Marianne gets un "relooking"

One of the major advantages to the current apartment is its proximity, not only to school, but to such important transportation hubs as the Place de la Republique, which is served by something like six different metro lines. Almost all of central Paris appears to be constantly in a state of renovation, and Republique is no exception. When I was here in the spring, they had started a reconstruction project that promised to extend to mid-2013. God knows what improvements are planned, but while I was away the work manage to engulf Marianne, the central statue of the plaza, and symbol of the Republic. She has gone from

to

so God knows how she will emerge next summer. Possibly with a Mohawk.

Adding to the general air of hubbub and confusion is the fact that this week is what is generally referred to as

Yes, it's "la rentrée", or back to school week, across the entire country. And, of course, if you happen to be Parisian, Monday marked the first day back after abandoning the capital to the foreign hordes for the month of August. All of which probably goes a long way toward explaining why Darty was such a zoo on Monday afternoon when I ventured in to look for a new notebook computer. The result, by the way, is working out quite well (or you wouldn't be reading this ). As a testament to our almost infinite adaptability as a species, I have to confess that Stockholm syndrome is already setting in with respect to the hideous froggy keyboard. For instance, it's great at doing accents, and other froggy idiosyncracies (possibly I mean idiosyncrasies, but if I turn on spellcheck in this thing I'll be doomed for life).

é à ç è ù € £

See what I mean?

I leave you with a photo to show that the Colonel has that healthy French diet firmly in his sights:

But now it is time to go watch them restage some aging pensioner's apartment for sale on Channel MK6's exciting "Maison à Vendre". The pensioner in question has already been moved to expostulate "madre mia", which certainly sounds like some Romance language, if not exactly French.

A très bientôt !