Busy Times

Hello folks. Been pretty bus around here but have been productive. We've also entered into the final phases of getting the twins their Carte de Sejours (residency cards) which begins next Tuesday. The last month seemed such a whirlwind with guests galore and a lot of partying, dining out, running all over the place and being with old friends which was marvelous. Of course after all of that slowed down everyone was tired and at times hung over (me..........). I don't think the next wave of visitors comes until after the new year.

While out last night we noticed Xmas lights on an apartment balcony and came to the realization that the holiday season is upon us. This will definitely be a new experience for us and in that past few weeks the heat had to be turned on with temps going below freezing in the early morning hours.

Cassie spent an inordinate amount of money (not for publication in here......*) on her new glasses here but was wowed by how much better they fit and how light they are. We received many many emails from friends back home and in other places wanting to know if we were safe in all of the strikes, demonstrations, and riots here but none of us ever really saw anything and thankfully never got a whiff of tear gas either. It's pretty amazing how the 24 hour news cycle views those things although one of the gas stations we walked past about a week ago was shut down due to no gas from the refineries and was being guarded by police.

Speaking of guarded by the police, Cassie and I had to go the American Embassy here again yesterday to get bank documents notarized and the security there had changed completely from what it was this past summer when we were there with Kian and Niall to get their criminal background check paperwork notarized. This time the credit card machine worked but I had a pocketful of Euros just in case. Let's just say that the entire embassy grounds on all sides were surrounded by a cordon of French Gendarmes and inside it was a maze of checkpoints where our cell phones and anything else the guards wanted were left for us to pick up on our way out. Everyone there was very courteous but also very business like. Of course Osama Bin Laden has specifically threatened the French now in lieu of the Bourka Ban and so the security threat level here has been very high. There are troops in the streets and I guess someone threatened to destroy the Eiffel Tower a while back too.

I finally got a cell phone the day the twins accidentally locked us out of the apartment as we only have 2 keys and getting extra's here is sort of like get an extra car key (most are now computerized) that would cost a fortune and that we'd have to go through the apartment management company here which is essentially the same thing as talking with people who either can't or won't respond.

Cassie and our pal Susan Hess are hosting a Halloween Party for their respective teams here with costumes and 4 dozen cupcakes that were baked here last night. It seems the French don't do Halloween at least not like Susan does so today they're in for a real treat.

That's the news for today. I promise to be back sooner next time. Make sure you have plenty of treats for the kids. I won't be able to meet them this year like I usually do with our hose.
Shucks!

A bientot!

Sid

Important Performance Today

Our friend Sabine has a good friend here who is dying of breast cancer that spread throughout the rest of her body. She's a doctor and for those of you who know doctors, they are absolutely the worst patients and also take being seriously ill far worse than the average person simply because they know too much....... I promised Sabine a couple of weeks ago that I'd play for her friend and today is the day..... I worked in health care for well over 20 years both in and out of the military and in those years I worked with and watched many people die from things like cancer, aids, spinal cord injuries and other things and even today I'm certain later on that I'll cry after meeting this person.

I will endeavor to project my humanity onto her as much as I can today. And....it is an honor to do this for her....*

Make sure to tell everyone that you love that you love them today.....* I will most certainly with mine.....

Love to all everywhere.

sid

Catching Up

Our dear friends Jan and Gary Turbes arrived last Friday morning in the middle of the biggest strikes Paris and France in general have seen in decades over the government's efforts to raise the retirement age here from 60 to 62. If you follow this blog you'll remember Jan had been in fight with breast cancer earlier this summer and we decided to bring her here for short vacation in Paris to boost her spirits and of course to show our love for her and her family who have been so very important to us in the past 15 years.

To say it's been a blast with them here is an understatement and Jan has been joyous in her exploration of Paris, the food and wine, and overall feeling of the place. She'd been here before with her daughter Emily on a short tour years ago but to come and just hang out with people who actually live here with no real schedule was relaxing for her and her husband Gary and they got to do things that they wanted to do. It made all of us very very happy to do this for her and to see her so happy. They're currently in Rome exploring there and are back this Friday evening for another 2 evenings and then back to Sioux City.

I'll expound on the whole adventure after this coming weekend and will include pictures too.

Tuesday this week Teresa Weinmeister came from Lynchburg to stay for 3 days while attending a conference with Cassie this week so it really feels like "The Inn" has been open......but a large time has been had by all.

Will write again soon.

Love to all everywhere.....

Sid

My Birthday Festival Weekend

It was a wonderful birthday festival weekend for me. My 3 guys took me out to our neighborhood brasserie Friday night for dinner, and gave me a gift card to one of my fave clothing stores here. Check it out at http://www.unjourailleurs.com/en/Home.aspx

I had a leisurely Saturday morning reading...took a stroll and a late lunch with Sid in the afternoon...we met my dear friend Sabine for dinner at the historic La Coupole brasserie...gathering place for the artists, writers and other Illuminati. Check it out at

http://www.lacoupoleparis.com/endroit/en/ An epic meal and very memorable evening.

Then my friend Susan Hess from the US landed 7:30 a.m. Sunday and came straight to our apartment. We sipped juice and nibbled on pastries all morning...shopped at the market in our neighborhood for dinner with the fam...then she and I lolled the afternoon away with a bottle of our favorite champagne (Veuve Clicquot) at a bistro we found in the local shopping district. We returned to the apartment for aperitifs with Sid, then put her in a cab back to her hotel. Finally, I made one of my French meals: crevettes à l'ail avec une salade verte et du pain frais (garlic prawns w/green salade and fresh baguette). NOT a light food weekend!

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Indian summer wherever you are.

Cass

Nobody In Charge

Just short note to reinforce the rest of the world's impression that in France other than food, and wine and some culture, there isn't now, nor has there ever been anyone in charge who could actually make any decision about anything of importance and when they, do, they're invariably wrong....

Soooooo......The rest of the world.......you're RIGHT!

Sid

Paris Underground

By Cassie
I had a new French experience last week: getting stuck in the Metro. I was supposed to meet Sid for dinner at our neighborhood brasserie after work on Thursday night. OK, so I left a teensy bit later than I meant to, but I made great time, keeping a death-march pace and hitting the trains precisely as the doors were about to close, so I was on track to post my best commute time yet. Then, at 7:25, the train stopped -- about 30 seconds before we would have reached my station. Aaarrgh! So close, and yet... The conductor made the usual plea for patience over the loudspeaker (I recognized "patientez, sil vous plait"). No problem, I thought, I'd be only a couple of minutes late, until the lights and engines went dead five minutes later. Five minutes after that, another announcement said something about a "grande accident" on the line. For 25 minutes we sweltered in the dark tunnel. Standing there in my business suit, I was sweating like a farm hand. Many of us found something to fan ourselves with, peeled off jackets and shook our heads and rolled eyes at each other in the universal language of helpless frustration. After 15 minutes, I called Niall and asked him to go tell Sid that I didn't know how late I would be, since we still haven't gotten Sid a mobile phone. Finally, some passengers started prying open the doors of the car and jumping the 3-4 feet onto the cinders beside the tracks. Others of us began making our way from car to car, where we finally were able to precariously climb down an emergency ladder to the ground and up the steps normally blocked with an ominous sign: "PASSAGE INTERDIT." This was no small feat for the older ladies, bags in one hand, skirt in the other as they attempted modesty during their steep descent. But each of us helped the one ahead down the ladder, holding briefcases, shopping bags and even strollers so two hands could grip the child-sized ladder. All told, people had to walk about 100 yards from where we stopped to the platform -- where we saw no sign of trouble whatsoever! As if they couldn't let the train go just a bit further to let us off at the platform. When I emerged from the escalator onto the sidewalk, I deeply inhaled the dark, rainy night air. Except for the unusually crowded cue at the nearby bus stop, there was no sign of the travails below. I hurried to the brasserie where a smiling Sid and two cocktails awaited. Never was a Kir Royale more deserved.

Takin Our Time Here....Or, They're Takin Their Time Here........*

There's no telling sometimes who's in charge of anything here. Things are promised and then don't happen. Things are ordered and never appear (IE the twins' books for the upcoming college quarter) and disappear into a black hole somewhere between there and here. Unlike the grocery stores back home, the shelves in our local grocery store are in a constant state of flux so that it's almost like being a rat in a maze trying to shop there most days. Stores open and close at funny hours or sometimes just don't open at all.

All of this leads to an air of resignation that for many Americans, me included isn't easy to cultivate but I'm getting used to it now. Cassie will do a really interesting blog entry later this weekend about her adventure hiking in Metro tunnels last Friday for you later. Of course we're doing fine but I feel compelled to write about these things just so I'll remember them when we've returned in a couple of years and I lose my temper about something that should have happened and that didn't.

My new friend Matt Black who's lived here with his family for over 6 years is far more circumspect about this than I am so I hope his attitudes will rub off on my as we get deeper into this adventure.

Although some folks complain about the weather here, Fall arriving in August was very welcome to us. It cooled off here while our friends back home were still being par boiled in Virginia. The change in seasons and getting into the Fall and Winter here will be a real adventure for us all.

Life is good in Paris.........even if things that are ordered don't come.......*

Love to all.....

Sid