This year, I'll be an American in Paris.

Friday night, Carrie and I met up with Julien - he studied abroad at our high school (back in the day?!) and he and Carrie were even stand partners!

We met up for dinner at Saint Michel, and ended up going to a legit Greek restaurant. The guys that worked there kept running around saying "Oupa!" And suddenly we were all being dragged from our seats, thrown onto tables, and instructed to dance.

Exhibit A:

Just to give you a clue as to the music, these were the musicians:

Afterwards we wandered over to a fun bar in the Saint Germain area (Kim, Josh, we went there, remember?), called Coolin (or Colin, I never remember). It was fun, and around 11pm a DJ showed up ... Apparently we picked DISCO NIGHT. Naturally, I was pumped. After that there was more rap-dance music.

Saturday I took Carrie to the Marché aux Puces at Montreuil, my favorite one. We found lots of fun things (in my case a winter jacket, which I will surely be needing). After that we spend the afternoon recovering with tea and digestive biscuits (Oh, Carrie being Britishy) and watching some TV on my computer. That night we went to a party/drinks at Julien's house Saturday night, and Carrie even got to work on her French!

Oh, and Happy Halloween! I, unfortunately, did not get to celebrate in any way ... Except by trying on the official Paris football jersey (yes, the American kind) that belongs to one of my friends. Julien played on FM's team when he was in the US, and apparently there's a Parisian team. Probably won't interfere with my newfound Penn State loyalties, which works out well. Definitely going to go check out one of their games sometime soon ...

Exhibit B:

Good Morning, Paris.

Pretty sunrise doesn't change the fact that I would prefer to NOT be awake to watch the sun rise. From the station ...

From Trocadéro.

From the usual vantage point. This is still pretty awesome, I'll admit ;)

Carrie is doing her thing until I finish work today, and then I'm meeting up with her AND a former French exchange student from our high school. He and Carrie were friends/stand partners, and since he works in Paris now we thought it would be fun to have a reunion!

MAURICE, THE BAGUETTES, HURRY UP!

Yesterday I had off from work, so Carrie and I hit the streets. Carrie had the [brilliant!] idea to check out the Catacombs, especially since it's almost Halloween. It's one of those [numerous] things I've always meant to do but haven't.

SO. AWESOME. After all, this is the friend with whom I've watched a million horror movies. We love this stuff.

I think it's about 2km (slightly more than a mile) of tunnels under the city. Long story short, they had to move several cemeteries as the city expanded, and they had religious processions in which they brought all of the displaced bones to former quarry tunnels especially converted into an Ossuary. I didn't even know that was a word in English.

This was as you start out (after a spiral staircase descent that makes you feel like you're [literally] going straight to Hell).

"Arrête! C'est ici l'empire de la mort" [Stop! Here lies the empire of death] Entrance into the Ossuary.

Oh.SNAP. I see dead people. A.whole.LOT.of.them.

Talk about morbid, if you can't tell, this is a bunch of skulls in the form of a heart, set against a background of more bones. Tim Burton, you have been outdone.

"Croyez que chaque jour est pour vous le dernier."

[Believe that each day is your last. -Horace]

Afterwards we wandered over to Cité Universitaire to see a man about a visa. Fail; more later when I feel like going back. Then we took the train to Abbesses, grabbed chocolate-banana crêpes (YES), and went to see the Lady GaGa exhibit in some small gallery.

Since we weren't far from Sacre Coeur, we went up to check it out. As you can see, we ended up having a beautiful day!

Then we proceeded to wander (because by my geographer skills, as long as you're going downhill from Montmartre you're probably going the right direction). We checked out the artists in the Place des Tertres, and meandered back down past Pigalle (KARAOKE BAR) and The Moulin Rouge.

As we neared the Grands Magasins (think Fifth Ave) we saw tons of CRS police (this means you can't be far from some sort of protest or strike). Sure enough, as we neared Bd Haussman we quickly realized we'd come upon a real beast of a parade. Highlight was a tie between Carrie joining in with their chants (and me yelling at her to stop it!) and the cart in the parade selling 2€ mojitos. I'd strike just to get the mojito ...

In our wanderings, we came across this store. Which made me laugh. Not sure why. 'Ice Feeling' just seems ridiculous as a store name.

The rest of our wandering was in the general direction of home: Opéra Garnier, La Madeleine, Concorde, The Tuileries, a flyby of the Louvre and then back home. We dined, in true style, on cheese, baguette, and wine. Normal. We may also have back to back watched Hercules and Beauty and the Beast. And sung along.

Maybe.

And then there were TWO!

CARRIE IS HERE!!! IN MY BED!!! Unfortunately I'm not in it too, I'm babysitting.

At any rate I'm pumped, because eventually (but today!) I'll get to see her. AND THAT ROCKS SOCKS!

For now I only have one little monster, and he's rocking the late morning deal. Works for me. Julien and Maxime had a sleepover at their Grandma's, so they'll be back later this afternoon. Turns out one kid = Infinitely easier than three. Note to future parenting self. ALSO, remind me to ask all parents why they don't STOP after one. Seems more reasonable.

I have also decided that any people believing themselves ready for a child should be put through a required au pair internship with someone that has a newborn. Like a three month, paid internship. This would lead to fewer crappy parents in the world, AND harassed couples with babies would get an extra set of hands around the house.

Add this to the list of proposals demonstrating that I WOULD BE AN AWESOME PRESIDENT.

Just saying.

One last thing: Tell me this series of pictures doesn't make you smile :)

I couldn't make this up. Three in a row. Bam.

Food for thought?

Simon just had a loud disagreement with the piece of bread he was eating. Then he came into the kitchen where I was making lunch and hugged my legs.

So adorable it makes my head hurt. Oh wait no, that's just my head reminding me that I'm due for another dose of Tylenol/Advil.

In other news, I might have to stop dissing homeopathic remedies. The list of little granules (like six different vials of them) that Christine gave me seem to really have helped unblock my head. No comments please, [cough DAVE cough]. I hope this isn't a sinus infection though, that would be lame.

I so totally love children under the age of nine*

I've been bringing my computer over to the Kobrin's for when Simon naps, but it turns out he thinks all things electronic are the greatest things EVER. He particularly loves the camera, be it on my laptop (I let him click to take the pictures, so I have roughly 200 pictures of us like this from the last week alone) or the one on my Blackberry.

Now I just need to teach him to make faces.

And this is the final proof that we're destined to be best friends (as if crying when his chocolate pudding is over weren't enough) ... He sits and looks at books. I'd say reads, but hey, he's only 17 months.

*I make some exceptions for slightly older children. Like Potter. It's a pretty select list though :)

Take that, Federal Elections.

Mailed in my ballot a few days ago ... Fine, don't let me vote for governor of New York, but I swear if Paladino wins by one vote there will be HELL to pay. Actually, scratch that. If Paladino wins, period.

Things are otherwise uneventful. I'm sick with some lame cold, and the only thing REALLY bumming me out about it is that I can't taste anything I eat. I'm not sure it has ever been this bad before. I've tried everything: Spoonfuls of Dijon mustard, overdosing black pepper, soup, NUTELLA. Presumably, if you're reading this, you know me, so you can understand the FULL misery of this cold symptom. I've made progress though, now I can taste the food when I blow my nose.

Ponder that for a minute.

Moving on, I spent my post-orchestra afternoon buying tickets to La Cage aux Folles, My Fair Lady and [WAIT FOR IT] SWEENEY TODD. So excited, I always wanted to see Sweeney Todd live (pumped for the other two, too). Along with all of those classical concerts I've reserved at the Salle Pleyel, I'm starting to feel like I'm actually taking advantage of some of these opportunities I might not have again. SCORE!

Just cooked myself dinner (chicken with rice and a cream/mustard sauce, master chef that I am) ... Couldn't taste it. Curses.

Tomorrow I'm off to Neuilly-Plaisance to tutor English and have lunch with the Penets. Love them, they're so much fun to talk to!!!

Just what, exactly, are they saying?

So I've had a lot of people comment on the strikes in France and make sure I'm here/OK/Not leading the people of France to the streets to demand better quality internet or anything.

I'm not involved in these strikes, so don't worry. HOWEVER they are often taking place at République, which is where I'll be moving in November. Let's hope they work out this mess quickly or things could be more annoying.

Actually thus far the strikes haven't caused me any REALLY unnecessary inconvenience ... The trains are in various stages of strike (both Parisian public transit, suburban trains and the national train company) so everything is crowded ALL the time. There are apparently oil refineries closed, which means people have started stockpiling gasoline, or stopped taking their cars. So as long as I don't plan on going anywhere while they're busy having an uprising I ought to be alright.

This article sums it up pretty well.

Otherwise things are going well! Seeing friends, relaxing a bit; Even going to see this concert at the Salle Pleyel tonight. Not gonna lie, the main reason I wanted to go to this concert was for the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh. One of my favorites. I have a subscription to this year's concert series (which is AWESOME because they have great deals for those under 26). I had to miss two of the ones I originally booked because of changing my flight, but I still have another five after tonight I think!

Not to mention the other good concerts they wouldn't let you reserve places for ... I'll have to chance it on the lines for those ones!

Sunday, without much sun.

Today I was up early to tutor in Neuilly-Plaisance. It was fun to see the whole family again, they're really sweet and I love getting to talk to them. The daughter I help in English is in tenth grade, with gives me a nice diversion from my usual fare.

Afterwards I met Guillaume in the 18e for coffee and chats. On our way down to Abbesses to catch the métro we came upon a vide-grenier. I, of course, was pumped to see lots of framed old maps. Resisted the urge to purchase them, since I can't bring them back. Almost as upsetting as passing over that disco ball last year. (Note strange skull in front.)

I've had La Cage aux Folles at the forefront of my mind recently, and when I saw this I couldn't resist. Talk about a vraie cage aux folles. I'm not sure what makes this the most memorably epic: The doll in the cage or the doll on the toliet OR the doll on the toliet in the cage. Hard to say.

Just you know, pretty buildings. Typical.

Then Benoît and I moved my life over from Betsey's house, since I don't want to drive her nuts with everything. Besides, so much of my life is in boxes here, it makes sense to isolate the madness!

State of the Union ... Or my life.

My absentee ballot showed up at the Kobrins the other day. Which is great, except a MAJOR reason I wanted it was to make sure that pesky prick Paladino (alliteration!) doesn't get elected, AND HE'S NOT ON HERE. That man makes the Jersey Shore look downright WASPy, and I'm coming from, oh right, ARIOTTI, so I get to say whatever I want about him being so mafioso it makes my head hurt.

Not that getting to vote for two Senators AND my congressman isn't fun, but WHAT ABOUT THE GOVERNOR? Pretty sure I get to do that too. Curses.

Anyway, things are going well so far. On Wednesday I wandered around canceling cards (the USPS ate my French wallet, long story) and ordering new ones. That night I went to dinner with two friends from when I lived in the foyer on Bd. Saint-Michel as a student. Weird to think that was almost three years ago. We had lots of fun catching each other up on stories and such, and it was a good reintroduction to Paris.

The weirdest thing about being back is that unlike last year, I don't feel weird being back. In three months not much has changed, and I feel like I never left. Last year coming back was after being gone for a year and a half, and I didn't know everyone as well. This time it's almost like a homecoming of sorts -- at this point I'm as at ease in Paris as everyone else I know is in New York City.

That's a more than a little disconcerting.

Yesterday I went out to my favorite school (that I WANTED to go back to) to visit my teacher friends and see if the kids remembered me. Turns out, if the mauling is an indication, a lot of them did :) It was lots of fun to catch up with everyone, and I hope to go out and see them from time to time. If I could swing it I'd volunteer to help out there on Thursdays when I'm not working. It would be fun, and they could certainly use the help ... I wasn't replaced. In fact, new reforms to the French national education system are cutting everything from external assistants to funding for activities that have always been considered standard. So basically everyone who works in a school is ticked.

Then I hung out with my old neighbor boys for awhile before grabbing coffee and a cookie with Betsey and heading to orchestra. Turns out that I'm not completely incapable of sightreading; I actually managed to hold it together fairly well for the rehearsal. I'm hoping that wasn't a fluke. They're in the process of deciding who gets to go to China and and play a chamber concert at the end of the month, so wish me luck. I sooooo want to go to China.

Today is day one of au pair life. Simon is probably going to wake up soon. He's so much bigger; I suddenly understand why people say it goes so fast. Now he's 17 months, and he started walking while I was away. Blows my mind how much taller and older he seems.

More soon :)

I probably could have SAILED faster.

At 8:30pm on Tuesday, October 12 I FINALLY PULLED UP TO BETSEY'S BUILDING IN THE SIXTH ARR.

Let me explain how this could be so, given that I had departed from JFK a solid, you know, 26 hours before. It starts with "Helsinki" and ends with "IS A TERRIBLE PLACE."

Just kidding, I mean, at least they had free wifi (or I might have died).

First problem: I got to JFK unnecessarily early because I'm a bundle of nervous wreck when I have a plane to catch. Second problem being that the cheap flight went through Helsinki, Finland. If you're not up on your geography, this requires you to bypass France, by, oh, A LOT. But I like this airline and their service is good, so whatever. AND you get two suitcases, unlike the other cheaper flights I had found.

When I got to Helsinki, I looked at my boarding pass, which said I didn't board until 3:30pm, which brings me to the third problem: IT WAS A QUARTER TO NINE. AM. WHAT?! So I looked at the departures, and there was a plane boarding for Paris. Naturally, I wanted to be on it, but evidently after boarding begins they can't add anyone. Jerks. So I go to customer service and very nicely point out that even if I can't take the flight boarding right this minute, there's another one at 12:15 that I would very much like to be on. The service desk very nicely informs me that ACTUALLY WE CANCELED THAT FLIGHT.

Crap.

So I settle in at Helsinki, for my now SIX HOUR LAYOVER, and feel like crap because I (for reasons unknown) haven't been able to sleep and we're going on all-nighter at this point with time zone nastiness. Can't eat, can't sleep, marathoning episodes of Bones and messing around on Facebook ...

Finally board. Another two and a half hours to Paris, which could have been the end of my woes. BUT IT WASN'T. Why? BECAUSE FRANCE HAS STRIKES. I got here just in time for a massive transit strike, which meant not only were there no RER Bs to get me to the city, the buses were hit or miss and the info desk didn't even have their schedule.

At this point, I can't take anymore and go straight to the taxi stand with my two fifty-pound (literally) suitcases, my violin, and my "personal item" purse that weighs another 30 pounds. DONE. After some traffic I finally get to Betsey's, but I don't want to discuss the price of that cab.

I insist, however, that it was necessary. Especially since I proceeded to haul all that luggage up six flights of death stairs to Betsey's apartment.

THIS IS WHY I DON'T EXERCISE. EVER.

By the way, I checked my boarding pass later to see if I had really been stupid enough to book that return flight without checking times. Totally wasn't, guess who was SUPPOSED to be on that 12:15pm flight?

Right.

Dear Albany, WTF?! Love, Molly

So as some of you may be aware, SUNY Albany has decided that it can put "the world within reach" by ...

Drumroll, please ....

DELETING ITS FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS. Nevermind the fact that vast swaths of Americans can't speak English properly, now you're going to encourage them to blow off foreign languages too? Call me crazy, but I don't think that's going to do anyone any favors.

This is why countries like France have bad reputations for foreign language skills in places like, uh, the world -- Because their language was the dominant language in business and diplomacy for so long, they were reluctant to study foreign languages like ENGLISH. It's all very well that English happens to be the language of world business at the moment, but there's nothing saying that in another 20 years it won't be Chinese. Or Esperanto. OR PIG LATIN.

This article from Inside Higher Ed sums it up, but if you want the short version, I'd go with:

WTF, ALBANY?

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/10/04/albany

There are petitions out there to stop them and a million other things, and if I ever get my act together I fully intend to email everyone I can find nasty letters about how that's the worst.idea.ever. As someone who has seen the effects of foreign language study firsthand (Not like I ever saw myself spending two years in France when I was at FM), I'm living proof that foreign languages are not only relevant, they're IMPORTANT.

One of my friends has a neat quote on her Facebook: "If you speak three languages you're trilingual, if you speak two languages you're bilingual, and if you speak one language you're American." We should be trying to change that, not reveling in it.

Ironically, she's in the Masters program at Albany.

Denial. Excitement. Procrastination.

I'm beginning to think going back will be fun, but every time I look at the pile of things I want to bring, I silently will them to pack themselves.

Not working.

So instead I stubbornly bury myself in books. I've discovered that the post-traumatic stress of reading scholarly articles is reversible, and I have a renewed interest in reading for pleasure. Marathoned my way through The Hunger Games trilogy, then The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and now The Importance of Being Earnest (which, I never realized, is hilarious).

You might say I'm reading like someone who won't be buying books [in English] for quite some time ...