Check out Gare de Lyon...

...It's a really cool subway station.

Growing up, I remember getting blood tests or throat culture directly at the Doctor's office.  You can't do that in France (for the most part).  A Doctor will send you to a laboratory testing center for any kind of exam that requires blood or bodily fluids (you get the idea).

So this brings me to my point:  Train stations in France are happening places, and Gare de Lyon happens to be one of the hippest ones of them all (and believe me, I go through a lot of train stations every day to commute to work).  About a year ago, a hair salon called 'Beauty Bubble' opened up.  You can get your hair cut or styled in like 20 minutes max, and it's cheap.  And (drumroll please) about a month ago, a laboratory testing center in the middle of the long hallway that connects several different train lines together opened up.  Am I the only one who thinks this is cool?  You have to get a blood test of some sort?  No problem; you can stop by here on your way to work.

I'm so excited about this that I have this odd urge to go to the Doctor's to get a prescription for a test of some sort.  I want to keep these guys in business for the day I'll actually need them; you know what I mean?

How to survive the longest school breaks EVER!

In France, rather than having a super long summer break, kids get nice long bits of vacation spread out throughout the year.  This in of itself is a great idea.  It gets them back on their feet every couple of months.

On the flipside, these breaks are tough on parents.  So here are a couple of suggestions to get through this.
1. Live close by to your parents and or in-laws.
2. Take time off every time your children are on school break (I hope you have lots of vacation!)
3. Hire a super-nanny who's available and willing to work full-time over school breaks.
4.  Put your child in camp (but you have to pick them up by 6PM at the latest).
5. Or - don't have children.. Booo.
6. Or - Get divorced.  That will free you up for half of the time. Booo.

It's my Birthday!

Hi everybody.

It's my birthday tonight, and you know what I had for dinner?
Macaroni and cheese - the best meal EVER - and chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.
Totally not French (except for the wonderfully luscious wine), but totally yummy.

So, instead of writing insightful pieces of information about France tonight, I'm full and going to bed.

This is Lindsay, happily signing out.

Do you like your meat raw?

The French like their meat pretty raw.  They even eat it raw.  It’s called a ‘Tartare.”  If you like good meat and you like it raw, you’d love a tartare.  If you DON’T like raw meat, but you enjoy eating meat, then you have to know how to order it correctly.

Here’s a rule of thumb: if you order a hamburger in a French restaurant (please don’t if you’re only here for a week…) and you want it medium, then order it well-done.

Take a look at this picture and you’ll get what I mean.
I ordered my burger ‘medium’ and it’s practically mooing.

I’ve been here for over 11 years.  I should know this by now.  But every time I think to myself ‘No, if I order it well-done, it might come out that way.’ 

Anyway, if you order a burger or a steak, and you want it cooked a certain way, go up a level to get it right.

This is food for thought – literally – and Lindsay, signing out.

Taking the bus in France

Hi, this is another article from our contributing writer, Christine.  She travels to France a lot throughout the year, and lives here for 4 months every Fall.

The bus system in Paris is really wonderful, really it is....but every once in a while I just have to ask myself huh??  Yesterday I was taking the bus to the Louvre.  I was meeting a friend there at a specific time.  No problem.  You can go online and check out what time the bus will depart from your local stop and how long it will take to reach your destination.  Yesterday I was on the bus reading the nice red signs, "welcome to bus route number 22.",  "Route 22 wishes you a good day." "Destination Hotel de Ville." which was perfect because this bus route takes me right by the entrance of the Louvre on its way to the Hotel de Ville.  As I am reading the signs , feeling very smug because I can actually understand them in French, I notice that all of a sudden the red sign says "Destination changer." HUH????  The destination has changed, no explanation, just that the destination has changed.  One more stop and the driver asks  us all to get off of the bus and wait for the next one with no explanation.
Now what I also don't understand is not one person said anything or even questioned it.  We all got off of the bus.  I did not wait for the next one, it was a beautiful day in Paris and I walked the rest of the way.

Paris and/or New York

I'm in New York on business.  I went to college in NYC.  I moved to Paris right after graduation.  I remember moving to Paris and hearing Parisians say "Ugh, Paris is such a busy, fast-paced and tiring city."   And I always thought that that was kind of silly.  I mean, try spending like a day working in New York.  I'm not talking about vacationing in Manhattan.  New York is a busy, loud, very faced-paced city, filled with sky scrapers, stores, taxis, buses, tourists, people, neon lights, honking, coffee to go, take-out, more stores, and offices; and all of that is mixed together without any rhyme or reason.  Mind you, there are many very beautiful neighborhoods in Manhattan.  But it's true that everybody is in a rush to go somewhere, to do something.  And that's also what makes NY so wonderful and vibrant. 

Paris is such a beautiful city.  Everything seems so put together, like it was built on a fairytale.  All the buildings match, and when they don't, it looks so elegant.  La Défense, the semi-skyscraper part of town, is actually outside of Paris.  It's like the French thought 'this is kind of ugly.  Let's push it out of town.'

So to conclude, Paris is not a difficult city to live in.  It's gentler, a little less exciting, and a little more romantic than New York, with a touch of 'je ne sais quoi.'  Paris is so très French.

Subway Stations in France

Ok, so what's the purpose of this half-chair / half-creature in the subway station?  See the guy sitting there?  Now take a look at his shoes.  That's right, you have to wear industrial shoes with thick rubber soles to actually be able to use these things.  Got heels on? Forget it.  Ballet flats? Nope.  You'll just slip and slide.  The question I have is, why don't they just put down normal chairs?  These lean-thingies don't take up less space, and they're uncomfortable.  Yes, they've got an urban feel to them, which is what I imagine they’re aiming for, but citizens don't want cool, urban things in subway stations.  They want comfortable, practical stuff.  If anybody reading this happens to work for French public transport, please pass this on to the furniture department.

This is Lindsay, signing out.