F Train to Paris

In which a Jewish family from Brooklyn moves to Paris, France for two years of work, school, and adventures.

 

Our Halloween party took place today, and E. and his 5-year-old friends (seven of them, plus one 7-year-old sister) had a great time. They came over here after having lunch in school (in France, public schools are closed on Wednesdays, and most private schools have a half day), got into their costumes, lined up for face paint, and then went wild.

We got them to sit still for a scary story and to bob for apples, then they ate their orange cupcakes, and did an art project. At that point, the party was only half over and all the activities were done! So they went wild again, playing upstairs on the landing with balloons, while the moms sat in the living room and talked.

Inevitably, the conversation turned to the usual subject: the French are both different and exasperating. The particular spin on the subject today was how annoyed one's downstairs neighbors get when one's children run around, and how they express their annoyance. (We are lucky in that no one lives beneath us.) This was amusing for a while, and then we became aware that the boys were throwing books at the girls. They were paperbacks (Goosebumps, so they were an appropriate choice for a Halloween party), so no serious damage was done, but once the girls began to come downstairs in tears, we had to break it up. As the party ended and the loot bags of imported American Halloween candy were handed out, the skies opened and it began to pour.

posted by: pariskleinmans at 20:23 | link | comments |