Another side of town

Yesterday, I got knocked over the head, with what a white bread neighborhood we live in. The family’s Saturday excursion was to the Puce St. Ouen - the biggest flea market in Paris, with over 2000 stalls.

Upon arrival to the market, our unplanned route, started us off, through the typical flea market crap (the gauntlet), then somehow popped us into lanes with permanent antique stalls. The experience was completely bizarre! One minute you are walking through a JAMMED packed, very mixed crowd, with Rap music BLARING. The vendors here were selling everything from cheap t-shirts, to used unmatched shoes, to leather jackets, to old books, to African art & funky clothes. One review I read, described this part of the market, as the underbelly of Paris. A large exaggeration in my opinion, but it was definitely not the crowd from the Louvre. Then, you literally turn a corner, and you walking through quiet cobblestone paths, with ivy covered walls and dealers selling fine antiques. The contrast was sharp beyond words and made me wonder, did all of the genteel antiquers, buying Louis XIV chaises, walk through the same craziness that we just did?

We bought nothing, but can’t wait to go back and enjoy more Parisian diversity.

Getting to know Napolean

P, D & Rupert outside Hotel des Invalides

P & D Cannon running in the Hotel des Invalides courtyard

A short walk from home is Invalides, a hospital built for the military, now museum. It houses the tomb of Napoleon in the Eglise du Dome. I won't do it justice in this short blog, but safe to say, it's well worth the visit. An English audio tour device navigates you around the tomb which also houses the remains of his son, other family members, loyal high ranking military figures and famous French leaders. The actual tomb is a huge blood red case that houses as many as four other successive coffins made of tin, ebony, oak, lead & mahogany. The crypt level is surrounded by a series panels telling of Napoleon's non-military contributions. Beyond the battles, Napoleon's lasting legacy is clearly his contribution with the Napoleonic Civil Code which is the basis of much French law today, and strongly influenced the law in many other European countries. Napoleon died and was buried while in exile at the age of 51 of stomach cancer (although conspiracy theories believe arsenic poisoning). He was later exhumed and returned to Paris for a full state funeral and as he had wished his ashes "rest on the banks of the Seine". We really only scratched the surface today. Expect me to take you here if you come to visit, so I can indulge in some more hero worship, pomp, circumstance and get beyond the standard tourist stuff...if possible.

Afternoon at the "beach"

In two days, the Paris Plage (beach) closes for the year, so the girls and I decided, we better check it out, before the city boats the 2000 tons of sand away, and we miss our chance, to run our little toes through Paris sable.

Since 2002, the city of Paris has shut down an expressway along the Seine, for 30 days in the summer and put up a beach and walkway. There are potted palm trees, cabanas, playstructures, sailing, excersise equipment, lounge chairs, fencing lessons and a swimming pool in a floating barge (very cool) - all at the publics disposal for free. Despite this diverse offering, (and much encoragment on the fencing by me) P & D's only interest was to dig in the sand (it was pretty soft sand).

The 2000 tons of sand, actually does not make for a very big *beach* (maybe 50mx5m), but the Plage runs for 3kms and is a lovely walk along the Seine, with stuff for to do and see (and places to pee) all along the way.

After our trip to the beach, I dragged my tired girls over the bridge, to see Notre Dame “to see Quasimodo. Did I say Quasimodo? I meant Quasimodo’s ghost. You can’t see him? Maybe you can only see it at night? ”

Photos top to bottom.
D on the Pont des Arts
P&D playing in the sand on the Siene
P & D at Notre Dame

Today in photos

P's Tour de France - "vive le tour!"

The Jardin du Luxembourg - Portraits











The Jardin du Luxembourg - Grass sitting (the do & the don't)

Handy, and a bit spooky

P decided it was time to go down the the basement and check out our Cave (pronounced cahvh). A fixture in most Paris apartment buildings, they are very useful extra storage, and it's kind of cool down there -- not to mention, it can really give you the willys alone late at night.

Meat? :)

One of each day’s minor challenges involves making dinner using French cuts of meats. Our local boucher (s) are still en vacance, so we are still shopping at the supermarket for most things.

Tonight was spaghetti. My choice of ground beef was either fresh premade patties or frozen. Since the frozen was less than half the price, I went for it.

After opening the bag, I found the portionnable strands (wormy looking frozen beef like bits) were frozen individually and looked more like Chinese Can Can noodles than meat - hmmmmm. Upon reading the ingredients, I found that the beef was mixed with spices, soy and tomatoes. The final outcome tasted good, but looked suspiciously too perfect. Hopefully the boucher will have some other options when he/she returns.

First Run

Be it the time change, noise, new bed or the fumes from newly refinished floors, I haven’t really slept since we got Paris. Rupert encouraged me to go for a run today, perhaps some exercise would help?

I have to say, that I have been avoiding running since we got here. You don’t exactly see a lot of runners here and I didn’t want inadvertently defy some Parisian politesse. Parisians visiting Ottawa must think we are a bunch of running lunatics - you can’t swing a dead cat at home, without hitting a runner.

Our landlord had told us, that he goes for a run every day, around the perimeter path of the Champs de Mars (Park in front of the Eiffel Tower & 3min from our flat). With that tip, today was as good of a day, as any, to experiment with a route.

The Champs de Mars loop, did reveal a number of joggers (tourists?), so I now feel more comfortable picking the pace up, beyond a brisk walk. Most of the path is wide and uncongested, except at one end, which takes you straight through the crowds, at the base of Eiffel tower. A somewhat surreal experience for me, somehow this just didn’t seem to compare to running through the people waiting for the bus at Tunney’s Pasture.

After the run, the family did our daily, familiarization tour of the neighbourhood. We found a Starbucks not far from our flat and had to resist the temptation to buy some coffee. Our French coffee experience has been unfulfilling so far. We haven’t found an open boutique coffee seller, and sadly our Bodum has been filled with Kraft coffee bought from the supermarket. Buying from Starbucks in Paris just seems sacrilege, and a slippery slope. We will just have to hold strong until Monsieur Café returns from vacation. (Photo of D on the Rue St. Dominique)

Jardin de Tuileries

Getting to work... a 30-35min ride on the Metro to La Defense

The Paris public transortation system the ratp, which includes the metro, gets me to work at the Cognos (IBM) office in La Defense, door to door, in about 35mins (7mins walk to Alma-Marceau metro stop to catch the 9 Line to Franklin D Roosevelt, then onto the 1 Line for 7 stops to La Defense Grande Arche, then 7 mins to my office door). The cost is very reasonable (1.14 Euros per trip if you buy une Carnet de Billet which is a 10 pack). I am adjusting to no car, but my first sweaty metro ride to work was definately a moment to remember.
La Defense is a very cool place, and the Grande Arche is...well grand. This is a major transpotation hub, the centre of the hich tech business district (& other business), and also has a big "everything you need" modern shopping mall. This should prove to be quite handy for me finding lots of things in one place on the way home from work.

The people at the Cognos office have been welcoming, and I feel good about our choice to make Paris home base. -rbc

Paris loves lovers

To open or to shut?

Adapting to apartment life has been much easier than anticipated. Our flat is great! It’s in a good location, well equipped and much more spacious than we remembered. But here we are in day 5 and I can’t shake my constant concern for the windows.

Since we are on the ground floor, opening a window in the master bedroom or living room means basically inviting street pedestrians into our home (kitchen and other 2 beds open to a courtyard). There are however various strategies used by Parisians in ground level apts to allow light and fresh air into their flats and still maintain privacy and safety. I was given a very quick run down of the strategies from our land lord, but I am constantly questioning, is my window close-down, overkill or not safe enough?

There options are as follows:

1.The open window - Landlord says this is a no no.

2.The closed window - glass only

3.The cracked window – can be tricky to secure properly

4. The vented lock up - locker doors closed only.

5. The unvented lock up - locker doors AND windows closed.

I haven’t made it through a night yet, without resorting to the most safe and quiet (still adjust to city noise) , worst airflow option – the unvented lock up.

BTW – buzz #2 from “la police” today. I sincerely hope, I can’t be named an accomplice if “la police” turn out, not to be legit. -mj

Day 4 - What we have found so far...

1. Children do not adjust to time change well, especially when it comes to bedtime – midnight is the new 8:30 for P & D
2. It was ok for me to buzz “la police” into the building. However suspicious the call, the Paris Police apparently, do, do "surveillance" on apartments during times of vacation.
3. Three hours for a washing machine to run it’s cycle, does not mean it’s broken. That’s just how long it takes sometimes in Europe.
4. The metro is hot and sweaty during rush hour. I hope it cools down soon, or Ru will be opting to work from home (and in our hair) before we know it.
5. It’s cheaper to drink beer and wine, than any other bottled beverage.
6. Children’s library groups are pretty much the same everywhere. We are lucky to have one less than a 5min walk from our door :).
7. Pee before you go to the Eiffel Tower!!!!!

We've landed...what a month!

Although there were stormy days navigating through clouds of process and incompetence, the silver lining was a month of real quality time with the people we love.

In the last 5 weeks we stayed and visited with Mark & Cherry, the Moffat's, the Carter's, the Charlton's, the Thompson's, the Slick's, the Magnussen/Gillespie's, and the long stays with the McMenamin's (Paddy, Mimi & Scotty). Thank you for sharing your homes with the Paris B-C's. It was a time to visit, reconnect with friends, meet new family members(hello Harry), and generally stregthen our roots before branching out.

In the end we are here... in the apartment (new landlords seem great). The girls are excited, mostly to reconnect with their toys which have been in storage for the past 5 weeks - Baby, Polly & Barbie, its great to see you again. For the next few days, we will be unpacking, getting the lay of the land, and exploring the Parisian-free Paris (It's true. All Parisians get the heck out of dodge in August. Boutique shopping will have to wait, cause there is nothing open here, until Sept.) More from the Eiffel Tower tomorrow. -rbc/mjm