Are Parisians Rude?

There is a pretty popular stereotype that the Parisian people are rude and arrogant. We've been in Paris for a total of about 8 days and we have yet to meet one. We're sure they are out there, but perhaps they are the exception and not the norm.

A stereotypical French waiter... (not our experience so far)

We've also heard the [kinder] sentiment that Parisians don't easily let people "in". Well, they've never met my wife. Melanie is very friendly and outgoing and she loves people. And they seem to love her. She can, and will, make friends with just about anybody.

Melanie made friends with our waiter at Le Peirrot the day we arrived and at lunch this afternoon he greeted her like an old friend. He even brought another waiter over to chat with us and at one point they both broke into a song about her name "Melanie", but we didn't recognize the tune.

My wife absolutely LOVES spontaneous stuff like that so the experience had her smiling from ear to ear all the way back to the hotel.

Prices Here are Not as Bad as We Feared

We've read a lot about how expensive Paris is; some reports call it the second most expensive city on the planet (behind Hong Kong, I believe). We've been sort of worried about it but so far the prices haven't been that bad (if you ignore the exchange rate).

Clothes seem to be more expensive than Seattle, and rent prices and home prices are very steep, but other stuff seems reasonable. For example, earlier today we shopped at a supermarket called "Franprix", which is smaller and apparently a bit cheaper than the Monoprix we visited yesterday. We bought:

• 1 large bottle of Suze (a French aperitif) 
• 1 large bottle of Muscat 
• 4 pkgs of Madeline cookies 
• 4 yogurt cups 
• 1 Charcroute Garnie (a 2 lb pkg containing sausage, ham, sauerkraut, and potatoes) 
• 8 ounces of a nice gooey French cheese (not pictured) 

Our haul from the Franprix supermarket earlier today -- notice anything missing? (Yep, we forgot the shampoo)

The total came to less than 20 euros.

There are some VERY expensive restaurants in Paris but eating out like a regular person isn't that bad. For example, tonight for dinner we went to a cafe called "Cafe Primerose".

It's going to be very hard to diet in Paris

For dinner we ordered:

• 3 Mojitos 
• 1 Glass of red wine
• 1 Poisson et frites (fish and chips - the wife said it was amazing) 
• 1 Tuna over squid ink risotto (with a wafer of carmelized parmesan - also fantastic) 
• 1 Cheese plate 

The bill for our meal was 66 euros and change. The waiter was nice so we paid 70 euros total. (Tipping isn't strictly necessary here, but he was very helpful.)

We Really Need to Learn French

We have been washing our hair with a bottle of... something... in the tub. Melanie thinks it's just liquid soap and she hates the way it makes her hair feel. One of the reasons we stopped at the Monprix yesterday was to get some real shampoo.

Natually, all the product names are in French so we weren't even positive if we were looking at hair products, but  we eventually found a bottle with the word "Shampooing" and took it back to the motel.

We were still a little jet lagged

This morning I heard Melanie taking a shower. After a few minutes she muttered, "What the...?  Son of a..." We had picked up conditioner instead of shampoo. Looking more closely at the label we saw that it said "Après Shampooing"... which means "After Shampooing". Oops.

I'm sure this was the first of MANY small (and large) blunders that we will make while we are here. It's all good, of course. That's how you learn, right?

John and Melanie Try a New Cafe... And Go Shopping

We had a very quiet morning and skipped breakfast.

At lunchtime we decided to check out the French supermarket called "Monoprix". It's a two story building with clothes, housewares, and a bakery on the bottom; and a fairly large grocery store on the top floor. It's supposedly pretty expensive but we found the prices manageable.

We bought some bread, cheese, a bottle of wine, some shampoo, and a few other small items. I had read that Parisians must always bag their own groceries, so I was prepared for that, but I couldn't find the bags! Melanie put a few items in her purse and I was able to carry the rest. We'll have to buy a cloth bag for next time.

Also, I had heard that you need a 1 dollar coin to unlock the shopping carts (you get it back when the cart is returned) but this didn't seem to be necessary. Maybe we just got lucky.

You are supposed to release these carts with a coin, but our cart was already unlocked

Earlier this evening we tried out a new cafe, across the way from "Le Pierrot" (we're becoming friends with one of the waiters there, but we wanted to try a new place). It's called "Le Bouquet de Grenelle".

Cafe Le Bouquet de Grenelle

It has been another warm sunny day in Paris, so we once again ate outside. Melanie ordered a roasted chicken with fries dish and I got a variation on a croque madame they called Provençale. My sandwich was very delicious and Melanie said the chicken was the best she's ever had. Anywhere. (It came with a tarragon sauce that really complemented whatever spices they added to the chicken.)

We've been told that there are strict laws here regarding food, and the French are not allowed to add hormones or additives to their meat. They are particular about their chicken, especially, and most birds are pasture raised, by law.

Sundays in Paris are Pretty Quiet

On Sundays many of the shops and restaurants here close down so Parisians can spend time with their families. From what we've learned people typically get together for a nice home-cooked meal and then spend the day together sharing stories, wine, and delicious food.

From the window in our hotel room we can see a large terrace on the building across the street. It's quite lovely so we kept stealing appreciative glances at a small family gathering as it unfolded before us on their lush deck.

It seemed rude to take a picture of the family during dinner, so I took this after they were finished

We are really enjoying the large window in our room. We've been leaving it open night and day to let in the smells and sounds of our new home.

First Meal in Paris

We had some dinners when we were in Paris for my interview, of course, but today we had our first meal as Parisians!

There was a cute cafe across the street called "Le Pierrot" and since the weather is so beautiful we chose a table outside.

Cafe Le Pierrot is in the 15th arrondissement, not too far from the Eiffel Tower

We ordered a very typical french meal: escargot in garlic sauce, foie gras with bacon jam and toast points, choucroute garnie (ham, sausage, potatoes, sauerkraut). Okay, that last one seemed more Germanic, but Melanie loved it.

After lunch we decided to check out a Chocolate shop not far from the cafe. We were surprised to see a number of bees buzzing around out front, and there were even more inside. A few of the pastries in one case were practically covered with the fuzzy stingers. Not sure if this is a "normal" thing in Paris, but no one seemed to be too bothered by it.

We picked out a couple of pastries near the bee-less end of the shop and took them back to our room. We got two cafe eclairs, and two puffy ball pastries that were filled with a creme brûlée like filling. They were both outstanding!

How are the French so good at bread and pastries? Ooh la la!

We're trying sooo hard to stay awake. I think we're going to make it until tonight, but it's going to be diffic... zzzz... ZZZZ....zzzzz.

Final Destination: Paris!

I'm really starting to detest long plane trips. Fortunately, our Air France flight (operated by Delta) had a 2 hour stop in Detroit... that we didn't know about. But even Denver to Detroit felt like a long slog. The flight from Detroit to Paris was nearly interminable. I know a guy that flies from the U.S. to Berlin several times a month. Not sure how he does it, I think that would kill me.

We finally arrived in Paris at 8:00 AM and got to our hotel/apartment by 9:30. Fortunately, they had a room available so we were able to drop off our bags.

Damn, that bed looks SO tempting...

I'm so tired the bags under my eyes are bigger than the bags we just hauled up to our room

It's 9:30 AM in Paris, the sun is up, there are very few clouds in the sky, the city is alive with the smells of fresh baguettes and roasted coffee... and my body is telling me, "Ignore all that you idiot... it's BEDTIME!"

We saw a cute cafe right across the street, so I think we're going to get something to eat. Maybe that will give us a little more energy.

Oh, and it's my birthday today! Great timing, huh? Yep, I'm 32. <smirk>

Oh Sh*t... We're Really Moving to Paris

Melanie and I have been so busy I don't think we really had a lot of time to process the enormity of our situation.

It kind of sunk in today.

Tomorrow we are moving to Paris.  As in France.  How is that possible?

I've been thinking about it all day, of course, and experiencing very mixed emotions. Part of the time I feel incredibly excited, but 30 minutes later the thought leaves me terrified. (Of what, I'm not sure.)

Two hours later and I'm back to ebullience.

To help me put things in perspective, I made the motivational picture below based on something I saw on the Internet a few years back:

I think this has been a pretty big dream!

Next Stop: Colorado

We bid a fond farewell to Melanie's Mom and Brother (and her other brother and his wife the night before), and drove about three hours to Longmont, Colorado, not too far from Denver, to spend a little time with my Mom and Dad.

My Mother and Father live here

Mom greeted us at the door when we arrived and I headed downstairs to where Dad was watching football and golf. He didn't have his hearing aid in so when I came up behind him and asked, "Who's playing?" he about had a heart attack. That would have been a great way to start our visit, huh?

My sister and her family are coming over soon and Mom made my favorite dish from when I was a kid. We call it: "All Day Spaghetti" because it takes all day to cook it.

A One Day Trip to Cheyenne

We drove to Cheyenne today, the capital of Wyoming, to get an apostille certification on Melanie's birth certificate and our marriage license.

Before even scheduling this trip we had NO idea how long or complicated the process would be. All we knew was that we had to go to the Vital Statistics office to get our documents certified, then we had to go to the Secretary of State's office to get the apostilles.

Hey guys, all of these folders could be stored on less than a dozen floppy disks (baby steps)

It was easy! The two offices were very close to each other and it only took a few minutes at each one, along with a very small fee.  So... five hours of driving for about 20 minutes of clerical work. Gotta love it.

First Stop: Wyoming

After driving for the better part of two days we arrived at our first destination, the place Melanie and I grew up, met, and got married: Casper Wyoming.

Melanie and I met at Kelly Walsh High School in Casper, and got married here 3 years later

It's nice to see Melanie's Mother and Brother again. They have been working on the house and it looks great! And I was excited to see a Championship golf course at the end of the street. My clubs are in the back seat, I might have to play there before we leave!

Tomorrow we drive to Cheyenne, about two and a half hours away, to get some apostille certifications on Melanie's birth certificate and our marriage license. These are required for our Carte de Séjour once we arrive in France.

We Say our Farewells

We spent today with Autumn and Mike, then had a very small going away party with some friends back at our hotel.

The evening would not be complete without some food and alcohol so four of us walked down to the nearby BevMo (a huge liquor store) to get some drinks.

BevMo - An alcoholic's dream come true

The shopping excursion did not go as planned. After about 30 minutes we all went up to the counter and the clerk announced that he would need to see ID for everyone under the age of 50 -- which left me out, but unfortunately, Mike (who is 30) got carded and didn't have his ID with him.

"It's okay", I said. "He's not buying anything. I'm buying all of this."

The clerk shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to do that."

Smiling broadly I said, "I don't even know who that guy is... he didn't come in with me."

The Bevmo guy was having none of it. "I'm sorry, I saw you come in together."

Crap. We argued for a few more minutes but to no avail.

I sighed and said, "Okay, I guess we'll just take these cold sodas and snacks..."

"Since this is a liquor store I'm not allowed to sell you anything without ID."  At that point I was pretty flabbergasted and it must have showed on my face because the clerk shot back, "You can look at me like that all you want but I'm not allowed to sell you anything without seeing his ID."

The guy was just doing his job, but it was a pretty frustrating experience. We left about $200.00 worth of merchandise on his counter and walked out. We eventually found a supermarket with some of the same stuff and this time we shunned Michael completely and had no trouble checking out.

We had to get up early and drive to Wyoming in the morning, so eventually it was time for everyone to leave.

Melanie and I had been dreading this goodbye for a long time, but I think doing it in the motel room the night before driving away made things easier on everyone.  Autumn and I both tend to yawn a lot when we are upset. "I'm not crying, my eyes are just watering because I'm tired. See?" We were both stifling yawns, but Melanie has no defense mechanism so she burst into tears.

We're going to miss Washington, our house, the United States, our friends and relatives (current and future); but what we'll miss the most is a charming, intelligent, funny, and delightful young woman we're so proud to call our daughter.

<yawn>

Not a Fun Day

Remember yesterday, when the realtor told us the workers were not coming until Saturday? Yeah, he had his dates mixed up.

After leaving our hotel we got to the house at 8:30 AM and the driveway and streets were full of trucks. We rushed into the house to make sure all of our stuff was still there, and much of it had been moved so the workers could pull up carpets. Needless to say, we were not very happy to see them and the feeling was mutual, as they were in a hurry and we were in their way.

The realtor apologized profusely and told us to make the best of it.

Okay, it wasn't quite THIS bad, but it sure sounded like it

As we packed up our remaining items it sounded like our former home was coming down around our heads. In only a few hours they hauled all the appliances to the garage, ripped out all the cabinets, demolished the island, tore down the shower in the master bedroom, and pulled up a bunch of carpeting. So much for a sentimental good-bye to the place we lived for over 20 years.

On the plus side, they were fine with us leaving old paint, a propane tank, and other stuff I was going to have to haul off somewhere. We were out of there pretty quick and were able to relax for the rest of the afternoon.

Moving & Shipping Day

We had very little time to be excited about last night's engagement announcement because we needed to be out of the house TODAY and there was still a lot left to do.

The movers cleaned things up pretty well, but it seems like every room has a bunch of little items that we either need to donate, throw away, or pack up for Paris.

Since we are planning to rent a furnished apartment we didn't need to ship too many items to Paris, but we ended up with about 9 medium-sized boxes and 1 slightly larger box. (These contained clothes, pictures, some board games, a few dishes and glasses, and other sundry items.) There might have been a cheaper option available but we decided to use FedEx Freight so we could track them.

We got part of our work done in the morning, then ran some errands shortly after lunch. We took our boxes to Fedex, expecting we would be out of there in about 20 minutes or less. Nope. It took FOUR HOURS!

Stock photo from Fedex.com. Trust us, there were NO smiles by the time we got out of there...

While waiting for our turn to drop off our packages a friendly man told us how to make sure they were taped securely. The trick is to put tape on all the edges, corners, and flaps. Sounded like a good idea, so we borrowed a tape dispenser and got busy.

When we got to the counter with our freshly taped boxes we received some customs forms to fill out. We knew about these, but we did NOT know that we had to be very specific about the contents of each package. We were also not aware that the form only had a little tiny box for this information.

We had to fill out 33 customs forms. Initially, the agent said we only needed to put addresses and other info on the FIRST form and they would staple everything together. But after checking with a supervisor she said it would probably be better if we filled out everything on every form. Ugh.

We not only had to describe the items, we had to show how much we thought each one was worth. We didn't really have anything new so we marked everything as "used" to justify a lower price. This is important because the person receiving the package has to pay a 20% VAT tax on the value of all the items.

After this work was completed we went back to the counter and the agent pulled out a HUGE book and looked something up. "Uh oh", she says. Our hearts sank. Now what? "A single shipment to France can't weigh more than 150 pounds and you are over that." She then told us the cost and it was double the estimate we received earlier in the week. Double whammy. Ouch.

Seeing our dismayed expressions the agent continued, "You can split this into two shipments but we need separate customs forms for each shipment." Okay, say WHAT now??? You want us to fill out all those forms again?

I was about to go postal -- err "Fedex" -- but Melanie and I put our heads together and decided that it would be easier to open some of the boxes (sure glad we taped them up so well!) and lighten our load a bit. If we could get it down to one shipment we wouldn't need to change the customs forms.

After removing several non-essential items we eventually got our weight to 150 pounds (exactly) and with only a single shipment the price came down significantly.

By the time we left Fedex it was 6:00 PM and we still had six or seven hours of work left on the house. Fortunately, we got a call from the realtor and he said we could finish up on Friday, as the workers he scheduled were not coming until Saturday.

Whew!

A Dinner Surprise

Tonight we had dinner with our daughter Autumn, her boyfriend Mike, and his mother Linda.

Mike came out to meet us and we couldn't help but notice that his left hand was bandaged. We asked what happened and he said he injured it at "Burning Man" the previous week, touching something he didn't realize was super hot. Ouch.

Once inside we could see that Autumn's left hand was also wrapped up. "You BOTH touched it???" We asked. We were promised a full story later.

During dinner, while hearing some great stories about their Burning Man adventures, we noticed that both Autumn and Mike seemed to be in a fair amount of pain. Melanie demanded to know how badly they had hurt themselves and she pleaded with them to go see a doctor.

"It's not that bad." They said, grimacing in pain, "Here, we'll show you." The injured pair slowly began to unwrap the bandages and suddenly a little alarm went off in my head. Something was wrong here but I wasn't sure what. Then the pieces started to click into place:

• They had been dating for almost 4 years
• They BOTH hurt their hands at the same time
• They both hurt their LEFT hands
• They wanted to make sure that all 5 of us got together for dinner

I sucked in air as a huge smile broke across my face. Autumn and Mike casually brought their hands up and there, sparkling under the restaurant track lighting, were two engagement rings.

This is the kind of moment Melanie lives for, so I quickly turned my head to catch her expression. But instead of seeing a look of shocked joy, she and Linda were searching for burn marks with confused expressions! I started to count in my head. "One... two... three..." Then both Moms gasped at the same time and Melanie covered her mouth with her hand as tears instantly sprang to her eyes.

"Moms... Dad... We're getting married!"

Our Meeting at the French Embassy

Well... that was an interesting day.

As I mentioned yesterday, we got up at 3:30 AM this morning and flew to the French Embassy in San Francisco for our visa meetings, one at 11:30 AM and the other at noon.

We expected the Embassy to be a large ornate building covered with French flags and with crown moulding framed walls lavishly adorned with paintings by Monet, Degas, Matisse, Guaguin, and other famous artists.

How we THOUGHT the French Embassy would look

After being scanned, searched, and admitted onto the premises we thought we would end up sitting in an ornate hallway to wait for a heavily armed French soldier to lead us away to be interrogated interviewed.

How we THOUGHT the waiting area would look

At the appointed time we expected to find ourselves in a large office where we would be judged by a stern-faced French politician with a chip on his shoulder.

"You are not worthy to eat our baguettes!"

As it turns out the reality was quite different.

The Taxi driver got us to the Embassy by 9:00 AM and it was just an office in a S.F. high-rise.

The French Embassy was ACTUALLY a few rooms in this building

We were greeted at the Embassy doors by a rather bored-looking American security guard and an antiquated metal detector that didn't even pick up my belt buckle, which I forgot to remove. There was only one room and it resembled a small DMV office.

I don't have an ACTUAL picture but it was a bit like this... only with fewer people

We were obviously VERY early so we assumed we would have to wait for our late morning appointments, but after about 15 minutes a friendly woman behind a wooden counter yelled, "Next!" and up we went, together, papers in hand.

She said everything looked great (thanks to our relocation experts) and then asked us to step over to the next counter for pictures and fingerprints.

We were out of there and back at the airport by 10:00 AM... an hour and a half BEFORE our appointments. Unfortunately, we couldn't catch an earlier flight so we were stuck at the airport until the 4:30 PM departure time.

The Embassy took our passports and will mail them back to us next week. We left them a pre-paid Fedex envelope.

What a strange day! (Not that we're complaining.)

Tomorrow We Fly to the French Embassy in San Francisco

As I mentioned earlier, there is a French Embassy in Seattle (20 minutes away) but because San Francisco responded first we have to fly there to get our visas.

I think all our papers are in order. I've heard that the embassy staff can be pretty particular and demanding about how everything is presented. (As I recall, someone got turned away because the staple was in the wrong place.)

We're sort of nervous. Will they ask us a lot of questions? (i.e. "Why do think you deserve to live in our amazing city YOU PEASANT???") 

Our plane leaves Seattle at 6:00 AM so we'll have to get up at 3:30 AM so we get there early enough to check in and go through Security. We get to S.F. at about 9:00 AM and our plan is to take a taxi to the embassy. My meeting is scheduled for 11:30 and Melanie is scheduled for noon.

Just not sure what to expect.

Guess we'll find out tomorrow.