Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année from France! We are finally settled in our apartment, despite some setbacks with our air mattress (dog claw puncture, patch issues, a pump that won’t pump, a night sleeping on the floor, and a replacement mattress that doesn’t stay inflated). Note to our North American friends: even if you buy a voltage adapter to transform the 220V electricity to 110V, you can still burn out the motor on your electrical appliances. Why? Electricity here is 50 Hz (cycles per second) while in the US and Canada, our electricity is provided at 60 Hz. This means that motorized devices (such as the pump on an aerobed) turn approximately 17% slower here while working against the same air pressure, and consequently you can fry the motor in minutes. Unfortunately I learned this at 9pm once the stores were closed – hence, the night spent sleeping on the floor. Live and learn!
On a much brighter note, L called me at work today to let me know we finally got mail! The mailman stopped by today with a huge stack he had been saving for us. (On a sidenote, he also tried to sell her a calendar with kittens on it, explaining to her that in France it is tradition to buy a calendar from your mailman at Christmas. Not sure if I believe this, but in any case, L promised to have 5€ ready next time he stops by. Ok – end sidenote). In the stack, along with routine house stuff, she found CHRISTMAS CARDS!!! Since I have not been home yet to see them, I don’t know who sent them out, but seriously friends and family, thanks. Getting Christmas cards means a lot, especially this year. I am sorry to say we have not had time to reciprocate, and since I only have email access at work we won’t even be sending out an e-card. Next year we will be better!
Our plan this weekend? Brave the crazy crowds in Paris tomorrow (Christmas eve) to eat dinner at the market on les Champs Elysées, and check out the elaborate Christmas window displays at the Galleries Lafayette and Au Printemps, which are two big gorgeous department stores in Paris. I haven’t been yet, but my co-worker tells me that at Au Printemps, the display includes dozens of mini Karl Lagerfeld figurines in various poses. I’m not sure if it’s true or not, but I will find out soon enough. Pictures will most certainly follow. Sunday, we will take advangage of our new appliances (and gas stove!) to cook up a mini Christmas dinner. My guess is that the little one will skip the roast and vegetables for his new favorite food, yogurt. He ate four of them for lunch yesterday and has regularly been consuming at least 6 little pots per day. Doesn’t matter what flavor, or even if it’s technically fromage frais and not yogurt, he is obsessed. I guess it could be worse – at least he is getting protein and calcium.
Since we still have no internet at home and I am off next week, this will be the last blog post until 2012. I promise to post Christmas photos as soon as we are back online. In the meantime, happy holidays to all!
- - E
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