Why I Love this City

deanna and our fabulous lunch
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Hello to All!

Hey, look at this. I slump a little and I seem to have come back and all I know how to do is write these things!

I really do love the springtime. Now I get why everyone says springtime in Paris is divine. Well, because, it is. Don’t get me wrong, Paris is quite nice at any time of year, but once the leaves are out and the gardens are in full bloom, nothing beats it.

Everyone seems to love this weather. Many of the lycées (the high schools) in Paris have gone on strike. I’m not talking about teachers or administrators; the actual students are waving banners and refusing to enter the buildings. The day it all started I was attempting to find an airline office near the opera house and all of a sudden hundreds and hundreds of students came screaming past. Apparently there has been a change in government and class size is going to grow as they fire a bunch of teachers. I just can’t get over the fact that high school students can strike. I wonder if kids would take advantage of the situation if that were allowed in the States?

showing off little boats in a fountain in front of the louvre
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Saturday night we returned to the Australian bar that we like, Café Oz. We had left Mackenzie’s apartment a little late so we got there right around the time that they stop letting people in and at first the bouncer didn’t let us in that is, until I showed him my watch. Then we got in immediately.

To explain: when we were there last time I accidentally hit my wrist against a chair and the watch face came off the strap and the bouncer got out his screw driver and fixed it while we people watched the comings and goings at the crepe place across the street. This is why is pays to bond with the doorman. He’s quite nice and must get quite bored once the place is at capacity and all he can do is sit and not move from his stool.

i was really excited about our picnic
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The first of the really nice weather Deanna and I decided to have lunch outside. We stopped by all the appropriate stores to collect our very French meal: wine, cheese, and a baguette. Then we headed to l’Hôtel des Invalides and spread out our feast on the lawn and watched a game of football (soccer). It was lovely and despite our need to run errands we stayed there most of the afternoon and then procrastinated some more by wandering down the Seine. Apparently we looked quite French doing this because multiple tourists (some on foot and some in double-decked tour buses) took pictures of us.

thomas showing the high schoolers on strike
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After our wander down the river we were clearly exhausted so we lay down on the lawn in front of the Louvre. We passed the rest of the day attempting to learn bits of Greek and Bulgarian out of phrase books before finally relenting and being responsible by running our errands. Amusing, to say the least.

Okay, sorry that was short but I’ve got to finish packing and head to sleep! Today was the last day of classes and I now have 18 days of vacation!!!! Deanna and I have organized ourselves an amazing (if not murderous) trip. We leave tomorrow and will be hitting Serifos, Greece (an island) and Athens, Greece and Istanbul, Turkey and Sofia, Bulgaria and Budapest, Hungary and Bratislava, Slovakia and Krakow, Poland and Prague, Czech Republic before coming back to Paris on May 5th. I’ll try to get on the email every couple of days. But for now, Happy Passover to all who are celebrating this weekend and I’ll talk to you in a few weeks!

Happy Spring,

Kate