Julia Child
I've started a new book. It's called "My Life in France" by Julia Child. It's been amazing to read this book!
Julia describes driving into Paris for the first time, and every street and every landmark she talks about in her 'first look at Paris' is something I pass weekly in my life here in Paris. It's just really a bizarre experience to read her descriptions and find myself saying, "Hey, I know that place, and that one too, and that one as well!"
Julia and Paul Child lived in an apartment which was about a 15 minute walk from our French church. But, when they first arrived, they stayed in a hotel that is just a 2 minute walk from our French church. We've walked by this hotel literally a hundred times, and never looked twice at it. But, now that I've read this book, I see this hotel with new eyes, thinking 'about 60 years ago, Julia Child was here!' Too fun! Here's the hotel, the Hotel Pont Royal.
Another really fascinating thing about this book are the photos that are scattered throughout. Julia's husband, Paul, was an avid photographer. The book has several photos of Paris which were taken by Paul. I marvel. The places in the photos (taken in the late 1940's) look EXACTLY the same today! Sometimes there will be a person (like an artist painting along the Seine River) in the photo and that is the only give-away that the photo is old and wasn't taken just yesterday. Nothing has changed! NOTHING AT ALL!!!
Even more crazy is when he includes a photo of Julia Child in a place I already know, but it's a very young version of the incredibly famous Julia Child. So funny to see! It's funny to see the places where she/they were that look identical to the places I see everyday. And, there are even several restaurants that Julie and Paul went to that are still in existence today. Wild!
I think after reading this book I will definitely have to go and see Le Cordon Bleu, just to cap off the experience of feeling like I'm following Julia Child around Paris.
Todd Update
Guess what happened to Todd? A picture says a thousand words...
It's funny how a 'first lost tooth' can make a young boy feel like he's all-powerful!
He dutifully put his tooth in the 'petite souris' pouch. (Here's a big tip for parents who want to support the tooth fairy fun, get one of these little pillows! Then, your tooth fairy doesn't have to try to find a miniscule little tooth that has been carefully placed directly under the pillow AND head of your sleeping child! It's a great way to help the tooth fairy!)
Todd was not disappointed! The tooth fairy showed up! He is filled with questions about how this works. So cute.
The Pooper Scooper
I've written long ago about how they handle dog doo doo here. In the city of Paris, they send street washers on the streets daily to wash it (and all the other muck of city life) into the streets and drains. It's a remarkably labor intensive job, but that is how they rid the streets of the dog messes left behind REGULARLY! (Why, oh why, don't they MAKE people pick up their dog's messes?!?!)
We live just outside of the limits of Paris (we can walk to the city in 20 minutes). In our town, they have this 'guy' who comes around in a motorcycle with a vacuum to suck up the dog poop. I saw him doing his work yesterday, and took a photo.
As I crossed the street heading towards school to get the boys, I got a better view of him and took another photo...
...just at the very moment that he finished sucking up the junk and looked up - at me! Oh no! BUSTED!!! He was watching me like a hawk from then on. Oops! I was prepared to explain myself if he came and asked me why I was taking photos, but he never did. What I won't do for a good blog story. :-)
Lena's Get-up
Lena went to a birthday party for a friend yesterday. Her friend instructed all the guests to come disguised, and even better to be disguised so that no-one could tell who you were.
Just an hour before the party, Lena was 'freaking out' about what to wear. We were trying to think of anything, but just couldn't figure out what to do.
Our homemade costume making experience just needed one piece of inspiration to get something going. We found it! A mask that Ryan got from a friend as a gift at some point. Then, we added a bandana, a robe and were startled to discover the results were 'not so bad!'
Here's Lena, your pink ninja with a pink belt, a hunchback (she was wearing a sweatshirt under the robe that created a great hunchback effect!) with fire hair!
Notice the hunchback.
Lena walked this way up the street to her friends house. ("But Mom, what if I see someone I know!!!!!!") Definitely a stretching experience for her! I accompanied her to help her through the 'horror' of it all, but left her side before she entered her friend's house, because my being by Lena's side would be a 'dead give-away' that it was Lena!
She returned from the party with a bronze medal hanging around her neck! Apparently, they were really serious about the dressing up! She said a fairy and a cowboy got silver and gold, but she was pretty surprised, and pleased to get bronze!
Ryan and Ski Class
If you remember, last year Lena went on a 10 day ski trip to the Alps with her class - compliments of the French government. Well, guess who gets to go to ski class this year! RYAN!!!!
The big bi-annual sales began this week, so Ryan and I went off to the store to get him snow boots and ski pants before the supplies ran out. He's all 'decked out' in black, ready for the big trip that begins on March 22nd.
They've already started preparing in their class. Ryan says they are doing exercises to strengthen their thighs - squats, linking up in pairs back-to-back with linked arms and have to take turns carrying your partner on your back and stuff like that. They are researching the Alps, learning the basics of 'how to ski' and who knows what else. It's big stuff to prepare for this kind of trip!
Lookin' like a natural, Ryan!
It will be fun to hear about his experience learning to ski in the French Alps with his friends! What an incredible blessing for Ryan.
Warmth
We've been hearing about the 'way above average temperatures' in the USA. Well, it's the same thing here.
We are having an incredibly mild and warm winter. I must say that I cannot complain. This is what we are seeing in the parks.
It's hard to remember it's January!
Odds & Ends
Mark and I go out on our weekly date each Tuesday during lunch. There's a little restaurant that we love on the other side of town that makes incredible, traditional French food. From time to time we splurge and go there for lunch.
That's where we ate last Tuesday. I had fish (cod) on steamed endives with potatoes. HEAVENLY! Mark had veal with pasta and salad. He said it was FANTASTIC! We're never disappointed in this place.
However, it's always a trick to read their menu. In fact, knowing the vocabulary for menus is rather tricky. Those chefs are always using flowering cooking language to describe their incredible creations. Plus, the French eat a lot of things that we don't. It's a learning experience for sure!
I took a photo of the menu this past Tuesday. Here it is.
I took the photo so that I could look up the words and try to learn more 'menu vocabulary'. I spent a good long while searching out each word to understand what each dish was.
We've learned that you have to be careful when you order beef in France. It could be the most incredible steak you've ever eaten in your life, OR it could be raw beef or some part of cow that we are not accustomed to eating.
Sure enough! I got to the last item on this menu, and discovered it was a dish using beef cheek! I'm glad I ordered the fish. (Although, I imagine the beef cheek was probably superb.)
I'll end with a photo of the internet. Did you see this?
Do you see the 'TRENDING NOW' part of this Yahoo page? The most searched for item on this day, and at this time was John 3:16!!!!!!! Isn't that cool!
Apparently Tim Tebow's stats for the game (or was it for the year?) eerily added up several different ways to 316. Now, do we serve a creative God or what? And, what a guy, this Tim Tebow, who is speaking about his faith in the midst of naysayers and tons of adversity. Look at the results! Thousands of people are reading a verse in the Bible that explains God's plan of salvation. It just makes me smile again and again and again to think of how great our God is and how He is willing to use a simple man to be a vehicle for His truth. Wow!
So, there you have it - little vingettes from our days of late. Have a wonderful week!
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