key to the city

When my cousin Nicole was here, she said I should do a blog about how nice people have been to us here.  It's true.  Many people have gone out of their way to be kind.  Just this afternoon, my next door neighbor, Françoise called me to ask if I would like a ride to an AVF function in the neighboring town of Orsay.  Isn't that thoughtful?  I'm telling you, people here in France are the BEST!


Just before Christmas, marché (outdoor market) was a madhouse.  The lines were a mile long.  Usually, everyone is very patient while waiting in line.  In fact, the verb for waiting is actually "patienter."  Standing in line and waiting your turn is a way of life here.  Something that is VERY French is that after waiting so patiently, once it is your turn, you take your own sweet time.  The vendor acts like you are the only person in the world, paying no mind to the throngs of people in line behind you.  You don't rush through your turn.  You really take your time.  It's hard for me to do this.  I mean, there is a line a mile long behind me and there I am, rushing like a fool to put all of my groceries in the bag and get the heck out of the way for the next person in line.  French people don't do this.  They waited patiently, so the person behind them can do the same.


So, it was a shock to me that just before Christmas, the temporary helper at the poissonier refused to shuck 16 oysters for me.  He said something along the lines of "not today, we're too busy."  BUT, you see, I have a very friendly relationship with the handsome poissonier.  This is the guy who looks like the famous chef Jean Cristophe Novelli (from Chef Academy on Bravo TV.)  Anyway, can you believe it, he dropped everything and shucked 6 oysters for me.  Not the 16, it's true.  But who needs scalloped oysters for the Feast of Seven Fishes when oyster shooters will do just fine???

the guys who would NOT shuck my oysters

aw shucks!  (he's really very handsome in person)

That very same day, after buying the fish, Nicole and I walked over to the bread guy.  After our transaction, the bread guy says (in French), "Say hi to your husband for me!"  Isn't that nice?

the bread guy

The cavist (wine shop owner) at our local Cave a Vins is a very nice man.  You should see his shop, it is amazing.  I'll have to post pictures of the interior at a later date.  Anyway, we bought a very fancy bottle of wine from him awhile ago and he told us that we should decant it before drinking.  But, we said, we don't have a decanter.  So he said, "Here.  Take this one.  Just wash it and bring it back when you are done."

our local cave a vins

On Ile-Saint-Louis in Paris, a salesman ran out of the Pylones store to catch us and give me the purse hook I wanted to buy.  "We forgot to ring this up with your order, but here.  Take it anyway.  You wanted it."  How cool is that???  You have to check out this store. 


Today, the man who works at the key shop was nice enough to give me sixteen keys for the new board game I am designing.  SIXTEEN keys!  It's a trivia game about Paris that I've been working on.  We thought it would be a good way to remember everything about our time here.  We're using the Eiffel Tower keychains as the game pieces.  And similar to Trivial Pursuit, the goal is to win four keys (instead of wedges.)  That's why I needed 16 keys.  Check them out!

sixteen keys

our new game

So, if you come to visit us here, we can play this game together.  Guess what I've decided to call it.  Key to the City of Paris, of course!


à bientôt!