Home Safe

We had an interesting flight home. What was supposed to be a 12Hr flight turned into a 17Hr flight with an unplanned layover in Iceland. There was a sick passenger that needed medical attention. She was an american with sickle cell disorder. The flight attendants knew I was bilingual so they asked me to explain to them what sickle cell was in French since the passenger had written it down in order to explain her predicament but they had no clue what it was.

Iceland was not as nice as we thought it was going to be. Not sure if being stuck on a plane for fours hours had anything to due with it. There was a technical problem on the plane that they noticed during our descent into Iceland, that they had to address. We had to wait for a technician to show up to work on the plane. The bright side off all this, is that we got to see Iceland and of course we made it home safe!

Parker has been asking where Grandpa, Grandma, BooJaja and Tito are. This morning, ie 2 AM, Parker felt it was morning time. We made him lay next to us until 5AM then started our morning! I think we were unpacked by 6:30 AM. We had a great time in France.

Thanks all for following and hopefully some of you will travel there and if you need an assistant, call us up!

Snakes on a plane

We are leaving for the USA tomorrow. It will be hard to say goodbye and hard to start work up again. I could get used to this life of vacation, just could not sustain it :(
We are having a really great time, relaxing and creating memories. Parker has had a great time with Grandpa and Grandma, BooJaJa (she got this name because she sneaks up on him and scares him with a boo!) and Toto (for Christophe).


So why the post name: Snakes on the plane? Parker has been only drawing the last two weeks. He draws what he calls snakes (straight Lines). So tomorrow, on the plane, he will draw snakes. I am offering up to the highest bidder his art called, SNAKES ON A PLANE! Do I have any takers?

Picnic in 34F weather!!!

We have had really nice weather the last couple days. Clear Blue skies! The only drawback is the cold winds and weather (near 32F). We went to a huge park near my parents home and had a little picnic near a play structure for Parker. It was a beautiful day. We had this huge park to ourselves. I guess who else would be out in freezing weather for a picnic!

We spotted a rabbit so I decided to sneak upon it and try to hit it with a stick. I am cooking dinner tonight so rabbit would have been on the menu.

Here I am chasing the rabbit after sneaking upon it. I would make a poor survivor man!

Family Pic

Great family times. We took a little stroll after our Linner (Lunch and Dinner combined?). We took this shot on my parents patio. Only pic we took and it was a wrap. I love that Parker is holding what looks like a dead bird (it's a wooden bird). Awesome day!

Happy Birthday Katie and Congrats Janelle!

Yummy things come in nice packages.

Strawberry tarts and religieuse (coffee and chocolate, cream puffs filled with cream)

Millefeuille, chocolate Mousse berry cake, fraisier (strawberry shortcake, sort of) and croquant (chocolate mousse cake with crackly crust).

Today after visiting my home church we had a late lunch to celebrate Katie's birthday and Janelle completion of her flight attendant school. My Dad and Mom made a yummy meal, steak with mushrooms, home made croutons made from home made bread and pan fried potatoes. We took a little 2 hr break between our meal and dessert. We topped the meal with patisseries from the boulangerie. I chose the desserts this morning and could not make up my mind on what to buy so I told them to surprise me. Who is booking their flight to France to enjoy this? This has given me some ideas for new cakes.

Le Marche

Butcher in the covered market. Horse meat, brain and kidney were the only "unusual" things I saw.

Cheese stand. Get your butter, cheese and other dairy. Cheese lovers delight.

Other cheese stand in Paris this time.

Fresh fish stand. Some great displays.

Fresh Local Produce.

Colorful flowers.

We have enjoyed our strolls through the local marche (markets). Most cities around here have their own market. It is fun to venture down the aisles and look at all the stuff being sold. Some markets are only food related while others have food and household items such as linens, cutlery, clothes, toys and etc...
I love walking through these to see the local foods, smell the prepared foods being sold, and hear the chatter of the sellers trying to get your attention. The produce people entice you with a free test of their freshest fruits. It's an adventure that engages all your senses except the sense of touch but if it is crowded you get to shove around people, hence being a complete sensory experience!

The Wheels on the bus, go Round and Round

This afternoon we took Parker to see Christophe drive the bus. We caught him on his break, so we were able to board the bus and hang out on there while he was on his break. Parker absolutely loved it. He got to sit alone on the seat and honk the horn. He smiled every time. Parker was so excited. We see buses every time we step out the door so he enjoys pointing them out to us. I love his smile on the picture in the middle.

The Gouter

There is a fourth meal in France called the Gouter. The Gouter is taken around 4H30 for kids coming home from school. We have enjoyed a little Gouter every so often here. It's a little snack time... Katie's favorite!

Yesterday, after our trip into Paris, we sat down for a Galette des rois (kings cake, a yummy almond paste pastry in which is hidden a token, la feve. Whoever finds the feve in their slice gets to be king for the day and gets a little crown). I have made this pastry a few times for some of you in Sacramento, I think for Thanksgiving.

Feeding the Swans - Again!

Parker running carelessly to catch pigeons

Feeding swans.

Parker did a great job throwing the day old baguette to the swans. It was a freezing morning.

Salon de l'Agriculture.

Checking out the Horses. Parker being spoiled and lifted up while eating his snack.

Parker on the train.

We took Parker to the salon de L'agriculture. It's like the State Fair without the carnival rides and deep fried Twinkies. It was packed but we got to see a few animals and then Parker fell asleep while we strolled through the different regions of France. Katie got to taste bunch of cheese and sausage and even ate a snail.

Parker has loved the train and buses here. To get to the Exhibit Halls, we took the RER (a regional train, pretty fast) for a 30 min ride into Paris then went on the Metro (subway) for about 20 minutes with two transfers. Parker loved it. He gets so excited when we get towards the train station because there are trains and buses all over. We had a few packed rides and Parker did great and brightened up the ride. It is so cute to see him interact with his surroundings. We have seen a cello, accordion, a chinese instrument, oboe, violin, flute, and guitar player in the halls of the subway.

Katie's eating adventure!

I have been very proud of Katie trying all sorts of food. Sure, I don't need to twist her arm to taste a new type of bread or chocolate or jam but she has been willing to taste many other foods. She ate the Foie Gras (goose liver) which he likes, she tasted my seared meat last night (think seared Ahi Tuna, quickly cooked on the outside and cool on the inside).
We just got back from the Salon de l'agriculture in Paris and they had an exhibit for each different regions of France and one was Bourgogne. Katie asked to try a snail and she loved it! She had to get past the snail part but after it was all done, she loved it. These things are basted in garlic and pesto so the taste is great. I am going to go broke if she keeps eating all these expensive foods. Tonight we are going to a Vietnamese restaurant with my sister. There might be some frog legs on the menu...

Just the two of us in Paris

L'Arc de Triomphe

Matthieu, Talia, Katie, Ryan

Pere Lachaise cemetery. Menier family buried here. Think Chocolate!

Hot Chocolate with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Thanks Megan for the idea because we stayed long enough to see the Eiffel Tower light up!

The Eiffel Tower with blinking lights!

We traveled to Paris while my parents took care of Parker for the day. We first headed to l'Arc de Triomphe and then headed down the Champs Elysee. It's always remarkable when you step out of the metro and look for the monument you are looking for. You walk up the stairs from the underground subway and do a 360 to see where you are and then... you see what you came for. You see all these pictures of these monuments but to stand right next to them you realize how enormous they are. We strolled down the Champs Elysee and then headed across Paris to go have lunch with a friend of mine. Matthieu and Talia just got married last summer near Portland (Katie and I attended the wedding). They have a cute little apartment and had crepes for lunch. We then took a little walk with them to the Pere Lachaise cemetery. This is the largest cemetery in Paris ( 120 acres). It is so large there are street names within the grounds. There are so many famous people and families buried here. Entire families are buried there and huge edifices are built (almost like small churches). Here is more info on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_Cemetery

Katie and I then headed down to Notre Dame and then made our way back to the Eiffel Tower. We sat down and enjoyed a hot chocolate with a splendid view of the Eiffel Tower lighting up. We then decided to try to stumble upon a restaurant for dinner. We found two locations: One was empty and the other was packed with locals. We opted for the packed restaurant and had a typical steak frites meal with not one tourist around us! After a full meal and enjoyable conversation we headed back to my parents with one last shot of the Champs Elysee at night!

Chateau de Versailles

Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors)

One of the many fountains in the gardens of the Chateau de Versailles
There is bird perched at the top of the statue.

Imagine the scene from the Lion King where Mufasa explains to Simba how far his land extends too. Same view here. The gardens cover almost 2,000 acres!!!

Marie Antoinette's garden

Katie and I spent the whole day in Versailles with Julien. It was a gorgeous day. We walked through the palace at first and then walked for hours in the gardens. You can't beat a sunny day when walking into the hall of mirrors and seeing all the light reflecting on all the mirrors and chandeliers. I loved strolling the gardens and the special treat was Marie Antoinette's gardens. There was this awesome little village inside the gardens of Versailles. There was livestock all over the place, rabbits, peacocks, bulls, sheep and etc...
So much history there and today we continue history and get to go see where King Louis XVI got his head chopped of in Paris! Vive la revolution francaise!

Today we go to Paris just Katie and I! The parents are watching Parker again!

The calm after the storm

As families do, we have shared a 24 hr flu bug among most of us staying at my parent's house. Katie was the latest victim and spent most of the day yesterday curled up. It turned out to be somewhat good timing because a huge storm, Xynthia, moved through much of France and there were some high gust winds in our area. While Katie rested up, I did whatever crazy dads do. Take their kid on a walk to the park in midst of 65 mph winds. I think they recorded gust winds of 100 + mph on top of the Eiffel Tower.
Today we took Parker back to the Chateau de Champs to walk around the different ponds as it was a gorgeous day. Katie is feeling better. The calm After the storm!

Tomorrow, we are headed to Versailles with a friend of mine. Should be another gorgeous day!