Un petit monde...

I recently began work as a volunteer doing PR and editing work for MESSAGE, the English-speaking mothers' group I mention all the time as my constant resource. The reason we've gotten so much out of our stay here in Paris is because of this wonderful support network of 1500+ English-speaking parents in and around Paris. Through MESSAGE, I can post questions and get instant advice about anything related to living in Paris, feeding Emmett, where to find XYZ. Best of all, I've had the privilege of meeting and bonding with mothers from such countries as England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, South Africa, Canada, and the U.S. I feel like I've lived such a sheltered life.

Anyway, last night I attended a PR committee meeting at someone's house where ten of us had dinner and talked. The woman sitting across from me, Cathy, reminded me of someone and I grappled with who it was on and off throughout the night. Her manner of speaking, the inflections of her voice, her mannerisms... I finally realized she reminded me of my first piano teacher in Berlin, Wisconsin named Mrs. Swan.

Background: Berlin (pronounced BER-lin) is a tiny rural farm town of about 5,000 where I lived for 12 years. I loved growing up there and I had a hard time moving to California when I was 13, even though I had relatives there and visited about once a year.

Back to Paris: As we were all bundling up to leave at around midnight to catch the last metro, Cathy turned to me and asked me where I'm from. She told me that she has been living in Paris for 7 years. She married a Frenchman and has twin 4 year-old boys, but most recently lived in Chicago and grew up in Wisconsin.

L: "Really? I grew up in Wisconsin, too... near Oshkosh."
C: "So did I!!" ... (our mouths dropped open when we realized that we're both from Berlin)
L: "You remind me so much of my piano teacher, Mrs. Swan."
C: "My mom is a piano teacher! I'm her daughter, Cathy! I remember you now -- she used to talk about you all the time."

We were dumbfounded and yet ecstatic to have found each other. If I hadn't come to this meeting, if I hadn't been standing where I was standing, if Cathy hadn't struck up a conversation with me or mentioned that she's from Wisconsin....

Needless to say, I hope to be back in touch with Mrs. Swan very soon. I saw her last in 2001 when she came to Oakland to attend her son's wedding and apparently she visits the Bay Area at least once a year, so I hope we'll see each other on her next visit. I felt instantly comfortable with Cathy, whom I vaguely remember seeing at her house when I was younger (Cathy was probably in high school when I was in elementary school.) On the metro ride home, Cathy and I talked nonstop about friends we have in common, including a family that is very close to both of our families, the Field's. These are photos taken during our visit to Berlin in 2002 -- David's first visit to Wisconsin -- when we stayed with the Field's in their home that has been designated as a historic landmark. We used to have Thanksgiving dinner at their house each year.

Emmett's First Hair Cut

You've probably noticed that Emmett's hair has been getting really long. He's been sporting tails in the back for quite some time and his sideburns have really been in need of a trim. After Lynna did some research on the MESSAGE website for places to take little ones for a hair cut, she found Coup' Kid, a hair salon just for infants and children. On my day off from school, we decided to take Emmett in for his very first haircut at this hair salon in Paris.

Coup' Kid is located in a little plaza of toy stores in the 8th arrondissement on Boulevard des Italiens. When we opened the door to the shop, we were immediately greeted by one woman and noticed that there was a middle-aged man getting a haircut by the lone hairstylist. Why a grown man was getting a haircut in a hair salon for kids was beyond us.

While she finished with the gentleman's hair, we played in the play area filled with toys. When it wa our turn, the receptionist gently placed Emmett into a very comfortable and tall chair, strapped him in and put a shoulder cape around his neck. She also hit the "play" button on the DVD player and a Teletubbies episode (in French) started playing on the small TV screen in front of Emmett. She then spritzed his hair with a little bit of water and the hair stylist got down to business.

While I was videotaping the whole experience for posterity, Emmett was entranced by the Teletubbies show and didn't seem to mind that the hair stylist (whose name we later found out was Sandrine) was busily snipping away at his hair with a very light and deft touch. He wiggled in the chair a couple of times to try and see what she was doing, but he would quickly turn his attention back to the television screen.

Sandrine worked quickly, starting on Emmett's right side, moving towards the back and then on his left side. Then she trimmed the front and top -- Lynna and I were both afraid she'd cut his hair too short and that he'd look naughty afterwards. When she was done cutting, she used a blow-dryer to get the hair off of him, dry his still damp hair and style his new "do". The hair dryer must have scared him a it because he actually started to cry until she was done.

Soon enough, he settled down again and was his happy little self. Emmett also received a "Certificat de ma première coupe" with a little bunch of his hair (about an inch long) taped on. Overall, it was a fun experience and Emmett did a great job sitting still even if he was watching Teletubbies. Here are the results of his first ever hair cut -- we think he looks pretty handsome, even if those ears do seem to stick out even more now!

Allo? Anyone there?

Emmett mostly plays in our living room where he can crawl all over the hardwood floor and pull himself up to standing on various pieces of furniture. Most of his "toys" are on the floor in the middle of the room on a blanket. One toy that he's taken to is a small Tefal telephone. He likes to pick it up, examine it and then bang it on the floor or throw it. But today, it seemed like he actually figured out its function. All by himself, he picked it up, tried to hold it to his ear and started talking. What a silly little guy.

Bon Dimanche

We had many things to celebrate on Sunday: the end of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, our first snowfall and a brief respite of a couple weeks until our next visitors. After a Saturday of light snow on and off throughout the day, we woke up to blue skies and puffy white clouds. Emmett had been under the weather this past week, so we'd kept him indoors since Monday. We figured it was time to give him some fresh air, so we bundled him up in 5 layers and two hats and set out.

We started the day with our usual Sunday ritual of going to our favorite outdoor market near our apartment, the Richard-Lenoir marché. Located near Place de la Bastille, it is one of Paris's biggest and best outdoor markets with over 200 merchants. It is a riot of smells, colors, and sounds and we've always loved it. In the past couple months, I've found my favorite seller of fruits and vegetables (always a huge line, but always the sweetest, freshest produce); my favorite fromager whose not only patient with my French, but warm and gracious each time we see each other; a terrific stand that carries only mushrooms and herbs; and the only pâtisserière in the entire market who sells beautiful tarts, cakes, and pastries.

For David, no Sunday is complete without chichis (churros). For me, no visit to the market is complete without a stop at the Jacky Lorenzo seafood stall.

Did I ever tell you that I buy all my seafood from Tom Cruise? We buy seafood from him twice a week and try not to make it look too obvious that I'm there to not just ogle the fruits de mer (seafood).

Since we share a common passion for ice cream, a celebration in Paris must include a trip to Berthillon, known to many ice cream lovers as the best ice cream in the world. It is certainly Paris's most famous ice cream.

Berthillon is located on the l'Ile-St.-Louis, a little island within the city of Paris surrounded by the Seine River and accessible by several bridges; it is a leisurely 20-minute walk from our apartment. Instead of getting ice cream cones to-go this time, we decided to sit in their salon de thé and enjoy a more leisurely treat. The three of us were seated next to a friendly woman and her 13-year old daughter with whom I practiced my French and they practiced their English. Emmett, (le petit jambon) smiled and played peek-a-boo with them...until our desserts arrived and then he was all business.

David had a Vacherin: one scoop each of framboise (raspberry) sorbet and chocolate ice cream with raspberry sauce, créme Chantilly, and meringues. I had three little scoops of ice cream -- chocolat, caramel au beurre salé (caramel of salted butter), and marron glacé (candied chestnut) -- with a tiny pot of warmed chocolate sauce. (The caramel ice cream was my favorite of the trio.)

Even Emmett got to enjoy a treat on this special day: a thick slice of pain perdu ("lost bread", a.k.a. French toast). It was, by far, the best French toast I have ever tasted: a thick slice of brioche bread that had been dipped in a mixture of egg, vanilla, and sugar and then pan-fried until caramelized and buttery. Emmett required no coaxing whatsoever to open his mouth wide for the warm chunks of lightly sweet toast.

Berthillon
31, rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile (4th arr.)

Now He's Really French

This post is for Aunties Jen C. and Joyce B-Y who have each prodded us to find a beret for Emmett. When we first arrived in Paris, we searched in vain for a baby-sized beret. Whenever we were out and about, we checked in department stores, outdoor market stalls, upscale children's boutiques, hat shops and had no luck. When David's mom visited, we told her about our quest and of course, she managed to find one immediately at a little shop in Montmartre after seeing Sacre Couer.

Here you are, Aunties!

We've had the beret for three weeks and it's taken us this long to take a picture of Emmett where he's looking even moderately unhappy. He *hates* wearing the beret and tears it off his head the instant we put it on. For the sake of "journalistic integrity", I'm posting his usual reaction to the beret:

If Emmett could speak French: "Je déteste le béret!"

SNOW!!!

We had our first snow of the year here in Paris today. When we woke up this morning it was coming down lightly, but Lynna's parents told me that it was snowing a lot harder earlier in the morning. After about 15 minutes of small snow flurries, the snowflakes started to get bigger. But the ground wasn't cold enough for any of the snow to really build up -- it pretty much melted immediately.

I think it's a bit unusual for it to snow here this early in the winter. When I was working in Paris in December 1998, it snowed quite a bit and everyone at that time told me it was unusual. Luckily there isn't much rain or snow forecast for the next week or so. It was fun to watch the snow coming down this morning, especially for us Californians. Here are a couple of pictures from our apartment window and from the front gate of our apartment complex. The last one looks a lot worse than it really was.

Happy 1st Birthday, Emmett!!

My parents came to stay with us for an 8-day visit, just in time to celebrate Emmett's first birthday. Before they arrived this afternoon, David, Emmett, and I made a short trip to La Maison du Chocolat, one of our favorite chocolate shops. David chose the chocolatier as a topic to research and write about for his Consumer Knowledge class, so we asked for permission to take a few photos and ask questions. The staff was very warm and gracious with our requests. Incidentally, the store was filled with mostly Japanese tourists.

Here are some photos that hopefully convey the warmth and elegance of the store.

After our our visit, we trekked up to the tiny village of Montmartre to go to Pâtisserie Arnaud Larher, recommended personally to me by David Lebovitz.

The little jewelbox of a shop exceeded our expectations... it practically glowed. The storefront is a deep red and warm orange, the interior is the color of warm butter; and the perfectly placed spotlights made the desserts sparkle! Fortunately, we were the only customers in the little shop for a while, so we were able to take our time asking questions and selecting our cakes.

Our intention had been to buy one little cake for Emmett and a bigger one for us 4 adults to share, but after seeing the tremendous varieties of cakes and not being able to make a decision, we decided to buy 5 little cakes instead.

La Maison du Chocolat
Multiple locations in Paris, one in Tokyo, and one in NY

Pâtisserie Arnaud Larher
53 rue Caulaincourt (18th arr.)


For dinner that night, I made a braised beef recipe from one of Patricia Wells' cookbooks that calls for two full bottles of red wine (!!). Emmett had petits pois et cuisse de canard (baby peas and duck leg), spinach, carrots and whole wheat bread.

After dinner, we used video conferencing technology from SightSpeed and thanks to the wonders of technology and the internet, David's parents were not only able to sing Emmett happy birthday from over 5,000 miles away, but they watched him devour his birthday cake, too! Emmett was lucky to have all four grandparents watch him enjoy his first birthday cake -- the Coquelícot -- raspberry genoise, raspberry mousse, red berry gelée enveloped in a white cake.








Thanks to all of you who remembered his birthday! It meant the world to us to receive your warm greetings. What a fortunate baby he is to have so many people who love him.

Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived indeed!

Here is a sampling of all the posters we've come across around the city, each advertising a different makers' Beaujolais. Like the wine, each poster has its own unique character.

Just a Really Nice Picture of Paris

Anabel watched Emmett this afternoon while Lynna and I headed out to do some shopping. Along the way, we came upon the Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge across the Seine, just west of Pont Neuf and the Ile-de-St. Louis. Lynna took this most excellent photograph just as the sun was starting to set behind us; it pretty much sums up Paris for both of us: simply beautiful.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrivé!!!

It's the third Thursday in November and that can mean only one thing in France: Beaujolais Nouveau. (For more information on Beaujolais Nouveau, click here or check out the website for the Beaujolais region in France.) To celebrate the arrival of this very drinkable wine, we decided to try out the restaurant across the street from our apartment called "Le Vin de Zinc". They had a special "Beaujolais Nouveau" menu for lunch so we packed up Emmett and his booster chair and headed over.

Our landlady told us that this place was probably the best restaurant on the block, but it's taken us awhile to actually try it out. We were pleasantly surprised with the food. They have a set menu where you can choose one of two entrées, one of two plats (main dish) and one of two desserts. We decided to try each of the appetizers and main dishes and then ordered just one of the desserts.

For starters, Lynna had the salade de pót au feu (beef stew with vegetables) and I had the terrine de lièvre (wild hare paté with cornichons and caramelized onion confit) -- both were very good. For our main dishes, Lynna had the petit sále aux lentilles (salted pork with lentil beans) and I had the poitrine de veau (veal chest--sort of like bacon) which came with stewed parsnips. For dessert, we shared the entremet au chocolat, a chocolate dessert that was between a chocolate mousse and chocolate cake. You can see that Emmett wasn't too happy about not being able to share in our dessert.

Of course we had to have two glasses of beaujolais nouveau to wash everything down. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food -- everything was tasty and well-prepared. And for 13 € for the appetizer and main dish, I think we'll be back again, especially since it's so conveniently located. If you look closely at the picture of Lynna and Emmett below, you can see the big iron gate that leads to our apartment complex across the street with our address (22).