Chelsea and boxing day

Finally attended my first Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge. The blues have played at home for the last 5 years but this was the first year I purchased tickets as in the past when we have been in London we have spent boxing day with Julia's family.

The trip to the bridge from Julia's mothers is a short 10 minute bus ride. The bus drops us off right in front of the bridge. A beautiful facade of brick which blends into the neighborhood quite well. Major difference between London stadiums and US stadiums is the complete absence of parking. In the US, stadiums, be they in urban or suburban areas, are huge behemoths surrounded by acres of parking lots. At least at Stamford Bridge the surrounding area is a typical southwest London neighborhood. Homes, businesses and pubs. Yes, there are many fine pubs near the bridge. We quaffed a few pints at a quaint Irish pub on the Fulham road called Brogan's. We did not arrive in time to have an early lunch, something that will be rectified with my next visit. Chelsea were matched against West Bromwich Albion, a village near Birmingham. It was interesting to hear the variety of accents in the streets. It was as hard to translate as if I was on a street in Paris.

Chelsea won the match 2-0. It should have 6 or 7 but Chelsea, as is their habit this year, had difficulties with their final touch in front of the net. I had forgotten how beautiful the beautiful game is as is this was my first live football match since seeing the US v Mexico in a world cup qualifier in Columbus, Ohio. In which the US won 2-0 thus securing a spot for Germany '06.

Since we were unable to eat at the pub I tried to order fish and wedges but they had sold out so I had to settle for a hamburger. Much to my chagrin, I discovered with my second bite that the burger was laced with mayonnaise. Definitely an acquired taste, much like Christmas pudding and cake which are truly gastronomic nightmares. The only negative for the day; we discovered after purchasing our beers at halftime that we were not allowed to take alcohol into the stands. Needless to say the beer was downed quickly as we returned to the stands just in time for the start of a Chelsea dominated second half.

Leaving the bridge after the game the sight was akin to the start of a major road running race. The street was a mass of humanity sweeping us along. For a least a kilometer the Fulham road was shut to traffic as the crowd slowly dispersed down the side streets. We walked all the way back to Julia's mothers place in Chelsea. A short 15-20 minute walk along the Fulham road.

All in all a very good day in southwest London.

-Dave

Samuel and father Christmas

Samuel met Santa Claus (Father Christmas, Pere Noel) today.  It is beginning to appear that I am becoming more accepting of this multi-culturalism.  Today was an extreme example that I did have great difficulty with.

Samuel and I attended a message mothers support group christmas party at the hard Rock Cafe in Paris.  A good time was had by all.  It was a challenge to hear a Santa Claus saying "Happy Christmas."  Yes, Santa had a British accent.  Very, very strange.

Samuel and paper.

Sorry the pictures are in the wrong order.

Since Julia departed for the US on Monday Samuel and I took a picture to send her a message.  The lower picture is what we wanted to send.  The top picture is Samuel beginning to destroy the message seconds after it was placed in his hands.

We are looking forward to Christmas as Samuel will not care for his presents but instead he will only be interested in playing with the paper in which his gifts are wrapped.

Samuel is very tough and also very, very fast.  On Tuesday(16/12) Samuel was laying on our bed as I was folding and hanging his 1 year clothing which I had just washed.  I placed his t-shirts on the bed between Samuel and the edge of the bed.  As I turned toward the remainder of the clothes on the dresser, no more than 18 inches from the bed I heard a thump. There was Samuel on the floor holding a freshly folded t-shirt in his hands and mouth.  He cried for about 5 seconds as I picked him up and laid him on the bed.  As he was placed on the bed he began to laugh and smile.  An amazing kid.  It appears that he will be able to survive his incredibly incompetent papa.

-Dave

Samuel's new feeding toy

Not the best picture to see Samuel's new toy. Julia's friend Claudia sent us a blue airplane that attaches to Samuel's spoon.  The idea is to make eating fun.  Unfortunately it has not worked with Samuel.  And no, we do not usually feed Samuel with Molson on Julia's lap.  

We are having difficulty getting Samuel to eat solid foods.  He no longer screams when we try to feed him. Now, he just closes his lips and refuses to open them.  We sing, we laugh we play with him and nothing seems to work.

For all the mothers out there; any suggestions as to how to get Samuel to eat?

Julia packing

It worries me that Samuel is smiling while Julia tries to smuggle him into her luggage for her trip.  Usually that place in the suitcase is reserved for Molson.

Pizza delivery in Paris

We finally broke down.  Sunday was Julia's last day in Paris before leaving for 4 days in Cincinnati with P & G.  We had plans to go out for pizza for lunch after church but it was raining when we left the church and even though we had an umbrella we decided that the walk was too long to the pizza parlor so we came home and had a typical Parisian lunch of meat, cheese and bread.  We had hoped to go to our favorite restaurant for dinner but Samuel did not cooperate when he refused to eat during his evening meal.   He took 3 ounces of milk and then pushed the bottle away and started to cry when the solid food was presented.  Just did not feel that it was appropriate to take him to a restaurant when he was not eating.  So Julia had the idea of googling for food delivery in Paris and we discovered a couple of pizzerias that deliver.  The pizza was good(not enough sauce for my taste, but I am American) but it was not warm when delivered so we had to use the oven to warm up.  The pizza was also expensive(welcome to Paris).  20 Euros for 2 medium pizzas.

We did go to the American Cathedral(which we have joined as members) on Sunday for the children's Christmas pageant.  Christmas 2010 Samuel will be a sheep.   It was very typical of Christmas pageants with a few hams stealing the show, a few kids refusing to participate. Overall a very heartwarming experience.  The pageant included songs in English, French, and Spanish as the congregation is very diverse.

-Dave

New address

We have had many requests for our new address recently and we realize that we have not sent an official change of address notice to everyone.

New address:

109 Avenue Charles de Gaulle

92200, Neuilly-sur-Seine

France

Life in Paris

I have been reviewing the blog today and noticed that it has been awhile since my last rant about hating Parisians.  Maybe it is the weather that is forcing fewer people to be on the streets and in the stores.  Or maybe I am finally adjusting to life in Paris.  I think I have finally come to the realization that my nice, safe, secure life in Cincinnati is gone forever.

I am hoping that once the holidays are over that Samuel and I will be able to get out more and start getting to know other parts of Paris.  The Louvre offers a friend of the louvre program where for 50E Samuel and I will be able to bypass queues and enter the Louvre as many times as we like.  It also provides discounts to other museums in Paris  Looking forward to using this quite often in the new year.  

I will resume french lessons after the 1st of the year, with Samuel's cooperation.  I can communicate on a very rudimentary level but I am unable to hold a conversation. 

-Dave

Christmas in Paris

Our 40 Euro Christmas tree.  Very much missed the opportunity to cut our own tree as we were able to do in the states.  Not the same as buying from a florist and carrying the tree home along the city streets.
Stockings hung by the fire with care.  Yes, Samuel's stocking will be full.  The other stockings are for the cats.  No, they are not spoiled.

Interesting that we do not see Christmas lights decorating the windows of other apartments. The village of Neuilly has placed very nice trees along the side streets.  Some businesses have decorations(Most notably the McDonald's across the street).

Samuel had his follow-up flu shot yesterday.  He cried for about 10 seconds then was asleep before we got on the bus for the ride home.  Samuel is doing reasonably well with solid foods. He is not enthusiastically opening his mouth but he does eventually open.   It does take about 30 minutes to complete his solid food feeds.

It snowed heavily on Tuesday(9/12).  No accumulation near our apartment due to the heat of the buildings and the streets.  Julia has told me that it never snows in Paris and it has snowed twice since our arrival in July. :)

Julia will be in Cincinnati next week(monday-thursday) on business.  She returns Friday morning and we take the train to London for Christmas.  Thanks to our friend Denise in Cincinnati who has graciously volunteered to be a package depot that we can have our US christmas presents shipped so that Julia can bring them back on the plane.

For anyone interested in visiting after the new year.  There appears to be a very interesting Warhol/Miro exhibit at the Musee du'Luxembourg through February 22nd.

-Dave

Samuel bath time

Samuel taking his last bath with the sling in his tub.  He is a big boy now and we no longer will be using the sling.
Mummy and Samuel on their way to the bath.
Samuel pulling mummy's hair.  I love my son!

Thanksgiving in Paris

Dave, Samuel, Grandma & Grandpa in the hall of mirrors at Versailles
Grandma and Grandpa on the river seine cruise with Notre Dame in the background.
Julia, Dave and Samuel(in his new snowsuit) on the Champs d'elysees.

Thanksgiving in Paris was quite interesting.  Our turkey was 7.3k(approximately 18 lbs.)  Quite a large turkey.  We were worried that it would not fit in our oven.  With a little encouragement it just did.

Samuel's grandparents visited for 8 days.  The weather again did not cooperate.  No snow but a lot of rain and cold temperatures.

We were able to visit Versailles.  The experience was tainted by the presence of exhibits by the "artist" Jeff Koon.  Call me old fashioned but I did not go to Versailles to see modern "art".  To call what this individual does art is an insult to the drawings I did as a 4 year old.  One example.  There was a piece that was a red plastic toy lobster suspended from the ceiling on a red chain.  Laughable.  Rant off.

This was my first Thanksgiving that I can remember not watching American football.  Suspect I will have to get used to the experience.

Brought all of our Christmas items up from the cave tonight.  We plan on going to the Neuilly Christmas market on Saturday to purchase french tree lights and whatever else they have that we like.  Christmas trees are already out on the streets.   Most of them appear to be wrapped.  We will have to be patient and find one that is not wrapped so we can inspect to ensure that it is indeed a good tree.

Not a lot new to report.  We are all winding down from an eventful 11 days of having family visiting. Samuel was difficult to get to sleep the last few nights.  Overstimulated during the day meant not wanting to sleep at night.  The last 2 nights he has gone to sleep much easier.

-Dave

The cousins meet.....

This is Samuel's cousin Eila feeding him his bottle

Julia, James, Eila and Samuel taken while they were skyping Grandma Moya.

The cousins.  Color coordinated wardrobes?

Julia's brother James, his wife Astrid and their 6 year old daughter Eila visited over the weekend.  Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate.  Snow actually was falling on Saturday, No accumulation but snow did fall from the sky.

The weather did break long enough for Eila and Samuel to go to the Bois de Bologne and feed day old baguette to the ducks.  James and Julia called it a social science experiment.

Good day and bad day......(again)....

First, the good news.  Samuel and I went to the market this morning and we went to our usual produce vendor and we were greeted not only with a smile and a "Ca va", we were also greeted with a handshake.  It is my understanding that a handshake is equivalent to Tu'ing someone(For those of you that do not speak French(this includes me).  The French have a formal and an informal you, vous (formal) and tu (informal).

When you are Tu'ed you have been accepted by the person doing the tu'ing

Now for the bad part of the day.  Samuel and I went out in the afternoon to do some Christmas shopping in the St. Michel area, very tacky touristy stuff.  To get there we had to change metros.  Well, we departed our train at Chatelet station and proceeded to leave the station.  Only after I was standing on the sidewalk did I remember that we needed to change trains not leave the station.  We had to return to the station and use another ticket to get to the train we needed.  

A good part of the day was that we were successful in purchasing quite a few Christmas presents for family.

Now, the really disturbing part of the day.  On our return we were planning on changing trains again and going to an English store in the 16th to look for items that we need to prepare Thanksgiving dinner.  We needed to change at the Charles de gaulle etoile.  We departed the train, and, proceeded to depart the station.  Good news is that Samuel had his first close look at the Arc d'triomphe.  However, we were not supposed to exit the station.  At this point it was getting near Samuel's food time and we decided to return to the apartment.

Neither Julia or I have been sleeping well.  I hope that a lack of sleep is all that was behind my "sleepwalking" through the metro stations today.

James, Astrid and Eila are arriving on Friday for a quick weekend visit.  On Tuesday my parents arrive for American Thanksgiving.

For those of you in America,  I am currently watching Highlander on Orange TV.  It is just as good in French.  I have yet to see an episode set in Paris broadcast.

This had to happen eventually....

I believe my nomination for father of the year took a major hit today.

Before anyone panics, Samuel is fine.  As for me, I am not sure.

There is not easy way to admit it other than just write it.  Samuel fell off the couch today.  It is about a 12 inch drop onto a hardwood floor.  He is fine.  The floor is fine.

He was taking a nap on the couch while I worked on the computer and the next thing I knew I heard a loud thud.  Samuel had silently woken up and rolled off the couch.

Okay, start the cyber yelling. I deserve it.  I am seriously disappointed in myself. I know these things will happen but it is disturbing when someone puts all his trust in you and you let them down.

-Dave, AKA bad dad

Samuel's room

These are pictures of Samuel's decorated room.  It is a safari theme.  I know the pictures do not show a great amount of details.  If you want to see the details you should come for a visit.

Same day(continued)......

Samuel has been napping since he ate his lunch.

While were at the Carreau this morning we saw our first christmas display.  Tacky christmas items in Paris?

While we were walking home we noticed 4 women and their children passionately staring into a store front.  As we walked past we saw that the store was being converted into a toy store.

The weather is nice today so when Samuel awakens we will walk to a store called La Ferme(the farm) which supposedly stocks american and british items.  We have been to the two best known American stores in Paris and they are well stocked but exorbitantly priced.  A snickers bar cost 5 euros.  Ouch!

-Dave

Good day and bad day......

Apologies for not posting updates of our daily activity.  Will try to be more diligent in the future.

Samuel and I went shopping this morning.  first to Monoprix where we were able to find evaporated milk for making pumpkin pies for American Thanksgiving.  Had the usual incidents of people being rude.  I have developed a retort which i hope is keeping me sane.  When someone does something terribly rude;this morning Samuel and I were standing in front of the butter section and a woman came up and stood directly in front of us, so close that the back of her head was in Samuel's face.  She did not immediately take anything off the shelf and move on.  She stood in front of us for at least 15 seconds.  When something like this happens I tell Samuel not to worry he will not grow up to be a Parisian.  I say it loud enough for the person to hear me.  Unfortunately, I have to say it English.  Hopefully, soon I will be able to say it in French.

I know it is immature to do what I do but I need to let the frustration out and pushing people would just end up with Samuel and I in jail.  I do feel better for having vented.

The rest of the morning was very good.  We were out for only 45 minutes and we went to Monoprix the Carreau(an indoor covered market) and the florist.  We were able to do all this and be out less than 45 minutes.

I was assertive at the Carreau:something I usually am not when dealing with the French, when the vendor started to give me small potatoes when I had asked for 'plus grande". We need plus grande as we are attending the American Church's multicultural couples Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday and we have volunteered to bring mashed potatoes and .........drum roll ...................... Jello Salad.  Yes!!!!!!!!

Samuel is hungry.  Time for apple.  Papa will also have to change his shirt.

Will post more later today.

TTFN

-Dave

Guy Fawkes, the French version

Above are pictures taken during the Standard Athletic Clubs Guy Fawkes celebration.  I am very depressed that Samuel's first exposure to fireworks was in celebrating an English holiday observed in France.  I will never be able to live down the shame. ;)

The club did their best to stage a proper event but the mostly French staff was lacking in experience.  The bon fire was small and poorly designed.  It was 9 pallets stacked on top of each other, with paper stuffed between the pallets.  They attempted to light the paper with long matches.  Unfortunately it was a cold, wet and windy evening.  As they lit one spot, left to light another, the previous spot slowly died. Eventually someone threw a flammable liquid onto the embers and the bonfire was ignited.  According to my British wife a faux pas of major importance was observed as the Guy Fawkes effigy began to burn and fell off the bonfire onto the ground.  Very, very bad manners.  

The club is a very nice club.  Tennis courts, soccer pitches, swimming pools, a nice clubhouse.

Unfortunately, it is located in Meudon, a suburb south of Paris.  It has no nearby train, bus or RER service.  If we wanted to be join we could only attend events on weekends.  They do offer kids play and exercise classes during the week but Samuel and I would not be able to attend.

The club did offer fireworks after the bonfire.  The fireworks themselves were better than I expected(but my expectations were very low). However, for some unknown reason, the fireworks were set off to a soundtrack of what sounded like a Madonna dance-mix.  Very distracting and disturbing while watching fireworks with children running around.

We spent part of today decorating Samuel's room(Thank you, Beth & Bob).  Pictures will be posted soon, not only of Samuel's room but of the apartment as we are almost moved in.  

-Dave

Samuel is our kid, we cannot deny it.

I left Samuel on his activity mat for a few minutes while I went into the kitchen to prepare his lunch.  When I returned to the living room Samuel had rolled of the mat onto the hardwood floor.  Somehow he had managed to take his fuzzy bee book with him.  He was laying on his stomach, pushing himself up on his elbows giving all appearances of reading the book.  He had also managed to take off one of his socks.

Samuel's first solid food.....

On Saturday November 1st, Samuel had his first real food.  Rice cereal, not sure if I would classify it as real food but our pediatrician does.  The bottom picture above is of the 1st.  The feeding was about as successful as we could have hoped.  Samuel took in about 2 teaspoons of food, we think.  It is difficult to tell how much he actually takes in as you can see a great deal of the cereal remained on his face.

The top picture above is of Julia feeding Samuel today(Sunday 2/11).  The feed went much better today.  First, Samuel took his first bottle from Julia without complaint.  Then he ate all of his rice cereal. It was not much, only a 1/2 teaspoon of rice cereal mixed with 1 ounce of formula but he ate all of it and drank 8 ounces of formula also.  We think he heard the doctor the other day and he is making a concerted effort to take in more calories.

Julia spent most of Saturday steaming and pureeing carrots, potatoes, butternut squash and then freezing it in ice cube trays so that we would have quick, easy meals available during the week.(For any P & G folks reading this, yes, there is a spreadsheet schedule for Samuel's meals.)

Julia and I had date night last night.  We went to a restaurant in the 14th.  Good atmosphere but pedestrian food.  If anyone has a favorite restaurant in Paris we would love to hear about it. The only item we ask is that it be near a metro station as the RER is unreliable on the weekends and we don't want to be stranded with Samuel with a babysitter.

We also have spent a good portion of the weekend hanging pictures on the walls.  The apartment is definitely looking and feeling more like home.  The guest room looks especially nice if anyone is interested in visiting.

More Samuel

This is a picture taken of Samuel as he woke up this Tuesday(10/28).  Somehow he had managed to take his favorite toy and lay it across his back.  Yes, he is always that happy when he wakes up in the morning.  One morning this week his diaper leaked profusely and his sleep sack was soaked and he was lying on a soaked sheet. When I went to get him out of his crib, he was still smiling and happy.

Everyone, even our pediatrician, says that we will eventually pay for his overly happy personality but we are enjoying it while we can.

Samuel's personality may change today(1/11) as today is the first day of his new diet.  Today Samuel will begin eating solids(we hope). We will start him with a few teaspoons of rice cereal and then move on to pureed vegetables.  Will report back later with pictures and an account of the adventure.

Been gone for far too long.....

First things first.

Samuel had his 6 month check-up on October 28th.  All is well.  He weighed in at 7.3 Kg and with a length of 67.5 cm.  Converted he is 16.1 lbs. and 26.1 inches.  His length is still 50% but his weight has fallen to the 25%. Our doctor is not worried as he is eating well and often.  We think because he is such an active baby that he burns a lot of calories.  He doesn't sleep much which also contributes to his burning of calories.

s. This is a picture of Samuel taken today(10/31) which shows him laying next to his 6 month handprints.  I love my conniving, deceitful go behind my back wife.  The plate is a gift to me from Julia and Samuel that she spent last Saturday morning arranging.  Of course, I knew nothing about it.

Halloween did not meet expectations.  The trick-or-treat we were supposed to attend today was severely affected by the weather.  It has been raining for 2 days with the high temperatures hovering around 5-7c (40-43f).  It was just too cold and wet to take him out for trick or treating especially considering the parc was a 20 minute drive, in good weather conditions.

Samuel did have a halloween experience on the 29th.  A group on the west side of Paris had a mall intimate(20 kids!) halloween party.  Samuel and I attended and again Samuel was the youngest in attendance.  The 4 parents(me and 3 moms) with young kids sat in a corner while the moms with bigger kids made halloween bags and went trick or treating through the apartment.  Quite hilarious actually to see the kids knocking on bedroom and bathroom doors asking for candy.

I must remember it is all about the relationship

Getting things done in Paris is all about building relationships. All the books say so, so it must be true.

Of course, no one remembers me but they do remember Samuel.  I refer to him as my get out of jail free card as I can say and do just about anything and as long as Samuel is with me my bad behavior will be tolerated.

For the last two days I have gone to our local butcher and the first day I was greeted rather coldly, today I was greeted with a smile.  Of course, it may have helped that I purchased a lot more today.

I have also been shopping at the outdoor market at the Place de Marche and I have been utilizing a single produce vendor.  Today the vendor talked to me in English and I tried to respond in french.  He asked where I was from and he told me he was from Egypt.  He also tried to educate me on how to order produce.  I hope I remember for my next visit.

Guy Fawkes in Paris

We will be able to celebrate Guy Fawkes day this year.  There is an English speaking sports club southwest of Paris that has an annual barbecue and bonfire to celebrate Guy Fawkes day.  They invite members from the message mothers support group that we belong to attend.  We will not only be able to celebrate the day it will also provide us with an opportunity to make new friends.

Preacher update

I was doing laundry on Thursday.  As Samuel and I went out twice during the day it was a day long endeavour to complete the laundry.  

While Julia and I were sitting down for dinner I thought that I had not seen Preacher since early in the morning but since she has a tendency to find a hiding place and not be seen for hours I was not overly concerned.

As I was folding and putting away the final load at 11PM I opened my sock drawer and Preacher came scrambling out.  I almost had a heart attack as this black ball of fur came flying out of my sock drawer without a sound.  I should have known something was wrong when I was fixing dinner as I kept hearing noises from the bedroom which sounded like someone walking on the floor.  Since I saw no one or thing in the bedroom I was convinced that we had a ghost.  Of course, it was Preacher trying to open the sock drawer.  I had to re-arrange my sock drawer this morning as Preacher had scrambled all of my socks into one unrecognizable pile.

Bad cat, very bad cat.

Samuel update

First, no teeth yet.  Based on the amount of drool Samuel is producing teeth cannot be far away.

Last night (Thursday) we were tired and we decided to eat diner on the couch so we could watch the season finale of project runway and still get to bed early.  While we were eating Samuel was in his bouncy seat next between the couch and the table.  On the corner of the table were the papers from the days mail.  Samuel was a contortionist in his efforts to reach above him to his left to grab the papers.  He became very frustrated as he was unable to accomplish this on his own.  When Julia gave him one sheet of paper he gave us a huge smile and he began to crumple the paper and throw it around his head.  Why did we spend so much money on toys when he gets so much enjoyment from a solitary piece of paper?

Today he has spent quite a bit of time on his activity mat.  The activity mat is a soft mat with two arches that intersect above the mat.  From these arches, toys dangle that he can grab and play with.  There are holes in the arches that the toys loop through.  Today he has taken one of the toys off the arch 3 times.  He is advancing far too fast for me.

I cannot believe that in 6 days he will be 6 months old.

-Dave

Life of a working Mum

There is something very bittersweet about being a working Mum. Last night, as soon as Samuel saw me walk through the door, he turned towards me, stopped fussing and started laughing. It is very reassuring to know that maybe he misses me (ok... well maybe just his food source!) as much as I miss him during the day. It must be hard for Dave to be ignored when I walk into the room - but then I am sure that during the day Samuel smiles and laughs at him probably even more. I just hope that I don't miss too much of Samuel's development while I am at work. Last night we saw him reach out for the first time for something other than his favorite toy. It was just a piece of paper on the side of the table, but he was contorting himself in his bouncy seat and reaching out to try to get hold of it. When I moved it a bit closer to him, he grabbed it and was so pleased with himself that he was laughing and waving the paper around... before scrunching it up and twisting it into unrecognizable shapes (note to ourselves: we're in trouble... things may no longer be safe around our growing boy!). [Edit: I just noticed when I posted this that Dave posted an update on Samuel today also - see below :-)]

Work itself is going fine. It's getting very busy as I've now learned enough about the role and the business to have a clear idea of what I want to do - and there is a lot to do. It will be a demanding job as the business is not in great shape and while there are a lot of tangible things I can do, most of these require the help of a lot of other people - and I will need to both get their support to new ways of working and help to change the overall culture. The hardest thing is to find the time to do everything that I want to do. I want to spend all the time I can with my son. I want to have time to enjoy my life with Dave. I want to invest the time in my work to get great results... because the best results also help take care of my family. But there is never enough time in a day to do all of these things, and sleep certainly suffers as it is the lowest priority.

It is quite a shock to move from a US work culture to a French one - even if they are part of the same multi-national company. France seems more formal and more hierarchy-conscious than what I was used to in the US. On the one hand that means they are better-dressed (!) - on the other this means that there is much less of a sense of 'team' and of 'fun' / good-humoured casual banter when we work together. They are also very intellectual... very focused on understanding the detail of things, enjoy having a debate about it (in great detail), and want to have everything perfect before moving forward. It does not seem to come naturally to them to confront the harsh reality of things, figure out the top few things we need to do to improve it, and get on with doing something about it ASAP. I have to figure out how to get to a good mix of adapting myself to the culture here but also adapt the culture to one that I believe is most productive.

I've already been to Geneva a couple of times for work. It's hard to leave Dave and Samuel, but it also makes me realize how lucky we are that we are able to have one of us be a stay at home parent. My functional boss is a woman who is just recently getting divorced and she clearly has some significant struggles to manage the care needs for her elementary-school aged children. I am still managing to breast-feed Samuel - and take the time during the day to pump while at work. The great thing is that I am able to do it hands-free... so I can work at my laptop at the same time! It isn't easy though - I sometimes have to walk out of meetings or try to fit it in quickly between things. It's also quite unusual in France to have someone breastfeeding for so long (only 53% of French women do, and most of them stop after 3 months) - so they probably think I'm quite strange! I have to admit that while I will miss feeding Samuel it will definitely make life a bit easier at work.

It has been fun seeing all of my old friends from Europe again at work. At these meetings in Geneva I keep bumping in to people that I haven't seen in years - many of whom I got to know in different countries. It will also be great to start to see more of our friends again - now that we have moved in and the hotel is open for business! Bookings are coming in... so we wait to hear from you!

Kids are the same everywhere.

Samuel and I went to monoprix this morning to pick up a few things.  They have baby mais (baby corn) which is fresh.  This means we can have one of our favorite salads while her in Paris. 

Okay, back to the point of the post.  While we were walking around the candy section, looking for powdered chocolate, I saw a mother and son wheel their cart up and park it next to the candy.  The mother walked off to another aisle.  the son, with a very mischievous look on his face, snuck over to the candy and grabbed something and sneaked back to the cart and hid the candy under items that had already been placed in the cart.  This is the type of behavior that i used to partake in.  Kids are the same everywhere.  Needless to say I have had a smile on my face since the incident.

A different perspective....

After further review, I do not hate the French.  Only Parisians.

I have come to realize that it is simply a battle over space.  The times that are challenging here are walking on the sidewalks, shopping in the narrow(compared to the US) aisles of the supermarket, getting on/of the trains.

I have to remember that the behavior is not directed towards me or Samuel.  I have seen young Parisian males rush past old women on the train to beat them to seats.  I have to take the time to remember that this is the first time I have lived in the big city.  When you are visiting as a tourist such behavior is often quite quickly forgotten when overwhelmed with the beauty and newness of the city.  When you are living here the daily battles become exaggerated and can be overwhelming if one lets them.  It is easy to become a prisoner in one's home.  I must get out every day.  That is why it is wonderful to have the park so near because as soon as we turn the corner towards the park the sounds of the avenue Charles de Gaulle fade away.  The pedestrian traffic is greatly reduced and we can leisurely stroll to the park and find a bench on the edge of a lake and enjoy the dogs, birds and couples strolling around the lake.

That is why I always try to remind myself whenever we see a tourist destination that we are living in Paris.  Samuel is almost always in the baby bjorn and I will try to grab his arms and throw them up in the air in celebration and say into his ear "We live in Paris!".

-Dave

Samuel is too smart for us.

Now that we have received our sea shipment we have moved Samuel from his bassinet to a crib.  The bassinet was getting ridiculously small as Samuel barely fit from head to toe.  Now that he is in his crib he has plenty of room.  even so that he was able to roll over on to his stomach the other night.  I was only slightly disturbed when I went to wake him up and he was on his belly.

When Samuel was in his bassinet he was able to kick a musical aquarium(thank you, Jencie and Antonio) to advise us that he was awake and wishing to get up.  Now that he is in his crib the aquarium is harder to get to.  So today he decided to roll over to the edge of the crib and turn on his overhead mobile.  We have to figure out how to download from our video camera so that we can make a movie of Samuel waking up as he always wakes up with a smile and a tremendous desire to get his day started.

Had another good day today.  Samuel and I went to the market this morning and i was able to ask the cheese shop if they have ricotta.  Unfortunately they do not but I was able to communicate.  Progress is being made.

Samuel and I then went for a 2 hour walk in the bois de bolougne.  We found the playground again so that anyone who visits that has kids who need to burn of energy have a playground available.  Found a lake that has a rowboat rental; as Samuel was asleep I sat on a  bench and watched a father try to teach his young daughter how to row a boat.  Paid attention as this is something I will be undertaking in a few years.

Dave-

More pictures and life in Paris is good(at least for today).

Samuel in his halloween costume.
Samuel in a full body shot(except you can't see his orange feet) of his halloween costume.

First the good news.  I received my absentee ballot today.  It is a good feeling to feel connected to the homeland.  Unfortunately there are no candidates worthy of the office but I have to vote in spite of the dearth of qualified candidates.  Political rant off.

We will be able to celebrate halloween in Paris.  There is an english speaking mothers group that hosts a party in the Parc Monceau that we will be attending on the 31st. Julia will take time off from work so that we can enjoy the day as a family.

Pictures

Even I have to admit that Samuel is not always the perfect child.
This is Samuel just after he was cleaned.
The view form the window in our entryway.  Not the best view of the tower but it is a good reminder that we are living in Paris
Three generations of Denman's.

I don't want to be French......

Just made my first foray to our new monoprix and used the livraison domicile(home delivery) for the first time.  Actually, using the delivery was the easiest part of the journey(as Julia had set up the details on Saturday).  However, i do not think I will ever adjust to the rudeness and selfishness of the French.  I lost count of the number of times that people left their carts in the middle of the aisle or walked out from an aisle without looking.  One incident was hilarious.  I turned the corner into an aiisle and a women was looking at the produce but she had taken her basket and placed it on the floor behind her, effectively blocking the entire aisle.  there was another woman pushing a cart on the other side of the aisle.  While my response would have been to say pardon and hope she would move the basket, this woman ran into the basket with her cart and moved it 20 feet down the aisle before it moved from in front of the cart.  Hilarious and very enjoyable but I hope that in my time here that I do not become such a person.  Either of them, actually. Both women displayed disgusting social mores.

I have to admit that i was french yesterday(but entirely by mistake).  I was at the outdoor market, which is very nice, even by french standards, looking at the fish and one of the workers asked me what i wanted and I requested some salmon.  Only after finishing the order and turning to walk away did I notice a que(line) at the other end of the kiosk waiting for service from the fish monger.  I felt bad and ashamed but also quite french.  But I hope to not do that again.

I attended the bloom where you're planted seminar at the american church on Monday and Tuesday this week.  I had lunch on tuesday with some very interesting women.  One of who had married a frenchmen 2 months ago and moved to Paris, giving up her career and placing her life on hold for him.  She was obviously very frustrated but our conversation moved toward the attitudes of the french and how she also hoped that she would not become french but that it was hard to be nice when the people you are being nice to are so selfish and socially unaware.  Good to know that I am not alone.

I will say that I am generalizing and should not.  When I am on the metro with Samuel in his baby bjorn I have almost always had someone offer me their seat.

Rant over.  Thanks for listening.

Molson tells us how he feels about moving.....

We went to the old apartment today to pick up the cats. We had left them at the old aprtment to aviod the stress of being in the new place while we were moving in. We also needed to move the car as Julia had signed the new lease for a parking place on Friday.

We picked up the cats. We placed Preacher in a cat carrier and carried Molson to the car. Julia was holding Molson while riding down in the lift. Unfortunately at this time Molson chose to releive his bladder. Julia was not happy. While we were driving to the new place I was holding Molson in my lap. I had my hand saound his stomach. As the car was moving I noticed some tightining in his stomach. I picked up Molson and placed him on the seat between my legs. As we noticed a very strong odor I picked up Molson and there was a solid pooh on the seat(and some on my pants). It could have been worse as the poh was solid and diarrhea. There is always a bright side. We drove the rest of the way with the windows down.

The cats were very strange in adjusting. Preacher actually spent part of the evening in our bed. Something she has never done before.

We live in Paris...

We must have been really tired. We just discovered that we have a view of the Eiffel Tower from our new apartment. If you stand in the entry way and look to the left from the window the Eiffel Tower is visible rising above the adjacent building. If you walk out our front door and walk halfway across avenue charles de gaule and stand in the dividing strip, if you look west you see the grande arch of la defense, if you look east you see the arc d'triomphe.

We occassuionally need reminders that we are actualy living in Paris.

Update and pictures to follow soon.

We are in.......

and our stuff has arrived. It took them less than 2 days to move all of our stuff in. However, they were not very organized and brought most of the boxes first with the furniture coming near the end. This meant that we could unpack boxes but had no place to put stuff. Needless to say the place is a mess but we are working our way through the problem.

Samuel is a real handful. He won't stop rolling over. Even when we are changing his diapers he is trying to roll over. We are trying to teach him how to crawl as he gets on his belly and just kicks, kicks and kicks his legs but he does not go anywhere. Hope he doesn't start to crawl soon as we have a lot of work to do to child proof this place.

Julia and I were both hurt today as I was sitting in the rocking chair in Samuel's room, holding him and Julia walked in with two of his favorite toys that she had found in the living room. As she walked towards us she held the inchworm up in the air and Samuel reached for it with both hands. He has never reached intentionally for anything before, not even us. It is good to know where we stand in our son's priorities.

That is all for now. Will hopefully be able to post pictures by this weekend. Keep those comments (that is sarcasm) coming.

Hotel Charter is now open for business. The guest room futon has received mountains(okay, 3 people) of raves for its size and comfiness(is that a word?).

TTFN.

Dave

Welcome to the grand re-opening of the Charter hotel....

It is almost time to move in.  We received the keys today.  The inspection was scheduled for 9Am and when we arrived we were met by the inspector and the owner.  A very nice man who is apparently very busy right now as he is a very high ranking government official in charge of regulating banks.  Everything that we asked them to do for the apartment has been completed with the exception of replacing the opaque window in one of the bedrooms but he said that the glass was on order and should arrive soon.

Again, the new place just feels like home.  It is smaller but much more cozy and comfortable.  we will not have any problem with storage space as we saw the cave (cellar) today and it is the biggest we have seen so far.  More than adequate space for Christmas decorations and seasonal clothes and wine.

The movers arrive tomorrow morning to pack up our air shipment and the stuff we have purchased since our arrival.  They will then move it to the new place and begin delivering our sea shipment.  They hope to finish early on Friday.

Will post pictures within the next few days as we get settled.

The hotel is officially open for business next week.  We will have our first guest this week as Julia's mum, Moya, will arrive to help us move in and spend time with Samuel so that we can deal with the movers and unpacking.

The cats should be fine as we plan on leaving them in the old apartment until the movers are finished at the new place.  We hope to have the whole family together again by Friday evening.

Phone numbers should not change. New address is:

109 Avenue Charles de Gaulle

Neuilly-sur_seine, 92200

France

It is easy to get to us from Charles de Gaulle airport or gare de nord(trains).   From either location you only have to change metro/rer once to arrive about 100 yards from our front door.

Update

We signed the lease for the new apartment last night.  We will do the walk through inspection the morning of the 30th and move in beginning on the 1st.  Our sea shipment will be delivered on the 2nd and 3rd.  Looking forward to seeing our stuff again.

Julia left for Geneva early this AM(7 AM flight) and she will not return until early evening on Wednesday.  It is her first night away from Samuel since he was born and it is my first evening alone with Samuel.  The only one that is not said or worries(so far) is Samuel.  He is our rock as nothing seems to faze him.  The other day i was carrying him and as I walked into the living room, through the double doors, he threw out his right arm and it banged against the door. He looked at me for a second, cried for about two and then he returned to normal.  We would write a book about how to raise a perfect child but we have no idea how we have been so lucky(so far!)

An interesting side note on our current apartment.  Julia received a message today from the management company and they said that they had no idea what was going on and that this was the first they had heard of any issues that we have with the apartment.  Their representative wants to visit on Thursday evening to examine our complaints.  Considering that we just signed the new lease yesterday their timing is exquisite.

We spent Saturday afternoon reconnoitering our new neighborhood.  Their is a covered market very close, with many food stalls and many small merchants such as tailors, upholsterers and small kitchen stuff.  We discovered that most of the places we will need to utilize are on the opposite side of the avenue.  Which is good as there should be less pedestrian traffic on our sidewalk but we have to cross one of the busiest streets in Europe to access the businesses.  We checked out the Monoprix (across the street) and it is a large store. It not only has food but also a large health/pharmacy and clothing for men, women and children.  We actually purchased Samuel's first pair of mittens while we were there.

Random thoughts and pictures

This is a picture of Samuel and me that Julia took on the 10th.  I will miss the days when he is no longer able to fall asleep on my chest.  There is no better feeling in the world than having your little one fall asleep on you.

It occurred to me last night that I have not been in a car since we returned from London on August 10th.   And I do not miss the experience.  I have not yet been able to get into a regular workout routine but I am still losing weight as I walk everywhere.  Even if you have to take the metro there is inevitably a walk to get to your destination from the station. 

It also helps to be carrying an extra 15 pounds(Samuel) when he is in the baby bjorn.

Went to the new apartment yesterday to measure and take pictures of light fixtures.  It will be a challenge fitting everything into our bedroom but we do have a small office/dressing room next to our bedroom that we can use for overflow.  Every time I see the new place I am more assured that we have made the right decision.  There are a few cracks in the floor but the floor is much more solid and the cracks are in such places that they can be covered by rugs.   The new place is much more intimate.  It is 37 m2 smaller than where we currently reside.  It feels more intimate every time I walk in.  It feels like home.

Another good day

Samuel and I had a good day today.

We took a trip to the covered market this morning. This was our first solo trip to the market.

Discovered that all of the vendors speak some English.  It was interesting as a fish monger said that he would prefer to speak English as he was learning and I told him the same in french.  For the most part the vendors spoke English slightly more than half the time and I spoke french about 80%.    I think I ordered everything correctly.  Julia will tell me when she gets home if I bought the wrong item(s).

After lunch Samuel and I took the metro to the quatre temps mall at la defense.  A intimidatingly large mall.  We were able to find almost everything we were looking for.  Most importantly we found a space heater for Samuel's room( as the temperature is supposed to be in single digits(c) this weekend and we do not know when our shared heat will be turned on.  We were also able to find the Leonidas and pick up some good Belgian chocolate.  Julia and I usually have 1 piece after diner each evening.  Unfortunately I was unable to find a book.  I was unable to find a book by an author that I am familiar with.  I think it will help me greatly with my french learning curve to read french but I also think it would be best if i read an author with whom i am familiar.  Discovered this morning that teenagers are the same throughout the world.  As we were returning from the market(Samuel was in his stroller) and walking down the avenue Longchamp, there is apparently a high school on this street.  I figured this out as about 1000 the sidewalks and the street were completely blocked by teenagers.  Cars were honking hoping to be able to navigate the street. I was shouting, Pardon!!, some of them moved but some did not.  I was forced to run into a few ankles with the stroller to get the space to move through.  Reminded me of the neighborhood where I lived in Kentucky.  I was across the street from a high school and every  morning the kids stood and walked in the middle of the street and refused to move out of the way of the cars.

Good news, we have heard from the agent at our new apartment and they had difficulties when they attempted to clean the walls.  Because of this they are going to paint the walls and this means that we may not be able to move in on October 1st.  But we are encouraged that they are willing to do what is necessary to make the apartment livable and that they are also communicating with us about the details.

We still have yet to hear anything from the current management company concerning our impending move.

Weather depending we will go out this weekend and reconnoiter the neighborhood of our new apartment.  It will not be as easy living as the market, boulangeries are not as close or as numerous.  But there is a monoprix (large grocer) directly across the street and they do deliver.

Will post ore after we have seen exactly what we have available to us.

Samuel is scaring me.  As I have been typing this he has rolled/scooted more than 6 feet and rolled over.  Appears that we will have to keep our eyes on him at all times.  Wonder what will happen when he actually starts to crawl.

-Dave

Good times, bad times

This parenting thing is going to be difficult.  Samuel now rolls from his back to his front with ease.  We have been awake for about 1 hour this morning and he has already rolled over twice.  The first time he completely rolled himself off of his activity mat.  Keeping up with this kid is definitely gong to keep me in shape.

Samuel and I had a good day on Tuesday.  We went to the park and fed the ducks. We learned that pigeons and ducks do not like to share.  We were feeding about 30 ducks when a flock of pigeons decided to descend on the walk next to the water.  Immediately 3-4 ducks came out of the water violently flapping their wings to scatter the pigeons.

Our housing situation is nearing a breaking point.  Last week we saw again the apartment that we bid for when we made our house hunting trip in June(The original deal fell through when the leasee was unable to sell his home).  We put in another bid and Julia received a call on Monday asking a few questions and she was told that the owner would make a decision and we would be informed by Tuesday morning.  Well, Tuesday morning passed with no news.  Our confidence is waning that we are going to get this place.  With no evidence, we just have a feeling that the owner does not want to rent to non-french.  We have instructed our agent that if we do not hear by close of business today that I will look at apartments on Friday.

We have reached the point where if nothing comes from the Friday search that we will consider renting a house in the suburbs,  It would not be ideal but we would have a place to call home.  Living with rented furniture is a pain in the a**.

It is difficult to grasp that it has only been 7 weeks since we left Cincinnati, it seems like an eternity.  I had the flu over the weekend and Julia has it now, so she will be staying home from work today.  We are both control freaks and neither of us feel as if we are currently in control of our lives.

As Roseanne Rosanna Danna(An American TV character) used to say, "Never mind."  As I was writing this Julia was in the bedroom speaking to our agent.   

 WE HAVE THE APARTMENT.

We just saw this apartment again last week and while there are a few issues they are minor and can easily be addressed by the owners or us, if necessary.

For those of you that are curious our new address is 109 Avenue Charles de Gaulle, Neuilly-sur-Seine, 92200.

It is a very nice apartment. It is on the top floor(5th) with 5 bedrooms though they tend to be on the small side.  We will have a dedicated guest room.  It is a much nicer apartment architecturally with elaborate molding on the ceilings and around the light fixtures.  It also has an Ikea kitchen but it is only 2 years old.  The apartment size is 163 M2 which is smaller than the Madrid apartment.  Never thought I would say this but smaller seems better in this case.  de Gaulle is much more intimate and homier than Madrid.

There is no problem with noise, unless we open the windows that open onto de Gaulle.  There is some ambient background noise but if you live in the city that is acceptable.  Luckily, the kitchen will hold the equipment that we purchased for Madrid.  We will not have quite as much storage space in the apartment but we will have a larger than standard cave(cellar).

We are still living near a metro stop. The le Sablons stop is no more than 50 meters from our front door.  The bois de bologne is actually closer, though the walk is not as nice.  We are closer to the area of the bois that has a very nice children's play area.  We are also closer to the Neuilly pool where Samuel will be taking baby swim lessons beginning in January.

The water went out in our apartment this morning. I had to go to Franprix and purchase bottled water so that I could make my flu ridden wife chicken soup.  One wonderful thing about living in Neuilly.  To make chicken soup we walk around the corner to a butcher and purchase a rotisserie chicken(11 euros) cut the legs and wings and put into a soup.  We then have the remainder of the chicken for another soup, casserole or whatever our imaginations can come up with.

Samuel rolled over again.....

Samuel was laying on his back on his activity mat.  He was holding his favorite toy up in the air when it fell out of his hand and rolled away to his left.  He rolled on the his left side and was desperately reaching for the toy when he violently kicked his legs into the air(to the point where he kicked the arches on the activity mat).  He completed the roll and was able to grab his toy. Very impressive.

Had to punch out the gate that was preventing us from reaching the radiator in Samuel's room last night.  Unfortunately after this adjustment the radiator did not work.  Very, very frustrated with the management company/owners of this apartment.  Hopefully we will hear good news today from the apartment that we have bid for.

Frankfurt pictures

Pictures of Samuel and around Frankfurt.

Weary travelers

We are now back in Paris.  I hesitate to call it home as this apartment just does not feel like a home.

Above is a picture of Samuel and I atop the main tower in Frankfurt.

Long day on Wednesday.  Can someone who is familiar with european airlines explain to me why both of our air france flights did not de-plane at the terminal.  Are terminal fees too high or are their too many flights and not enough gates?  This is especially frustrating at Charles de Gaulle as the bus ride from where the plane eventually parked was over 10 minutes to the terminal.  This on top of the plane taxiing for almost 10 minutes to its designated parking space.  Overall, it was 35 minutes from the time that we landed until we stepped foot inside the terminal.

Enjoyed Frankfurt, it was a pleasure to visit after being in Paris for a month.  The people are friendly and courteous. The beer is, well, the beer speaks for itself.  Cold and large steins, filled to the rim.

Paris apartment news

There is no easy way to explain this but I will try.

We will be changing apartments in Paris. We moved into the Madrid apartment on the 13th of August. There are many issues in the apartment that the management company/owner are reluctant to address. The one issue that is a deal breaker for us is the condition of the hardwood floors. The floors in the living/dining/guest rooms are a very nice parquet design. When we visited the apartment for the first time, they were still working on the floors and Julia asked the agent what they were going to do with the floors. She was told that they would finish and repair the floor. Well, unfortunately, the floors in the hallway, Samuel's room and our room, have many cracks and gaps. Some of the cracks are more than 20 cm long and 2 cm wide. One of them is over 4 cm deep. If just Julia and I were living in the apartment we could cover most of the floor with rugs and we would be happy. However, with Samuel we cannot(and will not) take the risk that Samuel will start crawling and get his fingers, toes, knees caught on one of these cracks. For us it is a safety issue. The owners do not see it that way.

The other issue is noise. Double glazed windows were placed in our room. However, the windows do not fit tightly within the frame. The bedroom with double glazed windows is noisier than the living room with single glazed windows.

I will not detail all the issues we have. I will note that the workers that were in the apartment were not properly supervised. As an example, the radiators in Samuel's room and the guest room are behind screen doors. The workers painted the doors shut and took the handle off the doors. So we are unable to turn on the radiators in those two rooms.

Many of the window shades also do not work. This also adds to the noise issues.

We will keep you all updated with our new search. As strange as it seems. The first apartment that we bid on in July appears to be on the market again. Unfortunately we have tried to verify this through our agent but she is incompetent and she has not returned e-mails/phonecalls for 3 days.