ewheeling-blog

It is October already. I had a rendevous with the ASSEDIC, the unemployment office. I was not too sure how to get there so Christine kindly agreed to take me. We both thought it would be a long haul but it turned out to be quite easy, the man was friendly, there was no wait and the interview only took 10 mins. I am now officially a job seeker - I have to make another appointment now to see the ANPE. After expecting a lot of French bureaucracy, we were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. It might be because as I have not been working in Europe, I cannot lay claim to unemplyment benefits. So in effect, I am not very complicated since they do not have to deal with handing me any money.
Saturday was a beautiful day so I set off to Strasbourg downtown to take some pics. The results are in this page....(to be linked soon)

Gallerie Gourmandes and Trois Epis

Our local supermarket, Galleries Gourmande, has actually finished its renovation and is reopened with lucky draw for a trip to Egypt for two. I didn't really bother - who ever wins these things? But I was very pleased with the renovations. Now all the cashiers are wide enough for a wheelchair and I do not have to queue for the one particularly wide aisle. It is easy to negotiate and I can reach most things except for the price ticket for the vegetables. The price tag is self service so not being able to reach is annoying. This area has many wheelchair users so it is makes sense for them to make shopping as accessible as possible. I tend not to tarry too much since it has many delectable delicacies - very difficult to resist temptation.
I went to the Trois Epis with Marie Laure for a day's meeting with a local group. Trois Epis is a summer resort along the wine route in the Vosges. The view is meant to be spectacular and we were to go for a long walk and have a pot luck lunch together. Unfortunately, it was one of those autumnal days where the mist laid thick and we had trouble finding our meeting place. The walk was good in that I had two volunteer pushers, both of them named Philipe, a physiotherapist and a translater. We didn't take the normal route as I was unsure of going off onto rough forest tracks when it was wet and muddy. We had a great chatter about polio and post polio syndrome and how it effects people. Philipe(the physio)'s wife has MS so we were sharing stories. The fog never lifted and we went home before it got too dark.

My son, John, has always wanted a pet and we've always said no because his father has always been allergic to cats and it seemed like too much hard work when the kids were still young. This is John's last year before going off to university and since his father and I are no longer under the same roof, I felt I ought to try giving him the last opportunity. I was told to tell him that a kitten is not a toy and it is not returnable. I thought seriously about the responsibility. I knew the brunt of the responsibility was on me since John was busy with school, his mates and girlfriend. To be honest, I've never had a real pet neither and thought the company would be good for me. Cats are supposed to be independent animals. But I did not count on the fact that this was a kitten - he came already house trained but that was not the problem. He was cute, vulnerable and all black but he has extremely sharp claws and teeth and can turn from one moment of cuddly comfort to one that can inflict acute pain. I am covered with scratches where he leaps up onto my lap or uses my legs as climbing frames to get onto my lap. And on my fingers when he thinks that my typing fingers on the keyboard are for his swiping practice.
Once or twice I was close to causing him bodily injury when I was not watching out for him and nearly rolled over him with my power wheelchair. I am learning how to cope with a kitten that climbs up on my chair behind me and not let him catch me unawares as I do the washing up or cook. The vet told me that I have to learn to teach him now and sometimes he looks at me as though he understands that I am saying ' no ' to him other times he is just like any kid -he totally disregards my instructions. Right now, he's sitting next to the flat screen and casts a benevolent eye on me, all sleek and feline. It can change any minute.
On Tuesday I went to the avant premiere for Un long dimanche de fiançailles. I like the poster so much I asked the man at Cine Cite if I could have one and he agreed to keep one for me. It was a beautiful film.(read the summary)At the end there was a question and answer session. At one point, Tautou was standing so near to me, I could have touched her. I asked Audrey Tautou (over the microphone provided by the cinema) a question in English (I wasn’t sure of my vocabulary in French, and she said I could although her response would be in French) - how did she prepare herself to play a woman who was disabled by polio and walks with a limp? She said she had a polio survivor who told her how it is to have had polio and a doctor who guided her on the technical details of using a brace and having a limp. The director added that he was not faithful to the book (written by Sébastien Japrisot) in that he cannot imagine how to shoot some of the scenes dramatically with the wheelchair, so there are only a few scenes with Tautou in a chair. I did not comment then but on reflection, those scenes jarred the perfection of the film a little for me. The chair seems to be totally unnecessary – at one point, she got up out of her chair and folded it to take it down a few steps. It got laughs from the audience but I do not really see the point of that. There was also a scene where she was perching precariously on her chair reaching out for a book – this is a bit incredible except when we remember the director is also the director of Delicatessen and La Cité des enfants perdus.

(posted late on 28th)

A tale of two cities….

I went to Paris on Tuesday and took the overnight train back to arrive back in Strasbourg the next morning at 5.35am. This was to attend the course “Handicap et Société. Du passé à l’avenir dans une perspective internationale” held at CNAM (Conservatoire national des arts et métiers) under the direction of Catherine Kudlick from the University of California, Davies. It is a special Disability Studies class and I did so want to attend. But Paris is a 4 hours train ride away and I cannot afford to pay the going rate. However, after some correspondence with Catherine and her discussion with the class- I was given the okay to audit the course. I got my ticket and after the class, I was lucky enough to have been invited for a drink by the speaker M.Henri-Jacques. Stiker, (Directeur de recherches au laboratoire Histoire et civilisations des sociétés occidentales (Université Paris 7) also the author of A History of Disability.)
Catherine had previously invited me for dinner that evening and she followed the ‘Paris en fauteuil’ (Paris in a wheelchair) guide by Lucie Fontaine and Jean-Baptiste Nanta for the choice of an accessible restaurant closeby in the 3e arrondisement. Catherine might have vision problems but she had a great sense of direction (something I am known not to have) and we went off with her pushing at a spanking speed to Le Tire-bouchon
22, rue Tiquetonne. We got there okay but I cannot really say it was that accessible – it had a step up the pavement/sidewalk and another step before getting into the restaurant itself. I had to ask the waiter to help. I don’t think I can get there with my electric wheelchair. The toilet is nice and roomy though, quite accessible. We had a wonderful dinner (I had a monkfish dish) and a great chat. Catherine thought since the night was still young and not too chilly, she suggested going to the Gare de l’Est by foot. It was not very far and I caught my late night train without any problems and got back to Strasbourg to catch the tram. The street cleaners were out in force at that time in the morning. Now that I know that it is within walking distance I am considering doing the next trip with my power wheelchair.
On Friday, Lionel gave me a lift to the Baden Karlsruhe airport to fly with Ryanair to Stansted near London. It was not an unpleasant journey but we seem to take a long time getting there. The return ticket to London was the same as going to Paris by train. The awkward thing is actually getting to the Baden airport. I must find an easier way to get there rather than having friends take me. The airport is a small one and I got lifted on to the plane rather like an ambulance. I should go on a diet if I intend to use this type of travel! It is less complicated than they system in Stansted where they had a sort of a crane to get me off the plane and then it was a long winded trip into the airport itself. Stansted is not that near to London and I was told that there was a train to Liverpool Street Station which I could have taken. Highlights of the trip: eating lobster noodles at the Mandarin Kitchen in Bayswater (step to get in and toilet not accessible) with Yin and Phil and having drinks at the ICA after that (Yin had booked a series of film showings there), going to the Science Museum (we saw the future face)and the V&A and Tate Modern (Times Zones exhibition )the next day, eating at a Turkish restaurant Tas Pide (good access with ramp and toilet, parking available outside ) with Nat and Phil. I found the Science Museum too busy on a Sunday and the signage was not good. The V&A is great but I was not over impressed by their Asian collections. The Tate Modern is housed in an interesting building but it left me cold. Somehow I feel that the space is cramped and I was not in the mood to be confronted by Raw Materials, aural collage by Bruce Nauman in the Turbine Hall. Phil, who suggested we went there originally, was amused by the fact that he got into the Time Zones: Recent Film and Video free by being my companion/carer.
This time in London I was lucky enough to have Phil to drive me around. He had some time off work and we share similar interests in museums. But I shall have to get the access guide next time. Tate modern had parking for disabled if you ring up early to request a parking space but we had to fork out 10 pounds sterling for a congestion fee (to get into London and we had to pay a surcharge for having not paid by 10pm the same day). All my friends have stairs and it always take me some time to adjust to having to negotiate them. My knees bore the brunt of those negotiations and improvisations. Phil had a crash course in learning to take me up steps and although he was very polite, I can see he was happy that he didn’t have to do that too often.

Sunday 30th

Back from London, visitors and ANPE again

My trip back to Baden Karlsruhe was fairly uneventful although I took umbrage at the attititude of one of the security people at Stansted. He would not let me through security on my own but said I had to get airport assistance. In most airports, I usually wheel myself to the boarding gate(after checking in luggage) and inform people at the gate itself. I know I am one of the first to board and the last to get off the plane.What really shocked me is when he addressed me with the words, "now go over there and sit there like a good little girl". That was certainly not the kind of language or attitude I had expected in a big airport in the UK. I was too stunned to complain on the spot. So I had to wait at the assistance desk and then got wheeled to the gate - by which time I was not able to look at any duty free, let alone stop to purchase anything. The wheelchair assistance people told me i could have gone through security on my own and I told them about the guy who misinformed me as well as use inappropraite language. They knew who I meant immediately and said that he does that to everybody. I am concerned that nobody had complained. There was a special chair for going up steps to the plane - it had a special mechanism which moves up the steps while the man steers.
The next day I had visitors - my god daughter Abigail and her family from Petersfield in England. We had lunch and then visited the Museum where I took Abigail and her brother for ice cream and juice. It was good to see Abby again after a gap of nearly 6 years. One noticeable difference for me is that although I do not notice the passage of time as such, the fact that time has moved is clearly defined by the difference in the kids that I know. I might know them as babes in their mother's arms but soon, they are articulate beings giving their own perceptions. And I start feeling old.
I went to the ANPE Strasbourg Section Cadres at 8, rue Adolphe Seyboth. It is accessible but one is supposed to call before hand. Then the receptionist accompanies you to the back entrance and she gets the lift. It's quite a welcome. After signing in, the lady wanted to know if I am sure I was "cadre" - this means that I have a certain academic standing or somebody who has had managerial position. I was made an appointment to go back on wednesday to have someone specific to advise me.

e's wheeling blog

Gallerie Gourmandes and Trois Epis

A tale of two cities….

Back from London, visitors and ANPE again