Category: Uncategorized

I’ll probably have several posts over the year that make reference to Skype. It’s just really an amazing thing to be able to be in France and have a live-time video conversation with someone in Seattle and it not break the bank. In fact, if you don’t count the Internet costs, it’s free. Who am I, George Jetson?

Today’s photo was actually taken a couple of nights ago when Melinda was chatting with her mom, Michele, on Skype. At about the same time I took a cellphone call from Chloe who is in the midst of spending the week with a group of new French friends in the city of Royan. Chloe & I have spent more time texting than chatting, from which I learned they’ve twice been to a French disco, each time staying quite late. The group is sharing an apartment and the cost of meals, as well as taking turns making them. Man, to be 17 again and in France for a year…

Anyway, Melinda held the cellphone, which was on speakerphone, closer to the computer so Chloe and Michele could say hi to each other. I quickly snapped the picture.

In fact, I took it less than two hours ago. And, yes, that’s Melinda down on all fours working on the installation of a hardwood floor. Next to her is our absolutely lovely neighbor in Nantes, Christine. Christine and her husband Bernard are remodeling their house. Christine happens to be an American (so she speaks English). Start adding things up – around the corner is an American woman remodeling her house. Where else would you expect to find Melinda?

It gets better. Christine’s 13 year-old son, Théo, is at this very moment in the pool with Ella. He goes to the school Ella will be attending and is, in fact, the person who has volunteered to help get her to and from school each day and show her around. And in case you haven’t added it ALL up, given Théo’s mom is American, he, too, is fluent in English.

Yeah, it’s been a pretty good day in Nantes, all things considered.

No, this isn’t an idea for a new Olympic sport, although if it was one I think France would do really well. It’s about the relay bus we use while the tram line in our neighborhood gets an update. I’ve mentioned in passing a couple of times how fabulous the tram system is in Nantes. As it turns out, it’s considered one of the best in France. It even has its own English language Wikipedia page!

Ligne Deux (Line 2) is the one that services our neighborhood. Once updated, it will pick us up a couple of blocks from our house and take us all the way into the center of town. It also will take Ella directly to her school, what will make for her about a 10-15 minute trip from our front door to school. Given she’ll likely come home for lunch, she’ll ride it 4 times each day (2 round trips).

Anyway, while the update is taking place the city has several buses acting as “relays,” moving people from one of the stops the tram can’t currently reach to the tram itself. I took this picture of the sign where Melinda and I caught the relay today. We rode the relay to tram #2, then took the #2 to town where we caught tram #1 to the large shopping center on the edge of town, far from our house. All totaled, it was about 45 minutes from leaving our house to arriving at the shopping center. It’s an interesting ride, too, and then no parking hassles! My kind of thing.

Before leaving Seattle we bought several varieties of Theo Chocolate, wanting to have some in France ourselves but, more importantly, wanting to give some as gifts. You see, the founders of Theo are parents of a PSCS student and we wanted to show off a bit. So we packed up some of the yummy chocolate and on three separate occasions delivered it as gifts.

The first gift was to the Boudeaus, giving them several pieces. The second was to Annabelle and her kids as part of our thank you for staying in their apartment when we first arrived. And the third batch was for our landlords when we first met them. As it turned out, all we had left for ourselves was one bar. I stashed it away and didn’t tell Melinda or the girls about it, finally bringing it out this past Thursday night after a quiet dinner at home. We then staged this photo, highlighting three of our favorite things. Melinda’s finger on the left points to where Ikea is on the Nantes map. In the center Ella is pointing to the word Nantes itself. And, of course, on the right is where Chloe is pointing to our remaining Theo chocolate bar, now long gone.

It was a fitting tribute to a wonderful first month in France.

Yesterday Melinda & I took another big step to establishing ourselves as residents of Nantes. We got everyone library cards! In preparation, on Thursday Ella & I walked to the nearby library branch (it’s a little more than a half mile away) and talked to a librarian who gave us all the information and paperwork we needed to get the cards. It cost 9 Euros each for Melinda’s and my cards, and the girls’ cards were free. With them, we can check out a limited number of items. If we paid more, we could check out more items but that didn’t seem necessary. Oh, you history buffs will appreciate knowing that the first public library in Nantes opened in 1753, a few years before the first one in Seattle.

Anyway, this morning I took the temporary bus (the tram line in our neighborhood is getting updated) to the local branch, having connected to the Nantes library system online last night and finding the local branch had a copy of Kurt Vonnegut’s “The Sirens of Titan”. I snapped this photo just before pulling it off the shelf to check it out, along with a French DVD and CD. I’ve ordered a used English language version of the book from Amazon’s French site, and am hoping it will arrive on Monday or Tuesday. I plan to compare the two as part of my French language practice. In fact, I registered with eBay’s French site and just “won” a French copy of “Slaughterhouse Five” for the same purpose.

So, yes, I’ve got the Vonnegut thing covered. Next up, Tom Waits.

Both of my grandmothers were born on the 6th of August, which made it easier to remember their birthdays when they were alive (heck, it’s still easy to remember them). My dad’s mother, Helen Haskins Smallman, would be 101 today. I have great memories of visiting her and my grandfather at their home in Wisconsin when my family still lived in Nebraska. But I did not know her as well as I knew my mom’s mother.

Born Geneviève LeDuc in 1903 but known to me as Grammy, my mom’s mother’s first language was French as her parents were French-Canadian. She and my grandfather moved to the Seattle area in 1975 to be closer to my family, something that made sense since my mother is an only-child. From their arrival onward, Grammy and I became close friends with a special bond. When I graduated from high school in 1981 she asked if I would be willing to spend a week in Paris with her, at her expense. The experience remains one of the highlights of my life. I’m sure you can imagine how being back in France reminds me of my grandmother so today’s posting is a salute to her. I didn’t bring any photos of her to France but I did post a couple on Facebook, hence today’s picture.

Joyeux anniversaire, Grammy!

I knew we lived within easy access of the racetrack in Nantes but I had no idea how close. I set off with Ella this afternoon to find out. We crossed the main street a couple of blocks from our house and caught bus #51, not really sure where we’d get off. But two stops down the line was one called Hippodrome (the French name for racetrack) so we got off. We crossed the street and, boom, there was the track, literally against a fence we could touch. We walked a few steps further and got our first view of the grandstand. A few steps further and we found an open gate with access to the grounds. While Ella nervously waited there, I dashed in for a quick look.

Safely back outside the gate, we continued our walk and discovered that the public is actually allowed inside, that the grounds are used much like a public park. There were kids riding bikes, people walking dogs, and others picnicking (with a bottle of wine, of course). Ella took this picture of me as we crossed the turf track on the backstretch. We then made our way back home, walking the whole way.

What a situation. I can walk to the racetrack. I’m reminded of the scene in Field of Dreams when Shoeless Joe asks Ray, “Is this heaven?” and Ray says, “It’s Iowa.” No, it’s Nantes.

Clearly we knew that this cheeseburger would not meet with Ella’s high standards. But equally clear was the need to experience this particular American institution in another country. So in Ella’s hands is what is called a “Royal Deluxe,” what most resembles a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. It comes with a pretty tasty hamburger patty, lettuce, tomato and a secret sauce that tastes suspiciously like it has Dijon mustard in it, not a good thing for Ella.

We located this particular McDonalds in what I can best describe as a mall in Nantes. At one end of the mall is an Ikea and at the other end is a huge store, E. Leclerc, that is most like a Target. The McDonalds was between the two and did not really look like most in the U.S. But the most striking difference was the amount of time it took to order and then get the food. I bow my head to the French who clearly have not mastered the delivery of fast food, and I mean that as a compliment. Food and fast do not belong in the same sentence here. Oh, Ella wanted me to mention that she gives the JoJos, what was referred to on the placard as “Potatoes Deluxe,” a thumbs up.

So that’s all for now from Leonard Nimoy and the “In Search of…” crew. To be continued…

One of the greatest movies ever, in my important opinion, is The Jerk starring Steve Martin. Remember that scene when the new phonebook arrives at his first-ever home? He excitedly tears through the pages looking for his name and when he finds it he shouts, “I’m somebody!” Seeing his name in print like that provided the character, Navin, some important validation.

Today I know just how Navin feels because today I got mail at our France address. An honest to goodness envelope addressed to me. And inside was my Tan pass. What’s the Tan, you may be asking, some sort of French skin darkener that comes by mail? No, but, hey, I would be interested in that, too (I’ll keep an eye on the cool French infomercials). It’s my pass to ride the outstanding Nantes public transportation system, that’s what! We’ve got buses and trams here that make getting around ever so easy. And see that card down at the bottom of the letter? That’s it, my Tan pass, good until next July. I am now permitted to travel anywhere in Nantes by public transportation.

I’m somebody in Nantes!

I’m standing just outside of our front door, that’s where. Geez, I thought this would be a lot easier than finding Waldo but maybe not. See me? I’m waving my hat to try to get your attention. Maybe you can see me better if you click on the picture. Go on, give that a try.

Okay, so that’s our front door, like I said, to my immediate left. Above me, yes, that’s a balcony and directly above the front door are the French doors to Ella’s room. Speaking of French doors, technically, aren’t all doors in France French doors? And if you eat at a McDonald’s in France would you be eating French food?

Oh, sorry…

Those are the “French doors” to Chloe’s room in the upper left of the photo and directly below that to my right are the “French doors” to the office where I now sit typing this (in case you couldn’t find me at this moment).