Nespresso Needs

I have a Nespresso machine in the US and in France. Before I got the first one, in the US, I wanted it for a long time. I tested different machines, tried the different flavors of coffee. Finally my sister bought me one for my birthday.

The second one, I bought on impulse. They had a "promotion" during the holidays for a Euro 50 rebate, so I figured that it was almost (presque) free. So, it came home with me along with a little tower that holds the pods.

I don't drink a Nespresso every day, It is a treat. I drink regular coffee first thing in the morning and the Nespresso later. It has two purposes: when I really need more coffee in the morning and the after lunch or late afternoon "decaf" break.

In the US, I have to order the "capsules" on line. They are delivered quickly and they don't charge a shipping charge. There are no stores to buy the capsules. American Nespresso capsules (exactly the same as the french ones) cost 52 cents each. French capsules cost 32 Euro centimes each. Even with the awful exchange rate, the capsules are much cheaper in france.

Nespresso is incredibly popular in france. Offices have them, most homes seem to have one. Many people don't even know the name of the machine, just that it makes coffee out of capsules.

I needed capsules for both france and the US. It was a sunny, beautiful day today so I went to rue de Bac, near Le Bon Marche, to stock up. I found the store, walked in. I was greeted by all kinds of confusing displays on every wall. Tables in front of each display had workers who seemed busy.

I asked a guy in the front (maybe a "greeter", although he was not too friendly) for a list of the capsules available. He handed it to me and I staggered deeper into the store.

It was then that I realized that there were about 100 people in a line that snaked all around the store. It was 5 PM, I was getting hungry and I had some other shopping to do. As I considered re-ordering my capsules on the internet, I passed the greeter again. He then informed me that there is a new Nespresso store -- in my neighborhood. Hurray! I'm sure no one else has discovered it yet. I'll go there on Monday and hope for a short line and a helpful staff.

Wish me luck.

The Sub-Committee

The sub-committee (of our building) selected the colors for our stairway without consulting us.

I guess that no one in the building besides this select few were involved. Instead of everyone selecting the colors, discussing it, arguing about it, three (3) people chose the colors for everyone.

I am not happy with their selection.

The Stairway

In a 200+ year-old-building, there are bound to be problems. Often they are "good" problems, such as high ceilings, antiquated, but attractive windows with bubbled pre-WWII glass.

The "bad" things are that there are cracks in the walls, floors that slope and electrical plugs that don't work.

Our building "voted in" an elevator several years ago and it has been installed. It works perfectly. But the stairwell was not renovated at the time the elevator was installed. Photo above shows some of the ugly details of our current stairway.

Now, we have "voted" to renovate the stairwell itself. The work was supposed to start in September 07, but there were problems. I have no ideas what the problems were. But, it took until September 08 for the project to start.

It seemed to start on time. The new, revised schedule, of course.

The first work to be done was the woodwork. They fixed the floor boards that jumped up when you stepped on them. They covered the electrical wires and the gas pipes with boxes. Then all work stopped. I think this was in November.

It is now the end of May and NOTHING has been done since November. We complained at the annual AGM (meeting of the owners of the building) but they claimed that the work was "on track". OK, who am I to determine what that means.

However, my checkbook is closed. Until the work is finished, I will not pay for anything more. No one knows this and no one cares because no one besides us (dumb Americans) pays on time. It's innate, we are not willing to hold the check.

But now on May 25th the work started again. Hopefully it will finish before the first snow but it certainly will not finish before everyone (the workers) go on vacation. So, I think that July 15th is the deadline for completion and I'm not hopeful that it will be done. They've been working for a week. But, it's only two guys. In the US, they would send 10 guys, they would work non-stop and they would finish in a week.

Public Transportation

Public transportation is excellent in France. We don't own a car and rarely take a taxi.

Our travels are typically limited to central Paris. There's still a lot we haven't done or seen.

We are proficient at taking the metro and buses in Paris. I think we've gotten a bit cocky.

Once in awhile, we will take a real train trip. This involves planning, purchase of tickets, etc. and we are pretty good at doing this. We did a randonee (hike) recently and took a train to and from the hike location. It only takes about 15-20 minutes on a train to be outside of Paris and in a forest.

The world outside of central Paris is accessible to us via the network of French trains, the tramway, the RER, the SNCF, the TGV, Eurostar, Transilian. These are all different networks of trains that sometimes interconnect. Using these trains, you can get almost anywhere in France and to many places in western Europe.

Yesterday, we headed outside of Paris to some friends' house for lunch. We had the directions to their house. We left the house earlier than planned, thinking that we'd have a cup of coffee if we arrived too early. We bought the tickets on the RER, found the RER station at St. Michel. Terry even asked three times if this was the right spot the right train. Each time the answer was a resounding "oui".

We were a bit dressed up, it was a beautiful summer-y morning, perhaps a little humid but very nice. We boarded the RER and I decided to watch the stops on the map. We came out of the tunnel and saw the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, the beautiful greenery of springtime in Paris. All was right with the world.

Then, the dreaded announcement in French came over the loudspeaker. The speaker system in french trains and train stations has to be ancient. The announcer speaks quickly and the sound system is very scratchy and squacky. But the one word I did hear was a direction, a town. And, it was in the wrong direction -- yes, we had gotten on the wrong train. The trajectory was right for about 4-5 stops but then there is a fork in the road. We needed to go southwest, this train was going north! I screamed to Terry "GET OFF". We were in the top level so we raced down the stairs, pushed past all the people with suitcases, bikes and babies and got off at the next stop. We went to an information booth and the woman told us that we had to walk to the next RER station, we couldn't get back on going the opposite direction. (No idea if she was right, we just trusted her).

So, out of the RER station we went. Now, it was threatening to rain. We followed her directions, walking as quickly as we could. Now we were running late! We walked and walked, past two bridges on the Seine before coming to the next RER station. We went in, figured out the correct direction, got on the train and got to our friends' house about 20 minutes late.

As soon as we got inside their house, it started to rain -- a thundering, pounding rain. So, I was happy that we weren't even later than we were.

Have we learned from this?

I hope so, but I'm not sure. On the way home, we got to the train station and looked at the signs. There are always two sides to choose from and you have to find the side designated for the direction of the train you want to take.

But, the signs are incredible. On the right side, there was a sign that said "A" with an arrow pointing to the other side and on the left side was a sign that said "B" with an arrow going to the other side. Doesn't it seem simpler to just label the side with A or B, without the arrow? We got home without further error.

Rue Madame, Paris Kitchen II

We wanted an enclosed kitchen in our new Paris apartment but it was not to be. Our apartment is so old that the space has been defined by time.

In our new apartment on rue Madame, beautiful windows opened onto a light, green courtyard and if we enclosed the kitchen, much of the light and view would be lost to the rest of the apartment. So, we opted for an open kitchen, which, ironically in France is called “cuisine Americane” or American kitchen.

The good thing about an open kitchen is that the cook is not isolated from everyone else during a gathering.

When we moved from rue de Seine to rue Madame, my kitchen space was greatly increased. I was in heaven. I didn’t have to move the coffee pot to cook something on the stovetop. I didn’t have to put the chopping block across the sink. There was plenty of room in the cabinets, they were almost empty! Everything was nice, new and clean.

Now, three years later, I’m out of space. I still love the kitchen, but I’m now spoiled and could use some more space. I guess this holds true for all houses – your “stuff” expands to fill the space.

I now have a spice drawer, but it is overflowing and I need to put obscure spices in a different spot. I’ve bought a food processor, a mixer and a few nice serving pieces, all of which take up valuable cupboard space.

The Nespresso is on the kitchen counter. At rue de Seine, I would have had to buy a small table to be able to use the Nespresso. Now, everything has a place. I can cook for a large number of people.

What's for dinner? Anything but fish -- it's a "cuisine Americane" and the smell will permeate the entire living room.

My Kitchen, rue de Seine

For many, the kitchen defines the home. It's a place where people congregate, after school or work, at parties. Even if you don't want people in the kitchen, they seem to gravitate towards it.

Our kitchen at rue de Seine was so small, yet it defined the one small downstairs room. I could watch TV (in the living room) while cooking and visiting with Terry. It's hard to imagine having a smaller kitchen, but this was our kitchen for almost five years. We only had enough room to serve 4 people a meal, but we tested it and the kitchen could handle it. There was absolutely no counter space, so I had to move things around in order to chop, cook, etc.

The coffee pot was moved from place to place depending on what else was going on.

The oven was full size, the dishwasher was full size and there was a small microwave hiding in a cupboard. The light was provided by two long light bulbs.




When we moved in, we bought six plates, six mugs, place settings for six, a few placemats and napkins a couple of bowls, a cookie sheet, two pans and we were set. We lived near a market, so we could shop often without effort. It all worked perfectly!

The kitchen at rue de Seine defined the apartment in many ways and I will always remember it, happiily.

Baguettes

This might seem trivial to my French friends who know this kind of thing from birth.

I normally don't eat a lot of bread. It's not that I don't like it. It's that the standard American thought is that we should reduce our intake of simple carbs (like bread) and increase our consumption of complex carbs (like vegetables and fruit).

I see French people buy their daily baguette, sometimes walking down the street tasting a little piece while it is still warm. They're thin, they look healthy. I also see many people eating sandwiches with little more than a piece of ham, some butter and the bread, a baguette. Ditto the thin, healthy look.

From what I can see from the results of eating bread, Americans should take a second look at our nutritional ideas.

The most interesting thing about baguettes is their taste. No two bakeries sell exactly the same baguette. Everyone has their favorite bakery, secondary bakery, fall back bakery. When I'm in buying the bread, the better bakeries usually have a line. I notice that some people ask for one that is well cooked. I personally prefer one that has a thin, crispy crust. One that is not too thick.

Bakeries also sell half loaves (demi) and will often cut the loaf in half for you to take only what you need for the coming meal. You don't want to waste half a baguette and feeding the pigeons is frowned upon here.

Whether or not baguettes are good for physical health, they are wonderful for mental health -- they taste great, fill you up quickly, are inexpensive and are, of course, a french treasure that can't be replicated.

This Is France

I'm starting to accept things that I never would have allowed before. Is this good or bad? Probably just a new technique to retain sanity and safeguard my spare time.

Our new refrigerator (one week old tomorrow) has a weird glitch. When we close the freezer door, the refrigerator door pops open automatically.

So we called BHV service-apres-vente.

The repair man came out this morning. After he checked it out, he told us that this happens because air is pushed out when we close the door and this causes the other door to open.

DAH!

We needed to wait around all morning to hear this! He then told us that the refrigerator is new and it has a two year warranty so if it doesn't adjust itself, call back. All very polite and normal. We had him re-look at it, re-explained the problem and he left without fixing the problem. We just have to be more careful when closing the doors, he said.

Now to EDF, our electric company.

We need an original, current EDF bill as part of the required, mandatory paperwork to renew our carte de sejour. But, EDF doesn't send monthly bills, they amortize the estimated cost of the year's electricity over 10 months and we pay the same amount automatically each month. Then they read the meter and adjust the charges for the following year.

Don't know why French immigration requests something that is no longer readily available, but they do. In anticipation of this, Terry called EDF this morning to try to get an original bill.

He reached a nice woman who told him that she could make an exception and send him the bill one time, but could not send a bill each month. She could also create and send an original "Attestation" which is, to the French, quite impressive. It is signed by someone, hopefully in power, that states that something is true, has happened, etc.

After talking to Terry further, the woman came up with a Plan B. EDF can send the bill electronically via email each month and we can then print it ourselves.

Paperwork problem resolved -- we will now have one original bill, one Attestation and a monthly email. From nothing to overkill in one phone call.

Do I Dare

It's another holiday in May. Armistice Day, I think. It's hard to keep track of all the holidays in May.

We haven't been here in May for a couple of years, so I'd forgotten how the rhythm of daily life is interrupted by holidays.

The working French, of course, take this very seriously. If I were working, I'd grab every holiday and maximize it, too. But, I'm now on the other side of the fence.

Yesterday afternoon, the metro cars were packed with people leaving town. In the paper, it said that the traffic would be at a peak between 4 PM and 9 PM on Thursday and 6 PM and 11 PM on Sunday.

So, the difficult choice this morning involves groceries. We need food for the next few days. Do I dare get my rolling grocery cart and hike it out to a store or wait until tomorrow? Saturday is always the most crowded because Sunday the stores are closed.

The downside is that I fail to get groceries and waste most of an hour. The upside is that I'll have gotten the chore done today and won't have to do it tomorrow.

The New Refrigerator

We've been in Paris now for about seven years. When we first arrived and bought our apartment, we bought a new refrigerator, washer/dryer (one unit), and TV. The oven, dishwasher, microwave were included with the apartment. Everything worked perfectly the entire time we lived on rue de Seine (don't ask about the toilet, there's always something). We took the refrigerator, TV and washer/dryer with us when we moved to our new apartment.

Once we moved, the spell was broken. We assumed ownership of some of the previous owner's appliances. Almost immediately the dishwasher broke and we had to replace it. Then, the washer/dryer went south last year. While it still worked, the timer on the dryer didn't work and I was afraid that it would catch everything on fire if I left it alone.

Now, we've had to buy a new refrigerator. It was just delivered today.

To say that they "don't make 'em like they used to" is an understatement. Our original refrigerator in the US lasted for 23 years. The salesman at BHV says that they should last around 10 years now. The new gas that replaces freon, for some reason, doesn't last as long.

The refrigerator saga is quite long and has been time-consuming. Part of the problem is our fear of French appliance repairs. For both the washer/dryer and the refrigerator, we had the Darty apres-vente service come out. In both cases, the man had to call his office to figure out the problem. This doesn't build confidence. Then, in both cases, the repairman has determined that the problem is the "carte electronique", the computer brain for the appliance. It is probably a card of some kind that they slip into place, but for the washer it would have cost us Euro 300 and for the refrigerator is was Euro 210.

In each case, after we got the cost of repair, we've decided to buy a new appliance. Even though the repair has six month warranty, it is only for the problem that was fixed. Other things can break down and they won't be covered. So, we figure that if we pay for the repair and then something else goes wrong (or, God forbid they didn't find the problem the first time!), we will end up spending enough on repairs to buy a new machine.

The washer/dryer was pretty easy. We went to Darty first, but they didn't have a good selection, so we went to BHV and bought a new one.

The refrigerator was much harder. All in all, it took five trips to stores. First we went to BHV. On the same day, we went to Darty. We were still undecided about replacing the refrigerator or repairing it.

It was finally decided to replace it when the machine really started to act up. So, Saturday morning we went back to BHV. We thought we wanted one model but found out that it wasn't frost-free. The last time I de-frosted a refrigerator was in college and that was a long time ago. Old technology.

So after much back and forth with Terry (I wanted a nicer model than he did), we settled on another model, took the bus home to re-measure the space, took the bus back to BHV, and bought it. The salesman said that it would be delivered in 15 days. We were happy and relieved and even treated ourselves to lunch on the 5th floor, one of my modest pleasures.

On the way home on the bus, I looked at the sales receipt. Instead of delivery in 15 days, it said, delivery at the end of Week 21, which would mean about 25 days. The final blow came after we got home that day and the "Alarm" light came on, meaning that the refrigerator was dangerously warm inside. After two trips to BHV, we decided this could wait until Monday. Stores are closed on Sunday in France. So, Terry called the salesman, put a hold on another machine that was available immediately and told him that we'd be in first thing on Monday morning to buy the new one.

Back we went on Monday, bought the machine and it was delivered, without incident. A little bit of honking in the street because the BHV truck was blocking the street, but this is Paris, deliveries are permitted in the morning.

But, we're not finished yet. The delivery man told us that the refrigerator can't be turned on for four hours because it has to "settle". Then, it will take 4-8 hours to get cold. I remember this from the first time. I wonder what would happen if I didn't follow instructions and turned it on now? Even though we have a five year warranty, if we don't do it correctly, it will break down after five years and one day.

So, I've put all the food from the refrigerator into bags and in the bathtub with ice on top. I'm waiting to turn it on and try it.

The AGM

I wish I'd brought a video recorder to this meeting of our homeowner's association in Paris.

The syndic, the company that we pay to manage our building, is housed on a lovely street in an ancient building. But they had two fires last year so when I walked in, it still smelled like smoke.

Most people arrive late, sometimes by more than an hour. We tried to be late, but it's not in our nature, so we ended up arriving on time. Unfortunately, this meant that we got crammed into a corner near the front, Terry next to a stone wall that crumbled all over his clothes during the meeting. By the time the meeting was in full swing, people were sitting in the hallway and even in the next room. Instead of speaking, these late-comers all felt the need to shout simultaneously.

Terry was in the corner, I was next to him, we were seated in metal folding chairs. Very small, like the French. Terry kept exceeding his spatial limits, pressing his leg into mine for added room. Fighting back, so as not to encroach on the man's space next to me, I kept getting a cramp in my leg. Too much tennis the day before. So, it was an uncomfortable setting.

Paperwork prepared for this meeting included about 20 different bids, in no particular order and a re-cap, French accounting style, of the year's expenses and revenues. Maps, pictures and letters were enclosed in the package. All handouts are recto-verso, so there is a lot of paper shuffling, searching and pointing.

Even though it is standard practice to get three bids for every job, most items had only one bid. This alone, kills the project until the next AGM (May 2010), the urgency of things is apparent. But, the building's been around for 200 years, so I guess one more year doesn't make much difference.

The meeting jumped around from topic to topic and everyone was rifling through their papers constantly, pointing and arguing about different points. My head was swiveling right to left with increasing speed, trying to follow one conversation or another, just trying to keep up.

Everyone had his/her own agenda. Some people don't want to spend any money, some want everything fixed right away. For example, all the people with apartments on the top floor under the roof, think that the roof should be replaced immediately, before it starts leaking. This would probably cost each of us about Euro 10K, so those of us on a lower floor (they're outnumbered about 5 to 1), think that this can wait a year or two. Side issues to this include more studies to see if there's really a problem with the roof and if there's more work that needs to be done under the roof.

Important issues got only a slight discussion (like why has it taken almost two years to re-do our stairway, a job that should take two months) and small issues agonized over. At one point, a woman I'd never seen before made a long plea to have a key placed in a box near the elevator in case anyone ever gets stuck in the elevator and no one comes to help the stranded person. Her argument was that the person stuck in the elevator might be handicapped and not be able to get help. The only man in the building that is handicapped finally replied that he was the only handicapped person in the building and he was against it. We moved on quickly.

We also tried, on the spot, to determine the cost of real estate in Paris. This was in order to put a price on a purchase of a common corridor. After a lot of arguing, a price was fixed, I have no idea if it has any correlation to today's prices.

There were several instances where everyone was talking, waving paperwork and pointing at once. Then, the president of the homeowner's association would scream, "Silence" and it would still take several minutes for everyone to calm down. At the end, a woman who had a complaint was allowed to scream at the syndic for awhile. She is about 85 years old and couldn't do a very good job, so her daughter took over and yelled a little bit more, then the meeting was closed and we all went happily home.

Well-Behaved Pugs

A walk with Ralphy and Chloe is always interesting

As I walk in the Luxembourg Gardens almost every day, I have a chance to see a lot of dogs. Primarily small dogs, although yesterday I saw an Irish Wolfhound.

One thing I notice is that all the dogs are well-behaved, they walk properly on a leash, they seem happy.

What about Ralphy and Chloe, you ask? I'm not saying they're not well-behaved, just that walking them is quite a chaotic experience. As you can tell from this picture, it's not too orderly.

Ralphy wants to run ahead, then charge back and kiss Chloe. This happens about 500 times on one walk. He also barks, snaps and charges at runners, bicycles, cars, motorcycles and other dogs. He is a ball of energy. Chloe, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with any of it. She wants to walk about 100 feet, smell a few things and then go home. If we try to walk her in a direction that she isn't interested in, she sits down. If you try to get her up, she resists by putting her front legs stiff. She is so heavy and so low to the ground that she can't be budged. She probably sits down 15 times during a 30 minute walk.

Today, I saw several well-behaved pugs in the garden. They walked politely, kept going without encouragement, didn't bark, growl or charge, didn't pull on the leash. They were just enjoying the beautiful springtime day in the garden.