>more calendars

In France, there are times for things. The American management at Disneyland Paris, when it first opened (and was still called EuroDisney), was astounded to discover that everyone, everyone, stopped for lunch at exactly one o’clock. (And expected wine with the meal; but that’s another story.) Dinner starts at eight-thirty, 20h30…. If someone invites you, you don’t even need to ask. If tourists go to a French restaurant at 7 p.m., much less 6 p.m., they will discover the waiters and cooks eating.

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I was excited this year at my usual flower stand at the marché. Not a single chemical tree in sight! But just as I was standing there thinking that the French were finally losing this strange taste, a woman in a fur coat walked up to the stand owner and said, “Where are your white trees? I can’t find them.”

“They all sold out already,” said the stand owner. “But I’ll have more next week.”
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Start planning your holiday sightseeing with the Ferris wheel, merry-go-rounds, decorated streets and the festival/carnival at the Grand Palais. The list is long for holiday fun in Paris with holiday concerts and church services, Christmas markets, and Christmas decorations with a Paris theme.

One hundred and seventy-five chalets are set up along the Champs-Elysées, which is expecting 14 million visitors until January 3, 2012. The lights along the  Champs-Elysées turn on this Monday. The Ferris Wheel will turn at Place de La Concorde until February 19.

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More than 200 painters and sculptors take part in this event, initiated 20 years ago by the artists themselves. What is striking in this itinerary is the wide diversity of locations and types of apartments. From the tiny studio under the roof to the huge and luxurious apartment dominating Montmartre, all of them have a common point: tenants willing to share their passion for their art. They will therefore be more than happy to show you their pieces of art, answer your questions and even offer you a drink.

Eventually, you might end up negotiating the price of a painting. The initiative has been a success and many other districts have followed suit: Menilmontant or Belleville also have open days now.

Montmartre artist’s lofts open days: November 18th to 20th.
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“Oui,” I said. Across the hall I could see my new British neighbor retreating behind his door, looking puzzled, holding a tiny red card in his hand.

The large man smiled and gave me a card as well. “It’s for the garbagemen, madame. The calendar.”

Ah! I nodded and went to fetch my wallet.

The yearly étrennes, or tips, for the garbagemen of the city! It is, strictly speaking, completely illegal for a government employee to come and solicit tips in the apartment buildings. But it’s an old custom, and the firemen, policemen and garbagemen still do it every year. I must admit the Paris firemen’s cheap but large calendar makes a better impression hanging on a wall back in the States, where I usually send it to someone.
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Growing up in Arizona I rarely ever saw actual tombstones (except in Tombstone, AZ, of course), just the flat marble plaques embedded in immense lawns that were easily maintained — like the many golf courses — by groundskeepers on riding mowers. Actual tombstones were reserved for the creepy graveyards I saw in horror films and Halloween haunted houses. And those were just made of painted foam. So I was quite fascinated by the cemeteries of Paris. They didn’t seem real to me with their crumbling sarcophaguses (aka sarcophagi…they’re both correct), dramatic statues, and authentic stone and marble tombs. It was hard, at first, to believe the often heart-sick inscriptions were made by real mourners and not set decorators.
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It is rare to see a woman go into one of these toilet stalls and not come out again like a shot.