2nd Sunday At Rue Nic

Afternoon folks.  It's lunchtime here and leftovers from last night's pizza extravaganza have already been scarfed and the twins are making sandwiches as I write this.  Laundry is being done, some cleaning was accomplished, everyone slept in and Sylvain Luc is on the stereo. 

Yesterday was a busy day that included grocery shopping at the Inno (BIG grocery store by Parisian standards) in the Passy market area, a trip to the boulangerie for crescents and baguettes.  Back home to drop off groceries and twins, then back out to shop with Cassie for some new clothes to take with her to London and Geneva tomorrow and then off to "Le Emperor" for drinks with friends. 

Sometime either this week or early next week the cartage company here will deliver our personal air shipment.  I'm a bit afraid to see how my guitars fared and everything else that is even partially breakable.  When all of that arrives it'll be a busy time here for sure.

Tomorrow's project is to order Kian and Niall's books for their inaugural first quarter with Strayer University which begins April 4th.  Just think of it, going to college completely online.  That was unheard of when I went to school so many years ago not to mention a program called Skype which  is a FREE video phone algorithm that enables us to see and talk with friends wherever they are in real time which is AMAZING.  The 21st Century indeed.  Tomorrow we'll also see if the first of our wire transfers from our home bank in Lynchburg will automatically kick in for the first time.

Work on our house in Lynchburg by our friend and compadre Paul Alcock is coming along nicely and our Realtor Betty Burch tells me the house will finally be officially in the multiple listings next Friday which is only 4 days from now.  Betty seems to think our house is going to show really well and since we purchased it 2001 we certainly improved it so we'll be curious what shakes out as far as selling it goes.

Our bank checks arrived and I'll have to get up with Veronique this week to settle the schedule for paying Angela and going online to pay the French Social Security system.  Also, I've never written a French check before.  Should be a fun week.  I'm attaching a picture of the E'toile which was in sight of the little cafe we had drinks with Denise and Judy yesterday.  It was over cast but it still blows me away that we're actually here.

Love to all everywhere.......

A bientot, (I've been misspelling it) 

sid

Angela At Last...............

Our building's "Guardian" is a Columbian lady named Angela who by virtue of that also comes to clean twice a week too which is an odd feeling for me as Kian and Niall and I always kept the house clean in the past but that was in Lynchburg and now we're in Paris so like the absence of the car I suspect I'll pine for the vacuum cleaner and all of our trusty cleaning supplies.

I've heard of "Texas Tornadoes" but had never witnessed a "Columbian Tornado" before Angela came today at 1 PM (not 2 like I thought) and Kian, Niall, and I, tried mightily to communicate with Angela (double whammy of both French and Spanish) but to really no avail and she brusquely shooed us away from the various rooms we were in and the cats both fled when she turned the vacuum on (a Miele) and within a couple of hours the apartment was shinier than a dime in a goat's ass (an old saying from my First Sergeant in Germany that's stuck with me through the years).  Then came the moment where I'd try to explain that we have no checks yet as the bank never sent them to us but which are now on the way.  She probably thought that the crazy American was telling her that she'd get bupkus for cleaning our place so I need to call our French savior Veronique Perrot to save the day tomorrow.  Hopefully she can help me meet with Angela so we can iron out when we can pay her and exactly what her cleaning hours are so we won't miss each other and she won't be giving me the evil eye as only Columbians can do.

I'm cooking hamburgers for me and the guys tonight as Cassie has "another" business dinner.  I went  looking for ground beef in the Casino grocery store here today along with spices and sauces (I used to use Worcester Sauce) but did find Catchup, hamburger cheese, and something called Arome Saveur which has pictures of poultry, beef, and fish on it that I'm taking a chance on tonight.

More on the outcome tomorrow.

Cassie heads to Geneva to a major conference Monday but since our personal shipment hasn't arrived yet, she has to go shopping for a new dress and shoes.  Everything else was packed into the shipment that won't be here until another week passes.  Golly gee whiz and there's no place to shop around here.....*  Actually there are a SHIT LOAD of shops, pedestrian malls, you name it around just our neighborhood.  There were other things planned this weekend but we canceled them to get her ready for her debut in Geneva.

Everyone is fine and again especially fine due to the cleaning our  apartment got today.  I hope she doesn't think we're too funky.  But then again, when Veronique came by yesterday she inadvertently rang our neighbor's phone thinking it was ours and when she told him (we haven't met him yet) who she was and why she was here he pumped her for information on the "Americans" next door.  He's evidently seen the twins who he thinks are handsome and perhaps Angela told him that they're Autistic, not sure, but Veronique asked him how it was for him having us as neighbors and he told her that we were so quiet that he wasn't sure if we were actually here.  She told him of course that we were quite nice even as Americans went or something to that effect........*  What a hoot it is living here amidst the "Gross Bourgeoisie".  If they only knew.......*

More tomorrow pilgrims.......*

Time to whip up some bourgeoisie burgers.  How's that for a restaurant name??????

Love to all everywhere.....

A biento,

sid

Angela.......*

Hmmmmmm...........*  It's almost 2 PM and she's not here yet.....*

Voice Messages

There are voice messages on our home phone but I have no idea how to retrieve them.  I tried for over an hour this morning and nothing........*  Got the box down from the shelf and there are instructions in French, German, and Turkish.........*  Hope none of them are important.  I've got nothin........*

The guys are showering and then me before Angela, our building's "Gaurdian" comes to clean for 2 hours today.  I think shes coming at 12:00 but I could be wrong.  She's from Spain and does speak French but my attempt to have a conversation with her yesterday was something out of the "who's on first, no who's on second" realm but after a comical back and forth with gestures I DID find out that she was coming today.  Initially I was a little ambivalent about the apartment manager cleaning in my apartment but evidently all of them here do some of that.  I've always been the housekeeper of late and having someone else do that is going to be different like so many other things here.  We also have to get online with the French Social Security website and make sure that we pay into that for Angela's benefits whatever those are.  I'm sure we'll be experts in all of this before we leave here.

Denise Woernle is here today from Lynchburg and we're having dinner with her tonight.  That'll be fun and we'll be able to catch up a bit with her.

We have another store run to make today (really at least one every day here) and tomorrow I go to try and get a cell phone......*  The main provider in our neighborhood is called "Orange".  Also, it's IN to wear your mobile phone around your neck with a specific necklace thing that everyone has.  Perhaps I'll get one although I've never been much on fashion accessories. 

Lastly, there was a cacophony of horn honking outside in the street starting VERY early this morning.  I think a truck was parked outside and since the street is very narrow (almost all of them are here) there were evidently an extremely pissed off bunch of drivers down there that had no sense that it was 6AM AND ALL OF US WERE STILL SLEEPING...........................................................................................*
We.............DO..............love................this..................place.................*

This morning brought back memories of my old First Sergeant of my unit in Germany who would walk into everyone's dorm rooms at 5 am and blow a whistle every morning.  Needless to say everyone got up when that happened.

Love to all there and everywhere........*

sid

Truckin..........*

Evenin pilgrims,

I suspect Kian and Niall and I have probably walked at least 15 to 20 miles since arriving here last Wednesday or at least it seems that way.  We walk everywhere now and the memory of owning a car is fading fast.  When going to the grocery store (we discovered a BIG grocery store in Passy this afternoon!) we always have our trusty pull cart Cassie purchased several weeks ago when she moved into the apartment so we are now just another small bunch of Parisians on the street.

There is dogshit everywhere even though there's an ordinance for folks to clean it up and like Cassie I'm finding some pretty exotic cars (a jet black Aston Martin the last couple of days) right on the street outside our apartment. 

We're meeting some very nice French folks who are pleased we're endeavoring to speak French even if we mangle it a bit when trying.  To a person they're always patient in correcting us like the waiter Pascal at our favorite watering hole Brasserie 16 (pronounced "se-zem") who was really pleased the first time we were there last Thursday when we ordered from the French menu.  We went again this last Saturday to meet the Veronique Perrot from the relo company to ask some questions and the owner told her and us that because the 16th arrondissement which is our new neighborhood is so far removed from normal tourist areas there are seldom ANY Americans there so he too was VERY pleased that there are Americans who want to hang out in HIS place and made us feel VERY welcome indeed.  The food here is extraordinary and even Kian and Niall are eating things regularly that they would have NEVER eaten in the US.

I'm adjusting to being here again and it's agreeing with me.  We all are and I'm hearing from friends back in Lynchburg that they're all betting that we never come back.  We will come back eventually but with "eventually" being the key word here. 

Cassie is here working late drinking some red wine from Aux en Provence and I'm having another 1664 bier from Strasbourg and all is well.

More tomorrow when we go to find..........cat litter.........*  Mon Dieu!

A biento,

1. sid

We came. We saw. We’re tired.

By Cass

The Hagans descended upon Paris Wednesday morning, having landed safe and sound in the pre-dawn hours. The entire trip was truly as perfect as it possibly could have been – I never even dared hope for such a stress-free, nea, pleasant journey with two first-time flyer sons and cats. However, it didn’t start out as promising.

Despite being tackled and pilled by three adults on Tuesday morning, our younger cat Gracie HOWLED the ENTIRE drive from Lynchburg to Dulles. She has a ferocious heart, even when stoned. It appeared we’d have to put her in the cargo hold, but there wasn't a peep during the flight.

From the Hertz attendant who insisted on driving us to the terminal himself so we wouldn't have to unload and schlep 6 pieces of luggage plus 2 cat carriers and 4 carry-ons...to the TSA staff who shepherded us – cats in our arms – through the brand new security area at Dulles...to the Air France crew who fairly adopted us – as well as Sid's Turkish seatmate who adopted the cats...and the driver who met our traveling circus at the airport...everything went without a hitch. Kian and Niall did just fine on the flight and even tried some new food, finding that mango and steak aren't so bad after all. They’re beginning to bloom already!

After an initial grocery run and morning nap, all were well. Sid and I enjoyed dinner at the neighborhood brasserie, and we brought Subway sandwiches home for the guys.

After an exhausting week and a half of packing, purging and getting the house ready for sale, it was a far more successful transport than expected. I went back to work on Thursday, anxious to get back on track and into a routine. But, after living and working for so long by myself in Paris, it was far from my routine to return home that first day to a home full of family, flowers, and food on the table. Sid did a great job taking the guys to the store for their first trip, fumbling with new grocery products and an unfamiliar kitchen set-up.

We met my good friend Sabine for dinner at her home Friday night, staying out past 1 a.m. And Saturday brought a deliciously late morning for us all, the guys not waking until after 10 a.m. My “Bloom Where You’re Planted” book explains that one of the symptoms of culture shock is a need for excessive sleep. What a relief. I thought I was just getting old.

Saturday In Paris

Mornin' folks.

We ended what was a tumultuous week last night at Cassie's (and now mine) friend Sabine Gross's home with champagne (which I NEVER drink), sushi, snacks, red wine (also something I seldom drink), lots of conversation, history, work, heritage.....and finally a digestif, which was a liquor distilled from prunes and made in Normandy.  Needless to say everyone was buzzed (at least I was....) and a large time was had by all.  I'd been hearing about Sabine for a long long time and had actually spoken with her on the phone before.  Her apartment was a typical Parisian place, small but warm and cozy with great world music (Sabine is a HUGE music fan) and tons of cool-looking books.

Sabine is actually a German from Stuttgart, but has lived in France for many years.  She has no idea what kind of crew she's tied in with.  She's the latest member of our posse.

I must say that we're settling in here (me and the twins) and I cooked dinner for us all Thursday evening after our first major food expedition to the grocery store (Casino) which was a real eye opener but we got through it and I head over there this morning for a few items now.  Cassie and the twins are still sleeping.
More on all of this later.

Love to all!

sid