A Cat's Life

I had my first taste of caviar two days ago. It was a little jar of Russian caviar - bought directly from Russia - given to us by a friend as thanks to James for having helped her relocate back to Paris from London (but the real trigger was that James hurt his back in the process). Pretty darn yummy, this caviar. Tasted very, well, fish-eggy...slightly salty, fatty...worthy of some finger lickin'.

But then we got curious as to how much a little jar (113 grams or 4 oz) like this could have cost. So we googled the caviar and found out some interesting stuff:

• Our little jar of caviar corresponds to what is considered to be the best (i.e., the most rare and therefore expensive) caviar in the world, from the white sturgeon (Beluga)
• Beluga caviar is traditionnally canned with light blue covers
• The beluga is the largest of sturgeons and is supposedly so rare that the annual catch hardly ever exceeds 100 fishes
• It can supposedly live up to 100 years, reaching up to 9 metres in length and over 1000 kgs in weight (whew, that's one big fish!)
• A beluga yields on average about 15% of its weight in caviar

We weren't able to discover the price of this little jar in Russia (duh, the producer's online store didn't appear to be online anymore), but apparently this little jar is worth about $570-$600 in the USA. So we figure, minus all the shipping costs and intermediate profits, this little jar must have cost about one third in Russia...which makes it about 150 euros. Geez! That's worth a full-blown wine-included lunch for two at the Ritz Hotel! Okay, I always knew that caviar was real expensive, but I didn't expect it to burn such a big hole in the pocket!

Personally, I think caviar is just not worth it. Don't get me wrong, it's really yummy and I like it, but I won't buy it. Let's just say that it doesn't yield sufficient utility (economically speaking) to justify the horrendously steep price. Plus, the sturgeon is already so rare, can't we leave the darn fish alone instead of killing it just for its eggs? I mean, there's such outrage against hunting elephants for their tusks or tigers for their supposedly-medicinal genitals, so why not the sturgeon for its eggs?

Anyways, to sum things up, caviar = delicious = too bloody expensive = not worth buying. But don't get me wrong, I WILL eat it if you give it to me. :))

I've been in full research phase for a "poussette"...or baby stroller.  Gosh, it is a real maze out there, with all sorts of brands, features, etc.  Do you go for a poussette that is transformable into a baby carrier (expensive and heavy), or one that lets us adapt a carrier to the frame (more expensive but less heavy), or one with a reclinable seat (which is not 100% reclinable so not so good for a newborn's back) that limits your outside time to 2 hours per day (less expensive, less heavy, but limited use per day)? What a headache when you need something:

1) Not too heavy (imagine lugging all the stuff - plus the baby - up and down the metro station stairs!)

2) Not too expensive (no money left!!!)

3) That doesn't place a time limitation on daily use (think travel time in metro)

4) That is compact (little car = little trunk)

5) And of course, a poussette that you can use for a couple of years (think wear-and-tear going up and down the curbs of Paris)

But anyways, the search is over...we've found our poussette! And for a good price too! Now we just have to go pick it up and hopefully I didn't screw up on the measurements (if I did, it won't fit in the trunk of our little Polo => problem!).

I think we've found our apartment.  It's a 3-bedroom duplex with a cathedral-style living room. Lots of light, and just across the road from the playground.  The bedrooms are a wee bit on the small side, and it's just outside Paris (near where James and I work) but hey, the perfect apartment in Paris costs waaaayyyy too much!!

We'd seen the ad for this apartment posted through several real estate agencies a few weeks ago, but it was too expensive (especially once the agency fees are added in). Then on Saturday, James spotted a new ad for the apartment, but this time posted directly by the owner (no agency fees!) and at a lower price.  So we called them right away and got a viewing appointment for that afternoon.  We liked what we saw and we called them on Sunday with an offer. They counter-offered. After a few hours of financial simulations and calculations (for once, it helps to be an auditor!) and consultations with "experts" (i.e., friends who recently bought properties in nearby areas) we agreed that it wasn't worth losing the appartment (declared a decent deal by all!) over a couple of thousand euros, and we accepted the counter-offer.

I think it helped a lot that it was spring vacation last week, not to mention the first week of really nice spring weather, so Paris was pretty empty. Less people competing with us to find an appartment.  All that remains is to sign the legally-binding (for the seller and for us) "promise of sale" with the notaries, get the bank loan, and sign the final sale papers. Hopefully they won't back out on us before that promise is signed (next week!!).

For the curious (uh, mom?), here's a link to a virtual visit of the apartment. Ignore the pricing and all other stuff...

http://www.vente-appartement-maison.com/immobilier-05/506...

I'm happy...

I think the real estate market in Paris is just nuts, whether you're trying to rent or buy.

Just imagine, loads of agencies won't rent apartments to fresh grads who are waiting to start their new job. Never mind if you already have a signed job contract in hand with a rock-solid financial guarantee from your parents in the other hand. To them, you are unemployed (unless they just can't rent the damn place out, in which case, you are a sucker).

And if you're trying to buy (which we are), it's not any better. There are LOADS of real estate ads on the internet, but wait a minute, these really aren't that great unless you don't have anything better to do than keep hitting the refresh button while all dressed up to go dashing out the door the minute you manage to grab a viewing appointment for a just-appeared-5-seconds-ago ad. Otherwise, you can be sure that whatever you see on the internet is there for a good reason: they can't get a sale.

That's right, anything that is halfway decent is gone within the hour.  Who cares if you were the first person to make an appointment for a viewing if your appointment is tomorrow? Or if you were the first to view the apartment and wanted to plonk down a 100€ purchase option. He with the solid cash who is first to mutter "I buy" wins.

So all in all, searching for an apartment is a PAIN.  But we'll find something...someday...

James makes a real mean quiche. Spinach, mushrooms, juicy ham with good-to-goodness shredded emmental cheese and farm-fresh eggs courtesy of mommy-in-law.  Trust me, that makes one hell of a delicious homemade quiche.  So good that its still appetizing stone cold.

I call it the Ubër Quiche. Absolutely yummy. Somehow I never seem to be able to get similar results when I make a quiche...

This is what I've come up with so far as the ups and downs of being pregnant:

Ups:

- Always getting a seat in the metro, regardless of the time of the day

- Feeling the baby kick

- Not having to lug stuff (groceries, binders...) around

- Having dear hubby make fresh orange juice in the mornings (what a sweetie!)

- Having a legitimate excuse to sport a tummy

- Knowing that there will be 6 weeks of paid prenatal "vacation" all to myself

Downs:

- Really needing that seat in the metro, regardless of the distance being traveled

- Being kept up most of the night because I'm feeling the baby kick (not that it hurts, but trying falling asleep with someone poking at your tummy every few minutes)

- Watching the needle on that scale creep up

- Knowing that those month-long all-to-ourselves vacations are a thing of the past

Congratulations to Vivian and Kelvin for being the first to pop in this baby boom year of 2006!

Why has this blog been so quiet lately?

Well, something's been cooking, and I ain't ready to write about it. Keep checking back! :)))