Exchanging Lives

Monday, 16.07.07

There seem to be two kinds of people, those who will swap houses with total strangers, and those who won’t. I’d like to argue in favor of becoming one of the former, if you are a latter. It takes a certain amount of trust (there’s that word again!) to let someone move into your house when your not there. Of course, you’re moving into their house at the same time. But you know how we all are about our stuff. I’ve wanted to do a home exchange ever since we moved to California. We live in a great place: 5 blocks from the ocean, close to the Monterey peninsula, SF, Big Sur. People like it here. And, after living in our house for going on 15 years (and remodeling 6 years ago) it is finally to the point where I’m not totally mortified by it’s extreme funkiness. There are no ladders to climb or sofas that even Goodwill won’t take (What! There are no poor people who’d want this couch?!) Plus, I’ve always liked house-sitting and have done it several times. Maybe it’s my Gemini nature that likes to assume other people’s lives and doesn’t mind sharing mine.

So when I first started checking into doing a formal home exchange I went at it using only my intuition. I signed up on-line, at the website I liked best (homeexchange.com) and sat back to see who would contact us. I’m a passive kind of home exchanger, I guess.

Thinking back on the process, and all of the people who contacted us through our listing, I just feel like it was meant to be that we would end switching with Clelia, Paolina and Léon. It was rather like internet dating, those first e-mails between Clelia and I. When I looked at the photos of her house I said, “this looks like some kind of French version of our house.” Clelia was so warm and thoughtful, this all seemed too good to be true.

It wasn’t. I can’t imagine a better family to switch lives with. They are amazing, and I hope they’ve had as good a time living our life as we have theirs.

 

The Things I like Most About Paris

Sunday, 15.07.07

C’est fini. We have come to Paris, we have seen Paris. Well, we’ve seen the miniscule amount of Paris that we happened upon, but now I know what people are talking about when they say “Aaaahhhhh, Paris…!!”.

This truly was a life changing experience. I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone (which I never knew was such a comfortable place for me to be) and learned how to communicate and navigate and most importantly how to trust that everything will work out. This past month has been a roller coaster of emotion. This past 12 days has been a vacation from the buzzing that constantly rings through my head. Will this experience teach me to let go of all of the anxiety I wear so freely and learn to trust that the adventure that was meant to be will be? I worried that the kids would be bored or whiney; they were neither. I worried that we would go hungry or get lost or be overwhelmed or spend too much money. I failed to take into account French bread, metro maps, the rejuvenating power of 9 hours of sleep and the fact that you can always make more money. What is it with me and the universe? How many times must she shake me by the shoulders and say “Trust me!”

So, now I am a person who loves Paris. And here are some of the things I love best:

Fresh baked french bread from the local baker

The ability to go everywhere on public transportation, you can absolutely get anywhere without a car. Plus you can read on the subway, which is a lot less stressful than sitting on Highway 1 in rush hour traffic.

But, if you do need a car your main choices are these tiny, zippy little vehicles: Citreon, Renault, Smart Cars. I’m astounded that we don’t really even have these options in the US, and that we continue to drive our SUV’s with wild abandon.

Walking everywhere, which means you can eat all that lovely French bread without becoming a total lard butt.

The stylish women (and men!) in Paris. This is big, coming from someone who wears Earth shoes. But I just loved looking at the fashion and all of these people who put so much thought into how they present themselves to the world. A lot of the styles right now are retro from that hideous period in the 70’s when everyone wore loud fabrics of orange and pink and lime green and brown psychedelia, but it just looks so great on all these ultra chic Parisians.

Slowing down. The French don’t eat or drink while walking. No gulping lattes as you rush off to work. No bagel noshing on the run. People sit down in cafes and enjoy their café and croissant. It’s so civilized, and it cuts down on trash in the street too.

Slow foods. Every one of us noticed we’re all a bunch of inhalers when it comes to eating. We all learned to actually chew our food thoroughly and savor the taste and the company at our meals. What a concept.

Respecting history. In California it’s always out with the old, in with the new. My neighborhood changes weekly. We talk about something from the 50’s being ancient (ouch, that hurts!) With all these new marble entryways and granite kitchens what exactly are we trying to accomplish? Everything is old in Paris (well, almost everything) and it is truly and stunningly beautiful. It’s such a great way to honor our ancestors, preserving what they’ve built.

So, that was our trip to Paris. Thanks to all of our friends who helped us on our way: Anne and Arne, Laura, Esther, Janet, Kitty and Michael, all the Quiddites and of course Clelia and Paolina and Léon who had the good sense to switch lives with us. I certainly hope they stumbled upon adventure too!!

 

Knowing When to Say When

Saturday, Bastille Day 14.07.07

Today was the day we seemed to hit the wall. After 8 full days of constant activity and taking in of culture; and after yesterday’s miles and miles by the Seine and up and down the Eiffel Tower, the exhaustion caught up with us. I think we all woke up tired. And by the time we finally (miraculously) got to Versailles by car I know I was ready to just lay down. So Versailles was a bit of a wash for me, I was in one of those “I don’t care if I ever ever see another historical artifact again” moods. It was time for me to go home and lay down. Sure, Paris is amazing and we only have today and Sunday left, but I’m not doing myself any good trudging along like this. Teal and Uriah had already recognized their limit and had opted out of the Versailles trip. Now it was time for me and the girls to rest.

So, Karl’s off with the boys right now at the Bastille day celebration and fireworks at the Eiffel Tower. I am sure it is amazing and festive and an experience of a lifetime. But with the way we were feeling, I sense it may have turned into a whinefest for the girls and me. An evening at home was just what we needed. So we said “when”, and it was great. Take out Indian food for me and Sienna, Pizza for Ava and the Devil Wears Prada, which has great scenes of Paris and we watched and pointed and said “we were there!!”

This evening I was reading the Fodors travel forum and someone posted their itenerary for an upcoming trip to Paris asking for advice to see if it was well planned. Each day was jam packed with 4, 5, or 6 activites and I was so tempted to reply “stop! don’t do that!!!” But then I thought, maybe it’s just me. I am the anti-traveller, always jonesin’ for a place to sit down with my book or a comfortable bed to lay down in for 9 hours… But we sure have had fun in Paris and nearly whine-free.

One last thing but I can’t help but compare these historical figures to our current celeberatarians. Could Donald Trump be a current day Louis XIV? Versailles was one of many monuments to meglamania that have been erected (hmmm, interesting choice of word…) throughout the ages. It is grand and palatial and so over the top, did we learn nothing from the French Revolution???

 

Filling up a Day Full of Paris

Friday, 13.07.07

While the rest of us slept, Karl and Sienna woke up early (9am!!) and took off to see the equestrian show at Versailles with the plan they would do that and then come back for us slugs. I know, I know, we’re missing out on the BIG MOMENTS (yes, I did mean all caps there) with this sleeping in stuff but I just don’t care. Being a night person trapped in a morning person’s life, staying up until 1 or 2am and sleeping until 10 is the ultimate in vacation for me (and apparently Teal and Uriah and Ava too.) Having to get up before I’m ready to rush off to anything is not my idea of a vacation. If I wanted an overscheduled life I’d go home.

Anyway, I’m going to let Karl and Sienna write about Versailles which proved to be quite the adventure even though there was no equestrian show and driving was as much a part of the story as the actual palace. Which we still haven’t gotten to because we all decided it was too much for them to go back again so Let’s Go to Paris. Did I not mention we are flexible if nothing else?

Speaking of flexible…so, we head into Paris, now old pros on the RER and the Metro. I feel confident the kids could even navigate the system. (It truly is a crime that we have nothing like this in Santa Cruz. Every single one of those highway widening proponents in our government needs to come to Paris and ride the Metro until they get it in their heads that this is the future of transportation, not more highways for our gas guzzling SUVs!) Anyway, we go into the city with the notion of going to see Saint Chapelle, a cathedral of glass, apparently. I say apparently because the line snaked through a good portion of Paris and one of our rules of survival, traveling with 4 teenagers here, is never get in a line that stretches back to East Jesus. Never. Nothing is important enough to stand in line for hours. I refuse to spend my time standing in line for Paris. I figure it is a sign from the universe that there is the adventure that is meant to be just around the corner from any line we encounter. It’s actually an interesting way to live your life.

So instead Karl and the kids go into Le Concierge, part of the palace where Marie Antoinette was kept in a cell after she fell into disfavor (kind of like Paris Hilton?) and I took the chance to go sit in an outdoor café and sketch. I can’t tell you anything about Marie Antoinette but sitting with my espresso and my colored pens and artbook was a high point for me. Forget the cathedrals and museums, this is what I want to do. And if I didn’t have 5 other people to think about this is all that I would do in Paris. Well that, and wander aimlessly through the streets. Which is what we did next. This always brings something good to us because on our way to Napoleon’s tomb we stumbled upon the other place I needed to see, the quaint art supply shop Anne told me about (Picasso shopped here), Magasins Sennelier. I can leave Paris a happy woman now, without even searching I’ve stumbled upon the rose petal shop and the art store of my dreams.

Continuing on, still on the way to Napoleon’s tomb, we ran smack dab into the middle of some kind of Fellini-esque show of worldwide military bravada and fashion. Must have had something to do with Bastille Day tomorrow but I wasn’t going to stop one to ask. I’ve never seen so many different kind of men in uniform before. Who knew the funny hat played such a role in scaring off the enemy!

At Napoleon’s tomb I, once again, let Karl take the kids in while I stayed outside to draw (do I sense a trend here?) Then it was a great Chinese dinner at an outdoor café on the Rue de Cler and off to the Tour Eiffel. O.k. we stood in line for the Eiffel. It was worth standing in line for just for the exercise factor of climbing up (and down) 669 stairs to get to the second level. The line for the elevator to the top was 3x as long which helped us convince the kids to walk the stairs. As much as I didn’t really want to come here I must admit it was magnifique and fun. We stayed, eating French ice cream on the Seine nearby, until the tower lights did their 10 minute flashing lightshow at 10pm. Then it was a long walk in exhaustion (the good kind) back to the Metro and home to Chatou after dark (11pm here, we’re far north.)

 

The Marketing of Mona Lisa

Thursday, 12.07.07

Mona Lisa obviously had a good agent. Could she have been the Julia Roberts of the Renaissance? We went to the Louvre today. It was epic and amazing and phenomenally crowded and overwhelming but I think the thing that impressed me the most was the way the hordes and hordes of people had an intense need to see the big name “stars” with Mona being the most shining of stars. Amongst the Louvre’s thousands and thousands of works by one incredibly talented artist after the other, why her? Don’t get me wrong, she’s beautiful and exquisitely enigmatic and her face reads both whimsy and sadness, but why do the flocks flock to her and not some other Lisa? Who marketed her to stardom?

This concept of “famous artist” has always confused me. What is it that the masses respond to when it comes to art? Can it maybe be a matter of bravado or confidence? My art friend Laura and I talk about this often, and I must say I’m even more confused after visiting Paris where art oozes from every nook and cranny. Why are some pieces in the museums and others created out on the streets? Who’s to say what merits a museum pass and a protective glass covering?

My philosophy is to create for the process of creating, not for the end product. I’ve always felt like the judgment around art takes the joy out of it. And I’m just as happy to watch the street artists as I am to stand in line to visit Mona Lisa. Give me my sketchbook, but I don’t think I’m going to let you look…

 

It Only Gets Better: Montmartre

Wednesday, 11.07.07

We once again eased into our day, like I said we’re learning how to vacate, with a late morning breakfast and then a trip to the local Wednesday morning market at the town square in Chatou. While not quite a flea market, (price-wise) it was a fun chance to barter in French and shop for clothes and jewelry in a quieter setting.

We got off a bit later to Paris then, so we decided to check out the funky shops in Montmartre and skip the museums today. Good choice. We all had so much fun, whether in local discounteries or tourist shops (hey you can never have enough crap with Toulouse Lautrec cancan girls on it!) Even the street hawkers, which I generally hate, are selling something I value here: creativity. We were accosted by west africans who grab you and start creating color string bracelets on your arm before you even know what’s happening. The kids loved them and will probably leave them on until they rot off their bodies. A good value for 2 euros (bartered down on my part.) We stopped to watch an amazing chinese artist write Sienna’s name with an incredible flourish of birds and fishes and eiffel tower symbols and then climbed the many stairs up to Sacré-Coeur Basillica where halfway up street musicians performed songs by the Kinks for the crowd. I love this place!

Being the church-goers that we’ve become, we decided to check out Sacré-Coeur. While not as old and grand as Notre-Dame, it’s beautiful and holy all the same. A good place to meditate.

Then more aimless wandering and the best dinner we’ve had so far in a little piano cafe a bit off the beaten path. Finally, a waiter who was super friendly! The food was good, the atmosphere was quaint and the waiter really seemed to enjoy playing around with us. Plus there was only one smoker! Thouroughly enjoyable.

Then to end the evening we made our daily pilgramage to the Arc de Triomphe. (Don’t know why, just seems to be happening that way.) After trudging up to the entrance from the subway we’re informed that kids, while free, still need tickets. Too lazy to go back for them Karl and I left the kids at the base and decided to go in with our museum passes and use the bathrooms (not that easy to find in the city.) Turns out the WCs are up the spiral staircase about 3000 stairs up. This is the most work I’ve ever done for a pee, but in the end totally worth it because we were at the top and it was terrific. The sun was just setting and the lights on the Eiffel Tower were flashing and it was a stunning view. Plus we didn’t have to listen to the kids whine about the 3000 steps up (just kidding! They’ve been relatively whine-free). An amazing end to the day, next time we’ll let the kids come with us.

The days just keep getting better, I can’t wait to see what unfolds tomorrow.

 

The Impressionists

Tuesday, 10.07.07

I know, I know, everyone loves the impressionists; but me, I really love the Impressionists. And the Nabis, and Art Noveau, and Pointillism and Gaugin’s Tahiti paintings and anything Van Gogh. I was again in heaven today with all my favorite artists. Ah, to be an art student in Paris…a girl can dream. Today was the Orsay, finally, and it was all tres bon. But I won’t go on waxing poetic about an art museum, just go yourself, there are lots of good ones all over the world.

It rained again today and it was cold. We came to Paris expecting 90° and it barely hits 60. But that’s OK, we’re in Paris. So we walked to keep warm and we hid out in the Orsay and we metro’d down to the Eiffel Tower and got rained on. Save that for another day, but I must say I’m definitely more attracted to the antiquities.

Leaving the Orsay there was a street performer doing amazing rollerblade stunts to a soundtrack provided by a street musician playing a clarinet. Scads of people lined up and watched him as if he were his own parade. God I love this place!

Came home on the earlier side (7pm) so Sienna and Karl could get to the market for tonight’s dinner. As I said before, Sienna is a blossoming chef and tonight’s meal was superb-fresh pasta marinara with an olive tomato sauce. Then it was French cookies and Harold and Maude, my all time favorite movie and it still holds up today. Watch it again as it is full of words to live by.

Here are my words to live by today, this is from a plaque in Clelia’s kitchen: Vous Etes Ici (look it up, you know how to use a computer).

 

Notre Dame and more Left Bank

Monday, 09.07.07

Since it was lightly raining today (a common occurrence on this trip) we decided to go to Notre Dame. I think it took us all by surprise. Uriah describes it as epic. We just don’t have stuff like this in the states. To walk around in it and think about how it was built in the 12th century and what had to be done to construct something like that using the tools they had available at the time is mind boggling. It was excruciatingly beautiful and holy and gothic and we all loved it. Go see for yourself.

After Notre Dame we wandered off back across the bridge to the Left Bank where we found Shakespeare and Company, a funky bookstore like no other (comparable to City Lights in SF but even better.) Started by a free thinking literature loving American, Sylvia Beach, after WWI, this was a hang out for Hemingway and Joyce and Stein and Shaw. Such a treasure to find! The place is full of small, bedded nooks where writers have been doing their thing for generations now. Hopefully some of this creativity sunk in with the kids.

After Shakespeare and Co. more window shopping, cathedral viewing, people watching and eating. We stopped for drinks and olives and peanuts (an interesting accompaniment to our wine) in an outdoor café. And then dinner in an Italian restaurant who knows where. We are learning to slow down. Being in this culture reminds us all of just how fast and consuming we Americans are. I never realized what a gobbler I am. I have taken a new vow of mindfulness.

Back home we settled in for more card games and laughing. It has been a true joy having these kids with us, they are constantly entertaining and terrific adventurers. This really is a life altering experience for all of us.

 

The Left Bank

Sunday, 08.07.07

Our mornings our full of leisure: sleeping until 10am, a lovely petit dejeuner (usually cooked by Sienna, who is becoming a terrific chef), and then off on the RER (suburban arm of the Metro) by noon-ish (o.k., 1-ish, but don’t tell anyone we’re such sloths.) I must say though, that slowing down and taking the time to “sentir les roses” is just as important part of our trip as seeing the sights. We’re not interested in running from one museum or monument to the next. Our daily life: learning to run a French dryer, laying on the grass in a Parisian park, navigating through Clelia’s stacks and stacks of French music to listen to at home, buying a toothbrush in a market…. is just as culturally significant as sightseeing. We may be missing some museums but we are enjoying the hell out of ourselves. We’ll be back again, we can catch anything we miss this time then.

Yesterday we got off at the Place de la Concorde and strolled across a bridge over the Seine to head to the Orsay (Impressionism) Museum. Of course, being mid-afternoon and sans Museum Passes yet we encountered a huge line. One of the main qualities we’re trying to teach our kids with travel is learning how to be flexible. This was a good chance to practice this philosophy so we headed instead toward the Left Bank where the kids found out about Oscar Wilde (who’s dying words in his rundown Parisian hotel here were “Either this wallpaper goes, or I do.”) and Voltaire and George Sands. We ate French bread and brie and camembert and French hamburgers and frites and drank strong coffee in a smoky café and then wandered fairly aimlessly for hours which is what I love best. We’ve done a great job exploring the parks and neighborhoods. We even stumbled upon a shop we knew we wanted to find while we were here, “au nom de la rose.” Amazingly, it was the only shop open on a Sunday evening. A good sign! This shop sells all things roses. Rose petal perfume, rose petal jam, rose petal honey. Magnifique! We came home smelling like roses.

Sunday was our wedding anniversary and the kid’s sweetly suggested they stay home with pizza while we go out to dinner to celebrate. Karl and I took this chance to walk the village, visit the local attraction on the Seine “La Maison Fournaise” (a restaurant which used to be a hang out for Impressionist painters) and eat at a delicious local Indian restaurant. A wonderful way to celebrate.

 

à Paris nous allons !

Saturday, 07.07.07

An amazing day! Our first day in the city, so much to do so much to see. We started off at the Arc de Triomphe/Champs-Elysées where we all took about several hundred pictures each. Ah, the joy of digital cameras and the ability to photograph ad nauseum!

Everything is so grand and amazingly beautiful. The art is so plentiful it almost seems to be taken for granted: sculptures in the middle of playgrounds, chain link fences butting up against statues. You can walk all day and never run out of the art. I am in heaven.

The Champs-Elysées was so much fun. Clelia had clued us into the best bakery in Paris, the Ladurée, and she was right. Incredible! And then the girls got to go crazy in Sephora; which is a chain we have in SF but the people watching is way more interesting here. The French take their makeup seriously. Unfortunately the boys wouldn’t accept my offer to make up their faces but they did pose outside the shop with a Dolce and Gabbana underwear model (on poster). I can’t believe they didn’t get discovered as male models.

Fortunately for me, the anti-shopper, the Champs-Elysées turns into the gardens in front of the Louvre (Tuileries garden). So very beautiful. We walked all through the Tuileries and up to the Opéra Garnier and, on Clelia’s recommendation, off to a small Japanese restaurant for dinner. Eating is always an adventure and this was true here. The kids have been great at trying new things.

After dinner more walking, photographing and just soaking up the culture. It is truly disorienting not to understand anything anyone is saying around you. It’s funny how we take English speaking for granted and I will certainly bend over backwards to help lost looking foreign travellers now.

We ended the day at King Louis XIII Palais Royal courtyard, and then a ride on the huge ferris wheel back at the Tuileries, a terrific, if not terrifying, way to get a panoramic view of the city!

All exhausted, we walked back to the Arc de Triomphe to catch the train back to Chatou. This was a perfect first day in Paris! Karl and I are so happy here, the kids are incredible, and life is sweet.