Yesterday I had the afternoon completely free, and it was a perfect fall day, clear and bright, so I decided to take a walk around Paris. Sometimes I think my readers (viewers?) prefer pictures to words, so here are a few, with some limited commentary. First, a couple of political pictures: The Assemblee Nationale, the U.S. Embassy (sadly behind rows of concrete barriers and police), and the Elysee Palace, home […]
We were able to watch John McCain’s acceptance speech a day after he gave it, courtesy of the l’Assemblee Nationale and the Senat, which have a TV channel something like C-SPAN, and which broadcast the speech in its entirety (overdubbed, of course, by a translation in French). It was a bit difficult to listen to, because I found myself trying to do multiple things all at once — listen in […]
It pains me to think that our time in Paris is already one-third gone. It seems to have flown by, even though (as the highly-educated, classy, consistent readers of this blog know) we have done a lot. Here are a few reflections on the surprises so far. The most pleasant surprise is an entirely personal one. Before this trip, I had more than a little fear that the great amount […]
I’ve been having a small, annoying, common medical problem that is entirely treatable by any number of products that you see advertised on TV in the U.S. during sporting events. (No, no, no, it’s not that problem … jamais, jamais in Paris, the city of love!) But here in France, it isn’t possible to just to into a drug store and buy products like that. Such products (and others equally […]
OK, Jill, here’s a hint (the question is here): I read on some blog yesterday that one of Ms. Palin’s apologists said that one of her foreign policy qualifications is that Alaska is the state closest to Russia. As I said, this is going to be fun!
Our potential next Vice President, via Associated Press: The first-term Alaska governor told reporters she was having fun in her new role. “It’s great to see another part of the country,” she said. Yep, running for Vice President is a great way to learn all about the USA. You know that old trick reporters sometimes play, where they ask candidates to name the Prime Minister of some foreign country? Here’s […]
From Paris, John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin seems bizarre. Step back from the moment-to-moment campaign jostling and ask this question: You are John McCain. You think you will be elected President. Who do you want as your V.P? You’d think that the independent, strong, leader McCain would step up to the plate and give us someone just as solid and substantial as he is, someone who he […]
[Editor’s note: Suzie continues, with some minor editing and photographic additions from SSS.] We had discovered that our kids would be placed in the worst school in Paris. We were aware that much of what we read could be the normal rumors and speculation that often surround parental discussions of schools. However, the ranking of the third worst school in France was not a parent’s subjective measure. Action was needed, […]
Steve has insisted that I do a blog entry about our experience entering into the public school system in France. [Editor’s note: “Suggested” is more accurate that “insisted.” I also added some links and pictures and extraneous commentary.] So here goes. The dreaded day had arrived when the kids would be tested to be placed in the French public school system. In Paris there is a department of the schools […]
It rained Friday in Paris, a comfortable, cool, gentle, light rain, with no wind, which made it easy and delightful to walk around the city with an umbrella. It also made for a great day for sleeping in, the clouds veiling the sun and the the rain veiling the sounds of the city. So we stayed in bed a long time, then got up and drank coffee and watched the […]