Saveur du Canada

At la Défense, there is a huge mall, le Quatre Temps. It is open Sundays, a rarity here. (By the way, la Défense is a high-rise area on the outskirts of Paris: http://courses.umass.edu/latour/2010/ladefence/JillianHaswell%20La%20Defense.html .) At the mall, there is a "hypermarché", Auchan. A hypermarché is like a supermarché, only bigger. We went there, both because we really needed to get school supplies on a Sunday, and nothing else was open (Saturdays were busy with school and music lessons so it wasn't possible to go then), and because we were able to find obscure items there, such as a lab coat for Silke for her science class. I'm sure that there must be other places in Paris that sell lab coats, but darned if I know where they are. The food section of the hypermarché is vast. I now know where I can go to get unusual Asian or South American ingredients, provided that I am willing to trek all the way out there (actually it's not so long to get there, thanks to the fast and frequent RER A train.) Particular kinds of Asian or South American are not the only varieties of ethnic food that they have however: for the first time ever, anywhere, I saw a "Canadian" food section. Here is a photo. Not entirely sharp, and a bit distorted because I had to use the panorama feature on my iPhone, but you get the idea. (You can double-click on it to get a larger version.) Let's see. . . maple syrup - well of course. . . pancake mix, cheesecake mix, brownie mix, popcorn, peanut butter, Hersey's chocolate sauce, marshmallows, immense jars of Tabasco sauce (I've never seen one that big in Canada!), beef jerky, Reese's peanut butter cups, instant porridge. Oh dear, I'm afraid that the French don't think that Canadians eat very good food!

A Sunday afternoon at the park: chariot races and a French Navy attack submarine

As Sunday is the only day of the week without school and conservatory, we intend to do something recreational every Sunday. This week, we visited the parc de la villette. La villette is the largest park in Paris. Really, it is a super-park, unifying several themed parks, as well as museums, theatres, galleries, a science world, the as yet uncompleted Philharmonie de Paris, and many many other things (such as a submarine, but I will get to that).

Some photos:

That thing in the background that looks like a giant bicycle wheel coming out of the ground - that's what it is. Other giant bicycle parts sticking out of the ground can be found nearby.

Chariot races! This looks so cool. Really they are a special kind of tricycle, hinged such that they are steered by pulling on the reigns. The children race round and round in their chariots. Sadly, this was only for small children - I was much to big. Even Jerome was too big.

This is l'Argonaute, an actual decommissioned attack submarine. You can buy tickets and go inside, from one end to the other! There seems to be hardly any space inside for people - hard to believe that it had a crew of 40.

Silke (and Jerome) inside l'Argonaut.
No, she's not talking on her phone, she is listening to the audio guide.

Although small by submarine standards, l'Argonaute is still an immense machine; clearly it wasn't moved here by truck. In fact, there is a canal through the middle of the parc, and l'Argonaut arrived here by sailing up the canal. A canal incidentally that was built by Napolean, as much to improve the water supply to Paris as to provide transportation for industry.

To get from one side of the park to the other, there are high bridges, under which boats can pass, but also, in the summer, there is a moveable bridge, which is basically a motorised dock, with trees. Here is a short video of it in action:

Bouillabaisse

These are the fish for bouillabaisse that I bought at the marché. There are so may kinds of fish, that I asked the fish seller what he recommended for bouillabaisse: this is what we came home with: bar, rouget barbet, turbot et moules. The turbot head is something he just threw in extra because it would make the broth taste good. The fish is very fresh - typically caught the day before. The small fish, like these, are whole, uncleaned, and they only gut and scale them when you buy them. In the working-class and immigrant neighbourhood near the northern périphérique that we now live in, the marchés are certainly cheaper than in central Paris, but the quality is the same.

Bar, Rouget barbet, Turbot et Moules

The bouillabaisse

The choir of collège Lamartine

I wrote previously about how Silke has music class at Lycée Racine. Jerome too has music at collège Lamartine. And choir. He is one of two new students in his class; choir class started with singing some songs from last year. Needless to say, he was feeling a little lost. The reaction? "Il faut que tu rattrapes." The kids have heard this ever since they first arrived in Paris. The short translation of this is, "You need to catch up." A longer translation, with explicit narration of the connotation might be, "You are a funny and uncultured foreigner, but there must be a reason why you have been sent to me and it is beyond my authority to do anything about it. So, unlikely as it may be, you will catch up to the rest of the class as soon as may be. There is no need to pose any questions."

For introduction, here is a recording of the choir of collège Lamartine; they are singing together with two other choirs: the choir of collège Paul Bert, Paris, and the choir of lycée français de Madrid. They are accompanied by orchestre excellence France. This recording is from a concert given in 2010 in both Paris and Madrid. (How do I have this recording? Jerome came home from school with it. And since it seems no one else has put it on youtube, I did. )

In March, the school choir has an exchange to Heidelberg. And later in the season, Jerome tells me, they will be part of the children's chorus at a concert at la Philharmonie de Paris with l'orchestre national d’Île-de-France. That is very exciting. January 2015 is the inaugural season of la Philharmonie de Paris. It is a wacky new building being built in le parc de la Villette - the first big concert hall built in Paris in a long time. Here is a fun video about the construction:

I could include photos, but it is easier just to link to their website: http://www.philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/ . And, from Jerome's description, my best guess at which concert it is, is this one: http://saison-2015.philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/activites/concert-participatif-en-famille/14457-sacre-symphonique . (Sorry: obviously their website is also under construction, since this is supposed to be the English version, but clearly mostly isn't.)

A Vermand finds a home

After nearly a year of trying violins, Silke has chosen one. It is made by the talented young French luthier Bogidar Vermand. Vermand's website is at http://www.vermand-luthiers.com/en/home/ . This violin has a lovely rich but lucid sound over the entire range, and fantastic power and projection. Here are a few photos. Although it looks aged, it is in fact new: 2014.

First days at Lycée Racine

So school has started! So far, so good. Lycée Racine is turning out to be a wonderful institution for Silke. Silke said it is somewhat strange to be in a class where instead of being asked where do you come from, or what are your hobbies, the very first question asked of anyone is, what instrument do you play? Naturally she already has some good friends, for example Andrea, who plays the piano; they have already made plans to play some Beethoven violin sonatas together. (Actually, Beethoven didn't write violin sonatas: he wrote "Sonatas for piano with obligatory violin; apparently he didn't really like violinists, whom he found to be arrogant.) They can do this right at Racine when they have a break in their schedules, since Racine has pianos in several rooms. It even has dedicated practice rooms! And of course, a secure room for people to leave their instruments in during class.

Silke says that the principal teacher for her class, M. Duflo, is very funny; when handing out their schedules he said, "Shall I just tell you now who are the good teachers and the bad teachers?" Of course he was only joking. Or maybe not, but in any case he didn't actually tell them. He said it would take a month for them to be able to find their way around Racine. Lycée Racine is actually in two locations about 4 blocks apart, and sometimes they have to run from one to the other between classes. The main location also has hallways which meet at funny angles, and floors that are at different levels in different wings. The first time that Silke had a class on the 5th floor, she was heading up a staircase with stone steps, when she reached a point where the stone steps ended, and were followed by wooden steps: at that point there was a small sign, "Please do no use this staircase". (I think they don't want to hordes of students wearing out the wooden steps. Otherwise they would probably have to replace them every 50 years.) So she had to find another staircase! One hall she came across had skulls in glass cases along the walls. Animal skulls - she doesn't think that any were human.

One thing that struck us about her schedule (6 mornings a week, since she has school on Saturdays), is that she has music class. At first this seems odd, because her entire class are music students at the conservatory, mostly at the CRR, where they would get taking in any case the following topics: musical analysis, physics/mechanics of music instruments, history of music, chamber music, orchestra, and options such as composition, vocal ensemble, and jazz. What could could they do at their school they is not already covered at the conservatory? But of course, music is infinitely rich, and you never run out of things to do. As the music teacher was taking attendance, he had people say what instrument they played, and every time, he would name a chamber music piece that could be played by the previous 3, 4 or 5 people. Silke found this impressive, because randomness ensured there were some unusual instrument combinations. It turns out,  he is no ordinary Lycée music teacher. His name is Vincent Warnier; he is a famous organist, had made over 20 recordings (which you can find on iTunes for example), and he is a regular host, critic and guest on the radio station France Musique. Here is an excerpt of Vincent Warnier playing the Poulenc concerto for organ:

Of course he also plays the piano decently, and said that he is always available to accompany any students if they have something they are working on and want to practice with piano - remember that Racine has many rooms with pianos. So I don't have to mention really that music class at the Lycée is something that Silke more excited about than she probably expected to be.

There are also choir and orchestra options. Again, everyone will be doing those things at the conservatory in any case, but nevertheless, everyone is very highly encouraged to sign up for one or the other at the Lycée. They explained that the reason is that the high-up poobahs in the educational administration don't really understand about the double cursus program, and the association with the conservatory and all that. So the lycée orchestra and choir makes sure to perform at each least one event yearly where all the administrators of the school system will be present (and ideally the Minister of Education as well), and this does as much as anything to ensure continued support for the double cursus educational program .

Finally, it is not all music all the time: Silke is also excited about the association sportive at Racine; they do a number of different sports all year, including archery and swimming, which two Silke is most enthusiastic about. We have to see if we can keep Wednesday afternoons mostly free of other commitments so she can join the association sportive.

The best thing about Lycée Racine? There is an Eric Kayser bakery close by, and they have our favourite chocolate ice cream (which is something like 40% dark chocolate), that we like to have while watching a movie once a week. Silke can stop by on her way home and get some!

l'Académie de Musique meets its fundraising goal

Despite my pessimistic prediction, l'Académie de Musique reached its fundraising goal of 20,000 € on Kiss Kiss Bank Bank! This is fantastic news, since it is such a worthwhile organisation for promoting classical music. Silke won't actually be playing with them this year, because she will be fully engaged with the ensembles of the CRR (and elsewhere), but we are still very happy about this. We will certainly be attending their concerts!

L'Académie de musique has a newly-designed website at http://academie-de-musique.com . You can also visit their parent organisation at le-palaisroyal.com .

Our first experience of French medicine

All last year in Paris, we never once had to seek out any sort French medical professional. The nearest we got to one was a regular yearly check-up by the school nurse. And the only result of that was an admonishment to properly submit the children's complete medical dossiers to the school. An admonishment which we cheerfully ignored, because there are hardly any medical records for Silke and Jerome, much less a dossier.

This year however, within a mere three days we found ourselves in somewhat urgent need of a doctor. On waking this morning, Jerome had painful looking sores on his face. Just around the corner from our new place in Saint-Ouen is a pharmacy, a small shop with just one woman running it. I should mention that inside the pharmacy is a framed newspaper article about this remarkable woman, who is not merely a pharmacist, but a neighbourhood institution. She knows everyone, and is very gregarious and friendly. Over the course of the day, we got to know her, and she us. She took one look at Jerome and said he would need antibiotics, and we would need them today, because this type of infection spreads quickly. Now I remembered that Cecile, our landlord (wife of Seamus) had mentioned that she had a very good doctor who we should go to if we had any issues. So we went home, and I found that Cecile had left the doctor's number on the very helpful information sheet that she had prepared. I called the doctor. He did answer, but from his mobile phone, perhaps from somewhere in Spain - on vacation. He could only pose a few questions, and then advise me to return to the pharmacy, there to ask a recommendation for a nearby doctor, not on vacation. I now recalled to mind a conversation last year, in which some acquaintance recommended that the best policy is not to get sick in August in France. If you must get sick, do it on the beach towns or in the resorts, where doctors can be found. Fortunately, the pharmacist did know a doctor not on vacation and only a short walk away, who would be in her office after 2pm that day.

If you have ever read any description of an American's experience of visiting a doctor's office in France - well, it was exactly like that. You call, and are told to come at a certain time - in two hours as it happened. The office, when you arrive, is a small number of rooms in an apartment building. There is a waiting room, but no reception. The doctor herself comes to say when it is your turn. There is no receptionist, no nurse, no staff at all besides the doctor herself. If the phone rings during your consultation, she will answer it herself, brusquely posing two or three questions and giving a time to someone wanting an appointment. Nothing about her dress suggests, to the North American, a health care professional. There is not the least thing doctorly about it. It is not baggy or institutional or utilitarian. She wears in fact a black dress, fairly elegant, that could equally well be worn by a lawyer or a banker or a bookseller. She is efficient and direct, and examines Jerome perhaps a minute before inquiring whether he has experienced anything stressful recently. I remark that we have just recently arrived on a trans-Altantic flight, are still coping with the six hour time change, and that Jerome will be starting shortly at a new school. -Ah, voila! You see, stress is frequently the trigger for this type of infection. She writes out a prescription. French doctors err on the side of over-prescribing rather than under-prescribing, so Jerome gets two different antibiotics, and a face wash. We pay the doctor directly - just write her a check, although she also takes cash. The total fee is 23 Euros, and then we are out the door - probably in less than 10 minutes, while she is already ushering in the next patient from the waiting room. And we go back to the pharmacy, where the helpful woman fills the prescription on the spot. -You see, I told you, she says.

Back in Paris. And it is cold and rainy.

Silke and Jerome and I are back in Paris! It had begun to seem like some distant and implausible dream, but now it seems just very normal. Normal and exciting at the same time.

We asked Seamus, the landlord, about the nearest boulanger. His reply was that it was August in Paris, and nothing was open. And furthermore, that if we did find someplace open for business, the people would be grumpy, because the summer in Paris has been miserable. As a matter of fact, it was raining. And we could not find umbrellas. Usually, you can buy umbrellas on every corner in Paris. Street vendors wave them in your face. But on a rainy day in August? Nowhere to be found. Newspaper stands for example usually have umbrellas. But the newspaper stands are mostly closed up for the month. We visited the old apartment to pick up our mail. The corner store there always used to have umbrellas. And they were open! But umbrellas? Sold out. We decided, since we had got off the plane that morning, that we were too weary to attempt more real errands, and instead that we would visit one of our favourite parks for a walk - in the rain. That park was Buttes Chaumont. But when we got off the metro first we went looking for an open grocery store or any other kind of shop that might have umbrellas. No luck. Then we were struck with the crazy idea to have ice cream. The sugar boost might help keep us awake. One grocery store that was open hadn't bothered to unlock the ice cream freezer for the day; apparently they weren't expecting any ice cream sales. But, finally, we did at least manage to buy some ice cream bars and a bottle of water, and we proceeded to the park, where we found a bench sheltered from the rain by overhanging trees. There we consumed our ice cream bars. It was great.

Ice cream bars in the rain on a bench in parc des buttes chaumont.

So long to France

No this isn't a post about leaving France. It's a post about France by eliminated in the quarter finals of the World Cup. Have a look at the photo, taken during the game. See what's odd? No traffic! The only car is a taxi, and it's stopped so the taxi driver can watch on the big screen set up on the sidewalk. We had been informed that during important World Cup games when France was playing, there would be hardly any traffic, but it was funny to see.

Lycée Racine

Today Silke wrote her final Brevet exam, so she is done collège! The exam was histoire, geographie et education civique. Part of the exam was factual: identifying people, both historically and currently prominent in French society, identifying dates, and locating places on maps. Then there were two essays. For the first, she had, without the use of reference material, to write a discussion of the decolonisation of Algeria (the topic was not known in advance), and for the second, they were given a photograph of soldiers standing in front of Versailles in 1919, so some months after the Great War, and they had to compose an essay on how the photograph reflected the violence of the Great War.

Some of Silke's collège friends having lunch in le jardin de Luxembourg after their last exam

Immediately following the exam, they were handed their official letters stating which lycée they will be attending. This is somewhat curious, because obviously, the exams, not having been marked yet, can have no bearing. (Although you must pass, which is not as low as threshold as you might imagine.) So although nominally the final exams count for 40% of the overall mark, in fact, for what really counts - which lycée you get into - they have no bearing whatsoever. The whole entrance to lycée process is quite involved. Essentially, each family makes a ranked list of there top eight choices of lycée, and then each student gets priority according to their academic results. The discussion with the school authorities starts early in the year with a formal back and forth of letters with the object of ensuring that each family makes realistic choices: there is a huge difference in lycées in quality and reputation. Obviously, everyone would like their child to get into a famous lycée, but being rejected from all of your 8 choices is a catastrophe, as then you are relegated to a second round of leftover spots. Therefore, you are guided carefully to make maybe one or two slightly ambitious choices, filling out the bulk of the list with lycées that you have reasonable confidence of obtaining entrance, and ending the list with a couple that you could be quite sure of being accepted to, but which nonetheless would be more or less acceptable if everything else fails. Receiving your official letter giving your lycée assignment is the most important moment of your collège career; it is more stressful and of more significance than the exam which immediately precedes it.

You might wonder then, what is the point of doing well on the final exams? For one thing, everyone will know exactly how well you did. Results will be posted publicly, outside the schools, by name, with exact marks, and ranked even. So you, and your friends, and everyone else who cares to know, can find out that you got for example the 17th highest result in the collège, or 117th as the case may be. This is very un-Canadian, but we have become accustomed to it. Marks throughout the year are usually posted - in fact, they are often read out in class.

Silke’s lycée assignment, which in her particular case has as much to do with being admitted to an intensive music study program as it does with academic results, is Lycée Racine. Her letter stating her assignment also specified that she was to present herself at Lycée Racine the very same afternoon before 17:00. So, as we were there, here are some photos.

Is that the lamppost from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe? What is a lamppost doing inside?

We didn't see the staircases move, but I swear they look like they would, Harry Potter style.

A courtyard at Lycée Racine

And so, at the end of the day, with everything done for the year, Silke and Jerome, wanted a funny film. And chocolate ice cream from Erik Kaiser of course! We found the perfect film: "Les Profs". A dumb teen movie really, but just perfect for today. It's about a lycée where the goal is to get 50% of the students to pass the "Bac" (= Baccalaureate, but no one ever says or writes that, even officially) . Although Silke just finished her Brevet exams (at the end of collège), rather than the Bac exams (at the end of Lycée), still there was much, really very much, to recognise in this film. So many details of French school that we now understand. Silke (and Jerome) laughed all the way through it. Here is the trailer. You don't have to understand French to get the idea; it's not subtle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhrnCsFovlo

Collège Alphonse de Lamartine

I just received today the official letter from the rectorat confirming Jerome's registration next year at collège Lamartine. Actually I say "official" but I didn't know myself until I opened the letter which college Jerome would would be attending: there were two realistic possibilities for partner colleges for the CRR. Besides being nice to know which college, it's great to have the official approval and confirmation of the rectorat, because being admitted into the CRR is conditional on the rectorat giving their approval. Apparently they do occasionally reject students who are weak academically. That must be absolutely brutal for those who pass the CRR audition, but then get rejected on academic grounds by the rectorat. Not that there was any worry in Jerome's case. Also, it means that I managed to successfully navigate the bureaucratic process - it wasn't without a snag or two along the way, but now I have the letter with the official stamp of the rectorat, so everything is golden.

Here is the website for college Lamartine. First a link to their photos page:

http://www.ac-paris.fr/serail/jcms/s2_272352/galerie-photos?cid=s2_272312&portal=p2_73173

For those who want to read the French, here is the brief presentation
of the college:

http://www.ac-paris.fr/serail/jcms/s1_700141/presentation-du-college-lamartine?cid=s1_700142

Here is the same thing run through google translate, which gives the
usual bizarre and in places inaccurate translation, but you get the
idea:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=fr&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ac-paris.fr%2Fserail%2Fjcms%2Fs1_700141%2Fpresentation-du-college-lamartine%3Fcid%3Ds1_700142

And as an interesting note, Jerome will be starting latin in September.

Brahms Trio no.1 in B major

It has been a long time since I've posted anything to youtube. So here is a video of Silke's trio in an informal setting, with Arthur Prieur playing cello and Eli Casbi at the piano.

L'Académie de Musique de Paris is crowd funding for 2014/2015

Note: I have modified this post, because the previous one was little too gloating about not having to do fundraising this year. Which is hardly fair to those parents in the CYO, specifically mentioned, who have put in a huge effort to make the Germany tour possible for all families. So thanks to all those families putting in time and energy and creativity for successful fundraising.

All this year, I've observed from afar, with some relief and a little guilt as I sit comfortably far away and unable to help, as Calgary Youth Orchestra parents throw themselves enthusiastically into fundraising efforts for the Germany tour. By contrast, Silke's orchestra in Paris, is (or rather "was", but that is getting ahead of myself) entirely funded through concert ticket sales. In previous years, they had sold some years close to 10,000 concert tickets in a season, at an average price that I estimate to be around 25-30 €. It may be just bad luck - a fluke year, or it may be cosmic justice at my inward glee at not having to do fundraising this year, but for whatever reason, this year they are far short of the number of tickets sold required to break even. To the point that the survival of this wonderful gem of a cultural institution is imperilled. Actually, the most likely, and most depressing explanation, is that even Paris, a veritable oasis of cultural richness and of large and enthusiastic (and paying) audiences for every manner of spectacle - that even Paris is not immune from the general worldwide downward trend in interest in all forms of culture and live performance, and in classical music in particular.

And so, for the first time, l'Académie de musique de Paris is engaging in that most American, and very un-French, activity: fundraising. (I except of course from being called un-French that form of fundraising practiced by the beggars in the metros: it is impossible to be five minutes in the metro without encountering an well-expressed and well-rehearsed appeal to that variety of fundraising.) So, with much enthusiasm for the latest in tech-sector trends, the Academy has launched their first-ever crowd funding appeal! I'm personally not convinced this is the best approach for an musical institution, since if they don't meet their ambitious goal, they get nothing. But what do I know? So, with appropriate encouragements to everyone to open their wallets, here is the website - the English version even :

http://www.kisskissbankbank.com/en/projects/academie-de-musique-de-paris

There is a promotional video there, and if nothing else (by "else" I mean money, which you probably don't have because of your already generous donations to cancer research and the food bank and the animal shelter and the church and Girl Guides and children's soccer team and your neighbour's 400km bike-for-a-noble-cause have already exceed your budget for benevolence), you can watch it and play "how many times can you spot Silke". The answer is a lot, although it is easy to over-count, because it seems in recent previous years, there was also a blond with long hair in the assistent concert-master's seat. Hint: If the assistent concert-master is wearing a low-cut dress slit up the leg, it's not Silke.

So why not click on the site and make a pledge? After all, your credit card will only be charged if they meet their goal. An unlikely event. Made slightly less unlikely insofar as I convince people of its unlikelihood. Edit: Turns out your credit card will be charged, but you will get a refund if they don't make their goal.

Update: Last night's concert, the last of the season, was nearly sold out, and that in Cirque d'Hiver, which seats 1500. So that will help towards balancing the books. It was a phenomenal concert.

Happy pi day!

We decorated our apartment for pi day (March 14, or 3.14).

Also, I made soup with alphabet pasta in it - including numbers, and we had a competition to see who could find the most digits of pi in their dinner.  Here is Silke's winning entry.  In fairness, Jerome was ahead until he had to finish his dinner quickly to leave for his viola lesson.

Skiing in Autrans

There have been incessant complaints around here about the lack of snow in Paris.  So to remedy that, we went to Autrans for 4 days during the school holidays.  We stayed at a refuge, accessible only by skiing in.  I have to say, I really can tolerate the European style of cross country skiing, where you aim to be in the vicinity of a refuge - not necessary the one you are staying at - around midday, and there you get a delicious hot Savoy-style meal and a cold beer or a glass of wine.

I've put some photos on Flickr, and I think you can get to them just by clicking on the photo below:

Winter Olympics on the Seine

Just like Sochi, it is balmy and warm in Paris, and we are doing winter sports along the Seine, courtesy of the marie de Paris - it's all free!

Biathlon, skiing

Over the bump

Biathlon, shooting

Curling

Silke, lawyer in Paris

Silke on her way to work

Before the winter break, Silke did a week-long internship in a lawyer's office. The internship is a requirement of the final year of collège. It is up to parents to arrange it. Through a contact in her orchestra, the internship in this office was proposed. Lawyer was not honestly something that Silke was initially excited about, but we felt that for a one-week internship, one can't do better than a lawyer's office for insight into the business world; not to mention for exploding some preconceptions that Silke may have had. This particular lawyer (the "Maître") is a divorce lawyer - a rather high-society divorce lawyer, the office being located on rue du Louvre - just down the street from the Louvre in fact. Divorce law can give insight not only into the work world, but into even humanity and society. From the first meeting with the lawyer, Silke's idea of a lawyer changed: not a money-grubbing parasite on society, but an affable and engaging person, able to talk with Silke knowledgeably and insightfully, without preparation, on a large variety of topics, including topics dear to Silke such as books and writers, while at the same time moving the conversation along efficiently without ever being in the least brusque; someone whose daily business it is to efficiently fix the messes that other people land themselves in. Some quotes from that meeting, or later comments:

“To be a lawyer in Paris, you have to be Parisian. You have to know what it means to be from the 7th arrondissement.”

“Being a divorce lawyer is deadly for your ideas about romance.”

“As a lawyer, you spend your whole day solving other people’s problems. Nobody cares about yours.”

During the week, Silke saw how a lawyer's office runs (the secretaries chat amongst themselves and laugh; the lawyers don't); she had to research and answer questions on aspects of the french civil code (she said that the french civil code is much bigger than a telephone book - a striking comparison, because I wonder whenever she would have seen such an anachronism as a telephone book); and she got to see into some particular cases, and be present at meetings with a client.  She got some inkling of how very complicated a divorce can be, particularly in the case where there is a child custody dispute, or cross-border and international issues.  Overall, while she now has a much greater respect and appreciation for lawyers, she is probably still not inclined to it as a career.  It is not the lawyers that she has any objection to - they are calm, capable, rational and focussed under all conditions; it is the clients that she found to be the most unpleasant aspect - emotional, irrational, even vindictive and plain disagreeable.  But then, that is divorce law.

The principal adornment in the lawyer's office.

Carolyn's office in the Louvre

Wednesdays Carolyn comes home in the afternoon to be with Jerome while I go with Silke to her lesson in Gennevilliers.  Since it is only a half day of work, Carolyn prefers not to waste time commuting to Arts et Metiers, where her office is.  So, she walks over to the Louvre.  There is courtyard there with a few benches and a glass roof.  Few tourists find their way there (the Louvre is really huge), and it is quiet.  So Wednesdays mornings that is where she installs herself with her computer to get some work done.

Carolyn at work on a Wednesday

Impressionnismes at Chapelle royale du château de Versailles

Jerome has been invited to play in the orchestra at a concert taking place on March 27 at the Chapelle royale du château de Versailles.  This will be a big ensemble, including symphony orchestra, organ and chorus.  (As an aside, the Great Organ in the royal chapel was inaugurated by François Couperin in 1711.)  The musicians are mostly students from the conservatory in Versailles.  Under the French system, the conservatory at Versailles is a "conservatoire à rayonnement regionale", which is a couple of steps up from the conservatory nearby that Jerome attends, which is a "conservatoire à rayonnement communal".  So they should be pretty good mucisians.  Expect Jerome to be the smallest one - as usual!  On the program is Flos campi by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville by Gabriel Fauré and André Messager.  These are complete works, so it is quite a bit of music for Jerome to learn.  And there are only a limited number of rehearsals.  He'll have to come well-prepared.  Also, the rehearsals are long: one scheduled rehearsal is a whole day, morning and afternoon, on a Thursday no less, so that will mean missing school.  It's not a children's orchestra anymore.

This concert is part of a series Jeudis musicaux de la Chapelle royale.  More information here: http://www.cmbv.fr/Activites-artistiques/Jeudis-musicaux-de-la-Chapelle-royale .

As an aside, before Christmas Jerome's teacher gave out concert tickets to two of her most dedicated students - Jerome got one of them.  So he will be going to see the violist Tabea Zimmermann play with l'Orchestre de Paris on February 12.  I guess I'll buy a ticket and go with him!  He's not quite old enough to go on his own to concerts yet, even if Silke is.  Silke had managed to get herself a reduced price ticket (20€ instead of 100€) to a performance of the opera La Pietra del Paragone by Rossini last Tuesday evening.  She has no problems at all getting around Paris on her own.  Yet another advantage of Paris: she would be far too young for a driver's license in Canada.  When she saw the Woody Allen movie Midnight in Paris, her reaction was that it was highly unrealistic - not because of the time travelling mind you, but because the main character gets lost in Paris.  Silke scoffed at that, "It's impossible to get lost in Paris! All you have to do is to find the nearest Metro station!"

Concert of the Conservatoire Erik Satie at Basilique Saint-Clotilde

Jerome's orchestra from the conservatory had a concert at Basilique Saint-Clotilde.  This is a very impressive cathedral, with lovely acoustics.  The French composer César Franck was the organist at this church.

Basilique Saint-Clotilde on the night of the concert

The orchestra of the smallest conservatory students (Jerome is small, but he is in the most advanced of the three conservatory orchestras) played Harry Potter music.  It's very easy to imagine Harry Potter in this cathedral, particularly with the gargoyles, and the pillars, and with the lights dimmed for the concert.  This is a quick video I took one day just before a rehearsal in the cathedral, which gives a feeling for the interior.

Here is Jerome with his stand partner, who is twice his age and nearly twice his height.  I can't imagine how they agree on adjusting the height of the stand!  By the way, the two of them will be playing a viola duet by Carl Schönebeck at a recital tomorrow afternoon.

Christmas tree decorations

As we had no decorations for the Christmas tree with us here, we made some from paper.  To which we added some multi-colored Eiffel tower keychains from bought from the street vendors outside the Louvre.  Here is a collage of photos.  Jerome came up with many inventive creations.  Perhaps you recognise the X-wing fighter from Star Wars or Animal from the Muppets.