Bern

Steve and I spent the weekend in Bern, Switzerland with Steve’s cousin, Anna, and her husband and two kids, Louise and Jon. Louise is 12 and speaks four languages. Bern is the capital of Switzerland and has a large international community. This site explains it better than I can. We had a great time chatting and catching up, and eating a lot of wonderful food, including my favorite, fondue. For those of you who attended the wedding, Anna is Louise and Conal’s youngest daughter.

Pictures

A few recent pictures for you.

Chartres

Steve and I went over to Bon Marche on Saturday. It’s a great store, but their food store across the street is even better. It’s actually a very close replica of Whole Foods, with endless gourmet offerings, a beautiful fruit and vegetable department, and a great prepared food section. It was also crawling with Americans. If we lived closer I would probably do a lot of my shopping there, so it’s good we’re not next door.

On Sunday we took an hour train ride to Chartres. The main attraction in Chartres is the cathedral, which is very impressive. The stained glass was like nothing I’ve really seen before, and the interior of the church was literally amazing. It was the most gorgeous spring day outside, but inside it was freezing and dark. Grace Cathedral and Chartres have a connection, including the labyrinth which Grace copied from Chartres. Because it was Sunday almost everything was closed in the town, but we walked all around and really enjoyed the day. It must be puppy season because we saw four yellow lab puppies – so cute! The town is very French, very old, and full of adorable winding roads, a stream crossed with beautiful old bridges every few blocks, and a lot of very well dressed French people out for a Sunday walk on a beautiful day. Steve was particularly happy because no one responded to him in English, which drives him crazy; although I maintain that the French are so polite that they are only trying to make him feel comfortable (because they assume Americans can’t really speak another language). I'll post pictures soon.

The election

In May the French will elect a new president. I doubt this race is getting much attention in the US, but I find it rather interesting as there is a good possibility that they will elect their first female president. Segolene Royal is running against Nicolas Sarkozy. The first election will take place in April with the final runoff in May.

Hemingway's at the Ritz

Not too much to report this week. Steve and I had our six month wedding anniversary on Friday, but we both forgot (oops!). Forgetting was actually a good thing because we started the night off by having our friends who we had invited to dinner call and cancel 30 minutes before they were to arrive, which turned out okay because then our oven broke, again. After eating a very modified menu of what we were planning to have, we trekked over to Hemingway's bar in the Ritz. It has an interesting history, but also charges €25 per drink so when the snobby hostess told us there was no room because it is fashion week we headed off. We ended up at another bar which we thought was okay until we noticed a handful of transvestites, so we called it a night.

Saturday night we made it to a crazy club which was so much fun it made up for Friday night's lack of fun.

I made my first ever tart, which I am pleased to report turned out to be delicious. I followed this recipe, but added in powdered hazelnuts and skipped the pears, instead I topped the tart with a ring of raspberries. Delicious!

We're an aunt and uncle

I’m an aunt! Last week, very excitingly, Steve and I became an aunt and uncle when Steve’s brother, Greg, and his wife, Emily, had Ella Caroline Franklin. We can’t wait to meet her!

Steve and I have just returned from a fun filled weekend in London. I went over on the Eurostar on Thursday morning and worked Thursday and Friday and met Steve after work on Friday evening. I had a bit of time to kill before meeting Steve so I stopped in one of my favorite places, the National Portrait Gallery. They always have the most interesting exhibits. Saturday we met South African friends who we knew in Boston for brunch and then Kate’s college roommate, husband, and new baby for lunch. I spent the afternoon wondering around and went into Harrods. I trust I saw the most important facets of the store – the fine jewelry section and the food halls. After Harrods I went over to the National Gallery, another one of my favorite places to visit in London. We stayed with one of Steve’s friends in his flat in the suburbs of London and overall had a great weekend.

About ten days ago Steve’s French ‘aunt’ (the sister of the father of the family Steve lived with in high school) had us over for dinner, along with her nephew and his wife (who are about our age). It was my first official French dinner party. It was a fantastic evening, with delicious food, and I’d say I maybe understood 10% of the conversation. We had five courses, wonderful wine and champagne, and good company.

My French Soup

Last night I prepared my first French dish, cauliflower soup. Why do I consider this one my first, after already mentioning that we've been eating soup for weeks due to the broken oven (which got fixed last week)? Because the recipe is from a French woman who spends her days writing about French food, while everything else I've made is out of my US cookbooks. Kate pointed out her blog, and I have been visiting it a few times per week. The author is French, but spent time living in the US so she writes in English. I believe she lives somewhere right near us because she often writes about places within a few blocks of our apartment. I made cauliflower soup (recipe), which I have to say, was delicious.

On another note, Steve and I went to the police station this morning and picked up our receipts for our carte de soujours, our next step in the French visa process. In two months we will go back to pick up the actual carte de soujour.

Pictures

A few pictures from the last month+: http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=275121171318497238/l=244766853/g=2307863/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

The smoking ban

On February 1st news of the smoking ban was all over the place. I momentarily forgot about it until I opened the paper that morning. I smiled all the way to work. Over lunch I discussed the issue with a nonsmoking co-worker who didn't seem as excited as I was, and declared she was sure someone would strike over the issue. That night Steve and I decided to go out for a drink and as I practically skipped into the bar I came to a cartoon-like screeching halt and my smile quickly faded as I looked around and everyone was smoking.

It would be a lot more convenient if I were fluent in French. If I were, that morning on the train on the way to work I would have been able to read the article which outlined the phased plan to ban smoking in public. We are in phase one now, which bans smoking on the subways and trains, federal buildings, hospitals (?!?!). I am still not too sure of the schedule, except that the last phase is for restaurants and bars, and that will be implemented on February 1, 2008.

1-(415)-738-8725

We are finally connected! Steve set up the phone, internet and cable tv over the weekend so we now have a working Vonage number. The above number is a US San Francisco number that rings directly to our apartment. If you call from outside of San Francisco long distance charges will apply (unless, for instance, you call from your cell which doesn't have those fees), but other than that it is the same as calling any US phone number, there are no international dialing fees. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our weekend was fun and packed. A few highlights:
- We met our landlady, an American who married a French man 30 years ago and is currently living in Morocco. She was interesting to talk to, and told us about one of her old tenants who bought a pass to the Louvre and made it a goal to visit every room. It took him two years, but he made it!
- Saturday night we sat down to dinner and just as Steve was talking about how much he was enjoying the restaurant a group of three women walked in with their Golden Retriever, Vanilla. It was a smallish restaurant that had tables for two lined up along a wall where there are about 2 inches between each table so that if a table for four walks in they can push two together, or six, they can push three together, etc, but if you are two and two sitting next to each other you are officially at separate tables, but really just 2 inches apart. Steve is kind of luke warm about dogs in general, but he definitely doesn't think they belong in restaurants. We got our food before Vanilla's owners so she spent a lot of time sneaking over to our table, putting her head in my lap, then Steve's lap, looking so hopeless and hungry. Eventually she settled down and went to sleep but I got a good laugh out of the whole thing.
- We went to fun parties each night and met more Americans and a few French who are interesting and fun to hang out with.
- Yesterday a co-worker invited us for tea. This guy and his fiancé are getting married in June and moving to Boston for two years in July (us, in reverse). It was a fun afternoon and interesting to learn more about French weddings. This couple is having their wedding at city hall with 100 people and a buffet following the ceremony, then having a lunch for 400 people at a local restaurant/hall kind of place, then having a dinner/reception that evening at a castle outside of the city, with 150 guests. Some guests overlap for all three events, but most do not. I have read this is a typical French way to get married, and that stationary companies are doing a booming business with all those invitations.

The Gym

Weeks ago Steve and I visited the only gym we know of in Paris, a chain called Club Med Gym. They have something like 15 locations in Paris. We went to the gym nearest our apartment and had a tour. After about a week I decided to join. I trudged back to the gym one night after work with the magic four (passport with my visa, proof of residency – either a phone bill or an electricity bill, picture of myself, and bank information) in hand. These four things can get you almost anything you need in France. Anyway, I asked about a company discount and was told I can get one, but I have to buy the membership from work. So the next day my very nice French colleague took me to the employee perks office (I am sure there is a real French term for this, but I don’t know what it is). I was lucky my friend accompanied me because the woman who runs the office doesn’t speak much English. Anyway, I bought the membership (paying for the whole year up front, another thing the French don’t do – credit) and subsequently learned that we are able to buy wine and champagne from this perks office, at a good discount. That was for sure a very exciting discovery which I will definitely be taking advantage of.

I have made it to the gym four or five times now. The gym I go to is located in an old dance school so the rooms all resemble ballet studios. The rest is pretty much the same with weight machines and cardio machines. I will hopefully get to a class this weekend, which will be interesting since it will obviously be in French. One difference so far is the operating hours – the gyms do not open until 7:30 or 8am and most are closed (but not all) on Sundays.

More from Paris

Friday night Steve and I had dinner at a delicious Vietnamese restaurant. We intended to try a fondue restaurant but when we arrived we noticed the restaurant serves all its drinks in baby bottles and that we would be far older than the college aged crowd so we were lucky to find the Vietnamese restaurant across the street.

Saturday we took an hour train ride south to Fontainebleau. The famous business school, Insead, is located in Fontainebleau, as is a beautiful chateau and huge forest. We toured the chateau and walked for a bit through the forest, then ate a few snacks (crepes with Nutella, what else?) and walked around the town. We went to the cheese store and brought home the most delicious goat cheese called Pave du Gard. I have never heard of it before, but it was outstanding and I intend to eat a lot more of it. We had it with our dinner Sunday night, on a baguette. Buying a daily (at least) baguette is a national pastime, as is taste testing the baguette on the walk home. Everyday I see Parisians carrying heel-less baguettes with a content smile on their faces.

Sunday morning I woke early and made my way to the Musée de O’rsay. I was there ten years ago and have been anxious to return. The impressionist paintings in the collection at the O’rsay are so outstanding – Monet (my favorite), Manet, Degas, Van Gogh. It was a real treat to spend some time there and I can’t wait to return.

I made my way from the museum to a street market in the 2nd arrondisement. I only had about fifteen minutes so I made a quick loop, but it was a good market with a lot of hustle and bustle. Most of the street markets have a fish shop, a few butchers, a few cheese stores, a few vegetable stores, and a few restaurants. I always enjoy walking through to see what’s available that day and see what the real French are eating.

From the street market I made my way over to the Grand Palais where I met Steve and two new friends. Peter and Aubrey moved from Boston to Paris in September and we have a mutual friend who introduced us over email. We had a good lunch and walk – it was a gorgeous sunny day and everyone was out enjoying the sun. Not my typical Super Bowl Sunday, that’s for sure. I hope everyone ate a lot of chips and dip for me!

Steve and I are dealing with what feels like endless apartment issues. Our apartment in Paris has a broken stove. As I make my way though my soup cookbook we await anxiously for the repairman. For anyone who has read A Year in Provence, you know how difficult it be to find a repair person in France (and if you haven’t read it you should, it is a very entertaining book). We have an American landlord who is also from Boston, but has lived here for 30 years. She is currently spending most of her time in Morocco so she’s hired a local management company that is somewhat responsive, but we are certainly not holding our breath for home-baked goods. Steve’s condo in Cambridge is facing a bed bug infestation which is more expensive and time consuming to deal with than I ever imagined. And, last week there was a natural gas leak on the block of my Cambridge condo and the gas people had to break into my unit and rip up one of my walls to access the gas pipes. The management company lost my tenant’s contact information so he had quite a surprise when he got home from work. Knock wood that we have reached the end of our apartment woes.

Happy Friday!

A few random comments heading into the weekend:
- My French class is going well. I really like the teacher and think she does a good job. The class has about ten other students who are all around my age. When I took French in the US the students were all American so we would whisper to each other in English when we did not understand what was happening. The difference now is that everyone is from different countries and the only common language we have is French (and it is a bit hazardous at times because this is a beginning French class). It is interesting listening to classmates speak French with accents from around the world.

- I am in London now. I arrived on the Eurostar yesterday morning and am going back to Paris tonight. Before arriving I did not realize what a treat it would be to speak and hear English everywhere! Yay!

- The grocery situation is getting better and better as with each attempt at a new store I find more of what I am looking for. Our office is in a nice suburb of Paris and there is a grocery across the street that really does remind me very much of Whole Foods. I have found a few closer to home that I know I will visit often. This coming weekend though I will spend more time exploring French street markets and doing a lot of pointing for what I want. I have got to focus more on French food vocabulary words.

- Tuesday at work I had my work medical exam. Apparently it is a law in France that all new employees have an exam by an on-site doctor. This has nothing to do with my visa status, this is something every French worker has to do. It was a bit difficult because the nurse did not speak much English, but we got through it. I had an eye exam, provided a urine sample, gave a medical history, and then the doctor listened to me breathe, poked my stomach, looked at my throat, took my height and weight. Apparently this doctor lectures everyone on how important it is to eat fruits and vegetables but I don’t think she was up for the effort in English.

- I am still working on my own hypothesis as to why French people don’t get fat because the amount they eat for lunch actually really gets my attention every day. Picture five foot women, size zero, eating like football players, every day. I mean two trays of food, napkins tucked into collars, and taking a full hour to eat everything on the two trays.

- Steve and I are working with our company to obtain our Cartè de Soujours. The visas we waited forever for in the US expire after three months and the next step is obtaining a Cartè de Soujour. Every ‘moving to France’ book talks about these cards and what a lengthy process it is to get them. They are residence cards that give you permission to stay in France for two years. After two years you can apply for another two year carte. After those two years you can apply for a ten year carte. The process involves applying for the carte and then waiting and waiting. I understand that when you apply you receive a receipt and that receipt is our key to the next step to living in France. Someone from work will escort Steve and I to the police station in a few weeks to pick up those golden receipts.

Second Weekend

Our second full weekend in Paris was quite fun. Friday night we saw Casino Royal. Lucky for me it was in English with French subtitles (rather than being dubbed in French). Saturday morning Steve and I met our friends, the Garcias for an early lunch and a bike tour of Paris. The Garcias are moving to America next month and they wanted to go on the bike ride as part of their farewell tour of the city. We had a great lunch looking up at the Sacre Coeur and then set off for the tour. After an hour of discussing which tour we would go on (I am told this negotiation process is very French – we reserved for one tour, were convinced a second tour was better, and finally ended up on a third) we set off with a Dutch family of six and a guide who rode so fast we thought she was trying to lose us. Our guide has a license to guide people in Paris and she was quite knowledgeable, but her information was all in French so I got what I could from what our friends translated for me. We rode through some pretty busy streets and ended up in the much more peaceful19^th arrondissement. We saw beautiful parks where teams of older men were out for the afternoon playing balls, nice old homes, and a science museum that was built as a slaughter house but turned into a museum when they realized the doors were too narrow for the width of the animals. We rode past Notre Dame just as it began to rain and right as we rode into the Latin Quarter it started to pour. We took cover for about 10 minutes until it let up a bit and then rode for about 30 more minutes, returned our bikes and thanked the guide. I made a mad dash for BHV before it closed and completely enjoyed myself. The store is six levels and has everything you could need (a la Target), but with much more upscale offerings. The basement is all hardware and sells more than anyone could ever use.

Saturday night we went to a party at the apartment of a co-worker who Steve had met once before, and had a really good time. We knew no one before arriving but everyone was really friendly and interesting and there was no shortage of champagne. After, we met up with friends at two different bars until 3am when I pulled Steve home because I could no longer take the smoke. I am counting the days until the impending public smoking ban, but I am told there are quite a few questions as to how well it will be enforced.

Sunday Steve worked all day and I explored our neighborhood more. We are very close to the Moulin Rouge so I walked over there and past the Amalie hangout, Deux Moulins. It was very crowded so I did not go in, but I continued to find more wonderful stores, restaurants, bakeries, etc. which made me feel even more comfortable in our new neighborhood.

We are making progress getting the phone set up, but it will be a few more weeks.

Soldes!!

I started work last week and I can not believe how kind everyone here is. So many people have made a point of introducing themselves and different people invited me to lunch each day last week.

Our first weekend in Paris was nice. Good weather, and a lot of exploring. We ate at two nice restaurants and found an excellent boulangerie which reminds me very much of the High-Rise bakery in Cambridge. On Saturday Steve’s French ‘parents’ (from his exchange program in high school) came to Paris and Steve had to work but they invited me to an excellent exhibit at the Grand Palais featuring buried under-the-sea Egyptian artifacts. The sales (soldes) are on and everyone is going nuts for the deals. Sales happen in France only twice a year, January and July, and they last for about six weeks each time. Even some stores were open on Sunday to accommodate all of the shoppers. I did a bit of looking but did not buy anything.

South Africa pictures

These pictures are all from Gillian. Enjoy!

The phone

Steve and I have Vonage but we have not quite been able to set up the internet connection at home. It is proving to be a somewhat difficult task because we do not exactly know how to navigate the system, I can not call (because of the language thing), Steve is working so late that the customer service centers are closed by the time he gets home, and we are not exactly sure of which provider to use. I have to get my cell phone through work and I imagine that will also take some time. I will let everyone know when we get connected.

Later Whole Foods

For the past few years I have always done my grocery shopping on Sundays and then cooked up a bit of a feast on Sunday evenings to pick at throughout the week. That’s all going to change now because almost everything is closed on Sundays in Paris, including most grocery stores. When Steve and I got back from SA on Sunday the cupboards were bare so we set out in a desperate hunt for something to eat. Luckily the fruit store was open so we started with that and even luckier the proprietor told us of a grocery he thought was open. We raced over and sure enough, success. Naturally, as expected, the grocery stores here are small because space is scarce, but this will definitely take some getting used to. Options are slim and supply is not quite what I would expect for a big city, but I am very excited to figure out how the French manage to be the foodies of the world on what I have seen so far. One store, Monoprix, is some sort of department-like store (more tomorrow because I am going there tonight) that added a grocery component. In a way this store most reminds me of Whole Foods because they offer a good selection of food prepared on-site. My French is not good enough yet to determine if they have a healthy slant on what they sell, but the prices are above other stores; a la Whole Foods. A French friend recommended a chain called Franprix which so far is okay, but the selection is slim – I almost jumped for joy yesterday when I found tomato paste. I have yet to find black beans, but I did manage to find canned and raw lentil, kidney and garbanzo. I need to spend more time in Franprix’s wine section – they seem to have excellent selections in the 5-7 Euro range. As I was lugging my groceries home last night I passed a store that sells only frozen food and reminded me of an extra large Trader Joe’s frozen food section. They even sell you insulated bags for your walk home. I will definitely research that store more as it looked very promising.

On to more important things: work! Day one has been successful. The offices are beautiful and the people are nice and mostly speak English really well, but even I could understand most of what was said in French. We have a cantina for lunch – a co-worker took me over and showed me the ropes. It was a bit intimidating because the menu changes daily and of course the menus are all listed in French. I grabbed the few vegetarian items I could find: salad, yogurt, bread and brie. The seating area is on the second floor and as you descend the stairs to the first floor there is a coffee bar where everyone has an espresso before returning to work. We skipped coffee today, but there were 50+ people there today – it was very French. I have my computer, phone, and desk so full steam ahead.

Back from South Africa

We had a wonderful two weeks in South Africa! Lots of beach and family time, drinking of wine and tea, food and family... lots of relatives! The Franklin's house is located here right outside of George, in Groot-Brakrivier (Great Brak River in English), Groot-Brakrivier in Africans (the local language). We spent a day in Plettenberg Bay, with a stop in Knysna. I will post pictures and more details when I get them together.

This morning I had my french medical exam which consisted of: me hoping they spoke English (the doctors did), waiting in the waiting room for an hour, being weighed and having my height measured, an eye exam, a chest x-ray, a quick consultation with a doctor who looked at my x-ray (and confirmed I do not have TB), listened to me take a few deep breaths, and sent me home. Now that I am offically healthy (according to the French) I will begin work, starting tomorrow.

Tonight I have my first French language class - not a minute too soon!

December 22

Last night Steve and I finished out Christmas shopping at Pintemps. It is a very nice store and I continue to be amazed at how well Steve speaks French. He managed the entire shopping experience with no english.

This morning I watched more french TV - I found a show that I think is the same as the View, but hosted by men. Then I watched my new favorite cooking show that I think is like a reality show: someone makes a meal and then a famous chef discusses the method used and how it turns out. Luckily for me they post the name of the dish being prepared so I have enough time to look it up in my french/english dictonary and really understand what has been prepared. Love it!

Steve and I are leaving for the airport shortly. Happy holidays to all!!