Ariel's parents are in town! Huzzah!!
They arrived safely this morning after a loooooooooooooong trip that, in addition to the normal, hellish 7-8 hour flight across the Atlantic, included a 7-8 hour layover in Toronto. Already today that have gotten to see such wonderful sights in Paris as
a) our apartment
b) the splendor that is the French grocery store called Monoprix
c) everything that is in between our apartment and the splendor that is the French grocery store called Monoprix (which, in our defense, includes a nice view of the Pantheon, Sorbonne, and Cluny Castle and museum, along with shops, restaurants, and other such day-to-day items)
As I write this post, they are bravely trying to stay awake long enough for dinner and then will probably pass out pretty soon afterward. That's okay, though, since we have the next two weeks to enjoy with them.
Woot!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
More photos!
Ginna's here! -- And she's a great motivator. Look at all these photos I'm putting up!
Here are some of us going out to, and then returning home from, delicious (late) fondue dinner; then (next day) touring le Cimetière du Père-Lachaise with Ginna, Brian, Melissa.
Chartres with Ginna, 4-April-2009
Giverny with Ginna, 5-April-2009
And this is from much earlier, but here's a view of the Eiffel Tower from behind the library where I work.
Also from earlier, here are a couple of photos of sweet Sofia.
Here are some of us going out to, and then returning home from, delicious (late) fondue dinner; then (next day) touring le Cimetière du Père-Lachaise with Ginna, Brian, Melissa.
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| Ginna's here! -- photos, 28-March-2009 to 30-March-2009 |
Chartres with Ginna, 4-April-2009
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| Chartres with Ginna, 4-April-2009 |
Giverny with Ginna, 5-April-2009
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| Giverny with Ginna, 5-April-2009 |
And this is from much earlier, but here's a view of the Eiffel Tower from behind the library where I work.
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| Tour Eiffel, 4-March-2009 |
Also from earlier, here are a couple of photos of sweet Sofia.
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| babysitting Sofia, 23-March-2009 |
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Pictures! Finally! -- photos, 8-February-2009 to 1-March-2009
Walking in the Luxembourg gardens with the Alexanderpools, pretty sky out our apartment window, a wee bit of snow, and a visit to Lille.
Lovely things seen during Joel's visit : Sainte Chapelle, Saint Severin, and the Louvre.
Musee d'Orsay on the first Sunday of the month (when Paris museums are free!).
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| photos, 8-February-2009 to 14-February-2009 |
Lovely things seen during Joel's visit : Sainte Chapelle, Saint Severin, and the Louvre.
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| photos, 21-February-2009 to 23-February-2009 |
Musee d'Orsay on the first Sunday of the month (when Paris museums are free!).
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| photos, 1-March-2009 |
Monday, March 30, 2009
A propos of nothing...
I saw this video online the other day, and I enjoyed it. Maybe you will, too.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
More Protests - Now with Livestock
This morning between sips of tea, Ariel let me in on this bit of news:
"Oh boy! Yesterday there was this protest in the 7th [the part of Paris where the Eiffel Tower is, as well as the American Library in Paris, where Ariel works]. They had fireworks and marching. And a cow."
The end.
"Oh boy! Yesterday there was this protest in the 7th [the part of Paris where the Eiffel Tower is, as well as the American Library in Paris, where Ariel works]. They had fireworks and marching. And a cow."
The end.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Protest by Moonlight
Hello everyone,
So...it's been a while. Sorry about that. Ariel and I aren't too good about keeping up with this whole blogging thing, I guess. In fact, I know. And so do you. So I'm stating the obvious. But I'm also posting now, right? So, there you go. We're getting better. Hopefully.
Anyway, why I'm writing tonight: it's a little past midnight right now, and I just witnessed one of the stranger things I've seen since coming to Paris - a midnight protest rally.
A little background: Ariel and I live in the 5th arrondissement, the Latin Quarter, which is home to many of Paris' schools, including the College de France, Ecole Polytechnique (just across the street), and the Sorbonne. In fact, the road just in front of our apartment is Rue des Ecoles - School Road. Fun stuff. Now, the schools in France have been in a bit of turmoil for the past few months. Namely, the professors and many of their students are currently on strike in protest against changes coming down from the Sarkozy government concerning, among other things, academic funding and scholarly independence (honestly, I'm not well enough aware of what's going on to give you any really worthwhile information - and this coming from an academic and historian of France. Sad). As part of the strike, students (and I imagine some professors) have taken to marching down Rue des Ecoles on multiple occassions as part of their demonstrations, complete with banners, chants, and the obligatory dreadlocked dude with his djembe.
It's actually been quite a while since the last protest, though. That is, until tonight. At midnight. It seems like it was an unprepared march - like a bunch of people were at a meeting, got riled up, and decided a nice walk to the Sorbonne was what they needed. I have to say, it's kind of freaky to hear a mass of angry yelling and banging head toward you in the middle of the night. To make things even better, a bunch of the students started taking the barriers set up for the construction work around our apartment and tossing them around. They moved a few of them to block in a car - which seemed a little mean. Most surprising to me, though, was the fact that they literally set up a (small) barricade in the middle of the Rue des Ecoles. Check it out - it's just under the streetlamp in this very low quality photo I took with my phone camera:
As someone whose research concerns France's revolutions and public recall to those revolutions in contemporary politics and culture, this seemed like a pretty striking thing to do - I mean, just about every popular uprising in France since the Fronde has involved people barricading the streets. Did the students have this tradition in mind when they set up their tiny roadblock? Most likely not. They probably just saw these portable metal walls and thought using them to block traffic would make their protest more disruptive and therefore effective. Or, if one's feeling less generous, maybe it's just a stupid act of vandalism. Still, the overthinking nerd in me got chills watching it happen.
Ariel, meanwhile, slept like a baby through it all.
So...it's been a while. Sorry about that. Ariel and I aren't too good about keeping up with this whole blogging thing, I guess. In fact, I know. And so do you. So I'm stating the obvious. But I'm also posting now, right? So, there you go. We're getting better. Hopefully.
Anyway, why I'm writing tonight: it's a little past midnight right now, and I just witnessed one of the stranger things I've seen since coming to Paris - a midnight protest rally.
A little background: Ariel and I live in the 5th arrondissement, the Latin Quarter, which is home to many of Paris' schools, including the College de France, Ecole Polytechnique (just across the street), and the Sorbonne. In fact, the road just in front of our apartment is Rue des Ecoles - School Road. Fun stuff. Now, the schools in France have been in a bit of turmoil for the past few months. Namely, the professors and many of their students are currently on strike in protest against changes coming down from the Sarkozy government concerning, among other things, academic funding and scholarly independence (honestly, I'm not well enough aware of what's going on to give you any really worthwhile information - and this coming from an academic and historian of France. Sad). As part of the strike, students (and I imagine some professors) have taken to marching down Rue des Ecoles on multiple occassions as part of their demonstrations, complete with banners, chants, and the obligatory dreadlocked dude with his djembe.
It's actually been quite a while since the last protest, though. That is, until tonight. At midnight. It seems like it was an unprepared march - like a bunch of people were at a meeting, got riled up, and decided a nice walk to the Sorbonne was what they needed. I have to say, it's kind of freaky to hear a mass of angry yelling and banging head toward you in the middle of the night. To make things even better, a bunch of the students started taking the barriers set up for the construction work around our apartment and tossing them around. They moved a few of them to block in a car - which seemed a little mean. Most surprising to me, though, was the fact that they literally set up a (small) barricade in the middle of the Rue des Ecoles. Check it out - it's just under the streetlamp in this very low quality photo I took with my phone camera:
As someone whose research concerns France's revolutions and public recall to those revolutions in contemporary politics and culture, this seemed like a pretty striking thing to do - I mean, just about every popular uprising in France since the Fronde has involved people barricading the streets. Did the students have this tradition in mind when they set up their tiny roadblock? Most likely not. They probably just saw these portable metal walls and thought using them to block traffic would make their protest more disruptive and therefore effective. Or, if one's feeling less generous, maybe it's just a stupid act of vandalism. Still, the overthinking nerd in me got chills watching it happen.
Ariel, meanwhile, slept like a baby through it all.
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