Tall woman needed

20 December 2007- This is the 13th Mairie building. Each quarter has there own little town hall. The 13th is just south of us. The 5th's building is rather moderne and not as Paris like. Right across is the Place d'Italie and a huge poster of George Clooney. He helps sell expresso machines over here. Oddest part, he says his lines in english?
The other picture is just past the Pantheon. I thought the lights looked cool. It looks a bit doctored in a sepia finish but no. No tricks here, just me finally figuring out how to take the good shot.
So the title refers to the fact that yes I am 5'10" or metric 1.75 ish. I was asked today to help someone get something from the top aisle in the grocery store and later Monoprix. Too funny. I am vital to the french women population! They are not very tall. The cutest ones are the little old ones. Reminds me of my grandma's friend Annie. They call me Madamoiselle even.
Another observation, the men here walk with both hands clasped behind there back. Might be a old military trait. Unless of course they are smoking their pipe. And the two most used words in Paris are : D'accord (OK) and voila. You hear them all the time. Maybe it is just because those are two of about 50 words I know.
We need to figure out our answering machine. The instructions were in french and the rental furniture guy says he left a message. Yikes! Lets hope Babelfish from Alta vista can do the trick.
Chad is off all next week. He has only been on the French payroll since November and has already accrued 7 days vacation. He met with HR and they explained the number of days worked. Typically in America, you keep track of days off or earned vacation. They don't keep track of days off, only worked. Seems right when you get that much time off. It should be cold next week but Chad needs to something in Paris other than Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower and the Arc. I found a great view from one of the awesome department store's cafe. Chad's friend and a former Uncle AL intern Julian is coming to Paris with his new baby boy. He will be in Orleans visiting family for the holiday but plan on a few days in Paris. Lets hope my cold or whatever Paris bug has got me is gone by then. A true Christmas miracle.