We didn't pay no stinkin' taxes!

I've tried to get Eric enrolled in the crèche (daycare) but unlike America you can't just roll up and sign up. I gave up a while ago and just decided to focus on nannies because it was just too complicated to even get on the waiting list.

First you have to have a lease that is an original, not a print out. Well, if you completed your lease internationally it's tough to have any original. This is 2012 people.

Then you have to have an electricity bill. Those things are solid gold over here. I don't really know why they love them so much.

Then you need pay stubs. OK, I can sorta understand that one, though in America we'd say that you only need to provide them if you're looking to get a subsidized spot.

There are a bunch of random other things I've forgotten but the one we were laughing about tonight was their requirement of your last tax statement. Ours was, of course, filed in the USA. They don't want that one, so what they want us to do is go to the Trésorie and get a statement that because we were not living in France last year we didn't pay taxes in France last year. Daddy was suggesting that we could get a bunch of other statements too, just for the fun of it. We were also not living in Chile, Sweden, Latvia, and Kenya last year. We could just make ourselves a new hobby of collecting statements from foreign governments which assert that because we had nothing to do with them during the calendar year we paid no taxes there.

THAT would make a dossier that would impress even the crèche lady!

Signing Up for Daycare

It's sure not easy! I tried to get on the waiting list today but was turned away. We never made an original copy of our lease, because we did the whole document electronically from the States, and that was nearly enough to derail the whole thing forever. Luckily we were saved by a power bill, which was an original. I swear those bills are like gold here.

No, what eventually did us in this time was the fact that I didn't have our tax statement. Well, we just arrived, we haven't paid any taxes yet. No problem, she tells us. There is a form and a person for that, I just go to the Tresor Public and declare that we haven't paid any taxes yet. They fill out a form that says literally 'zero' and I bring that back.

Sigh. OK...

The funniest thing about it was that there were some printer repairmen right next to the desk I was at. They jump right in to sympathize with my frustration and laugh about how ridiculous the French administration is. But it was as if they were proud of it at the same time!

Finally really in Paris!

It's old wisdom that new parents should have a standing babysitter night so that they can get out regularly and remember the life they had before baby. It's also pretty standard for new parents, for reasons of fear and financial stress, to ignore this advice. Finally, with Eric almost 11 months old, the nanny stayed late and we got to go out to an entire meal without the baby. It was divine, in every possible way!

We went to a very small bistrot, reservations essential, in the 9th, called Bistrot Lorette. It is the number one rated restaurant in Paris on Trip Advisor and I can see why - warm, welcoming, filled with love, it looks like it's just two men - one working the front and the other working the kitchen. My sister and her husband are visiting so as a foursome we each found a different item on the set menu that appealed, and so we got to taste the widest possible variety of their offerings. I hope to update this post with the photos they took of the meal, but in the meantime I can say that Doug's foie gras was the outstanding appetizer, for pure quality of ingredients, while I was still very enamored of my beet carpaccio with smoked salmon and little bricks of goat cheese (meaning they were wrapped in what seems like one sheet from a stack of phyllo dough and pan fried).

For our dinners the sea bass I had with whole anis seeds is an idea I want to bring home and try to re-create. Daddy had a guinea fowl and I would have liked to know what the special treatment of that was but he just quietly and quickly ate it all. It must have been good!

For desserts we were blown away - from fruit to chocolate, each plate was perfectly balanced and *special*. We left the restaurant having fallen back in love with Paris.

I won't lie, moving to Paris has been a hard adjustment. So much has changed in our lives so quickly. New roles as parents, new country, different language, it's been a lot. I was chatting with a work colleague about how much I value my job for so many reasons right now, and one more reason is that it's pretty much the only thing that hasn't radically changed in my life recently. It occurred to me later I should have included Daddy in that category, but with his new job and new 3 hour commute each day our relationship has changed immensely too. This dinner out helped me remember who we had been, why we love(d) Paris, and affirmed that we can simultaneously be the people we were and who we want to become.

Weekend

It was a tough weekend of adjustment, which is to be expected in the letdown after all the motion we've just been through. I want to remember this feeling though, a necessary part of our journey. Heck, even the time after Christmas without an international move can be a letdown! Still, it somehow feels magnified in Paris, perhaps because of how we think we ought to feel here.

The sunset from our living room windows.

This disconnect was often in the news during our last time in Paris. It's called Paris Syndrome and predominantly hits Japanese tourists, but I think many people feel it at one level or another. At least I'm not alone.

Getting Our Bearings

We haven't written much because we're still just getting our bearings. Saturday Eric and I went to sleep at 6PM and slept straight through to 8AM! We awoke feeling like new people, but new people who still need a lot more sleep...

We finally have a bank account. Daddy went back to the bank with a real electric company statement saying we live at our address and have an account with them but since we just arrived they have not yet sent us a bill for the electricity we're just beginning to use. The electric company assured us that this was the legal equivalent of a bill. The bank said that isn't good enough, so in anger Daddy left and went next door to the luxury bank. We will pay 8 Euro a month to have an account but at least we'll have an account. He was sorry because he wanted to patronize the bank that sponsors the Tour de France but they just made it too hard on us.

Eric now has a nanny. She comes to the house, to make life easier for him, and they are getting to know each other this week. It's wonderful watching him watch her speak French, it's as if you see the wheels turning in his head. He's having a hard time adjusting to the time, the place, and the language, so I'm glad we're not adding another new place to all of this. Learning about childcare in France has been interesting. She will be declared, and that costs more (6 weeks paid vacation each year!) but we get 40-50% (reports differ) of her salary back as cash, and the rest is tax deductible. There is no need to plan ahead and create a flexible spending account or anything like that. It's just there for the asking.

On Monday we went to an expat playgroup I found through Message Paris. This is specifically a group for babies his age in our neighborhood. They defined parallel play, but all the same I felt that Eric was relieved to know that there were other English-speaking babies his age right down the street. We'll make a point of going every chance we get. They also helped me orient to the various opportunities here. It seems the most popular venue for outings with babies it the Aquarium, just across from the Eiffel Tower at Trocadéro.

Eric is practicing his French

OK, I am posting this photo because I know this entry isn't all that interesting. I hope to have a more exciting update soon!

Off we go

After months of preparation and weeks of couch surfing with work to do but no apartment from which to do it, finally my infant son and I boarded the plane for Paris. Little Eric turned 9 months old on the flight so I like to tease him that mommy took him to Paris for his birthday. That will be a tough precedent to follow!

After all the stress of juggling the move the actual flight was easy. Eric didn't sleep much and so I didn't either, but I had a very nice older French couple next to me and they doted on Eric the whole flight.

Yes, he is that happy after his first international flight!

Daddy was already in Paris and he met us at the airport. We had three large duffles of clothes and toys and housewares, one roller bag filled with all the valuables I didn't want to check, a diaper bag, and the gate-checked stroller. This was supposed to last us the next few months at least, and is about the same amount of stuff as some Americans bring to France just for vacation so I didn't feel too badly, but it was a challenge getting it all to the airport RER for the train into Paris. I was happily surprised by the help we got from people along the way, several times now someone has just come along and grabbed the front of the stroller to get it up or down stairs so I don't have to take the baby out and fold the stroller, which is just so wonderful of them. This would NEVER happen in Boston, probably because people would be worried about being sued should something happen.

Eric is still on three naps a day so he doesn't really seem to have jet lag. The most challenging daylight adjustment has been to the lack of light here. It's fully dark at 7AM, just barely getting light at 8AM. Daddy has a long commute in the dark each morning, we're looking forward to the days getting longer.

We are still in a temporary apartment. We found it, and our longer-term apartment, on Paris Craigslist. This current one is NOT recommended, so renter beware - besides the traditional Craigslist scams you can still end up with an apartment so run down that the toilet is all but unusable. Ugh. Not much longer 'till we can finally settle down.