An unfortunate occurrence

Kate and I drove the 4.5 hours to Paris this past weekend to participate in our first organized run – a half marathon. We expected to make a weekend out of it, including a visit to Versailles to see the ostentatiousity (I made that word up) of Louis the XIV and to take in some of the finest art in the world at the Louvre. As this was our second time here in six months, we also set out to take it slow - to enjoy the café culture and to eat a lot of bread and cheese, two things that the French do really freaking well.

Our goal, therefore, was to get a better idea of what Paris has to offer. And, boy, did we get that.

Paris is a city. It has 9 million people in the greater urban area of all walks of life. Some are rich. Some are poor. And some are crazy. As you can see, one of the crazies broke through the rear window of our dirty, unadorned Ford Ka to steal a schmutzy eight-year-old backpack. Of course, he had absolutely no idea what was inside.... It could have been my dirty socks. Or a bomb. Or dead squirrels.

Fortunately for him (and unfortunately for us) it had our computer (less than a year old), our passports, my cell phone, and all of Kate's school work. The worst part is obviously the computer, as that had our entire lives on it. All Kate's work. All my work as a teaching assistant. All our pictures. Etc.

So, it sucks. There's no other way to say it.

After reporting the crime to the Paris police and seeing the bureaucracy of that government up close, we wiped the remaining tears and made the long journey home. It was a cold and windy 4.5-hour. C

The worst parts: Our car insurance won't pay for the damage because it's under our deductable. Home insurance won't pay for the computer because it wasn't IN the home. And the passport rigamarole, which consists of photos, money orders, government forms in triplicate, etc., will probably continue for the next couple months.