Me

My best friends are named Aubrey, Saffiana, Charlotte, and Francesca. Some others are Felix, Joseph, Mayuko, Sonia, and Katya. My favorite classes in school are show-choir, English, and French history (all in English). My French teacher is Madame Croisy (cwosy) and my English ones are Mrs. Knight and Mrs. Thenot (teno). It is cool to look at the Eiffel tower on the platform but I still miss America.


                                  Written by Paige

Night walks

One of the pleasures of living in Paris is going for walks. Whether it is with a destination in mind, to view the sights, or to just wander and soak in the atmosphere, I love walking around the city.

Walking at night is a particular pleasure. On typical evenings, Monday through Thursday, I'm on the phone for work for three or four hours. When the calls wrap up around 10PM or so, it feels so great to get out for a walk.

Since we are a 10-15 minute walk to the Arc de Triomphe, I'll often start in that direction before heading down the Champs-Élysées or another of the twelve avenues originating at the Place Charles de Gaulle and Arc de Triomphe. There, at an underground vent situated between Avenue de Wagram and Avenue Hoche, I can always count on seeing my friend "Ratatouille" and a buddy or two of his scurrying around.

Occasionally one or both of the kids will join me on their scooters ("trotinettes"). Recently Clay and I went for a long walk towards Les Grands Magasins, the huge department stores on Boulevard Haussmann with their fabulous Christmas decorations and lights, and then on to Palais Garnier. Along the way we saw a whole host of interesting things that Clay was anxious to share with Erin and Paige upon arrival back home -- the Boy Scout troop returning from camping, the Christmas decorations, the world's most ornate McDonalds, Hotel Bellevue, and the marching band playing on the steps of the Palais Garnier.

Thanksgiving

It is hard to beat Thanksgiving in the States. A day off from work spent with family eating the same wonderful food you eat every Thanksgiving followed by some football on TV and then three more days off while kicking off the holiday season. Can't get much better than that.

So, we had much lower expectations for Thanksgiving this year. We knew the kids would be in school and that I'd be working and we questioned whether we'd be able to find a traditional dinner.

As it turned out, we had a wonderful time.

After school was out on Thanksgiving Day, we grabbed the three fantastic desserts that Erin spent the day making and jumped in a taxi (a very rare occasion for us) to head over to our friends David and Christina's apartment. We were joined there by their family and another family from our school.

While the seven kids entertained each other (and were entertained by a movie), the grown-ups had a great time. We enjoyed appetizers with a French flair, a non-traditional but very delicious main course, a surprisingly enjoyable -- and very French -- cheese course, then Erin's excellent desserts. Throw in copious amounts of wine and good friends and we had a recipe for a very fun Thanksgiving evening.

Two nights later, the four of us concluded our Thanksgiving festivities with a traditional dinner hosted by the American Church in Paris. There they served about 150 people for a dinner that included all of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes -- turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. We were seated at a table with, surprisingly, a French family and we enjoyed visiting with them.

One of the interesting parts of the dinner at the American Church in Paris was the reading of President Obama's Thanksgiving Proclamation. The proclamation included the following:

I encourage the people of the United States to join together -- whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place of fellowship for friends and neighbors -- and give thanks for all we have received in the past year, express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own, and share our bounty with others.

As we sat in that church hall, with a mix of Americans, other expats, and locals, living out an amazing opportunity in an amazing city and meeting a whole host of new friends, that statement really resonated with me. We do have a lot to be thankful for and I can add the experience of Thanksgiving in Paris to that list.

Venice

Venice is a city unlike any other.  The train dropped us off in front of the Grand Canal, giving us a beautiful welcome to the city.  The sun was shining. Although Paige had been reluctant to keep traveling after Lucca, she said, "this is awesome!".  Clay agreed but said it was, "a bit too lakey".  Venice would make a good Richard Scarry book.  There is a boat for everything--police, ambulance transport, transporting goods, mail delivery, garbage collection, cement delivery, crane and bulldozer work, and taxi's all have a boat.  We were even ferried ninety minutes to the airport by boat. 

Venice is not for the weak as there are 400 bridges in this romantic city.  One time we counted 9 small bridges that we had to ascend and descend to walk a short distance. All the narrow canals and bridges give the city a picturesque feeling.  Normally you may see one main canal in a town but here it was amazing to see tons and tons of lovely narrow canals providing many photographic opportunities.  My brother Clark would have gone crazy taking pictures. 

In Venice we enjoyed learning about the Italian renaissance painters (even Paige took some notes), seeing St. Mark's byzantine basilica with its ceiling made of tiny squares of mosaic tiles, and enjoying the local fish and pasta dishes (we were a bit too leary to try the black squid though).  We were thrilled to see our favorite ice cream place -- Venchi.  We also tried Venice's signature drink, the Bellini made of peach juice and champagne.

Paige wanted to make sure we told about our pigeon called "Pidgey".  Duane saw a gull harassing a pigeon and a little later noticed a pigeon sitting right under him (between his feet) as we stood in the middle of St. Mark's Square watching people. The pigeon hung out there for a while so we figured there was something wrong with it. It looked like it had an injured or broken leg. Not wanting to just leave it there, Duane picked it up, placed it in a bag we had (without any objection from the pigeon), and walked 10 minutes to a quieter square. We dropped it off there with some other pigeons. We hope he made it.

You can envision how this city was bustling with boat traffic and trade in years past and what a grand city it must have been.  Now much of it needs a fresh coat of paint and repair.  Let's hope they can figure out a way to keep it from water destruction.  Couldn't believe that a few days after we left the main square was flooded and tourists were swimming and wading to get to their destination walking with luggage above their head.

First glimpse of Venice

Lots of photo opportunities!

"Pidgey"

Rialto Bridge

Lucca, Italy

After watching many Rick Steves episodes on Europe, I was so happy to finally see Lucca for myself.  The evening we arrived was a bit different than I expected for a small town in Tuscany.  We were greeted with a mob of people at the train station in goth and other costumes.  The annual comic book festival was ending and the streets were filled with young adults in all kinds of garb.  Clay and Paige found this quite exciting.  Duane and I were just trying to make it through the crowds in the dark to get to our hotel.  We arrived at a lovely B&B with a gorgeous room.

After a delicious breakfast  (including the local Buccellato bread with raisins) we set out to explore this quaint town, previously known for its silk making and now toilet paper and kleenex production.  Despite the chilly weather we decided to see it by biking around the city.  The great thing about this medieval town was that they made an extra fortified, thick city wall.  It was later made into a bike/walking path 2.5 miles surrounding the old town.  At some point, Napoleon's sister made the area outside the wall into a park.  So, as you are biking you notice lots of trees, grass and playgrounds surrounding the outer the city wall. The rest of the day was spent walking around the small piazzas including an old Roman amphitheater which has been converted into apartments and shops.  We also discovered an amazing family restaurant serving awesome pasta with meat sauce, and other local specialties.  Once again we were joined by our friends, The Johnstons, for a fabulous dinner.

Enjoying our bike ride

Trail along the city walls

Florence

With two weeks off for the Toussaint holiday, we decided explore Italy for a few days. Our first stop was Florence. We were joined there by our friends The Johnston's -- David & Christina (who, in a very similar fashion to us, brought their family to Paris in August and, like me, are now working from home in Paris for a West Coast company), Aubrey (Paige's good friend), Ainsley, Amelie, and also Christina's mom Darlene, who was visiting from California.

Taking a taxi in the evening from the airport to the central, old part of Florence we were first blown away by the jaw-dropping beauty of the Duomo, the 13th century gothic cathedral in the center of Florence. With an exterior comprised of white, green, and pink marbles, when lit up at night (as we first saw it), it looks unlike anything I've ever seen in my life.

The other thing we noticed right away was the complete intermixing of cars and people on the streets of central Florence. Many European cities have a pedestrian zone that is a street or two full of people and without cars. These zones are often a highlight when exploring new cities. In Florence, the entire downtown area is full of people walking in the middle of the streets, like a pedestrian zone, but also joined by taxis, buses, and other cars. It made for a lively, vibrant scene. I can only imagine what it must be like at the height of tourist season (as opposed to our early November visit). It must be absolutely crazy.

In Florence we visited the Uffizi Gallery, the Medici Chapels, and hiked up to Piazzale Michelangelo, with its amazing view of the city. The Uffizi contains works by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Titian, Raphael, and other Italian Renaissance masters. To keep the kids interested we had Paige count animals in the paintings and Clay count naked people. He really got into that! And he won by a lot.

While we didn't see Michelangelo's David, we did see a full size replica where the original stood in Piazza della Signoria. We also saw every imaginable way that the statue -- and the specific portion of the statue that was less than "private" -- could be marketed. Paige commented that she now knows well exactly what a naked man looks like.

Another highlight of Florence was discovering Venchi. With its rich chocolates and gelati, it was a place we wished to return to again and again.

Enjoying some gelato on Ponte Vecchio

 

Lot of opportunities for shopping in Italy!

Kids taking in some street art

Climbing the city walls

The Duomo at night

View from Piazzale Michelangelo

Armistice Day

Every year at 11:00 on November 11th --  "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" -- a ceremony is held at the Arc de Triomphe to commemorate the armistice that went into effect between the Allies and Germany in 1918 that resulted in a ceasefire and ultimately the ending of World War I. The President of France places a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, bands play, and soldiers march.

We made our way this morning to the Champs-Élysées to see what we could. There were large video screens and speakers so we could see and hear some of the ceremony. We were also able to see French President François Hollande as he walked around greeting dignitaries and later as his motorcade made its way down the Champs. The kids were especially excited about this -- "I saw the President!" exclaimed Clay.

Presidential motorcade

Quick view of Hollande as he passed by