more, Cherry and I toured the side chapels while everyone else sat in the middle and listened to the organ music and admired the stained glass. (Fortunately there were no "professional shushers" here.) One of the things that I noticed in the side chapels were many plaques recognizing the saints (especially Mary) for their intercession for various things. Most of them were from the late nineteenth and very early 20th century. (Perhaps plaques from other times had been removed to expose paintings or art, or perhaps this was only popular during that time.) A surprising number were grateful for help with exams, probably upwards of 60%. (We also saw these at the Église des Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer a couple of summers ago. Most of those were thanks for being rescued from capsized boats.)
Afterwards, we headed for the nearest RER station, and Danny and Blaise continued on to the Sorbonne to get our cheese. The train was packed, and I was fortunate to get to sit most of the way home. (Since Cherry does not reliably hold on while standing on a moving train, she needs to be held if I/we can't sit.) Everyone else was stuck standing up. By 9:30 everyone in our family was in bed. I'm not sure at what point the others crashed.
Once we had eaten lunch, we needed to do something to keep everyone awake and active, as a means of getting everyone onto European time as quickly as possible. Blaise had agreed to meet a friend from Claremont-Ferrand (in central France) to pick up some Cantal that had been made by his (the friend's) cousin, so it seemed to make sense to go into the city. We rode the RER to Chatelet, and then walked along the Seine and over the Seine until we reached the Cathedrale de Notre Dame. We spent about 45 minutes wandering through the inside of the cathedral and around the back to see the flying buttresses (which Ezio thought was extremely funny). At that point it was 3:40, and we had just under 2 hours to fill until it was time for Blaise to meet his friend at the Sorbonne. Since we only had an hour and a half or so until we would have to walk over to the Sorbonne, we didn't really want to pay admission anywhere, and since it was windy and drizzly and generally not very pleasant out, we didn't really want to find a playground (there is now one alongside Notre Dame, in case you ever need one there). That pretty much left churches as an option.
I remembered that my mom and I had passed Saint Severin and Notre Dame on our walk between Cluny and the Musée des Arts et Métiers, and figured it must therefore be somewhere in the area. Since it was on our list of churches that we wanted to see at some point while we were in Paris, I suggested that we walk over there. As it turned out, we took the wrong bridge (evidently we had seen the front of Notre Dame, but I had remembered seeing the back) and ended up sort of wandering around until we spotted the back of a church, which was clearly not Saint Severin, but which at least promised to be warmer and drier than where we were.
So we went around to the front, passing through a gaggle of guys drinking in the churchyard, and discovered that we had found Saint Julien le Pauvre. (The website is put together by a KU person (student, perhaps?), and is really well done. Definitely worth a look.) This was good for two reasons. The first is that it gave me a much better idea of where we were. The second is that it is one of the oldest churches in Paris, and one that I had wanted to see (Blaise, perhaps, not so much). We weren't certain at first whether we would be able to get inside, but eventually found and open door and went it. The church is quite small, and though it was built (in the 12th century) as a Roman Catholic Church, it is now a Melkite Catholic Church. Cherry and I walked through it, and everyone else sat in chairs and admired the view from there. (One must keep moving in churches with Cherry, or she is inclined to squawk, and you will get nasty looks, at best.)
Since we now knew where we were, we were able to find Saint Séverin easily enough, and walked around to the front to find that it was indeed open. Once more, Cherry and I toured the side chapels while everyone else sat in the middle and listened to the organ music and admired the stained glass. (Fortunately there were no "professional shushers" here.) One of the things that I noticed in the side chapels were many plaques recognizing the saints (especially Mary) for their intercession for various things. Most of them were from the late nineteenth and very early 20th century. (Perhaps plaques from other times had been removed to expose paintings or art, or perhaps this was only popular during that time.) A surprising number were grateful for help with exams, probably upwards of 60%. (We also saw these at the Église des Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer a couple of summers ago. Most of those were thanks for being rescued from capsized boats.)
Afterwards, we headed for the nearest RER station, and Danny and Blaise continued on to the Sorbonne to get our cheese. The train was packed, and I was fortunate to get to sit most of the way home. (Since Cherry does not reliably hold on while standing on a moving train, she needs to be held if I/we can't sit.) Everyone else was stuck standing up. By 9:30 everyone in our family was in bed. I'm not sure at what point the others crashed.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
In which we celebrate Thanksgiving
As you all know, last Thursday was Thanksgiving. Of course, the French don't much care about American holidays, and so the kids all had school anyway. (I suppose we could have kept them home, but that seemed a bit like overkill.) So Thursday night we had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of Asian noodle salad with shrimp and pan browned brussels sprouts. Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I've gone off my rocker, because as everyone knows, that isn't traditional Thanksgiving fare at all. Of course, it's also not traditional to send your kids off to school on Thanksgiving.
We actually did have a Thanksgivingish sort of dinner on Saturday, when the kids didn't have school. I did need to make a few modifications to our traditional spread, however.
1) Whole turkeys are something like 14€ a kilo, which works out to something like $9.60 a pound. Besides, we'd never be able to fit one in our oven, so I roasted a chicken instead.
2) The only cranberry-like food to be found in Fontenay was Ocean Spray cranberry juice cocktail. No fresh cranberry and orange relish for us.
3) Durkee French Fried onions and Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup? (OK, I didn't look for those, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to find them. The green beans wouldn't have been a problem.)
4) The stuffing recipe, though delicious, could feed an entire nation for a month, so I found something a bit lighter.
5) And we replaced both the pumpkin pie and sweet potato casserole with sweet potato flan.
We actually did have a Thanksgivingish sort of dinner on Saturday, when the kids didn't have school. I did need to make a few modifications to our traditional spread, however.
1) Whole turkeys are something like 14€ a kilo, which works out to something like $9.60 a pound. Besides, we'd never be able to fit one in our oven, so I roasted a chicken instead.
2) The only cranberry-like food to be found in Fontenay was Ocean Spray cranberry juice cocktail. No fresh cranberry and orange relish for us.
3) Durkee French Fried onions and Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup? (OK, I didn't look for those, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to find them. The green beans wouldn't have been a problem.)
4) The stuffing recipe, though delicious, could feed an entire nation for a month, so I found something a bit lighter.
5) And we replaced both the pumpkin pie and sweet potato casserole with sweet potato flan.
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