Observations Aléatoires

Today (Sunday, September 27^th) was an interesting day in Paris. It was declared as “Paris sans voiture” (Paris without cars) day, with the encouragement to get out and walk or ride bikes without worrying about vehicle traffic. I walked to the Arc de Triomphe so that I could walk down the Champs Élysées to the Louvre. This boulevard (Champs Élysées) is 8 lanes wide, and at about the cross street of rue Balzac the entire Champs Élysées was closed for pedestrian and bicycle traffic only. There were 10,000’s of people out walking the Champs Élysées – it was awesome; I walked down the middle of the boulevard the entire way. The photograph below is on Champs Élysées facing towards the Arc de Triomphe (I actually walked the opposite way – I did not take this photograph I borrowed it from the BBC website).

 

 Paris sans voiture jour - 27 September 2015 -Champs Élysées

 

 

Below are just random comments on some observations I’ve had during my 27 days here (yikes, I’ve almost been here a month – on one hand it’s like where did time fly, on the other it’s like I’ve lived here forever):

 

Laundry (again): D’accord (means = okay) I didn’t want to make my last post about laundry (clothes – not money) any longer than it was but I always knew I’d be writing a part 2 and here it is …. Donc (means = so; I’m subtly teaching you French – ha!) in my research for moving here I had read that the French iron their sheets and of course my reaction to that was they’ve got to be out of their friggin’ minds, this IS the 21^st century …. And then when I signed my lease for the apartment, part of the things required when vacating is that the sheets must be IRONED (their capitalization, I’m just repeating what the contract stated) … and again I thought, this is really weird who in bloody-hell does that (see, I’m becoming multi-lingual ….) therefore I decided that there was no way on God’s green earth (or should that saying be changed to God's brown earth?) that I’d be ironing sheets, until the time I vacate my apartment …. Ha! The joke was on me …. When I had made that decision I hadn’t yet met my washer/dryer (aka: “the monster”) …. I’m guessing because of the way the monster works (as mentioned in my previous post) in sucking out the water to dry clothes – well my tea towels (kitchen towels) and my sheets came out all wadded together and no amount of smoothing them with my hands did any good at trying to push out the wrinkles ….. so guess what I now do ….yep you got that right, I feel like a friggin’ scullery maid from Downton Abbey (okay, I know that a scullery maid was in the kitchen but I like the sound of it and I don’t know what the maid who did the laundry was called) and I too now iron my tea towels, duvet and pillow cases, and I have to admit ironed sheets feel wonderful when you climb into them for the first time!

Paying in cash: In 1360 the French monetary system was started with what they called the Franc, which stayed the countries monetary unit (with a few updates over the centuries) until 2002 when the Euro bills and coins were introduced and the Franc was retired during a two month time period. The Euro, which I’m sure you know, is the monetary unit used by those countries in the EU (European Union) so that a like money is used by all those countries (but a country does not have to change to the Euro to be in the EU – a prime example of that is England). Using the Euro is quite simple because it’s just like the US monetary system – we have 100 pennies (.01 cents) to the dollar, the Euro is 100 cents (.01 cents) to the euro. Donc (so), the bills are: 500 euro, 200 euro, 100 euro, 50 euro, 20 euro, 10 euro, and 5 euro (notice there is not a 1 euro bill) …. The coins are: 2 euro (would be like a 2 dollar bill in the US), 1 euro (like a 1 dollar bill in the US or a dollar coin), .50 cent euro, .20 cent euro, .10 cent euro, .05 cent euro, .02 cent euro and .01 cent euro …. (Warning alert – the following involves math) … Now, the reason I bring this up is don’t even think of trying to do creative thinking when paying for something – let me explain: Si (means = if) I purchased something in the US for $1.77 I most likely would give them two $1.00 bills and two pennies ($2.02) so that I was given back .25 cents ….. makes sense, oui? Oh good lord, don’t even try to do that with a French cashier – I had such a purchase for 1,77 euro and gave the cashier a 2 euro coin and two .01 cent euros (2,02 euros – in Europe a comma is used to signify the place holder for the cents to follow and as the number gets bigger – ie: 10,000.00 US – the period is used – ie: 10.000,00 euro) thinking that the cashier would give me back .20 cent euro and .5 cent euro … Oh my God, you’d think that I had green skin and two little antenna sticking out of the top of my head … the cashier looked at me with a shocked look on his face, pushed the two .01 cent euros back at me and then proceeded to give me one .20 cent euro and three .01 cent euros ….. I learned my lesson, just give them whatever is closest to the dollar by rounding up and let them give me back the change … and dang it, those little .01 cent euros are small little buggers! (Aimee L. – you and your cash register brain would go batty over here!)

Sunglasses: I’ve noticed that generally French people don’t wear sunglasses. Particularly interesting because there are glasses shops (prescription) everywhere! Although today in that mass of people there were a lot of sunglass wearers - so maybe they only wear sunglasses on the weekends because they sure don't wear them during the week!

Homeless: Something I never saw in Chula Vista or San Diego – but it seems almost every homeless person here has a puppy. They either sit on the sidewalk or lay on the side walk with their puppy strategically placed so that you see it. I’m of two minds – (the compassionate me) that everybody needs somebody/thing (ie: animal) to love and I’m glad that they have the ability to do that … my other mind (the cynical me, which I’m afraid is more where I’m leaning) is that it is nothing but a ‘sales ploy’ – to make people seeing the puppies think ‘ooh, how does that puppy get it’s food, I’ll give him some money to make sure the puppy doesn’t suffer’ and that just keeps the circle going round and round – put out puppy, get money …. And then I wonder, what in the heck happens once the puppy grows into a dog? (I have yet to see a grown dog with a homeless person, only puppies)… Does it get abandoned and then another puppy is procured to wrench at people’s hearts?

 

Et (means = and) then I came up with a third option – (this is just me thinking crazy) that the pet shops use the homeless people to sell their dogs – when somebody sees a puppy with a homeless person that they want to buy the dog from them to “give it a good home” so it is sold, with the homeless person getting a percentage of the money, and another puppy to sell [please note, I have absolutely no evidence of this – as a matter of fact I’ve never even seen a pet shop in Paris, this is just my mind wandering and conjuring up scenarios] … but something interesting just hit the news (saw it posted on Facebook, so you know it’s a hot topic … LOL) … in Lille, France there was just an incident where an animal rights activist forcibly took a puppy away from a homeless person which has raised the ire of the masses in France …. It was caught on video (of course) and the homeless man is crying for his dog …. I don’t know if that was the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do …

Food: It took me about a week but it finally dawned on me that I haven’t seen any celery …. D’accord (okay), a ‘grape’ in French is a ‘raisin’ … and a ‘raisin’ in French is ‘raisin sec’ (dried raisin) … an ‘apple’ in French is a ‘pomme’ … and a ‘potato’ in French is a ‘pomme de terre’ (apple of the earth) ….. et (and) I always thought that eating prunes was for old people but apparently I’ve been eating them all my life – a ‘plum’ in French is a ‘prune rouge’ (red prune) … and a ‘prune’ in French is ‘pruneau’ …. Just a little play on words here ….

Ainsi, quelques-uns de mes observations à ce jour

Je ne launder pas d'argent

Bank Account. Having opened a number of them throughout my life, those two words should not cause a shutter to move through one’s body and they don’t if you’re in America. Bank Account in France – well, that is this blogs story.

It’s always best to do research before you send your life into an upheaval. And I did. Months ago I joined an English-speaking French “ex-patriot” website which covers every topic you can imagine, giving insight as to how things are done “in France” (and believe me, every day is a new learning experience!). One of the topics was about bank accounts. I learned that it is pretty much mandatory to have one because one’s rent, utilities, mobile phone – just about anything you pay on a monthly basis – is automatically withdrawn from your account. I also learned that it is difficult for Americans to open a bank account in France due to the recent FACTA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) rules. In addition I learned that if you live in France you cannot be denied a bank account and after the third time you are refused an account, then the 4^th bank you go to is obligated to accept you. So, knowing all this I expected to have to ask for “letters of refusal” and eventually find a bank that would accept me.

Now, banks are very different here than in the US. You may have an account at well-known bank (as an example, think of Bank of America) but each branch is considered its own bank – so, there’s nothing ‘corporate’ about it. You might be accepted as a client at one branch but not another. The ‘Directeur’ of each office is the decision maker on everything. And, you are expected to do your banking in the neighborhood where you live. Of course, there are a number of different banks in each neighborhood.

The closest bank to my apartment is literally (once I get outside my building) 30 seconds away – walking, so of course that’s where I wanted to bank (and I am). I must have had luck on my side because I wasn’t refused an account at my first choice bank.

Of all the bank accounts I’ve opened in the US it was pretty easy – fill out the application, give them money to deposit into the account and off you go. Not so in France! France is very concerned about money laundering. And then the US enacting FACTA has caused a large strain on all foreign countries (they have to report to the US Federal Government all US citizens who have bank accounts in their country, and how much money is in the accounts). So, you don’t just go to a bank and open an account, not in France, no sir, ain’t gonna happen! It took 4 separate appointments (rendez-vous) for me to actually get my account set up and active.

Rendez-vous 1: I went to the bank the second or third day I was in France, knowing it would take some time to get ‘approved’ to have an account (and also thinking I’d have to shop many banks). I met with the ‘Sous Directeur’ (Assistant Director) because he speaks English (normally you have to meet the ‘Directeur’, so I’m guessing he only speaks French, or maybe just wasn’t there that day (I’ve never met him). This meeting is just a “meet and greet” for the Sous Directeur to get to know you a little, why you want a bank account and to give you some ideas of the types of accounts offered. That meeting done, we made another rendez-vous for two days later.

Rendez-vous 2: Again, I met with the Sous Directeur – the bank wants to get to know their clients. I gave him copies of my passport, my visa, my rental contract with my landlords, my US bank accounts, and my pension statements. This time the application was filled out – with him asking questions and typing directly into his computer program. I’m thinking “great, I can get the large amount of cash (euros) I brought over into my account and won’t have to worry about how I’m going to pay my landlord for October – I’m doing this in plenty of time”. Ha! Slam on the brakes. After he asks all the questions, etc. he then tells me that my application has to be ‘approved’ and it will take a couple of days (it’s a Wednesday that I’m there) so he’ll contact me – he hopes by Friday. If not, it won’t be until the next Tuesday because the bank is closed on Sunday and Monday (it’s open on Saturdays).  Of course I don’t get notified until that next Tuesday that I’ve been ‘approved’.

Rendez-vous 3: I’m pretty sure THIS time I can deposit my money into the bank since I’ve been approved and I’m all excited, so off to the bank I go to meet with the Sous Directeur again. (I have to tell you, he is the nicest of gentlemen). Now we’re sitting in his office and he’s explaining the options I have regarding my account since I’m a “Premier Customer” (woohoo).

The first question he asks is what balance I want for ‘over draft’ protection. I explain to him that I don’t do business that way and I won’t need any type of ‘over draft’ option. He tells me it’s not an option and he’ll set mine at 3,000 euros. Okay-dokey.

Next, we discussed the debit card. It’s already been explained to me that banks do not issue credit cards in France. Actually, credit cards are not available in France except for specific businesses/stores (i.e.: Kohls, Sears, Texaco). Banks issue debit cards for general use and ATM use.

So, he asks me do I want to set up the debits from my account to accumulate throughout the month and are all paid on the same day of the month (the 5^th) or do I want my debits to be immediately withdrawn from my account when I use the card. I imagine my mouth was hanging to the floor with that question – all I could think about is the dirt-bag people I spent my career chasing who committed fraud, thinking OMG what a scam – I could get a debit card, chose the option to have them all just be ‘pending’ on my account until the appointed date for withdrawal, spend to my heart’s content (well, depending on the type of account you have there is a limit on spending per month – mine is 8,000 euros, not counting against me any automatic payouts such as my rent, mobile phone, etc) and then just disappear! I of course selected to have my debits be immediately withdrawn from my account.

So with the account specific questions answered he now prints out the contracts which we both sign. I ask him if he will now take my money to deposit into the account and he says “No”. I have to wait for the bank to send my checks and debit card, as I can’t activate my account until I’ve received my debit card and use an ATM to activate the account. WTF, I have a bank account with a zero balance! And they won’t take my money!!!!

He also explained to me that in France banks in general won’t take deposits, cash or checks. If you want to make a deposit you have to ‘justify’ where the money came from through some type of paperwork to prove that the money is ‘legal’ and that you’re not laundering money. As he was telling me this I was thinking how in the heck do I prove the 2,500 euros in cash I have is legitimate – then remembered I could show him my August US bank statements showing me withdrawing that money, phew! He told me that because he had gotten to know me, the bank would this one time only accept my cash money to deposit into my account (but not on that day – remember my account hadn’t yet been activated!).

I ask him how long I have to wait for the checks and debit card, which are sent directly to the bank, and he tells me that I need to be patient – maybe a week. And in addition, I have to wait until I receive in the mail at my apartment the PIN for my debit card. Of course I’m notified a little over a week later that the bank has my checks and debit card, but I had yet to receive the PIN. Ugh.

As an aside, when you have a bank account in France it automatically gives you insurance (different levels dependent upon the type of account you have), so my bank insures me for many types of traveling claims, such as lost or delayed luggage, returning me to Paris should I get injured in some type of accident outside of where I live, replacing my passport if it is lost or stolen. Weird!

Rendez-vous 4: Okay, so today (17 September 2015 – about two weeks from my first rendez-vous) I’m on my fourth trip to meet with the Sous Directeur – and at this point I realize that they really do “know their customers” since I don’t even have to ring to get let into the bank, by now the receptionist recognizes me (no walking into a bank, you have to ring the buzzer) and she buzzes me in. Long story short – I sign for the checks, I sign for the debit card. I use the ATM machine and finally deposit my cash. I use the ATM machine to withdraw 20 euro to make sure I know how to use it correctly. And off and running I go.

I won’t even go into detail on what I needed to access my account online. I had to wait for another letter from the bank with a different PIN (it was in my mail today, coincidently), create a ‘memorable’ question for the website, a password, two security questions … then on my mobile I was required to download the banks app, create a different confidential code for that …. And to log into the online account from either my desktop PC or via my mobile I have to, via my mobile, request a time limit ID code number to enter for access. Good God!!! I have so many notes written down about this I have no idea how I’m going to remember everything.

So, that’s banking in France.

 

Dieu merci pour Google Translate

So, it took me a week to try to wash clothes because the washer/dryer scared me to death. The microwave also was a complete mystery but I did use that right way – not necessarily correctly, but it worked.

I had an instruction manual for the microwave, in …. guess …… French, huh – really?, ha!, (many of the other appliances had manuals in multiple languages – so that made it much easier for me) and there was no instruction manual for the washer/dryer, they kept the registration paperwork but for some reason not the instruction manual.

Let me start with the microwave. The face of the microwave is not user friendly and it had various picture buttons that no matter how hard I pushed on them (you know, how when you’re in a foreign country and they don’t understand what you’re saying so you repeat yourself – only louder!) they seemed to do nothing. I ended up using Google Translate for every single line in the manual, just so I could figure out how I was supposed to use it.

Microwave (click on picture for larger view) 

 

Come to find out that first you have to tell the microwave what temperature you want it to cook at (what???????????), then you set the time for cooking, in increments of 20 seconds. And the picture buttons don’t do anything – instead you have to memorize what each is (ie: poultry) and their position (1 – 10) and if you want to use the ‘pre-set’ heat/cooking times then enter that pre-set number …. where you ask? At this point I have no idea, so far I’ve only got down the temperature and manual time entry functions.

Okay, now for the scariest machine I’ve ever encountered. Just looking at all the choices was enough to wish I’d brought enough clothes for a year without having to do any laundry – but can you imagine toting 365 pairs of underwear across the Atlantic. Knowing my luck, if I had it would be the one time Customs would pick me to search the luggage, open up the suitcase – see all those ‘unders’ and wonder if there was a black market for underwear! But no, I only brought 10 pair so I had to figure out how to use “the monster”.

 

Washer/Dryer Combo (click on picture for larger view)

First let me explain – in Europe the most common type of washer and dryer is the COMBO washer/dryer (saves space, duh!), so that’s what I have – you put in your clothes and it washes them, once that is done the washer turns into a dryer … it’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced, that and it takes FOREVER to do one load of laundry, normally (depending of course on your settings) it takes 3 ½ to 4 hours for one load of laundry. I asked a girl I know here if she did laundry every day just to stay caught up and she said “yes” … ugh! No more having a clean the house/laundry day … instead I get laundry day/night every day of the week (or close too).

My washer/dryer holds 5 kilos (using the wash/dry function) or 6 kilos (wash only function) of laundry (yes, it weighs the clothes) – which in my mind sounds like a lot … ha! 1 queen size bottom sheet and 2 pillow cases, or – if you cram as much in as you can, 1 duvet, 1 bath towel and 2 tea towels. So you see why it takes every day to do laundry, both the time it takes and the amount the washer/dryer holds.

So, back to the story … here I’m trying to figure out what all the different settings mean (well, I did recognize the word ‘pause’ [yes, the English word] and ‘froid’ [cold]) and really don’t want to lug my laptop into the bathroom (where the washer/dryer resides) to use Google Translate – anyway I may be able to translate each setting but it still doesn’t tell me HOW to USE “the monster”. I try Googling (is that a word?) the make and model of “the monster” and you’ve probably already guessed, with my luck, the manufacture hasn’t made that particular model’s manual available online. Ugh! I looked for other manuals where the control panel looked similar to my model and read them but still felt a bit lost (understatement). So back to Google I go and instead of looking for a manual I just put in the make and model and get a number of hits for You Tube videos. I found that a company in England (yippee – English!!!!!!!!) seems to like to provide videos for various appliances and how to use them. Phew! If not for that video I think I’d be out buying ‘unders’ for the next few months until I found someone to help me.

With all that said, I have found that the French are really into conservation – of all kinds – and these types of washer/dryers do that in a number of ways: 1) saves space (remember, my apartment is only 538 square feet and I know a girl who is living in one just over 100 square feet), 2) water – it weighs the clothes and from that determines how much water it will use and adjusts as needed during the cycles, and 3) electricity – well, I can’t think of how it saves that since it takes a couple of hours to ‘dry’ a load but you do have other options, as example, of only drying until damp (for ironing) … but it’s weird to know it’s drying, then it stops spinning because it has to dump the water it’s sucked out of the load, then it starts spinning dry again.

The thing I learned from all this – is that I’m a bit dumbfounded on how people, before ‘the Internet’ and especially Google Translate, took leaps of faith to move to another country without speaking their language and made it using only a dictionary. I cannot imagine having to need to translate the microwave instruction manual one word at a time, or being able to translate the words on “the monster”, but still not knowing how to actually operate it!

Chaque nouvelle aventure est une expérience d'apprentissage

 

Oh la la, l'excitation de mes premiers jours

So, I left San Diego on Monday 8/31 at 0800 hours, waking up at 0400 hours to get there on time since I had extra luggage to check in (and pay for … ugh), and I arrived in Paris at about 0810 hours on Tuesday 9/1, the layover at Dallas/Fort Worth was delayed about 30 minutes. Going through Customs was easy, got the entry stamp for my visa (which is very important) and spent more time waiting for my luggage then going through Customs. My driver was waiting for me and it took about an hour to get from the airport to my apartment.

The landlords were outside on the curb when we pulled up. What a cute little old couple – they can’t be more than 5'4" and are as nice as can be. I just wanted to keep hugging them. He only speaks a little English and would prefer to speak French, she speaks English quite well. They were so sweet, they left me a fresh fruit basket and a box of chocolate! (You'd think they knew me - ha!) The apartment looks exactly like the photographs I had seen, so that was a relief. It’s about 50 square meters (538 square feet) and has two bedrooms. Surprisingly it doesn’t feel small (most of the time). I got everything put away the day I arrived. That first night I slept for 14 hours, I guess I was both physically and mentally exhausted.

I’ve received quite a few emails asking me where the pictures are – I’ve laughed at every one of them (that of course was a loving laugh). It’s not like I’ve done any sight-seeing yet! It’s amazing (at least to me) how much needs to be done to make an apartment a home, especially when it comes to filling the pantry. The first day I got here I knew I needed to go to the market for food. So off I went to Monoprix – it’s like a cross between Wal-Mart and Target (Wal-Mart quality, Target prices) but way smaller. So here I am thinking this is a piece of cake – I bought ham, cheese, bread – what else do you need for sandwiches – as well as a few other things (eggs, juice, etc.) … So I get home and for dinner I’m going to make a sandwich – get out the ham, cheese, bread …. hmmmmmmmmmmm – oh, there’s nothing to put on the bread – no mayonnaise, no mustard, nothing … so I eat the ham and the cheese.

Needless to say, everyday I’ve been here I’ve been to the Monoprix – right now my life revolves around it … you should try it sometime – it’s really hard to think of everything you need to stock a kitchen …. And you also have to take into account that you have to carry (via walking) everything you buy to your apartment! A funny story about my grocery shopping – I needed washing machine soap, I’m standing looking in the correct area, but because my French just isn’t that good I can’t tell the difference between dishwasher soap and laundry soap – everything here is in those plastic pre-sized packets so all the boxes look the same ….. I had to have a friend go with me one day to tell me the difference ….

So, you wanted pictures of my exciting life in Paris – well, here it is - this is where my life is revolving at the moment – Monoprix!

On my second day here the Street Market was held (in my arrondissment it is every Wednesday and Sunday) – so I’m there to shop for meat and vegetables (I still had a lot of fruit left in the basket I was given) …. Now this is the stuff that I’m going to have to change my way of thinking about … to me, meat comes on a yellow tray covered in plastic wrap …. so looking at some of the meat that still had scales (most of the fish had not been filleted) and feathers – ick! Also, to see the meat sitting out in the open (yes, it was on ice) goes so against the grain for me … but I took a venture and bought one chicken breast (yep, that’s me being adventurous) … I also bought 2 onions, 5 mushrooms, 3 tomatoes, and a head of lettuce. "Hey big spender"! I should tell you that my refrigerator is pretty small, it’s the kind you find in work places that fit under the counter, so no Costco buying for me. I’ll be going to the Street Market on Sunday for more fresh meat, fruit and vegetable shopping … I have to admit the fruit I’ve been eating is delicious – I’m not normally a big fruit eater but man oh man, I crave it here – and so far I've eaten all kinds of fruit that I normally wouldn’t …. (I’m trying, you know "when in Rome …. ")

There is a flower shop about 1 minute from my apartment - I went there to get flowers because she had a special of a ‘bottle’ (bunch) for 2 Euros. I went in and ‘Bonjour-ed’ her and she responded back to me – I have no idea what she said and must of had the ‘deer in the headlights’ look because she switched to English … I told her "no, no – I’m trying to learn French" and she responded "Well, I want to practice my English" …. Guess who won that battle? I told her that we’ll have to trade off back and forth – one time English, the next time French … so now when I pass the shop I pop my head in and say to her "Bonjour, Madam" … I’m hoping she’ll get used to seeing me so that I can go to her shop when she’s not busy and practice my French (and I say, ha! what French?) ….

And speaking of French, today (my fourth day here) I actually used it and was understood and not corrected in what I said (the French have no qualms about correcting you if you say something incorrectly – which I like, that way I learn) …. I’ve pretty much got "Je ne parle pas français, parle vous anglais" down (I don’t speak French, do you speak English) and I’m doing better in getting it out in one sentence without stumbling over the words (ha! practice DOES make perfect …haha) … then in a cafe this morning I said to the waiter "Je voudrais du thé verte" (I would like some green tea ….. you never, never, never say "I want …." that is considered rude) and he answered me back in French (well kind of) he said "Croissant?" I said "oui" and he walked away …. I’m feeling pretty good that I had actually spoken French … until he returned with my tea and said "here’s your green tea" in English …. LOL LOL, so maybe I wasn’t that good and was feeling a bit too cocky ….. but my last phrase for the day went over well …. "Je dois un rendez-vous avec M. Desvignes" (I have an appointment with Mr. Desvignes) … this I said to the receptionist at the bank and she completely understood me – told me in French she’d let him know I was waiting …. Woo hoo …..  Oh la, la - BOY DO I HAVE A WAY TO GO …

You may already know that my apartment is about a 5 – 7 minute walk to la tour Eiffel (the Eiffel Tower) – I’m wanting to get back into my exercise routine, so this morning I went from my apartment to the École Militaire (Military School) which is an anchor at one end of the Champ de Mars (Field of Mar) then walked/jogged up one side of the Champ de Mars to la tour Eiffel then back down the other side of the Champ de Mars, and then back to my apartment. I tell you this for the people who want to look at a map to ‘see’ the area that I live in …. It’s kind of surreal that I’m using la tour Eiffel as a point of my exercise routine, when it’s such a famous landmark – it’s kind of weird to see other people (French) just passing it by like it’s no big (no pun intended) deal, every time I see it, it kind of takes my breath away ....

And one last story … my apartment building has 133 steps to get from the ground floor to the top floor … in Europe the first floor is what we’d consider the 2nd floor, as they count the street level/bottom floor as zero or ‘ground’, then the next floor up is the first floor, etc. So to the French my building has six floors – to me there are 7 floors …. Additionally, many of the older buildings don’t have elevators so people have to go up and down the stairs, carrying groceries, etc …. (I’m on the ground floor so I’m lucky in that – the drawback is that my view is of the street … my building does have an elevator – Paris law is if a building is remodeled for any reason they must install an elevator, so eventually – I imagine – all the apartment buildings will have an elevator …. Two of the girls I know here – neither of their apartments have elevators … one lives on the 4th floor (5th for us) and the other on the top floor – she has 109 steps to her apartment) ….Now you’re wondering why in the heck I counted the steps (oh lordy my knees were hurting and I was breathing heavily) … I’m trying to figure out what kind of exercise I can do when it’s raining out, so I thought I’d "do stairs" …. I’m either going to die doing them or my legs are going to get better toned …. Woohoo!

À bientôt (I’ll let you figure out that one)