UEFA 030 – Viva Parie

UEFA 030 – Viva Parie


I arrived at Gare-de-East train station in Paris early next morning.


The morning crowd was rushing to work. Many commuters were jumping over the entrance and exit, indicating that many of them had free rides. I snatched some bread and a cup of coffee at a café to get some coins.


There were guide maps and instructions on how to go places with the public transport, but, all were in French. I could figure out somehow, that there was a bus service direct from the train station to Charles de Gaulle Airport. European has adopted sign languages for their directions and public instructions, that more pictures and logo and less words.


It seemed that the arrival hall of Charles de Gaulle Airport was a huge circular corridor. In the middle you can see escalator going up and down. I checked at the monitor and go straight to the Arrival Sortie, where my wife will be arriving. As soon as I reached there, my sister greeted me, as she was already waiting.


My sister moved to France in 1987. She had a boy named Frank and a girl named Paula.
Though a housewife, she was involved in some voluntary social works, such as, a committee member in the Association of Singaporean living in France. She wrote to me quite often after moving to France.


After a short wait, my wife arrived. She looked tired but managed to smile.


My sister drove us to her beautiful French cottage, located just at the outskirt of Paris. It was a village town named Quermoy-Viller, in the district of Creteil. Quermoy-Viller is pronounced as “Oma Villa”.



It was a 2-storey bungalow with basement.

The front yard was green turf. In the stroller was baby Paula, while Frank was sneaking from the front door.

The rear view of her house. In the stroller was baby Paula.

the backyard was a mini garden bordered by a bushy vacant land.

The basement was a garage, boiler-room for the heating system and storage of bulky items. The handyman would have their DIY workshop in there and the wine lover will turn some of it into a cellar. In short, it is a multi-purpose basement hall.

Of course my wife loved the kitchen and the luxurious dining hall.

Frank was a little shy, as he had not seen us for 6 years.

Paula looked at us a strangers, as she was born in France, and that was our first visit.

That night we had a nice delicious dinner, especially for me,

after a month of butter and cheese in Heerbrugg.

My sister is a fantastic good cook.

523 words

Drafted on 07.04.2007

Edited on 22.07.2007 at 0845hrs

At Woodlands Avenue 5