Inauguration Week

Even though we were several thousand miles away from the action last week, we still took time to celebrate the inauguration of President Obama. We met up with several friends at a Canadian bar -- it was kind of funny to see all the screens which are usually filled with an array of hockey games tuned to CNN. We got there fairly early (about an hour before the swearing-in) and were fortunate to find places to sit; by the time the ceremony began in earnest, it was shoulder-to-shoulder.

I couldn't believe how homesick I felt for D.C., even though I would have (1) been incredibly cold and (2) not really been able to see anything if I'd attended in persion. As it was, the experience was still incredibly inspiring -- we laughed and cheered and even sang (the National Anthem) alog with the crowd. Even from across an ocean, I could feel the spirit of hope and change in Washington.

The picture doesn't really capture the crowd -- but it was incredibly packed.

Over the weekend, we attempted to visit the menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes, which is the second-oldest zoo in the world. (Its first animals were brought to Paris after the French Revolution; until then, they had been part of the private zoo kept by Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI in the Palace of Versailles.)

Since we missed the zoo, we ended up just exploring the park for a couple of hours -- as you can see, even in winter, it's beautiful. This is a view facing west, toward the Museum of Evolution which we visited last weekend.

Unfortunately, we ended up having a quitessentially "when in France" kind of moment. We arrived in the late afternoon, somewhere between one and one-and-a-half hours before the announced closing time. (We had come specifically to see some six-week-old leopard cubs which had been put on display only that week.) The attendants refused to sell us admission tickets, saying that they felt an insufficient time was left for a visit to the zoo.

We've had similar experiences elsewhere: for example, the hostess in a crowded restaurant will often turn you away if all the tables are filled ("C'est impossible! C'est fini pour ce soir!"), rather than asking if you'd like to wait for one to be available. Slowly, we're starting to get used to this mentality -- and secretly, I've been starting to wonder if it might not, on balance, be a more pleasant way to live.

(I hate the way the waiters in the US often seem so anxious for you to eat quickly and be on your way. Restaurant food seems more expensive here, but the service charges are built into the menu prices, so there's no expectation for a big tip -- and no financial incentive to 'turn the table.' I've really been enjoying learning to eat more slowly and enjoy the conversation... Of course, it's hard to remember that when it's 9:50 PM, I've just realized there isn't enough milk for breakfast, and the grocery store security guard refuses to let me in despite a posted closing time of 10:00. It's still a new-philosophy-in-progress, I suppose. :))

This picture really isn't worth enlarging -- but I'm posting it anyway because I wanted to share the beautiful sunset we saw on the way home.