Survey for Lovers of Vancouver, BC

I almost forgot to mention a new wrinkle on evalu8.org...we now have our first survey on the home page (right in the middle). It's kind of an experiment. The point of this survey is to find out who the really big fans of visiting Vancouver might be. Please participate! we're not really sure where this will go, but we will share the results. Go to www.evalu8.org -- home page -- to vote.

April in Paris

It's another glorious day in the City of Light, so I must be brief and get out into the street to soak up more atmosphere, n'est-ce pas?. Poor John is in the grip of a grippe and must stay in bed. We are due to join a tour of "Ghosts of Paris" this evening, so either he will be well enough to go by then, or we will have to rebook.

I have been obsessed with finding miniatures and craft shops in Paris, and have so far come up with quite a few, but anyone who knows of heretofore undiscovered ones, please let me know.

Here's a preliminary list:

Dentelles et Ribambelles
www.dentelles-et-ribambelles.com
(Montmartre)
6, Rue Trois Frères
75018 Paris, France
(+33) 01 42 54 20 72
Specializes in miniature musical instruments

Emmaflam & Miniman
http://www.emmaflam-miniman.com/
The most amazingly lifelike cakes, cookies and accoutrements. HOW do they get that convincing texture on their madeleines, for example?

EOL International Hobby
3 r Louvre 75001 PARIS
(+33) 01 43 54 01 43
fax : .01 43 54 90 58

L'ile Flottante
29 rue des deux ponts
Paris 75004
www.lileflottant.com
chocolates, miniatures -- the best in Paris, actually

Nation miniatures
(+33) 01 40 01 08 09
6 Rue Fabre d'Eglantine
75012 Paris, France

Pain d'épice
www.paindepices.fr
29, Passage Jouffroy
75009 Paris, France
(+33) 01 47 70 08 68
Specializes in dollhouse furniture, electrical items, plumbing and décor items. When you ask about miniatures, almost everyone mentions Pain d'épice.

And I recently found a few miniatures -- actually more of the scrapbooking kind -- at Le Bonheur des Dames. I will add more info when I have downloaded my photos. This place -- on rue Desmesnil under the arches of the old aquaduct -- mainly has a wonderful collection of ribbon and supplies for embroidery.

City destroys harmless trees!

Okay, one more complaint and then I'll try to move along to kudos...

Last month's tempete in Vancouver, knocked down quite a few trees, notably the one pictured here, which fell across East 12th Avenue. Fortunately, no one was hurt -- and because the tree landed on another tree across the street, even the house shown in the background was spared damage.

But -- upon inspection a couple of days later -- it turns out that the City of Vancouver took the opportunity to cut down two OTHER trees. Apparently, they used the excuse that these trees also represented a threat (even though they did not), but the real reason is that these trees have all ended up being "too close" to the street, so they have been a thorn in the side of City Engineering for ages.

It seems to me that if we have a city law in place to "protect" trees, the law should apply to ALL trees, and not just the ones that do not "insult the sensibilities" of city workers, n'est-ce pas? Especially when we lose trees in Stanley Park and wring our collective hands over the loss. Shame on the City of Vancouver! (And Gregor Robertson is supposed to be such a tree-hugger, too!)

Canada Post offence

Offering no apology when you inconvenience your customers is the same as pretending you didn't do anything wrong in the first place.

In order to expedite a letter's delivery to our recipient, we have learned that the fastest method is to drive all the way into downtown Vancouver and drop the letter right into the mailbox in front of Canada Post's main building on Georgia Street. During the winter games, we were greeted by this annoying sign affixed over the mail slot. No apology.

And to add insult to injury, the powers that be at Canada Post had the nerve to start out with "For your convenience..."

How convenient COULD it be, when the post office is closed?

I rest my case. Gr-r-r-r!