December in Paris

December and the holiday season is wonderful in Paris. The City of Lights becomes illuminated even more, if that is possible. With December comes along colder temperatures, even snow, that stayed on the ground for several days. The sidewalks were icy & treacherous yet I still saw French women making their way, very slowly, along the icy sidewalks in high heels, trying to look chic, hanging onto walls and banisters. For once my sensible shoes made sense!

December also seems to be the season of fur. Yes marvellous fur coats, hats, scarves and chic fur vests. No one wears fur like French women and men! Apparently they are still throwing paint on fur in London but in Paris, fur seems ingrained in the culture.  The French seem to have a knack for making everything look fashionable like the down ski jackets, all shapes & sizes, that are popular in Paris now. These are not your bulky North Face jackets but ski jackets, or as they call them, "doudouns" with belts, hoods, tapered to show lovely figures, long, short and of course, with fur collars. The best look I have seen is the fur vest on top of a ski jacket. Somehow it looks good. Ahh... to have the fashion gene!

For the Tai girls, December has been a busy month as always. For me a highlight is definitely the one evening photography course I took called "Holiday Sparkle". We started at the popular holiday windows at the Grands Magasins, like Galerie Lafayette and Printemps and over three hours made our way to the beautifully light up Champs Elysees. What a wonderful evening! I would have never made my way out in the cold by myself to do this. Now I have to take the girls back to see these Christmas lights.

The girls are full of smiles these days as they have made good friends and have been invited to birthday parties, play dates, and even sleep overs. Nathalie is enjoying her freedom of walking to and from school alone,  usually on her scooter, and even went to a friend's house accompanied by her friend, on the metro without an adult!

Gabrielle and I spent a morning at the Louvre together at her request to see the Greek god statues. After both girls reading all the Percy Jackson books numerous times they are obsessed with Greek mythology. Gabrielle gave me an amazing lesson in Greek mythology, explaining each statue to me, who it was and what they do. This was usually accompanied by the Roman name as well. Nothing like a lesson in mythology at the Louvre from your eight year old daughter!

George arrives today for a three week visit. We had plans to do some site seeing, shopping and of course eating at good restaurants. But with George hearing a "pop" on the squash court earlier this week, apparently tearing his calf muscle, he is arriving with a cane in hand. We will have a quiet, calm, stay put kind of three weeks instead. The important part is having him with us!

Back after a 2 month break!

Obviously life in Paris is good and very busy as I have not managed my weekly, or even monthly post. Either that or I have nothing to report! Actually this is certainly not the case.

This week I am posting a recent essay I wrote on Paris for a class I have just finished called Words & Images. The idea is to write an article and complement it with some photos. Tell me what you think. Merci!

                        Far away from the crowds of Cemetery Pere Lachaise and the celebrated necropolis of Montmartre there lies a small sinister cemetery tucked away in the far end of the 16^th arrondisement. It is surrounded by beautiful 19^th century apartment buildings in the Haussmann style. The decorative front of these buildings look onto the street while the backs, appearing unfinished, loom over the small space which is the Cemetery d’Auteuil on rue Claude Lorrain. Some of the earliest tombs date back to the early 1800’s. There are few recognizable names, an occasional count and countess and numerous generations of families buried together in family graves. This is the perfect place to come and see where regular local Parisians came to rest.

                        The space is eerily quiet and you can actually hear birds happily chirping. There are no more than four long rows of tombs, the earliest ones belonging to exclusive members born and dying in the days when Napoleon was crowning himself emperor. There are the sad tombs such as the one with the names Jeanine and Jean. Jeanine was three years old when she passed away. Jean, her brother, was two when he died several years later. There are only simple inscriptions on their family stone to celebrate their short lives, the incomplete buildings around them almost reflecting their unfinished life stories.

                        There are no rolling woodlands here, only ten trees dispersed amongst the mausoleums and sepulchers. Some gravesites are well maintained, even elegant with recent family members being added to the family grave. Others are decrepit, doors falling off, broken windows and ancient candles inside. There is even one wooden grave with only a small pile of rocks appearing to hold it down. There must be an interesting story and history behind this marker.

                        One has to wonder how much longer this cemetery will last, sitting in the middle of pricey apartments. The graves are taking up prime real estate. But if you have ever wanted to be alone in a cemetery, this is a good one to visit. There are no Jim’s, Oscar’s or crowds here.

Ingrid Littmann-Tai

Paris, November 2010

Week 4

After a beautiful September, fall has arrived in Paris. Winter coats, ski jackets, scarves and gloves have appeared as the French bundle up for 10 to 15 degrees. Yes we are still walking around in our t-shirts and sweaters and we often get asked "are you not cold?" We have now survived our first month in Paris and from my point of view it has been wonderful. I know my girls would say other wise. It is now just us three as grandma has left us for warmer climates for the next six weeks. Now some of our Highlights and Observations from the last week. Yes, we now have Observations as well as Highlights! 


Highlights
- Definitely the highlight of the week would be a concert with Les Violons de France at the Sainte Chapelle. What a location and what a concert. The lead violinist Frederic Moreau silenced the room with passionate solo after solo from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. He literally made the violin sing it was so sweet and dear sending shivers down my spine. Even the girls were mesmerized, watching his frantic fingers move non stop on his violin. We will definitely be attending another one of his concerts. 
- Dinner with a 90 year old family friend who has now known five generations of my mother's family.    What great memories and family stories she had to share with us. 
- Gabrielle's smile as she came out of her first session of her roller blading club/lessons. Tired, sweaty and a happy little girl. 
- Nathalie playing Team Handball (my all time favorite sport) in Phys Ed and loving it. We have even bought a handball to throw around. We will be off to see the local professional team play a match soon. Yes, professional handball! 
- Trying the Velib, the wonderful rent a bike system here. They have automated stands all over Paris where you can pick up a bike, cycle to your destination and then leave it at another stand. And it is popular as I often see men in suits, their briefcase in the front basket, cycling down the street. And of course, women in high heels and skirts, cycling along. We did discover though that Gabrielle is too small to use these bikes. As her feet can reach the peddles but not the ground, we decided to share a bike. After many unsuccessful yet very funny variations such as me riding, Gabrielle in the front basket, Gabrielle on the back wheel rail, and Gabrielle on the frame, we did discover a way to share the bike. I sit on the seat, steer and brake, legs sticking out sideways and Gabrielle peddling and hanging on to the middle of the handle bars. I am happy to report no crashes but we did not get very far. We will try again in the spring once Gabrielle has grown a few more inches. 
- As I found myself in yet another cafe not only was the bathroom clean but they had a special toilet paper dispenser by Distrimix that would spray perfume on the toilet paper before use. What will the French think of next!? Louis XIV would have loved this invention. 


Observations
Now some of my scientific, only true observations! 
I love the French as they have the gaul to do things us polite Canadians do not. In particular this week the gentleman who double parked his car in front of a cafe (yes I was in another cafe) and then went in and enjoyed a coffee and sandwich. On the street cars were lining up and getting stuck behind his double parked vehicle. He did not seem in the least bit concerned. 
Then there was the fellow speaking loudly on his cell phone next to me on a cafe patio. Being a nice Canadian, I gave him a somewhat dirty look hoping he would get the message. Not the French, within seconds two others abruptly told him to be quiet. 
Too many of the beautiful people I mentioned in last week's post, smoke. Too many people here smoke and far too many young people. I am still shocked when I see the number of kids smoking out in front of Nathalie's school. 
There are far too many Starbucks here now! Their cafes are large and beautiful but their coffee, that I had to try, not so good. 
The Apple Stores in Paris are as busy as all the others I have seen. I am happy as my computer problems have now been solved.
And finally, no matter where I go, cooking, laundry and cleaning seem to follow me. What is with that!? I thought I had left this all behind!  


(scroll down to see more pictures - still having formatting issues.)

Week 4

After a beautiful September, fall has arrived in Paris. Winter coats, ski jackets, scarves and gloves have appeared as the French bundle up for 10 to 15 degrees. Yes we are still walking around in our t-shirts and sweaters and we always get asked "are you not cold?"

Weeks 2 & 3 continued

I could not get everything in on the below post. The last two weeks have been busy, so here is more! 


This Saturday was spent in the Opera Garnier area. The girls were happy that the day started off with a visit to the new Apple Store right next to the Opera house. It is certainly the nicest Apple store I have ever seen as it is in an old bank building and they have kept much of the old architecture and style. Beautiful. And as always, the Apple sales people were helpful (but we still don't have wifi!)


More importantly we did visit the Opera Garnier. What a stunning building, even the girls appreciated it and were in awe of the beauty and opulence. Gabrielle felt that a princess should be descending the stairs in a ball gown. We plan on attending a performance there soon in our new Parisian gowns! This was followed by a sushi lunch in an area referred to as Little Tokyo on Rue Sainte Anne and then coffee and the girls running off some energy in the beautiful square at the Palais Royale. A busy eight hour day for the three Tai girls and grandma. 


But the highlight of the past few weeks was lunch for Nathalie's birthday on a patio over looking la Tour Eiffel, Champs de Mars and the Seine on a beautiful, sun filled, hot day. The view was amazing, the food delicious and the company entertaining. Bon Anniversaire ma grande fille!

Week 2 & 3

Yes I am slacking off already!! The past two weeks are here together. 

One of my biggest observations of the last few weeks is that yes, there really are many gorgeous French women! I don't know what it is. Is is the way they dress? The way they carry themselves and are so slender? Or the fact that so many of them wear heels and look amazing in them? I have never thought this on past trips but now that I am trying to blend in and be like them and am failing miserably, I realize just how stunning some of them are. Oh yes, and the men are not bad either! 

Perhaps this is why I have always had a love/hate relationship for the French. I love so much about this country and the people but dislike so much at the same time.  Now, quite surprisingly, that I am living amongst them, I am actually gaining an appreciation for them. 

Now onto the Tai girls and our activities. 

Both Tai girls seem to be adjusting.  I can tell that they are having some tough moments with school and missing home. Nathalie has gone from a class of 18 at home to a class of 31 with over 160 kids in grade 6. Gabrielle has gone from a small class as well to a class of 25 with over 75 kids in grade 3. The girls are attending two different schools. 

Last Saturday was spent at La Palais de la Decouverte (Palace of Discovery). This is a science museum in a stunning building built in 1937 for the Universal Exposition full of hands on experiments and demonstrations. I was not a big fan of the rat maze while the girls loved taking pictures of the big fat dirty rat! 

Week 1

"It is so charming how you speak French, you have a nice little English accent." And so began week one for me in Paris. 


Day one of school. After a rushed and nervous morning getting the girls off to school I was treating myself to a strong morning coffee at a local cafe. Feeling good, people watching and writing down some thoughts in my notebook when I was interrupted by the gentleman at the next table lighting up a cigarette and asking me if I minded. He of course had to then tell me about himself and then made this lovely comment on my accent. Such a nice way to start our stay in France. 


Now some real highlights from our first week:


-   the lunches at the girls' school cafeterias! Day one for Elle was roast beef, potatoes, carrot salad, choice of 2 cheeses, 2 pieces of baguette and fruit for dessert. Nathalie had the choice of 3 cheeses, one being a strong blue cheese. Her comment when she got home was "only at a French school do you offer 11 year olds strong blue cheese!"
-    not having to make school lunches for a whole school year! 
-    my French uncle asking me with a big grin on his face "what will George DO without you for a whole year!?" Yes only in France! 
-    seeing three Parisians actually picking up their dog's poo. 
-    and of course, good coffee, amazing chocolate, wine, cheese and fresh baguettes. 

The Adventure Begins!

The debonair gentleman with the red sweater elegantly resting on his shoulders and wrapped around his neck. The lady seated behind me arguing non-stop with the flight attendant was my second clue. Yes we were certainly on our way to France. And so began our Paris Adventure. The Three Tai girls take on Paris. My daughters try to assimilate into French school. I try to live like a Parisian. What an opportunity, what a year it will be!