See's Candies

We have an invitation to a New Year's Eve party tonight and didn't know what to bring to our hosts.   They are wine experts and have everything that they need and want. 

I thought and thought.

Finally the answer came:  a box of See's candies.  I haven't eaten a piece of See's in years!  Willpower is often overrated.  I hope they will appreciate this nostalgic offering.

I expected long lines at the store.  So,  I parked far away and walked.  When I opened the door, the store smelled incredible -- just like I remembered as a kid.  Sweet and a little cold (don't want the chocolates to melt...). 

I found what I was looking for and had a short wait in line.  I was tempted to buy more than what I'd planned but I resisted.  As I was paying, the cashier offered me a chocolate.  Considering that our hosts might not open/offer the box that I bought, I accepted.  Yum! I finished it on the way back to the car.  I'm sure that the walk didn't begin to burn the calories of the chocolate, but it was worth it.  Absolutely incredible.

I wish I had more occasions to buy See's candies.  Happy New Year to everyone.

The "Pour" and the "Contre", Part I

I took a class during the Fall, "Guided Conversation in French".  One of the best parts of the class was being in the same room with a lot of other people like me.  They were all Anglophones (the students were from the US and the UK) who live in Paris, struggling to perfect their french language capability.

Our homework was in the form of a reading assignment.  The idea was to read the article, learn any new vocabulary and come prepared to discuss the topic with the others.  There was a wide range of topics; some of which were interesting to me and some that weren't.  In any case, I learned something every week and got to speak with others about complicated concepts, opinions and ideas.

At first, even though we knew many of the others, we weren't very friendly.  We were focused and I think everyone was trying to put his/her best foot forward.  It was also a bit competitive in terms of speaking time.  The most aggressive person got the most speaking time.  Just like life.

Many of the "conversations" had no reply, no discussion, it was just a round table of opinions.  But, one day, while thinking about the week's subject, I started to jot down the "pour" (for) and the "contre" (against) life in Paris.

When my time came to speak, I pulled out the list, declared I'd made a list.  Everyone snickered.  Too light, not enough verb tenses.

I will share a few of these "for" and "against" ideas in the next few posts.  Let me know what you think.

A few "pours"

Monoprix -- the great store that has both food and clothes, makeup and household items -- the french version, but better, of Target

Windows at Christmas-time -- the french shopkeepers really dress their windows during the holidays

La Poste -- the post office.  The french post office is a bank in addition to a post office so they have plenty of people to help you.  In my neighborhood, there is no line, there are people to help me and they are polite

A few "contres"

Food is more expensive -- both in restaurants and in the markets, wine is cheaper (pour)

Bureaucracy -- a mild form of torture when you try to get something done

Most stores are closed on Sunday

The lists grow every day.  More to come.

Shopping in the USA

It is really nice to have a car available for Christmas shopping.  Buy the stuff, throw it in the trunk, lock the car and return to the stores for another round of spending.

What impresses me the most about this year's shopping is the discounts.  Every store has some gimmick that gives a price reduction.  Macy's has coupons for 20% off and also for $25 and $15.  You can juggle these coupons for maximum savings.

REI has a rebate that they give to their "members".  I got about 10% off a purchase today, a big help.

In a week or so, it will all be discounted even more.  But, the moment will be lost; these are gifts and I can't wait.

Wreaths and other decorations are really cheap and nice at Trader Joe's and their cheese is a steal compared with other grocery stores.  You just have to know where to go.  

Things are different than in previous years. In one store, I had to pay 75 cents for a box!  Bags to hold your loot are another commodity and plastic bags are verboten.  Customer service is almost nil; cashiers are grumpy and bored at the same time.  We're rushing so much that we don't notice. 

I'm home with the loot.  Now I can try to creatively wrap it all and get it to the right people at the right time.

Merry Christmas

Déjà Noël

France doesn't have a "start date" for the Christmas holiday shopping period.  Thanksgiving marks the season in the US, so we know we only have one month to enjoy the lights, gifts, food of the holiday.

In Paris, it's already Christmas.  The lights are everywhere and every store is stocked full of goodies.   Decorations, food, lights.  The lead up to Christmas is definitely more fun than the actual holiday.  I'm always tired and a bit burned out by the time the 25th arrives.

It's not even December 1st and here are a few of the light shows in Paris.

These were both taken on a small outdoor shopping mall that is off the rue Royale near La Madeleine.

Re-entering Paris, Gare de Lyon, Rush Hour on Friday

After a lovely few days in the Burgundy countryside, we returned to Paris at about 7:30 PM on Friday night. 

Gare de Lyon always has a long line for taxis and Friday evening was no exception.  Luckily we weren't too tired, didn't have jet lag and didn't have much luggage.  Finally it was our turn, we got in the taxi.

As the taxi left the parking lot, we were greeted with a symphony of honking, screaming, lights flashing, cars going in all directions.  I bet it's this way every Friday night.  I was so happy to be back in Paris, even after just a few days of vacation, I didn't mind at all.  I relished the cab ride in a light rain back home.

Burgundy was wonderful, very educational.  We took a tour of the Beaune wine country. 

Yes, it was much colder than Paris and with limited suitcase space, I wore many layers. 

We saw some very expensive real estate.  The wine from this vineyard costs several hundred Euro per bottle.  We were told it takes 2-3 vines to produce one bottle.

Beaune and the surrounding area is a very ancient, dating back to the 13th Century for many of the buildings and associations that still make wine today. 

Evidently, the population of Beaune was reduced by about 75% during the Plague.  We visited the Hotel Dieu, then a hospital mostly for the poor.  It was beautiful.  Medicine was a bit more barbaric, with butchers as surgeons and plants for medicine. 

The apothecary was filled with tinctures, plants, and powders still in their bottles waiting for the next patient.  Hopefully, the patients survived the medical treatment. 

We were closely watched as we left the Collegiale Notre Dame church. 

Studying French in California

If I don't maintain my French language skills consistently, I forget it all.  Quickly.  

Reading, writing, speaking and listening in French, it's so easy in France.  I'm surrounded.  I have to understand, and be able to communicate on a minute-by-minute basis.  The phone rings, the doorbell buzzes, the internet breaks down.  There's no hiding. 

The long, warm California days lull me into inaction, inactivity.  Everyone speaks English.  I can drive my car and understand the road signs.  If the internet breaks, I can call and speak to someone in English even if they're in India.  

I'll be back in France soon, needing French.  I've been studying French this Summer in school.  The class is very comfortable, all Anglophones trying to improve their vocabulary, comprehension skills, their accents.  We're in the same boat. We all make the same mistakes.   It's been a great experience. 

In English we say, I am X years old.  In French, I have X years.  You just have to memorize it I guess.  Hopefully theses Summer sessions will pay off.  

I try to switch languages mid-flight as a symbolic gesture.  On the flight to France, I order my first glass of champagne in English.  The meal comes quickly, English.  When the flight is almost over and they turn on the lights to wake us up, I'm in France.  I order my breakfast in French, say "au revoir" as I deplane. 

What else can I do?  I try to read Le Figaro on the internet.  I watch french TV.  It all counts as studying. 

Tech Support -- Aargh!

I have been struggling with technical problems for about ten days.

It started innocently enough with a letter from my internet provider.  They wanted to change out some equipment, free of charge, to give me faster internet.  That's a good thing, I made an appointment.

The guy came out and installed the equipment.  Internet, phone and TV worked.  However, I need a "Micro Cell" at home to get cell phone service and we have a SlingBox to watch our US TV anywhere in the world.  Neither one of these worked after the installation of the new equipment.  The guy who installed the new equipment left, muttering that he had done his job properly.

The saga had begun.  Trips to the cell phone store were frustrating.  I had to go twice, waiting both times before someone could help me.  I also called and the person hung up (or I got disconnected, hard to tell).  I finally got a new Micro Cell, went home and installed it.  It didn't work.  I called the manager at the cell phone store (she had given me her card and her private number).  She didn't answer and the message on her phone stated that she didn't have a "voice mailbox".  Over the next four days, I called about 10 times.  She never answered the phone and the mailbox was never functional.

Realizing that the problem stemmed from the work that was done, I went back to our internet service provider.  My theme was, "everything worked before you installed the new system and now it doesn't".   This seems pretty straightforward to me.  It took five phone calls over three days before I finally got some help.  Each call required going through an elaborate protocol just to get a person on the phone.  During the fifth call, a  "Level 3" tech support guy told me that a "high level" tech would be at my house at 8 AM the next day.

The doorbell rang and I opened the door to the same tech guy who had walked away without fixing the problem the first time.  My face dropped.  I'm sure he wasn't happy either.  I reviewed the situation with him.  He ran some diagnostics and told me that everything was fine.  I disagreed.  Over the next two hours, he consulted many people within his organization and they finally re-installed everything differently, using the same type of equipment that I had when everything worked.  When it was all up and running, miraculously, the Micro Cell sprang to life.

The Slingbox still didn't work.  Again, the tech guy stated that he'd done his job and packed up and left.  Now only one thing doesn't work, so I guess we're making progress.

Over the next few hours, I went online with Slingbox who told me that I had to pay $29.95 to get tech support because my box was over one year old and out of warranty.  They pointed toward their on-line resources.  Free is good so I looked over the resources and came across a video.  I watched it, followed it and eventually the Slingbox also sprang back to life.

I've spent at least 12 hours on this but everything is back to normal, meaning the way it was before the first appointment that was designed to improve our system. 

Food In Berlin

This is the typical Berlin lunch or dinner.  Sausages (wurst), sauerkraut, potatoes.  Wash it down with a Dunkel (dark) beer.  Not my favorite cuisine, but Terry loved it.  He tried every kind of sausage at one point. 

I made the mistake of ordering a salad without really looking at the ingredients and got a salad of cold cuts chopped up, cheese, red onions and pickles.  No lettuce, no tomatoes.  I looked more carefully after this.  Bread, when served, is brown bread.  A glass of water is very hard to get. 

Even though the guide books said that the tip is included with the meal, most of the bills said that the tip wasn't included, so I tipped.  Hard to know about this one. 

We didn't eat here but it was very crowded all the time, so it must be good. 

The Berlin Wall, Street Art

There is quite a large section of the Berlin Wall that is still intact.  It is not meant to keep people "in" or "out" anymore.  It is, in fact, the world's largest piece of artwork.  It runs along the Spree River. 

Each section has it's own theme or themes.  No idea what they all mean.  Lots of graffiti too.

Graffiti is very prevalent in some neighborhoods in East Berlin.

Some parts of East Berlin are very clean and tidy but others, like this part are filled with street art on every possible space.

 Quite impressive but I wouldn't want it on my building. 

Symbols of the wall -- tall metal spikes. 

Bundestag

This is inside the "Dome" at the Bundestag in Berlin. 

Part of the building is old and part (this part) is very modern. 

We were told that it is hard to get in to see this, but we walked right in after a security check, of course.

We had a wonderful dinner in the rooftop restaurant, quite a treat. 

Berlin is interesting; not relaxing. Mind-boggling.  Old mixed with new.  Order/disorder at the same time.  Quite a change from Paris. 

SAV: Service Apres Vente

Things break. 

I would like to repair them rather than replace if at all possible. 

The washer/dryer combo (yes, one unit) has been leaking a bit.  Just enough to make me watch it, not enough to cause damage.  Time for a repairman to come out.

We bought it at BHV 6 years ago.  The extended warranty that we bought is for five years. 

I found the original receipt and brochure and called BHV's Service Apres Vente (SAV) department to get a repairman to come out.  The number on the receipt was no longer in service so I got a new number on the internet.  When I called this number, it directed me to a third number which I called.  I finally got through to someone who told me that they don't have a tech for Sieman appliances right now, call the company itself.  So I found this number and called them.  After punching in a lot of information including my zip code, the model of the machine, etc. I was told that all operators are busy with other customers, use their on-line service.  I tried the phone number several times before giving up and going on line.

I got to the on-line form and filled it out. It needed the machine serial number, etc.  Luckily I could find it.  I went through several screens and finally got to the finish.  The screen told me that I would get an email with a confirmation of my appointment.  No email came.  I checked the junk/spam box several times and nothing.  The whole day passed no email. 

Finally last night, on my phone but not on my computer, no idea why, I got the confirmation.  It is correct.  Let's see if this works because a new machine costs around Euro 1000 and BHV touts the brand Siemans even though they don't provide SAV for this brand.

It's Goat Season?

At the poultry counter today at our local outdoor market, I spotted a new choice for Easter dinner.  Goat. 

There with the turkey, chicken, quail and guinea hen were several half goats;  ribs and legs.  The meat was light and slightly pink.  The bones were thin and looked a bit flexible.  Probably a young goat. 

I was intrigued by this but I couldn't justify buying it because we already had our Easter dinner planned and organized.  But, I asked the butcher if he'd have the lamb next Sunday.  He replied that he didn't know.  It's goat season around Easter but he didn't know how long it would last.  I'd never thought of a season for meat.  Vegetables and fruit, certainly.  I do know that goats have a season for producing milk.  It is now "goat season" for goat milk and goat cheese.  Goat cheese is a favorite in my household along with goat yogurt. 

I realized that turkey is seasonal in France. It is in the market around Christmas and New Year's.  Not in November.  No pilgrims on the Champs Elysee. 

When I got home, I looked up recipes for goat in my American cookbooks.  The butcher told me that it should be cooked like a rabbit, not roasted.  But, my cookbooks say I can buy a boneless leg and stuff it with herbs, tie it and roast it or I can broil the ribs. 

Let's hope that goat season isn't over until I can get back to the market next Sunday and get it. 

A Visit

My sister is the one wearing the cute shoes.  I am always in "sensible shoes" when sightseeing. 

This is a photo taken by Terry of "The Spinster Sisters", a nickname we got in college because we always lived together and are very close.  We're both long married, but we still like this nickname.  He meant to take our faces but he hasn't quite mastered the iPHONE camera yet.

We got together last week in Paris (can't tell from the picture) and it was non-stop.  Fun, activities, laughing, talking.  All the things that "girls" like to do.  We shopped a bit, walked a lot, saw a lot of things; some of them new, even to me.  The weather was fabulous, which made it much easier to do things outside. 

At the end of it all, we have many happy memories of this great week. 

On n'a pas le droite...

I was in the gym this morning doing my typical Monday morning workout -- cardio then some weights.  It's the Club Med Gym which is a nice gym in France.

I noticed a white cloud of smoke rising about a woman's head in the row of bikes in front of me.  At first, I thought, "Fire".  But, I didn't smell anything and no one else seemed concerned.  So, not wanting to make a big, American-accented French panic, I waited to see what was going on.  It happened again and this time I realized that the woman in front of me was smoking an electronic cigarette while riding the stationery bike.  I couldn't believe it.

No one else seemed to notice, no heads were turning, no one (else) was grimacing. I finished my cardio session and decided to ask at the front desk if smoking is allowed before making a comment.  I found a nice woman that I know, Natalie, who told me right away that, "On n'a pas le droite" to smoke in the gym. 

She quickly found the woman and kicked her out.  Hurray!

Electronic cigarettes are allowed in bars, restaurants and some other public places in Paris.  I don't know about the workplace but I would guess they're not allowed.  They aren't allowed on public transport.  It's just another form of smoke in my opinion, even if you can't smell it, you can certainly see it. 

Ça Change La Vie...

Pollution in Paris?  A life-changer? 

Only if you're a cab driver. 

We live with air pollution in LA all the time.  On a good day the sky looks blue -- until you go to San Diego where the sky is much blue-er.  We don't think too much about it unless it's really bad.  An orange sunset, caused by smog, is gorgeous. 

Now Paris has a big air pollution problem.  It is caused by a confluence of warmer than average daytime temperatures, colder than average nighttime temperatures and lack of rain and wind.  The last two help to move it along to somewhere else, I don't think it ever goes away, it just moves.

For the last few days, public transportation has been free so that people will leave their cars at home.  There are no bikes in the Velib stand, no cars in the Autolib parking spaces near our apartment. Everyone's using them to get around. 

Now, you can only drive on even or odd days depending on your license plate number.  That means that 50% of the cars can't drive today. 

Naturally, taxis and carpools are exempt from this rule.  Our cab driver yesterday was ecstatic.  There were no traffic jams, no cars on the road.  Her exact words to us were, "that changes life".  How simple that was. 

Je Suis Devenue...