It’s Sunday night, time for a quick post. We had perhaps the most relaxed weekend we’ve had since we’ve been in Paris, thanks mostly to the fact that the boys have found a new friend to hang out with, a boy in Andrew’s class named Kory. They spent the night at Kory’s house on Friday night, which gave me and Suzie an entire afternoon and evening alone together, which we […]
I feel a bit guilty posting this, while the markets are crashing, but there’s nothing much we can do other than go on doing what we are doing, which is enjoying our time here. Friday was a French-intensive day. Four hours of class in the morning, plus three hours of tutoring from 5:30 to 8:30. In between, Suzie and I took a walk around the town on a very windy, […]
As you will remember from this post, we had gone to the Prefecture of Police in the 14th arrondissement to apply for a carte de sejour, which was necessary because we were spending more than three months in France. After going through all of the documentation in July, the folks in the 14th gave us an appointment in late September for yet another interview about our carte de sejour, this […]
You gotta wonder sometimes. From the New York Times — Senate Passes Bailout Plan; House May Vote by Friday: In the House, officials of both parties said they were increasingly confident that politically enticing provisions bootstrapped to the original bill — including $150 billion in tax breaks for individuals and businesses — would win over at least the dozen or so votes needed to reverse Monday’s outcome and send the […]
I’m sure some of you have heard me piss and moan about my kids. In fact, they are two amazing boys, whose adaptation to being thrust alone into the French public school system has been absolutely remarkable. For example, the first day of school, my youngest son Andrew, who is 13 years old, had to go off on his own to his school, which is located quite a good distance […]
I’m sitting in the cafeteria (actually, the so-called “cyber-cafe” portion) of the Alliance Francaise in Paris, having the goal in mind of seeing how much I can write in two and one-half hours. I apologize for the recent absence of posts to anyone who is missing them. Primarily that’s been because I’ve been focusing on trying to improve my French, and to do that I have to study and also […]
As you can see, it is turning fall in Paris. Here are some pictures from the weekend. Above and below, Parc Montsouris, located a short walk from our apartment. Strange art in Paris: A contrast of old and new (the new Les Halles commercial center and St. Eustache church: The Samaritaine department store: The very tip of the Ile de la Cité: A narrow alley leading to Boulevard St. Germain: […]
My son Andrew has had an ongoing problem with his stomach, so on Thursday we took him in the afternoon to see the doctor. The doctor ordered an analysis that required us to take a sample to a medical lab, so on Friday morning I found myself standing in a long line waiting to drop off the sample and pay for the service. I had the paper that the doctor […]
I realize that I am about a week (or is it more) behind in my posts, and the reason for that is that I’m starting to get a little worn down. I know this won’t draw much sympathy given the context, but it is difficult and wearing to deal constantly with foreignness, even if the foreignness is a foreignness you have a great affection for. Class is four hours a […]
From Paris, the recent “controversy” over Barack Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” remark looks just plain stupid, as does, frankly, the hand-wringing over the co-called Sarah Palin “phenomenon.” As for the former, you can only view the statement one of two ways — either Barack Obama innocently used an expression he’s used before (as has John McCain), or he used it intentionally as a reference to Palin’s statement at the […]