THE PARIS LETTER: The Whole Story

5 weeks old yeah!

Well, I’m back, and there’s a whole new person living in my house now. Her name is Sophia and I love her to pieces even though she’s been known to projectile poop on me. She is almost six weeks old, and while Matt and I are tired, we are pretty much thinking this whole parenting thing is one of the best ideas we’ve had.

I had a really tough labor and delivery, the subtitle of which could be “expect the unexpected”. The word I’ve used the most often to describe it is “insane” – this might be hyperbole (not something I’m a stranger to), but despite my best efforts at preparation the whole thing really threw me for a loop. I’m going to tell all here, because I need to both for my memory and for myself.  If you’re not into details you may want to skip this post, it is up to you. I will give you the short version now: Sophia is here and she is healthy and gorgeous. I had a difficult labor with a few complications but am on the mend, and both Matt and I are crazy in love with our little girl.

Okay, now all you people not into oversharing can go do the Sunday crossword or something –

For the rest of you, here is what happened, after the jump:

THE PARIS LETTER: Sophia!

Hello All -
We just got back from the hospital yesterday, so this post will be brief but I want to introduce you to our daughter -

Sophia Lundberg Valley

Born 11/21/11 at at 8:55PM at the Clinique Da Vinci in Paris

Weighing in at 3.97kgs (8.75 lbs)

51 cms/ 20 inches long

She came out smiling and alert, and we are head over heels in love with her.

There's lots to tell about her birth and her first week, which I'll get into this week as we settle into a routine here at home. But for now, Matt and I are both feeling like having a kid was a great idea. 

THE PARIS LETTER: Getting "Bonjoured"

Montmartre Stairs

France and America - we have such a long history together, both of fascination and irritation. We love each other but we hate each other. Its very complicated - like, goes back to the Revolutionary War complicated. 

Lots of Americans feel the French are rude -they come to Paris and they try to be nice, and the French won't give them the time of day. What gives? As you get a little more deeply into the culture here, you realize that many French people find AMERICANS rude - they come here in droves, crowding into subway cars shouting in English and bumping people with their fanny packs, demanding hamburgers at 4PM and wondering why things aren't open on Sunday. 

Clearly, this is a very complex issue, too complex to really handle in a blog post. But there's one word at the center of so much of this, and that word is: Bonjour.

Yes, Bonjour, the simplest French word, the first one you learn - Hello. 

Allow me to explain, after the jump:

THE PARIS LETTER: Sunday Afternoon Snack

Oh, Paris letter, how have I been writing you for so long without mentioning one of my favorite subjects, CHEESE? 

Those of you who have been following this letter for the last year know that in fact many of my culinary adventures in France have to do with finding NON-FRENCH food - I've looked for burritos and bagels, made traditional Thanksgiving dinner and served chocolate mole to dubious Parisians. What can I say? I like variety on my plate.  

However, there are a few areas where France just excels, period. One of these is bread. And the another is cheese. They are just consistently better here than in the US of A. Yes, we have some very good homegrown cheeses and you can get a great diversity of breads. But look at that picture, people! That's our Sunday afternoon snack! And we can get that kind of good-lookin' snack easily in our neighborhood, no trucking out to Murray's Cheese or Acme Bread. Yes, there's a huge variety when it comes to cheese and bread here, and you can get a super shitty baguette and some boring emmental just about anywhere here as well.

But again, I refer you to the picture above. Let's discuss....

THE PARIS LETTER: Tuileries and Chocolate

Hello there and welcome to the BLOG version of The Paris Letter -

Today I'm 38 weeks pregnant, officially full term - and, coincidentally, the 7 billionth person on the planet will be born this week, somewhere in the world. I mentioned this to Matt - since I'm full term, seems like we've got a shot here. Matt's first response was " Does it come with a cash prize?" 

Here is my response: 

So, yes! For the next two weeks, as we await the appearance of our kid, I'm trying to do just what I WANT to do, with my limited energy - so today, the Tuileries Garden and Angelina hot chocolate, after the jump:

THE PARIS LETTER: Nesting...

37 Weeks preggo, with toys

Happy Fall Sunday everyone -

Paris has finally been visited by those sunny, crisp fall days that just make you want to walk by the Seine and stop in at a cafe to share a hot chocolate or a bottle of wine. It is just beautiful out, and today Matt and I are hopefully going on another date of sorts, if I can come up with some good ideas - I have two drawbacks currently: I can't walk much farther than 10 blocks at a stretch, and I don't have a coat that covers my bump - BUT hey, if I plan things right neither of these should really be a problem. I just have to build in plenty of places for us to stop ...

Right now, Matt is at an Irish pub watching the Rugby World Cup final - New Zealand and France battle it out!  Neither of us had ever watched rugby before, which is - apparently - a big sport in the rest of the world ;). New Zealand beat Australia last week; these are usually the two best teams, and nobody can understand how France made it into the final -not even the French!  Parisians are not really the most team-spirited in any case, but their response still seems to be "I don't know how Les Bleus are in the final, they are not a very good team" - and now they're playing the New Zealand All Blacks, the best team in the world.

THE PARIS LETTER: Dating My Husband

Hello there folks -

Montmartre - Follow him!

It's a rainy Sunday here in Paris, and the Claire Lundberg-Matt Valley household is being really lazy as a result. In fact, Matt is still sleeping over there in the bed -though it's almost 2PM ! In fairness, we did have a nocturnal visit from two friends who had a twelve hour layover here in Paris on their way back to New York from Russia. Armen and his brother Grisha showed up last night around 11:30, and we hung out drinking the Belgian beer Matt brought back from Bruges a couple of weeks ago, and then Matt and the guys left to find fun and excitement (or more beer and food) before they had to head back to the airport at around 5:30AM. Matt discovered a 24-hour Belgian beer bar right on Place de Clichy - about 7 blocks from us! Matt said they had a great beer selection but that it was also full of about 5 or 6 bachelor parties all eyeing each other seeing if they'd have to fight later. I should mention that this part of our neighborhood is pretty close to the Moulin Rouge and Pigalle districts, so these dudes were probably either coming from or going to that area. All in all, a good find but one that resulted in him getting back home around 5AM.

THE PARIS LETTER: Medieval Villages, Architectural Deconstructivism, and Giant Babies

Hello Everyone!

Sorry to have been so out of touch again - My best friend Maya was visiting from the US for the last two weeks, and I ended up running around Paris with her - which was GREAT since I've been feeling so slowed down because of the pregnancy - and not getting around to writing the letter. But I'm back! And with special news from both Paris and Bruges, Belgium, where we spent last weekend drinking beer (Matt), eating Fries (me), and generally having one last get away before our daughter arrives.

Me in Bruges at 34 weeks

Speaking of - that arrival is really getting close! I'm 34 weeks now, although we found out this week that she might actually be OLDER than we thought initially. We had our third trimester sonogram, and afterwards, the doctor was looking at the results with us and said "Votre bebe est un peu...gros." - Yes, she's had a growth spurt, and all her measurements are now in the 85th percentile or higher for her age. The doc thought she looked more like she was 35 or 36 weeks, so it's possible she'll come a little early. I personally feel vindicated by this because I'd been slowing down so much and feeling so huge, with lots of back pain, yet it felt too early for that to happne - but now I know it's because I have Gargantua the Giant Baby living inside me. Oh yes, this has provided for some great nicknames. Matt is also calling her Gigantasaurus Rex. and Gargantuas Prime.

THE PARIS LETTER: Baby Supplies, False Labor, and a little 9/11 Reflection

Belleville

Hello everyone -
Well, I know you've heard me say it before, but I am really pregnant at this point - 31 weeks, and I just realized that bending over to tie my shoes is becoming increasingly difficult. Time to bust out the slip ons I guess. Sheesh.

I had some false labor this week - first time in this pregnancy I've ever had to call my midwife after-hours, so thank goodness for that I guess, but because everything with the baby has been so normal these actually-very-normal Braxton Hicks contractions freaked me out. I had also been having some pelvic pain (sorry to get graphic on you so early in this letter...) so I had this fear that I was dialating or the baby was descending early and they'd have to put me on bedrest for the next 6 to 8 weeks. That was really my fear, the bedrest. I already feel so much less mobile that I think I might go crazy if I had to stay in bed - But, I've known so many women that this has happened to that I have had it in the back of my mind since I hit the second trimester.

THE PARIS LETTER: The Princess Phase

Hello All:

Sacre Coeur

Hmmm, let's see - it's been a pretty slow week for me here, as I guess befits the end of summer. Matt's really the one who has lots to report - he's been in New York this week dealing with our apartment there, handling the move out of the old tenants and the move in of the new ones, and making sure some minor repairs get done - plus, of course, eating a lot of barbecue and drinking a lot of beer. He actually told me last night that he's done with beer and hamburgers for a little while - like me, he gorged himself on them while in the US and now needs a break. Well, at least from the hamburgers ;) I'm not convinced he'll need much of a break from the beer.

THE PARIS LETTER: Hurricanes, Mall Pools, and Cloth Diapers

Hello there from non-hurricane-threatened Paris -

Sheesh! What a weekend for my friends in New York and on the East Coast! Matt was supposed to fly to New York for a week yesterday, and just had to change his flight - clearly - in a way, it's nice to see New York taking all these precautions for once. And in another way, why does there always have to be a hurricane/blizzard/heat wave in New York that makes travel and life difficult? Its enough to make you wonder why 10 million people were foolish enough to call this place home. This year has really been a bad weather year for that city.

Sunset from our Paris apartment

But not for Paris! Matt and I were just talking at dinner about Europe's weather in general - it seems mysteriously free of the kinds of yearly insanity that strikes the US ; Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Floods, Tornadoes - Other than an occasional Italian earthquake, does Europe really have these kinds of natural disasters regularly? Given that last winter two inches of snow was cause for alarm here, I feel like maybe not. Someone, please tell me if I'm wrong - it seems somewhat unfair that all of Europe should be spared the kind of craziness all of the US seems to go through each year.

THE PARIS LETTER: Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer...

Ahhh, its August. Doesn't it FEEL like August? Things are slowing down, everyone's on vacation, at the same time September's out there looming - This usually leads me into a frenzy of trying to get things done for work before its time, but this year I'm trying to use the August time to get the house ready for the baby and other more appropriate things. Also - adn some of you will know what I mean by this - I started to read George R.R.Martin's GAME OF THRONES series, so if you've emailed me and you don't hear from me this week, just know that I'm buried in a 5 book fantasy cycle and can't return any emails until I come up for air.

THE PARIS LETTER: It's A Girl

Hi Everyone -

Yes, the Paris Letter is back, apologies for the hiatus - I was traveling in the US for the last five weeks or so, and ended up being too busy to really get it together for this letter. But now that I'm back in very quiet, vacation-emptied-out Paris, I have lots to catch you up on.

One dramatic thing that happened during my time in the US is my belly really popped out and I began to look pregnant. This seemed to me like it happened in the course of a week - one week I was in London and having to tell people in meetings that I was pregnant, and the next week I was in LA and when I would explain that I was pregnant people would all look at me like "Yes, we KNOW". It may have been that I was more covered up in London because it was cooler, but it still felt like I went from "possibly pregnant or just chubby" to "definitively looks pregnant" in a very short time. It was definitely a shock for Matt, who said "wow, your belly is ENORMOUS" when I got back to France.

THE PARIS LETTER: iPad Apps and Civic Lessons

Hello everyone -

Yes, I'm back! Sorry for the silence the past two weeks, lots going on and I'm also prepping for my very exciting trip to the US - I will be in LA first, then SF, then NY; really excited to get to spend such a good chunk of time in the US before the baby arrives, and hoping to see many of you while I'm in town -

As I mentioned before, I'm able to come out to the US because I'm doing a consulting job for Disruption Entertainment at Paramount - this is a new production company formed by my old bosses from MGM, and I'm consulting for them on developing kids properties for mobile devices/new media. I'm finding the whole process really interesting, actually; different from what I've done in the past, and also an area with a lot of room for growth. If any of you have friends who work in this sphere, developing mobile media or hardware, etc, I would LOVE to talk to them while I'm in the US - please let me know!

THE PARIS LETTER: Paris Child Care

Hey Everyone -
Sorry I'm so late with this week's letter. I've actuallly - finally - been getting some energy back, and the weather has been gorgeous here, so Matt and I actually LEFT THE HOUSE and did things both days this weekend. Yesterday we went on a hike in the Forest of Versailles, and today we went to see La Conquete, a French film about Nicholas Sarkozy's first campaign, and ate burritos on the Canal Saint Martin. Reasonably good burritos ,too! This was Matt's first film in French, and really only my third - I think I understood 50% of it. Afterwards, I asked Matt how it went and he said he only got about 20% of it - together, we were able to piece together basically what was happening (I, for example, know that the word "couilles" means "balls", so I understood all the times Sarkozy said "I've got him by the balls", which was helpful). Hey, we're trying.

THE PARIS LETTER: Maison Des Examens!

Hi Everyone -

Whew, I gotta get cracking on this letter now that the Rapture has passed us by. You won't be surprised to learn that there was basically NO talk about the predicted end of the world here in Paris, though it seems like every one of my American-based Facebook friends was into it yesterday. Glad to see that I'll be spending the end times with all of you.

First of all, thank you all so much for your good wishes on the pregnancy! It was so nice to hear from so many of you about it - There was no letter last week because I was SUPPOSED to be in Cannes for the film festival, but then canceled my trip at the last minute because of illness - after my experience in Bologna, where I had the double-whammy of morning sickness and bad-cold sickness, I didn't want to go to another conference/festival in less that perfect health - so, sadly I will have no stories from the red carpet for you guys in this letter. It was hard for me to finally shut the trip down - it took me until 3 hours before my train was to leave to finally cancel - but it was really not the year for it.

THE PARIS LETTER: The Big Announcement

Hello all -

Yes, just in time for Mother's Day, we've got a big announcement to make - I'm PREGNANT. Otherwise known as - with child, knocked up, expecting, with bun in oven. I'm finally out of the first trimester, so we are letting more people know (though truth be told, some of you know already - I'm looking at you, Mom. Now you can start telling the neighbors...:) I just had my first sonogram this week, and the baby is moving around and waving its arms and legs, which is incredible considering he/she is still only about 3 inches long. I'm due around Thanksgiving, and Matt and I are both really happy and excited.

Also, I'm so happy to get to finally announce this in the letter, because there are so many funny stories to tell you that have come up in the last few months that I've been HIDING. Being pregnant for the first time is strange enough, and doing it in a foreign country brings with it all sorts of other new things that basically are hilarious - well, now they are. At the time, some not so much. But NOW - hilarious. A warning - as with lots of talk about pregnancy and such, there will be some personal stuff coming up. No, not that personal! But I will be talking about birthing centers and pregnancy tests and whatnot. Avert your eyes if you want.

THE PARIS LETTER: Helsinki

Hello everyone -

And now, the letter I know you've all been waiting for - our trip to HELSINKI. Oh, Helsinki. In Finland. Yes. Its sort of like Scandinavia, and sort of like Russia, and also it's own thing. Some of you may remember, this is a trip we postponed from November - Our friend Johanna was in Helsinki in November presenting a Translation Prize from the Susan Sontag Foundation, and we decided to go visit her - because, heck, when will we have another chance to go to Helsinki? But then I got sick, and we postponed the trip to Easter weekend - figuring it might be a better time to be in the world's second-northernmost capital (after Reykjavik).

Even at the end of April Helsinki had snow on the ground, though it was mostly melted - weather was actually beautiful when we were there, sunny and in thethe mid to high sixties, which was apparently unseasonably warm for Easter in the Finnish capital. It seemed like everyone was either out biking/running/kayaking, or sitting outside enjoying a twelve-pack of Koff beer with friends. Indeed, beer picnics seemed like the most widespread pastime - and Finland actually has decent beer, much to our surprise.

THE PARIS LETTER: London

Hello from sunny Paris, where we are lying in bed and eating baguettes -

Yes, it is a LAZY sunday today, while we wait for our friend Dave to arrive on his stopover from Portland to Malawi. Some people have really exotic lives, you know?

I spent most of the week in London shopping attending the London Book Fair, an annual glitzy and glamorous international publishing conference. No, really its like a trade show for books, held in a big conference center, where agents and publishers from all over the world come to make rights deals - and a bunch of other stuff happens, like I think book buyers from libraries and bookstores might also be there? And then all the residual publishing businesses like printers, e-book retailers, merchandisers, etc. But I really spend most of my time on the international rights deals side of things, which means in the IRC, or international rights center. This is a huge open floor that looks either like an open plan office or a series of poker tables in a giant casino, where agents and publishers have half hour meetings all day to sell and promote their titles.

THE PARIS LETTER: Bagels & Regret

Hello everyone -
It's a beautiful spring day here in Paris, almost impossible not to be outside - unless you're like me, with my terrible spring allergies...which apparently are even worse this year as I get used to the new European pollens. However, I did just hit the pharmacie and loaded up on medicines, so hopefully I'll be out there drinking at an outdoor cafe soon enough -

This week was a pretty quiet one, but Friday marked the beginning of French spring break, another 2 week school holiday that runs through Easter weekend - I'm off from the Sorbonne for those two weeks, and we have some good upcoming travel - I'll be in London this week at the London Book Fair, and happily catching up with some New York and London friends, and then Easter weekend Matt and I will be in Helsinki, Finland, and I'm sure we'll have lots to report from there -

BAGELS
Strangely, here in the land of the croissant, I've been craving a good bagel and cream cheese lately, and wow are they actually hard to find. I may have mentioned before that there's a bagel craze that's been sweeping Paris - I guess its been around for a few years at this point - and there are a few restaurants here that claim to be "New York style" bagel bars - But, there are very few places where you can find bagels to buy and eat at home. I made a pilgrimage the other day, walking all around the Marais looking for bagel shops (I had heard a rumor that there was a place in the Marais where you could buy frozen H&H bagels from New York, but it has since CLOSED, boo)

THE PARIS LETTER: French Top Chef and Venice Tips

Hello everyone -

So, today we will be talking about the curious and long-standing rivalry between the Brits and the French, as seen through the lens of the French version of the TV show TOP CHEF.

I know you have all probably read about how England and France hate each other, about hundreds of years of wars that occurred between these two countries, how Brittany & Normandy were occupied by thethe English for much of history, how deposed British royalty often made a home in Paris only to join up with the French to plot an invasion that inevitably failed, etc etc. Yes, these countries DO NOT like each other. It is VERY different than dislike/fascination that thethe French and Americans feel for one another. At the end of the day, French are both ANNOYED by thethe US and are FASCINATED by us - perhaps the way an uncle might be both annoyed by how much his nephew texts his friend on his iPad, but fascinated by how he manages to do all that new-fangled stuff on it. We are young upstarts, rude and uncouth but also innovators and full of energy, and this is both interesting and irritating to the French. However, with the Brits its more like deep seated sibling rivalry that is NEVER going away - both cultures have been around equally long, both enjoyed world dominance, both have significant cultural capitals - let's face it, they're basically EQUAL in terms of power, but they're still always gonna compete for who's the best in some kind of futile fight to the death.

THE PARIS LETTER: A sort of long letter about the job hunt, plus some phonetics

Hello everyone -

Matt's parents were in town this week, so I didn't have time to write the post last Sunday, but I'm BACK today with a few more Parisian updates.

After several months of rev-ving the job search engine like an old car on a winter morning, it seems like it's coughed to life a little bit and I'm starting to take more meetings and even work a little bit - At the same time, I feel like I'm trying to start about 6 different businesses at once. My general look-for-work philosophy has been to knock on every door and try every angle, and then see what ultimately works out, but that often results in a middle period -like right now- where you are kind of going down several different paths and not sure what will ultimately happen.

For my own sanity, I will try to outline for all of you all the different things that are happening - this might help me keep them straight, actually. Then we can do an AMERICAN IDOL type voting and you can tell me which things you think sound the best:

THE PARIS LETTER: Fancy Parties and Rude Parisians

Hello All:

It is a gorgeous day in Paris today - Sunny, with bright blue clear skies, reminding us all that spring may actually be on it's way - and that Matt and I have been here for almost 6 months now -

UNESCO Globe and Eiffel Tower

This week was particularly event filled because a friend of Matt's parents, Jill Banfield, was North American winner of thethe L'Oreal Women in Science Award, and was in Paris all week to receive it. The Award is presented jointly by L'Oreal and UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which is based in Paris. This meant we went to not just one but TWO fancy events this week - a cocktail party at the US Ambassador's residence, and the Awards Ceremony at the UNESCO Headquarters. We met a bunch of young State Department employees at these events, which was pretty cool - a whole new contingent of Americans in Paris. In addition, for this week's funny story, I will tell you about my continuing attempts to defend myself in the big city using my limited French - with decidedly mixed results.

THE PARIS LETTER: The Political Intrigue of the Job Interview

Hello everyone, Happy Oscars and Cesars weekend -

As most of you know, the Oscars are TONIGHT, but the Cesars, the French film industy's awards show, was on Friday, so we already know what the best French films of the year are, thank you very much.

As predicted, Xavier Beauvois's DES HOMMES ET DES DIEUX (OF GODS AND MEN in English) won Best Picture, as well as Best Supporting Actor and Best Cinematography - The film is being released by Sony Pictures Classics in the US and I urge you all to go see it - I saw it at Cannes last year kind of accidentally; I didn't know any of Beauvois's earlier films, and just stumbled into this screening because it was a competition film that fit into my schedule. Its a really beautiful film and one of my favorites this year - as you may have heard, it's based on true story of a group of French monks at a monastery in Algeria during thethe civil war of 1990s, and their decision over whether they should stay or leave as things became more and more harrowing for foreigners and French in particular to stay. Its a contemplative film that has a lot to say about humanitarian aid and action, but says it in a quiet and thoughtful voice. Several of thethe actors are leading stars of the film industry here - though may only be known by American audiences for their small roles in international blockbusters - the film's star, Lambert Wilson, played the creepy albino twins in the 2nd Matrix film, though he's a serious and reknowned actor here in France. Ironique, as the French would say.

THE PARIS LETTER: Berlin

Hello and viva la revolution! -

Berliner Dom and Graffiti

Though I am writing from Paris, this letter will be all about Berlin - which seems appropriate, given the protests sweeping the world this week, from Bahrain to Madison Wisconsin. And also since that's where Matt and I spent last weekend - a first time in the city for both of us. We were only there for three days, and we clearly tried to do too much - it's a huge place with centuries of history and lots to see and do, and even with my best planning we barely scratched the surface.

But, here are some general things I can tell you about Berlin - let's start with that:

BERLIN IS BIG - Really big, man. Like, London-big. Remember when I told you that you can basically bike across Paris in an hour? That the metro stops are usually less than a 10 minute walk apart? Well, imagine the opposite of that, and it's Berlin. BUT it's also fairly dense (like London), so, you are given the false sense that you CAN walk everywhere. But trust me, DON'T DO IT. You will end up one of the walking wounded, like I was by Monday afternoon. Take subway system, thethe U Bahn & the S-Bahn - they are basically free, and once you are on them you'll appreciate how freaking big the city is. Sheesh. 

Matt looking cold at Checkpoint Charlie

BERLIN IS COLD - Cold like New York cold, not like Paris with it's wimpy 35-40 degree temps. Cold like it snowed multiple times while we were there (the snow didn't stick around, but still), I was cold in full winter wear (coat, gloves, scarf, hat), and Matt, who had forgotten to pack a hat and scarf, was freezing and kept mumbling "Maybe gloves would have been a good idea". So would a down jacket. And some long underwear.

BERLIN STAYS UP LATE - Another reason why you need some serious winterwear. Berlin is a great city to wander around late at night.The trains run all night, bars stay open till at least 2AM and often all night, there are plenty of late night IMBISS ( fast food shops), and then of course the NIGHT CLUBS of Berlin, the most famous of which, Berghain, doesn't open until midnight and doesn't start its official DJ sets until 5AM. Yes, 5AM people! Matt and I actually thought of getting a real nights sleep, then going to Berghain at 7AM when the bigger acts go on. Which I understand a lot of people actually DO in Berlin - because you can only take cocaine so many nights in a row. Who the hell stays up until 7AM to hear a DJ??? Am I just OLD now? What?

We were in Berlin for the Berlin Film Festival, which after Cannes is the largest and most important European film festival, with a prestigious competition and a big market selling distribution rights to films in various territories. But, like Toronto's film festival, it has advantage of also being a Public event - ie, everyone and anyone can buy tickets without having to prove professional status (in Cannes and several other festivals you must prove you are a member of the industry before you get to see films). So, perfect for a couple like Matt and I, half in and half out of the industry - we got to do a combination of exploring and seeing films, which is a fun organizing principal for a trip, and if you're a little bit informed you can usually see some decent movies.

Our hotel was in the middle of Mitte, the downtown section of the city, right near Checkpoint Charlie. Now, I want to go on record by saying that I know almost nothing about German history, so for those of you that DO, or say, are German (hi, Claudia!), please forgive any inaccuracies or the general tone of American naivete and wonder that is about to pervade this letter.

Touristy Checkpoint Charlie

Like, did you know there was a WALL running through Berlin, separating East and West? I bet you did know that.( I did too). But what I didn't know is that pretty much all of Mitte, which is now the downtown commercial center of the city, was all part of East Berlin, and in fact quite a bit of it around our hotel specifically was sort of cleared out to make way for the famous checkpoint in and out of the American section. Change has happened so quickly since 1989 that quite often you can't tell when you are in historically East or West Berlin anymore, and Checkpoint Charlie is just a memorial in an island in the middle of Friedrichstrasse, with cars driving by on either side (see picture below).

Also, the majority of the historic buildings are in what was East Berlin - Including everything along Unter Den Linden, Berlin's Champs Elysee - Above also you can see a picture of Berliner Dom, the church of the German royalty (i think?), seen through a graffiti covered underpass near Hakescher Markt in former East Berlin - what to me feels like a classic Berlin sight.

Matt near Prenzlauerberg, with Graffiti

We spent a lot of time walking around Prenzlauer Berg, which seems like the Williamsburg (or maybe even Park Slope?) of Berlin - it was one of the first East German neighborhoods to become fully gentrified after the wall came down - at first it was filled with artists and young people without a lot of money, but as often happens it quickly became a pretty comfortable place to raise a family for yuppie Berliners. Now, being kind of a yuppie myself, I liked this neighborhood a lot, but many Berliners I think now feel like its a little TOO fancy and have moved towards Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg (also in East Berlin) for the real cutting edge/cheaper communities. To me, Prenzlauer Berg felt like Brooklyn - We went to the Prater on Kastienallee, widely recommended beer garden - of course, we couldn't see it in its full glory because the outdoor space was shut down, but we had delicious beer there in the indoor space. We also went to KulturBrauerei (Culture Brewery) in this same neighborhood, which is a giant historic brewery that has been converted into a cultural space, wiht restaurants, film/media/theater company offices, and a very cheesy looking nightclub - it's bizarre because the complex looks like a fortress and takes up a huge block, when you walk inside you feel like you are in a medieval village - with a nightclub. And a movie theater.

We saw four movies - which I will say just a little bit about here :

MARGIN CALL - This was at Sundance, and is a smart thriller about the last 36 hours of a very-lightly-fictionalized Lehmann Brothers - starting from the moment a young research analyst discovers that they're about to go bankrupt, through what happens as this news is run up the chain of command and what the bank decides to do about it. It's got a great cast - Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons (clearly enjoying himself), Zach Quinto, and Stanley Tucci - and all in all its a really enjoyable smart film - two minor quibbles for me: Demi Moore plays only female banker in thethe film, and is shown as both weak and kind of a villainess, which is always a little boring to me - plus she also OF COURSE doens't have kids and regrets it - in an all male movie, this grated a little. Also, the movie as a whole will ask you to empathize with or at least understand the people inside investment banks -and while this was okay with me, I'm sure there will be people who won't be too sympathetic with their plight. But overall, this was my favorite movie that I saw - I recommmend it.

THE BENGALI DETECTIVE - Also at Sundance, and soon coming to you as a TV series from HBO - this is a documentary about a private detective in Calcutta, where apparently profession is in great demand as thethe police are unable to fully investigate all crimes. filmmakers lucked out with their subject, he is a GREAT character - a PI, a father & husband, AND an aspiring dancer (no joke), who is really compelling. TheThe filmmaking isn't great, but guy at thethe center makes up for this.

YELLING TO THE SKY - Obligatory horrible competition film about gang violence in New York, starring Zoe Kravitz as a teenage girl who moves from victim to gang-banger in a ridiculously cliched story that also has strange arty shots of clouds and things sprinkled throughout. Matt now understands why you should never sit in the middle of a row at a film festival - in case you need to ESCAPE.

THE CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS - Werner Herzog's latest, a documentary about the cave paintings in southern France, the oldest paintings in the world - Very interesting in principle but felt long and is inexplicably shot in 3-D, clearly Herzog just wanting to get in on the technology while sort of giving a fuck-you to it at the same time. Not his best work.

Finally, a word about CURRYWURST, the Berlin specialty:

Okay first, what is Currywurst? It's a sausage, usually cut into pieces, smothered in tomato sauce and curry powder, and then eaten with toothpicks.
Where can you GET currywurst? On literally every streetcorner and in every trainstation in Berlin. Next to Checkpoint Charlie there is a stand called Checkpoint Curry. Not kidding. There is a Currywurst Museum for gods sake.
But, you ask, is Currywurst actually DELICIOUS? No, no it is NOT delicious. Well, it might be very delicious if you were drunk, which I think is how it's intended to be eaten. We tried it twice, once in a train station (the low end) and once at the KaDeWe department store food hall (the high end) and though KaDeWe's was better, we both decided we'd stick to bratwurst or other wursts with sauerkraut and mustard. I was very relieved when my German friend Cathrin told me that no one in Berlin actually likes currywurst either, they just eat it to be cool.

Then we went to the zoo

Oh and one more thing about Berlin - They have an awesome ZOO. By Monday, I was so tired I basically didn't want to do anything but sleep - but we'd checked out of our hotel and had another two hours before we had to head to the airport. We were actually right near the zoo, and so we decided to go for our final outing in the city. I've realized recently that I love zoos - as an adult who has spent basically her entire live in cities, seeing any animals that aren't pigeons, squirrels or rats makes me extremely excited. But the Berlin Zoo has EVERYTHING - monkeys, elephants, giraffes, a giant panda, and a little polar bear named Knut, Matt and I spent most of our time in the monkey house, watching the baby orangutan learn to climb ropes, and it couldn't have been better. Berlin Zoo- my recommendation for when you are too tired and/or hungover to do anything but stare at cute animals.

Thanks to EVERYONE who gave suggestions of where to go in Berlin, we are so bummed we couldn't do everything - but it just means we will have to go back and explore the city some more - I really recommend it.

Have a great week everyone!

CTL

THE PARIS LETTER: French Rom Coms, Bitchy Yoga Teachers, and La Pharmacie

Hello from our sickbed - well, really Matt's now - where I write this letter in between checking for updates on the fall of the Egyptian government. Crazy stuff. I'm both excited and a little worried.

Matt and I have basically spent the week in bed sick - first me, now him - making it not the most exciting week. Thankfully I think we are both on the mend now. My cousin Hillary, who has lived here for 5 years, told me to expect to be sick more often this first year as the body adjusts to a new environment with new germs and whatnot - This seems to be true. We're going through our second bout of colds since we got here 4 months ago, which is a lot for us.

Getting sick in Paris means a trip to the Pharmacie, where all drugs are sold. While you can get shampoo, toothpaste, and kleenex at your local supermarket, you cannot get aspirin or cold medicine. For this, you must go to the pharmacie, an institution that will seem totally weird to many Americans, as they sell homeopathic and herbal remedies alongside more traditional medicines, often with makeup and skincare thrown in as well. The French are famous pill-takers and hypochondriacs, so there are multiple "Soins" (treatments) for everything; its very difficult to leave the pharmacie without some form of herbal remedy, usually given in conjunction with the more traditional medicine - why take one pill when you can take four? However, there are some things they don't have, weirdly- like Melatonin, which is illegal to sell here for some reason (I still don't get it). 

I went to the pharmacy when we first arrived to try and find some and was given an armload of herbal stress and sleep remedies instead that I bought because I didn't know how to politely say no in French at that point.



This week we are taking "Fervex", sort of like Theraflu - pour la Rhume et L'Etat Grippal (for a cold and "flu state") - seems to be doing the job. I'm having my neighbor pick up some Lemsip when she's in London next week, this British invention is truly the top cold remedy I've found.

This week I started my registration for coursework at the Sorbonne's Cours de Civilazation Francaise - a special course they have for foreigners to study French language and french civilization. Registering reminded me what a famous student city Paris is - I registered with people from all over, including very fashionable Saudi girls in Versace headscarves whose brothers registered for them while they talked on their cellphones, hip Japanese teens doing their year abroad in France, Dutch fashion models, and some requisite Americans who didn't understand why they had to wait in line or bring the right paperwork (They are American, after all, right?).

I have to go back next week to take my language placement, but then I will be taking a combination of language classes and seminars on French life, politics, and culture. I'm already very excited about my seminar choices, which include things like Introduction to French Political Life, Economy and Society in France and Europe, a whole course in French screenwriters and Directors, and one in 20th Century French Theater. There's also one in French Gastronomy, food and culture - but guys, I think it's only offered at a lower level of French than I'm at. Sorry everyone.

I also passed a major milestone for myself this week by going to both a French film AND a French play and understanding them both - I would say at about 80% understanding, enough so I wasn't lost at all about what was happening. I don't know if I can explain how liberating this was for me - there's so much happening here in terms of film and theater, and I haven't been able to fully experience it because I basically haven't been able to go to anything without subtitles for the past few months. Now, I feel like I can at least begin to experience culture same way thethe Parisians are, which is HUGE.

The French film was a good example of the differences between our two cultures. It was a romantic comedy that's been quite successful here, called LES NOMS DES GENS, or, basically, The Names of People/ People's Names. Its got a traditional set-up in that there's a sort of buttoned up older guy who meets a free-spirited young woman that he falls in love with, almost loses, and then finally is able to get together with. The free-spirited young woman, played by actress Sara Forestier, has a sort of Kirsten Dunst/Kate Hudson energy to her - thethe beautiful fun-loving girl that comes into your life and shakes it up. Except in this French movie she is naked almost all the time, in a way that wouldn't be true in the American version. At first this irritated me, as I'm not a fan of romcoms that seem to have a female lead that's more male fantasy than real person.

HOWEVER, then the French movie turned POLITICAL in a way that I loved but that would NEVER happen in an American film. You see, our two protagonists have very political French histories - our guys mother was Jewish, and her parents were sent to the camps during World War II, but not before placing her in an orphanage and changing her name so no one would know she was Jewish. This became a big family secret and they never, ever spoke of their Jewish past while the boy was growing up. Meanwhile, the girl is half-Algerian, the daughter of a father who was a refugee from the French Algerian war, and a wealthy French mother who turned to counterculture in the 70s and rejected her bourgeois past. So the girls family is very open and outspoken about politics.

The other part is that the girl has decided to sleep with political hardliners - both Islamic and French - to convert them to her more liberal point of view. This is not why she sleeps with guy in thethe film - she actually loves him - but is another part of her character. So you see, more sex and more politics in the French rom com than we would ever see in the US one. And it works! At least for me. Though I prudishly found some of the nudity a little annoying. But most people won't, and this chick has a great body.

One final funny story from the week and then I'm off - I will tell you about my yoga class with The Bitchiest Yoga Teacher Ever.
Have I mentioned that I'm taking yoga here? This is also a good way to learn new French words, as you basically have to relearn all the parts of the body, but if you've done some yoga before you can pretty much make all the necessary connections. For example - Les epaules = shoulders as in "relacher les epaules" (relax your shoulders), 'cheville" = Ankle as in "attraper la cheville" (grab your ankle), etc -

I've been taking with a GREAT teacher (recommended again by my cousin Hillary), who is very funny and generous and I've generally been happy taking her class - However, there's this very fancy yoga studio down by the Sorbonne called Rasa Yoga, that's supposed to be amazing, so I went to a class there after registering this week just to check it out. And it was a beautiful studio, all skylights and hardwood floors in an old Left Bank building that felt very "Catherine Deneuve does Yoga". I was excited at first. But then I took a class with this teacher - I KNEW it would be a problem when I introduced myself at the beginning of class and mentioned that I was American, and she fixed me with a cold stare and asked if I'd ever done Iyengar yoga before. Hmmmm....this was supposed to be a beginner class ...

The teacher, it turns out, was American but a very unhappy American who proceeded to treat the class like shit for an hour and a half, saying things in French like "I'm only going to demonstrate this once; if you don't watch, well then it's your practice, not mine"; and "How do you expect me to teach if you're not listening to me?"; and "No one is doing what I'm telling you to do" and ... I think she actually said something like " You guys are idiots for spending hte money on this class if you're not going to practice between classes". Then she would literally come over and kick you into position with her foot if you asked a question. So of course no one wanted to ask her ANYTHING, we just prayed we would get out without her focusing her disdain on us.

This was one of my better zen moments, I thought, because I had this very Claire Lundberg moment at the beginning where I was incensed and was going to storm out in protest - but then I thought...well, then I will have accomplished nothing except paying for a yoga class and not taking it - So I just decided to find this poor unhappy woman very funny rather than monstrous, and that helped me get through the class basically unscathed, physically or emotionally .... Ah Paris, apparently where unhappy American yoga teachers come to retire ....

Okay, I'm running long again, so I'll sign off now and wish everyone a good week - More to come next week as I continue my cultural adventures -

A bientot!

Claire

THE PARIS LETTER: Butchers, Movie Theaters, and Residency Cards

Hello from my Parisian sickbed -

Yes its the dreaded winter head cold time - really more irritating than anything else. I came down with it a couple of days ago and I keep thinking I'm in better shape than I am - bleah. However, lots of fun stuff to talk about this week - butchers, movie theaters, and the joys of the Parisian prefecture de police!

1. LONG CONVERSATIONS WITH MY BUTCHER -

My local butcher during the holidays

This is what my friends have decided my book about my life in Paris should be called - and indeed, a lot of my food adventures here have become about finding, buying and cooking different cuts of meat, and having long hilarious conversation with French butchers, where we try to explain to each other what parts and cuts of the animal we are talking about. I've learned a lot about anatomy, and the words for various parts of the body in both French and English. I've also found myself doing research online about the differences between French and American butchering and cuts of meat. Things I didn't set out to learn, but which I think will actually set me in good stead for years to come.

THE PARIS LETTER: Bonne Annee 2011, Yellowstone, Bison, American Airlines hates the French

Bonjour et Bonne Annee a tous!

Matt's family and me getting ready to head into the Park

Yes, the Paris Letter is back in 2011. Here's hoping that you all had great holidays - I spent two weeks in the US with Matt's family, and while at first I noticed all the strange things about my native land, by the end I was feeling like a proud American again. We spent a week in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming - I'd never visited before, but Matt's parents had been many times and wanted to show us the park in the winter, which is kind of amazing - I'm attaching some photos below with lots of spectacular geyser imagery and also BISON, who wander freely around the park.

Super awesome BISON

So, you may remember that when we left off, Paris had been blanketed by a measly one inch of snow, and everyone was freaking out. The airports in the UK were closed and the army had to be called in to help shovel the runways. I wondered to myself, how can these cities which have existed for more than 1000 years be so terrible at dealing with a winter storm? Still do not know the answer to that - though Matt's mother told me that when they lived in Edinburgh 20 years ago, most of their neighbors did not own a shovel, and would be forced to clear their driveways with brooms when it snowed, which was apparently not that infrequent, it being Scotland. Is this just willful fantasizing on the part of Europeans? Do they really think that next year there will be no snow? I'm a Californian, and it did take me 10 years of living on the East Coast to buy a down coat, so I understand where people are coming from, but seriously -