Revenge of the Plombier Polonais

Last April when France voted against the proposed constitution for the EU, a lot of the blame was placed on the plombier polonais. Accused of stealing French jobs, he's now threatening worse: the deconstruction of the construction industry. A few years ago, the VAT tax paid for any renovation work had been dropped from 19% to 5.5% which caused a jump in the construction industry. Because Poland is upset about not having a similar VAT reduction on new construction, they've decided to block the extension of the 5.5% rate for the other 24 European countries.

Why am I concerned? Because Boo's renovation project is supposed to start in less than two weeks and the price has just increased by 14%! I have a feeling that either I'll convince the workmen to bill us au noir or Thomas will have to learn how to install electricity and lay tile.

*plombier polonais polish plumber; au noir under the table

Pregnancy and strawberries

I wish I had a picture of this! At the Colbert market this morning there was a line of 4 pregnant woman all buying strawberries! So I got in line and became customer #5.

Boo's a Dog

Born in the Chinese calendar under the sign of the dog, I mean. She's supposed to be a "Fire Dog" (as opposed to the other elements) giving her the following character according to http://www.usbridalguide.com/special/chinesehoroscopes/dog.htm:

Fire Dogs are natural leaders. Fire Dogs are popular, charismatic people, always surrounded by a group of admirers. Not only admired for their vibrant personalities, these Dogs also possess a sexual attractiveness that makes them irresistible. These people are adventurous and vivacious, yet, honest and openhearted. However, because they are so active, they are generally not the settle down type.

Dog children are creative, able to entertain themselves for hours on end. They don’t mind playing by themselves, often inventing games and puzzles while doing so. They are responsible children who love to take on and complete as many tasks as possible for it gives them a sense of accomplishment.

Shoveling more merde

An angry group of Bordeaux winemakers heaped a tonne of manure outside a wine broker's office on Monday, protesting the "unfair" prices in the contracts offered for the 2005 vintage.

Click here for France 3 video feed

The JA follows the actions of the FNSEA union (Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d'Exploitants Agricoles) which recently bricked up entrance to the CIVB (Bordeaux trade body's HQ) in a similar protest.

At least they're not bombing the brokers like the winemakers in Montpellier...

Bordeaux and Unesco

France's bid for Bordeaux to become one of Unesco's World Heritage sites was featured on "Des Racines & Des Ailes" from France 3 last night. Practice your French reading http://desracinesetdesailes.france3.fr/article.php3?id_article=225 and look for a video link soon.

Nesting

If I skipped some of the other pregnancy symtoms, I'm making up for it in the "nesting" department. With the start-date for the work downstairs delayed, I can't decorate Boo's room yet so I've made a list of other pressing projects. Like scrubbing the stains off the wall in the upstairs closet today (because everyone can see that). Or cleaning the floorboards under the cabinets in the kitchen. The fireplace has been painted 4 times because I can't decide on the right color. I've also started cleaning out our closets and selling things on ebay. Tomorrow I'm going to put a fresh layer of caulk around our shower floor. The only thing that's holding me back from attacking the bedrooms is that fact that I can't lift 5l of paint on my own. Needless to say Thomas is going to have a busy weekend ahead of him!

Boo profile

Taken at Rochelle this weekend chez Didier et Eleanor. 

Shopping the soldes de janvier

In France and Italy, the local government regulates the winter and summer sale periods. The two annual sale periods, in January and mid-July, are limited by law to six weeks (eight in Italy), and the start date is set following a recommendation of the Minister of Finance. The sales can end at any time and is limited only to the outgoing collection.

It's officially J-1 to the soldes de janvier and every shopper worth her stuff has her "wish list" ready. The past week has been sent doing repérage, some even being so devious as to hide objects throughout the store in order find them easily at the early morning Wednesday opening. Most women even take the day off of work in order to get the best deals. This shopper is somewhat limited physically this year (it's a journée sportif to say the least) and has her eye only on a new winter coat at a store down the street that sells cute Mom and kid's clothes. Maybe Boo will get lucky too...

*soldes de janvier January sales; J-1 T-1; repérage stake out; journée sportif athletic day

Boo stats at 6 months/28 weeks

Boo:
head to toes 35cm (13.78 inches)
weight 1k150 (2.54 lbs)

Me:
waist line 90cm (35.5 inches)
weight 68kilos (150 lbs)

I'll get a profile picture up soon...

Obstetrician to the stars…

We had our 6 month check up tonight with the doctor who will help bring Boo into the world. Thomas was somewhat unsure about coming for the consultation but was quickly rewarded for his efforts when he saw two of the players for the Girondins www.girondins.com/index2.html (players 21 and 24) in the waiting room with their very pregnant wives. He had this very surprised look on his face but didn’t say anything more than a polite Bonsoir until we were in Dr. Lefevre’s office for our consultation. She laughed at his incredulity and said that she was the unofficial obstetrician to the wives of the team members, having even delivered the first child of France’s greatest soccer player ever Zidane www.zidane.fr.

Dad being reassured by her established professional experince we quickly moved on to Boo… who’s doing just fine. The doctor’s a little worried that Boo is not as big as he should be but said that it’s nothing to be too concerned about. It could be that a growth-spurt is coming up (which would explain why I’m tired this week) or just that I need to stop walking so much. If she only knew how much I walked before getting pregnant… At any rate, I now have 1 to 2 hours every afternoon that must be spent lying down. So basically now I have a good excuse for lying around on my butt all afternoon with a good book!

Fizzy Fermentation

The wine we made last week is finally fermenting! The sugar content being so high, we thought it would take awhile for our yeast friends to start doing their job. Luckily, once the barrel was brought up to a decent temperature (23C) the little guys jumped into action. Hopefully they won't poop out on us mid-way.

Jurancon is an appellation near Pau well known for its white wine (both dry and sweet). We bought Petit Manseng grapes from a local producer during harvest and Sophie separated them into crates to let them dry on the vine before pressing the juice.

 

From R to L: Thomas, his sister Sophie and the back of her husband Thibaud's head. 

First merde of 2006

As some of you already know, we're having the first floor of our home converted from a large mass of storage space to an office, guest room and wine cellar. We're still waiting to hear back from the architect but if all goes well the workmen should begin around the end of January. I'm realistic and have begun to accept that my hope of having the entire house ready for Boo's arrival is quickly becoming a fairytale. Thomas is still optimistic and assures me that the baby will not be sleeping in the laundry room for the first 3 months of his/her life.

At any rate, my job in all of this is to clear out the empty space, i.e. all of the junk that we've filled it up with. I placed an ad for the oven, sold it fairly quickly, and then the merde happened. Thomas and the other husband were dutifully getting ready to load it into the buyer's car when the oven door fell against the concrete floor and shattered into a million pieces. So we cancelled the sale and now the repairmen tell me that what I'll spend to replace it is almost more than what I can sell it for. So now not only can I not sell it, but I have to find a way to get it to a dechetterie or find an association willing to take it as a donation.

MERDE!!

*merde shit (or f**k, depending on your tone of voice);dechetterie dump

Bonne annee, bonne sante

Happy New Year! I hope you all were able to ring it in without having to resort to using any pain medication this morning. We're sleep-deprived but will survive this first day of 2006. I'll post our menu from last night's feast, prepared for us by Joanna and Jerome, just as soon as I can -- it was fantastique!

Now begins the month-long ritual of wishing everyone you know Bonne annee, bonne sante. For those who live far away that means sending the obligatory greeting card. Tradition states that you not only have to say it to everyone you see throughout the month but you also have to faire la bise with those you meet in person. This goes for all of your friends and family members as well as the dry cleaner and the green grocer. Imagine kissing your mailman and wishing him a Happy New Year...

*Bonne annee, bonne sante Happy New Year, good health; faire la bise do kisses (as in a greeting)