Springtime in Paris

the real deal
Originally uploaded by vivienfrance.

OK, Spring officially started today, but I think it's fair to say that it showed up a few days early in the City of Light.

Friday morning, I took a bus and a train and a couple of metro lines and ended up at kyliemac's humble abode. This would be my home base for the following three days. After a tasty lunch and a lot of girly talk with kylie and Aimee, I headed out with Aimee to play "tourist". First we went to the Louvre and waited in a long line and listened to the incoherent ramblings of American Teenagers on Vacation (like, totally!). At the end of the line, we put on our Audiophones and listened to commentary about the paintings of Ingres in French. Then we went to Angelina's, a famous salon du thé on the Rue de Rivoli. There, I experienced for the first time the glory that is real chocolat chaud. This ain't no chocolate-flavored powder-water, people. This is chocolate so thick, it doesn't pour out of the pitcher, it oozes. Air pockets bubble up to the surface, reminiscent of lava. The taste is so smooth, it coats your insides like a soft, supple leather coat on a cool morning. I nearly cried. I am not joking.

After that experience, there was nothing to do but go back to kyliemac's and watch a video and sigh.

The next day, kylie and I met up with an Aussie Lass and her lovely husband at the Paris Expo to check out Mer & Vigne et Gastronomie (Sea & Vine and Gastronomy), where we sampled lots of different foodstuff and wine (some tippled more than others!) and I bought some clams (not fresh, as that would have been slightly inconvenient, but some shelled clams in a jar with clam juice with which I will make a tasty clam sauce for pasta!) and some nougat for Steph and some jam for me. We had a great deal of fun chatting between bites of food.

Saturday evening, I caught up with Dr. andMrs. B. We had a delicious meal of Mexican origin near their home and had hoped to see Walk the Line (in VO, even!) but we didn't make it to the theatre quite in time and I don't like to walk into a theatre after the movie has started, so we went to Starbuck's instead, where I learned a lot about North Dakota and how they met - both facsinating tales. I'm hoping to lure the two of them out to the country to tell me more, even if I have to bake a pecan pie to do it.

Sunday morning, Steph came to Paris, so I bid farewell to my charming host and went back to the train station. Just as his train was pulling into the station, I met up with his friend L, who we know through online gaming. After a happy reunion, we headed back into the city to meet up with more online gamer/friends, B and A, and we had a lovely lunch of pizza before walking across the street to check out the Salon du Livre where it was a bit too crowded for my liking but we managed anyway and the guys were able to stock up on some new fantasy novels and bandes dessinées. Since this year's theme was francophone countries, I didn't even bother to look for books in English and was happy to follow the group and, if nothing else, I was so excited to see a 25th anniversary edition of The Princess Bride in a beautiful volume that I inspired A to buy it, and I hope that the wonderful dry humor translates well into French and she enjoys it.

Finally, the weekend drew to a close and Steph and I wearily made our way back to the Gare de l'Est to make our way home.

It was an exhausting weekend, but I really enjoyed every moment of it. Thanks again to our gracious hosts who made time to visit with us country bumpkins!

a long row to sew

Three Little Words Part 1
Originally uploaded by vivienfrance.

I keep talking about this mysterious cross stitch project. But what is it, you may ask? (And if you don't, you may want to skip this post - no harm no foul!)

When I started doing research for a cross stitch project at the end of last year, I knew I wanted a sampler and I knew I wanted something a little different. After scouring the web, I came across Papillon Creations. When I read the background to this design, called Three Little Words, I knew I had to do it.

This sampler bases its roots in the French tradition of community clothes washing, believe it or not. Back in the day, French women did all their laundry at the community lavoir and to avoid getting their linens mixed up, they embroidered their family initials into the clothes. Some women began to collect the family designs on a marquoir to be used at a later date, and thus the French sampler was born. In this design, the famous little words - in French - are hidden in the piece.

This thing is so huge that I haven't even gotten to the alphabet (a traditional must in any sampler) yet! When finished, it will be 25 inches by 25 inches. Without exagerrating, I may finish it in time to have it framed for Christmas!

I almost didn't even make it as far as I have, thanks to the border on the upper left corner. I actually started it before Christmas, but I had so much trouble working on that one section, I put it away for almost a month. For every mistake I left in, there were two that I had to pull out. In the end, I decided to leave the mistakes there and just move on with the piece. I'm so glad I did, because now it's moving along just fine and I'm really enjoying it now!

So that's what I'm doing in the evenings, plugged into various radio stations on the computer and stitching away.

i'm awake!

Hooray! Just a quick note before I dash down the street to buy a baguette before making lunch...

But yes! I'm awake! Yesterday I took a three-hour nap on the couch while Steph killed elves and vampires and then very nearly slept through the night in the guest bed, only getting up once to visit the bathroom and then again to listen to the dulcet tones of my dear husband sawing logs in the next room.

Why why why is it that I can sleep peacefully for three hours while Steph curses at the computer as it makes all kinds of noise only three feet away from me, but if he even thinks about starting to snore in the middle of the night, I'm up like a shot?

Anyway, I'm much better, I've even tided up the upstairs already today. I might even go for a walk this afternoon - it's absolutely gorgeous here today!

can i get some cheese to go with my whine, please?

It has now been over a week since I slept through the night. I don't think I can take much more of this. I'm so desperate I've even stopped consuming caffeine (the horror!). My dear husband has even bought snoring spray to appease me but the truth is that even a sharp intake of breath is enough to wake me these days. I've tried herbal sleep remedies and sleeping in the guest bed to no avail. Trying to nap during the day is a joke; all I can do is stare at the ceiling. I'd do just about anything for a couple of Tylenol PM right now.

In other news (which clearly crosses the line of "too much information" so feel free to look away now), I've stopped taking The Pill and am now enduring the Worst Period Ever In Recorded History.

I'm going to go beat my head against a wall now.

black beans and okra!!

black beans!!
Originally uploaded by vivienfrance.

I am so tired. Remember how I was so tired last week and I had that emotional breakdown? I'm like that tired. Not sleeping through the night for another week straight has caught up with me, I suppose. So I'll try not to blather on uncontrollably.

Doc and I did make it to the lovely town of Nancy today, in the most bizarre weather I have ever experienced in France. It was literally what we used to say back in Florida: "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes." Torrential rain, pounding hail, high winds, blue skies, sunshine, wash rinse and repeat. I wasn't able to take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I did capture a few (especially of the incredible gold-embellished ironwork of Place Stanislas) which are already posted on my flickr account.

Our main goal, of course, was to visit the current expo at the Parc des Expositions, which featured everything you could ask for in building and furnishing your new home, which Doc and her family are in the process of doing. Since there were few people there, we were able to see everything in only a couple of hours and head back to downtown Nancy to find some lunch and sightsee a little bit.

The most extraordinary thing we discovered was a quaint Cuban restaurant featuring black beans in a couple of different dishes - the very thing I've been craving for about a month now. We each enjoyed an incredible "menu" of latin food - Doc had a tasty (and authentic!) enchilada and I had my super delicious black beans.

Then Doc did something that never would have occured to me - she asked the waiter if he knew where we could find black beans. Then the waiter did something even more extraordinary - he went to ask the chef! He came back with directions to a specialty shop within walking distance of the restaurant. After making a few photographic stops on the way, we found the famous shop and not only did I find my elusive (not to mention very inexpensive!) black beans, Doc stumbled right onto some fresh okra! She grabbed a few and announced that she would be fryin' up some okra tonight, and with that, we waltzed our happy selves back to the car to make the three hour trip back to chez moi.

I wish I could tell you more about the lovely centre ville of Nancy, but I'm afraid we didn't see much of it, due to time contraints and wacky weather. I would love to have the opportunity to visit it again and explore it some more.

i'm still here

Everything's fine, apart from health crises and cross stitch mania.

Yesterday I visited the icky doctor again. She's the one who ordered the blood test, so when I showed her my results (which I'm glad I brought with me, as she hadn't received her copy yet) I got a sharp gasp when she saw the cholesterol results and and even bigger gasp when she saw the triglyceride result. Honestly, she went into drama queen mode for a minute, there. Anyway, she told me what I had already gleaned from the internet and my comments box (thanks nice people!), that fatty meats, alcohol and sugar were out of bounds.

Last night I had a small health scare, but Steph needed to go back to his doctor anyway and Wednesdays are his doctor's non-appointment days, so we went together this afternoon. I'm fine, and he had a look at his results and said basically the same thing. No more camembert for three months. Looks like it's time to explore some different cheeses.

Tomorrow I'm running away Doc's house because she's gonna run away on Friday to go to a salon de déco in Nancy. I haven't been to Nancy yet so I'm looking forward to giving the camera a little workout.

throw your plans in the air, part 2

My mother-in-law called and told us to switch to the news on France 3. They had a blurb at the top of the news about passports and going to the States.

Turns out they've changed it a bit, and the new acceptable passports will be available to apply for in April, instead of October. That means Steph and I can go together this summer, after all.

I promptly burst into tears.

I didn't mean to, honestly. I've been in what I can only assume is a hormonal-lack-of-sleep funk all day, and have been ready to burst into tears at any given moment all day.

Of course this means that we can't go together at Easter, we had agreed it couldn't be done together at that time anyway, since his spring break doesn't start until the day before, and who wants to go back to work jetlagged anyway? But this was my best chance for Optimal Family Visitation, since many uncles, aunts and cousins are gathering for the holiday. Plus, the church my family attends does Easter in a big way. With brass instruments and everything. I don't know when I would have gotten to see that again.

So I stood there, hearing the brass quintet playing "All People That On Earth Do Dwell" fading into the background, sobbing but desperately trying to stop, knowing that it is too selfish to go alone when I know my husband wants to go too and explaining that it's really ok and we'll go this summer and That's All.

Then Steph said I should wait and see if the prices drop just before Easter and if they do then grab a good price and go anyway. I said that it's a silly waste of money to go twice in the same year. Then he said it was my birthday present, one month early.

And he insisted.

I don't know if I'm really gonna do it, but I am going to keep an eye on my favorite airfare websites. But I do know that I don't deserve this guy.

carolina in my mind

I spent quite a bit of time yesterday afternoon listening to WNCW thanks to the miracle that is the internets, whilst plugging away at my larger-than-life cross stitch. Everytime the DJ broke to chat with a guest or talk about the weather I had a lump in my throat. I haven't felt like this for a long time. I don't want, but need to hear some Carolina accents in person. I want Carolina overload.

I'm homesick, and I wanna go home.

Yesterday, the Chief Accountant at Vivi Operations (the husband) gave me leave to start researching flight prices for Easter. As luck would have it, the prices are superlow through the end of March and jump back up at the beginning of April. We're gonna hang on another week to see what the prices do and will likely buy some tickets.

I'm really looking forward to a visit home that isn't focused around losing family members, like last year. As I mentioned before, this may be my last trip home for a good while, and I want it to be a good one. I'm gonna hang out with the Birches, go out for dinner with the Dinettes, chill with my family, who are coming from all over the East Coast to celebrate Easter.

I may even take advantage of the money conversion in our favor and indulge in some retail therapy.

Also, this will be my last chance to goof off, because I am on track start to looking for clients for my home-based business when I get back. The time of lounging around pretending to be a housewife will finally be over!

It's a little early to start packing though, isn't it?


P.S. I forgot to mention that WNCW plays a really eclectic mix of music, from alt country to indie music to classic bluegrass to jam tunes, and I highly recommend it, no matter where you are from!

This is where the witty title goes

March 1st
Originally uploaded by vivienfrance.

So it's March! That means Spring is coming, right? Not by the looks of things. This is what I saw as I peeked out the window this morning. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm ready for some warmer temperatures! (As always, clicking on the pic will whisk you away to my flickr photos.)

Anyway, here's a few tidbits of things going on 'round here:

*The very first Carnival of France has begun at the France for Visitors page at about.com. If you can't get enough of francophile news, head on over. As an extra bonus, this first Carnival features super-cool kat fraise, who recently shared her photos and thoughts of the Carnival in Nice.

*The first big steps of taking over the world starting my own business have arrived - I purchased the Pro edition of Office 2003 at such a low, low price that I am very relieved that it made to my mailbox. I'll be saving whatever documents I have in my existing Office programs to disk and deleting the progams before installing the new software tomorrow. Then we'll see exactly how screwed I am!

I'm sure I had more tidbits when I started. *sigh* If I think of them, I'll update. Meanwhile, I've got a Mexican Chicken soup to make (mmmmmm spicy). Enjoy your Wednesday!

mademoiselle benoir

Back at the beginning of the month, I was contacted by a publisher in the States who was promoting a novel about an American in France. I told her that I'd be happy to read it and recommend it to all four of my readers if I did indeed like it.

Obviously, I did, because here we all are.

That book is Mademoiselle Benoir by Christine Conrad. Tim is an American mathematician who gives up his career to buy a farmhouse in France and pursue his other passion, painting. Along the way, he is introduced to Catherine, a Frenchwoman of bourgeois breeding and her own passion for painting. The two soon realize they are soul mates and begin to make arrangements to spend the rest of their lives together.

Of course there are stumbling blocks - the main one being that she is twenty years his senior. Catherine's demanding sister Pauline does everything in her power to stop them from getting married.

This story is told entirely through letters - from Tim to his family in New York and their replies, messages sent between the French family, and a journal entry here and there. I quite enjoyed watching the story unfold using this device.

Although there are one or two small factual errors (I'm sorry to report that one does not become a French citizen merely by marrying a French national, at least not immediately as one letter implies), the general feel of the book is accurate and I can certainly relate to Tim's wonder of discovering the vast amount of history that is tucked into every corner here, not to mention the culture clash and the wonderful characters to be found in the French countryside.

Mademoiselle Benoir is a quick, amusing read and I recommend it to anyone interested in the genre of (as I like to call it) "Foreigner in France," like Me Talk Pretty One Day and Almost French.

health extravaganza!

I may have been nonchalant about my freakishly high cholesterol and triglyceride levels in my last post, but the truth of the matter is I'm quite a bit bothered by it. Unfortunately, heart disease is very common in my family and in the past I always thought that as long as my blood pressure was fine (it has always been and continues to be at normal levels), I had nothing to worry about. I may be genetically inclined to have high cholesterol and it's about time I became an active participant in getting it (and keeping it) down.

The most obvious way to work at getting it down is changing the food we eat, so I've been spending the last few days scouring the interwebs for low-cholesterol recipes (I have found some really good ones here and here). Although it seems people are more interested in finding low cholesterol desserts than actual meals, I have managed to find quite a few and cooked a couple this weekend with outstanding success. The upside is that not only am I experimenting more in the kitchen, the end results are healthier and we will benefit in the long run.

The bad part is that since I've been looking at these recipes, I've been jonesing black beans and rice, and cannot for my life find black beans here, either in a can or dried. Anyone else in Franceland run across them, ever?

The other thing is that I've finally created my own recipe collection. This is something I've been meaning to for years now, because it seems everytime I go to the grocery I end up buying the same things over and over again, but if I have all the recipes collected somewhere, I can flip through them and choose things we haven't had in a while. Yesterday, when I went to the big grocery in Troyes (searching for elusive black beans), I picked up a two-ring binder and cards that fit inside. Ever since, I've been adding in recipes that we already use and new low cholesterol recipes that we will eat again (so far 2 for 2!).

The only possible bad part is that now I'm completely obsessed with finding low cholesterol recipes online. Anyone have any more cooking websites to suggest?

a last hurrah

On Wednesday, we hopped in the car again and headed east to visit Doc and family.

The first order of business was to check out the progress on their new house (there are pictures on her site going back to the land being cleared). Now it really looks like a house, with windows and a roof and everything! They have been dealing with the nightmare of building a house for nearly three years now and it seems that this summer they will finally be able to get in there. If nothing else, Steph and I have learned from their experience - when our time comes to buy a place, there's no way in hell we're gonna build!

Then it was back to the old homestead for an evening of catching up. The menfolk seem to be suffering from various degrees of illness, and little Matthieu was certainly more subdued than usual. Doc and I took Christine to the kitchen and gossiped and such, like you do, while Doc prepared a scrumptious feast. Christine is really a little beauty, but when Doc calls her a "little Klingon," I have to confess that she does have a little prominent-brow action going on.

Anyway, like I said, dinner was fabulous, and it turns out, most likely the last time I'll be eating like that for a looooooong time.

This is because I got the results of a blood test back on Wednesday, too. Turns out that not only is my cholesterol much too high, my triglycerides are nearly three times higher that the normal limit. Now, high triglycerides are often found in the blood of people that like their alcohol a bit too much, but let me assure you that my average is five drinks a month. This is all grease and fat, babee!

Aw yeah.

So obviously, drastic measures are called for. I've got to find some low-cholesterol recipes, stat. I wish I liked fish better than I do....

throw your plans in the air, wave 'em like you just don't care

So much for our whirlwind vacation in the Piedmont Plain this summer.

Steph and I have been planning on going for a visit back in the states this July. The only thing holding up our plans was for Steph to get a new passport. The thing is, his old passport hasn't expired, but it's not one of the new "scannable" passports, with a barcode at the bottom. His is actually handwritten. We figured he would renew his passport and we'd be on our way.

What we didn't know was that the American government has changed their requirements for foreign visitors entering the States. Here's what we learned when we went to the Mairie, or Town Hall, this week, to update Steph's passport.

Over the last couple of years, France has been upgrading their passports to the "scannable" variety, and as of October 2005, anyone who does not have a scannable passport must apply for a tourist visa to enter the States.

But then the American goverment said, "Oh, did we say scannable? We meant biometric."

Heh.

France will not be able to start production on biometric passports until October 2006, so the U.S. is allowing French scannable passports made before October 2005 entry without a visa. Everyone else is required to have a tourist visa along with their passport for entry into the U.S. Obviously, there's no point in getting a scannable passport because he'd still have to get a visa, and then down the road he'd have to get a biometric passport anyway.

In order to acquire a visa (at the low, low price of 90 euros!), we have to make an appointment for an interview at the U.S. Embassy in Paris (a 14.50 euro phone call, by the way). The first available appointment is the first of June. Steph can't take off work for this so we'd have to find a date after the first that we could go. Then we have at least a six week wait for the actual visa. That doesn't leave much wiggle room.

So we're supposed to go ahead and book flight tickets and just hope for the best? I don't think so.

Steph and I have decided that it's just not worth the stress and bother of trying to jump through all these hoops just for a three-week vacation (not to mention the cost of the visa and traveling to Paris and back just for a piece of paper), especially since it's not going to be like this forever. I, on the other hand, still want to make a quick trip home to visit with friends and bring back the rest of my stuff that has been sitting in storage (read: my friend Dana's attic) for almost two years. Since we hope to start a family soonish, I feel this is my last opportunity to go back for the next couple of years or so.

Of course, we never know what the next year will bring, and we may end up going back for a visit together next year after all.

My original suggestion was to visit the States this year at Easter, since my family does often gather then. Steph would prefer to sit next a river and fish for three weeks than be a social butterfly like me, so since it looks like I'm going alone, I may just up and head back to the Carolinas for Easter. Of course this means we'll have to make a decision pretty quick, since Easter is less than two months away now. It does seem that things are leaning in that direction, however.

That means someone better call up Corona's and make sure the grown-up slushie machine is up and running!

a cry for help

My sister-in-law is currently working on her thesis on Françoise Sagan and is working her way through a book written about Sagan in English. She has a pretty good command of English but has asked me to translate a couple of sentences, but I have to say I'm just stumped trying translate the following into French:

"Sagan's theater likewise takes on a fantastical cast, powering through whimsical plots imaginative flights from middle-class conformity."

and this gem:

"I will look at what is healthy in the escapism fundamental to her prose fiction and plays."

Obviously I understand them but as for making them understood in French, I have no idea. Clearly, running them through a translation tool online will only result in mush. Would any of my kind bilingual readers be willing to take a crack at them?

a musical sunday

Yesterday was so social I'll be quite happy to not see a soul for a few days (alas, I have to go grocery shopping but such is life). In the morning, we greeted Steph's sister and family who live in Reims and were on their way home from spending the week with Steph's parents in Troyes. It was only the third time we've had guests in our new place since we moved in so Steph played tour guide while I brewed coffee and hot chocolate and tea. After spending an hour chatting over the ginormous and delicious pastries from our local boulangerie we sent them on their way and prepared for an outing of our own.

Just after lunch we got in the car and traveled to the rain-soaked département of Haute-Marne, to a village called Manois, to see a performance of our friend Marc's choir who was celebrating its 30th anniversary. Marc was getting over the flu so he joined us, Doc and their two kids in the crowded church to hear them sing. The present director and three former directors lead the choir through thirty songs in celebration of their milestone anniversary. It sounds long but in fact the time went pretty fast. Some surprises on the list included the traditional version of "La Bamba," the original French "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" ("Le lion est mort"), "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" in French and "Amazing Grace" in English (and their English was among the best sung English I've heard in France, I must say!).

During the intermission, Doc and I chased her nearly-two-year-old son through the church yard and had a good chat while her month-old daughter slept peacefully through the whole thing. And I must say, I felt very funny in my tummy as Steph played and talked with little Matthieu at the end of the intermission.

Anyway, it was a great, if not long, afternoon, as we arrived back home at 8:30 and fell on the couch for an hour or two before falling into bed.

Valentine's Day and other business meetings

A few weeks ago, I had my six-month follow up at ANPE (the official unemployment agency). Only it wasn't a meeting; I and about fifteen others were shocked to learn that we were there to take a secretarial competence test. In French. Ha HA!

So I added and subtracted, skipped the fractions (I completely forgot how to multiply and divide them and as soon as Steph reminded me, I smacked my forehead - but it's been fifteen years since I've seen a fraction so I'm not too broken up about it), answered some logic questions, breezed through reading comprehension and tried to remember my conjugation. Then I sat at a computer and attempted to answer questions about how to be a secretary in French. Now I really know what vocabulary I'm missing. If I couldn't understand a question, I just skipped it. The whole thing reminded me of the competence tests you take when you apply at a temp agency in the states. But in French. Ha HA!

Meanwhile, as I was waiting a couple of weeks to meet again with the counselor and the psychologist (apparently to tell some folks that they aren't meant for this line of work), I was putting a whole lot of thought into the whole "getting a job here in France" thing. That's when I read a post on Pat's blog about what she does for a living and I thought to myself - why can't I do the same thing? So the project I'm working on is eventually to be in business for myself. I've been researching like a madwoman and have been spending every waking moment thinking and plotting to make this little project in my mind a reality.

So Monday I went back to get the results of the test. Considering I left many questions blank, I did pretty good. All of the questions I did answer were correct (Ha HA!) and the big surprise was that I scored a 16/20 in French - Ha HA HA!

Since I was there anyway, I took advantage of having an ANPE counselor there in front of me and told him about my little project. Both the counselor and the shrink psychologist were extremely supportive, and I walked away with even more info and contacts of where I need to go to get a business license and fun stuff like that.

Tuesday was Valentine's Day, and we celebrated by going out for dinner, which is becoming our little tradition. I buy my own flowers, I don't need jewelry, but nothin' says lovin' like "you don't have to cook tonight!" We went to the restaurant around the corner (which was ok, not as good as our favorite place in Troyes, but I'm sure we'll go again one day) and I spent the entire dinner talking about my business plan. I'm so romantic, huh? This isn't something that's going to materialize in one month or even six months - I've got a lot of preparation ahead of me. But Steph was so good and let me blather on about start-up costs and potential marketing strategies. He's such a keeper, this one.

So in the middle of all this empowering yet frantic activity, I got a phone call yesterday. Turns out ANPE was putting my name forward for a temp bilingual gig and was calling to ask if I could forward my resume to the client. I actually had a really nice conversation with the woman, and when I warned her that perhaps my French may not be quite up to the level the client needs, she said that they already had turned down one candidate because their English wasn't good enough, so in her opinion, the English is really more important. Well I seem to have the English down (well, we'll see what Spellcheck has to say about that, but anyway...). The resume has been sent on so I may have a regular job after all.

Which would be a lovely way to pay for some of my start-up costs. Ha HA!

7evens

I'm very quiet these days because I'm working on a little project. It's something I'm not quite ready to make public yet, at least not in this post. I've got a lot of research to do over the next few weeks but I may be able to say a bit more in the next couple of days. This little project is occupying all of my waking thoughts so I'm sorry to say that I've been neglecting everything else, including blogging and even more important things, like making sure there are actually groceries in the fridge.

Luckily, the glorious Kinga has tagged me, which will serve to take my mind off my project for at least ten minutes. Thanks Kinga!

Vivi's Top Sevens

7 things to do before I die
1. Have a child (or two) and raise them to be nice human beings (completely stolen from Kinga but I couldn't have said it better if I tried)
2. Become completely fluent in French
3. Visit the village that my paternal great-grandfather emigrated from in Italy
4. Visit the town that my maternal great-grandfather emigrated from in Poland
5. Try to ski
6. Go on a cruise
7. Get this project off the ground (whoops)

7 things I can't do
1. Be patient
2. Hang out with people who are intolerant/hypocrites/general assholes
3. Talk to my mother for five more minutes
4. Leave the house when I'm doing laundry because I insist on folding the clothes RIGHT out of the dryer (I refuse to iron them)
5. stop craving the cheese dip from Corona's restaurant
6. figure out what my MIL puts in her grated carrots that makes it taste so good
7. believe how lucky I am

7 things that attract me to Europe
1. My husband
2. The history
3. The architecture
4. Quality of Life
5. Such diversity of cultures in a (relatively) small area
6. Health Care (yeah, I said it)
7. Cheese

7 things I say
1. Dude! (I can't seem to let this one go!)
2. Oh my god!
3. "Je m'excuse, mais mon francais n'est pas tres bien" (Excuse me, but my French isn't very good)
4. Jesus Christ! (which actually sounds like JAYsus chrIIIST!!)
5. Oh la la! (this is new)
6. "y'all" scattered in sentences, when I'm not paying attention
7. Fucking fuckity fuck! (it's fun! try it!)

7 good books
1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
2. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
3. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
4. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
5. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
6. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
7. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (actually I love the entire series and I can't wait to reclaim my books this summer and reread them!)

7 good films
1. The Usual Suspects
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. Kill Bill (Vols 1 & 2)
4. The Matrix (all three movies)
5. The Nightmare Before Christmas
6. The Color Purple
7. Stargate

7 blogs to tag
Oh, no you don't. Everytime I tag someone, they yell at me. If you'd like to do this meme, please feel free to steal it, and let me know you've done it and I'll link you here.

Update:
First place link goes to Ms Lisa at The Bold Soul
2. Oh my!! Doc did a meme!

i have olympic fever!

I can't believe it! Nobody is talking about the Olympics! You know, that big sports event that happens every two years? The one with teams from all corners of the world gathering in peaceful competition? Helloooo?

Maybe it's just because I'm not in the States, being bombarded with Official Sponsors of the XX Winter Olympics everywhere I look. If I hadn't seen a commerical on tv for the opening ceremonies earlier in the week, I would have missed it - Steph thought it started on Sunday. Nevertheless, I looked forward to watching the Opening Ceremonies all week and settled in on the couch with a big bag of popcorn (alone. pfft.) to watch the pomp and circumstance.

I LOVE the pomp and circumstance. I can't get enough of it. I love watching all the teams march into the arena, especially (in this year's case) the teams coming from places that never get below 70 degrees that consist of three people marching and two of them are coaches. I love the show the host country puts on, and even get teary-eyed with the inevitable Small Child Who Represents The Future runs from one side of the arena to the other (and Turin didn't disappoint). I love the tradition of the representatives of the athletes and judges who pledge on behalf of all the play fair. I love how the representative of the host country declares that the games are officially open. I REALLY love the way each country tries to outdo the others when it comes time to light the flame in the arena. I love it all.

I don't just love the ceremonies; in the past, I've had the tv always on during the two weeks of competition, whether it be Summer or Winter. That's going to be less doable here, since we don't have satellite or cable and they only show stuff in the evenings on the major channels - but whatever I can get, I'll be watching.

So, here are my impressions of the Opening Ceremonies (not in chronological order):

• Cutest part of the Presentation: The Child Who Represents the Future running across the arena, of course. This year we had a little girl in a red dress. She was cute.
• Oddest part of the Presentation: What was up with the guys doing Judo? Is Martial Arts very huge in Italy? Can anyone explain that to me?
• They obviously didn't think this through: I did like how they put the athletes in the middle of the arena - after all, they are the focus of the games. It was unfortunate, however, that they decided to put the podium in the middle of the athletes. I appreciate what they were trying to do, but it seems that one thing really is true for people from all over the world - put a camera in front of a crowd, and they're all gonna try to wave to their mommas. Even the ones from Mongolia.
  
• Cheesy yet cool moment: Aw, look at the acrobats crawling around the wall of netting. Oh look, they've made a Dove, the international symbol of peace. Should've seen that coming, but it was still cool.
• Strangest bit of commentary: I don't know what they said in other places, but the French commentators introduced Peter Gabriel as "the former lead singer of Genesis." 'Cause, you know, he hasn't been doing much these last twenty-five years since he left the band. Good job the Olympics called him up and asked him to sing.
  
• Moment of fear that turned out alright: When Yoko Ono appeared, I thought, "NO DON'T LET HER SING!" but of course it turned out fine. Bless her old Beatle-breaking-up heart.
• Best testosterone moment: The Ferrari race car that was put together on stage and then burnt rubber donouts in the middle of the arena. I couldn't help myself, I was screaming "Hell Yeah!" at the tv.
  
• Favorite surprise celebrity: Sophia Loren looks GOOD, y'all. For real.
• Verdict of torch lighting: Can't go wrong with fireworks, ever. Maybe a bit less traditional than normal, but freakin' spectacular to look at.
  

So yeah, I enjoyed the hell outta watching the XX Winter Olympics direct from Turin, Italy. If you need to find me during the next two weeks, I'll most likely be camped out in front of the tv - at least during the evenings.

of houseguests and shopping!

new shoes!
Originally uploaded by vivienfrance.

As mentioned in the last post, we had a houseguest this week. Ms. kyliemac graced us with her presence from Sunday 'till yesterday and it was really fun having her here. There was a small bit of sightseeing, a whole lot of window shopping and factory-outlet-malling, and a rather large amount of hanging-around-drinking-hot-teaing. We even used the excuse of having a houseguest to try out the Moroccan restaurant in our village and enjoyed a very tasty couscous and an extremely friendly proprietor! We'll definitely be going back to eat there again!

Kylie was also here to witness the more material benefits of stopping smoking. Steph and I have decided to reward ourselves with 5 euros for everyday we don't buy cigarettes and it wasn't long before I found my first goal - these fun shoes that were HALF off. Can't beat that now can ya? By Tuesday we'd accumulated enough that I could stop mooning at them through the window and actually go in and try them on. I had brief second thoughts as to whether I should buy more practical, all-weather shoes, but luckily I had kylie there to egg me on. Besides, cigarette money should be for fun rewards, not practical stuff, right?

Now the counter is back to zero (actually it's already back up to 10 euro, yay!) and Steph will have his choice of whatever he wants for his reward. I already know what I want next, but I'll have to wait for Steph save up and choose something for himself. I hope he hurries because I can't wait to start saving for my very own mp3 player/FM stereo!

welcome home

welcome home
Originally uploaded by vivienfrance.

We are very happy to be playing host to our good friend kyliemac for a few days. Today we drove to Troyes and wandered around, and kylie pointed out this fantastic wood carving over someone's door. (Click on the picture to go to my flickr site and a bigger version of this photo.) Even though I lived in Troyes for over a year before we moved "out to the country," I never noticed this carving before!

well, the truth is...

OK, I'm going to put you out of your misery. You see, both Steph and I have decided to stop smoking! I hesitate to say that we've quit full stop. Here's the whole story:

Tuesday morning, Steph announced that we should stop smoking. I am not one for making earth shattering decisions at 7:00 in the morning, so I said, "OK, I agree not to buy any more cigarettes, but I'm going to finish the ones I have!" So I did.

Wednesday and Thursday, we didn't smoke at all. This is huge, people! I can't remember the last time I went two whole days without a cigarette.

Then Steph went back to work today and discovered that he still had a few ciggies there, stashed in his office. He smoked a couple and then brought a couple home to me. Well, I just couldn't help myself and I smoked them. I can honestly say that they left me feeling quite ill, and I'm not in a hurry for a repeat performance! I think I'm on the way!

So have we quit? Well, we're working on it. I'm firm on not buying any more, in any case. Of course, I haven't had to get through the really difficult smoking stumbling blocks of being around other people smoking or going to a bar or having a drink without a smoke, but I'm feeling determined now. I'll have to start again tomorrow with counting the days, but I'm hoping a couple of weeks from now I'll be able to say that I haven't had any at all!

guess what

enigma
Originally uploaded by vivienfrance.

The first person who correctly identifies the meaning of this photo in the comments box shall win a fabulous prize!

I don't know what the prize is yet, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!

my online library

Today I literally stumbled over a very cool website called bibliophil.org. It allows you to keep a list of all the books in your personal library which can be viewed publically or privately. You can enter reviews, search for the best prices, and you can even track books that you lend out to others. Not only are all of your books stored online, you can export your list to an Excel spreadsheet. Best of all, for the moment, it's a free service. So you know I spent the afternoon plugging in the ISBN numbers of all my books into my own account. You can take a peak at what books I have by clicking on the button in my sidebar.

Looks like I've got 49 books uploaded, which will soon be 52, as I've got three books coming from Amazon.co.uk (and you know half of the price is shipping! Well, that's another rant story). I still can't believe how few books I have now, compared to two years ago. Back then I had two seven-foot tall bookcases crammed with books. I ended up donating no less than 10 grocery bags full of books to the public library when I moved, and I still have around 20 or so more books hanging out in my friend's attic back in the states. This summer, I'll have to decide if it's worth dragging them back over here or if I should donate them to a hospital/nursing home/Ronald McDonald House and just buy them again. The sticking point is that they are all first edition hardbacks. Hm, decisions, decisions.

Oh - I also want to thank Mai for manipulating my Flickr badge code to line up the way I wanted in my sidebar. Yeah, it's still got some funky lines in it but at least it's not floating out in the middle of nowhere. Thanks again Ms. Mai!

congratulations are in order!

I need to stop wringing my hands and worrying for a moment so I can shine a spotlight on my wonderful husband and some good news we got last week. I think most of you know that Steph is a teacher, but I'm not sure I've talked much about what he actually does. For the last five years, Steph has been teaching in SEGPA (Sections d'Enseignements Généraux et Professionnels Adaptés) at the collège, or middle school, level. Students that have been placed in SEGPA have learning and/or social disorders. I would hazard a guess that 99% of them will not continue on to lycée, or high school, but will instead become apprenticed in a blue collar industry. Even though Steph mainly studied physics at university, he finds himself teaching all manner of subjects - last year he taught history, this year he's teaching French grammar.

Teaching in SEGPA has always been his goal, but every new school year is a gamble as to whether or not he will be placed in SEGPA - even if he'll be in the same school. This is because he has not yet been accepted to the very limited course to earn his certificate for teaching children with disabilities. You see, every year, an inspection board chooses only two teachers from our region to participate in the certification course. Steph has applied every year for five years, and each year has placed in the top three or four, and because the candidates are judged by how long they've been teaching in SEGPA, what specific courses they took at university, he has often been as little as half a point behind the top two.

Well.

Last week we got a call from one of Steph's colleagues from the school where he taught last year. Since the inspectors are based out of that school, they often have the results before the official letters are sent out. So after five long years, Steph has FINALLY been accepted to the course!!

So what does this mean? Well, at the end of May, he will be pulled out of the classroom to take his first three-week course. Next school year, he will spend half his time at the school, teaching, and the other half attending classes. He'll have to write a thesis, and pass an important in-school inspection at the end of the next school year. At the end of this process, he'll earn slightly more money (seriously, it's such a small amount that it wouldn't be worth all the work for it alone!) but more importantly, he'll have the certification, which means that he will be guaranteed a spot in a SEGPA, instead of crossing fingers and wishing on stars every summer, waiting to see where he will be placed.

I'm so very pleased for him, because it's something he has wanted so dearly. Next year may be a bit difficult and stressful, but it will be worth it in the end. Congratulations, Steph!

time is not on my side

(or, The One Where Vivi Possibily Reveals Too Much)

This morning I checked the ANPE website for new job announcements, like I've been doing twice a week since the beginning of the month. I plugged in my criteria with "anglais" added, in hopes of finding a bilingual admin position. I got two hits, and one seems interesting enough to warrant sending in a resume and hand-written cover letter, which is the norm in France. This one doesn't specify that a photo is required, which is also not unusual in France, but less and less so, so I don't have to copy and paste the black and white photo already saved in the computer to the resume before I print it out. This will be second resume mailed off this month. Later this week, I have my six-month review at ANPE with a counselor who will want to know what I've been doing in terms of looking for a job. Steph thinks I should ask him about finding a "stage," or internship, which doesn't pay but can be put on a resume.

All of this is really great. I'm making positive moves towards finding a job, something I have been wanting for ages. I really miss working and interacting with other people. But there's a voice in the back of my head, telling me that I need to be working on another project - starting a family.

If I had my druthers, I would happily wait a year or two before even thinking about starting a family. I would like to feel more comfortable with the language, have some extra income coming in, feel a bit more settled. However, there are two factors that I have to consider. The first one is my age. I wish I could tell you that I was a blushing young bride of 25, but the truth is that I was 31 when we were married and I'm going to be 33 this May (that's the 23rd, please be sure to mark your calendars accordingly, thank you, mgmt.). Statistically, every year we wait, the less chances we have of achieving a natural pregnancy. The other thing is my medical history. I already know that, with PCOS, I will most likely have a difficult time getting pregnant naturally and we should really start trying as soon as possible. In fact, this subject was the last one I had with my mother before she died, and I'll never forget her pleading with me, "Please, Vivi, start trying as soon as possible! Don't wait until it's too late!"

On the other hand, I agree with Steph that it would be nice to have a little extra padding in the bank before starting a family. We live comfortably, but certainly not extravagantly, on one salary. We can't travel as much as we'd like, but we can afford little extras like a couple of books or DVDs when we want. As much as I like this apartment, it would be a tight squeeze with a small child and we want to be a two-salary family before we make the next step we'd like to take, which is buying a house - though I have to admit that when looking for a new apartment last fall, I definitely was keeping in mind the idea of having a small child with us in our new place. Yes, it's true that the French government gives expecting mothers and families with newborns a stipend, which will certainly help but in my mind it's just not the same.

So here I am, sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm not necessarily looking for advice, just talking outloud, as it were. But these are the thoughts that are weighing heavily on my mind these days.

Christmas in January

utensils
Originally uploaded by vivienfrance.

We finally received our Christmas gift from my sister today! I had asked for some American measuring spoons and we received lots more than that, including a very cool peeler which will get a workout this weekend. Thanks lil sis! (As always, you can click the photo to go to my flickr site.)

I went to the Friday market this morning for our bi-weekly rotisserie chicken, and was disappointed that one of the regular merchants wasn't there. I was hoping to pick up my very own authentic French shopping basket or woven bag, but I'll just have to hope he's there next time.

It was unbelieveably cold this morning. We've been watching the cold front coming in from the east with great interest this week. You may have heard that Russia and Poland have been especially hit. They even had snow in Greece! I thought for sure we'd get a nice bit of snow here, but it only snowed for about half an hour yesterday and not a snowflake since. But that doesn't mean the temperature hasn't fallen through the floor! Walking to the market this morning, I noticed that the cold wasn't simply a "make your nose tingle and bring color to your cheeks" kind of cold. Rather, it was a "smack you around and then point and laugh at you" cold. I only wish we had a fireplace here - that would be the perfect way to spend a freezing cold day like today.

On a technical note - I'd really like to add a flickr badge to my sidebar, but I don't know how to align it to the right of the page, like the rest of the stuff that is already there. (Yes, I've tried changing all the obvious "align=center" parts but that's not doing the trick). If anyone can help me out with this, please let me know, and I'll be glad to send you the code so you can see what I'm taking about. Thankee!

la gastro 2: electric boogaloo

Yesterday started off just fine. I ran my morning errands, prepared a lunch of tomate farci, did some laundry, etc. Your typical housewifey day. Only, by the time Steph got home from work, I was curled up on the couch in the fetal position feeling like I had needles sticking into my stomach. Between the needles in the stomach and having the urgent need to run upstairs to the bathroom several times during the afternoon, I was exhausted. Steph was kind enough to make a trip to the pharmacy for me, and came back with minty magnesia, a box of Rennies and a confirmation from the pharmacist - sounds like la gastro is making a repeat performance.

The minty magnesia has helped with the needles in the stomach, but I'm still taking it easy with what I eat. I felt well enough to make a grocery run this morning and came back with some bouillon cubes for some rice. Looks like it'll be juice and rice for the rest of the day.

The frustrating thing is that even though I've had the stomach bug twice in one month, Steph hasn't been infected at all. The only thing we can figure is that his years of teaching have made him immune from viruses that go flying through the school, and he thoughtfully brings them home to me. It seems marrying a teacher is actually dangerous to your health.

fermeture définitif

chevaline
Originally uploaded by vivienfrance.

I noticed last week that the Chevaline around the corner from our house has been closed, and then I noticed the red sign on the window, "permanently closed." When I went to buy bread this morning, I took my new toy (which conveniently fits in my bag, bwahaaha!) and snapped a hurried picture. I've found the people in our village to be very nice and friendly, so I don't want to jinx anything by becoming "that foreigner that takes photos of everything." Gotta keep it on the down-low, you know.

So what exactly is a Chevaline, you may ask? Why, it's a horse butcher, of course. I will pass no judgement on the French for their love of eating anything with a pulse - to each their own, I say - but I can tell you that I've been in no hurry to try horse steaks. Luckily, they are not high on Steph's culinary list, either.

But I do have to wonder if the closing of this Chevaline is a sign of things to come. I don't know if any of Steph's colleages or friends like to eat horse, but I can say that the times I've walked by this shop, it has always had an older clientele. I can see only two possible reasons for the closing: the couple who ran it have retired, and have no family members who are interested in continuing the family business, or their sales are so low that they have been forced to close. I do hope it's the former, because no matter what I think of eating horse meat, I do hate to see old traditions die.

an ode

our salon
Originally uploaded by vivienfrance.

Oh camera, oh camera
How lovely are thy features*

Yes, it's finally here! You can guess what I've been doing for the last couple of hours. I've put a few pictures up on flickr (the one in this post even has notes on it!) and clicking on the photo will take you there. And so, if you'll excuse me, I have to go play with my new toy for awhile!

*Sung to the tune of "O Tannenbaum"

recipe for a lazy sunday

Ingredients:
1 Box of Muffin Mix
1 Hot Shower
1 Set of Comfy Clothes
1 Blog (or equally frivolous hobby)
1 Fridge Full of Food
2 DVD's
1 Couch (with pillows and blankets, to taste)
Some Loose Change

1. Get up at the usual time (I never could sleep in) and prepare blueberry muffins. Make coffee (because you know the blueberry smell will wake up hubby!) and bliss out in front of tv with coffee and muffins.

2. Take long, hot shower.

3. Don comfortable, "I'm not going anywhere for a while" clothes (ex: yoga pants and oversized shirt with logo from last place of employment).

4. Make a silly list on your blog.

5. Prepare simple, yet tasty lunch (ex: rosbif, or roast beef, if you prefer, stuffed with garlic and herbs, thrown in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with veggies and hot mustard).

6. Watch one DVD (in our case, the second Harry Potter film, which Steph hasn't yet seen, with English subtitles because I bought it in the States and the only other language available is Spanish)

7. Take loose change and walk down to local pub for a coffee and a game of Rapido (may require a change of clothes).

8. Return to domicile, watch another DVD (the third Harry Potter film, which I found at the local grocery for 10 euros yesterday).

9. Make even simpler dinner (probably leftovers from yesterday)

10. Reward self with (increasingly rare) ice cream.

Stir gently. Let contents settle over period of 12 hours or until bedtime, whichever comes first.

shopping and a recipe

After having lunch with my in-laws yesterday, we headed to one of the outlet shopping centers just outside of Troyes. We had a nice stroll around the place, and happily it wasn't too crowded. We both came away with some new blue jeans - Steph with some fancy-schmancy Calvin Kleins and me with some good ole American Wranglers. We're hoping to go again at the end of the month when the prices are truly outrageous (50% - 70% off) to see what's left (often, not a lot!). I did spy a fun coat but I'd like to see if the price won't come down a bit more by the end of the month.

I had a couple of hours to rest before heading back out to Troyes for choir rehearsal. We heard the results from the event I attended this weekend. It seems they were actually competing for three open spots in the country. The candidate who won first place was not a surprise at all, but some of us were suprised to learn that one candidate that we liked very much was not liked at all by the jury. Well, that's why they get to be directors and I just get to sing in the choir (which suits me just fine!).

Yesterday, Pauline who writes about Leon's Life posed a question on her blog: she had 500g of minced beef (I'm ashamed to say I still call it "hamburger meat" - that's an American for you) in her fridge and no idea what to do with it. I offered up my mother's meatloaf recipe, and would like to share it with you (this will make up for keeping back my father's Italian sauce recipe!). This comes directly from an email she sent me after I first moved here, and I'll add notes in italics. This was one of my favorite dishes growing up, and if you do it well, it will be savory enough that it won't need a sauce to go with it. It goes great with a side of veggies and/or mashed potatoes.

Click "Tell me more!" to read Vivi's Mom's Meatloaf Recipe

1 lb uncooked 7% fat chopped meat obviously, 400-500g works just fine
1 egg
3/4 cup plain bread crumbs you can use day-old or 2-days old baguette, grated
3/4 cup skim milk I use demi-ecreme here

catsup (about one tablespoon)
salt
pepper
onion powder
oregano


Spray a baking pan (I use Pyrex or Corningware) with Pam I butter it up - I'm so old-school since I moved to France!. Preheat
oven to 350. That's farenheight - around 200C is good. I just turn my tiny oven all the way down!

Scramble egg in mixing bowl large enough for all ingredients. (I use
about a 3 qt flat bottom one with two pot holders under one side to
keep ingredients together.)

Add milk. Stir.

Add bread crumbs, catsup, and spices. I image shaking the onion
powder, salt and pepper on individual slices....about 1/2 as much
pepper as salt. Be careful because the catsup is very spicy. Also,
be careful with the oregano...I would guess about 1/2 TB...too much
will be overpowering. Too much and it's too late...you can add more
later. Stir well.

Add meat, breaking it up into small pieces as you put in the bowl.
Use your hand to thoroughly mix. I usually taste a small bit to check
the spices...add more if you want, but no spice should be
overwhelming. To form the loaf, tip bowl to have it against the
bottom and side and pat the top until smooth. Roll the loaf to the
other side and do the same. Repeat until it looks uniform. Roll the
loaf from the bowl into your hand, and (if it's not falling apart) pat
smooth. If it seems loose and you're not able to form it in your
hand, just roll it right in the baking pan. Pat it smooth into a
rectangle....I'm guessing it comes out to a little less than 8" x 4".
Try to make it so the middle is just slightly larger than the sides so
that the grease does not accumulate in the center.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes. When the loaf starts to look brown and a
little crusty, it's done. Let it sit for at least five minutes before
cutting.

of cameras and cleaning

For Christmas, we received very lovely cash gifts (my favorite kind, followed closely by gift certificates) from my Grandma (hi Grandma!) and Dad. Last night I put them to good use and bought a new camera and memory card online. They should arrive in a couple of weeks.

YES!! I will have photos on the blog again!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!

Unless I drop it. Again. Heh.

Fact is, it's not top of the line or anything, so if I do drop it, it won't be too terrible to replace. But because it's not top of the line, it will be sure to last forever. That's just how things work out for me.

I finally got off my lazy butt today and cleaned the upstairs. Once I get going, nothing can stop me. It's just the "getting off my lazy butt" part that holds everything up.

Tomorrow we're going to participate in the famous French Soldes, which started last Wednesday and run through the end of the month. Troyes is rather well known in France for its outlet malls so you can imagine the traffic I ran into going and coming from Troyes for the choir stuff this past weekend. Hopefully it will have calmed down a bit tomorrow, but since many children don't have school on Wednesday afternoons it may still be busy. Fingers crossed that they all stay home and we find some cool new things!

of music and babes

As much as I was dreading going to Troyes both mornings this weekend, I have to say I really enjoyed it and would happily do it again. My choir from the conservatory participated in the judging of nine choral director candidates. Those that will pass will be accredited by the National Conservatory and will begin their own careers as choir directors out in the real world. All the candidates were familiar with our repetoire and were told which piece they would be working with and they had 30 minutes to do what they liked with it - to correct, instruct or rehearse as they saw fit.

To be honest, I'm sure that all nine have passed, but the vast aray of techniques is what set each of them apart. The very first one was so nervous, I was very sure she was going to hyperventilate and pass out, but it was clear to all that it was standing in front of a jury that was getting to her, since the more she got into the work the more relaxed she became. My favorites were the woman who had absolutely no fear of the jury and took over the choir as if she'd been with us for years, joked with us and knew exactly what she wanted, and a fellow who also was super comfortable with the jury and asked questions to the choir about techniques (I do like audience participation!) and gave us the clearest and best advice on singing difficult arpeggios (I'm sure there's a better vocal term for them and I can't think of it right now) I have ever heard and we all remarked on it. The ones that left bitter tastes in our mouths were the ones who barely had any life in them at all or the one who would probably be better suited to be a theatre director, for all her movement and odd direction (granted she was directing a contemporary piece, but still).

And then there was the eye candy: the Italian who spoke with a gorgeous accent. *innocent grin*

Then yesterday afternoon, Steph and I drove to St. Dizier so I could hold a beautiful four day old girl named Christine, and of course to visit with her Maman and Papa. Maman, Papa, baby and big brother are all very well, and if all continues to be well, will be home tomorrow. As usual when around itty-bitty ones, I had to resist the urge to yell out "I want one!" but that, my friends, is another story.

musical odds and ends

Not too much to report from the last couple of days. The pain in my neck let up long enough to give the floors downstairs a good scrubbing. This resulted in having an almighty headache for the rest of the day, but at least it's done.

I've also been traveling to Troyes a lot for choir rehearsals. I haven't been in forever. For two weeks running in December, the director was sick and cancelled rehearsals, and then the next week I didn't go because I misread the schedule and thought it was only soloists. Then we had Christmas vacation and then last week I had "la gastro" so I guess it really has been over a month since I made it to rehearsal. So, like a good little choir girl, I absconded with the car Tuesday afternoon so I could go to the conservatory and sit in a little room with a piano and reacquaint myself with the repetoire. I'm glad I did because I'd forgotten that we are singing so much German this year and I find German to be extremely difficult to sing - Brahms is lovely but too many "ichs" and "achs" for my liking, and German just does not fall trippingly off this tongue.

Then Thursday the director asked me to learn an additional piece which is being sung by a smaller group that was going to be rehearsed last night, so I went to the conservatory early to take a look at it. For some strange reason the director likes to pretend I'm a soprano and assigned me to sing the "canto," or second soprano, which has me screeching all over the place. Meanwhile, Steph's niece, who is singing this piece too, prefers to sing soprano but is stuck in the alto section. There just isn't any justice, I tells ya.

This weekend, we'll be participating in the national director's exams, where choir director candidates will direct us in front of a jury. I hate giving up my weekend mornings for this, as that's precious Me & Steph time, but I am curious to see how it's going to go down. My sister-in-law told me that she's already participated in one, and had one director who was really awful and managed to pass her exam, and is currently directing a choir and is still awful. That's a bit shocking, considering the high caliber of directors I've encountered since I've been here, so I confess that I'm looking forward to what kind of future directors show up this weekend.

The greetings grind

One French tradition that I have embraced whole-heartedly is the practice of sending greeting cards to wish a happy new year, instead of Christmas cards. The time leading up to Christmas is so hectic; who needs that extra stress? Now that the holidays have past, I can spend more time on filling out cards (getting sick and falling down stars aside, of course), and we have the whole month of January to fill them out and send them on.

Steph suggested that I fill out the cards destined to the States first, so they would have a better chance of getting to their destinations before the end of the month. I dutifully went through my address book and made up a list, and came up with around 40. I suppose I should try to cull some of these addresses, but everytime I paused over a name, I could hear my mother behind me saying "Oh no, not your great-aunt! I know you haven't seen her since you were four years old, but she would LOVE to hear from you..."

Maybe part of it is the fact that my mother never, ever forgot a birthday, which is legend in my family. I'm not kidding; after she died, the vast majority of family members said, "and she never forgot our kids' birthdays." Every cousin in my family received a well thought out toy or gift until they were 18 years old, and then continued to receive a card every year. She was a member of Hallmark's card club, and bought cards months in advance when she saw one for someone in particular. After she died, I copied down all the birthdays and anniversaries from her master calendar and then neglected to send one damn card. I may have had the best of intentions, but I can't bear to go close to her special birthday card box that I brought home with me.

So that's why I endured the strange look from the cashier when I purchased so many New Year's cards, and why there are people on my list that I barely remember. Every card I fill out is another moment shared with Mom.

Now that's what I call a Happy New Year.

whimper

"Hello, Grandma!" Steph greeted me as I hobbled downstairs this morning to see him off to work.

Hmph.

I'm sure I kept him awake last night with all my moaning. Everytime I moved a little, I was rewarded with a sharp pain in the neck. It was so bad that this morning, before Steph went downstairs, he checked my back to make sure I hadn't bruised it. There was no bruise, but the muscles across the top of my back and my right shoulder are so swollen, he could feel them.

Steph actually suggested I call a doctor. This from the man who never goes to the doctor, "because then he'll tell me that I'm sick. If I don't go, then I'm fine." Pfft. Men. But no, I'm sure I'll be fine in a few days, but I did decide to go to the pharmacy to get something for the pain. I came home with a French version of Ben Gay. I haven't tried it yet, because I didn't want to smell like, well, Ben Gay while running errands in Troyes this afternoon. Right now, I'm waiting for Steph to come home so he can administer it. I feel like a junkie waiting for my dealer.

Now if only my fairy godmother would arrive and wave her magic wand around the apartment, so I wouldn't feel so guilty about being in too much pain to scrub the floors.

vivi qui tombe

This morning, I forced my way out of a very strange dream, which involved living in a haunted house with my Dad, and made my way downstairs to say good morning to Steph before he went to work. I must still have been in a reverie about flying stuffed animals (I have no idea, don't ask) because I fell down the last three stairs. I didn't break anything (this time), but I sure did wake up in a hurry. I'm sure there are those that would say that the cause was the fact that our stairs are bare wood, but I'd like to point out that the last time I fell down stairs (and broke my big toe), it was in my old apartment which had carpeted stairs. I am just that clumsy.

Anyway, I shook it off and got on with my morning. After a breakfast of banana bread and juice and checking my emails, I donned some old exercise clothes and went back downstairs to try out my new yoga DVD (this is the first part of "turning a new leaf" this year... in the past I've threatened to buy exercise DVDs... this time I've actually bought two!). Unfortunately, I found out in the first five minutes that I did indeed hurt myself in the fall - suddenly I couldn't raise my right arm over my head without feeling a jolt of pain in my back. Seems I've pulled a muscle. Damn it.

So I've popped some pills (just aspirin, but I wish I had some muscle relaxers right now!) and had a hot shower, and I've got to somehow attempt to walk to the grocery and back and then mop the floors. With one working arm. *sigh* I would love to say "to hell with it" and lay around in a pitiful fashion today but I didn't do a damn thing last week because I was sick and frankly the state of this apartment is making me ill. I can't relax when it's like this. Damn it.

In other news, I'm responding to my first want ad with a cover letter and resume today. The good news is that they're looking for a bilingual (yeah I know, it's still a stretch) person to work with English speaking clients with some admin duties and it's an eighteen month contract. The bad news is that it's an hour's drive away, in a village south of Troyes. The odd news is that I don't know who the business is or what they do (at least in the States you usually know who you're applying to!), and I'm not sure how much it pays - they give an amount in the ad but don't say if it's gross or net. If it's gross, it's not too terrible for a first job, and if it's net, it's what I made (if not more) at my last job, which isn't bad at all. Anyway, fingers crossed, please!

what dad brought me

I had several requests to post what Dad brought me from the states. Well, the customer is always right here at DfF, so here's a list of what I was missing:

• Dad brought me the American version of City of Villains (I've been playing City of Heroes since I moved here), so I can continue to play on the American servers (and I rarely have lag! How's that for computer connections?)
• REAL mayonnaise (tee hee heeeeeee!) I've been wanting to make some tuna fish sandwiches, and they just don't taste the same with French mayonnaise. It's perfect for the chicken salad Dad taught me how to make when he was here!
• Karo syrup - and as promised, I made a pecan pie while Dad was here
• Stove Top Stuffing, chicken flavored - went great with the rotisserie chicken we had yesterday
• Blueberry muffin mix - will probably make these this weekend
• two tins of clams, which I mentioned in my last post
• Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix - Doc sent me a packet back in November so I could make a veggie dip for our Thanksgiving dinner in Paris, and I've had a hankering for it ever since!

Additional requests included:

• I offered Dad's courrier services to Doc, who requested Bridgeford pepperoni sticks, which unfortunately have yet to be delivered (maybe next week?)
• Dad also brought a gift for her almost-two-year-old son
  
• Steph requested a couple of packs of clove cigarettes and Dad went to a discount cigarette place in North Carolina (he doesn't smoke anymore but he does indulge in a cigar now and then, and this place has the biggest walk-in humidor on the East Coast or something outrageous like that) and they didn't sell them by the pack so Steph got a whole carton of cigarettes. Now, I'm not one to talk about smoking, but those clove ciggies make me mighty ill. I'll be glad when they're gone!
  

Well, there you are, that's what I was jonsing for from the States. I could have asked for so many more things but I'm afraid Dad would have tried to bring everything I requested - I had only told him that there were three things I really wanted and the rest was only if he had room in his suitcase, and he still brought everything!

christmas with dad (part two)

I'm happy to report that I'm feeling more human today, so here we go with part two! I'm afraid it's quite long, but I decided to just go ahead and blurt it all out in one go.

Monday we did a little sightseeing and headed west to Provins, but first we stopped to see Steph's friend JP. Armed with a Christmas bottle of Calvados and a fresh loaf of banana bread, the guys caught up for about an hour before we got back on the road. Steph and I have been to Provins before (I think that post even has a link to my old photoblog; that's a whole other story and I'll get back to that!) and it seems that we're always going in winter! This time we walked briskly through the old village and looked inside the church before heading back to the car. It was just too cold and wet to spend too much time outside!

Tuesday we went back to Troyes for more sightseeing. First we went to the hat and glove store downtown, because Dad wanted a hat and a better scarf than the one he brought. The man in the store was very odd; he kept referring to Dad as "the young boy" (now that's old-school, y'all!) and completely freaked me out at one point. The hat Dad chose was crushable, and the man kept saying "so when your wife gives you a hug, your hat will be ok!" and looking at me when he said it, so I kept responding "but that's my father!" Finally I realized that the word for "wife" and "woman" is the same in French, so what he was really saying was, "so when the women give you hugs, your hat will be ok!" *sigh* But when we walked out of the store, even Steph said, "wow, that guy is really weird," I didn't feel so bad! Then it was off to the tool museum. This may not sound like a barrel of laughs to most of you, but Dad absolutely loves anything to do with working with your hands and really enjoyed the displays of tools going back 400 years. We ended the day with a warm drink in a bar Steph and I go to often downtown before heading back home.

Wednesday was supposed to be the day my in-laws came for lunch, but we woke up to snow everywhere! It was bad enough that Steph's mom didn't feel comfortable driving here; even in Troyes the roads were covered in snow. Instead, Dad taught me how to make his clam sauce for pasta - he had brought me two tins of clams, since I can't find clams in a tin here! (If anyone knows where I can find clams in a tin, please let me know!) In the afternoon, we all walked around the corner and introduced Dad to another favorite past time - losing money at Rapido. Actually we didn't have a bad outcome this time - Dad won one Euro and we won six (thanks for the luck, Dad!). In the evening, Dad taught us contract rummy (and we learned that it is really easier to shuffle two decks of cards together when the decks are the same size!).

Thursday was the big cooking day, and the one I was most looking forward to. All of my life, my favorite meal was my father's tomato sauce and spaghetti. Before I got married I was pretty terrified of the kitchen but now that I've gotten a bit more confident I felt ready to take on this new recipe (my sister's already been making this for years now). All afternoon was spent making meatballs and crushing tomatoes - I'm sorry I can't tell you more, as it is at this point a family secret! In the evening we had a couple of friends over and everyone enjoyed it - I think Steph was pleasantly surprised as I think he was a bit skeptical when he saw what was going inside! The best part is that we've got lots of sauce in the freezer which will last us a few months!

To continue reading this post, please click "Tell me more!"


If you ask me, Friday was an absolute disaster but Dad swears up and down that he had a great time. Let me explain - Dad told me before he came that what he'd really like to see is some Gallo-Roman ruins in France. There just happens to be a Roman arena and an intact mosaic from the period not too far away, and everything I read online said that they are open during winter, so we picked up Steph's mom and off we went. First we stopped in Neufchâteau and went to the first restaurant we found for lunch. This ended up being the best pizza I've had so far in France - it was really a pleasant surprise! Dad and I stuffed ourselves with pizza while Steph and his Mom feasted on steak and fries. We rolled ourselves out of there and headed on to our first tourist stop, the house where Joan of Arc was born. Which was closed. Hm. A stone's throw away is La Basilique Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc de Domremy-la-Pucelle, a basilica dedicated to Joan of Arc. Good thing Steph found an open door, because there weren't any obvious signs that the place was open. I was really happy that was open, as I think that the paintings of the life of Joan are just gorgeous. It's definitely worth a stop if you're ever in that part of France. Then we were off to Dad's part of the tour, the arena and the mosaics! Which were closed. Obviously. I could have thrown myself under the car, I was so upset. But the day was not lost - we were then on our way to visit Doc and her family, bearing Christmas gifts. Doc's husband, Marc, warned us that it had started to snow at their house, but we were undeterred because, up until that point, most of the streets had been cleared of the snow that had been falling for the past few days. We slowly made our way there, trying to stick to the bigger roads, and the snow started to fall faster and faster. By the time we got the national road that leads to their village, it was falling so hard that we couldn't even see the road, and the executive decision was made to head to the auto-route and make our way home, and I had the unhappy task of calling with the bad news. I was inconsolable, and even on the auto-route - the toll-paying four lane highways that cross France and are the first to be plowed in a snow storm - it took us two and a half hours to travel what normally takes an hour.

To make matters worse, when we woke up on Saturday, all of the snow had melted. Damn it!

Saturday, of course, was New Year's Eve, and we were invited to attend the concert of Steph's niece, who plays the violin. We arrived in Troyes a little early, so we hunted up a bar to duck into before the concert started, and found ourselves transported back home! Well, Dad and I did, anway. As we walked in, we were greeted by the R&B classic "634-5789" and we knew all was gonna be right in the world, y'all. By the time the live version of "Viva Las Vegas" came on, however, Dad discovered The Truth about my husband - he ain't got no rhythm! It's tragic, I know. How anyone can just sit there when "Money (That's What I Want)" comes on, I just can't fathom. Then it was on to the classical concert (what a switchup!). It was a really lovely concert, which also featured the organist who played the organ in the cathedral on Christmas, and a string quintet. The bad part was that we all assumed it would only be an hour long, since it started at 8:00, but no, two hours later, and after an excrutiating audio-visual presentation on the parable of the prodigal son, we were released headed over to Steph's brother Thierry's home to eat a traditional New Year's Eve dinner of seafood (crab legs and oysters and shrimp, oh my!) and just as we were getting ready to eat desert, the clock chimed twelve, and we all kissed each other and wished everyone a Happy New Year!

Sunday, Dad's last day with us, was spent at my in-laws', where we were invited for lunch. We were joined by Steph's oldest brother Phillipe and his family. Phillipe and Dad got on like a house on fire and I had a great time acting as translator for the two of them. Dad announced that he wants to come back in the summer of 2007 (as we are likely going home for a visit this summer) and Phillipe invited him to see Europe from the cab of his moving van. God only knows what kind of madness the two of them could get into in Europe!

And of course, Monday was Dad's day to travel back home. I suppose I've always been lucky at Charles de Gaulle airport, as I've never had a problem myself, but we arrived two hours before Dad's flight and they told him that the flight was already overbooked! Then we had to run to the other side of the terminal to the Wait List line, where they told him that it wasn't a problem and they took his bags. Then, the lines to pass through the ticket and passport checks were insanely long, and Steph and I were running around trying to find the shortest line, and finally left him twenty minutes before his plane was scheduled to leave, but Dad told us not to wait and he'd be alright. The plane ended up not leaving for an hour, but that's a whole different story.

Whew! My god, did you actually read all of that? You are a champion! I wish that I had some pictures to share, but to my shame, we still haven't bought a camera so I don't have any photos to document his trip, so forgive me for being so detailed; I wanted to get down all that we did while it was still relatively fresh in my mind. It was absolutely wonderful having Dad here with us, and I'm looking forward to his next visit, hopefully in the summer, when we can really do some great sightseeing!

try again tomorrow

It seems that my digestive track is trying to turn itself inside out. Hopefully, it's a 24 hour thing and I'll be able to continue part two tomorrow. Back to bed...

Christmas vacation with Dad (part one)

So as you know, Dad arrived on the 22nd of December after not getting any sleep at all on the plane, so we decided it was better to leave Paris for another time and head straight home. I'm rather happy we did, as not only did he pack too many clothes for such a short trip (but he knows better for next time!), but he also brought every single thing I'd asked for. I'd sent him a list of foodie things I've been missing, telling him to choose a few that would fit alright in his luggage, and damned if he didn't bring every last one. He nearly pulled his shoulder out trying to drag them up the stairs in the metro. Thank god we were only going to one stop!

So the rest of the day was travel and rest in the evening. The next day, the three of us walked around the Friday market and picked up a rotisserie chicken for lunch and Dad chose some flowers to bring to my in-laws for their first meeting. Lucky for us, the guy at the flower stand told us that the flowers he had chosen were traditionally used to place on the graves of loved ones! Steph and I had no idea, but his mother sure would. Happily we avoided this international incident and headed to Troyes after lunch for the momentous meeting. Afterwards, we walked downtown for a bit and Dad had his first look at Troyes, which he liked very much.

Saturday was Christmas Eve, and we headed back to Troyes to celebrate with the whole family. We were sixteen altogether, with Steph's oldest brother and his family spending Christmas with his partner's parents. All the food was amazing - youngest sister Corinne made some amazing hors d'oeuvres (she even stuffed the cherry tomatoes!), followed by a delicious zucchini soup, and then the escargot which Steph's father had prepared by hand. There were 180 of the delicious things and nephew S. ate 25 of them! This was followed by the main course of guinea fowl with vegetables. Poor Dad passed on the cheese course (there was really an insane amount of food!) and we finished with the traditional desert of Christmas, a cake in the shape of a yule log, whose name escapes me at the moment.

Finally, it was time to open presents. As always, my French family showered gifts upon their extended American family, and Dad received lots of gifts, included chocolate (of course!), a beautiful beau livre, or coffee table book, about Aube (the departement where we live) with English captions, some more chocolate, and finally the big gift from Steph's parents and us: a gorgeous carving knife and fork with bone handles in its own wooden storage case. Since Dad really loves to cook and takes a lot of pride in his cookware, it was a perfect choice from my in-laws and Dad was really touched. In turn, Dad gave my in-laws some beautiful hand-made goblets from the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Happily, they made it overseas intact and my mother-in-law pronounced that they were "vraiment beau!"

Christmas Day was mostly spent recovering, but we were able to stumble out the door in time to make it to the annual organ concert at the Cathedral in Troyes at 5:00 in the evening. As always, it was actually colder in the Cathedral than it was outside, but we were able to hang in there for half an hour before we gave up and ran outside. From there we headed downtown and, since it was a bit early for dinner, we ducked into a bar for a quick drink. We were just in time, as we had found one of the only bars open on Christmas Day and we had about forty-five minutes to warm up before they closed (and man, did the waitstaff look ready to head for home!). Unfortunately, our favorite restaurant was closed on Christmas, but we found one open on the same street, which turned into one of the "happy accident" surprises of Dad's visit. We were among the first to arrive for dinner, but the place quickly filled up. It was a really wonderful dinner and we all enjoyed our meals very much. Also, we were pleased to learn a little about the history of this restaurant in the back of the menu - it seems that one of the recent proprietors of this establishment recently traced the history of the owners of this restaurant, and it turns out that it has been a running restaurant in one form or another in the same building for over five hundred years.

I'm going to wrap up this part of the visit here or I'll ramble on forever. Part two should show up some time tomorrow!

Bonne année

Vacation is over and I'm exhausted. I suppose that's the sign of a good vacation, right? Dad is, even as I type this, winging his way back state-side (well, as far as I know, anyway; we haven't heard otherwise and the trip to the airport this morning is a blog entry in and of itself).

I'm not even going to attempt to tell you everything that happened over the last two weeks right now, as the gray matter between my ears is rather more frazzled than normal, but I can give you some highlights, including:

• teaching Dad the joys of playing Rapido while drinking a coffee in the local PMU
• Dad teaching me how to make my favorite home made meal of all time, and then subjecting it to our friends (it was a thumb's up all around)
• the look on my Dad's face when he opened his Christmas gift from Steph and I and Steph's parents
• finding the Best Pizza in France in the last place you'd think to look
• stumbling into a bar in Troyes that exclusively plays Blues and Soul music, and Dad discovering that his son-in-law has no rhythm
  
• the very odd man that sold Dad a new hat
• Dad increasing his French vocabulary from zero to ten phrases!

and more where that came from.... possibly tomorrow. For now, I want to wish every single one of you lovely folks who stumble upon this mess a very Happy, Fabulous, Outstanding, Insert-Your-Favorite-Adjective-Here, 2006!