The Disney Magic... in Rainstorm

A quick recap of our trip to Disneyland Paris in early February... yes, the trip that PeeWee booked without my consent, because really, who wants to go to Disney in northern Europe in the middle of winter?

Well, turns out lots of people do, lots of people like us who paid a lot of money and are determined to have fun despite the awful weather. And the weather was indeed awful the first two days - the picture above is taken at breakfast, when we could not even go into the park because it was closed (due to heavy wind). That did not stop the kids from chasing every character they spotted, hounding them for pictures and autographs, and when the park did open up, from lining up for up to 1-1/2 hour for the popular rides. We also had a great heated pool at the hotel, which was a welcome relief after a day of freezing one's butt off outside.

Manolee stayed mainly in Fantasyland, enjoying Peter Pan, Dumbo, and the merry-go-rounds. Hanaya was disappointed that she was short 2 cm to go on Space Mountain, but she braved the ones that she could do, like the Aerosmith Rock n Roll (her favorite), the Tower of Terror, the Thunder Mountain, and the Pirates of the Caribbeans.

The characters' French names threw me off quite a bit though. Well, Mickey is Mickey (pronounced Mickay) and Minnie is Minnie, but Eyeore is Bourriquet, Goofy is Dingo (pronounced Dango), Chip n Dale are Tic et Toc, Scrooge McDuck is Picsou.

The third day was actually sunny, albeit freezing cold. Look how happy the kids look:



I have to admit, even though I am the biggest cynic I know, I think the Disney Magic is still out there, even in midst of a rain/windstorm, even in freezing northern Europe!

Loving Girls

I spent the last three weeks pretty much knee-deep in around-the-clock parenting - Manolee was sick and out of school for an entire week, then the girls both had two weeks off from school. We spent some cold but fun times at Disney Paris, then 4 days in Paris itself with my good friend M., then a week here in Rennes with M. and her baby daughter M2. Hectic but fun time among the girls.

Have to say, of all the picture from the last two weeks, the one below really makes me smile - look how cute they look...! 

The Anti- Anti-Sh*t Group Has Emerged

Well, the anti dog sh*t sign did not last long - here is what I found a couple of days ago. 


I cannot help but feel sympathetic to the ASG. I wonder how they (could it be more than one person belonging to this noble group?) will react to this new development. Stay tuned. 

Even the French are Complaining!

I wrote a while ago about the gymnastic abilities required to dodge mounds of dog feces in French streets. It's a real problem everywhere - there is no law requiring curbing dogs and dog owners just do not seem to care where they do their business. It's not an exaggeration to state that in a given street on a given day you would risk stepping on at least 6 different mounds in all sizes, shapes and age. Some are in corners by the walls but some are smack in the middle of the sidewalk. Every so often you see evidence that some unfortunate soul stepped on them, and see efforts of that person trying to clean the shoe against the edge of the curb - adding to more material for you to try to avoid. Whenever we foreigners get together, this comes up as the number one everyday annoyance of French life. 

I'm usually really good at dog-output dodging - I'd like to think that my radar is constantly at work, looking ahead at least 5 feet at any given moment. The fact that I've only had the misfortune of stepping on two mounds in my 1-1/2 year here is a testament - I think that must be a failure rate of approximately 0.000001% given the number of risks lurking everywhere. When I was in NY last time, I thought, at the end of the first day walking around Manhattan,  that something felt different - and I pinpointed it as the fact that I don't have to walk in constant apprehension of stepping on something unpleasant!

Anyway, I recently ran into this handwritten sign in a small street behind our flat:

Rough translation:

Sh*t bags...

I am not insulting you, you dog owner. I just want to add a new word to your vocabulary. We hear each other. The A.S.G (Anti-Sh*t Group)

So evidently I and the other foreigners are not the only ones in distress over this topic! Hooray to the ASG!

January Sales

Wednesday was the start of the annual winter sales here. Unlike the US, where retail stores can hold sales anytime they please, here in France they are allowed two official sales periods, once in January - February and another in June - July. Supposedly this encourages fair competition among the retailers - well, another thing this encourages is mad crowds on the first day of the sales.

Granted, no news reports of people in stampedes a la Walmart after Thanksgiving, but since the sales always start on a Wednesday and many women do not work on Wednesdays (see posting on elementary schools closing every Wednesday), it can be really crazy. I stepped out with the kids last year and promptly came back home - it was utterly unmanageable, especially with Manolee in the stroller. 

The French take the Soldes (sales) very seriously. People strategize for weeks ahead of time - which stores to hit in which order. People go ahead of time and try on things and cozy up with the salespeople to try to put things on hold (heard this was illegal, but many people try and succeed anyway). Always seems to be a big topic with the moms at school. People buy things ahead, meaning, they will buy clothes for next year and the year after. I am not yet used to such strategizing, such is my habit of just buying what I need or want when I need or want. But with the recession supposedly in full gear, maybe I will get my head in order - but does that makes sense? Spend money in a recession to save money in the future? Not convinced. 

Happy sale-ing!

Xmas 2008

Hoping everyone had a great Xmas.... I had no illusions this year about getting a car from PY. I had actually very little material things on my (mental) list, such is the (sad?) fact that I shop quite a lot for myself and need nothing. 

Manolee had quite a long list, however. To keep her from bothering us while I help Hana do her homework, I gave her a rather thick toy catalog to look through and suggested that she circles what she wants. Well, she started out circling individual items, but after a couple of pages she realized by herself that she was circling everything on certain pages - so then she started to circle entire pages. She then said that if Santa does not get her everything she circled it's ok, because her birthday will be soon after ... sigh...

Hana had a very short list. Is it a sign of maturity? Or utter abundance that she has everything she wants already (the apple does not fall far from the tree?) - either way, the fact that she is not outwardly greedy just makes me want to kiss her. 

"Les Fetes" continues on... Here is a pic of the girls in front of their grandma's Xmas tree. 

Gripping Local Headline

Know what I mean?

Literal translation "Nantes (a city southwest of Rennes): they took coke and shit in car".

The first paragraph is funny too, it says that the police needed no help from the canine force in tracking down the offenders because the smell from the car was so strong and evident.

I wrote a while back about how the French twist perfectly good English words and impose new meanings to them. Well, apparently, I learned after being stopped in my tracks reading the papers today, "shit" means marijuana. Why, I ask. Again, nobody French has any answers.

WFT indeed.