Dec. 23, 2008 - Visit the Carnival of Homeschooling (and Paris, too)!

I just posted a new Carnival of Homeschooling with a "Winter in Paris" theme. There are some great posts, and even a couple of recipes you'll enjoy, both involving chocolate, of course! Really, it wasn't just an excuse to browse through my Paris pictures again, but I have to admit, that is a fun thing to do. Paris was a revelation to us when we visited. It's beautiful architecturally, but it's accessible and friendly, too. I'd love to go back every year! Contrary to all the rumors you hear about Parisians, we found everyone we encountered to be cordial and courteous. This reinforces my belief that almost anyone anywhere will respond nicely to a pleasant, courteous approach. When visiting a foreign country, it's important to learn what is considered courteous, and what is not, so that you don't bumble around being unintentionally rude. It's surprising how many people behave rudely in a foreign country, and are then offended when the natives are less than friendly! For example, the French are generally more formal than Americans. When you enter a shop, it's considered courteous to greet the proprietor with a 'bon jour." As you shop for food, you don't touch the beautiful displays. Instead, you tell the shopkeeper what you want (it helps to practice the language before you go), and in the case of fruit, when you will eat it, so they can select the best item for you, much as our general stores did in the olden days. When we were there, I enjoyed shopping at the little food shops. It's very acceptable to take a picnic lunch on the train, so before we left for Italy, I visited the bakery, the fruit stand, and the cheese shop to create a lovely picnic. At each place, I explained that I wanted [bread, fruit, or a cheese] that would be suitable for a picnic on the train with children. Each shopkeeper offered suggestions and selected goodies of perfect ripeness. The cheese merchant said, "ah.... a small smell, eh?" and provided a selection of delicious cheeses that didn't advertise their presence to the entire train. The fruit vendor pointed out some particularly lucious grapes, and indicated that they wouldn't be messy for children, which was an excellent idea. All the packages were beautifully wrapped in gift paper with a bit of string or ribbon holding them on. It was a lot more interesting than fast food! The only problem was that after collecting our lovely picnic, we headed for the train station, where we discovered that we were to leave from a small auxiliary station a couple of metro stops down. We got directions, hopped on the ever-efficient metro with a couple of minutes to spare. When we got off, there was no sign of anything resembling a train station. Yikes. The clock was ticking, and it was almost time for the train to leave! I handed my suitcase to Donald, and ran into the first little cafe I saw. It was crammed with working  men, enjoying lunch. I summoned my rudimentary French to ask the room at large where the train station was hiding. A small man near the door looked at my ticket with it's fast approaching departure time, and dropped his fork, and said "Come!" He ran out the door and down the street, with all of us running after, dragging suitcases. We were huffing and puffing when he arrived at a steep flight of steps and leapt up them, running to a train that was going through it's final departure process. He reached the last open door, stuck one arm in so that they couldn't close it, and waved us in. We thanked him profusely as we staggered in, and he smiled and waved as the door slammed and the train pulled out. That was only one of the many kindnesses we experienced there, and I will always remember that very nice Frenchman with gratitude. Anyway, I digress. Visit the Carnival for some enjoyable reading, and visit Paris for beautiful sights and scrumptious food. Enjoy!

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