cultural outings and good food
This is the second week of my winter holiday. The plus is that I'm not working while the kids are with their grandparents. The minus is that I'm not paid either. Luckily I did some extra baby-sitting Saturday night for a good chunk of change.
I have a bad habit of treating all of Paris like a large library, just changing locations of where I read. I need to work on that.
Friday afternoon I went to Starbucks, read a bit, went to the library, read a bit, and then realized I ran out of time to visit L'Orangerie. Friday evening Amelia and I met up with her cousin and her cousin's friend. We went to Sacre Coeur--gorgeous, with a gorgeous view. Chantal then met up with us, and the five of us had dinner.
Saturday afternoon, Chantal and I had lunch at my favorite pizza place in the Marais district. Then we went to the Louvre. We did kind of a hasty visit. The place is huge, and I've been twice before. We lingered over some paintings, but I was eager to see Napoleon's apartments, because they were new for me. Very enjoyable. After the Louvre, we bought gelato near the Centre Pompidou (mine was in the shape of a rose!) and then enjoyed a show by a street performer. It's not that he was insanely talented or anything--jugglers on unicycles are a dime a dozen--but he was so funny and engaging, in French and in English.
Yesterday, I had lunch with Stu. Beccy is in India right now, so I decided it was only charitable of me to visit my poor lonely cousin. :) We had pierrade, another first for me. It's like fondue in that you cook lots of little pieces of meat, but instead of in a pot, on a large heated stone. We had tuna, steak, scallops, onions, peppers, sweet potatoes, and one other vegetable that escapes my memory at the moment. I also tried sashimi for the first time with the tuna. It was surprisingly delicious! My tastes have become more and more adventurous since moving to France. First oysters, now raw tuna. Oh, and the onions, which have never really been my thing either. As always, I had fun. I love cooking and learning new things, and it's easy to talk to Stu, and he tells interesting stories too. I hope to be able to see their house in Brittany while I'm here. I'm crossing my fingers that it could work out during Easter break, but we'll see. It's just a short holiday.
Today I have done absolutely nothing, but I'm going to see if Chantal wants to do something tomorrow, like L'Orangerie.
I have a bad habit of treating all of Paris like a large library, just changing locations of where I read. I need to work on that.
Friday afternoon I went to Starbucks, read a bit, went to the library, read a bit, and then realized I ran out of time to visit L'Orangerie. Friday evening Amelia and I met up with her cousin and her cousin's friend. We went to Sacre Coeur--gorgeous, with a gorgeous view. Chantal then met up with us, and the five of us had dinner.
Saturday afternoon, Chantal and I had lunch at my favorite pizza place in the Marais district. Then we went to the Louvre. We did kind of a hasty visit. The place is huge, and I've been twice before. We lingered over some paintings, but I was eager to see Napoleon's apartments, because they were new for me. Very enjoyable. After the Louvre, we bought gelato near the Centre Pompidou (mine was in the shape of a rose!) and then enjoyed a show by a street performer. It's not that he was insanely talented or anything--jugglers on unicycles are a dime a dozen--but he was so funny and engaging, in French and in English.
Yesterday, I had lunch with Stu. Beccy is in India right now, so I decided it was only charitable of me to visit my poor lonely cousin. :) We had pierrade, another first for me. It's like fondue in that you cook lots of little pieces of meat, but instead of in a pot, on a large heated stone. We had tuna, steak, scallops, onions, peppers, sweet potatoes, and one other vegetable that escapes my memory at the moment. I also tried sashimi for the first time with the tuna. It was surprisingly delicious! My tastes have become more and more adventurous since moving to France. First oysters, now raw tuna. Oh, and the onions, which have never really been my thing either. As always, I had fun. I love cooking and learning new things, and it's easy to talk to Stu, and he tells interesting stories too. I hope to be able to see their house in Brittany while I'm here. I'm crossing my fingers that it could work out during Easter break, but we'll see. It's just a short holiday.
Today I have done absolutely nothing, but I'm going to see if Chantal wants to do something tomorrow, like L'Orangerie.