Saturday, July 22, 2006
Bromont July 15th - 21st, 2006
July 16th, 2006
Sunday... We went back to Bromont. Ahhh, the country and its calm!!!!!!
Nothing extraordinary to report since we've been pretty much enjoying the calm, silence, nice people and good food (like we've been eating mostly tomatoe salads with some hams and such almost every lunch)!
July 18th, 2006
Today more chilling, but los Twangueros were playing again at Chez Sam.
So we went and even recorded them so they could have a live demo type of thing(they are not very tech inclined so they were very happy)!
It was a lot of fun again and my parents and Jeremy's parents (Georgia and Francois who also run the bistrot with the crepes, and Jeremy is the lead guitar in the band) were twitching again to the sound of their younger youths!
July 19th, 2006
We just sort of chilled, and went for a ride for a little bit, it's so pretty here....
Then of course we had a tomato salad with hams and stuff!!!! hmmmm
Our days are pretty much punctuated by trips to the public library and crepes here and there at Georgia and Francois' bistrot etc etc...
July 20th, 2006
After a typical day doing this and that at home, going for a ride, grocery shopping etc, we went to the local micro brewery for a beer before going back home for dinner, very nice beers!
Weird local bug:
Cool orange flower:
July 21st, 2006:
Friday was the trip to Vermont day! We decided in the morning we should go explore a little more. So we just organically gathered to the car to go to Vermont, not even forgetting our passeports. WOW!
We started of course down through Quebec, stopped at Freighlisburg for a lunch in a very cute old general store, very well redone into a restaurant and had croque monsieur:
oh, and my dad apparently expires very soon:
After this nice lunch we were on our way towards Vermont, but first... CUSTOMS...
Well that was an event!
First thing of course, I notice my favorite people on the wall:
Honestly, I had never seen or noticed the official pictures that are put in the governmental places like these and I thought it was a joke photoshop job... Especially on Cheney... I mean, how much more do I have to say!?
Mike and I were fine (I have a green card), but my parents both have french passeports without any US visas.
So we had to get out of the car to go fill out some of those green papers where they ask you if you are a communist or if you belonged to the nazi party, then also whether or not you commited a crime, and if you're therefore a felon ("why, yes sir, I'm a criminal, but I'd still like you to let me in there!"... Would anybody ever answer these questions by a yes? Anyway...).
This was not the only thing though, the french (and other people from other countries but I don't know which) have to undergo some special treatment... Yes, you read right, they have a VIP pass that gets them access to backstage rooms where they can be photographed and even have to give their digit autographs. Can you imagine, people, how popular are my parents!?
Well, all kidding aside, we got lucky to be examined by a couple of nice officers who clearly were bored out of their mind because one of them really got into chating with the frenchies!
Still, it is not a joke, the process seems banal, but it took about 45 minutes to be over.
First they ask a million questions about where you come from, where you live, exactly where you are going (which was a problem since we just wanted to roam around, we didn't have a precise address in Vermont which of course is needed!), why you're going to the US today, etc etc...
At that point, they check out both my parents' passeports with scrutiny (in case maybe my parents misspelled their names, maybe? *just jokin', god!*), then inform us that they need to call in something because these passeports were made prior to a date where new rules about pictures were made (meaning only black and white, no smiles, no glasses, no hats etc, and most importantly no smiles, and again, no smiles, it's a country where people are all equal, we all have to look like terrorists I guess!)... That took a while.
After that it's time to take finger print scans... Which my parents have taken everytime they've been to the US since that law was enacted, so I would love to understand why these photos and scans need to be taken every time, and if it's because they are not in the systems, what's the point!?
Of course, the finger print scanner never works, so it takes a little while to have that going, about 4 to 5 passes per finger (both hand indexes have to be scanned, not your toes... yet, they probably will come to it if we continue to take off our shoes at the airport! THEN it will be a really long process!)...
Ah, it's time for the picture, NO SMILES!
So after quite a while trying to be funny, being cool about it taking forever (they also needed to call in some computer stuff they couldn't figure out!), we finally were able to leave the post to enter Vermont!
Here's your stamp!
Woo-ee!
Of course Vermont was beautiful, although we were surprised to see a few little towns that were very much on the very very low income end of things and were feeling bad for these people who had to spend these hard winters in such old old houses (that could be very beautiful if they could be redone, btw!).
Anyway, we went all the way to Stowe (very cute village), stopped there for a tea and went back around.
We did a loop, very beautiful, in the middle of the mountain and amazing plains...
Back into Quebec we stopped at a famous foie gras place (to buy it) where there was a really nice dogette (she was very cute even though the owner said she usually doesn't like the clients... can't help return clientele that much, but their problem! haha):
Another local flower:
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Bromont - Montreal July 11th - 15th 2006
July 11th, 2006
We're in Bromont. It's chilled being in Bromont....
On est a Bromont. C'est tranquille d'etre a Bromont...
We did a bunch of stuff during the day then went to see some friends play at the bar next door, called "Chez Sam". Our friends, Los Twangueros, play surf music as if we had gone back in time. So one could see our parents twitching from dancing in their seats, remembering a lot of things that must have happened on these particular songs!
On a fait plein de trucs pendant la journee et le soir nous sommes alles voir des copains jouer au bar d'a cote, Chez Sam. Nos amis, Los Twangueros, jouent de la musique des annees 60 comme si nous etions retournes dans le temps. Donc nos parents avaient des mouvements convulsifs sur leurs sieges, se souvenant surement de toutes les choses qui ont du se passer sur ces memes chansons!
Chez Sam:
July 12th, 2006
Today, in our eventful life in the country of Quebec (we are definitely enjoying this calm to its fullest!), the most exciting thing was Raphael having a session of driving lessons from our dad.
Aujourd'hui, dans notre vie trepidante de la campagne du Quebec (nous profitons definitivement du calme d'ici!!!!), le truc le plus excitant qui se soit passe furent les lecons de conduite de Raphael par notre pere.
July 14th, 2006
This is the day where we exchange with my sister and her family. They come to Bromont for the week-end, and we go back to Montreal.
So we crossed paths for a little bit. Kissed our little nephew and were on our way back to Montreal where we stopped to have lunch at the market Atwater (we also bought patisseries etc).
C'est le jour des echanges. Ma soeur et sa famille viennent a Bromont passer le week-end pendant que nous rentrons a Montreal. Donc nous nous sommes croises un peu, embrasse notre neveu et sommes partit a Montreal en nous arretant au marche Atwater pour le dejeuner (on a aussi prit des patisseries etc).
July 15th, 2006
Today it rained so Mike and I didn't do much... heyhey, we lazy!
For diner we went to Rumi, a middle eastern restaurant where Mike and I got a chicken tagine, and the rest (parents, Raphael and his friend Erwan) got a soup with lots of good stuff in it.
For those who are just tuning in, Mike takes a lot of pictures of food, any food. The biggest fan of these pictures is Beth, our friend and neighbor, everybody else just thinks we eat too much!
;-)
Aujourd'hui il a plu, donc Mike et moi n'avons pas fait tellement de choses... heyhey on est paresseux!
Pour dinner nous sommes alles chez Rumi, un resto Iranien, ou Mike et moi avons prit un tajine de poulet, et les autres (les parents, Raphael et son pote Erwan) on prit une soupe avec plein de bonnes choses dedans.
Pour ceux qui arrive juste sur ce blog, mike prend plein de photos de mets, de tous nos repas. Notre plus grande fan est Beth, notre amie et voisine, tous les autres pensent simplement que nous mangeons trop!
;-)
Erwan:
Raph, maman et moi:
We're in Bromont. It's chilled being in Bromont....
On est a Bromont. C'est tranquille d'etre a Bromont...
We did a bunch of stuff during the day then went to see some friends play at the bar next door, called "Chez Sam". Our friends, Los Twangueros, play surf music as if we had gone back in time. So one could see our parents twitching from dancing in their seats, remembering a lot of things that must have happened on these particular songs!
On a fait plein de trucs pendant la journee et le soir nous sommes alles voir des copains jouer au bar d'a cote, Chez Sam. Nos amis, Los Twangueros, jouent de la musique des annees 60 comme si nous etions retournes dans le temps. Donc nos parents avaient des mouvements convulsifs sur leurs sieges, se souvenant surement de toutes les choses qui ont du se passer sur ces memes chansons!
Chez Sam:
July 12th, 2006
Today, in our eventful life in the country of Quebec (we are definitely enjoying this calm to its fullest!), the most exciting thing was Raphael having a session of driving lessons from our dad.
Aujourd'hui, dans notre vie trepidante de la campagne du Quebec (nous profitons definitivement du calme d'ici!!!!), le truc le plus excitant qui se soit passe furent les lecons de conduite de Raphael par notre pere.
July 14th, 2006
This is the day where we exchange with my sister and her family. They come to Bromont for the week-end, and we go back to Montreal.
So we crossed paths for a little bit. Kissed our little nephew and were on our way back to Montreal where we stopped to have lunch at the market Atwater (we also bought patisseries etc).
C'est le jour des echanges. Ma soeur et sa famille viennent a Bromont passer le week-end pendant que nous rentrons a Montreal. Donc nous nous sommes croises un peu, embrasse notre neveu et sommes partit a Montreal en nous arretant au marche Atwater pour le dejeuner (on a aussi prit des patisseries etc).
July 15th, 2006
Today it rained so Mike and I didn't do much... heyhey, we lazy!
For diner we went to Rumi, a middle eastern restaurant where Mike and I got a chicken tagine, and the rest (parents, Raphael and his friend Erwan) got a soup with lots of good stuff in it.
For those who are just tuning in, Mike takes a lot of pictures of food, any food. The biggest fan of these pictures is Beth, our friend and neighbor, everybody else just thinks we eat too much!
;-)
Aujourd'hui il a plu, donc Mike et moi n'avons pas fait tellement de choses... heyhey on est paresseux!
Pour dinner nous sommes alles chez Rumi, un resto Iranien, ou Mike et moi avons prit un tajine de poulet, et les autres (les parents, Raphael et son pote Erwan) on prit une soupe avec plein de bonnes choses dedans.
Pour ceux qui arrive juste sur ce blog, mike prend plein de photos de mets, de tous nos repas. Notre plus grande fan est Beth, notre amie et voisine, tous les autres pensent simplement que nous mangeons trop!
;-)
Erwan:
Raph, maman et moi:
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Montreal July 4th - 9th
July 4th, continued:
YEEAAAHHH! We're home where my brother and I work hard at being well mannered! Can you see the jetlag in Mike's eyes?
We went to eat Vietnamese phoodddd for diner... hmmmm, here's a weird somewhat viet dude:
There be a weird little nephew:
There be a brother and mother:
Montreal, July 5th:
So Beth came.. yeahhhh!!!!! Whatup neighbor!?
She cool!
Beth: "OH MY GOD! Me car got smashed!"
Watching the France-Portugal match in world cup... well, talking while the match was on... rather! :
Pretty sunset in Montreal:
Beth, stop air brushing pictures to make me look crazy...
July 6th, 2006:
Beth: "Me car got smashed, insurance mon!":
Insurance mon: "You be screwed, mon!":
Insurance mon: "Oh yep, you're screwed, this car be very broken!"
Beth: "Oh damn it, Mike be taking a picture of us behind lots glasses!":
Sev: "AAAAHHHH":
Beth: "hmmm. I ate the insurance mon!":
Yeahhhh, no more insurance mon, let's celebrate:
Copyright: Beth's camera, 2006July 7th, 2006:
Mike be taking over now 'cause Sev be a bit delirious....
Hi all.
Today was smoked meat day. Sev was out. Beth and I met at Chez Schwartz. Yummy yummy yummy (my first corned beef in like 15 years...mmmmmmm). Always a long line.....it's famous:
After lunch we found the most insane chocolatier ever called Suite 88. Oh my god:
So.....after all that "foodie-ish" type stuff, we went to go meet Sev and Raphael at the Montreal JAZZ FEST. It was kickass:
Beth is trying to take over the photographer job from Mike:
Mike: "Hey, I take the photos here":
Lotto balls:
In the middle of all these free Jazz shows, we happened upon a free music trade show - NIMM:
Then something happened:
We also roamed around Chinatown to eat more Vietnamese food for dinner, and found some random public meditations:
What a great music fest. One of the best we've ever been to:
The view from Beth's hotel room:
... Before she apparently went off joining Hare Krishna:
Montreal, July 9th - World Cup Final:
Snif. Guess who we were rooting for?:
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Paris July 3rd and 4th
July 3rd, 2006
Ahhh, our last day in Paris... snif!
We are so exhausted after walking pretty much everywhere we went that we don't really want to do much more, BUT we're in Paris, damn it!
Feet... You will keep on going! You will rise above all the blisters and open flesh and pick up the last bit of energy you might have from some sort of divine intervention... or else...!
There there, it's all worth it!!!!
Oh, here we are, we made it to Montmartre, we arrived up there at the top of Paris, at the church of the Sacre Coeur, and one of the coolest places in Paris, behind the Sacre Coeur is the Place du Tertre where all the painters have painted!
We got silhouettes done from a couple who were really nice and cut both our silhouettes in seconds using their super sharp scissors. Then we had the typical sandwiche in Paris, a saucisson beurre (meaning baguette with butter and saucisson which is the french salami). But since Mike feels obligated to take pictures of everything we eat, I always have to wait to start, but I'm hungry!!!
Walked around a little more (I know, I know poor feet, you suffer, but your friends the legs can sympathize, you're not alone!)....
Notre dernier jour a Paris! Snif! On est tellement creve qu'on ne peut plus vraiment faire beaucoup plus, mais nous sommes a Paris non de Dieu! Nos pieds... Vous allez continuer! Vous allez vous lever face a l'adversite, au dessus de toutes ampoules et blessures ouvertes, demandez une intervention divine si vous le voulez... sinon...! Voila voila... ca vaut le coup!!!!! Ah, nous voila a Montmartre, nous sommes arrives en haut de Paris au Sacre Coeur, et derriere le Sacre Coeur, a l'un des endroits les plus genial de Paris, la Place du Tertre, la ou tous les peintres ont peint! Un couple super sympa nous a fait nos silhouettes super rapides avec des ciseaux super eguises, et nous avons fini dans une brasserie pour prendre le sandwiche typique de Paris, un saucisson-beurre! Et comme Mike doit toujours prendre des photos de tout ce qu'on mange, je dois toujours attendre, mais j'ai faim moi! Puis nous avons marche un peu plus (et oui, je sais, je sais pauvres pieds, mais les jambes vous sont solidaires dans votre douleur! Vous n'etes pas seuls!)...
After all this we just couldn't go on much further so we decided to go on the bateau mouche (well actually we went on the bateau du pont neuf, but same thing!), these boats that you can take to tour the Seine and see the magnificent Parisian edifices from a great perspective. Low impact on the feet and legs, and just as beautiful as walking around the museum that is Paris.
Apres tout ca nous ne pouvions vraiment plus aller plus loin donc nous sommes alles dans un bateau mouche (enfin un bateau du Pont Neuf, mais c'est la meme chose). Pas d'impacte sur les pieds et jambes et aussi beau que de marcher dans le musee qu'est Paris.
Diner was a little ways away so we decided to have a kir royal (champagne and cassis liquor) at a famous place called "les Deux Magots" which has been there since the early 1800's and was right below where my grand mother used to live.
A little aperitif for our last day not only in Paris but on our honeymoon...
L'heure de diner n'etait pas tout a fait la donc nous avons decide d'aller prendre un kir royal aux Deux Magots (donc la brasserie qui est la depuis le debut des 1800, et ma grand mere habitait juste a cote, donc j'aime beaucoup!). Un petit aperitif pour non seulement notre dernier jour a Paris, mais aussi notre dernier jour en voyage de noce...
For diner we stayed in the Quartier Latin where I feel most comfortable in Paris and had a nice diner in the middle of the bustling 6th arrondissement.
Pour diner nous sommes reste dans le Quartier Latin ou je me sens le plus confortable a Paris, et avons profite d'une bon diner au milieu de l'animation du 6eme arrondissement.
Two kids looking very stunned at the musicians in the street:
Deux enfants, regardant les musiciens, ebahit:
At night, back at the apartment we packed, sadly...
Le soir, de retour a l'appartement, nous avons fait nos valises, tristement...
July 4th,
Plane day... nothing to report... just plane, small seats, good food because Air France has a few advantages over other airlines! hahaha
Got to Montreal safe.
Jour d'avion... rien a rapporter... juste de l'avion, petits sieges, bonne bouffe parce que Air France a quelques avantages sur d'autres airlines... hahaha! Arrives a Montreal sains et sauf!
Ahhh, our last day in Paris... snif!
We are so exhausted after walking pretty much everywhere we went that we don't really want to do much more, BUT we're in Paris, damn it!
Feet... You will keep on going! You will rise above all the blisters and open flesh and pick up the last bit of energy you might have from some sort of divine intervention... or else...!
There there, it's all worth it!!!!
Oh, here we are, we made it to Montmartre, we arrived up there at the top of Paris, at the church of the Sacre Coeur, and one of the coolest places in Paris, behind the Sacre Coeur is the Place du Tertre where all the painters have painted!
We got silhouettes done from a couple who were really nice and cut both our silhouettes in seconds using their super sharp scissors. Then we had the typical sandwiche in Paris, a saucisson beurre (meaning baguette with butter and saucisson which is the french salami). But since Mike feels obligated to take pictures of everything we eat, I always have to wait to start, but I'm hungry!!!
Walked around a little more (I know, I know poor feet, you suffer, but your friends the legs can sympathize, you're not alone!)....
Notre dernier jour a Paris! Snif! On est tellement creve qu'on ne peut plus vraiment faire beaucoup plus, mais nous sommes a Paris non de Dieu! Nos pieds... Vous allez continuer! Vous allez vous lever face a l'adversite, au dessus de toutes ampoules et blessures ouvertes, demandez une intervention divine si vous le voulez... sinon...! Voila voila... ca vaut le coup!!!!! Ah, nous voila a Montmartre, nous sommes arrives en haut de Paris au Sacre Coeur, et derriere le Sacre Coeur, a l'un des endroits les plus genial de Paris, la Place du Tertre, la ou tous les peintres ont peint! Un couple super sympa nous a fait nos silhouettes super rapides avec des ciseaux super eguises, et nous avons fini dans une brasserie pour prendre le sandwiche typique de Paris, un saucisson-beurre! Et comme Mike doit toujours prendre des photos de tout ce qu'on mange, je dois toujours attendre, mais j'ai faim moi! Puis nous avons marche un peu plus (et oui, je sais, je sais pauvres pieds, mais les jambes vous sont solidaires dans votre douleur! Vous n'etes pas seuls!)...
After all this we just couldn't go on much further so we decided to go on the bateau mouche (well actually we went on the bateau du pont neuf, but same thing!), these boats that you can take to tour the Seine and see the magnificent Parisian edifices from a great perspective. Low impact on the feet and legs, and just as beautiful as walking around the museum that is Paris.
Apres tout ca nous ne pouvions vraiment plus aller plus loin donc nous sommes alles dans un bateau mouche (enfin un bateau du Pont Neuf, mais c'est la meme chose). Pas d'impacte sur les pieds et jambes et aussi beau que de marcher dans le musee qu'est Paris.
Diner was a little ways away so we decided to have a kir royal (champagne and cassis liquor) at a famous place called "les Deux Magots" which has been there since the early 1800's and was right below where my grand mother used to live.
A little aperitif for our last day not only in Paris but on our honeymoon...
L'heure de diner n'etait pas tout a fait la donc nous avons decide d'aller prendre un kir royal aux Deux Magots (donc la brasserie qui est la depuis le debut des 1800, et ma grand mere habitait juste a cote, donc j'aime beaucoup!). Un petit aperitif pour non seulement notre dernier jour a Paris, mais aussi notre dernier jour en voyage de noce...
For diner we stayed in the Quartier Latin where I feel most comfortable in Paris and had a nice diner in the middle of the bustling 6th arrondissement.
Pour diner nous sommes reste dans le Quartier Latin ou je me sens le plus confortable a Paris, et avons profite d'une bon diner au milieu de l'animation du 6eme arrondissement.
Two kids looking very stunned at the musicians in the street:
Deux enfants, regardant les musiciens, ebahit:
At night, back at the apartment we packed, sadly...
Le soir, de retour a l'appartement, nous avons fait nos valises, tristement...
July 4th,
Plane day... nothing to report... just plane, small seats, good food because Air France has a few advantages over other airlines! hahaha
Got to Montreal safe.
Jour d'avion... rien a rapporter... juste de l'avion, petits sieges, bonne bouffe parce que Air France a quelques avantages sur d'autres airlines... hahaha! Arrives a Montreal sains et sauf!
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Paris, July 1st and 2nd
July 1st, 2006 (continued)....
After posting the previous posts, we came back home, cooked ourselves some lovely eggplant pasta, cracked a bottle of Bordeaux, and settled in to watch the French soccer team get their asses kicked by Brazil in the world cup quarter finals. France won!!! It was amazing standing on our 10th floor balcony above Paris for that. Talk about an entire city going nuts! Of course, when the screams and whistles and car horns blaring didn't stop hours and hours later, it got a bit tiring (especially when we were trying to fall asleep). It was still great to be here to participate in the celebrations.
Apres l'entree precedente, nous sommes rentres a la "maison", on s'est fait des pates avec une bonne sauce a l'aubergine, un bon petit bordeaux, et nous avons regarde les francais ramolir les bresiliens dans les quarts de final de la coupe du monde. Et ils ont donc gagnes!!! C'etait super de voir les Francais gagner depuis le 9eme etage de notre appartement parisien. Les Parisiens deviennent vraiment malades dans ces cas la! bien sur des cris partout, sifflements, les klaxons des voitures toute la nuit. Super d'etre en France pour ca.
July 2nd, 2006
Today we had plans to have lunch with Nicole's daughter Annie and her husband Michael. We did have some time to kill before getting there, so we decided to go hang out in the Luxembourg park where the Senate is Located. At the park we found another outdoor photography exhibit (there seem to be many of these here in Paris).
Aujourd'hui on est alle dejeune avec la fille de Nicole, Any, et son mari, Michael aussi. D'abord nous sommes alles aux jardins du Luxembourg pour flanner a l'ombre des beaux arbres de la bas et pour voir un peu les petites expos que le senat accueillait.
A high school big band was playing from Wisconsin (of all places) as part of an "Ambassadors of Music" european tour. They were really great!
il y avait un orchestre d'un lycee du Wisconsin (il faut le faire quand meme). Et ils etaient super bons en plus.
We then rested our still very weary bones under some trees for a while before heading off to lunch. It was beautiful and perfect in every way.
We stopped along the way to pick up a lavender plant for our hosts.
The original plan was to get together with Annie and Michael, chat over a quick lunch, and be on our way. This plan of course completely failed. They had also invited the American family over who were renting their one bedroom in the 14th district for the week, the Parkers. This lunch ended up being an extended conversation about global points of view, and was really fascinating and fun. Here is a view from Annie and Michael's place:
Notre dejeuner s'est tres bien passe, et nous avons meme finalement passe tout l'apres-midi avec nos amis.
We then all jumped on the train to escort the Parkers back to the unit so that they could "check out" and be on their way.
Afterwards we joined Annie and Michael up in that unit for a couple beers and some more chilling. Next thing we knew it was 7:30. Without realising it, we had spent the entire day with them! It was nice to shift our focus from the standard art and architecture tourism to tourism of a more social kind. Plus Annie and Michael are really great!
We then left them watch to the shuttle launch, and we headed over to Isle St. Louis (the smaller of the two islands in the middle of the Seine). On the way over there we found a father and his three kids playing chamber music on the bridge. They were actually really good!
Apres cette apres-midi passee tres agreablement nous sommes alles a l'Ile Saint Louis pour diner la bas. Sur le pont menant a l'ile un pere et ses 3 enfants jouaient de la musique de chambre. C'etait genial!
We ate dinner in a really fun place that came equipped with all you can drink wine kegs and very cool older guy with his guitar singing popular french songs (unlike in the states, absolutely everyone was singing along...even the chinese women who didn't even know the songs!). People were even getting up in the middle of their meals to dance around. Really fun!
Nous avons mange dans un resto appelle "Nos ancetres les Gaulois" ou on va chercher son vin dans les tonneaux, et meme un mec avec sa guitare qui entrainait tout le monde dans des chansons comme des Trenet, Brassens etc (pas comme aux US, tout le monde chantait, meme les vieilles femmes chinoises qui ne connaissaient meme pas les chansons!). Les gens se levaient meme au milieu de leur repas pour danser. Super chouette!
After dinner we took a romantic walk around the Seine (come on...it's our honeymoon after all!), past the Isle de Cité (the other, larger island in the Seine where Notre Dame is), then the Quartier Latin (on the Rue Jacob where Sev's grandmother used to live), and finally found ourselves at the bus stop to go home again. This disctrict is so great and teeming with life and fun.
Apres notre diner nous avons fait une promenade romantique sur la Seine (c'est notre voyage de noce apres tout!), passe l'ile de la Cite, et le Quartier Latin (la rue Jacob ou habitait ma grand mere) pour finalement arriver a notre bus a Saint Michel. Mike etait surpris de l'ambiance du 6eme arrondissement, et trouvait aussi que c'etait un labyrinthe par rapport aux rues droites des US.
After posting the previous posts, we came back home, cooked ourselves some lovely eggplant pasta, cracked a bottle of Bordeaux, and settled in to watch the French soccer team get their asses kicked by Brazil in the world cup quarter finals. France won!!! It was amazing standing on our 10th floor balcony above Paris for that. Talk about an entire city going nuts! Of course, when the screams and whistles and car horns blaring didn't stop hours and hours later, it got a bit tiring (especially when we were trying to fall asleep). It was still great to be here to participate in the celebrations.
Apres l'entree precedente, nous sommes rentres a la "maison", on s'est fait des pates avec une bonne sauce a l'aubergine, un bon petit bordeaux, et nous avons regarde les francais ramolir les bresiliens dans les quarts de final de la coupe du monde. Et ils ont donc gagnes!!! C'etait super de voir les Francais gagner depuis le 9eme etage de notre appartement parisien. Les Parisiens deviennent vraiment malades dans ces cas la! bien sur des cris partout, sifflements, les klaxons des voitures toute la nuit. Super d'etre en France pour ca.
July 2nd, 2006
Today we had plans to have lunch with Nicole's daughter Annie and her husband Michael. We did have some time to kill before getting there, so we decided to go hang out in the Luxembourg park where the Senate is Located. At the park we found another outdoor photography exhibit (there seem to be many of these here in Paris).
Aujourd'hui on est alle dejeune avec la fille de Nicole, Any, et son mari, Michael aussi. D'abord nous sommes alles aux jardins du Luxembourg pour flanner a l'ombre des beaux arbres de la bas et pour voir un peu les petites expos que le senat accueillait.
A high school big band was playing from Wisconsin (of all places) as part of an "Ambassadors of Music" european tour. They were really great!
il y avait un orchestre d'un lycee du Wisconsin (il faut le faire quand meme). Et ils etaient super bons en plus.
We then rested our still very weary bones under some trees for a while before heading off to lunch. It was beautiful and perfect in every way.
We stopped along the way to pick up a lavender plant for our hosts.
The original plan was to get together with Annie and Michael, chat over a quick lunch, and be on our way. This plan of course completely failed. They had also invited the American family over who were renting their one bedroom in the 14th district for the week, the Parkers. This lunch ended up being an extended conversation about global points of view, and was really fascinating and fun. Here is a view from Annie and Michael's place:
Notre dejeuner s'est tres bien passe, et nous avons meme finalement passe tout l'apres-midi avec nos amis.
We then all jumped on the train to escort the Parkers back to the unit so that they could "check out" and be on their way.
Afterwards we joined Annie and Michael up in that unit for a couple beers and some more chilling. Next thing we knew it was 7:30. Without realising it, we had spent the entire day with them! It was nice to shift our focus from the standard art and architecture tourism to tourism of a more social kind. Plus Annie and Michael are really great!
We then left them watch to the shuttle launch, and we headed over to Isle St. Louis (the smaller of the two islands in the middle of the Seine). On the way over there we found a father and his three kids playing chamber music on the bridge. They were actually really good!
Apres cette apres-midi passee tres agreablement nous sommes alles a l'Ile Saint Louis pour diner la bas. Sur le pont menant a l'ile un pere et ses 3 enfants jouaient de la musique de chambre. C'etait genial!
We ate dinner in a really fun place that came equipped with all you can drink wine kegs and very cool older guy with his guitar singing popular french songs (unlike in the states, absolutely everyone was singing along...even the chinese women who didn't even know the songs!). People were even getting up in the middle of their meals to dance around. Really fun!
Nous avons mange dans un resto appelle "Nos ancetres les Gaulois" ou on va chercher son vin dans les tonneaux, et meme un mec avec sa guitare qui entrainait tout le monde dans des chansons comme des Trenet, Brassens etc (pas comme aux US, tout le monde chantait, meme les vieilles femmes chinoises qui ne connaissaient meme pas les chansons!). Les gens se levaient meme au milieu de leur repas pour danser. Super chouette!
After dinner we took a romantic walk around the Seine (come on...it's our honeymoon after all!), past the Isle de Cité (the other, larger island in the Seine where Notre Dame is), then the Quartier Latin (on the Rue Jacob where Sev's grandmother used to live), and finally found ourselves at the bus stop to go home again. This disctrict is so great and teeming with life and fun.
Apres notre diner nous avons fait une promenade romantique sur la Seine (c'est notre voyage de noce apres tout!), passe l'ile de la Cite, et le Quartier Latin (la rue Jacob ou habitait ma grand mere) pour finalement arriver a notre bus a Saint Michel. Mike etait surpris de l'ambiance du 6eme arrondissement, et trouvait aussi que c'etait un labyrinthe par rapport aux rues droites des US.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Uzes to Paris, June 25th to July 1st
June 25th, 2006 (continued)
After all these good pool pictures we went to post on the blog and spent some time in town, then we came back to the house and had diner with Nicole and her children.
The girls were there too... Here are some funny pictures from this.
Apres ces photos de piscine sympas nous sommes alles mettre tout ca en ligne sur le blog, puis nous avons flanne dans la ville.
ensuite diner avec Nicole et ses enfants.
Voila quelques photos marrantes.
June 26th, 2006
Today we went to Avignon. The popes used to live there. They left quite a palace behind where nowadays the huge inside courtyard is used for performances. Avignon is also the host of one of the biggest theater festivals in the world. Summers there are fun because there is always activity and also just because it's beautiful!
Aujourd'hui nous sommes alles a Avignon. Les papes vivaient la bas avant, et ils ont laisse un superbe palais derriere eux.
Avignon a aussi un des festival de theatre les plus connus au monde et les etes sont vraiment tres agreables la bas.
The pope's palace:
After spending a lot of the afternoon in Avignon we went back to Nicole's and found that my old friend, Marie-Pierre, had been waiting for us there with her little 11 months old baby in the hopes of catching us. I hadn't seen her in several years but she's the kind of friend you can live for a while and still feel like you saw her yesterday. I missed her! We met in 8th grade, and now she has 2 kids.... Time goes by fast!
Apres avoir passe l'apres-midi a Avignon nous sommes retourne chez Nicole et avons trouve ma vieille copine Marie Pierre qui nous attendait avec sa petite de 11 mois. Je ne l'avais pas vu depuis plusieurs annees mais c'est le genre de copine qu'on a l'impression d'avoir vu hier meme apres toutes ces annees. Elle m'avait manque! On s'est rencontres en 4eme, et maintenant elle a 2 enfants... Le temps passe vite!
June 27th, 2006
The morning was spent at Marie-Pierre's, in her new house that her and her husband just built. Her and I had some catching up to do so we spent a couple hours chatting.
On a passe la matinee chez Marie-Pierre dans sa nouvelle maison qu'elle a construit avec son mari. On avait beaucoup a se dire pour rattraper le temps, donc on a passe 2 heures ensemble.
After the girl chat session Mike and I took off and went to explore a very old medieval village perched in the hills, called Les Baux de Provence. Had lunch there and melted until we took the road again to go to my cousin's.
Apres cette sceance de papotages feminins, Mike et moi somme alles explorer le village medieval des Baux de Provence. Dejeuner la bas, puis apres avoir fondu nous avons reprit la route pour aller chez ma cousine.
My cousin Christiane. Well actually she is my dad's first cousin. They haven't seen each other in 48 years. She's a traveler too, so it was hard to keep in touch especially that the two families weren't the closest, but also especially because my dad and his family lived very far, in Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, which at the time wasn't a place you left very often, especially not to come back to Europe (it took quite a while by boat to get there).
Anyway we just found her again, and she just so happens to live in the south of France...not too far from Avignon as a matter of fact.
So Mike and I went to test the waters and meet her and her family.
It was a very nice afternoon, we cracked open the champagne, and had a really nice time meeting close family for the first time!
Ma cousine Christiane, enfin c'est la cousine germaine de mon pere. Ils ne se sont pas vus depuis 48 ans.Mais comme c'est une voyageuse aussi, ils ne risquaient pas de ne pas se perdre de vue... Et comme mon pere habitait la Reunion quand ils se connaissaient toujours, ce n'etait pas si evident que ca de revenir en Europe a cette epoque la.
Enfin, nous sommes donc alles les rencontrer car ils habitent a cote d'Avignon.
Nous avons passes une tres bonne apres-midi, au champagne, et en tres bonne companie!
We then had our last dinner in Uzes with Nicole who made one of my favorite of hers, an eggplant caviar... hmmmm.
Puis nous avons dine avec Nicole pour notre derniere soiree pour laquelle elle m'a fait un de mes plats preferes, un caviar d'aubergine.. hmmmm...
One of the trees on our property:
Une photo de chene:
Nicole and I:
Mamie Nicolette et moi:
June 28th, 2006
After a morning of packing, getting last minute things in Uzes, unexpectedly seeing Marie-Pierre again to say good bye, and a sad good bye to Uzes, we were in a plane to Paris.
Apres une matinee de valises, chercher des trucs a Uzes de dernieres minutes, voir Marie-Pierre par surprise pour dire aurevoir, et dire aurevoir a Uzes, nous etions dans un avion pour Paris.
Fast flight, it's only about an hour and a half. Then the taxi ride was a lot longer, it took us about 2 hours to get to our destination (Porte d'Orleans) and a lot of Euros spent on that one ride... GGRRRR
There are apparently some works in motion to build a tramway on the surrounding boulevard... once again GGRRR!
Un vol rapide, ca prend a peu pres une heure et demi. Puis le taxi a ete beaucoup plus long, ca nous a prit a plus de 2 heures pour arriver a la Porte d'Orleans, et trop d''Euros... GGRRRR
Il y a des travaux pour mettre un tramway sur le boulevard Marechal... encore une fois... GGRRRRR!
We took it slowly, went to a restaurant close by and came back to the apartment my parents' friends are lending us.
On a bulle, mange dans un resto pas loin, puis on est revenu a l'appart que les copains de mes parents nous prete.
June 29th, 2006
Louvre day.
That's right, we went to the Louvre. It's such a beautiful museum! We also got lucky there was no line. There were a ton of people inside, but no line to get in! That's unsual!
So Mike had to see the basics, we went to see the Mona Lisa, and the other 3 Da Vinci paintings, of which the John the Baptist is my favorite!
Then we also looked at the Venus de Milo, other Greek and Roman sculptures, and finally I showed him my favorite part of the palace which is the Egyptian wing where there is also the ruins of the medieval castle of the Louvre.
This is written fast but it took us a while to visit all of it! Of course we had a blast!
Le jour du Louvre.
Et oui, aujourd'hui nous sommes alles au Louvre. C'est un musee tellement beau! ET on etait chanceux, il n 'y avait pas de queue! Il y avait une foule incroyable a l'interieure, mais pas de queue pour rentrer, ce qui est assez peu commun!
Donc Mike devait voir les choses de bases, la Joconde, et les 3 autres de De Vinci, mon prefere etant le Saint Jean-Batiste.
Puis Venus de Milo, et enfin je lui ait montre mon cote prefere du Louvre qui est evidemment le departement Egyptien, a cote duquel il y a aussi l'histoire du Louvre avec des vestiges du vieux chateau du Louvre medieval.
That was a lot of walking, great, but painful. Still we walked in the gardens (jardin des Tuileries) and headed back to Saint Michel to have an iced tea and go back to homebase because we thought Argentina was playing tonight, but it's tomorrow.. oh well.
We passed by the Bouquinistes, on the Quai (on the edge of the river there are boxes that have been there for decades, and the concept is centuries old, but these boxes contain books and souvenirs that these generally older people sell right out of them.)
We shopped for a few groceries, some pastries, and now we're contemplating going out for dinner, perhaps in the Quartier Latin.
Alors on a beaucoup marche, super, mais ca fait mal. Quand meme, on est alles aux jardins des Tuileries, puis de retour a Saint Michel en passant par les bouquinistes. On a cru que l'Argentine jouait ce soir donc on a prit le metro pour rentrer prendre des petites courses pour manger, mais en fait le match est demain... oh well.
On va surement aller manger dans le Quartier Latin maintenant.
June 29th, 2006
After writing the previous entry we left to go eat at a restaurant called Polidor, in the heart of the Quartier Latin. This restaurant is one of the places where artists and philosophers from the after war era used to gather in.
It was very good, great vibe, I just love that part of Paris that is still a little funky!
We also had a "digestif" at the Rhumerie...
Apres avoir ecrit l'entree precedente nous sommes alles manger a Polidor dans le Quartier Latin. Un des restos des artistes comme Boris Vian y passaient du temps. C'etait tres bon, super ambiance, et j'adore cet aspect de Paris qui garde toujours de son authenticite!
On est aussi alle prendre un punch a la Rhumerie pour faire honneur a ma grand mere qui aimait bien aller boir son punch au lait chaud!
June 30th, 2006
Today was Versailles day! It's gotta be the most beautiful castle on Earth...
We went everywhere we could inside, the King's apartments, State apartements, Queen apartments, The first son's apartments etc etc...
We also went to the Grand Trianon which was a sort of an intimate country residence for Louis XIV and later was used for several other purposes under Louis Philippe and even was a residence for the General de Gaulle...
AUjourd'hui c'est Versailles! Ca doit etre le chateaux le plus beau au monde... Nous sommes alles partout a l'interieur, les appartements du Roi, de la Reine, du grand Dauphin etc etc... Nous sommes aussi alles au Grand Trianon, qui etait donc une sorte de residence intime pour Louis XIV et puis plus tard utilises pour different raisons par Louis Philippe et meme le General de Gaulle...
Then we did the Petit Trianon which as most of the people who already saw the latest Sofia Copolla movie probably knkow already, was a hiding place for Marie Antoinette (we didn't see the movie yet! hope it's good!).
We followed by the gardens of the same woman, who liked to play farm!!! These gardens have not been open to the public until very recently, so we got very lucky.... except our feet didn't since we barely could go back to the main castle!
Ensuite nous avons fait le Petit Trianon qui etait comme beaucoup le savent (grace au dernier film de Sofia Copolla que nous n'avons toujours pas vu!) un endroit ou Marie Antoinette aimait se cacher. Nous avons fait aussi les hameaux de la Reine qui n'etait pas ouvert au public jusqu'a tres recemment, donc on a ete chanceux... mais pas nos pieds puisque nous avons eu beaucoup de mal a rentrer au chateau!
We were so exhausted from walking so heavily that we came home, went to a nearby restaurant to eat a quick pizza, got some pastries and went home to finally take a shower, and rest our swollen feet.
Nous etions tellement nazes apres avoir marche autant que nous sommes rentres, mange une pizza vite fait, puis quelques gateaux, et finallement une douche bien meritee suivie d'un repos de nos pauvres pieds tout gonfles.
July 1st, 2006
Ahhh, what a good night will do! We slept in today, we really needed it after yesterday's adventures!
Ahhh, ce qu'une bonne nuit peut faire! Nous avons fait la grasse matinee aujourd'hui, et en avions bien besoin apres les aventures d'hier!
We went to Notre Dame de Paris and spent a little bit there, just admiring.
Nous sommes alles a Notre Dame et avons passe un bout de temps la bas a admirer...
Then we just roamed around, found one of the big department stores of Paris called the BHV, and there were sales, so of course we went in because everything seems so cool to us here!
Puis nous avons barule un peu, trouve les soldes du BHV donc evidemment il a fallu y aller car ici tout nous parait genial!
Lunch at a creperie that had a basement like they do in Paris, with the old stones and the bathroom down there.
Dejeuner dans une creperie, ou ils avaient un de ces sous sols comme ils ont a Paris, avec des vieilles pierres et les toilettes en bas.
More roaming and we finally just came back to the home base to finish the entry and now we're going to take the laptop to the cyber near by and post this nonsense!
Plus de barulage, puis nous sommes rentres a l'appart pour finir cette entree et on va repartir avec le laptop au cyber pour charger toutes ces betises!
Tonight is Soccer, France against Brasil... we'll be making some fancy pasta at home and watch that from here, so we'll see who wins! Hope everyone has fun watching it!!!
Ce soir c'est France contre Bresil pour la coupe du monde... on va se faire des pates et le regarder a la maison, on verra qui va gagner! On espere que tout le monde va bien s'amuser a le regarder!!!
This car has been parked like this since we arrived, no ticket...
Cette voiture est garee comme ca depuis qu'on est arrives, pas de PV...
Oh, and I'm a girl!
oh, et je suis vraiment une fifille!! hihihihi
After all these good pool pictures we went to post on the blog and spent some time in town, then we came back to the house and had diner with Nicole and her children.
The girls were there too... Here are some funny pictures from this.
Apres ces photos de piscine sympas nous sommes alles mettre tout ca en ligne sur le blog, puis nous avons flanne dans la ville.
ensuite diner avec Nicole et ses enfants.
Voila quelques photos marrantes.
June 26th, 2006
Today we went to Avignon. The popes used to live there. They left quite a palace behind where nowadays the huge inside courtyard is used for performances. Avignon is also the host of one of the biggest theater festivals in the world. Summers there are fun because there is always activity and also just because it's beautiful!
Aujourd'hui nous sommes alles a Avignon. Les papes vivaient la bas avant, et ils ont laisse un superbe palais derriere eux.
Avignon a aussi un des festival de theatre les plus connus au monde et les etes sont vraiment tres agreables la bas.
The pope's palace:
After spending a lot of the afternoon in Avignon we went back to Nicole's and found that my old friend, Marie-Pierre, had been waiting for us there with her little 11 months old baby in the hopes of catching us. I hadn't seen her in several years but she's the kind of friend you can live for a while and still feel like you saw her yesterday. I missed her! We met in 8th grade, and now she has 2 kids.... Time goes by fast!
Apres avoir passe l'apres-midi a Avignon nous sommes retourne chez Nicole et avons trouve ma vieille copine Marie Pierre qui nous attendait avec sa petite de 11 mois. Je ne l'avais pas vu depuis plusieurs annees mais c'est le genre de copine qu'on a l'impression d'avoir vu hier meme apres toutes ces annees. Elle m'avait manque! On s'est rencontres en 4eme, et maintenant elle a 2 enfants... Le temps passe vite!
June 27th, 2006
The morning was spent at Marie-Pierre's, in her new house that her and her husband just built. Her and I had some catching up to do so we spent a couple hours chatting.
On a passe la matinee chez Marie-Pierre dans sa nouvelle maison qu'elle a construit avec son mari. On avait beaucoup a se dire pour rattraper le temps, donc on a passe 2 heures ensemble.
After the girl chat session Mike and I took off and went to explore a very old medieval village perched in the hills, called Les Baux de Provence. Had lunch there and melted until we took the road again to go to my cousin's.
Apres cette sceance de papotages feminins, Mike et moi somme alles explorer le village medieval des Baux de Provence. Dejeuner la bas, puis apres avoir fondu nous avons reprit la route pour aller chez ma cousine.
My cousin Christiane. Well actually she is my dad's first cousin. They haven't seen each other in 48 years. She's a traveler too, so it was hard to keep in touch especially that the two families weren't the closest, but also especially because my dad and his family lived very far, in Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, which at the time wasn't a place you left very often, especially not to come back to Europe (it took quite a while by boat to get there).
Anyway we just found her again, and she just so happens to live in the south of France...not too far from Avignon as a matter of fact.
So Mike and I went to test the waters and meet her and her family.
It was a very nice afternoon, we cracked open the champagne, and had a really nice time meeting close family for the first time!
Ma cousine Christiane, enfin c'est la cousine germaine de mon pere. Ils ne se sont pas vus depuis 48 ans.Mais comme c'est une voyageuse aussi, ils ne risquaient pas de ne pas se perdre de vue... Et comme mon pere habitait la Reunion quand ils se connaissaient toujours, ce n'etait pas si evident que ca de revenir en Europe a cette epoque la.
Enfin, nous sommes donc alles les rencontrer car ils habitent a cote d'Avignon.
Nous avons passes une tres bonne apres-midi, au champagne, et en tres bonne companie!
We then had our last dinner in Uzes with Nicole who made one of my favorite of hers, an eggplant caviar... hmmmm.
Puis nous avons dine avec Nicole pour notre derniere soiree pour laquelle elle m'a fait un de mes plats preferes, un caviar d'aubergine.. hmmmm...
One of the trees on our property:
Une photo de chene:
Nicole and I:Mamie Nicolette et moi:
June 28th, 2006
After a morning of packing, getting last minute things in Uzes, unexpectedly seeing Marie-Pierre again to say good bye, and a sad good bye to Uzes, we were in a plane to Paris.
Apres une matinee de valises, chercher des trucs a Uzes de dernieres minutes, voir Marie-Pierre par surprise pour dire aurevoir, et dire aurevoir a Uzes, nous etions dans un avion pour Paris.
Fast flight, it's only about an hour and a half. Then the taxi ride was a lot longer, it took us about 2 hours to get to our destination (Porte d'Orleans) and a lot of Euros spent on that one ride... GGRRRR
There are apparently some works in motion to build a tramway on the surrounding boulevard... once again GGRRR!
Un vol rapide, ca prend a peu pres une heure et demi. Puis le taxi a ete beaucoup plus long, ca nous a prit a plus de 2 heures pour arriver a la Porte d'Orleans, et trop d''Euros... GGRRRR
Il y a des travaux pour mettre un tramway sur le boulevard Marechal... encore une fois... GGRRRRR!
We took it slowly, went to a restaurant close by and came back to the apartment my parents' friends are lending us.
On a bulle, mange dans un resto pas loin, puis on est revenu a l'appart que les copains de mes parents nous prete.
June 29th, 2006
Louvre day.
That's right, we went to the Louvre. It's such a beautiful museum! We also got lucky there was no line. There were a ton of people inside, but no line to get in! That's unsual!
So Mike had to see the basics, we went to see the Mona Lisa, and the other 3 Da Vinci paintings, of which the John the Baptist is my favorite!
Then we also looked at the Venus de Milo, other Greek and Roman sculptures, and finally I showed him my favorite part of the palace which is the Egyptian wing where there is also the ruins of the medieval castle of the Louvre.
This is written fast but it took us a while to visit all of it! Of course we had a blast!
Le jour du Louvre.
Et oui, aujourd'hui nous sommes alles au Louvre. C'est un musee tellement beau! ET on etait chanceux, il n 'y avait pas de queue! Il y avait une foule incroyable a l'interieure, mais pas de queue pour rentrer, ce qui est assez peu commun!
Donc Mike devait voir les choses de bases, la Joconde, et les 3 autres de De Vinci, mon prefere etant le Saint Jean-Batiste.
Puis Venus de Milo, et enfin je lui ait montre mon cote prefere du Louvre qui est evidemment le departement Egyptien, a cote duquel il y a aussi l'histoire du Louvre avec des vestiges du vieux chateau du Louvre medieval.
That was a lot of walking, great, but painful. Still we walked in the gardens (jardin des Tuileries) and headed back to Saint Michel to have an iced tea and go back to homebase because we thought Argentina was playing tonight, but it's tomorrow.. oh well.
We passed by the Bouquinistes, on the Quai (on the edge of the river there are boxes that have been there for decades, and the concept is centuries old, but these boxes contain books and souvenirs that these generally older people sell right out of them.)
We shopped for a few groceries, some pastries, and now we're contemplating going out for dinner, perhaps in the Quartier Latin.
Alors on a beaucoup marche, super, mais ca fait mal. Quand meme, on est alles aux jardins des Tuileries, puis de retour a Saint Michel en passant par les bouquinistes. On a cru que l'Argentine jouait ce soir donc on a prit le metro pour rentrer prendre des petites courses pour manger, mais en fait le match est demain... oh well.
On va surement aller manger dans le Quartier Latin maintenant.
June 29th, 2006
After writing the previous entry we left to go eat at a restaurant called Polidor, in the heart of the Quartier Latin. This restaurant is one of the places where artists and philosophers from the after war era used to gather in.
It was very good, great vibe, I just love that part of Paris that is still a little funky!
We also had a "digestif" at the Rhumerie...
Apres avoir ecrit l'entree precedente nous sommes alles manger a Polidor dans le Quartier Latin. Un des restos des artistes comme Boris Vian y passaient du temps. C'etait tres bon, super ambiance, et j'adore cet aspect de Paris qui garde toujours de son authenticite!
On est aussi alle prendre un punch a la Rhumerie pour faire honneur a ma grand mere qui aimait bien aller boir son punch au lait chaud!
June 30th, 2006
Today was Versailles day! It's gotta be the most beautiful castle on Earth...
We went everywhere we could inside, the King's apartments, State apartements, Queen apartments, The first son's apartments etc etc...
We also went to the Grand Trianon which was a sort of an intimate country residence for Louis XIV and later was used for several other purposes under Louis Philippe and even was a residence for the General de Gaulle...
AUjourd'hui c'est Versailles! Ca doit etre le chateaux le plus beau au monde... Nous sommes alles partout a l'interieur, les appartements du Roi, de la Reine, du grand Dauphin etc etc... Nous sommes aussi alles au Grand Trianon, qui etait donc une sorte de residence intime pour Louis XIV et puis plus tard utilises pour different raisons par Louis Philippe et meme le General de Gaulle...
Then we did the Petit Trianon which as most of the people who already saw the latest Sofia Copolla movie probably knkow already, was a hiding place for Marie Antoinette (we didn't see the movie yet! hope it's good!).
We followed by the gardens of the same woman, who liked to play farm!!! These gardens have not been open to the public until very recently, so we got very lucky.... except our feet didn't since we barely could go back to the main castle!
Ensuite nous avons fait le Petit Trianon qui etait comme beaucoup le savent (grace au dernier film de Sofia Copolla que nous n'avons toujours pas vu!) un endroit ou Marie Antoinette aimait se cacher. Nous avons fait aussi les hameaux de la Reine qui n'etait pas ouvert au public jusqu'a tres recemment, donc on a ete chanceux... mais pas nos pieds puisque nous avons eu beaucoup de mal a rentrer au chateau!
We were so exhausted from walking so heavily that we came home, went to a nearby restaurant to eat a quick pizza, got some pastries and went home to finally take a shower, and rest our swollen feet.
Nous etions tellement nazes apres avoir marche autant que nous sommes rentres, mange une pizza vite fait, puis quelques gateaux, et finallement une douche bien meritee suivie d'un repos de nos pauvres pieds tout gonfles.
July 1st, 2006
Ahhh, what a good night will do! We slept in today, we really needed it after yesterday's adventures!
Ahhh, ce qu'une bonne nuit peut faire! Nous avons fait la grasse matinee aujourd'hui, et en avions bien besoin apres les aventures d'hier!
We went to Notre Dame de Paris and spent a little bit there, just admiring.
Nous sommes alles a Notre Dame et avons passe un bout de temps la bas a admirer...
Then we just roamed around, found one of the big department stores of Paris called the BHV, and there were sales, so of course we went in because everything seems so cool to us here!
Puis nous avons barule un peu, trouve les soldes du BHV donc evidemment il a fallu y aller car ici tout nous parait genial!
Lunch at a creperie that had a basement like they do in Paris, with the old stones and the bathroom down there.
Dejeuner dans une creperie, ou ils avaient un de ces sous sols comme ils ont a Paris, avec des vieilles pierres et les toilettes en bas.
More roaming and we finally just came back to the home base to finish the entry and now we're going to take the laptop to the cyber near by and post this nonsense!
Plus de barulage, puis nous sommes rentres a l'appart pour finir cette entree et on va repartir avec le laptop au cyber pour charger toutes ces betises!
Tonight is Soccer, France against Brasil... we'll be making some fancy pasta at home and watch that from here, so we'll see who wins! Hope everyone has fun watching it!!!
Ce soir c'est France contre Bresil pour la coupe du monde... on va se faire des pates et le regarder a la maison, on verra qui va gagner! On espere que tout le monde va bien s'amuser a le regarder!!!
This car has been parked like this since we arrived, no ticket...
Cette voiture est garee comme ca depuis qu'on est arrives, pas de PV...
Oh, and I'm a girl!
oh, et je suis vraiment une fifille!! hihihihi
