Paris beyond the Eiffel Tower

There is more to Paris than the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre.  If you've knocked off all the tourist sites on your list, there are some little known site that you can enjoy without all the crowds. Since we've checked off the main attractions, our site seeing excursions have been off the beaten path.  Last weekend, Thomas and I ventured into the 2nd arrondissment to visit the medieval Tower of Jean sans Peur (John the Fearless).

This is a gem of a monument. There are banners in each room explaining the history of the building and its inhabitants, as well as describing quotidian life.  The banners are in French, but the front desk has a book with English translations.  Reading about past in the place where it transpired animates this bygone era.   Stepping into this well maintained, medieval tower is like walking into history.  As you walk up the steep, spiral, stone stair case, you imagine knights and ladies rushing up and down the stairs.  You forget about modern Paris outside the fortress walls, and easily imagine yourself in the Paris of 15th century with Jean sans Peur walking through the corridors.

Jean sans Peur, also known as the Duke of Burgundy, played a major, if not infamous, role in French history.  He was somewhat responsible for inciting the civil war that erupted between the Armagnacs and Burgundians, assassinated a rival to the throne, and was killed himself by the future king of France. With words such as notorious, murder, tyranny associated with the times and his existence, this monument is worth a visit to get a glimpse of the intrigue and strategy of the power play among the rulers of France.

John the Fearless built the tower as a symbol of his power as well as a defensive structure.  Today, the tower serves as the context for a museum providing the history and background of both the building as well as its famous inhabitant.  The spiral staircase leads to rooms where you can read about life in medieval France as well as the conflicts that involved the duke.  This tower serves as another reminder to tourist that Paris has a long history the remnants of which you can still find well preserved throughout the city

Jean sans Peur added this tower to the existing structure as a symbol of his power.

Symbol of power and longevity.

Coat of arms of Jean sans Peur.

Up four flights of stairs is the attic with beams held together by mortise and tenons secured by large wooden pegs.

International city of lights

Last Saturday, Thomas and I had planned to go to Kathmandu, the Nepalese restaurant in Garches, to celebrate our four year anniversary.  However, that same afternoon, our upstairs neighbor invited us for an  apperatif which turned into an impromptu dinner.

They are sweet, retired couple (he is Egyptian. she is German) who have been together 40 years and spent most of their lives working in the Middle East- Kuwait, Dubai, and Jordan.  We spent the evening chatting about the French system, traveling, and living an expat life.  It was an international evening where they served Armenian cured meats, Italian stuffed peppers, homemade German bread, and a French Sancerre.

In addition to being neighborly, I think they invited us for drinks because they understand our situation very well.  They can relate to being a foreigner in a city and trying to re-create a sense of home by making new friends, establishing a routine, and finding sources for both new and familiar things.  They retired to France  around 2002, and since then they have forged strong relations with local producers and have discovered areas of the city (both Paris and Garches) that locals could only know about.  They have graciously offered to take us around and be our source to these treasured locations.  Until Saturday, I did not realize that Paris had an Indian and Arab quarter.  It is here, where they stock up on their exotic, but well priced, cooking spices.  They also told us about an authentic Indian restaurant in the next town over. The best part of the evening was the fact that I was able to go to the dinner (upstairs) wearing my fuzzy slippers.  That and after four bottles of wine between the four of us over the course of seven hours, it was an easy walk home.

The last few dinners has shown us how international our little town is. This is our fourth dinner so far, and three of the four were organized by a non-French couple.  I'm trying to decide why we're meeting so many expats. It's probably because we are one ourselves, Garches has a large number of expats, and our limited French make it hard to meet more French people.

The other big news this weekend is that it hasn't stopped snowing since Friday.  Snow has come as quite a surprise to me because the French said that it hardly snows here.  And when it does, it melts in a few hours.  I'm a firm believer that everything is better with snow (but only if you don't have to travel).  So this weather has brought me back to my childhood days when snow meant grabbing your sled and finding the closest hill.  I felt a little bad for the French kids, because very few had sled. This is just as well, since there aren't any hills that don't bottom out onto a road.

We took the dogs out and about town to enjoy the wintry weather. Here are some more snowy Garches photos.

Snow beard

Despite seeing one snowplow today, most roads remain uncleared.

To end the weekend, we had fish tacos for Sunday dinner (Thomas was craving fish tacos). Since the French don't really have a taste for Mexican food, aside from tortilla shells, we had to make everything - beer batter fried fish, (sort of) re-fried beans, salsa, and spicy, creamy taco sauce.  Two hours later, we finally ate.  Yum! but way too much work for Mexican food.  Recipe from allrecipes.com.

Wintry Mix

Sun of a gun, it does snow in France.  In fact, we've gotten more snow here in France than we did last year in DC.  And living out in the 'burbs where it stays a good 2-4 degrees colder than in central Paris, the four inch blanket of snow has stayed soft and white.

The dogs love it.  Scout skips (hops on one hind leg for three/four steps) down the snowy sidewalk, and Molly, whose belly barely gets above the snow loves getting her nose deep in the stuff in search of smells.

The market was smaller than usual today.  The crepe lady and coffee guy were not there, much to the disappointment of our grumbling bellies.  A third of the vendors decided to stay home this weekend. No one can blame them. I cannot imagine working outside in the cold and snow for six and a half hours.  There hands and noses looked ruddy from weather. Those that did come had business, evident in the fact that we still had to wait in line, but not like on good weather days.  Our regular charcuteur still had almost a whole jambon aloise (ham).  On normal days, coming at the hour when we did this morning, that ham would have been half sold already.  The market vendors got extra respect from me today. I've always admired the vendors who take pride in their work displaying awards or articles about local competitions they've won or having vast knowledge about the products they are selling.  But those that came on a day like today - 28 degrees, four inches already on the ground, and snow flurries- those are the vendors who deserve loyalty. They came for their customers.

Garches Mayor's office

the market must go on

Parisians and Snow

A few quick observations about the Parisians (and Garchois) and snow:
* They neither clear nor treat the roads. For the most part, the snow melts as people drive over it.
* They do not clear the sidewalks, and on the non-sunny side of the street, the snow turns to ice by the time you commute home.
* It could snow in Garches but not a flake five miles into the city.
* Our french neighbors do not go nuts at the super market. They do not buy up all the eggs, milk, and bread.
* And despite the slick sidewalk conditions, I do live in the fashion capital of the world, so I should not have been surprised this morning when I spotted four inch stiletto snow boots- not once, but twice.

Hot Topics

I've started to read French newspapers.  I was starting to feel ashamed at my dearth of knowledge on current event topics - especially given the fact that Europeans can debate American politics almost as good as anyone I've met in DC.  I had to start reading up on what was going on in France or at least Paris.  American newspapers don't have enough international news and certainly very little about France, so I had to start reading Le Figaro, Le Monde, and France24 (which is in English).

Some hot topics during the last few days include - Same sex marriage and adoption reform in France.  This was one of Hollande's campaign promises. I noticed some mobilization by the Catholic Church against the law last fall.  The homilies I've heard here in France have been mostly academic, but I did take notice when the Priest pointedly started talking about how marriage should be defined.  Soon after, it was a hot topic during dinner parties.  Pamphlets, against the law, started appearing around town.  The big news this weekend, was the huge protest (half a million reportedly) in Paris on Sunday.  Hollande still intends to push for the reform. It is to be presented to parliament at the end of the month. Detractors of the law claim they are mostly against the idea of same sex couple adopting children - they need to protect the children who don't have a choice when it comes to choosing parents.

Headlines today also include France's military operations in Africa.  One was a failed attempt to rescue a French hostage in Somalia. The other was the Malian-French joint operation to retake control of the Islamist controlled north.  There is heightened security here in Paris because of threats by these rebels - a response to France's action in West Africa. This means there are more armed military personnel on the streets of Paris.  Reminds me a bit of living in DC.  I'm not sure if I'm ever going to get used to that.

On a lighter note, snow also made the front page of some French news website.  This is only the second day in the last two months where we've actually seen the white stuff.  It is forecast through tomorrow, so maybe we can get some decent ground cover.  I was warned though that if it snows, I may not be able to get into work tomorrow.  They could be right.  We were walking home from the train station about two hours after the snow started.  No one had treated the roads. If it is in the same state tomorrow morning, I could be working from home... If that is the case, I am going to stop by the supermarket to see if the French react to snow storms like Washingtonians -  stocking up on toilet paper, milk, bread, and eggs like it is the end of days.

Off topic.  Thomas and I went to a gathering of Americans living in Paris this evening.  We worked our table gathering information on where folks have found things like real American bacon (I am still on a mission to find it here!).  Folks were jealous that we had an oven (a luxury here in Paris). There were even some crazy Americans there... and not crazy in a fun way.  A regular who provides some local color to the meetings and  thinks the organization is there to solve her problems created a scene. As a bystander and non participant, it was a little funny especially when the crazy lady would respond to people's pleads by repeating what the other person said.  Not so funny when the crazy lady stared at me as I ate my burger.  This is why we do not live in the city...

New Year. New Museum.

There is a saying that goes "Where ever you live, there you are."  Even if where you live is the beautiful city of Paris, it is easy to get into a routine.  Eventually you start thinking of it as your home and not a tourist destination.  You run errands instead of touring monuments.  Weekends tend to fill up with grocery shopping, laundry, or trips to Castorama (DIY store).

When we first arrived here, I told myself that I would try to explore and discover and not take for granted that I live in France.  " Live like you are going to move tomorrow" -- words to live by.    We do try to make an extra effort to at least hike through the park, explore our town through walks, or visit a museum.  It's hard when you have long list of things on the to-do list, but I never regret taking time out to enjoy myself (at least I shouldn't).

Today was the first Sunday of 2013, and it was another cold, rainy day. We could have easily made an excuse to stay in.   However, I really didn't want to waste another weekend, especially when there were free museums to discover.

Our first museum trip of the year was to the National Ceramics Museum in Sevres.  This museum has a collection which take you from the ancient to the modern world with examples from China, Syria, Islam, France, and more.  In their permanent collection, they have a wide variety of artisnal examples from  porcelain figures to ancient world vessels for medicinal oils to a three foot high royal tea set to delicate pastoral scenes painted on plates.  They also have temporary exhibitions. Kristin McKirdy's work was on display this weekend.  I left the museum with a deep appreciation for ceramic art and artists.


From Permanent Collection

Islamic Patterns

Religious Icons

Life size figures

Tea cups

Temporary Exhibit - Kristin Mckirdy

Props to Thomas for taking this photo.

Resolutions

Resolutions.  I like to make them. I don't necessarily keep them, but I think making a point to do some introspection and self-reflection at least once a year is a good exercise.  Plus, I love lists. Lists give me focus, and checking items off that list gives me a sense of accomplishment. Seems befitting to make a list of resolutions the first day of 2013.

2013 Resolution.  I resolve to....

1) Appreciate and enjoy what I have while I have them.  It is good to set goals, but once I've accomplished them, I forget to enjoy the moment.  We live in a great little town. The people we've met have been generally friendly and helpful.  We are surrounded by chateaus and green parks, and Paris is a 30 minute train ride away.  Pastry shops are on almost every street.  Life is pretty darn good at the moment.

2) Sport some rose colored glasses.  This is somewhat related to the first resolution.  As the new becomes ordinary, the banal and irritating start to overshadow the interesting and intriguing.  Soon the novelty of speaking French is transformed into frustrations with communication. The fascination of the French markets falls short once you realize that you can't find familiar and beloved products -- like breakfast bacon. You are perplexed, almost daily, wondering why with a line ten shoppers deep you have to bag your own groceries or why the smallest euro bill is a five which means that your pockets are weighted down by the one and two euro pieces, or why buses randomly decided to end their route a half mile from their predesignated terminus. The list could go on, but if I add any more, I would be moving away from the spirit of the first resolution.  Starting Jan 1, 2013, I will try not question the French system, and even smile and greet every neighbor. Even those who leave dog poop all over the town...

3) Stop worrying about what might happen.  I know I spend so much time trying to be prepared, that I hardly have time to do things I should or would rather be doing.  As photographer Nevada Wier put it, worrying about what might happen that isn't happening is unproductive. "What I would rather do is open myself up to the grace of what might be presented to me."  And this leads me to my final resolution for the year.

4) Fill my time with productive things.  This translates to no more facebook.  It is a useful way to keep in touch with those far away, and I've even found a few useful articles that friends post.  However, in general, it really is a time suck. I'd rather spend time learning something from the khan academy, write more blog entries, take more photos of France, read the books I've downloaded, or even facetime with family and friends.

Happy New Year to all.  I look forward to discovering what this year has to offer.