Le mobile Thursday, Oct 29 2009

The SFR 112 - worth every penny

It is said you get what you pay for. My cell phone was free with a prepaid phone card. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised then when the end call button broke, text messages began bouncing back, or when it ultimately died after ceasing to charge - all within 48 hours.

Over the past six weeks I have come to realize the French bureaucracy knows no bounds, and this is in fact the country that would require a receipt for a donut and then file it under ‘D’… for donut (RIP Mitch Hedberg). However, like someone in a dysfunctional relationship, I figured this time would be different; it had to be different. Of course, it wasn’t.

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Les chips Tuesday, Oct 27 2009

This is what a French chip looks like.

Consecutive posts about food; impressive for someone once called anorexic by ESPN’s most famous sideline reporter, although, it probably is impossible to live in France and not be impressed, and disappointed, by food on a near-daily basis.

Food is very much the binding tie for life, and most meals are inane and uneventful – consumed only to fulfill our basest need for sustenance. France is dramatized as a land of fantastic delicacies and delectable confections, and while this stereotype is certainly based in truth, what about those snacks in-between or those meals that aren’t meant to be gourmet but just filling?

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Deja dejeuner Friday, Oct 23 2009

Sometimes there are tiny surprises in life that elicit a memory and a smile. Lunchtime today did that, nothing more, nothing less, and I am slightly happier for it.

Ordering food in a new place is always a bit of an adventure. Sure, one expects that when not knowing the language, but even if the native vocabulary is present, idiosyncracies in cooking, spices and preparation can often lead to a dish that misses expectations, for better or worse. This can mean ordering a pizza in Italy expecting a pie like Original Ray’s, and instead receiving something resembling a cracker with sauce. Or finding a spicy burrito in Connecticut only to discover it is made with marinara on the tortilla. But that courage can also be rewarded by trying fantastic sushi in Roanoke or discovering that the best croissant in the United States might just be in Bloomington, Indiana.

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La Suisse Tuesday, Oct 20 2009

An Olympic perspective

After 3 days and 2 nights I can say that Lac Leman probably beats Lake Tahoe on just about all fronts. That is much less a slight on the California/Nevada resort, than it is a statement on the ancient beauty and modern sights of the Swiss alternative.

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Les supplementaires Wednesday, Oct 14 2009

A different kind of celebrity

Not a long post today, but a funny thing happened to me on the way out of the office tonight. Exiting the elevator on my way out of the building I ran into one of the other interns coming back from some sort of drinking party at the adjoining chateau La Muette. I startled him as he attempted to enter the elevator not expecting anyone to still be in the office. He explained the reason for his high strung reaction was that he ‘was just having drinks with Henry Kissinger.’ When I met his astonishment with my standard level of excitement/disinterest, he punctuated his point by exclaiming ‘you know, the detente!!’

I assured the young man that I did indeed know who Henry the Kiss was. He then admitted perhaps he had not been so much having drinks with the Nobel laureate but more sneaking a glass in the same room. In any case, he was just delighted, and took himself upstairs as I continued on my way home contemplating how far I have come. I have gone from being saluted by King James to being in the same social circles as international diplomats.

Quel drole.

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