We spent Christmas vacation in the countryside in Saint Sulpice les Feuilles, a tiny town with not even one traffic light, and three boulangeries. The house was wonderfully equipped, fully modern with a large kitchen and cozy living room with satellite tv and a nice DVD selection.

The weather was what you would expect (cold and rainy) but we were happy to take drives through the countryside and marvel at the rolling hills, sheep, cows, and ancient medieval villages sprinkled about.

High points:
Villages of Magnac Laval, Chateauponsac, Saint Benoit, Gargilesse and Sarlat
Oradour sur Glane – the ruins of a town destroyed by Nazis during WW2, a very moving experience
Limoges – noteworthy only due to a yummy crepe lunch and seeing J devour a Cafe Liegeois
E Leclerc – an American-style mega grocery store
CNN – watching the ball drop in Times Square, thanks to R waking up at 430am
Exposing J to Mary Poppins and a Travel Channel show on trains

The only unfortunate incident was that I dislocated R’s elbow while in Sarlat. We had forgotten the stroller at home (inconceivable, I know). She’s not quite ready to walk while holding hands, so being out with her sans-pousette is like herding cats.

While trying to wrangle her I grabbed her arm too roughly and pop, the damage was done. I felt terrible. Luckily we weren’t far from a hospital and were greeted by a kind staff who cooed over R and fixed her up in barely 15 minutes from arrival to departure (at zero cost, btw). Yay french healthcare system.

Now we’re back in the big city and ready to get those kids back where they belong, in school!

While R had her last pre-vacation day at garderie, we made it a special family day with J. There is a large Muslim population in Paris and we were interested to visit the beautiful mosque in the 6th arrondisement adjacent to the Jardin des Plants. J enjoys churches and we thought he might appreciate a new take on the idea. It’s a lovely spot with open courtyards and intricate tilework, very peaceful. It was a short visit due to the cold weather but we lingered at the adjacent teahouse for lunch. It was fantastic, the best couscous we’ve had in Paris thus far.

Afterwards I took J to what must be an annual ritual for Parisan parents, a walk by the Christmas window displays at Galleries Lafeyette department store. It’s like a mosh pit for parents, very crowded with everyone jockeying to get their kids up close to the windows. The theme this year involved motorized teddy bears and gingerbread creatures in various states of mischief-making. Perhaps you know that last year Printemps’ window theme was “Christmas in Space,” so this was a big improvement. The crowds could have been unpleasant except that J was riveted, especially at one display involving teddy bears making a cake. It’s such a pleasure to experience these things through a child’s eyes.

Below is bit of the bear windows (not shot by me). Unfortunately I couldn’t find my personal favorite, where the bears frolick in stacks of glasses filled with champagne.

Joseph is officially on his holiday break from school and we are excited for Christmas to arrive. Starting on the 26th we will stay at a rented house 3 hours southwest of Paris, not too far from Limoges (which is known for producing china). A few days ago I started researching things to do in this area, Limousin, the second least populated department in France after Corsica.

I was thrilled to learn we would not be too far from Lascaux, the site of Paleolithic cave paintings that so many of us learn about in Art History 101. I started to plot out a visit, and quickly found that unfortunately the caves have been closed to the public since 1963 to preserve the art. For what it’s worth there is a replica of the paintings built in an adjacent cave. A nice gesture, but it’s not really the same, is it?

Then I stumbled onto the fact that Josephine Baker had a chateau in this region, and again tried to plan a visit. You’ll never guess, it’s closed to the public during the winter!

But I was hooked, the more I read about Josephine Baker the more intrigued I became. It seems hard to believe that no one has made a (decent) film about her life. She was more than a dancer, she was also a French resisitance war hero and a civil rights champion in the U.S. You’d think Harpo Productions would be optioning her life for a movie, no?  I have not been able to find a museum in Paris dedicated to her life, but they did name a swimming pool after her.

Explore the cave paintings of Lascaux:
www.lascaux.culture.fr

Tour Josephine Baker’s chateau:
www.milandes.com

La Piscine Josephine Baker:

http://www.time.com/time/travel/cityguide/article/0,31489,1937013_1936990_1936854,00.html

Paris was covered in snow a few days ago (alas only two or three inches) and it looked so clean! Joseph had a stomach bug the day it fell but we still enjoyed a brief stomp through the snow. He wanted to build a snowman but quickly understood that the snow wasn’t very plentiful or sticky enough. He was also eager to make snow angels, something I might have considered in the park but certainly not on the sidewalk.

On one of those snowy days Dan and I visited Cite de l’architecture at Place du Trocadero, near the Eiffel Tower. It’s a lovely museum demonstrating French architecture from the 12th century to the present.  I only knew of it because I’d read in a magazine that Valentino held a fashion show there last spring.

The photos here will give you an idea of the space:

http://www.chicagomag.com/Radar/Fashion-Week/March-2009/Pariss-Most-Fashionable-Venues-Valentino-Andrew-Gn-Lanvin-and-Akris/

But here is my favorite sculpture of all we encountered.

Yesterday to celebrate getting the whole family vaccinated against swine flu (at a practically empty gymnasium set up just for this purpose), Dan and I got lunch at what might be my favorite Chinese restaurant in Paris, Chez Shen.

You would think that living in Belleville (which has a large Chinese population) we’d have favorites galore but it’s simply not the case. Either the food is too greasy, the menu impenatrable, whatever, we’ve struck out. However we have found two decent Vietnamese pho restaurants we like nearby (although our favorite completely stumps us, every time we want to go it’s closed and there is no sign displaying their hours). Anyway, Chez Shen. Packed, yummy, cheap, menu in french and english. It’s a home run, and just three metro stops away at Arts et Métiers.

After lunch I hit some museums I had not seen in years, Palais de Tokyo and Musée d’Art Moderne Paris. Both are contemporary art museums in the 16th arrondisement overlooking the Seine. They are beautiful spaces, but unfortunately the art was mainly of the head scratching, are-you-kidding-me variety. Oh well better luck next time.

The real gem of the visit was across the street, a lovely building (former palace of Duchess of Galliera) that houses the Musée de la Mode, a fashion and costume museum. It’s only open for special exhibits so I could not go inside, but just a walk through the small garden was a treat. I especially enjoyed the huge posters displayed in front, it had me pining for graphic design projects where I’d worked in similarly large formats.

I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of some art, a little cherub beating the daylights out of an unnamed adult. I couldn’t find a descriptive plaque anywhere, but all I know is that the sculptor must have been a parent.

Dan shared this blogpost he read about a little creperie located near my mother’s childhood home:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2009/12/west_country_girl.html

I was eager to go, not just because I love crepes but the apartment building the writer raves about looked very familiar.

I had lunch there today with my friend Jamie. It turns out that the apartment building mentioned is across the street from my grandparents’ butcher shop (which no longer exisits), and the creperie just around the corner.

I love stumbling into places where I have family history, it’s strange to think that I’m on my mother’s territory. I just wish I could go back in time and see it through her eyes, if only for a moment.

The crepes were excellent by the way.

Dan and I have never been up in the Eiffel Tower, not from lack of interest but out of extreme distaste for standing in lines. There are long lines to buy tickets, and longer lines for the elevators. We had heard it can be a two or three hour wait to go up, which in our opinion isn’t worth it and certainly could never happen with two little kids.

By chance Dan discovered that the city was testing a system of online ticket purchase to access the tower, so we jumped at the opportunity. Dan and Joseph went together one bright fall day and gave a rave review. They were able to walk straight up to the elevator and in a few minutes they were up at the first platform about a third of the way up the tower. [Note: tickets purchased online do not allow you to go to the top of the tower, just the first platform. But from the first  platform you can purchase another ticket -small lines here- to go to the top if you wish].  Their only complaint about the experience was that it was cold and windy.

Dan and I were going to go together another time but because Rachel had chicken pox, I went with a friend. Same experience. No line, amazing views, and *cold* as can be. But still we soaked up the view for easily 30 mintues, chatting and snapping photos.

There was so much wind that day that they closed the platform at the top of the tower, but strangely enough, not so windy that they cancelled the workers who repaint the tower. I could barely watch them swing back and forth above us on ropes. Whatever they are paid it isn’t enough.

I learned that the tower is usually repainted every 7 years, it takes a team of 25 people 18 months to complete the job. More info here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-03-31-eiffel-tower_N.htm

To celebrate the 120th anniversary of the completion of the tower, there is a nightly 15 minute light show. We thought it would be a special outing for Joseph, who has recently been enjoying the Christmas displays and lights around the neighborhood.

After enjoying an incredible meal of home-cooked lamb curry with friends the other night night, we found ourselves craving yet more Indian food. It was a good excuse to bike over to Passage Brady, a 2 block-long covered passageway which is the heart of Paris’ small Indian and Pakistani district.

We enjoyed another delicious curry-based meal and poked into a great market of Indian spices, chutneys, sauces etc. Although I’m told the “true” heart of Paris’ Indian neighborhood is in the 18th arrondisement (and not the 10th), we love exploring areas like this which are not necessarily on a tourist’s map.

I received a reimbursement for an overpaid bill and went to our bank to cash it. When I made my request I was asked, “Do you have a deposit slip?” I thought I had used the wrong verb for a minute, and said, “Um, no I’d like CASH please.”

The teller said, “I’m sorry we don’t carry cash.”

I had to let that hang in the air to digest. How can a bank not have cash? I must have raised my voice a little while discussing this matter, because an english-speaking manager came over and clarified that yes, it is a bank, and no, they don’t have cash. Wow.

I had forgotten a similar experience a few months earlier when I stopped into my branch to break a 50 euro bill. I was headed to the grocery store and needed some change to give to my homeless lady who sits out front. It’s a major faux pas to show up empty handed, in my opinion, as we have almost a friendly exchange.

Bank yes, cash no.

This week marked the first time we’ve had both kids in school, Joseph in preschool (maternelle) and Rachel in nursery school (halte garderie). They have both adjusted very quickly and we love the childcare situations more than anything we had arranged back in the states, and the bonus is that it’s practically free. So now we find ourselves with four days a week (there is no school on Wednesdays) where we can do whatever we want. I can’t express how mind boggling this is, after having been consumed with the needs of (at least) one child at all times.

We took full advantage two days this week and played tourist. Day one we took Velib bikes toward Ile Saint Louis in the heart of the city and had coffee while overlooking the Seine and the park on the backside of Notre Dame. Then to the Marais for lunch, joined briefly by our friend Romy whose apartment is in the square by the restaurant.  This morning was rainy so we started at the Louvre but deemed it too crowded.  We walked through the Tuileries and had a coffee until the sun came out. Then we visited the museums of the Orangerie and Jeau de Palme. After a quick lunch in the Marais, we biked home along the canal. Life is good.

There are so many things we’d like to see, I suspect the next few weeks will be jam packed with tourist activities. We also are exploring the idea of taking day trips (not necessarily together) to cities that are easily accessible by high speed rail. It’s crazy to think that a day trip to Strasbourg, Amsterdam or Luxemborg is possible, but it is. Stay tuned.