The Christmas Decorations Are Down A Little Bit Early

I had some time yesterday and decided to take the Christmas decorations down. It's a bit earlier than usual.

Every year, I love the tradition of getting them out and putting them up. It's festive. I've collected these decorations over many years. Each item is special.

With the fireplace crackling (it's been cold) and the decorations up, it really seems like Christmas.

This year, ever since the day after Christmas, the decorations started to seem bothersome. Too much stuff. I prefer less clutter. So, down they came and back into their boxes.

I'm quite organized. I label the boxes and try to put "like" things together. It's never perfect but it's much easier to decorate next year if I know what's in each box.

I stopped at the market and bought some tulips which now are my only decorations. They haven't opened yet, but they will last for at least a week. It still looks a bit empty but we'll get used to it, we have 11 months until the next round of decorations.

"That's As Close As I'm Getting"

Chloe won't admit it, but she's afraid of Christmas decorations that are at eye-level. Every elf, candy cane and pointsettia got a round of barking, hackles up or running away.

Rough time of year!

Rosé Champagne

I've experimented with rosé champagne in France on several occasions and never been disappointed.

When faced with the difficult task of selecting a glass of champagne for my Christmas meal yesterday, I took a chance on Etoile sparkling rosé wine. Yum! It was incredible.

Happy Holidays

It's never hit me quite like it has this year.

Yesterday was Christmas Day. Why not just say, "Merry Christmas"? There wasn't another holiday yesterday. So, why say "Happy Holidays"? Is this phrase supposed to include New Year's Day, which is next week? Although it is politically correct to say Happy New Year it is generally considered more "correct" to say Happy Holidays for Christmas.

I disagree. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to acknowledge a Christian holiday. And, on the other side of this, if it's Hanukkah, I might say, "Happy Hanukkah" although I guess I'd be saying it for 8 days. I wouldn't say, Happy Holidays.

While I was out walking yesterday morning, everyone I encountered said "Merry Christmas" to me and I replied in kind.

I don't think it's insensitive or incorrect to acknowledge a holiday for what it is.

Exercise In the Snow

Normally I prefer to exercise by going around the inside of the fence. Due to snow and probably ice, the Luxembourg Gardens was closed.

That's never stopped me before. Nor did it stop the "regulars" that I see every day when I'm out. We were all out, circling the outside of the fence, trying to stay inside the sandy areas to avoid ending up on the ground. It's not even that cold, it's just snow.




And, it's beautiful. I try to imagine being a princess inside the chateau looking out at this Winter scene. Of course, my imagination doesn't take me to the part of 15th century with no running water, electricity or toilets. That's not the dream.

Instead, I'm in a red velvet dress, low cut. My hair is up in the newest french style. Red velvet shoes, almost Pope-like adorn my feet. Jewels are everywhere including pearls, diamonds, rubies in gold. I'm warmed by the enormous fire in every room.

Quite different from the bundled up girl in ASICs shoes slowly making her way around the outside of the fence on a snowy December day.

Nespresso Came Through For Me

The day after our 11 hour flight, we needed coffee badly.

We turned on the Nespresso, put in a pod, pushed the button and nothing happened.

In our brain-dead, jet-lagged state, we repeated the same action a second time without really investigating. Suddenly brown liquid started pouring out the bottom of the machine, not into the cup. A coffee flood in the kitchen is not what I needed at this moment.

It took all my emotional strength to not throw myself on the floor and have a tantrum. Is it too much to ask to have a cup of nice, freshly brewed coffee? Evidently.

Necessity required a phone call. I went to the internet found the number for Nespresso and called. I was connected instantly with a nice man who said he could help. I was not optimistic, but he was my only hope.

We went into the kitchen, he was on the phone with me and he put me through a number of steps. Finally, it worked. He reported that it was just an air bubble, call anytime. And, he told me that if it ever really breaks, they have a program to send a new one. Customer service exists, at least at Nespresso.

Cambriolage

We got a call on Sunday morning. Our apartment had been broken into.

This is a shocking phone call to get at any time, but we felt that our place was pretty secure. We have a reinforced, armored door, double glazed or "effraction" (non-breaking) windows. Evidently it's not enough if someone targets the place for whatever reason.

Our door looked like this:



And, it couldn't be opened, it was jammed shut so we had no idea for more than 24 hours if our apartment had been ransacked or not. Unfortunately, this all happened on Sunday (does anything ever happen Monday through Friday from 9 to 5?) during a huge snowstorm so not much could be done until Monday morning. We agreed to leave the door as it was, hoping that no one else would see it in this state, since it was partially open.

We spent Sunday morning calling our insurance company (not there) our syndic (ditto), a trusted worker (he answered), and emailed everyone. Barbara, who watches our apartment, was wonderful, running from the police station, getting bids for the work and keeping us in the loop. Then we had to wait.

With nine hours time difference, we knew that our night's sleep would be interrupted as Paris came to life and it was. But, it was worth it.

By noon our time, the locksmith was working on the door, the insurance had agreed to pay and the police station would release the report for insurance purposes.

Is there a lesson in all of this?

While we try to be vigilant, we don't want it to run/ruin our lives. The door held the bad guys off long enough that the only casualty was the door, they didn't get in. Even if they had, we have very little of value inside -- an eight year old TV and stereo, the cables for our computers that aren't in the apartment, some winter clothes. Not worth the hard work of taking a crow-bar to our door, guys! Next time, try our rich neighbors with the antiques and the paintings, the jewelry and maybe even some cash!

We feel lucky that it wasn't worse. And upon our return, we will install more security features for sure.

La Neige

This photo was taken out of our window on Wednesday. It snowed all day.

Snow is beautiful. I love it.

Having grown up in Southern California, snow is unique.

Before coming to Paris, I didn't even have a true winter coat. Now I have about five of them, long ones, short ones, dressy ones, casual ones, even the huge full-length down coat (with a hood) that's gotten a lot of action in the past week.

A Birthday at 37,000 feet

We missed our flight due to the snow. We've heard that this was the worst snowstorm in Il de France since 1987.

The cab company called to tell us that the cab wasn't coming.

We momentarily toyed with the idea of consolidating enough stuff to hold us over into one suitcase and making a dash for the RER. But the fear (we watched the news all morning) that we'd be stuck at the airport, sleeping on the ground with one of those ugly blue blankets made the decision easy.

After being put on hold by Air France for 30 minutes, they announced that we'd been on hold for too long and terminated the call. Great! So, we called back and finally got someone. I don't know how it will all turn out because they charge for the call and we were on hold, in total, for over an hour.

Travel plans in the winter are notoriously fragile. We're now spending the morning re-grouping, canceling and re-scheduling.

One date that can't be changed is Terry's birthday. Instead of a sushi dinner and a movie, he'll be crammed into an Air France seat at 37,000 feet. The only thing that will make this bearable is that they still serve French champagne, even in coach.

What is the translation for "Aller Retour?"

Yesterday, Pierre asked me (not knowing about this blog) what is the translation for "aller retour". When I told him, "round trip" he didn't believe me. It's too boring sounding, not at all magical. Round trip? Yes, Pierre, I'm afraid it's true.

Then he asked for the translation of "retour". I told him, "return". So, why can't you translate "aller retour" literally, to go, to return, hence a round trip.

It's another one of those things that just doesn't translate very well.

Looking Back

It's cold and dark outside. It's only 4 PM but I'm not motivated to go outside at all. So, I'm doing indoor stuff this afternoon. Did a little bit of organizing and cleaning (collectively known as "nesting") and now I'm on the computer, backing up, organizing, cleaning out. I feel so much better after I've done this.

I've downloaded all the photos from my camera and my phone(s) (don't ask...) this afternoon. Looking at them is like a review of the last few months of my life. I can see the weather change from summer to winter, the activities I'd already forgotten about, the things I do every day.

I have pictures of summer artichokes, horses at the Republican Guard headquarters, a trip to La Defense, a long line to buy honey at the beehives of the Luxembourg Gardens. I have plenty of photos of the strikes in Paris, lines of gendarmes, the frenzy of demonstrators with their noise music and huge balloons. I have some photos of the WICE Open House and more recently our Noël Sing-Along last week. The street light that illuminated our bedroom when it was removed (a good thing), Cecile's cooking class.

Digitial photos are great. I tend to take a lot more photos. Any that aren't good, I delete immediately. I store them on my computer although I keep a lot on my phone and camera too. Friends show each other photos from their phones. The only thing I don't do any more is print them. I really should. But that's another project.