Cats in France

Paris is smaller than Texas.

When we decided to move to Paris I was bent on taking our two cats with us. We knew we could stay in France for an undetermined amount of time. For that, you need a furry friend.

Before finagling the airport and getting our kitties to Paris we had to come to terms that our Parisian apartment was much smaller than our Texan apartment. Our kitties would run the risk of gaining weight because of lack of exercise and outdoor activity (like climbing trees and crawling in flower beds).

In Paris we quickly found that bags of kitty kibble are small because apartments are small and there is no where to put a 20 pound bag of kibble. For a bigger bag of 1.5k, we pay around 8 Euros.

Our boys were getting a little extra flubby with their winter coats and lack of stairs and exercise. I decided that we needed to make a change.

After LOTS of research I found that dry kibble is not the proper diet for felines and they should have a meat based diet. (Think: lion=gazelle; kitty=mouse). Putting together info I learned that a average house cat should be eating the size of a mouse, or about 3 ounces twice a day (this is about 85 grams twice daily). I also learned that mice are made up meat and carbohydrates, etc.

Note: they do not make mouse flavored kibble. I am also not one for feeding my kitties a living mouse. So what to do?

I looked around for recipes to make cat food. Some people had quite complex recipes involving rabbit, heart, etc. This is a CAT we are talking about, not the king of France. The good news is that in a former life my father-in-law was a vet tech and he has regularly fed his animals homemade food for decades.

Here is a simplified version of our cat food recipe:

– one large can of albacore tuna (Contains: tuna, water, and sea salt. Origin:  Ivory Coast)

-one carrot, minced finely

-cooked rice or bulgur

Total cost: ~3 Euros; Lasts about 1 week

My Chef Husband Extraordinare makes the cat food. When he cooks the rice or bulgur he puts the minced carrot in together to cook it at the same time. Then add tuna and mix. We usually put the prepared food in freezer tupperware so we can have fresh food every few days. When I feed them (once in the morning and once in the evening), I put about 50 grams of food in each bowl, some water (to hydrate them), and a 1/8 cup of kibble split between the two bowls.

This has been a great change for our boys! The boys coats are softer, they are more alert, and have even lost some weight. The dry kibble is lasting a lot longer.

Before the cats would only eat a little bit of kibble at a time and it would take them all day to finish their food (which is fine). Now I can feed them and they will take their time eating but finish the bowl and not be hungry until the evening.

The path to changing their diet was a slow one and the first day I wanted to give up because Jack was being a pain and didn’t want to eat homemade food. But we kept at it and slowly introduced changes and now we are quite happy with the results. We don’t know why we hadn’t done this sooner and we will definitely keep up the practice no matter where we live!

What IS the Camino de Santiago?

It has come to my attention that the Camino de Santiago is not as universal as it initially seemed to me. Since you are my dear readers, and plus I want to learn something new, I want to introduce you to the Camino and really what to expect when AJ and I embark on this journey.

Before I Google “Camino de Santiago,” I want to tell you what I think it is. I want to see how right or wrong I am.

To me, right now, the Camino de Santiago, or the Walk of Saint James, is a pilgrimage that starts when you take the idea of doing the Camino in your mind. Pilgrims have done this for centuries. I will walk in their foot steps. You can follow a number of different routes, but we will be following the Camino Frances (or French Walk). This route originates from St. Jean Pied de Port in France and goes through the Alps to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. I imagine that we will walk around 300 kilometers over about 30 to 35 days. The scallop shell is the symbol of the pilgrim.

Now let’s take a moment to let that sink in…

30 to 35 days quietly walking side-by-side (or not) next to my Husband Extraordinaire. Sleeping outside and in auberges. Eating camp food… or eating lots of pinchos and hopefully lots of octopus. We will be walking with 5 to 10 kilos of equipment. Some days are going to be great. Others it’s going to rain. I’ll be grumpy on those days. Some days I will want to sleep next to my Husband Extraordinaire, some days I won’t. This is a REAL pilgrimage. I’m curious to see what we find.

What is the real Way of St. James, el Camino de Santiago, according to Google?

Starting in the medieval ages, traditionally this pilgrimage was started from one’s home until the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where is is said that the remains of St. James were interred. The pilgrimage was done to earn indulgences. (!) It will take us about 30 to 35 days and we will walk a total of… 709.2 kilometers.

Along the way, we will stop in numerous auberges and get stamps so when we reach the end we will receive a certificate confirming the completion of the Camino.

The interesting thing is the different ways that AJ and I are preparing for the Camino. AJ is more cerebral and preparing mentally for him AND me. I am much more concerned with being comfortable walking with gear since I am so small and having enough food and water along the way so I don’t turn into a calorie deprived monster.

Somehow I know we will be OK and this will be a journey of a lifetime. AJ is already thinking about when we can do it… again. I think I have the perfect husband and such a wonderful chance!

Passport photo credit: Finding my Way on the Way

French Visa Renewal, Part I

On Aug 24, 2013 we start the Camino de Santiago and it is the day that we arrived in France one year ago.

France’s bureaucratic state dictates that all returning students renew their visas every year. (For now. Currently France’s Ministre de l’Interieur is discussing potentially changing this in the “near” future. On verra…) This is called the “Renouvellement de visa étudiant.”

(Said in a strong Texan accent:) I’ll tell you what. It is not easy getting things together to renew your visa. So I’m going to tell you about it since I haven’t found much in English to tell you what to do.

If you are a continuing student, you should have an Immigration Department in your school which should do all this for you (except you will have to get together your documents). However, since I have something more wonderful than an Immigration Department — a husband — we have to tackle the visa renewal process by ourselves since he is not a student at my school.

Step 1: Preparation J. 4 Months out

First you need to be aware of when your visa is expiring. Go talk to your Immigration Officer at your school. They should give you a date to come in and bring all your documents to renew. They will send all of this off and voila!

Step 2A: Get your Documents in Order. 3 Months out

If you are tackling the renewal process alone this step will take you some time. For example, my visa will expire late Aug 2013, so I will need to renew in late June of 2013. If you are late on renewing, I hear their is a late fee. Since I have Preparation J on my backside, I will have no worries about that.

Step 2B: Required Documents

This is the list that I have found so far. I will let you know if anything else is needed after going to renew.

Required Docs:

-Passport

-Copies of: ID page, original student visa, stamp of entry from the previous year, Vignette d’OFII (little stamp thing you get at the OFII office after your medical exam). NOTE: I will also be taking the medical approval form they gave you when you left (the receipt that you received the OFII stamp).

-Original Birth Certificate. NOTE: I will also provide my marriage certificate and it’s copy since I go by my married name.

-Copy of Birth Certificate

-Translation of Birth Certificate

-Copy of Translation

-Proof of Housing (your lease, signed by you and the landlord, dated). NOTE: I will also take a copy of my current lease, current housing insurance, and a copy of the future lease and future housing insurance (that covers one year).

-Copy of the Proof of Housing

-Enrollment Certificate (Certificate de Scolarité). I ordered this on-line from my school for free and they offer to mail it to you or have it available for pick-up within two days.

-Copy of the Certificate de Scolarité

-Grades (print from your student account at school)

-Copy of your grades

-Bank account balance. NOTE: I print out a copy of my USA bank account, my French bank account, my savings/retirement info, the bill for the next semester of school (showing I am registered for classes), and provide my school loan and grant info.

-Copy of all of the above financial info

-3 passport sized photos

Step 2C: Collecting your documents

In general I already know where my passport is. Getting copies of things is a given and you can normally get them done at your school with a card for photocopying.

The translation for all docs I got done in the USA by a certified translator by the State Department (I got it off their website). It cost about $25-50 per page. This can take awhile so get it done ASAP.

The Proof of Housing was something that I had to get together in the last month. Yes, month. We met with the landlord, amended the lease, signed it, she signed it, and now it is complete.

Housing insurance I will go to the bank and buy it. It should come to like 250€ for the year. While at the bank I will also get a document that says I am a customer there and give my bank account details.

Next up is Step 3: Go to the Prefecture! 2 Months out

Preparation J

You have gotta cover your ass. That is why there is Preparation J.

What is Preparation J? It’s preparation Johnson, of course! It is what I use to get me successfully and happily through all my travels. Today was one big day of Preparation J for AJ and I’s upcoming Camino de Santiago.

I budgeted and set some money aside for the Camino. They say that you need about 1000 Euros per person for the 30 or so days of walking (auberges, food, necessities, etc.) I haven’t really seen how much they say to budget for equipment, but I budgeted 500 Euros. In all about 3000 Euros for 2 people.

I have a lot of equipment from when I went to India this past Dec/Jan to volunteer, so I do not need much more. However, it was a question of getting AJ some quick dry zip off pants, and then both of us a back pack and boots.

Since I had prepared our budget, today we went out to scout store prices and to try on boots, try on back packs, check out socks, and see how much one more head lamp would cost. We first went to GoSports at Republic and our scouting for our equipment came to about 700 Euros (ouch). AJ was happy because after talking with the sales guy I walked over to AJ, carried on in English, and came back to report what I thought of the boots. The sales guy asked, “Where are you from?” “San Antonio.” Then he ran over to the aisle AJ was in and they talked about the Spurs game and Tony Parker. <Sigh>

Next we hit up Decathlon at Madeline. We looked up the same stuff and our total came to about 475 Euros. <Whew>

The soldes (sales) are coming at the end of June so we are planning on buying our equipment then. Then over the two months we have before the camino is to wear our boots and back packs around Paris to “train.” My feet are a bit sore after trying on shoes, so here’s hoping for the best!

Next month I am also hoping to back into yoga and AJ is looking forward to skydiving again after an unwanted hiatus.

I don’t know what the next step will be for the Camino, but (no pun intended) it will be taken one step at a time.

Le Parc

As much as cafes and the metro are part of Paris, parks are a staple of Parisian life.

After a long awaited Spring, I believe the sun and warmth has finally arrived. Parisians normally are a cafe crowd, but show them a ray of sunshine and they will be out in throngs in parks. Today when I was on my way through the Monceau Park in the 8th arrondissement, I noticed that all walks of life were out. Young children, pregnant mothers, older folk, young teenagers, even ponies!

It seems like everyone had the same idea, get away from the concrete jungle for an afternoon and soak up some vitamin D. Families played with foam balls, teenagers chased after each other full of young love, and an older book-y man leaned up a tree, elbow-to-elbow with a young woman reading a book.

What did I do? I enjoyed the wonderful weather, too. Have a glass of wine. Chat. Get taken away with the afternoon. Make love.

I had to wonder to myself, do Americans go to the park the same way? I’m from Texas so normally it’s to damn hot to do something like this. But, I almost feel like if you told an American, “It’s sunny, let’s go to the park,” they would ask why and what would they do there.

The answer is simple. Nothing. Do nothing. If Paris has taught me anything it is to enjoy the small things in life. An afternoon in the park is one of those simple pleasures in life.

The Metro

You are coming to Paris. How are you getting around? Sure, you could rent a car and drive everywhere and deal with traffic and parking. Perhaps you will rent a Velib? More likely you will take the train from CDG or Orly into Paris and then take the metro for your daily outings.

Tickets bought to/from the airport are for IMMEDIATE use only. You cannot buy a aller/retour (round trip), you can only buy a billet simple (one way ticket). The one way ticket is for immediate use only and costs 9.50€.

First, you will need to know where to buy tickets, how to buy ticket, how many, etc. You can purchase tickets (billets) from a person at the ticket counter at the airport (look for Ile-de-France which is intercity, not Grands Lignes which is train tickets outside of Paris). Or if you have change, you can buy tickets from the green automatic machine.

But first, I recommend you look at the ticket packages available. If you are in Paris for a week or more I suggest you spend 5€ and purchase a Navigo Pass. This is valid for one week from Monday to Sunday only. It costs 19.50€ for the week for zones 1 and 2 and allows unlimited journeys. If you are staying for 10 days, you can also buy a day pass for the days you will travel a lot. Or if you are planning on a few trips only, you could get a carnet of 10 tickets for 13.30€. A carnet is also useful if you are in Paris only a few days. Also, be aware if you are staying outside of zones 1 and 2. Metro tickets cost more from zones 3 to 5.

When you are using the RER from the airport and/or any RER within Paris (Lines A through E) you will need to keep you ticket and pass it through the turnstile again to get out.

There is a funny little thing about metro tickets. They say you can re-use your same metro ticket if you are getting back on the metro within an hour and a half. I call BS as I have only seen this work once.

Navigo Pass

Metro ticket front (up)

Metro ticket back (down)

How to use a metro ticket or a Navigo pass, please listen closely. Stick the metro ticket picture side up, magnetic strip down, in the little slot of the turnstile. The Navigo Pass, pass it over the purple magnetic reader on the turnstile. Now go! Do not dilly dally, once you have put in your ticket or passed your Navigo, push right through because if you are not fast enough it will lock. You cannot re-pass your Navigo for another 15 minutes and your metro ticket is as good as used. Keep your ticket in the event the train security is doing a control for ticket use. If you do not have your ticket, did not pass your Navigo, or jumped over the turnstile, you will have to pay a 5€ fine.

Next you will need to know how to use the metro. Please, do a tutorial or familiarize yourself with the metro before you get on. Let’s do a quick tutorial now. Take out your metro map. Good. Locate which metro stop you are closest to; I am closest to Gare de l’Est. Let’s go to the Eiffel Tower. How are we going to get there? There are a number of different ways, but I would choose this: Take the Line 4 (dark purple) in the direction of Montrouge (it used to be Porte d’Orleans, but they added a new stop to the end, which is Montrouge). We will take the 4 to St. Michel and transfer to the RER C (a thick yellow line, NOT Line 1) in the direction towards Versailles. You will get off at Champs de Mars Tour Eiffel. If you want to be super savy or are dependant on a GPS like my brother, you can also download the RATP app on your smartphone and enter in an address, station, or whatever and it will get you where you want. Et voila!

One final note, when there is a lot of people, be patient, be safe. Don’t be like these guys…

 

Paris is a Bitch

Do you remember in high school there was that beautiful girl in your class and you just stared at her for four years? Paris is that girl.

Paris is beautiful with a nice ass and perky boobs, perfect hair, and her lip gloss is always in place. The thing is that once you get to know her you realize she really is a nice girl, but she has her quirks. Hell, she’s a bitch.

I dreamed and dreamed of Paris. She was perfect and beautiful. I find many people are much like myself when I first met Paris — I was enraptured. Paris is the city of lights, the city of love, and the capital of food. The architecture is beautiful beyond beautiful. The grands boulevards and the tree lined streets would make anyone in their right mind fall in love. I couldn’t wait to get back to Paris and it was one of my dreams to one day live in Paris.

Then I got to know Paris. Paris is that perfect girl, but she has a bad case of halitosis and her underwear is probably dirty. As much as Paris is a beautiful city, it still has poop on the streets, moldy metro ceilings, and some stairs. Lots of stairs. When you look under the skin of Paris, you realize she is gritty and will beat you up if you are not expecting it.

Paris is a bitch. There are so many stairs and walking is a given. (Remember, I had a doctor tell me here that walking as a means of transportation was “not exercise.”) If you are old, a gimp, or not feeling well, Paris’ stairs will kick you while you are down and take your lunch money, too. The Parisians are also not well known for their warm welcome to foreigners. Paris has grown a skin because their are so many people and there is always someone in your personal space. Wether it be a metro performer, a pickpocket, or a guy trying to sell you a purse. Paris just got asked out too many times and is peeved that you are the 20th person to ask her out today.

Paris is a really beautiful girl and she is only a bitch if you make her mad or are unprepared for the awesomeness of what is Paris.

I love Paris. It makes life more real when you run into a little bit of humanity on a daily basis. Paris is and always will be beautiful and teeming with life. The secret is to keep your head up so you don’t see Paris’ dirty underwear and hold your nose so you don’t smell her bad breath. Go see what Paris has to offer. Sit at a cafe and drink a café. Work your little feet to the bones walking the streets. Drink a bottle of champagne. Enjoy a macaroon (or 10).

Or do what I love to do the best… sit and enjoy life with the one(s) you love. You are in Paris! You made it.

A Tourist in Your Own Town

I was especially excited to tackle the day’s events because I was going to be a tourist in Paris and find things that I hadn’t even known were there.

First, we started by hopping off the metro at Bastille. I had seen the little angel on the top of the tower of 18 Julliet and I had seen the outline of where the Bastille had been before it was torn down.

The column of 18 July (photo courtesy of TripAdvisor)

Outline of the Bastille today (photo courtesey of EmersonKent.com History)

I was on the search for what remained of the Bastille building. The story is that it was unearthed during construction of a metro. I had seen there were two blocks left and they were somewhere on Henri IV street, in some park, but with no real other indicators. Now, I was not like Dan Brown’s Prof. Langdon and searching all over Paris for clues and puzzles to tell me where this relic was, I walked down the street and voilà! 

I snapped a picture:

Next, across the Seine and the Ile-de-Louis to the Jardin des Plantes. I saw a few animals of the menagerie and lots of plants. The animals had become a part of the gardens when it became illegal at the turn of the 20th century to keep wild animals in one’s home and people wanted a safe place to put their bears, cats, and birds. My mother was intrigued by all that was plantae and we stopped in the greenhouse because she is remodeling her’s. The gardens were more of a shortcut for me since I had been once or twice. The real goal was to swing by the Paris Mosque (across the street) and then over the the amphitheater.

Steggo at the entrance of the Natural Science museum

Jardin des Plantes toolshed

Birdseye view in the greenhouse

I was ecstatic to find out that there was ancient history in Paris that I had never found. It was known that an amphitheater was constructed in Lutèce (what Paris was formally called in the times before the Romans), but it’s whereabouts were unknown. The story (again) was that construction for a metro was started and voilà, part of the ruins were unearthed. History says that it was used first for gladiator fights and theater spectacles. Then during the long period of European wars, it was used as a grave pit and slowly became covered over as the bodies were buried. In conjunction with that, stones had been taken from the theater and used elsewhere, so it was in quite a state of decay when it was rediscovered. I thought it was quite nice and a wonderful place for a picnic.

The Amphitheater

Lutece Theatre Seating

After a quick sit down, it was time to tackle the second half of the day — churches, churches, churches. First up, St. Genevieve church. It had the tombstone of St. Genevieve in a fancy box and was quite ornate. Then across the street to what is really the “St. Genevieve church,” or what you may know better by it’s popular name, the Pantheon. The Pantheon was built and dedicated to St. Genevieve by a few kings over the ages. Today, due to lack of waterproofing and metal oxidation, it has a lot of cracks because of the weight of the dome and is under heavy construction to reverse the effects.

The Pantheon with the Abbey St. Genv peaking out from behind

Inside the Pantheon, the dome is under construction

Mini, model Pantheon

We next walked through the Luxembourg gardens, had another sit down for ice cream, and down around the corner to St. Suplice. I liked this church because it still had an open area in front of it. (Sorry, no pictures of the insides of churches because they wouldn’t allow flash and it was pretty dark in there!) You know what is also down the street from St. Suplice? Macaroons!

My goal was to stop at both Pierre Hermé and Ladurée so we could do a comparison. (In the past, I did a food review on Paris’ macaroon giants.) I had abricot-pistache at PH and melon at LD. As usual, PH was chewy and fat, LD was light and crispy.

The last stop on the day’s tour was the church of St. Germain-des-Pres. I have to admit, this was my favorite. Although it is located in the famous (and very high-end) quarter of St. Germain-des-Pres and across from Les Deux Magots (where the likes of Hemingway, Picasso, etc hung out), the church stands on its own and is worth checking out. Why did I like it? It was unique and completely painted in greens and blues!

By then, our feet were done for the day and AJ was at home making dinner — terragon roasted chicken with stewed tomatoes, mashed potatoes, and green beans with garlic and Parmesan. Yum!

Rainy Day in Paris, What to do?

It has been winter for 6 going on 7 months here in Paris. Today it should get up to a balmy 55 degrees Fahrenheit… and rainy. So what to do when you have a guest in town?

Your first answer may be, “Go to a museum.” You can find oodles of blogs and websites that give you a laundry list of museums to visit. But remember, my mom said, “No Louvre!” She is not a “look, see, take a picture” kind of gal, she is a “walk there and see, maybe take a picture” kind of gal.   Not to mention that my mom’s arthritis is acting up so we have to do things a little more slowly since there is a LOT of walking and a LOT of stairs in Paris.

We are going to “go and see,” but with a twist.

Equipment you’ll need:

-1 Navigo carte (1 week or Carte Semaine); costs 19.50 euros and has unlimited journeys.

-1 umbrella

-1 pair of good, waterproof walking shoes. (I have a waterproof pair of leather boots from The North Face and a pair of leather walking shoes from El Naturalista. Both are wonderful. The boots offer more protection from cold and splashing, but for everyday use the walking pair is great. I add the Superfeet insole for added comfort and protection.)

-1 smile

Navigo Pass

Umbrella

Boots

Walking shoes

Superfeet

SMILE!

My plan is to take my mom up to the Sacré Coeur church today, but on the metro.

Sacre Coeur

Stairs to up the Sacre Coeur

The Funicular

There is also a funicular so you can you a metro pass or the Navigo card to get up to the top of the hill and not do the enormous amount of stairs. I love Montmartre and that area should be nice to wander around. Plus if walking gets to be too much, there is a pedestrian train for carting around you and your tired feet. Also, there is a wonderful piano bar up there. Perhaps I can even convince my mom to stop and do the quintessential Parisian thing – sit at a café and people watch.

Mamma is Here!

Mamma Cunningham is in Par-ee!

It is her first time to the City of Lights, so I am excited to see how a first timer sees Paris.

Now, there is something that you must know about my mother — she put her travel plans on hold for 40 years before she starting seeing the world.

When my mom was a young grasshopper she was interested in volunteering in a dental hygiene program from her college to go to Brazil to clean teeth. It seems like this is the one thing in life she regretted. However, if she didn’t let getting married to my dad and having kidlings in the way, I would not be here to tell this tale.

Fast forward forty years from 18yo Mom to 58yo Mom. By now us kids were in or out of college and moseying along the path of life. My mom went on visits to Mexico, she visited my brother in Germany while he was stationed there, and most recently, she finally got to South America and went on a mission trip to Colombia and seemed to really like it.

In those interim years my mom never openly encouraged us to travel (she is not an overt person, but gets her point across in the most subliminal ways). However, she always opened up opportunities for us to travel. My sister had an Italian pen pal who she visited. My brother went to New Zealand on a Boy Scout Jamboree trip. I went on a trip to Paris (duh!). All the while she sent us to Michigan during summers to work on my aunt’s dairy farm or learn how to drive from my uncle… You know, all these normal childhood things.

In subsequent years, my mom told us that our grandfather (her dad) had always found it “normal” to travel. After WWII, in which both of my grandfathers were in the military, my mom’s dad continued to travel even after he had been to Europe. He went to places like Haiti to visit missionaries that their family sponsored.

So, I hate to admit it, but I am my mother. The love of travel has been ingrained in my heart. I look forward to telling you about the Cunningham adventures around Paris, because more likely than not, my mom will be very honest about her experience with Paris and the Parisians. A bientot!

(Picture credit: Mom + Daughter in Paris)