The Neighborhood

I brought my Canon G12, walking the boys to school the other day - about a 12 minute trip without Jack's stroller. Starts at the elevator - floor 5 - down to -1, where we exit the parking area onto the bridge over the tracks.

Turning left,

zigzagging down Fontenay

and backtracking through a residential street, "bonjour"ing everyone along the way. (Not necessary on faceless city streets, but defined spaces like this or neighborhood cafes).

These houses are somewhat designed after the distinct rooftops of Bernese farmhouses, with their graceful overhang:

Not sure when uniforms were discarded, but children come in all colors and clothing with personal gear for their school work.

Japan may be the only place where you could see the old-style French school gear - thick and heavy - having adopted these from FRand military style, black uniforms from Prussia in the 19th c - still standard issue:Japan as "museum of the world," as it came to be called; cultural artifacts fossilize there long after extinction in their original context. (Tang Court dancing - long gone in the PRC, but still performed in at the Imperial Court in Kyoto).

Back to the walk.

This fountain is the convenient waterstop, before crossing onto the street towards school.

The scooter rack.

Living in a small, wealthy city with an advanced artistic heritage, there's a LOT going on for kids: children's theater, children's opera, and "The Magic Lantern," a movie club we're really excited about.

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Not sure about this blue elephant mascot, but La Lanterne Magique hosts workshops on the theatrical, literary history of film and how to critique images, screening films to an exclusively child audience.

Charlie Chaplin's The Circus - a silent - will kick-off the monthly series in October accompanied by a 37 piece orchestra. Chaplin! Not a kid's movie!Chaplin escaped anti-red sentiment in the US by moving to Vevey, where he is buried; his secretary long attended All Saints Church.

Being integrated into public schools means being the recipients of a highly cultivated Swiss culture; largely due to its position of neutrality, a level of uninterrupted education permeates the system.