So we found an apartment! Phew, what a challenge to get the necessary paperwork together and get approved. It’s a beautiful place, buuuut, rather devastatingly for me, it doesn’t have a bathtub. Obviously this is going to be a huge challenge with two kids!!!! However, it’s otherwise perfect, awesome building, great location and within (kind of) our price range.

Anyway, I’ve found this portable, fold away bathtub for kids:

I’m hoping this should work quite well for them, though I must admit that I have been wondering about myself… Would I be able to fit in this thing too?!? Or is that just too ridiculous? LOL The thought of not being able to have a bath for the foreseeable future is troubling me a bit. I do love my baths. Oh well, I’ll guess I’ll just have to cope! No one said this was going to be easy.

If anyone else with kids faces the same problem (surprisingly, there are A LOT of 2 bedroom apartments in Paris that only have showers) you can buy this thing at www.decoclico.fr for 149 euros.

When I first heard about Diner en Blanc I thought it sounded awesome and I was hell bent on scoring an invite via Luc’s fancy pants cousins who go every year. Diner en Blanc is this huge outdoor impromptu dinner event held at a famous Paris landmark each year in June. Apparently it is supposed to be rather exclusive, which in all honesty was probably part of the appeal to me when I first heard about it (though after discovering that 10,000 people attended last year I figured it couldn’t be really all that exclusive!). No one knows the location or date of the dinner until the very last moment, when suddenly everyone dons their entirely white outfits and descends on the venue armed with their tables, white tablecloths, sparklers, food and champagne and settle down for the evening. I never bothered pursuing an invite in the end because we have had a billion things on our plate and still don’t have a regular babysitter, so we didn’t make it this year. But here is a video of Diner en Blanc 2010, that took place just a couple of weeks ago:

It is pretty cool and I do love the idea, but personally I think it looks a little square and stuffy. I’m hoping someone will create a different version of this for 2011. I vote instead for a yearly Diner en Noir: Rickety old long tables winding down the bohemian alleyways and corridors of Montmartre, Godard and Truffaut film projections on the walls, red wine, live music, a little more improper behaviour and debauchery! For artists, musicians, writers and poor people. It would be far more fun than spending an evening with the painfully dull bourgeoisie and the exalted sense of importance expats who have been acting like Marie Antoinette ever since they ‘moved to Paris’.

Check out this video of people waiting to view a 2 bedroom apartment in Paris. Gives you an idea of just how challenging it can be…. Insane.

So Luc got a job! Hurrah! Now the difficult task of finding a suitable apartment within our budget begins.

Paris is notoriously difficult when it comes to renting property. Not only is it astronomically expensive and requires quite a bit of paperwork (3 months of payslips, guarantors etc.), it’s also extremely competitive. Apparently, it’s not unusual to go view an apartment only to find 40 other people waiting outside to see the same place.

What’s hard to swallow, as recently highlighted by the plight of the squatters of 1 Place Des Vosges, is that 1 in 10 properties in Paris remain unoccupied. I often walk by this empty boarded up old house and it pains me that no one is enjoying it while so many out there are homeless or forced to live in very small quarters due to financial constraints. The photo is taken from Google street view so it doesn’t look too bad, but I walked by today and it looks to me as if no one has been there in years. If they don’t want to live there why don’t they just sell it? Or let me live in it?

Named after the François Truffaut film of the same name, Les 400 Coups is surely the hippest named kids cafe in the world. Close to Jourdain station on the Metro line 11 in the 19th arrondissement,  it was a bit of a trek for us to get to, but well worth the journey. As soon as we walked through the door we were greeted by the incredibly charming art installation ‘Le Dortoir Des Doudous’ by Karin Nussbaumer and Frank Visser. A tribute to the ‘doudou’ (the French word for a comfort blanket or security teddy), the touching scene of little handmade dolls tucked up in their beds sleeping in a small wooden ‘dormitory’ room, can be viewed by peeking through a spy hole or over the wall. Something about it kind of reminded me of the animals in the Michel Gondry film ‘The Science of Sleep’. Loosely translated, the write-up for ‘Le Dortoir des Doudous’ reads:

“Night falls on ‘Le Dortoir des Doudous’. Perched on the moon is a funny character. He is colourful and cuddly… He is my doudou! A button for an eye, an ear of felt, glitter, sequins, ribbons… Voila! my imaginary friend. Rabbit, fairy or pirate… It’s up to you, the doudou of your dreams, who will accompany you to the land of the sand merchant.”

What an introduction to a kids restaurant! Truly adorable.

The restaurant is on 2 levels, with a smaller, quieter area downstairs (maybe for parents to sit in peace while their child is attending one of the many organised activities upstairs) and a larger dining area on the upper level. We sat upstairs where the main play area was, at the epicentre of absolute mayhem, but it felt great to be able to enjoy lunch with the kids in an environment where we were almost entirely unperturbed by our daughter throwing a tantrum and our son throwing half his dinner on the floor.

The space upstairs was incredibly bright and airy with huge windows and skylights, plenty of seating, a good sized play area and an additional room that is reserved for classes, special events and birthday parties. The food was quite good, though of the 5 choices on the lunch menu my first 2 selections were unavailable and the cost was a little high, but it was nice and healthy and the service was good. I had a tasty, if nothing to write home about, salad for 13.5 euros and the kids lunch meal was 11 euros (fish cakes with potatoes and beets, chocolate cake and a juice). Wine of course was notably cheap as always, with a glass of red costing 80 cents less than coke or perrier. Overall, for the kids meal, plus 2 salads, 2 desserts and 2 glasses of wine, the bill came to around 50 euros. As a side note I am wondering if it might eventually become rather unhealthy for me to live in a country where wine is cheaper than water as my money-conscious side can’t help but opt for wine at pretty much every opportunity. Sure, it’s a tough lifestyle, but my bank balance calls for it…

Since going to Les 400 Coups, and meeting other parents here I have actually discovered that family friendly cafes in Paris are not quite as rare as I had initially thought. I now have a pretty good list of other places that also apparently cater to young families, so I am planning on trying out as many of these as possible over the next few months. I will post details if I find any others worth checking out.

Dear France,

Here’s what I like about you:

1. Your condiment jars can be used as glasses when they’re empty. Every one of the water glasses in our kitchen were mayonnaise jars in their former life. Recycling that directly benefits the consumer. Genius.

2. Your cheap wine. From only about 5 or 6 euros for an average to pretty decent bottle. Who says Paris is the most expensive city in the world?

3. Your cheap pain killers (perhaps necessary to manage the former)… Less than 2 euros for a packet of paracetamol.

4. I know you know it, but your desserts, pastries, bread… Just delicious. I am going to end up morbidly obese if the novelty of the patisserie/boulangerie doens’t wear off soon.

5. Your schools starting at 3 years old!!! Hurrah! We have a meeting tomorrow with the principal of our local ecole maternelle. Hours are 8:30-11:30, then 1:30-4:30 5 days a week, with lunchtime, before and after school care available should you need it (for a small price). I can’t even begin to explain how incredible this is for us as well as our little girl. She has been desperate to go to school for a while now so she is beside herself with excitement!

6. Your Cheap supermarkets. Again, like in the UK, food is far far cheaper here than in Canada.

7. All your wonderful, free museums. Also, Versaille, The Louvre, Musée d’Orsay among others all offer free admission if you are unemployed or under 25 (and an EU citizen).

I am, however, less than impressed with the following:

1. Your unpredictable weather patterns. The other day I popped out to get bread, less than a 5 minute walk away. When I left the apartment it was warm and sunny. By the time I returned home I had been caught in rain, then hale, then thunder followed by sunshine again. Make your mind up you crazy cat!

2. You don’t much care for strollers do you? The clearly non-stroller-friendliness of the metro, shops, narrow sidewalks etc. make it very very difficult for a mum of two to get around comfortably. It’s rather impossible, in fact, to the point that I have now pretty much completely given up on the stroller in favour of the baby carrier. Not such a big deal really, but what do disabled people living in the Paris area do??? Terrible.

3.  I’m not saying people are unfriendly as such, but it doesn’t seem to be the done thing to smile at strangers ’round here. When I smile at other mums in the playground I get odd looks… I am now desperately working on erasing my Canadian friendliness so as to avoid coming across as some kind of lecherous creep to everyone.

4. Prospective employers not getting back to you after interviews. Rude assholes.

5. Your TV. It’s crap. If only you really did make as much television based around toilet humour as I was led to believe by Le Corbussier et Papin.

6. While I find France on the whole to be far more child-friendly than Canada, there is a shortage here of family friendly cafe’s with play areas like our old favourite place in Vancouver “Little Nest”. Having said that, I have just discovered a cool looking restaurant with a play area in the 19th called Les 400 Coups. They also offer art and cooking workshops for kids. We’re planning on checking it out this week.

7. Your love of bureaucracy! The amount of paperwork and patience required to start a new life in France is mind boggling. It can take months here to gather together all the documentation you need to open a bank account and it is very very difficult to rent a place unless you are able to show the landlord at least 3 months of payslips from a permanent job. It also took us 2 months to get our Livre de Famille issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs, which we needed in order to enrol our daughter in school, get heathcare etc. We did everything we could to make this move as spontaneous and wild as possible but all this paperwork is really taking the romance out of the whole thing and it’s messing with my mojo.

So here we are. After 3 weeks apart, we are finally reunited as a family in France! While Luc is still looking for work, we are staying in a small apartment that is attached to his cousin’s house in a place called Chatou.

Chatou is a nice town, just 15 minutes on the RER from central Paris. I haven’t had much chance to explore yet, but from what I have seen it appears to have plenty of parks, a couple of lakes and is well equipped for a family with all the facilities you might need within a short walk. We get our bread everday from a nice little boulangerie around the corner, and there’s a playground just a couple of blocks away. The apartment is great for us until we get ourselves something more permanent. It’s a one bedroom with a loft, kitchen and bathroom, our front door opens out onto a nice garden and, most importantly, we are an easy commute to Paris.

On the negative side, I saw a rat run across the garden yesterday. A big one. I think Luc was worried that I would freak out and jump on the next flight back to England with the children because he desperately tried to convince me that it wasn’t a rat at all but some harmless, friendly, rat-like creature, the name of which he couldn’t recall. But I know a rat when I see one. The only way I can overcome the trauma of the idea that we potentially live with a rat on the premises is by naming him Remy and imagining him to be a highly articulate aspiring chef facing the many trials and tribulations that go along with being a species that receives such unfairly bad press… My sister calls this anthropomorphism. I just like that she managed to somehow intellectualize my love of Disney movies. While I would hate to be the one to add to the poor fellows troubles, I do support the motion to put traps out this evening. Sorry Remy. You’ll be with Gusteau at that great kitchen in the sky before too long.

I only spent 3 weeks in England but it was enough to make me rediscover a great love for my old country. I’m not sure now how I will manage without:

*The Food. Egg custard tarts, English trifle, steak and kidney puddings and fish and chips…. After 3 weeks of stuffing my face I managed to arrive in Paris this week 5 pounds heavier than I was when I left Canada.

*The Supermarkets. Sooo much cheaper in the UK than in Canada.

*Ella’s Kitchen baby food. With flavours like ’sweet potatoes and pumpkins with apples and blueberry’  it was the only stuff my fussy baby would eat. Thankfully I have discovered www.britishcornershop.co.uk so I can order online and have them sent to France.

*The beautiful scenic walks around the Yorkshire Dales. Breathtaking.

*The TV. The Brits are still the best when it comes to reality television and comedy.

*English Pubs. I never thought twice about them when I lived in England, but going back after 6 years away made me realise how lucky the British are to have their pub culture. I also loved how welcome my kids were at my dad’s local. Conversely, it reminded me of one of my most frustrating moments as an expat mother living in Vancouver, when Luc and I were asked to leave a bar on Granville Island on a Sunday afternoon because our sleeping 3 month old baby was ‘underage’. It was 2pm, we were eating lunch on their patio, not drinking any alcohol and we were the only customers in there! Unbelievable.

*Soft play areas for kids. They are everywhere in the uk! The mums gets to enjoy a coffee while the kids play on the slides and in the ball pits. Love it.

*The People! Oh my god. I love British people. Being in Canada so long I had almost forgotton how completely awesome they are. So witty, friendly, honest, down to earth and outgoing.

Of course though, above all else I will miss my family, but I’m excited we are now just a budget airline away from each other.

Sorry for the lack of communication. I have been without internet for a while.

So we flew into London Gatwick on Friday, arriving absolutely exhasuted, partly due to the fact the entire family had come down with a 24 hr stomach flu the night before our flight. After spending a few days with my family, Luc left early this morning for Paris, leaving me and the kids at my parents for another 3 wks before we join him on March 21st.

It’s odd being back in the home land after all this time away. It really is quite lovely to be here actually. Surprising as I really didn’t expect to feel this happy going back to my roots. In fact, this was the part I was dreading most about the move. I think I had developed  a little unfair disdain for England while I had been away, but now I am here I am constantly surprised by how much I actually love it. My parents live in a beautifully picturesque village in the Yorkshire Dales (I didn’t grow up here so have never been familiar with the area before now). There is so much here catered towards families so I am looking forward to concentrating on lots of fun family activites while we are apart from Luc the next few weeks.

The weather has also been lovely. Beautiful blue skies everyday, so we have been taking lots of nice walks around the village, eating scones in tea rooms, going to the market and strolling along the river.

The worst part of the experience so far has easily been the horrendous excess baggage charges – $620 at Vancouver airport, and another $500 that Luc was charged today on his flight from here to Paris! I am horrified as we were completely under the impression we were just about within the limits, based on what we had read. These budget airlines really do have ways of clawing back the money they led you to believe you had saved by booking with them as oposed to one of the more expensive scheduled airlines…. In Vancouver we were told that because our carry on baggage was 2cm wider than than the maximum allowed, they would have to go into the hold, so we incurred astronomical fees there. They also charged us for every point of a kilo over on each of our suitcases. Absolutely no leniency on that whatsoever. When all is said and done, the budget airlines don’t turn out to be that cheap at all! When you work it all out, we would have actually saved more by flying with Air Canada instead. An expensive lesson learned.

The kids have been doing ok all things considered, but they are suffering from the time zone change. My daughter is coping pretty spectactularly though I must say, despite the demands for breakfast when she awakes at 4am every morning. The 9 month old has been a little challenging and needy but then there’s no change there. I’m telling myself that the clever ways in which he manipulates me for attention and 24/7 cuddles is down to some prodigal genius that will surely reveal itself in the years to come!

We’re feeling a little anxious about the future but we haven’t had a moment of regret. We still feel excited and quite certain that the gamble will pay off in the long term. I can’t wait to be with Luc again and to start the road towards some stability in France.

I was just remembering how I read somewhere that moving was one of the most stressful life events and I came upon the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale , a list of 43 stressful life events that can contribute to illness. This ‘Social Readjustment Scale’ measures various life events in units and if the events of the past year tally up to over 300, you are said to be at a high risk of illness caused by stress.

Well, I just did the online calculation here and scored a whopping 314! I guess it has been a crazy year…

Will promptly be emailing Luc my score and demanding a spa afternoon asap. With his score hovering around a measly 280 he’s been living the life of riley of course. I mean, that only creates a ‘Moderate’ chance of illness. Pah!

Geez. Please let the next year be a little more relaxed for the both of us!