September 16-September 20, 2019
Day 22 Monday, September 16: Edgar was up and out before 6 am. The kids and I got up and had planned a massive clean of this 300 year old apartment. With a pocket of change (but not nearly enough) we filled our suitcases with the bedding, covers, pillow covers, pillow stuffing, towels, etc….anything fabric that we thought we could wash. We march ourselves around a block or 2 and spend the better part of day rub a dub dubbing our digs. I’ve never done this. The kids thought is was fun! I talked to an interesting lady who has lived in le Marais off and on her whole life, in between jobs in Australia, US, China. Now she’s retired and happy. But no washer and no dryer. At home, we swept and vacuumed and cleaned until the kids were calling me Ms. Hannagin. As a treat, we went to the American diner and they split a cheeseburger while I had Pastrami. It was a TREAT, to be sure. Did we do our school? I guess we did:/
Day 23 Tuesday, September 17: This is the day set aside to get serious about life. We get up, get going, get our groceries, get to learning, get to dance class (which was a typo on the schedule so we find ourselves wandering around, trying chocolates all over town until we run into a park and burn off a few of those calories). We get off track and jump back on. We finish our school, make our own dinner (with left over pastrami:)) and get to BED. We’ve got to get serious people!
Day 24 Wednesday, September 18: Have you had a Pastel de Nata? It’s an egg tart from Portugal and it is to.die.for. It is a bit like a buttermilk pie, except it’s personal size and the crust is more layers of crust, kind of like phyllo, and the filling isn’t quite so sticky-sweet, and it’s dusted with cinnamon and it is perfection. We stopped at Comme Lisbon for one of these each and it was a good 6 euros spent on the way to the metro to head back to the American Library for our new Wednesday tradition. A nice walk, metro ride, more walking, time in the library for looking and reading, then we head out to church. We stopped at a bustling boulangerie for a chicken sandwich (pulled chicken with mayo, boiled egg slices, tomato, onion, lettuce on that baguette) and we split it between us as we raced to get to choir practice on time. We make it, and what do you know but Carson will be singing the “God is so good” solo at church on Sunday! She’s very happy and did a great job. Geer did a great job, too, and is getting friendly with the other boy in the choir, who’s name is Raphael. He’s kind of French/Australian and here for who knows how long with his French mum and Aussie dad. We race off after choir to get to Carson’s dance lesson in le Marais near our house. This dance school has 140 different teachers and multiple studios teaching 70 varieties of dance disciplines and over 400 dance classes a week! We find a classical dance class for Carson and she tries it out. This place is literally a maze. It surrounds a courtyard with multiple doors, each going up to 4 floors. To get to Carson’s class, we go up 2 floors, down the hall, through the musty corridor and down a circular staircase. It smells like feet and armpits all over. You know there’s very little a/c and maybe none in these buildings. People are changing all over the place. The halls are so narrow you can hardly fit yourself, much less 2 people. The director of Carson’s particular studio tries to convince Geer to try. He’s not buying it. So, we go across the street for an Aperol Spritz (I’d have one at home if I could find a way to keep Prosecco…any ideas?). We get her an hour later and of course she loved it. Now it’s 5:30 and we have almost a day of schoolwork ahead. Heaven help us!:)
Day 25 Thursday, September 19: The days are starting to run together beginning with snuggles in the morning (which is kinda late, I’ll be honest) and giggles at night. How will we ever go back? This morning, Geer wants to go get something at the grocery so we get dressed right away, find ourselves at the grocery and then have a quick walk. We come home to do a hare of work (or is it a hair of work??? I have no idea?!?). My landlord has FINALLY promised to have a mouse trap for us and the key to our mailbox. YAY! Send us some mail people:). I have a feeling I may not have mentioned the mouse before. But…we have a mouse. In our house. I suspected him early on, we saw him flesh and blood about a week ago. Carson spotted him and we all screamed bloody murder while on the phone with a friend around 9pm our time. The kids danced around on tip toes wondering what was going on. Disclaimer…we have 2 outdoor cats, cat 1 and and cat 2, who handle these sorts of things for us now. But I am no stranger to rodents. I settle down and tell the kids this is no big deal, recap my history and how the mouse really wants nothing to do with us. I call the husband and the dad and decide we are going out at 9pm to find a mouse trap. We scurry down the stairs and our poor neighbor below comes out to ask us to please be 🤐 Oops. Well guess what? They don’t sell mouse traps in these parts. Apparently they use an electrical device and apparently mine is broken. Anyway, we think for days that the mouse was scared away until we leave out a loaf of break and Mr. Jingles, as he is known, chews through it. So, I call the landlord again and beg for help. He promises industrial traps and someone to service the machine on Thursday, which is today. That brings me back. We head to the landlord’s restaurant and have a yummy lunch of cheeses and cured meats from Italy. And bread. Lots of bread. The kids split a Chocolat Chaud, which I’ve mentioned before is more like drinking a dark chocolate bar than anything else. We get the industrial mouse traps (glue traps-boo!), and wind up exploring the area for another few hours. We hit up a few parks and walk past some unbelievably old buildings. At our last park, an unassuming grandma strolls her granddaughter next to my bench. She hears me speak to the kids and strikes up a conversation. Turns our, they lived in New Orleans for 3 years as her husband was a French Law professor there. They LOVED New Orleans and one of her daughters ended up marrying an American, so her 4 grandkids speak both English and French. The grandkids start showing up at the park after school and the next thing you know, we are being asked (or ordered) to follow them home. Then to come upstairs with them. Crazy! My new friend lives on one half floor of the building. She has another daughter who lives below and the daughter with 4 kids lives above. Also in the building are 2 Americans. These are not really “apartments” like I would have pictures, but grand suites with 12 or 14 foot ceilings, 2 floors, and many rooms covered with memorabilia of her travels and her family. It was surreal and so kind. After a quick visit, we exit and my friend vows to call me when she gets back from her 2 week Yoga retreat in India. What a day! We run around to get a few more things and again, it’s 6 pm and we have a day of school left to do.
Day 26 Friday, September 20: Yay! Meet with our friends day! We had planned to go to a great park and museum in La Villette, a little bit away. But our friends are really interested in Greta Thunberg, the 16 year old advocate for climate change. On this day around the world there will be many climate change marches and protests and demonstrations. So, we meet our friends at a walk for this cause. It was a tame and peaceful protest that day, lots of signs against fossil fuel use, commerce, tourism, trump, etc. Lots of learn to swim signs. Maybe a few boobs painted like Earth. But since our visit to Cannes beaches, Geer has seen a few boobs and thus seemed unphased. We watched and talked about what was going on, and after viewing a few of Greta’s films, I must say we were a bit inspired. I have to be honest that my knowledge of fossil fuels and damage to the Earth is small. I have a lot of faith and know that the end is coming when God says it is. BUT, we take such good care of many things that are entrusted to us…our children, our homes, our bodies, our jobs. What about the Earth? So I am thinking about this more. Anyway, we get our fill and head to the park. It’s a huge, beautiful park built around canals and manmade waterways (thank you Napoleon Bonaparte) that were created for clean water sources and transportation. Still used today, but the banks of the canals are now centers for relaxation and recreation. It was such a beautiful day that we skipped the indoor museum and instead walked the huge park, spent time on the massive dragon slide in the playground, had an ice cream and enjoyed getting to know our Paris friends:) Did we eat at McDonalds on the way home? Yes we did! There was a really nice one outside the Metro station that we exited from the park. Seriously, the McDonalds are nicer than at home (at least the ones we’ve tried). They have a cafe area, digital ordering, free wifi, bathrooms you don’t have to pay for and less nitrates, so I’m told. We walk a mile home expecting to find a mouse on the trap, but no luck. So, we set ourselves up to finish our school and I’m on the phone with a friend when Geer and Carson spot Mr. Jingles! It’s him, in the flesh. They basically chase him onto a glue pad (cracking myself up b/c Geer’s shirt says “Be Kind”). I’m so proud of these brave little souls…they do all the work! They get him in a bag, we pack up the olive oil as we continue to argue what to do with him. We scurry down to park #1…it’s closed! So is park #2 (it is 9pm). Finally, we find an area and we open the bag. We sprinkle in a little olive oil so Mr. Jingles has a chance to escape the glue trap and we leave him there hoping he can live his best life somewhere other than our apartment. Yes, we’ve had many treats today, but after this, we go for another ice cream. Mother of the year:/
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