Paris

Not in any great order, but I promised Paris pics!  

 On one of the bridges covered with locks.  These are becoming a problem as the bridges weren't built to support the added weight.  Some folks think they are an eyesore as well.

 Getting' creative at the Tour Eiffel.

 A cute one of the boys.

 Goofin' at the Louvre.

 We waited 2 AND A HALF HOURS to get into the Catacombs.  It was pretty creepy, but I'm not totally convinced it was worth the wait.  The kids thought so, though!  Luckily, it was a beautiful day and there was pastry close by.

On our last day, our friend David arranged a trip out of Paris to Chateau-Thierry, an area where Mark's grandfather fought in World War I.  There are a monument and a cemetery, meticulously maintained by the U.S. government.  There is also a walking tour of one of the worst battle sites, including remaining German cannons with shrapnel marks in them (see below), trenches and craters, shrapnel in the trees (now grown over), and unknown soldiers buried in the landscape.  

Near Chateau-Thierry, we also visited these amazing castle ruins.

Back in Paris, we walked through Luxembourg Gardens more than once:

We ate incredible cheese.

We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

And of course, we saw Notre Dame, one of the most amazing structures in the world.  Max's favorite was Sacre Coeur, where we happened upon evening vespers.  I almost got religion again.

 

Creepy statue in Notre Dame.

We visited a replica of the Orient Express.

We visited the Louvre, where the kids spent some time sketching in a room full of Rubens.

The Louvre is a place one might be tempted to skip because of the tourist crush, but you can find quiet nooks and crannies in the far reaches of this mammoth museum.  We spent an entire day there.  Plus we had bought a museum pass, so we sailed right past the line...that rocked.

We finished with a three course French meal at a great little place in Montparnasse called Aux Artistes.  We did much more than I can include here.  It was an amazing trip.

Smørrebrød

Smørrebrød means sandwiches, and these open-faced sandwiches are a Danish tradition.  We tried four delicious varieties topped with pork, ham salad, potatoes, and cheese from the Hallernes stall at the Torvhallernes.  They are also beautiful.  Travelers' tip: we went close to closing and got a discount!  It's so difficult not to eat your way through a town when there are literally hundreds of restaurants around you.  But this meal cost us about $60!  At a discount!  Dinner at the vegetarian buffet the other night was $100.  Ooof.  It's worth it!

Europa....

Well, ya'll, it was fun. Food was eaten (fish & chips, Indian, Ethiopian, crepes, pastries; in the UK, much beer and coffee; in France, much wine and coffee); a large portion of London and Paris were covered by foot, bus, and train; sights were well seen. Really, there are too many details for a blog posting. Some highlights:

St. James Park in London. I caught the changing of the guard at Buckingham by chance. (The Eye in the background...)

Guarding the Queen's jewels at the Tower of London. M4 had made us a most awesome going-away card with drawings of various landmarks. I tried to snap a photo with his drawing when I could.

Tower Bridge, of course.

No caption necessary. This is really something everyone should see in person in their lifetime. Not to mention the Notre Dame cathedral. I could have taken pictures there all day! The gargoyles!! One and a half days was not enough in Paris, but thanks to our fabulous hosts, David and Astrid, we saw a whole heckuva lot!!

The first day in London, Mark had gotten me a surprise: an Italian cooking course at La Cucina Caldesi!! It was such a fantastic time...everyone else was from the UK, so I got to meet some great people instead of otherwise wandering around solo. Our instructors, Stefano Borella and Katie Caldesi were relaxed, fun, and of course, informative! We ate and drank all day long (favorite pasttime); I got to hear Italian (next on the language list?); I was sufficiently inspired to come home and make homemade ravioli tout de suite (with a little help from M4)!

Other highlights:

• champagne tea at the Wolseley
  
• the Tate Modern
  
• Borough Market
• National Portrait Gallery
• the C2
• La Grande Epicerie
  
• the Marais

I also have to shout out to maybe the best coffee I've ever had: Monmouth Coffee Co. Yes, it was even better than what I had in France. Sacrilege!!! I have many more pictures...if you want to see them, let me know, and I'll send you the Shutterfly link. Mon dieu, it was a great vacation! I can't wait to take the kids sometime...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Because we are going to Indiana for Thanksgiving, we hosted three of our four international "kids" last Sunday for a Thanksgiving meal. I was pretty excited about cooking, despite the fact that I spent ALL WEEKEND IN THE KITCHEN!!!! It was worth it, though. Chinami (Japan) is only here for one year, and she had never had a Thanksgiving meal. Shirlie (China) hadn't had a Thanksgiving meal before either. (We didn't get to it before we went to KC last year, what with Chris's funeral. Last fall wasn't a good one.) And it was Inwook's (Korea) last Thanksgiving in the U.S. Next year he will return to South Korea to fulfill his two year military requirement. So as we went around the table to say what we were thankful for, they were all very happy to be experiencing this bit of American culture. It was nice to share what we were all thankful for...family, friends, the extreme good fortune of a stable job, the luxury of being able to put on a Thanksgiving feast, and of course, the cat. The turkey was a bit dry, in my opinion. But it's only my third-ish turkey.

No sweet potatoes, because I don't like the traditional Thanksgiving prep (marshmallows??!! more sugar? gross!!). One of these years, I will work up some good, spicy sweet potato dish. Mark's stuffing, of course...my personal favorite. The best part...we'll have leftovers!!!

Another fish...

If you had told me even a few months ago that M4 would be swimming on his own in water over his head, I wouldn't have believed you! I think he is just one of those kids that kind of hangs on to the status quo for a while, then takes a giant leap forward developmentally. At his own pace, of course. This should be a fun summer at our new city pool!



Both of the past Saturdays, M and M have made Mark and I breakfast in bed. I'm not sure what we have done to deserve this, but it sure is sweet...

Lunch

The kids are taking their lunch to school more often these days, which is just fine with me. M3's favorite sandwich: cheese and lettuce. M4's: formerly PB & honey, now PB & J.

On the subject of food, I read about yet another E. coli illness outbreak from hamburger, and I'm just grateful that we can easily buy beef from a local farmer. Particularly with hamburger, I feel better knowing it all came from just one cow, and I know where that cow lived (and died, thank you kind cow). Plus one of our local CSAs, Grinnell Heritage Farm, is having a winter share for the first time! Yippee!! I don't think I'm a food Nazi, but I feel better if I'm attempting to keep some of the crap out of my family's diet, uh...E. coli in particular.