Right Brain Feed

We arrived in Austin at 2am Saturday morning, after a lovely delay in Chicago. Is it mandatory that all flights out of Chicago be delayed? We're easing our re-entry shock with chips, salsa, and nice margaritas. We're also trying to save the American economy by buying 2 cars and a new dishwasher. This afternoon we make a trip to look at carpet. I am shopped out! We're sleeping on the floor, and cursing our hazy memories (I thought we left some cooking stuff in Austin...). We're still a bit grumpy from the trip, and facing a parade of workers ( A/C service, garage door fixer, dishwasher installer....).  I want my wonderful simple life in Paris back. No cars to fuss with, no weekend house projects.  Living in Paris main page

We're in the final stretch, as I write this I am surrounded by fragrant French movers packing up the apartment. They've been packing since 8am (it's now 3pm), and haven't gotten to the rather large amount of glasspacks that need to happen in the kitchen. There is something very unsettling about 4 strange men handling your stuff. We've definitely got the 'B' team, since everyone (including regular movers) is on vacation. It took two of the movers over 90 minutes to pack the futon. Is packing a futon really 3 person hours of work for people who are professional movers? Hmmmmm...... One of our weekend activities was rather nerve wracking. We have been unable to find someone to take the kitchen cabinets. So at 5am on Sunday morning, we snuck downstairs, and ..... left them in a discrete place around the corner on the sidewalk. We actually see this happen a lot in Paris, and we couldn't figure out another solution. Everyone is gone in August, including people...

We are trying to solve the dependency puzzle here as best we can. We have to take the blinds down before the ladder disappears into the sea container. We have to backup the computer before the air shipment goes. We have to before event X happens. Which brings me to another piece of the dependency puzzle: Suzy has to post her "Mission Accomplished" photo summary before the computer with Picasa on it gets packed. So here they are. 80 pics from our two years here. A few of them only hold value for Sarah and I (for example, the scrappy little dog that lives next door). I have quite a few nice memories wrapped up in these. My brain now has a moveable feast to feed on for the rest of my life.  Luckily, digital photography helps with preserving so many wonderful memories. Here's the cheatsheet for my brain:  Mission Accomplished album Living in Paris main page

We are giving our orchid to a friend. I had to have a picture of it before it went, it's positively overflowing in blooms right now. Byebye orchid. We escaped for a few hours this weekend and went to the expats picnic in Parc Monceau. It was nice to take a break from all the moving goop.  Living in Paris main page

Today I finally got around to doing pics for selling our Fridge and Stove. I'm a bit worried about a buyer getting the fridge out of the building. They are about to start work on the lift, and it might not be finished by when we depart. Did I mention we are on the 5th floor? Dragging a fridge down 5 flights of a circular staircase doesn't sound like fun. Living in Paris main page

I'm facing reality, and I'm not so sure I like it. For 6 months, there has been a little nagging voice whispering " You have to return to the US". For 6 months I've done a pretty good job of ignoring the Voice, and focusing on enjoying our time here. I'm now having to face up to reality. Next week movers are coming to do estimates, we're been selling off appliances, getting letters together to break the lease and utilities, futzing with US Customs inventory, dividing belongings between air shipment /sea shipment / hand carry, ....etc,etc,etc. The extra fun thing about moving out of a Paris apartment is that you have to make a *huge* deposit to get an apartment, and now we have the big showdown inspection to try and get it back. Expat after expat tells me their horror story about suddenly missing $3000 from their deposit, getting retroactive rent increases after they leave the country and having $$ wired out of their French account, getting charged $1000 f...

Two of our closest Paris friends (Beth and Vivianne) left to move back to Sydney yesterday. We will miss them dearly. They were wildly entertaining, and we could always count on having a great time when they were involved. I caught a massive cold (probably on the flight back from Texas), so I had to miss our goodbye dinner with them. So au revoir, Beth and Vivianne. We will miss our endless bottles of Champagne, death creatures, blogging novel titles, Paris mexican food, pears and roquefort, screaming at World cup finals, The Green Fairy, Jardin des plantes, Vivianne's mexican cuisine, hangovers, the Festival of Vivianne, and long stories about Australia. The expat experience can be like this. You can meet other really interesting expats, and you easily bond over your shared experience of temporarily living in a foreign land. And then you part and go your separate ways. Living in Paris main page

We arrived back in France after a 2 and a half week visit to Texas. It was really great to see all our friends, and eat real TexMex. It was kind of scary driving a car again, and being in the US "car culture". I hadn't driven since last March, and was overwhelmed by being plopped into the Christmas shopping rush in Austin. We also spent a week in Big Bend hiking with my family, which was very nice. This picture is from our last day of hiking, taken from the Emory Peak trail. The Sierra del Carmen are in the distance, they are about 20 miles away in this photo. Here are the pics: Big Bend Xmas 2006 album Living in Paris main page

I sense that my retirement date crept out a bit last week. This was do to the large leak that my wallet seems to have sprung. I mentioned in my last post that I was considering a new lens for my camera. Well, after much careful research and wringing of hands, I ended up getting ....*two* lenses. Ouch. I got a Sigma 10-20 mm for nice wide angle shots, and a Canon 28-135 mm zoom with image stabilization. They should be waiting for me when we arrive back in Texas for the holidays. I'm also a tad worried about Sarah's new friend. She met the "really really nice guy who owns the cool wine shop around the corner". Translation: expect a steady stream of expensive bottles of wine into the apartment. Last weekend was our last before heading to the US. We did some Xmas shopping, and I finally got to take Sarah to the good Japonaise place that makes its own Soba noodles. Sunday we had large salads with Sarah's cousin Elizabeth for lunch, and then demolished all the salad g...

No, don't worry. "Racket" doesn't refer to noisy neighbors. It refers to the rip off of the standard apartement lease in Paris. Let me explain. At the beginning of October, our water heater in the kitchen went out. I phoned the company is assigned to 'help' us with things like this. I am informed that the standard lease for an apartement in Paris dictates that *we* have to pay for fixing the 8 year old water heater that came with the apartment. Exsqueeze me? But wait, it gets better. We can't choose an honest plumber, we are required to have the plumber who works for the company owning the building fix it. He comes by for less than 10 minutes, waggles a screwdriver for a minute under it, and tells us if it doesn't work in two days he'll have to replace it. It breaks in 3 days. So basically we had to pay for the plumber of their choice dictate that we have to fork over more $$ for a new heater. It finally arrived yesterday, and we now have h...

Usually our blog tends to reflect on fun, happier moments and memories that I want to remember 10 years from now. My intention is to do a big 'wget' on our url when we go back to the US, and have it to read over fondly when we want to go down Memory Lane. But today I'm writing about the heat, because someday I hope to look back on this and be amused. #ifdef SOAPBOX It is bloody hot here! Hello!? Would a ceiling fan kill you? It got up to 96 here today. I know you Texans are scoffing, it's over 100 in Austin today. But guess what, bucko? We don't have air conditioning in the apartment (no one here does). After several days of over 90, the thick plaster walls are nicely warmed up. Last night at 11pm it was still 87 *inside* the apartement. Ugh. At 7pm, Parisiens are awefully fragrant on an unairconditioned, overcrowded bus. Sweat just pours off me wedged into the metro, and I peel off wet clothes when I get home. Oh, did I also mention that no one here *ever* we...

No, don't worry, I'm not homesick. But I am upset that France lost the World Cup finals, it was a high stress game. Paris had a lot of long faces the next morning, the nation was definitely in mourning. Things are slowly easing back to normal, and I imagine everyone will let loose on Friday (Bastille Day). Living in Paris main page

Apparently nothing else is happening on the face of the earth except WorldCup football. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. I guess I've got it pretty bad, I'm even joining the worldcup channel on my company's IRC server and hanging out with the real football junkies.  Wednesday's France-Portugal match was a lot of fun. We had our crazy riotous Aussie friends, Vivianne and Beth, over to watch the game. What is it with Australians and stressing their vocal chords? We had a great time watching the game. We didn't fit every sports fan stereotype though, we were sipping cosmopolitians, popped a bottle of champagne, and had fresh french strawberries dipped in dark chocolate. We also had a very nice chocolate mousse cake to celebrate Sarah's birthday. After France won, we headed out to Bastille a few blocks away. The streets were erupting with happy French football fans, French flags were waving everywhere, fireworks were being set off in the street...

While we've been here, we've met some really nice expats. For one reason or another, we've all found ourselves living in Paris. Some through HRC, some are friends of friends, others through expat groups. There are over 100,000 native English speakers living in Paris. Saturday we went to an expat picnic in the park, we had a good time, even with the weather turned chilly. About 75 people turned out. I guess that's why this is on my mind... The dilemma is this. While we cherish our French friends, the conversation comes with a tax. If we are speaking in French, I have the vocabulary of a three year old. If we speak in English, I'm monitoring myself to not use weird American lingo, and to use more periods than commas in my speech. We have friends that made a decision to move over here, not just for a few years. They moved with the mindset of blending in, and not having the dreadful end-date that creeps up on you. They haven't gone the expat route because they wan...

When we bought this orchid during a sale at the flower shop in late January, it had three blooms on it. About a week after we got it home, all the blooms dropped, and two of its leaves went belly up as well . Yikes. We chopped the bloom spike back, and consulted with an orchid expert (Suzy's dad). We think (hope?) we have nursed it back to health. This week we had another bloom open, hopefully this one won't give up the ghost so fast.  Living in Paris main page

Spring has sprung! Warm weather, blue skies and sunshine have hit Paris. The trees are leafing out, sidewalk cafes are bustling..... and Paris is locked in demonstrations and riots over the CPE law. Students are going bonkers over a law intended to encourage employers to hire young workers because the law also makes it easy to fire the workers. We spent the weekend walking the streets, enjoying the sunshine. We ended up closer to the Sorbonne than I had thought we were, and saw the street that's barricaded off by police, and kept noticing the large number of policemen on the streets. Police headquarters across from Notre Dame looked ready to launch large riot patrol with vans lining the streets. Tuesday is another mass transit strike. This afternoon we discovered that the opera singer has returned to Place des Vosges. The square was packed with people, but no one was on the grass yet, since it's off limits until April 15. On the way back from Place des Vosges, we ran into ...

So, March is finally done, so I'll confess the crime I've been committing all month, and how I capped it off with style last night. Last night I had a truly Parisien experience. Because I had a late dinner with some work colleagues (Rob, thanks for recommending Les Galopins), I missed the last bus into Paris. Ugh. So I took the longer tramline to La Defense. For the Tram, you pass your ticket thru the turnstiles to exit. You have to go thru the turnstile, and push the door aside. Both the door and turnstile lock after you go thru them. Why am I telling you details about goingthru turnstiles? Because Suzy ended up at 10:15PM in the La Defense station without a valid transit pass, and she had to follow someone else thru. She bolted over the turnstile, and grabbed the door before it locked shut. We won't mention how delicately she foisted herself over. I see high school kids do it all the time. Funny it's not quite as easy when you are middle aged, and have been drin...

Well, not really. Not homeless yet, anyway. I wanted to write about the different relationship Parisiens have with their homeless community than we seem to in Austin. I'm wondering if this is a big city vs. smaller city thing, if it's a European thing for cities of all sizes, or if it's just a Paris thing. Parisiens will walk up to and talk to their homeless. The homeless people here stake out a regular spot. There is always the same guy with his entertaining puppet next to the grocery store, the true wino on the other side of the grocery store. People actually approach the homeless here, in Austin we seem to work hard to not see the guy with the sign at the busy intersection. Maybe it's the pedestrian big city that brings us closer, we have no car doors that we can lock. I find myself once again challenging knee-jerk American reactions, and losing stereotypes and fears I've had since I can remember. There are also homeless that have been homeless a long time, they...

Sarah had to travel to Houston to get her 'official' Visa from the much beloved French Consulate. She's had to go there so many times, they know her by name now when she walks in (no, I'm not kidding). The plan was drop in, get the visa, and head home to Paris. Apparently crossing when the signal says "walk" in a crosswalk in Houston is not so safe. Sarah got pegged by a car while crossing in front of the French Consulate. Suzy flew back, and we spent some time recovering in Austin. Sorry we didn't get to see everyone, but we didn't want to push our luck. Sarah was well enough to fly back, so we're home in Paris now. Today we were able to walk a bit along the river, and had pasteries (which have wonderful healing properties). Sarah is definitely on the mend. Suzy is 'finding religion' again, as November has another French religious holiday. Whoohoo! Living in Paris main page

  Suzy got her first Paris haircut ... from a woman who doesn't speak a lick o English. She dove into my hair with her scissors flying. Uhhh... If we measure in weight of hair chopped off, I definitely got my money's worth. Thank the Goddess we have plenty of Aveda with us, I think I'm gonna be using it. Living in Paris main page

After two weeks in a Paris hotel, I left for Houston, and Sarah moved into the bare but beautiful Paris  apartement. Our air shipment hadn't arrived so Sarah was roughing it on a camping mattress, and towels stolen from the hotel . In Houston I had to once again...you guessed it.... Visit the French Consulate. My third visit there, they now recognize me. I had to pick up my long awaited Visa that goes with my work permit.  The clouds parted, the divine light shone down, ....and they couldn't find my friggin Visa. They hunted through stack after stack of papers. "Are you sure it was sent here?" *Finally* they found it, and of course made me come back later that afternoon. Sigh.... Well, Suzy also got caught up on some shopping while she was there, things are much cheaper in the US than in Paris. She escaped the Houston heat without melting, and headed back to Paris, where summer weather is much more reasonable. Living in Paris main page

A rough week, we almost ended up begging for Euros on rue de Rivoli. Well, not really. But it was weird. My PIN for my Austin debit card stopped working, and the bank couldn't figure out why. We didn't have our $$ here yet for our moving and living expenses, so no euros in the Paris bank. Two different Visa cards had the "call Visa" red flag go up because we were buying things on them at appliance stores in a foreign country. It was really weird. Finally my $$ showed up in Paris, and the Austin bank figured out that the new computer system screwed up all cash withdrawals in Europe. And the Visa people are now happy (I had forgotten to tell them we were moving to France). D'oh! Living in Paris main page

Living room windows and fireplace. Other end of Living/Dining and entryway. Our search is over. What a tres fou week! We looked at 14 different apartments mostly scattered in the 16th and 17th. Did I mention Paris is having a heat wave? We were climbing lots of stairs, and sweating buckets. But it was fun to get a peek behind the front doors of all these buildings. Many (including the one we chose) had detailed ceilings and wrought iron balconies. One had a 150 sq foot deck with a view of the Tour Eiffel, and was in a famous art deco building (but resembled a small overpriced chicken coop otherwise). We ended up in le Marais. We just feel more comfortable there, it's less formal than the 16th and 17th, and very convenient to a lot of fun stuff. Our street is nice and quiet without too much traffic, and I already know two HRC Federal Club members from Australia that live a block away, and have some friends that live close by on Ile de la Cite. And Bertillon (world's best ice cre...

Sarah and I had a very disappointing trip to Houston. We were trying to get Sarah's Visa application started (although we won't have a Paris street addresse for two weeks), and went to pay homage to the French Consulate. Well, I can say it was an interesting experience. The French workers sit behind a huge plate glass window with a small slot at the bottom (for passing papers). The small slot also happens to be the only way for sound to transmit between you and the workers. So you are in a room full of strangers and you are screaming at a small slot in the bottom of the window trying to explain your situation. Big fun. Remember I mentioned they don't answer questions about the visa process on the phone? There was one woman there who waited in line, and when she got to the front, called her daughter on her cell, and then fed the cell phone thru the slot to the workers. So I guess that's how you get questions answered. We weren't so lucky. We tried asking in 4 diffe...

The Louvre peeking thru the trees in Tuileries. One thing that has been really nice on this trip is that I stayed in the same place as we did in February right next to the Louvre, and both workers at the coffee bar recognized me, and also remembered that I drink cafe creme in the morning. One of them even asked where Sarah was. That doesn't happen in the states. A guy at a restaurant Sarah and I went to twice in February recognized me, and asked where Sarah was. It was also nice that I knew where the grocery store was, and was mentally prepared for it to be closed on Sunday. We're so used to the 24-7 convenience in the states that it's quite odd to find everything closed early, and closed on Sunday. Living in Paris main page