6/1/06
Arrived in Nice, France safe and sound. First impressions: the legendary rudeness of the French is at best an exaggeration, at worst a total falsehood. Our rental car had stick shift! And you pump a button to recline.
Xanax worked okay, but left me exhausted on the first day. Red-eyes suck anyway, but we're willing ourselves to stay up. Had the best warm goat cheese salad of our lives. Still haven't seen anybody from the wedding party. Too tired to put articles in front of sentences.
Can't figure out how to flush the toilet. Really.
Glad you and yours arrived safely. Have a great trip.
Am I correctly translating? "I am talking to myself."
Your title reminds me of a tune by Free Hot Lunch, the world's greatest Wa Ha Music band.
"I talk to myself, but I don't listen to what I say.
I get a long pretty well, although I'm with me every day..."- canuck (ok, so they're the world's *only* waha band...) -
You've probably got your laptop covering the button.
push the big button for solid waste, the small button for liquid....
You don't know me but: when you are in Paris, go to the mosque. They have the most amazing Turkish baths. You probably couldn't take a baby there. I can't remember the details, but I found out about it from the Rough Guide to Paris.
definitely eat at the African Queen. in or very near Nice, i believe.
Go to the Louvre. If you look down through the glass, the pagan imagery will reveal where Mary Magdelene is buried. She was the wife of Jesus. I saw it in a movie with Tom Hanks, so it's just gotta be true.
Make sure you pronounce toilet as TWA-LAY!
Pull that chain with the lever. Are you sure you're not using the beaudette (sic)? If so turn on water with valve and turn off. Look for other bowl.
Drive down the coast about 60 miles to St. Tropez. take walk on beach. Bring digital camera. Post pics when you get back!
B2
It's Paris, so you can let it marinate, but don't ruminate on it for too long or it will room-inate your quarters, just like old French cheese.
Filthy Americans. Good Yuck.
Oh how I wish I was where you are now. Isn't there some kind of button you push on the top or something? I like European toilet systems much better than American ones. At least most of them have bidets.
http://gofrance.about.com/od/travelplanning/ht/toilet.htm <--how to use toilets in france! lol
"The flushing mechanisms on French toilets are almost never on the back. Sometimes there is a chain pully from above, sometimes a foot petal on the ground. Sometimes there is a button on top, sometimes two (pushing both will make the toilet keep flushing). Frequently, there is a large, rectangular bar on the back wall. Push or pull whatever you find."
I think the thing is poodles are so smart that French society has been in a kind of arms race to keep them from doing their thing inside, rather than on the sidewalk where it belongs, according to French custom. The dogs are so smart it rarely takes one more than a year to figure out how a particular design flushes, and once you've told one poodle, you've basically told every poodle in the neighborhood.
I can't believe I forgot to mention this (although with the amount of advice you've gotten you could stay in Paris for months and never do it all) - the CUTEST French children's clothing you can buy without needing a second mortgage is at Du Pareil Au Meme. There are several shops in Paris - the nearest to you in the Marais is probably in Les Halles (neighborhood, not in the mall). I want to say it's on Rue du Renard but I'm terrible at remembering street names.
There's also a good one in St. Germain, on the Blvd St. Germain near St. Germain des Pres, north side of the street. That's also a great part of the city for walking around.
If I were better at this I'd link you to a picture of Lydia in her latest Parisian finery from DPAM (courtesy of her Grandmama) so you could see - so cute! Lucy must have something.