Paris Connections

What's my excuse for not blogging for a week? Quite simply - Paris. Being in Paris for anyone who likes to cook is pure joy. There are three traveling markets - that appear on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, on Thursday and Saturday I can shop at the permanent street market on rue Daguerre or walk to the place at Alésia for fish, cheese and vegetables. So you can see that only on Mondays is there any chance of me spending time on my computer.
Yesterday I was planning to blog but we decided to put WiFi,that's French for wireless, in the apartment, the ethernet cable was driving us crazy Paris is a great place for staying connected as almost all the parks have free Internet access. I've tried blogging in the local park, but the sun made it hard to see the screen and I was distracted by the playing children and the beautiful flowers - I know this azalea photo will delight my mother.


Well the addition of WiFi turned into a whole day affair. At the store, taking the advice of the seeming knowledgeable salesman, we selected the device (instructions in English and Mac friendly) and then spent 2 hours trying to set it up! After a particular nasty experience with my internet provider - they are not only unhelpful but rude plus they charge you to talk to them - I called the Airport manufacturer for the price of a local call and found myself talking to a French woman in England who then directed me back to France. The Frenchman was helpful and polite - we'd bought a modem/router instead of just a router. Back to the store to make the exchange, and then back home. It was a breeze to set up but.... why it is never simple? I had to name and lock the signal, which proved beyond me. Another call to the charming Frenchman and all was fixed. By then it was late afternoon leaving just time to do the dishes from last night's dinner before meeting friends for drinks. I'll tell you about Wednesday's dinner soon, for now let's just say I may have a bone marrow addiction.