My lovely, lively street

     I don't want to write the name of my street for fear of giving away personal information (after all, I try my best to be a smart Digital Citizen), but I will reveal that I live in a neighborhood of Paris near many of you, my dear students.

     My street is very narrow and there are only two shops on it: a tailor and a grocery store. The grocery store is very convenient because it is open late and on Sundays. This is very helpful for people who need to purchase eggs, milk, cheese, or other necessities when the regular supermarkets or closed. In my case, it is very handy for me when I get those "I need chocolate!" moments. Don't try to tell me that chocolate is superfluous at 10 o'clock at night!

     I am glad that I don't own a car because, from what I can see, it is pretty impossible to find a parking spot on the street. There are, however, plenty of places to lock up a bike, scooter, or a motorcycle. Every year when the weather finally turns nice in springtime, I am tempted to buy a scooter (which I could park right in front of my building) but whenever I hear about an accident, I am reticent to purchase one. I am not sure that I would be adept at riding it on slippery roads; it seems like that could somewhat perilous.

     Although I live on a quiet street, there are always a few people heading up and down it going somewhere. One of the busiest times of the day during the week is 4:30 pm; that is when the little elementary school next door to my building gets out. The little children can be heard crying out, "Maman!" at that time of day. They are obviously famished at that time of day; fortunately, their mothers or babysitters always have a nice snack in hand for them (I should mention that there are at least 3 boulangeries near my street which makes it smell quite nice.

     More interesting than the people are the DOGS on my street! Many people in my neighborhood own dogs so I can safely say that I have seen just about every kind. They sniff, snarl, bark, amble, scramble, urinate and defecate. You do have to watch out a bit on the sidewalk.

There is one white poodle in particular who is quite conspicuous because he (or she?) yaps all the time. The funny thing is that she (or he?) resembles the woman who walks him. She has white curly hair and so does the poodle!

     One dog in particular is Mowgli, a yellow lab who lives in my building. He is the steadfast companion of Annie, a woman who lives in my building. Mowgli has lived there as long as I have! He always takes a walk with a little stuffed doll in his mouth which he sometimes leaves in the elevator (Mowgli has arthritis so he takes the elevator to his apartment on the 1st floor of the building).

     I like to take photos of signs that people post around the street - on doorways, for example.
Here is one that the "gardienne" of my building posted on the door of the room where the trashcans are kept. As you can see, she is pretty angry about something: 

                                                       Complaint note,16th arrdt, Paris, 2013



     Here is another sign that really caught my eye. It was hanging up at the boulangerie right around the corner of my street. Somebody was actually selling a fur coat! This sign inspired me to write a short story; I invented the character who was selling the coat as well as the person who goes to purchase it.
     I don't know the real story behind it, of course.

                                                    Fur coat for sale, 16th arrdt Paris, 2012