Autolib'

Today is the opening day for the Autolib' in Paris. Autolib' is a network of 100% electric self service cars. It is based on the success of the Velib' the self-service bicycles that we've been using. Today, 250 of these hit the road, with 2000 expected by next summer.

Patrice loves being on the leading edge of new technologies, and so he was one of the first to sign up for a year's subscription. He received his electronic card in the mail this morning, and we went out this afternoon to test the system.

Uh, as with any new system, things didn't go quite as smoothly as planned. . .

We went to the nearest station, held the RFID card up to sensor in the rental kiosk, and . . . . .



Nothing happened. The card didn't seem to work - despite the help of the local Autolib' ambassadors. What to do? Call up customer service . . .


And then we spent almost 2 hours on the phone with four different customer service agents. During that time, a repairman came by to fix the machine - thereby prolonging our wait time.


Meanwhile, both radio and TV stations came by to ask questions . . .



And finally, success! The car greeted us with a "Welcome Patrice Neger" message on the GPS screen.

You can read more about the Autolib' program here.

New toys

Christmas has come early to our household.

You may have noted recent comments where I've mentioned the subject of photography. Overall, I've been thrilled with the performance of my tiny Sony camera. It takes great photographs, especially in low light, and it's small enough to put in my pocket. I carry it with me everywhere - and I can take photographs very discreetly, usually with no flash. However, there have been times when I've been frustrated by its limitations.

Patrice, too, has a small pocket-sized digital camera and he has also been frustrated when bumping up against its technical limits.

Soooooo

We went shopping this week -- and came home with two identical Sony DSLR cameras. Big ones. The latest model - with LOTS of bells and whistles. We couldn't resist.

We went out yesterday to try out the new cameras. The subject was Notre Dame - here's one of the classic angles.


Now, do you see the spire in the very center (above)? We also had fun with our new telephoto lens. Here is a closeup of that spire - there were people working on it.


And the fact that the new camera has 24M pixels, you can enlarge the photos a LOT. This is exactly the same photo as above - just enlarged.


Elaine's cameras - before and after


The new me - with larger camera and longer hair ;-)

Eiffel Tower in November

My talented daughter-in-law - Part 2

You may have seen the scarves designed by Rachel, my daughter in law, here. Rachel has now opened a new Etsy shop featuring hand painted mobiles for babies. Check them out here.

As you might imagine, this one is among my favorites:

Christmas is coming soon!

Thanksgiving in Paris

Yesterday was just another Thursday in France. We went to the bank, to the library, etc. However, we did have our own Thanksgiving dinner - just the two of us.

We went to the butcher shop where we had plenty of choices:

From the top left: pheasant, wild duck, pintade*, free range chicken, and yes, turkey!
(the furry critters are wild rabbits on the left and a hare on the right)

We chose a pintade which is known in English as a guinea hen. It looks like this when still walking around:


And this - when ready to eat

We cooked it with sauerkraut and a little bacon. Sounds weird, but it was delicious!

Happy Thanksgiving to all dear friends and family. I hope your holiday was filled with love and good food.

Sempé

On Monday afternoon we cycled over to the Hôtel de Ville to check out the Sempé exhibit. Jean-Jacques Sempé, cartoonist born in 1932, has been a regular contributor to several French magazines since the 1950s. He has been featured in L'Express, Le Figaro, Nouvel Observateur and Télérama. He has released dozens of albums of cartoons and is also the creator of Le Petit Nicolas.

Sempe is well known to Americans thanks to his cartoons which appear regularly in The New Yorker magazine.

Here are some examples from the exhibit:





The English version of the website is pretty slim. You can learn a lot more about Sempé if you can understand the French site.

Stéphane's birthday

Patrice's son Stéphane turns 40 on November 21. We celebrated his birthday this weekend with dinner at the Buffalo Grill. We decided to dress for the occasion - our cowboy shirts went well with the Montana theme.


Patrice's daughter Florence and son Stéphane


Father and son:


Stéphane's new helmet


Profiterolles for dessert

Happy Birthday Stéphane!