Sun, Where Art Thou?

I am spending a few more days in Paris since our son finally landed there from Los Angeles on his way to... (This is his story after all.)

He had been living in California for the past three years. He did land in Paris at the worst time ever... for him, not for me because I am very happy to get to spend some time with him after all those years he’s been away... Five years actually. And before he flies away again to faraway lands as usual.

Ok, this is not a post about the loneliness of a mother because I do not feel lonely and I am pretty happy I have raised a son who is happy to live and travel all over the world.

No, this is a post about “the worst time ever”. Why do I choose to use such a drastic stock phrase... The worst time ever!

Well, I was hoping that this year would be a lot like last year... No real winter except from time to time and only for the shortest time!

Swee’Pea landed in Roissy some time during the last week of November.

The weather had been so sunny and nice almost all the time for the longest time... even in Brussels. We had enjoyed a lot of wonderful rainbows in Brittany which meant that even though it rained from time to time, the sun did shine a lot!

The very week I was expecting my men to fly back from California, the nice and bearable Fall weather suddenly took a turn for the worse... Winter was there, everywhere... in Brussels and in Paris!

No snow but very ugly and distressful grey skies bringing a lot of cold weather and chilly winds all over France and Belgium.

Well, we are not living in California. What do you expect early December in Northern Europe? A miracle, I know.

I am so used to dreary weather that the only thing that bothers me is the shortening of the days...

I did know that Swee’Pea who has always hated wintry weather would have the hardest time to get adjusted to the Parisian December weather... But add wintertime to jetlag and you get quite an explosive mixture!

I have been staying with him and every day brings its share of surprises!

Which are not really surprises after all...

“I am so cold, mom. I am so cold!” Well, is 42°F to 50°F this cold? 

Let me reassure you, we enjoy a rather mild temperature in the apartment after all. 50°F is outside! 

(And then I made sure not to remind him that last week, his roommates had turned the air conditioning on in their house... I hate air conditioning! So cold!)

Yesterday was quite sunny, if I remember right. At least, we had rays of sun shining down on the building for quite a long time. We spent the whole day with the lights on though... When I pointed the sunbeams, he said: “But it is so cold, mom.”

Great answer. The center light did substitute to summer sunny days, I imagine.

This morning, he left very early to go visit a friend in Germany. To go there, upon hearing that they had been having a lot of snow there, he packed part of his snowboarding equipment... not to go snowboarding but to make sure he’d be warm!

I did think we were having a problem there but tonight on my way out of the building, I met one of the neighbors...

The day had been cloudy alright but not this cold after all. The snow they had forecasted (safety-first principle) never really hit inner Paris. It rained instead and it was much less cold than anticipated.

I had been shopping earlier and I had felt much too warm in my down jacket...

“Watch out,” said the neighbor on his way to the elevator. “It is awfully cold out there.”

I smiled a warm thank you and refrained from telling him that I had been outside already and that it was not this “awfully cold”. But it sure was dark and cloudy outside.

On my way to the bakery, I couldn’t help thinking about the past week and this last remark. Actually what we need here is a bright sun shining over Paris. It will bring quite a chill, of course since we are getting close to mid-December. But it will be sunny outside.

We need light. I have heard so many people say again and again: “Oh, what a beautiful day...” It is actually freezing. It is really, really cold but the sky is blue and the sun is shining.

Winter is so much all about lack of sun and darkness after all and our ancestors spent so much time fearing this very gloom. “The sky is going to fall over our heads,” they kept saying.

I may be wrong but I doubt that this complaint was heard during the summer months.








*Good Luck, and Good Night*