Attention walkers

So I was out walking around today admiring the beautiful fall leaves
with the palace of Versailles in the background and I almost got run
over while crossing the street.  I had waited for the the green
light...at least I thought I had.
   I am pretty sure the sign I took a picture of says something like
"Attention walkers, crossing is in 2 stages."  I figured it out when I
looked at the sign rather than the green crossing light.  I did have a
green crossing light but only for the "first" part of my crossing.
The "second part" of my crossing had a red light.  Mind you there was
no sidewalk to wait on, just lots of cars and buses going by.  I am
not sure that I have ever seen this configuration before or perhaps I
have just been lucky and not gotten run over.  Anyway, no harm done,
and the leaves were amazing; once I learned how to cross the street.`

Contributing writer, Christine.

Tips in France

I'm on vacation in a far away place, which is why I haven't been blogging as much over the past couple of days.  So, anywhere you go, you always ask yourself, 'How should I tip here?'. 
I bet a lot of people ask that question in France.  The French do not tip as much as many cultures.  The reason is, the price generally includes the tip.  This really pertains to restaurants.  At a meal that costs you around 35 Euros, it's odd to tip them more than 2€.  On the other hand, you should give them something.  If you take a taxi, you generally round up.  For example, if the total comes to 23.50, you'll round up to 25€. 

That's just a little tip for the day.

This is Lindsay, signing out.

Happy Halloween, or not...

My oldest son goes to an English school on Wednesdays.  He's be hearing about about Halloween for the past month.  French bakeries decorate their windows with spooky spiders and cobwebs.  Disney World in France turns into a gigantic Halloweened land...But in reality, nobody in France acutally celebrates it.

First of all, the Catholic population in France is very high.  They celebrate 'All Saints Day,' 'Toussaints.'  This day is meant to celebrate all Saints that don't have their own holiday throughout the year.  It's on November 1st.  The French celebrate it by visiting cemeteries to pay respects to loved ones, and going to church.  Halloween is like the antithesis of All Saints Day.  If you're intersted in finding more about this, here's an interesting link I found.

Halloween was pretty popular in the late nineties until about 2005.  I remember it being popular when I first arrived to France.  Now it's pretty much over.

Last year, I went to an American get together, and we all celebrated Halloween at someone's house.  It was fun, but it wasn't the same thing as trick or treating, getting candy that your parents have to sort through to make sure some twisted person didn't inject them with poison (did your parents do that?).

This year there was no American party.  So, I got my kids costumes and painted my son's face.  They both had their trick or treat bags (that I obviously got in the States).  I got them candy corn.  On Saturday we 'celebrated' Halloween.  My son was like, 'OK, we're ready to go out trick or treating.'  I was like, 'nahh, what's so fun about that?' (trying to disuade him from actually wanting to go out, rather than disappointing him).  My son was like 'To get candy!'  OK, so, I told him the truth, told him we'd make cookies instead, and that was that. 

It's too bad we don't celebrate Halloween in France.  That was one of my favorite holidays (hmm, after Thanksgiving and Christmas).  Maybe it will be 'à la mode' sometime soon, before my kids get old enough to want to throw toilet paper and eggs at our neighbor's houses.

This is Lindsay, signing out.

Buy your bags in French supermarkets

Message from contributing writer, Christine

So here is something I think the French do so right, and I understand
that it it being done in the U.S. as well, just not all over.  I went
into a store today that sells nothing but frozen foods....a story for
another day...and the sign said that they would charge me 3 cents for
each bag I needed to put my purchases in.  I have a fold up bag in by
handbag at all times, so I did not spent my 3 cents...but the point
is..I had a fold up bag in my handbag  just for this purpose.  I mean,
really, at home my supermarket asks me if I want paper or plastic.
Many stores in France charge you if you want a bag for your groceries.
 This is annoying at first and believe me I complained about spending
3 cents for a bag the first time I was charged for it.   But after a
minute of thinking about it it made good sense to me.  I really never
know what to do with the hundreds of plastic bags I have at home.
Think about it.  We actually can purchase bags to hold our bags in the
U.S.  At the end of the day, a minor inconvenience because you have to
carry a bag with you at times, but I really thing the French are onto
something.  I know that I am helping save a little bit of our planet
every time I bring my own bag...a great idea for my children an my
grandchildren.

A strike, again!

What a surprise, another French company is on strike.  Air France is, yet again, on strike.
The flight attendants are on strike against possible and probable job cuts.  Ok, that sucks.  But should customers have to suffer because of this?

I'm supposed to fly via Air France tomorrow.  My flight might be cancelled.  argghhh.  All I can say is, 'The French are always on strike.  All the time.  Enough already.'

This is Lindsay, signing off.

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.