So far France hasn't been too different than the United States, more bureaucracy, sure, a bigger wine and cheese selection in the supermarket, okay, and of course the language, but last week I saw something that drove home the difference. I met Mary for lunch one day last week with her sister and her sister's friend and she showed us one of the nearby office buildings (previously empty) had been taken over by a student group called Jeudi Noir, Black Thursday. Instead of getting kicked out and maybe spending the night in
jail, the Jeudi Noir leaders were holding a press conference highlighting the lack of housing in Paris. The police at the front doors were there for the new tenant's protection. According to a Frenchman of our acquaintance you are not allowed to evict tenants in the winter, even if they snuck on to your property. Needless to say we are making doubly sure to lock our doors for fear of finding long term roommates when we return. (family and friends excepted)
Interesting. What a memorable experience for liz and katie. glad to hear they had good hospitality and guides :) I was reorganizing the other day and found a few pics from our undergrad student days. One of them included some of our friends from IV dressed up for the winter weather and holding lunch trays (where we acquired them and what we used them for i'll leave for you to speculate or quiz mary about:) another was a of a group of us students at a sunday lunch hosted at the Risius house. Fun to to think about what has gone on since then!
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