Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is not so good....

For the most part this has been a good week in Paris.

Samuel had his first swim lesson, which was more fun for Julia and I than for Samuel but we expect him to adjust over time.

Samuel started at the halte garderie this week.  He was on a very shortened schedule.  We both spent an hour with him on Monday.  On Wednesday I took him in for an hour and stayed with him and on Thursday I took him in for an hour where I stayed for the first 30 minutes then left him in their custody for the final 30 minutes.  Overall our impressions have been favorable.  Marivanne (spelling?) is the woman who is in charge of the babies and she is very good with Samuel and all the babies.  When we first arrive she picks up Samuel and hugs him and kisses him and holds him for a minute or two before placing him on the ground.  She then gets down with him on the ground plays with him and gives him toys.  Very nice.

This coming week I will drop him off for two hours on Tuesday and if all goes well we will begin his regular 4 hours on Tuesday/Thursday.

We went to the Louvre for the first time this morning.  We are now Ami's d'Louvre(friends of the Louvre).  Essentially it is a yearly membership where for a fee of 60 euros we have free access for a year to permanent exhibitions with reduced fees for special exhibits. This is a positive because everyone that has told me about this said that applying was similar to dealing with the french bureaucracy.  I was told to expect to have to return with further documentation at least once.  To my surprise I was not even asked for the documentation I brought with me. and we were successful in applying for and receiving our Ami d'Louvre card.

We then had a very civilized moment on the Paris metro.  After the Louvre we went to the Musee D'Orsay area to buy some chocolates.  Even though that was exciting it was not the highlight.  As we were exiting the metro we were ascending a narrow flight of stairs.  There was a man in front of us and a women in front of him.  As the women in front exited through the narrow door at the top of the stairs she held the door for the man in front of us, who then proceeded to hold the door for us and we held the door for the woman behind us.  A very nice Parissienne moment that makes me think there is still hope for this civilization.