The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Ahead

Hmmm, last day of April. Tomorrow is the 1st of May, a holiday in France that is like the French "Labor Day" (complete with all sorts of manifestations or protest marches). After that, I feel like I can finally start looking ahead of me a little, instead of the "head down, just do what's in front of me so I don't lose my mind" mode I've been in for most of the last couple of months. Georges and I both had to be in that mode to get through everything we've been juggling, but now the dust is clearing (or I've vacuumed it up) and we can start to put our attention on other things. Like taking a deep breath... and exhaling. There are three ways this is important right now, this allowing myself to look ahead again. The first is my health. For the better part of the last year, I've been having increasing problems with my left leg, from foot to hip. I broke this leg and ankle quite badly in three places back in 1996, even have a permanent plate on one shattered bone, and my ankle will never be 100% again. For years, it hasn't actually... Read more →

Excavation

Weekend #2 in our new place, and still digging out from under the cartons. But we're making decent progress, and I hope by the end of this weekend we will have excavated our dining table so that we can stop eating at the coffee table. Georges' "Honey Do" list is getting smaller. Still on the list: hanging the remaining curtains (one of the 3 windows in the salon and our bedroom), and hanging various coat and hat hooks since the so-called coat closet is too small for all our coats, and also too high for the Little Guy to reach. We've got 98% of the books and DVDs unpacked and on shelves, too. Still no place for the boy's games and collectibles but we'll get that worked out pretty soon; he's got access to all his books and that's more important to him. I'm still trying to work out how to fit all our clothing, the bedding, and the stuff for the kitchen. It's clear we will have to purchase a piece of furniture and I think we've decided on this "secretaire" from Ikea for our entry hall. The dimensions are perfect and it can fulfill several roles: bed sheets... Read more →

No, it's not Nixon

Charles de Gaulle was apparently known for his arms being up in the air like this, as part of his political gesturing, especially during WWII. "During every speech he would stop half way through to invite the crowd to join him in singing La Marseillaise, before continuing and finishing by raising his hands in the air and crying Vive la France!" [source: Wikipedia] Hence, his caricature being used to sell wine. I can tell I'm American because the first thing *I* thought of when I saw this was: "Hey, just like Nixon!" Read more →

How to move your stuff in Paris

First, buy some cartons and some tape. Lots and lots of both. Some bubble wrap would be a good thing, too. Lots and lots of it. I am now brilliant at making cartons. Could put it on my resumé. Build the cartons and use the tape. Put your stuff in the cartons (use bubble wrap where necessary). Curse and swear in your native language when the tape gets all tangled up (unless you also had the foresight to buy one of those great packing-box tape dispensers - which this time, we DID because I so hated all the lost time we spent looking for the "edge" of the tape during our last move). When you run out of boxes and/or tape (and you WILL), buy more. Then kvetch about how much you're spending on boxes and tape this time, even though you saved many cartons in storage after your LAST move so you wouldn't have to buy (m)any in THIS move. Also complain about what a pain it is to lug 20 flat cartons home on the bus because the other passengers keep giving you the stink-eye for taking up all the standing room. You can't see the mountain of... Read more →

Victoire!

Feeling kind of proud of myself right now. I just successfully explained the concept of "sarcasm" (in French, un sarcasme) to my 10-year-old step-son. When he said, "Oh, it's like a mensonge (a lie)", I elaborated to explain the distinction between a lie and a sarcasm (because granted, it's a bit of a fine line). With examples. It's rare that I can explain an actual new CONCEPT to him in French (versus a mere translation of a word). I can't even help him with his homework anymore (since he was about 7 1/2) because I'm afraid I'd cause him to make mistakes. Score one for the American step-mom today! (And I'm not being at all sarcastic about that.) Read more →

Life in a box

We will have been in our new place one week tomorrow. In this past week, Georges and I have accomplished an incredible amount, especially Georges whose "to do list" had all the things requiring loud drills and hammering. I can't believe how much he accomplished, but we were both motivated by knowing the Little Guy would be coming to our new home this weekend and we wanted to make his space as comfortable as possible (while still leaving his cartons of books and games unpacked, so he can arrange his own things the way he likes). He arrived this afternoon and although he'd been here once when the apartment was empty, he made the complete tour again, ending up with a big smile on his face while seeing his new bed and congratulating himself on his excellent choice in new bedding (he really did choose something very nice and grown-up, too - no more cartoon characters for us!) We found all his favorite extra pillows and soft blankets so he will feel cozy and at home on his first night sleeping in the new space, despite the fact there are still cartons everywhere. He seems very pleased already with our... Read more →

Asking

It is not often I would ever use my blog to solicit donations for any cause. But this is different, and I respectfully ask you to please read the following. As I've mentioned recently, I have a very dear high school friend named Dwight, who about five weeks ago was suddenly diagnosed -- seemingly out of the blue, after only two weeks of "abdominal discomfort" -- with Stage 4 cancer (neuroendocrine, which is one of the more rare forms). He is only 50 or 51 years old, and has a wonderful wife (college sweetheart) and five children ranging in age from 19 to only 5. He is fighting for his life and for his family, and has a very difficult road ahead (and he was just transferred to a hospital in Philadelphia, which is two hours from his home, and because his wife also has the children and farm to care for, she will only be able to visit him a couple of times a week now - but the new hospital has a specialty in the type of care he needs). Dwight is a highly respected dentist in my old hometown community and has developed a thriving solo practice.... Read more →

Déménagé!

Well, it's official - we've moved (past tense)! Now it's just a mountain of badly marked, disorganized cartons to sort through (Georges is doing a great job with the sorting, even as I write this). The movers finished up at around 3 or 3:30pm, earlier than I would have expected, but we got a bit lucky because when I arrived at the new apartment in advance of everyone else, there were two empty parking spots right in front of our windows, so I staked them out for over an hour until the truck arrived with the mont-charge (the elevator-thingie used by professional movers because the elevators and staircases in Paris are usually too narrow). Even though our apartment is only on the first floor (1 flight up from ground level), it was still faster to haul everything up on the left through the living room window. The four moving men were all very nice, very careful in wrapping furniture, and worked quickly - several of them were part of the same crew that moved us into Rue Lamarck two years ago and they remembered us. We gave them croissants and pain au chocolat to get them started, and some beer... Read more →

The Last Supper

We did it: we are packed and ready to go, and I even had time to vacuum, clean the fridge, and take a shower. Now, we're out at a local restaurant having dinner and a much-needed glass of wine. Tomorrow we change our address and to a certain extent, our lifestyle. Can't wait! Read more →

Counting down

We move in 3 days. THREE. Are we packed and ready to go? No. Do I have the world's most poorly timed and inconvenient migraine that is slowing me down? Oh, yeah. Does this totally suck? You bet. However, while I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by all there still is to do, I remember back to two years ago when we were packing up a huge 5-bedroom house to move into this 2-bedroom apartment, and how in the 2 or 3 days before the move, we were also still "not ready". And somehow, it all got done. It will be the same this time. We actually have less to pack and move, we've done a good job of getting rid of nearly everything we don't want or can't use (except our stove/oven which won't fit in the new apartment and the renters who will be moving in here apparently already have one, so they don't want ours -- we're going to try and get a charitable organization to come and get it next week). We will have a few junk items to put out on the curb for pick-up, but not so many. I think we will need to go... Read more →