Happy Birthday, Leila!

We have met many amazing people in Toulouse, but none more amazing than my friend Leila.  She and her husband used to live in California near San Diego.  In fact, Dan and her husband both worked at the same project near San Diego, but during different times.  Now the guys are both working at the same work campus in Toulouse, but on different programs.  I met Leila at school, her young daughter was in a different class than my boys, but Leila noticed me speaking American with the administrators during after school pickup.  She invited me to hang out.  She has showed me many things about Toulouse and we have wandered, metro-ed, and biked all around the city.  She is very smart and caring and is not only a good mom to her daughter, but also shows care and concern about my boys.  

Yesterday was her birthday!  We attended at a French restaurant that wasn't far from our apartment.  Fortunately, Leila lives with walking distance of us, so it was also close to her place.  They seem to specialize in hearty, delicious French food.  It's called "Le Point D'Ogre."  I can only assume this means the place where the ogre hangs out.  Perhaps the vegetables are taken from the ogre's garden.  Fortunately someone was able to acquire the vegetables without being eaten by the ogre themselves.  

As we arrived at the restaurant, we managed to explain in French which reservation we were a part of.  We were led to the basement which was shaped like half of a brick cylinder.  There were already six guests there, so we awkwardly made small talk in French while waiting for the guest of honor to arrive. After Leila arrived, everyone revealed that they spoke English, and the rest of the dinner was a mix of English and French.  

The food was fabulous.  The entree was a basket of vegetables and sausages accompanied by a vegetable soup.  

Basket of Ogre Food

For the principle plat, I had the duck breast with delicious mashed potatoes and Dan had a gateau de canard.  It was duck with potatoes on top.  

As is the tradition, the reservation was at 8pm.  We might have started eating around 9pm.  We got to talk to people, eat lovely food, then have birthday cake.  Dan and I were the rude Americans at the end and instead of staying after and talking some more, departed shortly before midnight.  

Happy Birthday, Leila!  I look forward to celebrating next year too!

Anniversary in Paris!

We have been married for 14 years.  So what should we do now that we are living in France?  Jet off to Paris for the night, right?

Fortunately, one of Dan's co-workers and his wife were able to host the kids overnight along with their two boys.  They were smart and took all four boys out to the woods for a pine cone hunting expedition to tire them out.  Don't tell these guys that they actually had fun...

Us?  Having Fun?

Our trip commenced at about noon on Saturday after we left the children.  We took our two small backpacks to the airport, we didn't check any luggage and breezed through security.   We have now embraced minimalist packing.  Of course, it was pretty easy since our trip was for one night.

Our flight to Paris was short, but had quite a few drunk passengers on it.  One guy was yelling stuff, harassing the flight attendants, and trying to suddenly surprise his friend who was sitting across the aisle.  Oddly, other than a few mild warnings from the flight attendants, there were no other consequences.  In the US, I feel like he would have been detained when we landed or something.  In France, I think they even served him another drink during the flight.

On arrival, we headed to the shuttle bus that goes from Orly to downtown Paris.  Of course, there ended up being a manifestation downtown that caused a re-routing in the bus' path, causing the bus to cancel one of its stops.  Unfortunately, this meant that one woman on the bus decided it would be good to cause a scene, demanding her money back because her stop was impossible to go to.  She didn't speak French, so this was slightly difficult for everyone to understand.  Fortunately, the bus driver managed to get her off the bus and rerouted to the metro or something.  We continued onward...

...to the Arch de Triomphe!

Where we took an arch selfie!

That's us, with a landmark!

We have determined that we are now selfie hipsters.  We are taking selfies with all of the other tourists in an ironic manner.  But no, we are never going to use a selfie stick.  We may consider making duck lips sometimes or taking the selfie at a weird angle though.

We also found this other famous landmark:

La Tour

And took a selfie!

Tower Hat for Dan

I also had the chance to buy an awesome touristy scarf that says, "PARIS" and "EIFFEL TOWER."  We then went over to our hotel to check in.  We dropped off our backpacks and changed for dinner.  Where might dinner be?  Why IN the Eiffel tower, of course.

We went back to the tower and found the special dinner entrance.  For the second time in the day, we breezed by security.  We headed to the restaurant check-in.  Lucky us, there was only one couple in front of us!  Unfortunately for us, they had a very complicated check-in.  For some reason.  It took nearly 10 minutes to sort out whatever was going on with them.  Fortunately, I had my super warm poofy winter coat on.  Our check-in took 10 seconds and we were on our way to the elevator!  The elevator was awesome and fast.  We got up to our restaurant and made Dan pose in front of it for a pic.

Happy to not be behind difficult people in line

Once inside and seated at our table, we thought all craziness of travel and tourists were behind us.  No, I'm just kidding.  We knew that we were at probably the most touristy dinner destination in all of Paris, if not the world.  We also knew from one of our honeymoon dinners 14 years prior, that typically at touristy destinations, the view is usually better than the food.  We have always tended to do slightly cheesy things for the fun of it, knowing they are cheesy, but enjoying them ironically anyway.  Just call us travel hipsters.

For part of our honeymoon, we went to Niagara Falls.  We had dinner at the Skylon Tower, a rotating restaurant with a view of the Falls.  The food was terrible, my order arrived with mushrooms on it (yes, I ordered it without mushrooms).  But the view was great and the company was lovely.  Here we are in 2002 at Skylon.

Angela and Dan with some fancy folded napkins

The, um, view at Niagara Falls

The view of Niagara Falls from the Skylon was actually pretty nice. Picture, not as much.  It was dark, neither of us are photographers, we were rotating, and our camera had all of 3.1 megapixels of resolution.

Fast-forward to 2016, and we have much better cameras, on our phones, of course.

View From our Table

After Dinner View from Higher Up the Tower

Much like the food of the Skylon, our Eiffel Tower food was not great.  We have amazing food when we go out to eat normally in Toulouse.  This Paris food was ok.  The appetizer was probably the best of the bunch, the dessert was pretty good, but the main course was quite salty, for both of us.  And, since we are in 2016, here are the food pictures...

Dan's Appetizer.  Foie gras, quince and white balsamic vinegar marmalade, toast

Angela's Appetizer - Marinated Trout with some tiny pancakes and fromage blanc.

Dan's dinner - Steak, potatoes, mushrooms

Angela's Dinner - Chicken and Parmesan Potatoes with vegetables

The couple that was between us and the view didn't arrive until a bit later, so we had an amazing view right away, and could still see quite well even after they arrived.  We think they were Italian, they spoke in a reasonable tone, which meant that we could barely overhear their conversation.  The couple on our other side were a bit less accommodating.  They were the loudest American tourists we have ever come across.  People were giving them looks from across the dining room.  We couldn't quite figure out their relationship, they didn't seem to be dating or trying to impress each other.  But we did find out that the guy used to write poetry, he likes potatoes, he had an ex-girlfriend named Chloe, and his grandma's cat is named Sparkles.  They basically said crazy things, like the things you used to say when you were in college and had stayed up too late talking in your dorm.  On the food, they commented that the bread "tasted like money."

We ended up chatting with them for a short time at the end of the evening.  It turns out they were old friends.  The girl was currently studying in Ireland and the guy was studying in Spain.  They have birthdays during the same week and decided it would be cool to meet up for dinner at the Eiffel Tower to celebrate their 21st birthdays.  Although loud and annoying, I guess I have to give them credit for creativity.

After dinner, we explored the tower some more, going up even higher to the second level.  However, the champagne bar at the top will have to wait for another visit, or perhaps not.  It's really high.

Internal Structure Tower Picture

Internal Structure Tower Selfie

It turns out that the tower sparkles at night, each hour for five minutes.  We got to see this from inside, under the tower while we were waiting in line for restaurant check-in, then again while we were in the restaurant, then again as we were leaving.  It's not as awesome from the restaurant, but very pretty and sparkling in the other places.

Tower Not Sparkling

Tower Sparkling

We had taken the earlier dinner seating reservation time 6:30pm so that we would have enough time to make it to our after dinner show reservation at 11:45pm.  In between reservations, we headed back to our hotel to warm up and take advantage of the free drinks they offered to Dan, the loyal Mercure customer.  

Having Serious Fun while wearing touristy scarf

Then we walked over to our show venue, but we were still early, so Dan also expressed seriousness.  Here we are waiting at the restaurant next door to our show having a serious pre-show drink.

Or is it a happy and goofy pre-show drink!?

The show started.  We shared a booth with another couple, one was an investment banker from San Francisco and his date was a nice Swedish girl.  So we talked satellites and Scandinavian tourism while drinking champagne.

Champagne, but not pink like on our honeymoon

After the show, we grabbed a taxi back to our hotel as it was now even colder and darker and later.  Here is the tower as viewed from our hotel!  But now, it is is dark and non-sparkly.

THE DARK TOWER

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early.  We grabbed our tiny backpacks and checked out of our hotel.  We made our way to the underground entrance of the Louvre.  Here is the inverted pyramid underground.  We arrived about 20 minutes prior to the opening because everywhere you read, you hear that it takes hours to get into the Louvre and that the security lines are a pain.  We were the first ones in line and it took 10 seconds to get through security.  We dropped our backpacks off at the lockers, grabbed our NintendoDS Audio guides and went exploring.

Inverted Pyramid

Inverted Pyramid Selfie

What can I say about the Louvre?  It was huge, had tons of art.  And each room was full of masterpieces.  It reminded us of the first time we went to Italy where we saw so many masterpieces that we became desensitized to them.  Here is a small collection of what we saw:

 Venus de Milo

No arms:(

But I have a cool marble room to hang out in...

Mona Lisa

Protected behind Glass

Mona Lisa Selfie

This other painting by Leonardo da Vinci which reminds me of the one at the National Gallery in Washington, DC, but different and only one-sided.

Another beautiful giant painting 

Dan using the NintendoDS audio guide to learn more

A lovely, delicate painting

Paintings of Italy

 

 

 

Entire Room with Italy-Based Art

Large Sculptures

I have the wheat!

I can't have the wheat because... no arms.

Apollo vanquishing the serpent Python...

...and taking a selfie. 

More Art

Lion playing with a ball

Tilt-able Marble Maze

A pod of hippos hanging out in the gift store

Quite overwhelming amounts of art in so many different mediums and themes.  A bit before noon, we grabbed the train to the airport where we has some delicious lunch before going easily back through security to catch our plane.

The flight back was much more calm than the original flight.  I napped.  We got back to Toulouse and were treated to dinner at our friends' house.  Yes, the boys were over having a sleep over, so we got them home and into bed a while later.

An amazing weekend!  I wonder what we could possibly come up with for next year!  Let's see, 15 is traditionally crystal and the modern gift is watches.  Votes for visiting an atomic clock, anyone?

Voting in the 2016 US Election

You are responsible for your personal vote.

Quit following the polls and focusing on the game theory behind voting. Don't get caught up in the hype. Vote for someone you believe in.

It was surreal to be in Europe when the Brexit vote happened and thousands of Brits were surprised that when they voted to leave, it actually happened. They thought they were just "protesting" with their vote. But the next morning, it turns out that their vote mattered. There was some regret that people didn't vote the way they actually felt, but voted because they were caught up in the hype of protesting other people being involved in their internal politics. It was a reasonable argument to reclaim control of Britain, but people then realized they actually felt like staying as part of the greater European Union community.

Don't vote against someone. Vote for someone. Vote for someone you believe in.

The larger tides of voting will sweep over the nation on November 8th. However, your individual vote still matters. It matters personally. It matters as part of who you are. It matters as it becomes part of a growing movement to fix what is actually wrong with the political parties in the United States. The United States if filled with division. But politics and issues are more complex than picking one side or the other. If you are someone who votes on a single issue, whether it be gun control, abortion choice, hair style of candidates... I challenge you to think more deeply about how other issues affect all of us globally. Think about how the issues interact with each other.

It's not just about the president.

One person, even though that person is the leader of the United States, still has limited power. Where does change actually happen? It's at the local level. At the local level, things are more simple. You can select an issue or two, talk with your local leaders, and make change happen. As real change occurs, it spreads and helps the wider community to thrive.

Get involved in your local politics.

It could be something that directly affects you and your children, such as School Board. It could be something that affects your region, such as electing Congresspeople who want to help your local industries grow and create jobs. But in each of these cases, you can be an effective advocate for change. Who knows, maybe you will get involved directly and run for a local office.

Make a difference in your local leadership and in your Congressional leadership. When it comes down to it, the president and Congress work together and against each other to appoint and confirm Supreme Court justices, make national policies, and shape the national values. Look up who is running for other offices and don't just get caught up in the crazy presidential election. Vote for people who will make your voice heard in Congress. The checks and balances were created for a reason. Participate in shaping how the branches of government will interact.

Go Vote

Sometimes I reflect on what I learned when I was getting my degree in Political Science, that the "passions of the masses" were not to be trusted. Jefferson said, "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." And that Hamilton said, The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right." Despite the initial debates and concerns of the founding fathers, we are in a situation where we all get to vote.

Ignore the passions of the masses and vote with personal responsibility.

Bizarre Things in France - The Dentist

I have never been a fan of the dentist.  Genetically, I have terrible teeth and have always had trouble.  So, when it came to getting our act together and actually making a dentist appointment in a foreign country, it wasn't at the top of my list of priorities.  Combine this with my inability to speak French, especially over the phone to a receptionist to make an appointment, and it sank even lower in the list.  We all went to the dentist in November and December of 2015, but didn't quite make it to any dentist for our 6 month check up.  A few more months passed... A friend of mine here in Toulouse told me about https://www.doctolib.fr and we finally took some action.

DoctoLib.FR - You can search for a doctor by type and location, read about them, then make an appointment on-line.  I found a dentist that wasn't very far from our house. On the site, under "Langues Parlees" it said "Anglais."  So, I booked the kids' appointments.  We could have visited the dentist downstairs in our building, just outside our apartment complex...  But it would have involved calling or stopping by and speaking terrible French (or Portuguese, she knows many languages, but not English).  

There wasn't a fancy way to book two appointments for the same day, so we took one on Monday and one on Friday.  When Monday came around, we hurried over to the dentist after school.  After waiting for a bit and filling out the normal paperwork, Will was called in.  The dentist did not speak English, but we managed our way through with my terrible French.  We even engaged in some random small talk about how we liked Toulouse and why we were there.  She asked if there were any problems with Will's teeth, I said no, we are only here for a routine visit.  I showed her the x-rays that I had brought from his most recent appointment, back in 2015.  She took a look at the x-rays, took a look at his teeth, and that was it.  

French Dentists don't clean your teeth!

If you are irresponsible enough to improperly brush your teeth, then you can go to the dentist to get a filling when you notice you have pain.  But, it seems to be your civic and personal responsibility to properly brush and floss.  

To cover all of our bases, and so we didn't have to drive over again on Friday, Alex also had his "exam."  It seems he does not exhibit the civic and personal responsibility necessary here in France when it comes to teeth.  His teeth were not terribly clean, even though he brushes them twice a day and flosses in the morning.  So, did the dentist actually clean his teeth and scrape the plaque off?  No.  It seems that when you have a child who is not responsible, the responsibility falls on you.  We left the office with the directive that I should brush Alex's teeth as the responsible parental representative.

Taking responsibility?  What a terribly non-American concept.  Hopefully this is something French that will rub off on the kids while they are here.

  

Kids Teeth!

Politeness?

One prevailing opinion that Americans have of French people and French people have of Americans is that They Are Rude.

As far as I can tell, a lot of this is due to cultural misunderstandings.  

Respecting Privacy

Americans don't greet people properly before engaging them in a full-blown conversation.  If you just start talking to a French person in an elevator or somewhere else without greeting them, it is very strange.  This leads to French people feeling confused and annoyed that someone has improperly butted into their private space.  An American may think they are making friendly small-talk, but without a proper greeting, it is an imposition.

Restaurant Server Attention

In the United States, wait staff are underpaid and make up their wages by "earning" tips.  When an American goes to a restaurant, they examine everything their server does and uses it to justify how much they will leave for a tip.   If they waiter is not attentive, does not bring food quickly, does not refill the water, does not act polite, does not smother the diner with attention, etc, then their income can suffer.  In France, meals aren't about promptness, they are about sharing foods with someone and spending time together.  While an American restaurant will have tables turn over many times per evening, a French table may only be used for one seating.  You can gently enjoy your food in a slow-paced manner while talking with your company.  There may be an hour between the end of the meal and when the desert is brought out.  The whole affair will last 2-3 hours.  French waiters are not typically tipped, but rather paid by the restaurant.  Or, in the case of small places, the owner of the restaurant will be bringing you your food.  It is actually quite funny to read American reviews of French restaurants on travel sites.  Most of the critiques are really examples of French waiters giving their customers polite space and time to enjoy their food and company.

Loudness

Stereotype?  Are Americans loud?  I can only speak from experience that every loud tourist that I notice happens to be yelling something in English with an American accent.  When Dan and I visited Venice, there was a table of Americans just across the restaurant from us.  They were oh so loud.  And I, certain people claim, am loud.  The children are always loud.  We are working on being quieter and not yelling things across the road or park at the children, but it is possible that we are loud anyway.  

Sure, sometimes people, whatever their nationality, are rude.  But usually, if you make an effort to be pleasant, people will probably return the effort.

And even if people initially seem rude... keep trying.  Maybe they will be better after 10 minutes.

An attempt at rudeness, but only temporarily

Strange things in France - Instructions and Warnings - Baby Instructions

Don't put a baby in a corner.  Just don't.

Actually, I found this warning on the packaging that came with my giant 200x200 duvet that I bought for my giant bed.  It was not French, but instead came from a British Company.  

Strange things in France - Instructions and Warnings - Bong Box

Do you have special shipping needs?  Fortunately this box exists and allows you to ship things either on a hand truck, in an actual truck, or on an airplane.  It's size L, so it can hold a lot of stuff.  

What will you put inside?

Strange things in France - Instructions and Warnings - McFlurry

So for a while in the United States, we had started to notice that the McFlurries at McDonalds didn't seem quite as mixed as they had been in the past.  The strange spoons that were designed to lock into a McFlurry stirring device were still included in the McFlurry, but didn't seem to be actually used to mix the treat.  It took us going to France to finally get an answer: 

Go Flurr It Yourself!

My guess is that it was more cost effective to re-brand the McFlurry as an interactive experience than it was to maintain the McFlurry machines and pay employees to use them.  I'm sure there was a business process study about what item it took employees the longest to prepare and McFlurry came out on top.

An awesome thing about the McFlurries in France right now is that you can not only pick the candy mix that you want in it (peanut M&Ms, Oreos, Daim, Kit Kat ball), but you also get to pick a liquid topping (chocolate, caramel, strawberry).  Plus, this summer, they have expanded the base offering to include not only vanilla ice cream, but also chocolate.  It's quite delicious and calorie filled!