The Holidays
Christmas holiday preparations begin right after Halloween theses days (from what I've heard). But things start off a little slower here in France. Street light decorations in Paris went up sometime in mid-November. Decorations and lights brighten the vitrines of every Boulangerie and Chocolaterie around. The Boucherie in my neighborhood offers farm-raised ducks, geese and turkeys, heads intact, for holiday fare.
Oh, and If you're ever in Paris for the season, don't miss the displays at the Grands Magasins. Life-like beyond words, visions of sugarplums, along with every incarnation of Père Noël, his elves and reindeer are dancing to the tune of the last Euros jingling merrily in your purse.
News reports from the U.S. say retailers are struggling as Americans cut back on spending for once. In France, where holiday commercialism has always been a few degrees cooler, this year is no exception.
High Waters
After what seems like weeks of unrelenting rain, people are eyeing the rising river Seine and preparing to either: a. Run for the high grounds. b. Sail across town. c. Build an arc.
The panic level seems to hinge on the on the famous toes of the "Zouave", a 146-year-old statue of a soldier standing against a pillar of the Pont d'Alma bridge. He also serves as a river marker. If his toes get wet, Paris will be on flood alert. If his ankles go under, riverside roads will be closed. And if the water reaches his hips (his knees went underwater last year) the city will put into action an emergency flood plan.
All this water brings to mind the flood of 1910, considered the worst flood ever in Paris. The river was up to the Zouave's neck and the Eiffel Tower had its feet in the water. People also remember the floods that hit central European cities in August and city planners in Paris are doing all they can to prepare the city for a possible similar scenario.
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