au revoi, french style

For Celia's last day, the creche threw a proper good bye party for her. All the kids and most of their parents were there, Elise and I were late in our own special as always way for creche parties,(darn the Bus 62! just when you need it most!), but the party was a fabulous success. I could not have been happier for (a) finding this wonderful place full of fabulous women that loved and cared for my daughter for 6 months and (b) being able to participate in a proper french good-bye party. Fête français? Not complete with out the champaign. See the guest of honor's mommy below accepting her first glass of many....

Doggy/Princess Celia hanging out with Virginia

A very happy mommy accepting the celebratory champaign...I was one of the lucky ones that sipped from a real glass...notice the big yellow plastic glasses of champaign.

Celia rocking out with her friends and mommy Jemima at the creche

Now, don't get me wrong. Had I not lived in Paris for the last what, 20 months, I too would be appaled at parents and staff drinking champaign, at their child's daycare while the children are off in the back jumping off dangerous contraptions and doing their best to hurt themselves. By American standards, yes, something is wrong with this situation...

Back in the day in Los Angeles, what feels like a life time ago, Celia and Elise's daycare lady threw a Christmas party for all the parents. It was great. An evening for all of us to come together and get to know the parents of the kids that our own kids are spending all their time with. (Not too mention an awesome Sri Lankan caterer that blew our minds.). The evening was fabulous but the best part was when Nat's dad joked about the fact that we were eating and drinking in Achchee's precious daycare room. The same place where our kids sang songs and stacked blocks, we were partying the night away! But the very idea suddenly made us all nervous and awkward. We were afraid to do something wrong, or spill, or make a mess. Then we'd get in trouble and end up on the dreaded TIME OUT bench. Sure our kids were afraid of Achchee, but we were terrified of her!

So it's funny how the tables have turned. Back in LA, it seemed unnatural and silly to be drinking alcohol at the daycare. But here in France it is almost uncomfortably natural to drink with my child at her daycare. Of course, no one is getting drunk or obnoxious and I think that is one of the first things that comes to mind when considering the differences in our cultures. French people eat and drink in moderation. (Just think about it: all the best pastries and heavily creamed/buttered food of the world and NO, except us ex-pats and tourists, are fat! They are all born with this special skill that tells them to stop after a taste and move on. It's a gift)

Thus, we toasted the end of an era and enjoyed each other's company one last time. And it's just the thing to do: sip some delicious champaign, enjoy life, and be with your people. It was a fabulous au revoi, a great french experience to add to the books, and another beautiful lesson of the french life: take it all in, take it easy, and don't forget the champaign!

La dernière fois

Today is the beginning of many endings that will soon occur for the Fischers' Adventures. It is the end of TTS and the beginning of CT, Celia Time. That's right, Time To Shine is over and after today I'm back to being full time mom. It's been a great run and I have done a lot of great Paris explorations and adventures sans enfants. I have spent time with great friends, had many lunches with a wonderful husband, and spent some great moments by myself reflecting, visiting sites, and being alone. I found a healthy balance of people time with some solitude and I must say, the last 4 months have been pretty amazing. But alas, all great things must come to and end. Or do they....

With Celia's last day at the creche have come some interesting conversations with friends and fellow creche parents. One parent today explained to me that she moved here from Mexico on a 6 month visa as part of a work exchange program. Twelve years later she is married with two children. Every year she thinks this may be the last and they talk about a return to Mexico; however with the economy and dangers of northern Mexico, (where she has family and roots), they keep putting it off. Thus, the twelve years.

I have other friends that have had two years in Paris turn to five or some that are living day to day. It's fascinating to be a part of this world of ex-pats where people have designated deadlines or just live life as it comes and wait to see where it's going to take them. I don't know if I could do it. Just four months ago I did not know where we were going to be in six months and although it didn't drive me completely crazy, it was a bizarre feeling. The unknown.

Now sure, I knew deep down inside that things would work out and we would end up back in the States, but I guess I also knew that at some point we may have needed to have the plan B conversation. The details of that conversation I guess we will never know, (it never came up), but I do wonder.....

We came here with the intention of a two year stay and it turned out to be two years. It was a fabulous two years and in our case yes, all good things are going to come to an end. But we must not forget that when one door closes, especially in the case of the Fischer Family, another fabulous one opens!

The doorma continues

Get it? Doorma (Drama). Okay, so I know a joke isn't funny if you have to explain it, but I really wanted to make sure that one got through. It's good, no?

So, there are a million other things I should be doing right now, like shopping for lunch as my belly growls, or doing some job research for my phone interview tonight, or just sitting at a cafe celebrating my birth...but I just had to take a few minutes to document what just happened....

How many french men does it take to change a door lock? What I just learned is that it probably takes only one, but you need at least five others to talk it through with, argue with, and then go grab a coffee with after deciding on a plan and putting it off until after your coffee and cigarette. Got it? Good.

Five men were at my door this morning investigating the lock and talking over what to do about fixing it. Now they are talking fast and in french and asking me what I think..."uhhh, oui? C'est bonne?" (please, please, please take that as my approval, fix my door, and go away...)

No such luck. They argue and talk and argue some more, (arguing vs talking is determined by the increase in hand gestures and volume. The main guy got pretty upset at the DDLM administrator when he questioned his decision and plan for the door.) Then the fix-it guy/main guy who has all the tools and appears to know what he's doing, declares that he will fix it this afternoon. The administrator guy asks if I can be here this afternoon while he fixes it. (Again, I'm just standing here...I do not have the ability to give my two centimes and am absolutely worthless. Why do I need to be here?) Fix it guy says he can get in and fix it himself and that I don't have to be here. Admin guy doesn't like that and tells Caesar he has to be here. Caesar doesn't like this plan and tells fix it guy to do it tomorrow. Here's where I jump in holding my door handle, "Pas demain, aujourd'hui s'il vous plait." I'm not super stoked about carrying around my new door handle as my key, it's the only way to get in to the apartment.

So, they talk it over some more. Fix it guy convinces admin guy that it really is not a problem. He can take apart the lock, replace it with new parts, and Voila! it's done. Admin guy keeps asking how he is going to fix it. Fix it guy explains he will remove the lock and replace it with new parts, and Voila! it's done (fix it guy sentence). Admin guy asks for some clarification again (Admin guy question). Repeat fix it guy sentence. Repeat Admin guy question. Repeat fix it guy sentence. (By the way, I'm picking up about 7% of the french in this case but I'm understanding about 89% of what's happening through the hand gestures and motions of each individual. It was great. Oh, and keep in mind that you have Caesar and two other guys just standing and watching this whole episode as well. I felt like I should have offered popcorn or something.) Admin guy comes around and is convinced that fix it guy is going to pull it off and gives the d'accord. Then they head outside to the main building to discuss things further. And as I go to get our computer from the main building, (the confiscated it on Wednesday when they couldn't fix the door. It was a nice gesture in terms of saving it from theft but kind of annoying when we returned home yesterday and it was gone. And we couldn't get it back b/c the security guard who works the main building over the weekend can't get into the admin office. Thus, I went to get it from Simon today and here we are) there are all my fix it friends, drinking their coffee and smoking their cigarettes, in peace. No love lost over the doorma of the handle!

Get a handle on it

We walked into our corridor after a long, tired, crying journey home from Rome. (Oh fabulous, fabulous Rome...more on the trip later when I have more time. Just know this: we ate, we saw some really old stuff, it was warm and beautiful, and glorious!), to this

Notice something missing?

A little background...upon leaving Wednesday afternoon, we realized that our door was not locking. You could close it completely and then open it right back up, sans cle. Hmm, this is a problem. Luckily, Ceasar was right outside and I got him on the problem. We were able to leave for the airport and start our fabulous vacation. However, this is what we returned to. And for those of you out there that don't see the problem, this is what we are used to returning home to....