First snow fall in 2012

It was Saturday yesterday, and I was up till late night giving the finishing touches to the last blog. So I was still in deep sleep at 8:30 am (being a Sunday).

I woke up hearing, “Wow ! Ayaan its not raining, see its snowfall” from my wife .

I woke up in a jiffy, got my specs, and looked out of the large French doors with glass panes outside. I get the view of a park and it was a wonderful sight. The park with its trees and pathways were all covered in a soft, white blanket of virgin snow. It was Sunday morning and most of the people were in deep slumber, so it was still untouched and pristine. There were only few sparrows and pigeons who were scrubbing the snow all over themselves. The sparrows were chattering with each other, and they looked really happy !

In Paris, from last one week the temperature had been cold; in the range of  -3  -  -9 degree celsius. And a snowfall was welcome, as it makes the harshness of the frigid winter go away.

We quickly had breakfast and dressed up, and stepped out with a camera. By the time we went out many other residents had already noticed and it was a family gathering outside with dogs and kids running with excitement bumping over each other.

Compared to the snowfall in USSR this was less snow. It was just 2 inches of snow. In Paris it does not snow much, so this was an exciting thing,  and especially because it was the first snowfall of this winter.

Kids did not want to miss the opportunity. There were many small snowman made by kids. I liked one. It was small and cute and quite dressed up with all possible ornaments. See this one below. J

I collected some snow from the leaves and threw at my wife. And she started giggling like a kid. And that broke the ice of the assumed seriousness of adults ! And very soon we were like the rest of kids, collecting snow and chasing each other. 

I saw some kids who wanted to have more fun. One cute girl was rolling on the snow. And seeing her my son started doing the same. J 

People were clicking photos and some polite Parisians offered to click photos of us. It was like a family picnic.

Good break from the frigid  winter ! It will be a memorable Sunday morning of the first snowfall this winter.

Mahtab SYED
Paris 05 Feb 2012

Chinese New Year Celebration In Paris

The Chinese New Year starting 23 Jan 2012 till 9 Feb 2013 is the Year of the Dragon. This is considered the luckiest year in the Chinese Zodiac (12 year cycle). And many couples across Asia are making an extra effort to give birth to lucky "dragon babies".

I got from my colleague that its celebrated in Paris, and I took my camera and got ready to go the East end of Paris. (I live in the West end). I quickly googled and got the itinerary below…

Sunday, January 29

1:00pm Dragon Parade starts at 44, avenue d'Ivry, going through avenue de Choisy, Place d'Italie, avenue d'Italie, rue de Tolbiac, avenue de Choisy, boulevard Masséna and returns to avenue d'Ivry.

It was -4 degree centigrade today, and the celebrations were on street. I had to convince myself that the celebration will be worth the effort. So I bribed myself with the idea of having an authentic Chinese lunch. Well now the venture seems worth the effort…

I reached  the Metro station Porte d’Ivry just on time and on coming out, I had to just follow the crowd toward the parade. There were cute Chinese kids with balloons. The roads, buildings were decorated well, and for a minute I felt I am in China.

There were elaborate parades, with the dragon, chinese drums beating, incense sticks, bright costumes, and spectators with families and kids.

This was a colorful expression of joy and hope for the new year. It was interesting to see many non-chinese also participating whole heartedly. What touched me was
- how well the Chinese have preserved their traditions in a foreign country
- and how well the Chinese enjoyed the cultural freedom in France

The parade and processions went for more than two hours. My hands were numb in cold clicking photos and videos. And then I realized I was hungry... ( authentic Chinese lunch :-) )

I saw couple of  Chinese restaurants but the queue had already built up and it was trailing for 100-200 metres outside the restaurants. So I had to contend with a French Chicken sandwitch and double shot Espresso in China town... :-)

It was time to wind-up and I started walking back...
On the roadside, I noticed Chinese artists painting names of people in extravagant colorful patterns. I thought of getting this souvenir back. And it was clear that my sons name will be the best gift to me and my wife.

The artist indicated me to write the name in a piece of paper. I wrote my sons name AYAAN. And in less than 10 mins, with her dexterous hands(in frigid cold), she did the magic with her painting and calligraphy skills, and produced the colorful and amazing picture below. See how AYAAN is written(click on the picture to get a bigger image) using
A - image of bamboo shoots and panda (symbolic of China)
Y - an orange bird
A - Eiffel tower(well ! symbol of Paris)
A - Two fishes in love
N - The year of the Dragon !

Happy New Year
Mahtab SYED
Paris 04 Feb 2012