The lesser museums of Paris

We've recently been trying to visit some of the lesser known museums of Paris (with mixed results). So, Sunday, eager to stretch our legs a little after a housebound week, we ventured out to the Cinémathèque Française. Housed in an interesting Frank Gehry building near Bercy, this museum displays a somewhat ecclectic assortment of movie memorabilia. One nice technique is that that had screens showing clips of the movies in which some of the displayed costumes and props are featured (e.g., a clip from Gone with the Wind playing next to a dress that Vivienne Leigh wore in it). The kids had fun spotting the costume in the room that went with the film clip. Overall, though, it was clear why this museum hasn't quite hit it bit. The exhibit was rather disorganized and poorly explained.

After the museum, we took a detour to Chinatown, completely ignorant of the fact that it was the start of Chinese new year. We walked around a bit as people set off firecrackers all around. This area doesn't have quite the color or vibrancy of Chinatown in New York or San Francisco, but it has several fascinating grocery stores - where we stocked up on some unusual veggies and sauces, etc. for dinner that night. We also saw the French federation of table tennis headquarters, and the workshop of Panhard-Levassor, which claims to be the birthplace of the automobile industry (but more accurately is the birthplace of the front-mounted engine, which sounds slightly less impressive).

The rest of the weekend, the kids spent building like crazy with kapla blocks and exploring pbskids.com (mostly Jonah - now that he has learned how to "point and click" on his own, the kid can't get enough).

The kids were happy to go back to school on Monday, to see their teachers and friends. On Tuesday evening Abe had his big French exam to determine if he can pass to the next level of the course for the second semester. He thought it went well. Abe has also been working a lot on the day care designs and negotiations - things seem to be moving forward nicely on that front. Today (Wednesday), I had my very last baking class. We all brought something we had made at home to share (I brought American style Apple pie), and we learned to make a couple last things. The end of the class reminded me of the last day of camp, with people exchanging phone numbers and recipes (the cooking class equivalent to signing a yearbook?) and telling each other "I'll think of you always." That sort of thing. It was sappy (probably all the moreso for the half dozen bottles of champagne we had enjoyed with our baked goods), but we had gotten to know each other pretty well over the course of many hours cooking together (and there were some *strong* personalities in that group to get to know!). Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Abe and Ella went to make haircut appointments at the school downstairs. Abe entertained the haircut school staff by asking first if they cut up children, and then explaining that he meant did they cut children's horses (the words for horses and hair in French are confusingly similar). Perhaps that bodes poorly for his score on his French exam...