Tacoma Girl in Paris

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I?ve only been home for a week and I?m already up ...
2007-08-04 03:30:00
I?ve only been home for a week and I?m already up to my ears in two questions. How was Paris? and Is it weird to be back? For the record, France was good and it?s weird but nice to be back in the states.These aren?t bad questions ? on the contrary. It?s just that they?re, well, very large questions. Paris was friendlier than I?d expected it to be, Paris smelled like urine, Paris?s air was dirty, but its parks and sidewalks were clean. Paris was exhilarating. Paris was hard and scary and amazing. Yeah, Paris was good. What else is there to say?As for being home, It?s been surprisingly easy to fit back into my Tacoma routine ? hanging out with my mom during the day, running with the dog and driving to Seattle to meet friends in the evening. I?ve lived here all my life, so being home is just like being home. The only oddnesses arise when my mind tries to superimpose Parisian life on Tacoman.Driving through a parking lot in Gig Harbor a few days ago, I was positive I?d seen a ...
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Anecdotes from Paris: Dernière partie Airport f...
2007-07-27 01:32:00
Anecdotes from Paris : Dernière partieAirport fiascosAs smoothly as our trip to Israel always seemed to go, Rachael and my flight home was another story altogether. Tuesday morning we left Tel Aviv with more than three hours to spare before our flight left ? but a Hebrew/English miscommunication at the train station sent us nearly an hour in the wrong direction. By the time we figured it out (a security guard kicking us off the train at the last stop on the line) and made it back to Ben Gurion International, we had just 50 minutes to spare before our flight was scheduled to leave.At Seatac Airport this would have been stressful but not a huge problem. The intense degrees of security in all of Israel, however, ensured that there was no possible way we could get through the numerous security checkpoints, have our bags searched, be patted down for weapons and be interrogated about our reasons for traveling to Israel, and still make our 14h30 flight. After being yelled at by airport...
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Pictures Pending: Until blogger lets me upload th...
2007-07-25 17:59:00
Pictures Pending: Until blogger lets me upload them, check them out "target="_blank">here.Sitting cross-legged on a bed in a kibbutz in northern Israel last Saturday night, squinting and sewing a missing button back onto an Israeli army uniform was definitely one of the more dramatic how did I get here moments of my year. Come to think of it, I?ve had a lot of those moments over the past two weeks. From spending the night at a free hostel in Jerusalem?s Old City run by Orthodox Jews who kept us up half the night debating Torah, to sitting on the couch next to an Israeli boy whose name I still can?t quite pronounce as he casually flips through TV channels, pausing to say, Oh, that?s my show!, to being cheered at bars for the simple fact of having come to Israel to ?hang out? rather than find my heritage, it was a strange and enlightening vacation.Rachael and I arrived in Tel Aviv on a Thursday and spent our first few days there, hanging out by the beach, exploring Jaffa and going ...
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Hey all, still alive. Been traipsing through Tel ...
2007-07-20 16:04:00
Hey all, still alive. Been traipsing through Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Afula, etc. hanging out with Israeli movie stars and stage actors...haha, no really. Now we're visiting a friend of R's on a kibbutz before heading back to Tel Aviv on Sunday for two nights and flying back to Paris. Updates to come: I'm alive.
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After 9 painful hours of sitting cramped in an air...
2007-07-13 19:35:00
After 9 painful hours of sitting cramped in an airport in Budapest, I found a small shout-out to home when I was finally called to (crankily) board my flight to Tel Aviv. Above the cabin door was a metal stamp tagged with the words "Boeing, Co., Seattle, WA, U.S.A." Yeah! This airplane and I, we were both Seattle gals, both a long way from home, but both keeping on keeping on.After 11 more hours waiting for Rachael to land at Ben Gurion International, we finally stepped through the automatic doors and into the sun and heat of Tel Aviv - a welcome change from the rainstormy July that Paris has been enjoying.We spent Thursday finding our hostel, exploring the beach and eating falafel with our new friend Jonathon, a Dutchman. At night we went out with one of Rachael's friends (who's been living here for the past few months)to an outdoor bar, complete with pillows to sit on as you perch in the trees and a rope swing to play on...or sit, I suppose, and demurely sip your glass of win...
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My life in Paris is coming to a close faster than ...
2007-07-10 22:07:00
My life in Paris is coming to a close faster than I have the ability to keep up with. I?m writing this from Rachael?s futon in the 11ème arrondissement, where I now live, or am at least crashing until I quitte la belle France in two and a half weeks. Last Thursday I said goodbye to the nanny family at Gare de Lyon, an experience that was somewhat odd and definitely less emotional (at least on my end) than I?d imagined it would be. This is a family I?ve logged more than 600 hours with since moving into their studio apartment last October. It?s a family whose children I?ve spent six days a week with, playing, reading, giving baths, cooking dinner and watching movies. A huge part of my life in Paris was wrapped up in this family and these kids, and my unexpected detachment when hugging them goodbye is probably rooted in the fact that I haven?t fully come to terms with the fact that Paris is basically done for me.We were all careful to avoid saying our adieus (literally, at God, or...
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Anecdotes from Paris: Partie trois In Europe I ...
2007-07-09 20:42:00
Anecdotes from Paris : Partie troisIn Europe I get a lot of people asking me where I?m from or trying to guess on their own. I?ve gotten Spanish, Italian and a lot of America? Bush!, but yesterday I was not only pegged for a different nationality, but a different ethnicity as well.After the race yesterday, I was sitting on a bench in the Arênes de Montmartre next to a French African. Trying to make conversation he asked where I was from, but before I could even open my mouth he continued for me. Algérie? he asked, avec un peu des îles Seychelles? This guy apparently thought I was a beur, a second-generation North African immigrant. The term used to be somewhat pejorative, but it?s made its way into mainstream French and lost the offense in the process. Non, I said slowly, Je viens des Etats-unis. Apparently unwilling to admit that his conjectures had been wrong, he pressed on. Mais vos parents, ils sont pas Africains? Once I?d finally convinced him that I was not any part ...
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Every June since my freshman year of high school I...
2007-07-08 16:14:00
Every June since my freshman year of high school I?ve run the Tacoma Sound to Narrows. It?s a 12-kilometer road race through Tacoma?s Ruston neighborhood and Point Defiance Park and this would have been my seventh year in a row. Along with Thanksgiving and my little brother?s high school graduation, the Sound to Narrows was one of the things I was pretty bummed about missing this year, so I decided to find myself a replacement on this side of the pond.Searching through websites like Active Europe and Courir en France, I was able to find a race in Paris scheduled for the same weekend as the Sound to Narrows back home. La Francilienne was only 10 kilometers long, but with a course that wound through the hills of Montmartre, I had a feeling this race would be able to challenge the S2N?s reputation as having one of the hilliest courses around. I paid and registered through Active Europe and excitedly circled June 10th on my calendar, but on June 9th I began to realize that if this r...
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Every time I?m called upon to make the hour-long t...
2007-07-04 23:39:00
Every time I?m called upon to make the hour-long trek out to the airport, I become more and more disgusted with Charles de Gaulle International. I honestly think it?s the worst airport I?ve ever been in ? it?s dirty, crowded and horribly disorganized. Why couldn?t Paris have something more like the shiny and clean Schipol airport in Amsterdam, where I once spent five hours on a layover from Seattle relaxing in a near-empty lounge, perusing the Dutch art museum (yes, in the airport) and checking my email at the wifi bar?I was forced to pay a visit to my least favorite spot in Paris yesterday morning, when I brought my brother Ben, his best gal friend Ali and two extra suitcases full of my clothes (yikes, I?m starting to move out) out to Roissy. At a quarter to nine we were wheeling our four bags out to Place de l?Opéra to catch the RoissyBus ? a fantastic transportation option that takes you directly from Opéra to your terminal at CDG for the same price as the smelly RER train. U...
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On Saturday I got another glimpse into the more ex...
2007-07-03 00:10:00
On Saturday I got another glimpse into the more extravagant side of Paris life. Living around the corner from the Opéra Garnier and up the street from the Parisian equivalent of Boardwalk on the Monopoly board I get my fair share of exposure to decadence. Picking the nanny kids up from school each Thursday is like watching a fashion show of enfants wearing Bonpoint next to their Gucci-clad mothers or North African nannies.As a Vogue-addict and serial stalker of fashion week, I have nothing against the big labels ? if you can afford Chanel by all means go for it. There?s just something that disturbs me a little about Baby Dior. Babies grow so quickly that their clothing sizes are measured by monthly increments ? not to mention the spitting up, the drooling and the lack of toilet training. I just can?t understand paying 130 euro for a pair of 18 month old Armani jeans that are going to be spilled on, peed in and grown out of in a matter of months.Saturday though, I was wandering ...
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It seems pretty fitting to me that my last experie...
2007-06-29 12:53:00
It seems pretty fitting to me that my last experience with Sciences Po was confusing, horribly planned and exasperating. Monday afternoon I had my last final of my junior year of university and my year abroad at Sciences Po? Grands débats de l?Europe en crise. The European Union by itself is a daunting subject for non-European students ? even the exchange students with EU citizenship in my classes are often confused and frustrated. In my EU class fall semester nearly half of the students were Americans ? something that amused our German, Dutch and Polish counterparts to no end. But why are you taking this class, they wanted to know ? and after a few weeks of class we were asking ourselves the same question.After studying the European Union for a while, you begin to notice a pattern. Even if you have no idea what to study for a three-hour written final on Europe in crisis, you can bet it?ll come back to one of a few things. As long as you make sure to read a few choice articles...
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For weeks I?ve been hearing about the nanny kids? ...
2007-06-24 20:53:00
For weeks I?ve been hearing about the nanny kids? upcoming fête de l?école (or, school party). At l?école Notre Dame de S.R, and other primary schools throughout France, it?s traditional to throw an end-of-the-year party for the students, parents and neighborhood. What a fête is traditionally comprised of is unclear, but at S.R the kids put on an annual show for their parents and neighbors before everyone sits down together to eat, drink wine and champagne (of course) and celebrate the coming of summer.Though I?ve been hearing about this spectacle for weeks, my understanding of it was pieced together from the little bits of information sporadically offered to me by P and E. Last year was so much better, E would complain. I was a dame de la cour. (A lady of the court). This year, P was proud to be a grand prêtre, whatever on earth that was, and E was devastated with her teacher?s choice to dress the entire class as people-sized mushrooms. As far as I could gather, it was going ...
More About: Kids , Nanny , Tintin , Hearing , Been

So on Tuesday, the other boy I?ve been waiting on ...
2007-06-22 18:52:00
So on Tuesday , the other boy I?ve been waiting on for five months arrived at Charles de Gaulle ? my newly graduated brother Ben, who arrived with his notgirlfriend Ali. My apartment is filled to the brim with four people occupying a living room, kitchen and mezzanine and I?m starting to get an idea of what a task it would be to provide for a family of four. I never knew how much milk four people will go through in a day, or how many boxes of cereal. I wake up in the morning and along with planning our touristy activities for the day, I have to decide what we?ll be having for dinner and when I?ll be stopping at the grocery store to pick up the extra groceries. It?s not only meals that are constantly occupying my thoughts ? I?m so used to my alone in Paris schedule that it?s kind of a shock to suddenly have three people relying on my to entertain them, organize them, show them around, take them out and make sure they?re having a good time.I love switching into tour guide mode and ...
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Another day, another drama in my building. The la...
2007-06-19 21:45:00
Another day, another drama in my building. The last big shocker was the late-night graffiti vandal who surprised us all Friday morning. The latest comes in the form of a series of neighbor-to-neighbor notes left posted in the middle of our mailboxes.Most university students in Paris right now are finishing up their examens finals and celebrating like there?s no tomorrow. In the spirit of completing their first-year exams, two roommates who live in the poor half of my building decided to throw a little party for their friends and classmates last Saturday night. As is typical in an apartment building, the girls wrote a note to all the neighbors explaining that they?d be having a party that evening, inviting anyone who was interested and apologizing in advance for the noise and bother.As parties often tend to, this one grew and grew, spilling out of the roommates? first-floor apartment and into the building?s courtyard and out onto rue Monsigny. Rachael, Conner, Anna and I had spe...
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So it?s Father?s Day (anybody ever wonder about th...
2007-06-17 19:46:00
So it?s Fath er ?s Day (anybody ever wonder about that apostrophe placement choice?), in France and in the United States. I was a little confused because of the two-week difference in Mother?s Days between here and the U.S., so when Paul was asking me all week about what color tie I thought his Papa would like, I didn?t realize I should have been thinking about my own father?s neckwear as well.I guess I don?t usually give much thought to Father?s and Mother?s Days ? they just seem like more of those endless days of appreciation. Secretary?s Day, Teacher Appreciation Day, America?s Kid?s Day, and Grandparents Day all fall on the list of days that force us to mindlessly appreciate. Mom and dad, thanks for not leaving me out with the wolves. Grandma and Grandpa, thanks for not leaving my mom out with the wolves. Secretaries, thanks for not leaving those important faxes out with the wolves. Every year the days come around, and every year we take our moms out to brunch or make books ...
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Le jardin a été massacré! Sometime Thursday night...
2007-06-16 15:59:00
Le jardin a été massacré!Some time Thursday night between 1h and 7h, a vandal got into my building?s courtyard and tagged all the walls. C and I had to stop and do a double, and then triple-take when we left the building yesterday morning to meet one of my maîtres de conférence for a guided tour of the Sénat. In hot pink and silver spray paint the mailboxes, front doors and walls were covered with graffiti. Nike ta mere (F*** your mother), Tu va mourir (You?re going to die) and the tag VHR were among the less-than-friendly messages left for our building?s inhabitants. Apparently the earliest-risers also found broken beer bottles scattered around, but they?d been long gone by the time C and I first arrived on the scene.The vandalism was the talk of rue Monsigny all day long. Neighbors I?ve never met before were stopping me in the courtyard and waiting for the ascenseur to get my take. At first the neighbors were enjoying the drama and pointing fingers at each other. The ex-Nazi...
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On Tuesday morning the boy I?ve been missing for f...
2007-06-14 22:47:00
On Tuesday morning the boy I?ve been missing for five months finally made it to Gare du Nord. I?ve been looking forward to his arrival since I returned to Paris in January, and I?ve been counting down the days since there were more than 150 left to go.Somewhere around the middle of last week, though, I started to get really scared. Five months is a long time to go without seeing, kicking or hugging the person you?re supposedly in a relationship with. A lot can change in five months. What if I didn?t even like this guy anymore once I saw him? What if the three weeks drag on and on and I end up starting a countdown to his departure?In addition to the fears, there was a bit of wistfulness. Yes I was excited to once again have a real-life boyfriend instead of some pretend one I only talk to over Skype, but Tuesday was bringing with it the end of an era. No more am I virtually single in Paris, free to go out when I want, come home (or not) when I want, dance with whomever I want an...
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Yesterday for the first time I started to feel a f...
2007-06-10 22:08:00
Yesterday for the first time I started to feel a few shreds of panic about leaving Paris. As of today I have exactly one month left in the city before R and I head to Israel. We?ll be back in Paris the 24th of July to spend two days doing laundry and eating a few last pain au chocolats before officially repatriating. Suddenly a year seems so short, and the idea of coming back here to work after graduating from the University of Washington is sounding more and more appealing.I first started to feel the time slipping away from me yesterday at the Paris Bloggers? Picnic in the parc des Buttes Chaumont. I have to admit I was feeling a little apprehensive about participating. I always feel a bit uncomfortable with the tag of ?blogger,? as I alternate between feeling like a huge dork and completely self-obsessed when I mention it to people for the first time. All week I had this nervous energy building as I imagined meeting a group of self-important writers suffering from I?m a bloh...
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It?s June 6th, the sun is shining, the metros are ...
2007-06-06 23:27:00
It?s June 6th, the sun is shining, the metros are oppressively hot and the city is crawling with tourists. Staging romantic kisses in the middle of the Pont Alexandre III, posing for pictures with the sculptures in the jardin des Tuileries and boosting the French economy buying anything that sparkles with an Eiffel Tower on it. Since tourist season is pretty much year-round most Parisians have learned to co-exist with the constant influx of tour busses and Eiffel Tower print ponchos ? either by avoiding the most popular destinations or ignoring the people visiting them. Anyone who actually gets annoyed by the constant stream of tourists is probably relatively new to the city himself. It?s what follows the tourists that is the problem. Panhandlers and Gypsies from Eastern Europe know non-francophones to be easy marks, and using roughly the same tourist-spotting criteria as I do, their numbers tend to increase proportionally to the number of tourists in the city. During most of ...
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With only 6 school days remaining of spring semest...
2007-06-05 23:01:00
With only 6 school days remaining of spring semester at Sciences Po, my workload of the past few weeks is finally winding down. I?ve completed all my exposés, débats and dissertations, and with the exception of a one-page note de travail due on Thursday, all I have left to look forward to are completing three finals and the freedom of Paris without classes getting in the way of my fun.The past few days have been particularly busy, as 10h this morning was the deadline for my final 15-page Urban Governance paper. To earn a francophone dîplome from Sciences Po, you can take up to one elective in a language other than French, but everything else must be strictly français. This is lucky for me, because it saved me from having to register for a French finance class when I was missing 5 credits in my schedule at the beginning of the semester.I signed up for ?Urban Governance: Steering the complex city? with absolutely no clue what I was getting myself into ? all I knew was that whateve...
More About: Spring , School , Days , School Days

As the French (and everyone else) like to joke, le...
2007-06-02 12:52:00
As the French (and everyone else) like to joke, les manifestations (protests) are the unofficial national sport. Up until now, I?ve only been a witness. At first I was fascinated, then amused, then irritated, then just plain bored with them. What seemed so interesting because it was so uniquely French is now just a nuisance ? I don?t care if they?re protesting for national solidarity or anarchy, I just want the bus 39 to run on time. They protest everything ? it?s their right, and they exercise it. And judging by the coup that almost took place in my L?Europe en crise class, the exchange students at Sciences Po seem to have adapted the same habits.My maître de conférence for my European Union class is often absent. He?s cancelled three classes out of the 12 we?ve had this semester for various reasons ? he works for the Sénat and often has unexpected work emergencies. None of us mind ? our conférences are held Friday mornings at 8h, and we?re more than thrilled with the occasi...
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So I finally did it. I bought tanning pills. I r...
2007-05-30 15:45:00
So I finally did it. I bought tanning pills. I realize that this sounds as ridiculous as it does vain, but this is an experiment in the name of science. I have no delusions about them actually working, but I?ve been making fun of the advertisements for so long that I decided it was time for me to finally test them out for myself.The French have pills for everything. Cellulite issues? They?ve got a pill. Hair loss? They?ve got a pill. PMS-y crankiness? They?ve got a pill. Tanning ? You?d better believe they've got a pill. I?d never even dreamed of a bronzer in pill form before arriving in France last summer ? maybe there are some ambitious American companies trying to push tanning pills through late night infomercials, but here it?s nothing like that. For one, every pharmacist in the city sells them ? for another, French people actually buy them. Walking home on the rue des Petits Champs today, I felt like I was being bombarded by ads for capsules de bronzage. The wind...
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After three months of facebook poking and emailing...
2007-05-28 18:54:00
After three months of facebook poking and emailing lists of questions and answers back and forth, R and I finally managed to meet up in person with the four Sciences Po students heading to UW next year.Our rendez-vous was scheduled for Sunday afternoon, so at 15h I was waiting in rain boots and a trench coat in the pouring rain outside of métro Odéon. I?d been there for less than a minute when Thomas (one of the Seattle four) came strolling out up the métro stairs with two unrelated French boys. One of them had apparently ?visited Seattle once,? but other than that, they had nothing to do with Washington and were just along for the café. A few moments later Marie and Gabrielle (two and three of the SciPo in Seattle group) arrived simultaneously from opposite directions and the six of us decided to move on to les Étages, a student-friendly café on rue de Buci, to shelter from the rain and wait for the rest of our party.It's been raining a lot here lately:We sat outside on the cov...
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R and I met early-ish this morning to go for a run...
2007-05-27 13:44:00
R and I met early-ish this morning to go for a run before retreating back to the Pompidou library to work on final papers all day long. Running the streets of Paris is pretty much unheard of, but it also turns into a huge pain during tourist season. The sidewalks just aren?t wide enough to support both confused people wandering with maps in their hands and runners trying to keep a steady pace, so we?ve learned to keep to the banks of the river when possible. As we jogged through the jardin des Tuileries on our way to the Seine, a large white tent caught our eyes. Next to the tent was a stage with speakers and in front of it were four or five small tables with chairs. We didn?t think much of it until I noticed that the maybe 20 people milling around were all wearing matching Vittel shirts. Suddenly I remembered pausing to read an advertisement in the window of the tanning salon on my street as I passed by a few days ago, and came to an excited realization.As part of some massive...
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There are few things more French than Bensimon. ...
2007-05-24 22:19:00
There are few things more French than Bensimon. Sounding like a hoity-toity version of the name Ben Simon , the marque encompasses clothing, home furnishings, accessories and stationary, but it?s the Bahhhn seemawhnn tennis shoes that have become a phenomenon by working their way into French wardrobes of every social and economic class.My first inkling of understanding the popularity of Bensimon hit me last fall, when I happened to walk by a sale of Kaporal 5 brand copycat tennis (say it like ?ten-knees? and don?t bother with the chaussure part). Seeing the large Soldes sign in the window of the boutique, I peeked in to see a mob of teenaged girls fighting and scrambling over each other to find their preferred colors and sizes in the cardboard bins full of some of the ugliest shoes I?d ever seen. The sale was a buy one, get one free, and even at half off their original price of 20 euro a pair, this seemed like a huge rip-off to me. These shoes, which I?d been seeing on the feet ...
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Friday night I made dinner with Anna and her frien...
2007-05-14 21:56:00
Friday night I made dinner with Anna and her friend Chris who is visiting from Ottawa. After five days in Paris experiencing European men, C was relating tale after tale of weird comments men had made to her or strange ways in which she?d been hit on. Once she ran out of her own stories, C turned to me and said, ?You?ve been here for a year, I bet you have some good weird men stories!?At first I couldn?t think of anything. I shrugged my shoulders and begged off with a ?I guess I?m just so used to it I don?t pay attention anymore.? Hearing this, A started laughing. ?What about the bloody eye patch guy? What about that guy on Pont Neuf?? Oh, yeah.European men are notorious for both their skilled romancing and their completely obnoxious habit of hitting on anything in a skirt. In Barcelona Christina and I were yelled and whistled at wherever we went. After studying in Greece for a quarter, my friend Kelly had countless stories of Greek and Italian men following the girls in he...
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Though I wouldn?t exactly say that our ?Free Paris...
2007-05-13 01:14:00
Though I wouldn?t exactly say that our ?Free Paris ian Exercise Group? has taken off, we have managed to cobble together a pretty cozy little group. After six workouts we have a few regulars, a few regular drop-ins, a few people who say they?re coming each week and never show, and our routine down pat. Each Wednesday or Thursday R and I send out a group email for our workout list (our specially-created address is parisworkout@yahoo.fr) detailing the where and when of our next rendezvous.Our group usually consists of me, Rachael, Taki from Japan, Daniel from Portugal and the occasional addition of Vincent from Sciences Po, Stéphanie from Paris, and Patrick from the U.S. Because we posted fliers all over the city and posted ads on Craig?s List and Expatriates, we've formed quite a diverse group ? in nationality, age, occupation and fitness level. Rachael and I are students from Seattle, while Taki is a 30-something Japanese non-profit worker and UN volunteer. Daniel is also a 30-...
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It might seem a bit inane to make the point that P...
2007-05-07 20:19:00
It might seem a bit inane to make the point that Paris is a pretty arty city. From the Mona Lisa, to Picasso, to the pont des Arts, to the Opéras Garnier and Bastille, to the Venus de Milo, the Georges Pompidou Center, David, Ingres, Géricault, the Musée du Louvre, the Musée D?Orsay ? yeah, we?re pretty steeped in the finer arts over here. Cool to note though, is the fact that the city?s art-rich personality is not limited to its history.The current mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë is rather famously a patron of the arts, and has used his term to introduce cultural activities to the city, like Nuit Blanche that keep the city?s art scene vibrant and current. The contemporary art scene isn?t limited to local government-funded events, though. If you can move beyond the dazzling must-sees that fill Paris?s most celebrated museums, you?ll find that the city is up to its teeth in galleries, fashion shows, art installations, film festivals and indie music.One of the coolest examples of...
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Sarko, facho, le peuple aura ta peau! Sarko, fach...
2007-05-06 22:34:00
Sarko, facho, le peuple aura ta peau! Sarko, facho, le people aura ta peau! Sarko, facho, le peuple aura ta peau!(Sarko, fascist, the people will have your skin!)Protestors in front of the July column.On May 17th Nicolas Sarkozy 's five-year term as the president of the Republic will begin ? and nearly half the population is not at all happy about it. Anarchists have taken over place de la Bastille. People are threatening to leave France. Effigies of Sarkozy are being burned in the streets. The other half though, is quite thrilled. People are dancing and celebrating on the Champs Elysées and at place de la Concorde, wearing UMP shirts and toasting Sarkozy.According to my vie politique teacher, when there?s a substantial victory for the right-wing the celebration goes down at place (pronounced plah-suh) de la Concorde ? which is exactly what?s happening right now. If I didn?t have a dissertation due by 8h tomorrow morning I?d be out there myself taking more pictures. As for ...
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Anecdotes from Paris, partie deux: The generosity...
2007-05-04 02:04:00
Anecdotes from Paris , partie deux: The generosity of the homelessThe other night I was strolling back from a movie at Les Halles, enjoying the warm evening and snacking on a half-full carton of movie popcorn. R and I are constantly overestimating the amount of popcorn the two of us will be able to consume, but are also unable to admit defeat. The last time we failed to finish our extra-large popcorn, R was charged with toting home the remains and finishing them on their own ? this time, it was my turn.Being that it was 1 am and Paris, it wasn?t long before I was approached by two homeless men with a dog. All they wanted were a few coins, but once you?ve lived in Paris for any significant amount of time you just don?t give money to people on the street. I shook my head, but held out the carton of popcorn with one hand (the other hand was clutching the handful I was about to eat). The guys were smelly and chemically altered and I could see that they were hungry by the way they s...
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