Tag: French Sabbatical

So here I am in Paris, a city full of incredible sites, and I spot this very attractive, elegant-looking window in a beautiful older building. I think to myself, “I’d like to have a photo of that window,” so I wander over to snap one. Just inside was this serious looking man, obviously hard at work. Do you think I bothered him? Oh, well. As any good member of the paparazzi knows, there are no restrictions when it comes to getting a potentially valuable photo.

Okay, so I made most of that up. Well, at least the part implying that I’m a member of paparazzi (Chloe may disagree). The real story is that this window is part of our apartment, and the hard-working man inside is Melinda’s dad, Dwight. Among many interesting things about our apartment is that this window actually looks out into the carriage entrance, complete with cobblestones. We are staying in a renovated townhouse that has enough historical significance to be included in a book called “The Marais.” The book mentions that “a substantial Louis XV staircase at the end of a deep vestibule has survived.” The paparazzi intend to take some photos on that staircase, I’m sure.

Among many interesting things about Dwight is that at 4:47pm Paris time each day he connects via Skype to a friend in Seattle who is connected to an amateur radio network to which Dwight belongs, a creative way that allows Dwight to participate from France. Today’s photo was taken from the carriage entrance of our apartment, just after that daily conversation had concluded.

Bun-Bun agreed to stay in the apartment with Other Bunny today, freeing the rest of us to go exploring in Paris. We walked to the nearest Métro station and made the underground trek to one of the fabulous shopping areas in town, emerging above ground just outside the stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. Both stores have amazing outdoor window displays designed to delight the children. And, indeed, Perrin was especially delighted, moving from window to window with eager anticipation. She was gracious enough to turn around from looking at this window to pose with her cousins for this photo. Then it was back to the exciting window displays.

Galeries Lafayette is referring to their window display this year as “Show Chaud Noël.” That’s a “Franglais” expression, putting the English word “Show” and the French word “Chaud” back-to-back, a clever combination because the two words are pronounced exactly the same way. Noël is French for Christmas so the translation is simply “Hot Christmas Show.” If you want, check out a video explaining this (in French). Today, given the presence of the Shaw family, I officially declare it the “Shaw Show Chaud Noël!”

By the way, Galeries Lafayette is also known for the huge Christmas tree that decorates the center of the store each holiday season. It really is spectacular. You can get a glimpse of it in the video I linked above.

I am thrilled to report that Bun-Bun has arrived safely in Paris. She had to get up early yesterday in Seattle to catch her first flight and was sad to leave some of her friends back home, something that is always quite hard. But she is quite excited to be in Paris. Also, from what I’ve learned, Bun-Bun not only managed to deal with, but even enjoyed a 4 hour layover in Chicago (they have a wonderful bunny play area at O’Hare), before the long flight to Paris. Clearly, Bun-Bun is a great traveller and actually arrived in France with only minimal jet lag. Today’s photo was taken earlier today in our Parisian apartment, soon after Bun-Bun’s arrival. That’s 4 year-old Perrin, Bun-Bun’s best friend, on the right, with Bun-Bun on her lap, and Ella on the left with Bun-Bun’s friend and traveling companion Other Bunny.

Check back here for regular updates about Bun-Bun, Other Bunny and their apartment-mates (Nonna & Poppie, Brenda, Greg & Perrin, and Melinda, Chloe, Ella & me) over the next week. Their Parisian adventures have only just begun!

Here’s a close-up shot of one of our living room windows, taken from the outside in front of the house. As you can see, the snowflakes in Nantes are quite large (and dig that cool sunset in the reflection of the glass – what a beautiful, albeit cold, day it’s been in Nantes). Truthfully, these flakes are no different than those we see on our windows in Seattle each year. They are a family tradition, made each year by Chloe with help from Ella. This year, they gave lessons to Celeste and Claire, Christine’s daughters. I understand there has been a snowstorm of activity in their house this year, too, perhaps a tradition that will continue next year.

On the subject of snow, it is in the forecast for Nantes over the next couple of days. An even greater chance for snow is in Paris, where we will be for a week beginning tomorrow. We take the train to Paris from Nantes in the morning and will rendez-vous with Melinda’s entire family (parents, sister, brother-in-law, and 4 year-old niece). Her parents have rented a Parisian apartment for all 9 of us for the next week. So look for my next blog postings to be from Paris and they just might include snow.

How would that be for a beautiful holiday scene, snow scenes from Paris a week or so before Christmas?? I’m in!

That’s Melinda, raising the self-scanning device at Leclerc in celebration. You might think it was some kind of an award, like an Oscar or something, given Melinda’s happy expression. Can’t you just hear her acceptance speech:

“Wow, I can’t believe I really won this thing. After months of grocery store shopping and having to wait in long lines, all it took was a short interview with a Leclerc hostess who explained everything to me. In French, no less. And I understood her! I filled out some paperwork, also in French, then was registered to use one of these devices. The hostess showed me how to scan my store card, which frees up one of the devices, connecting it to my card. Get this. It lights up along the wall, like you’ve won some kind of Las Vegas-style game. Now as I shop, I scan each item before putting it in my cart. When I arrive to check-out at one of the registers reserved for self-scanners like myself, I am whisked through, only needing the checker to scan my card to reveal the total of my purchase which I then pay with my French credit card. Crazy, it’s so simple. I’d like to thank my parents for raising such a smart daught…”

At that point the orchestra would likely start playing and Melinda would be escorted away from the microphone, self-scanner in hand, undoubtedly off to buy more groceries.

So what are your plans for the 31st? I know it’s a big event every year all around the world. Lots of parties, special menus in restaurants, even fireworks in some places. Melinda and I try to be humble about it, all these events being scheduled to celebrate our anniversary. But this year we are accepting them as they come. I mean it’s our 20th, after all. And we’re in France! Everyone should be having a good time!

Yes it’s true, we took that faithful leap on December 31, 1990 and what a fun ride it has been since then. 20 years multiplied by 365 days equals a total of 7300 dinners. And for us, this one coming up is an important one, hence the need to consult our local restaurant experts. Here are Frédérique and Melinda, together in our home an hour or so ago reviewing restaurants in Nantes up for consideration. When I took this picture, Laurent was sitting across the room next to me assisting with the suggestions.

So make sure you do something fun, too, to celebrate our anniversary. It shouldn’t be difficult to find a party or an event. Lots of them are being planned. Check your local listings. You may see them referenced as “New Year’s Eve” or something like that but don’t let the title fool you. You know what’s up and why the extravagant events. You read it here.

It’s two weeks before Christmas, four days before we leave for Paris to meet up with Melinda’s family, and eleven days until we ALL return to Nantes to celebrate Christmas. In other words, its about time we set up our tree. On Thursday Christine took Melinda to Ikea where both picked up trees for their families. Ours cost 20 Euros, 19 of which you get back as Ikea store credit if you bring the tree back for recycling purposes. The other Euro goes to charity, if I understand correctly. Now that’s a smart system (remind me to tell you all some time about the super-smart shopping cart system).

So here is Ella posing with our tree. Melinda came up with the idea to “plant” it in this tall pot we found in the house in order to give it some additional height. Chloe searched the house for Christmas decorations and found several boxes. Ella and Melinda took charge of decorating the tree while Chloe put up homemade snowflakes, an important family tradition. I guess you can say my job was to supervise (actually, I brought the tree inside and got it anchored in the pot, as well as carted boxes up and down the stairs).

After only finding blue lights to use, I think I overheard Melinda referring to the decorated tree as a “blue light special.” How many K-mart shoppers recognize that reference?

I did NOT title this post because Stephanie left France today. While it is true, I accompanied her by tram to the center of town at 9am today so she could catch the shuttle to the airport. And it’s true that she has returned to Spain, having travelled by plane to Paris and on to Madrid where she is staying tonight (and, hopefully, salsa dancing). She and I had a great time yesterday taking the tram and a bus to get around Nantes in the sunshine. She got to know Christine and pick her brain about what it’s like to have been raised in the United States, marry a Frenchman, and live in Europe for 20 years. So, yes, we had a wonderful time having her visit us, so her departure has nothing to do with today’s beauty. The beauty in the day came in the form of sunshine and a temperature that approached 50 degrees Fahrenheit! That is something, especially after days of freezing temperatures, wind and rain.

I took today’s picture a few minutes after bidding farewell to Stephanie. It was such a nice morning I decided to walk most of the way home from the center of town. I stopped at various places and took some pictures, this one being among my favorites. Ah, what a difference a little sunlight can make. I highly recommend it.

Something not funny that happened today:
Just out the door at 7:45 this morning on her way to her final final (a 5 minute oral presentation in French on a subject determined by random draw), Chloe slipped on the ice on our stairs and tumbled down, landing on the softest part of her anatomy, thank goodness.

Something funny about that:
Later, when describing what happened, Chloe was grasping for the word having to do with the rise of a stair and referred to it as a crack. She said, “At least I didn’t fall hard on the crack.” To which I responded, referring to the softest part of her anatomy, “I think you did land on a crack.”

Something not funny that happened today:
Ella’s rowing class went out on the river in freezing temperatures to practice. Everyone was very cold, needless to say. For the first time, Ella was the coxswain and told us her main job was to look out for ice.

Something funny about that:
Being the quick-witted, clever guy that I am I said, “Wow, I didn’t know that the Titanic was a rowboat,” followed by, “Women and children to the lifeboats!”

Okay, okay, maybe none of it was that funny. But at least I got a chuckle out of it. Today’s photo is of Chloe explaining to Stephanie how NOT to fall down the stairs.

I hereby dedicate today’s post to Chloe! She took a 4 hour final at the University of Nantes today, the first time in her life that she has taken a test of this sort. We chatted about it beforehand. If you know anything about me, you’ll know something about PSCS and you’ll know that I don’t think tests of this sort are terribly useful or important (which goes a long way in explaining why Chloe had never taken one prior to today). I told her that she knows what she knows, regardless of any score, good or bad, she gets on the test. We are very proud of her for her work effort and her consistency, character traits not being measured today.

Pictured with Chloe is her friend Hillary, a classmate. Hillary and Tina, Chloe’s other good friend from the fall, are both leaving after this semester so the goodbyes are starting. I think something celebratory is being planned for Friday night and my hunch is it doesn’t involve timed tests, teachers patrolling the aisles, and being required to sit at least three feet away from your closest neighbor.