piscine = pool
Dear friends, there are no words to express the frustration of the last week. This is a pessimistic blog but please know that I am trying to have a sense of humor about it. Murphy's Law is alive and active in Paris today. Last Tuesday night the transportation union went on strike. That means that no metros, buses, or trains work. There are "some" that do, but they tend to be no where near where I live. Paris is a high commuter city. The people depend on public transport. Since the weather has been down to 28 degrees (we are still in autumn, remember), I have developed the longest, lingering cold. The stores don't carry any sort of medicine. You must go to a pharmacist and explain (in French) your symptoms. Then they will give you the drugs you need. That's right, no Target, Tom Thumb, or WalMart to grab your usual cold medicine. Since the trains aren't running, that means that each morning and afternoon I have to walk Zac to school and come back home. That equals about five miles total in the freezing cold, literally.
Today was different. When I collected him from school today, I suggested that we walk back and sit while he eats his gouter. Just to take our time. He said "But Connie, I have piscine today!" I completely forgot! I figured it wasn't too much of a big deal to walk back home, grab his swim things, then catch the bus to the closest stop to the piscine. That's what we did. My feet were killing me. We waited about 15 minutes for a bus. By this time it was 5:15pm and his lesson started at 5pm. We arrived at Champ de Mars and ran to the piscine (about a third of a mile). We finally made it there at 5:30. Once I got him changed, he burst into tears saying he couldn't go in late. He was terrified that the children would make fun of him. I tried everything and he was in hystarics. After five minutes of my very deep voice and many threats, he went to his lesson. Afterwards, he was fine. But then we had to walk back to the bus stop. There are days that I feel like I am in a movie, I really do. This was one of those days.
A video of what the metro is like during the strike. If you read the article, you will read that only about 1 in every 10 trains are actually running. This video is very real, but not as full as it can get. Also, this is my stop for school, which explains why I haven't made it for a week.
I am not sure when this strike will stop, but it's a little ridiculous. The French seem okay with it. However, I come from a place where each person has a car and convenience is a given. Right now, I just want to hop in my car and drive to Super Target to get some cold medicine and throat losenges. If you would like to read about the strikes that are coming to France soon, take a look at this.
Oh yeah, the teachers are striking tomorrow, and the postal workers on Wednesday. Yay!
Here is a lighter take on the strikes. It's a French "thing". Check out the prank!
No comments:
Post a Comment