Blog #15 – Mars 2008

Spring Clouds Can’t Hold Us Down…
The month of March brought with it lots of things – memories, visitors, reunions, travels…but here in Paris, it seems to have forgotten the sun in the process.  I think back a year ago to the glorious Mars 2007 blog…ah yes, sun-drenched days in the Luxembourg gardens, outdoor cafe tables along the Seine, and a general feeling that Seattle spring weather was so out of fashion in comparison.   Well here I sit in the early days of April ’08, after a recent dusting of snow, and with pictures for this edition of le blog that look decidedly….how shall I say…dark.  In fact – substitute some Belltown condos for the classic Haussmannian apartments in the foreground of the following opening picture, and you have yourself a pretty text book Seattle shot:     

 

And while I tease about the Seattle gloom, I want to remind the loyal readers of le blog that this does not give you permission to do the same.  I was reminded this month by a wise person that "Seattle weather is like your little brother…You can criticize it, but you take offense when anyone else does."  But, in Paris, even when there were hopeful stretches of sunlight illuminating our grand monuments (like Saint Sulpice below), the background never lent itself to any optimism….

The "silver-lining in the clouds" is that Shannon and I, with our Northwest backgrounds, are generally more prepared for coping with this situation than the rest of the city.  Therefore we took a simple rally-based approach of 1) wearing coats 2) finding the cafe tables near the "chaudier" (outdoor heat-lamp) 3) temporarily fleeing the country, and most importantly 4) making ourselves busy enough that the weather is not allowed to be a conscious factor.  With the lineup below I’ll think you’ll see how this approach actually panned out…

"Settling Up" to Friends Abroad – A Token Effort
In France there is a very important proverb that says "Les bons comptes font les bons amis" – which roughly translates to "good accounts makes for good friends"…in other words, settle your debts.  Well, once in a while we have the unique privilege of settling up on deep debts we owe to our friends who have hosted us in countries abroad.  In the month of March, we had two such opportunities to "pay our tabs" from our travels to the cultural capitals of England and Germany.  Many of you already know that when Shannon and I were considering our ideal candidate city for living abroad, we did an exhaustive, comparative analysis – surpassed only by the efforts of the global selection committee for the Olympic Games.  And while Paris barely edged out London and Munich for our our home base, we habitually exercise our visitation rights to the other ‘medallists’ – which is why March guests Suzy Hanson (London) and the Grosserichters (Germany) are no strangers to le blog.  Finally it was our chance to do the "this is what makes my city so cool" routine to them, instead of the other way around…and the better news of course, is that this repayment process is enjoyable thanks to the general coolness of the parties involved

First up!  Early in the month, Suzy and her man Anthony hopped on the Eurostar in London, and a cool 2h15 later found themselves surrounded by photographers overlooking the Seine (clearly in my amateur efforts I could not manage to get direct eye contact).  They had two ambitious objectives for the trip – 1) to live la vie francaise like a rue-cassetter and 2) (for suzy) run the 13+ mile semi-marathon of Paris.    

Since living the life of a Rue Cassetter (a.k.a eating, lounging, eating more, and city exploration) is our unique specialty – we helped them with the first objective.  Here you find us with an unprecedented 8-person crowd (more of the marathon / London crowd) occupying 3 outdoor cafe tables at a local saint-germain favorite – la palette.  Since a typical cafe hostess breaks a sweat with any party above 3 persons, you can appreciate the miracle of what we achieved.  Noteworthy comments on the picture: 1) Shannon has secured her position as the closest person to the chaudier, and 2) Natalie (foreground, army green jacket. large beer) is the person who would help Suzy meet her second objective – through long-distance running partner support. 

Not to mention fashion support.  Apparently in London this is how they roll, semi-marathon style…. 

And Shannon and I offered morale support through cheering the runners along at the race mid-point, at Hotel de Ville in the city center.  When we arrived, we discovered that this is how they roll in Kenya..specifically, in a pack that is so far in front of the others, they could qualify it as a separate event.  Check out this guys’ race jersey number – no pressure buddy….

But for us the real excitement was the "second race", which consisted of us frantically looking through tens of thousands of Parisian runners for two hot-pink tutus….

Honestly, I don’t know how we ever spotted them…

 

And the best part was not that we spotted Suzy during the run, but that Suzy spotted us holding a rolling camera!  Which brings us to our graceful, bouncing-tutu-filled video featurette of the month, which I fondly call "Suzy’s Moment of Glory"….it’s almost if she is giving a congratulatory salute to Natalie, Paul, and Myrren…and all of the other hard-working semi-marathon finishers! 

http://images.video.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf

Next Up! It seems like just yesterday when Shannon and I were throwing back liters of beer and dancing on tables.  Well that actually was yesterday….but the time I’m referring to this time was when we visited the Grosserichters in Munich and attended Oktoberfest (think September 2007 blog)!  That would be the first time that you loyal RC readers would have met Hannah and Amelie, the charming young ladies below who put on their put on their traditional "Dirndls" for the Oktoberfest parade..(is anybody with me?).  Well, for Easter weekend Helge, Bartley and the girls came to Paris and we had the joy of hosting the festivities – including the Peeps-sponsored bunny hunt….

Now – the following building, which many recognize as the shockingly modern, exo-skeletal Pompidou Center may not have been the most obvious choice for Easter Sunday brunch, but stick with me here…good things happen when you take that ridiculous looking red-tube full of escalators to the top…

That’s right, it’s a very classy restaurant called Georges….

With a very classy view….(if I only knew the french proverb for "don’t judge a book by it’s cover", this would be the perfect time to insert that one)…

According to the picture, at least three of four Grosserichters approved of this winning combination.  Helge on the other hand, seems a little confused (perhaps it was the bill?)…

Learning French is mostly a pain, but some words come easily…like carrousel.  Thanks to Hannah and Amelie, finally we had some kids that could enjoy Jardin du Luxembourg’s finer pieces of entertainment (yes, they have real pony rides too!)…

One last action shot and smile from older sis Hannah….

 

And one last wave goodbye from younger sis Amelie!

 

North of the Border: An "In-Tence" Bachelor Roll in Niagara
Speaking of family time, in the middle of March I was also given the distinct privilege of co-hosting an event for my "Duke family" among many other fine gentlemen – all in celebration of Eric Tencer and his upcoming wedding to Gen "Viever" Daftary (in Britain I’ve learned that they refer to such an occasion as a "stag" party – sounds much more rambunctious than us responsible Americans).  Loyal RC readers may recall the memorable Paris in the springtime proposal, the magical uniting of "Le Tence" and "La Vievre" just one year ago, profoundly celebrated in the April 2007 blog.  Well I may be old-fashioned, but I thought there was no more appropriate location for this "stag" celebration than alongside our neighbors to the North in Niagara Falls, Canada.  Majestic Beauty?  Check.  Casinos?  Check.  And how can you not agree when you see Murray the Canadian Moose and Tence side-by-side… 

With nearly 15 attendees for the extended March Madness opening weekend, we required significant housing facilities – which is why we rented this gem of a "Victorian Mansion" – called the Butterfly House (think the ancient proverb: Looks Bad, Feels Good…..): 

And a short 2 mile walk away, we found what seemed to be a pretty large set of waterfalls…

Luckily, Tencer didn’t sign up for the "Bachelor in a Barrel" idea – as taking this dropoff is not something I would typically recommend to anyone (except, of course, UNC current students, alumni, and staff)…

"Bachelor Party?  How did you guess?…."

This wouldn’t have been a complete trip without some obligatory "Duke Boys" snapshots…and it wouldn’t have been complete snapshot without a classic Eric Tencer closed-eye pose…with that smile on his face I am certain he was picturing the impending stroll down the aisle…

So I’m going to go ahead and shamelessly reveal the plain truth that the "stag" wasn’t all nature walks.  In addition to significant blackjack and NCAA tourney action, we did practice more exquisite competitive fine arts.  If you don’t know what flawless, graceful act I am completing in the picture below – it means that 1) you have never been to a "Good Grief Maple Leaf" party at our Seattle residence 2) you haven’t felt the adrenaline rush of potentially letting your entire team down, at the great expense of personal pride and 3) you ought to be ashamed of yourself.  This, my friends, is the one, the only…..competitive flip cup:

And just like the joys of flip cup and the humiliation of watching our team go down in flames in the 2nd round of the Tournament…some things never change.  These gentlemen, all 2003 Johnson / Bettesworth groomsmen – are, and will always be…highly fashionable Dukies.  This same cast will be gearing up for our next role in the Tencer / Daftary wedding (perhaps minus the hats)….

Paris…By George!
Upon arrival from far away Canadian lands, there is nothing better awaiting you at the Rue Cassette breakfast table than the following three things: 1) Pierre Hermes croissants (must I remind you that they won Best of Paris in 2006?) 2) a hot cup of Illy coffee, preferably poured in a Coldfeet Weddings mug, and 3) my sister Erika and brother-in-law Rich, waiting to understand the full meaning of Vive Paris, Vive la France!!  Well that is precisely what we had…

When guests are in-town, we enjoy a good day trip.  Now, I don’t know how each of you plan your day trips, but in our family there is a pretty simple gold standard of selecting Rick Steves "3-triangle" locations.  Why our trusted companion, Rick, uses a triangle rating system instead of a star-based (a.k.a. normal system), I couldn’t tell you…but work with me people, you are just going to have to trust me that if Rick says "3-triangle" – its worth your effort.  Since the neighboring city of Chartres met this criteria, the four of us hopped the regional train from Montparnasse station…

A little over an hour later, we were staring at what has put Chartres’ name on the map – which is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres.  I think an American teeneger would summarize the cathedral of Chartres as…"Yeah…it’s like, kind of a big deal…."

Not to mention, just plain big.  And yes, like every cathedral in Europe, under some form of renovation….

Two things struck me about this "finest example in all of France of the Gothic style of architecture" – the first were the Rose Windows of stained-glass that were quite, for lack of a better word…"colorful" (pictured below), and the the other was imagining what it would be like to get married in a church when thousands of people were touring it at the same time (not pictured, but experienced)… 

Looking for meals in Chartres, you’ve got to go with what you know best. Erika and Rich were going with the time-tested approach "you are what you eat"…

Like many guests, Erika and Rich had about one week to take in the enormous challenge of doing everything in and around Paris.  Unlike many guests – they actually successfully completed this mission (and, at a record pace)!  Here we find the ladies on the way to Le Marais on a Sunday afternoon, an absolutely mandatory must-do (note our March weather, requiring wool hats)…

To make sure I actually was doing some form of legitimate work over here, they even made it to the tour of the Microsoft offices on the 38th floor of Coeur Defense – which is, surprisingly, the "building with the most floor space in Europe"…let’s hope we continue to "sell the most software in Europe" as well…

And from 528 ft up, you get a decent perspective of the city (and our friend Eify) as well…

We managed to find a table at the nearby bistro for a typical 90-minute french-style business dejeuner (lunch) – I thought it was particularly amusing when Rich ordered his beer, and the waiter asked him "small, medium, or large?"…when Rich looked at me desperately for a translation, I said "Rich, he’s speaking English"….Medium it is! 

Ordering confusion aside – Erika and Rich had a monstrous set of french dining experiences throughout the week. But, since the ultimate way to take in french cuisine is part culinary excellence and part sufficiently ‘swankified’ atmosphere, we had to go out with a major bang on our final night.  And since they are afterall, the George family, was it not obvious that we should head back to restaurant Georges?  Being at the top of Pompidou, the views from our table were nothing short of incroyable.  Don’t believe me – see the view for yourself with the 360 viewing camera (Imagine Rich being seated in the location of the guy in the checkered shirt)…

Full glasses of red from Pessac-Léognan, surrounded by French supermodels (at our table as well), and the smell of fresh-picked roses at the table…all evidence that the food is not the only factor…

Times like this cannot be rushed!  We witnessed the magical sparkles of Eify four times that night (do the time calculation on your own…)

This couple is from OR-Y-GON? If they are, they’re doing a pretty good job of hiding their fleece-sporting roots…

And whether is was the restaurant, or Paris itself…one thing remains the same: Leaving is hard to do.  Here we are, "peacing out" from a great meal, and an even better week in the capital… 

Your Vacation =  Our Vacation. 
The funny thing that I realized in March is the following:  people give up their valuable, hard-earned vacation time to have a sample of Vive la France.  In the case of Erika and Rich, even my dear mother and father sacrificed their vacation to take care of the George kids – a critical factor to making this once-in-a-lifetime experience happen (THANK YOU!).  When you do this, it reminds us that the life were living over here is, simply put…’vacation-worthy’ – which is overall something that you just have got to feel pretty good about.

Having said all that…it’s time for us to get away for a little spring break of our own, and so today we’re off!  One thing is for sure – we won’t come back without some rock-solid content for next month’s version of le blog.  Until then, may you enjoy rock-solid spring breaks of your own!