Tout le monde a la defense!

We made it out to La Défense on Sunday. This is an usual part of Paris: a modern business district. In fact, the literature suggests it's the largest business district of this type in Europe. It's actually not in Paris. Rather it's a suburb.

I was really blown away. I had no idea how big it really was. It is like a very well designed U.S. downtown. In fact, it is a LOT like a U.S. city: modern, sterile with huge spaces. We visited Les Quatre Temps center and discovered a shopping mall that reminded us of Roseville Mall. Ewww.

This isn't my favorite place in France but I was, nonetheless, impressed.

La Grande Arche:

View of the La Défense

French class

I (Jim) decided to take a french course here in Paris to continue my education. Of course I picked L'Alliance Française because all of my education in the U.S. was with them. So far I am really enjoying the class. It is mostly a review for me but I was expecting that. And the review is necessary....my grammaire is quite rusty.

The other students are quite interesting and really nice. There are 12 of us in the class: 2 Russians, 2 Italians, 1 Brazilian, 2 Brits, 1 Chinese, 1 Canadian, 1 Syrian, 1 Columbian and myself. Very cool. The conversations are amazing but my reaction is a little bit like the technical conference last year in Paris: everybody is alike. I always expect people to more exotic. In the end we mostly see things the same. What is challenging is the accents. It's hard enough to understand an american accent. Try understanding an italian accent in French!!! Surprisingly, the easiest accent to understand is Russian. Perhaps it's probably the most similar language in terms of sounds.

The teacher related an interesting perspective yesterday. She's been teaching for many years and she said she has really seen a change in how prevalent english has become. Fifteen years ago all of the students in our class would have needed to speak to each other in French because it was the only common language. Now, all of the students speak English. Some of them actually learn French by translating to English instead of their mother tongue (even, she said, speakers of other latin languages).

velo, velo partout

I don't know which is scarier: trying to signup for a special iphone deal in french or negotiating the streets of Paris on a bike. On the other hand the former is just embarrassing. The latter could turn me into a flesh pancake. I suppose it is true in every monster city like New York or Paris: competing with cars for the road is a losing proposition. Paris, on the other hand is truly insane. Roads become one-way without any clear reason and then change to one-way the OTHER direction. The names change regularly (it's rare to find a street that doesn't change names within a few blocks). And then there are the motos. These lunatics (motorcycles, scooters) are truly the most dangerous thing on the streets. They dart in an out of traffic without any regard for the rules. It reminds me of driving in India: chaos...except only the moto drivers think they are in India. At least every few blocks a moto driver passes within inches of my handlebars. Lord help me should I happen to turn slightly at one of those moments.

I'm still trying to get all away to Versailles from our apartment. In St. Paul this would be a pretty easy ride (35 miles round trip) but in Paris it starts with a 45 minute nightmare getting out of town far enough to start actually riding. Gratefully on the way there today I found a group of guys who ride constantly (literally) around the Hippodrome (an equestrian field and stadium). It's like a perpetual criterium. There are ALWAYS guys riding the circuit. You can join the peloton and try and hang in there...or drop off when you've had enough. Kind of cool.

In spite of the hazards Paris has an incredible bike-loan program called Velib. It's almost free (5 euros for 7 days). You pick up a bike in one place and drop it off in another. There are literally hundreds of Velib stations around Paris so you are never far from a bike. The bikes are simple but very well maintained. It's hugely popular. And of course "there's an app for that" (an iPhone app that shows me the nearest Velib station).

Mauvaises Nouvelles

My (Jim) mom died this week.  She had gotten weaker and a more senile the weeks before we came so we were worried.   She seem to get a bit better the week before we left but it was just hope.  She died in her sleep on Monday morning.  I flew back to Madison and returned yesterday.

Ma mere, je t'aime toujours.  Nous nous souviendrons toujours ton sourire et ton rire.   Au revoir.

´

Lost (literally) without my iPhone

I jumped on the bike today for my first ride in the city.  I was planning a ride out to Versailles...about 35 miles round trip.  Unfortunately I didn't have web access on my iPhone (and thus no GPS/Mapping capability) so I spent an hour carefully writing out maps.  Alas, I came to a rond point that didn't show one of my streets...nobody I asked knew where the street was.  When I gave up and decided to go back I realized that the street I had arrived on was not on the rond point either (the street name had changed before I arrived at the rond point).  Ahh!!!!!

I'll try again tomorrow when my iPhone internet access is ready.  No wonder the french never go anywhere.  They can never navigate to anyplace outside of their own neighborhood!!!

Nous sommes arrivés à Paris!

Arrived in Paris on Wednesday night.  Spent most of yesterday recovering from jetlag and now amongst the living.  We love our neighborhood.  It is a quartier piéton (pedestrian neighborhood) so most cars and motorcycles are prohibited.  There are bread, fruit, meat, and wine shops at the end of the street so it easy to find our daily rations.

Our landlady is wonderful.  French belgian, living in Italy the last 30 years with several properties dispersed.  Very kind and intent on pleasing us.

Our arrival in Paris was challenging.  5 pieces of luggage including a bike case meant we had to take a tax or shuttle.  We couldn't find a shuttle on short notice so we went by taxi.   The experience was just too classic french.  The driver breaks out into an argument with the taxi starter.  Then he spies our 5 pieces and throws up his hands in disbelief.  At last he mangles them (and us) into his taxi and we were on our way.  By the end of the ride we were best friends and he was giving us a description of each building we pass.  Very fun.