paris!!

so the flight was easy enough (thank god for ambien...way better than alcohol for sleeping) and my parisian friends were kind enough to pick me up and let me stay for a couple days so i could get acclimated before taking off to nantes, which is 2.5 hours west by train. it was good to sleep and get into the right biorhythm and equally good to warm up my french with people with whom i was already comfortable and not feel like too much of an ass.

my first day in paris i got to see two french elementary schools which was super cool! (my friend's mom is a sort of counselor who does interventions and therapy, essentially, with troubled children, so she works at a couple different schools.) so much is the just the same....schedules, teaching methods, etc. but there are plenty of things that are different. for example, most kids go home for lunch (they have 2 hours) and then they have to stay til about 5pm. also, they don't go to school wednesdays and it used to be that they went to school on saturdays but that seems to be a thing of the past now. don't ask me why...i don't know yet....

after lunch evelyne turned me loose on the city since she had meetings the rest of the day. i was a bit apprehensive at first but after an hour or so bouncing around on the metro (which is pretty damn easy i have to say....maybe easier for me coming from nyc a couple days before) i felt pretty comfortable.

so off i went to the musee d'orsay and saw all the wonderful things there...monet, gaugin, lalique, matisse, seurat, toulouse lautrec. if you don't already know, the museum used to be a train station and it is GORGEOUS. forget the art - it was damned cool just to walk around! so that was about it for the first day...besides eating of course! the pics are just a sample of the good stuff evelyne fed me, which she did every chance she got!

next day i got practical - got a new cord with the right plug for my computer so i don't set france on fire, got a train ticket and a cell phone. and i *think* that my incoming calls are free so if you're feeling adventurous and want to call me here's the # 06 67 54 49 97

france's country code is 33 and there may be something else you have to add...check before you dial. and remember that i'm 6 hours ahead of you - no midnight calls you slap monkeys! ;-)

that night the whole family got together for dinner - including julien's new kitten. made me miss rico something fierce! drank some wonderful rose (pronounce rosay - i can't put the accent on, stupid internet explorer) wine from the south, (a 'gris de gris' for you wine freaks) evelyne made raclette - a traditional savoy dish - and there was also this great berry tart for dessert! boy howdy did i eat! none of us could eat anything more than the requisite croissant for breakfast the next morning....

and speaking of the next morning - that's when i left for nantes!