Saturday Is a Special Day

From the desk of Jase:

It’s been a crazy work schedule for the last few…well, pretty much since we got here.  So I look forward even more than ever to the weekends when I don’t travel. Time to recharge, relax, make some emotional deposits with the girls and Tiff. Some weekends we end up taking some small day trips around Provence to check stuff out. But most weekends are all about us putting the house back together, washing and vacuuming the car, doing laundry. You know—all that glamorous stuff.

Here’s an example of how a typical Saturday went for us recently.

1.       Go to the pharmacy—We were on a mission to find some cold medicine for Maisy’s runny nose. Well, we learned quickly that pharmacies are quite large here and cater to the aging population. But cold medicines are not sold over-the-counter. Furthermore, instead of having the pharmacists work on a riser two steps above the customers, here they have an entire upper floor sealed off. Prescriptions are filled by mysterious professionals (I envisioned Oompa Loompas in white lab coats) and then bottles come sliding down a little chute and spiral down near the register. Jenica and Jocelyn were amazed when I explained it to them. But we came home relatively empty-handed for Maisy, except for more tissues (currently available without prescription).

The secret upper level of the pharmacy

    

The slide spiral is disguised inside this display



2.   Hit the grocery store--Sure, I should probably stick to the list, but husbands the world over are known for browsing, so I better keep up the tradition. Hmm…would I be interested in a leftover Epiphany cake? In predominantly Christian/Catholic countries, Epiphany is “3 Kings Day” and celebrated on January 6^th. In France at Epiphany, most people eat the gâteau des Rois. This is a king cake, with a trinket (usually a porcelain figurine of a king) hidden inside. The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket becomes "king" for a day. This is why all the pastries come with a paper gold crown inside. My twins kept coming home from school wearing crowns and bringing home porcelain figures during January, saying that they found them in their cakes. Okay, now "Je comprend." But I don’t care for foreign objects in my pastries, royal or no. So I'll pass.

Finally! I can get a gold paper crown without going to Burger King!

 3.     Electronics Section—Would I like a picture with my girls in front of the giant used cellphone globe? Why yes, I would. Would I like to ruminate on “what it all means”? Am I interested in deciphering if it’s making a statement about our disposable consumer lifestyle and how technology, if used irresponsibly, can overcome us and alienate us further? Nope. No, I wouldn’t in fact. But I would like my kids to stand still for a cottonpicking second.

  

4.       Kitchenware—I found this display stand selling crepe pans very interesting. They seem to be indicating that French homes either have gi-normous home theatres where they enjoy crepes and Belgian waffles as a family together while laughing at Jerry Lewis and ignoring the genius of Peter Sellers. This seems to be a calculated repositioning against the entire popcorn industry, even though the mass production of popcorn for a theatre setting seems to have an advantage in my opinion.  On a personal note, I have not seen any home theatres at all here. But if they exist, then as Madame Liz Lemon might say, “I would like to go to there.”

  

"We laugh at your Monsieur Redenbacher. Hee hee hee Oh oh oh!"

  5.    Mail a letter and...wonder about evening plans—The yellow box on the right is to drop off letters and small pre-stamped padded envelopes to the French Poste. The box on the left is a coin-operated machine selling “preservatifs.” I will definitely not use this family-friendly blog to open up a discussion regarding the many hysterical possibilities that present themselves for consumer advocates worked up about “artificial preservatives.” I just know I will not be able to ask about preservatives ever again without raising at least one eyebrow to myself. Instead, I can only surmise that when a typical person here is thinking about mailing a letter or package, they are also thinking about…their package.

TOTALLY different boxes, although deposits still welcome.

  6.   Errands are run, so let’s go exploring!—Finally, using only the name from a postcard, we drove off up a nearby canyon to see if we could find a waterfall. First, we found this one, which was a little underwhelming, but still made for a cute photo.

This waterfall might look huge from the vantage point of a SmartCar.

Yet we pressed on further up the canyon...

I was quite proud to finally find it and get this picture of the twins.



And now you have a window into our mundane lives. We try to keep a sense of adventure, humor, and observation, though, even while going through the motions. Hope your weekends are memorable!