Don't Worry, Be Happy...

...even if you have to deal with a lot of garbage in one day. (Snort)

Friday night Henry came down with a fever of 102.7 and didn't feel better until about half an hour ago, but good news! His temperature is pretty much normal.

So, that was an ordeal to be sure, but thanks to rectal suppositories (a classic French favorite) Henry is back in business and I'm okay too. We weren't sure there for a minute. Anytime the baby is upset I'm ten times worse and no, in case you were wondering, that doesn't help at all. But he's all better now. I've never been so happy to see him eating and smiling and acting normal.

And even though the French government has recently asked me to pay a residency tax to keep Dustin from getting kicked out of the country and even though this was completely not mentioned by anyone before we got the official letter, let's just look at it this way: I'm getting a chance to prove my love for Dustin by shelling out a bunch of cash for him. It's equivalent to paying for him, I think. I'm buying my husband. Awesome.

Actually, that was misleading, because the French government doesn't accept cash per say. They want me to go to the city hall and buy over a dozen large "stamps" that cost between 9 and 20 euros, then present this particular combination of stamps at the immigration office in Metz. Which also involves buying a train ticket. Oh, and they made an appointment for me at this place without asking me and informed me in the letter that I need to show up. Thanks for the advance warning, freaking Sarkozy.

Anyways, back to the positive side...breathe breathe...Dustin can now say he is a 10-stamp man. 10-cow woman is slightly more impressive when you first look at it, but on the other hand these are expensive stamps and anyways, cows are kind of gross sometimes.

What If

Recent Dustin quotes:

Apropos of nothing--

"If there's a tree in the forest and there's nobody around, what's the freaking point? You know what I'm trying to say here?"


In reference to squatting--

"Only women can do that. Women and the Chinese."


In reference to who-knows-what--

"What if Louis the XIV jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?"

My response--

"Depends what kind of hoopskirt I'm wearing at the time."

His response--

"Okay...you can just get back to me on that one."

I DECLARE WAR ON ARMISTICE DAY

Armistice Day is a whole different can of worms when your great-grandparents fought and got killed right in your own backyard as opposed to all the way across the ocean. I mean we live in Meuse, Verdun is right next door, there were trenches everywhere in this region. So to keep WWI memories alive and kicking the French government has formed a set of rules:

1. All useful businesses shall be closed for a day. Possibly even a day and a half if they're really lazy and want to toy with consumers, especially those who have no food at home and need to go grocery shopping, those kind are hilarious

2. No buses shall run and no prior notification will be given, because only a total idiot American would expect Armistice Day to be less important than Christmas

3. Only the aforementioned silly Americans shall be stupid enough to wait at the bus stop and expect the infrastructure of civilization to function

4. Send your sick children to give the silly American teacher kisses while they cough in her face, so that on Armistice Day she comes down with the flu (and I really did, that very day, and by the grace of orange juice and medication I am still able to walk, but just barely)

5. If at this point you're not thinking about war or conflict of some kind, something is wrong with you

6. Mission accomplished. Vive la France!

Paris, Last Day

It’s Dustin again. I have the responsibility of describing our last day in Paris. First of all, we had some awesome pastries. I had my favorite pastry yet, called a Conversation (with a French accent). We took the Metro up to Montmartre. Dantzel spotted a flea market and I graciously gave her permission to go in. She came out with a bunch of cheap clothes so I guess it was worth it. With new clothes in hand, we walked up the hill to Sacre Coeur, which is a more recent (early 1900s) cathedral that looks a lot like a mosque. It was beautiful and there were tons of musicians out front, which gave it a very spiritual feel. We saw a harpist (he sounded great) as well as two guys playing soft songs on acoustic guitar and bongo drums. Everything was beautiful except for the millions of stairs you have to climb to get anywhere. Sacre Coeur is a refreshing church in Paris because it is white and not gothic; it was done more in the Art Deco style and has curved Byzantine domes (Dantzel obviously has been talking to me.) See for yourself.

They really didn’t want anybody taking pictures inside, so we had to sneak a couple. Here is some of the inside of the big dome.

Here is a stained glass window that Dantzel really liked.

The best part is that you can walk to the top (after paying a small fee of course) and get an awesome view of the city. Okay, so walking the 300 steps in a short, narrow spiraling staircase with a baby on your back isn’t that fun, but it was worth it. Here are a couple of the shots we got from the top.

Coming back down we saw a crazy looking mime-ish guy.

After Sacre Coeur, we took the metro to the Arche de Triomphe! This is a pretty cool place. I think it is the biggest intersection in the world. It probably takes 20 minutes just to walk around the whole thing.

Beneath it they have the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame.

At the top there is a great view of course. Here is Sacre Coeur on top of Montmartre.

Here is the business district.

Here I am so excited to be in front of the Champs Elysees, the famous street leading to the center of old Paris.

Last but not least the Eiffel Tower. As you can see Dantzel wants to take it home with her and I want to destroy it for some reason.

Hungry and tired, we took the typical route to our hotel – via the Latin Quarter, or student district. We walked past the Sorbonne and the Pantheon every night. After buying souvenirs, we got some delicious take-out Indian food. The next day we packed up and left about noon. Then it was Au Revoir, Paris, Au Revoir!