Daddy-O

Jour Numéro Trois

Atala Portée au Tombeau … Girodet-Trioson

DAY 3

Today showcased a mix of weather; sun one minute and rain the next. Both of us have very sore feet; in fact, it looks like I’ve bruised the side of one foot. Regardless, we set off this morning, straight to The Louvre. Last trip we had walked through the courtyard but this time around I wanted to see some art and considering we had the Museum Pass, it made sense we check it out. Both of us agreed that we’d make our way to the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo before heading out. Neither of us wanted to spend the day so we followed the throngs of people along the Denon Wing. The Mona Lisa was bigger than I expected; this because everyone I know who’s seen it has said it was smaller than they expected. It was a nice painting, but not as nice as others, such as this Girodet-Trioson. Also of note was François-Dominique-Aimé-Milhomme’s stone sculpture of Hermaphroditus.

Le Penseur … Augustus Rodin

From the Louvre we metroed to station Varennes and walked to the Musée Rodin. Everyone had suggested we add this stop to our itenerary and we were not disappointed. In addition to seeing Rodin’s famous Thinker, we enjoyed a relaxing time in the spacious and quiet gardens. It was easy to step back a couple of hundred years and pictured women in enormous gowns walking around the garden. In addition to seeing Rodin’s work there was a Camille Claudel exhibit so I had the chance to see my favourite sculpture, L’Âge Mûr. From here, it was a short walk the Les Invalides to see Napoleon’s tomb. The structure was quite over the top and more than Jennifer or I could appreciate. Still, another piece of history.

Le Dôme des Invalides … captured on April 29, 2009

By now, my foot was hurting quite badly so we decided to find someplace to eat and to sit down for awhile. Of course, there are many places and finding one you like isn’t always the easiest thing. We eventually found a place at the intersection of Avenue de la Bourdonnais and Avenue Rapp. This is an area I wanted to check out for two reasons: one, an opportunity to shoot the Tour Eiffel from various street angles and two, to see an art nouveau façade that I’d found on Google Earth. We were both besotted with the architecture.

La Porte sur l'Avenue Rapp … captured on April 29, 2009

We decided to head back to the hotel for some rest, but stopped off at Sèvres/Babylone to check out an old bakery Jennifer had read about. We eventually found la Poliâne but it wasn’t what Jennifer had expected. Still, it was quite lovely and we walked back to our hotel through the back streets for a much-needed rest.

Menu de la Semaine … captured on April 29, 2009

A couple of hours later, we set off again, this time for a crêpe and café/thé to hold us off until dinner. We found some more small lanes to walk through and fell upon the sweetest kindergarten school. We’ve come to the conclusion that Paris is a Mina-city. She would LOVE it here. All the little girls wear beautiful dresses or skirts and just have a look at the menu posted above. Pointe de Brie. Sauté de beouf aux olives. Liégeois chocolat. I mean, seriously.

30 x 30 … captured on April 29, 2009

We eventually made our way to an Irish pub to watch Arsenal lose to Manchester United; many of the bars were carrying the game, but I wanted a Guinness. Unfortunately, they didn’t serve food so we downed our pints and walked a block to The Great Canadian; you guessed it, a Canadian pub. It turns out Jennifer knows the fellow who runs it from high school. He kindly bought us a round of drinks before he and his sister had to head off for dinner. Jennifer and I settled in and ordered our own food. I enjoyed the best club sandwich I’ve ever had and she had chicken quessedillas. I also nursed two more Guinnesses which might explain some of the mistakes in the last post. My foot wasn’t feeling too bad though.

Et Ça Commence (finalement)

Le Panthéon from our Hotel … captured on March 28, 2009

DAY 1

We did not make the flight to Paris, again. It’s a shame really because we both wanted to see what it would be like to fly into Paris. Alas, we were booked on the 11:15 flight to LHR; that’s London Heathrow for those who aren’t in the know. While waiting for this flight—2 hours later than the Paris flight—we took the opportunity to book our passage on the Eurostar. The fare was quite expensive so we looked for an alternative fare and found one at a North American place called Euro Railways. Meanwhile, Jennifer had befriended a woman named Margot, an Air Canada flight attendant. She decided to follow our lead and booked the train for herself, a friend and her mother. I received a confirmation notice and was told we’d receive a booking reference in a separate e-mail but we had to board the plane.

Flowering Trees … captured on March 28, 2009

The flight was pleasant enough with reasonable food and your own choice of movies. Once again, neither of us actually slept. However, we were both quite excited as we flew over green countryside and masses of low-lying clouds. Surprisingly, the taxi to the terminal was relatively quick and we made our way to customs to wait for Margot and her crew. They showed up shortly after we arrived and we decided we’d see each other at the Eurostar terminal. Jennifer and I made our way through Heathrow to the tube station where we boarded the train and enjoyed a pretty tight, one hour ride to St Pancras station.

Panthéon Exterior Arches … captured on March 28, 2009 

Once there we tried to use the station’s free Wi-Fi but it would not work for close to an hour. We decided to try our luck at the e-ticket counter but the system did not recognize our credit card. We asked for help, went to a customer service counter, but there was nothing they could do. Eventually, I did get on to the Wi-Fi network and checked my mail. There was no message from Euro Railways so we pretty much figured we’d been part of a scam. I tried to use my iPhone to make a Skype call but it couldn’t hop on the network. Jennifer then set off to buy a calling card but we couldn’t get it to work. By this time, it was getting close to the train’s departure time so we decided to bite the bullet and buy tickets on the Eurostar.

Looking toward la Tour Eiffel … captured on March 28, 2009

The train left London at 3:30. By the time it hit the chunnel, we both fell asleep. I woke up just before we exited and Jennifer woke up shortly thereafter. We made it into Paris by 8:00 (includes the added hour crossing the border). At le Gard du Nord we bought two 5-day metropasses and it was two quick subway rides to our hotel in the Latin Quarter. We were given a key card to room 46 and were surprised when we found luggage and a dishevelled bed; Jennifer ran down to get us a new key and we were given room 57. We unpacked and I had a much-needed shower before setting off for a walk through our new neighbourhood. Unfortnately, the rain came down hard so we cut our walk short and ducked into a pizza restaurant called Roma Trattoria, right next door to our hotel. Half a bottle of wine and 2 single pizzas later, we were back upstairs ready for bed.

DAY 2

The unsettled weather continued for the day with sunny periods and rainy ones. We first made our way the Panthéon which neither of us had ever seen. Here we purchased our 2-day museum passes (32 euros each). Once inside, we could see Foucault’s pendulum and marvel at the building’s high ceilings. From the Panthéon we made our way to Notre Dame, with a quick stop at our hotel. Notre Dame was swarming with tourists so we dispensed with the tour and simply walked inside. It’s an impressive cathedral though it’s difficult to get a sense of it with so many people inside. We made a quick tour of it then headed to Ste Chapelle as we were already on l’Île de la Cité.We had already been to Ste Chapelle in 2006 but were so impressed with the stained glass windows that we decided to see it again. Having the museum pass helped too. We crossed the north side of the Seine into Les Halles and stumbled across la Tour St Jacques. From there we found the best sandwich place ever. Jennifer order the tomato, pesto, mozzerlla sandwich while I enjoyed the Indian chicken curry; both were served on fresh baguettes. After a nice, leisurely lunch, we continued on looking for the Pompidu centre. After skirting it, we eventually found the centre but it was closed for the day. So, we moved on toward l’église St-Eustache. This church was, in our opinion, much nicer than Notre Dame Cathedral. Of course, this could be because there were fewer people and the building was very quiet, as a church should be. St Eustache was in disrepair but had beautiful, vaulted ceilings and remarkable organ pipes. We also saw Voltaire’s resting place in the crypt. After wandering in the dimly-lit church, we went back to our hotel to rest for a bit.

St Eustache Pipe Organ … captured on March 28, 2009

Refreshed—but still tired from all the walking—we hopped the Métro to the Champs Élysées. Jennifer popped into her usual shops but didn’t find anything that suited her taste. We eventually made our way up to Porte Maillot but had arrived an hour before our restaurant opened, so we sat in a nearby park and enjoyed the sun. Looking around, we noticed dozens of rabbits wandering around the park…freely. We eventually made our way to Le Relais de Venize for another scrumptious dinner. As before, dinner consisted of steak et frites; nothing else, unless you mention the salad and baguette. This time however, we had a full bottle of wine and shared a profriteroles, the most heavenly dessert you’ve ever had. Think cold cream in pastry balls, drenched in a hot, dark chocolate sauce. I’m drooling just thinking about it. We took the Métro back the Sèvre/Babylone and decided to walk along St Germain, eventually cutting into the narrow streets of the Latin Quarter.

Le Rapport

Yes, we made it to Paris. Can't stay long, though. I'm posting from the iPhone because the laptop is out if power (our adapter no longer works) and i'm running out of juice on this as well.

Our room is lovely (see view above) and so far the food is outstanding. It's a bit cold but that won't stop us. Will try to post later but can't promise to.

Momentarily Stranded

We did not make the Paris flight. Instead we'll have to go through London. Again. Ah well, you only live once. At least it's ecxiting.

Happy Birthday, My Love

Matthew's Bird Nest … captured on April 25, 2009 - 5D

The Lad was up at 6:20, not a good start to Jennifer's birthday. He didn't go back to sleep, but kept quiet until Marina got up an hour later. We did the usual card-overload thing we do on all birthdays, piling into bed and giving out hugs and kisses. I took the kids down and made them breakfast while Jennifer lounged in bed; nothing different from a regular Saturday except today, I made her tea.

By mid-morning we made our way to the Green Living Show, the kids as excited as we were. It's nice to see. We managed to walk the whole show, enjoy some delicious organic and locally produced foods and pick up some of our usual products on sale. The kids—and Jennifer—each made a bird seed ball; you mix clay, soil, compost and birdseed, add water then form it into a ball. Each ball is now in a sunny patch, out in our backyard. If it stays dry, the seeds will start sprouting and the birds will be able to enjoy some snacks.

Speaking of birds, we met a red-tailed hawk named Indiana and a stunning Peregrine falcon which, to me, was the most beautiful bird I'd ever seen. We learned that it's the fastest animal on the planet and can reach speeds up to 300 km/h on a dive (called a stoop). We also met another conservancy group dedicated to birds in the Toronto area. She showed us some nests which reminded us that Matthew had found his own bird's nest at school, while playing earlier this week. We decided to wedge it in the pear tree at the back of the yard near the bird bath and seed balls. 

Jennifer's off getting a "mani-pedi" on a recommendation from Danielle. I'm about to finish cleaning up and the kids will be playing outside. In a few hours, it's off to the train station to pick up Dad. 

So Close

200 Euros … captured on April 24, 2009 - 5D

Work's done. All jobs for The Revue are done. Longest. Week. Ever. Except for vacuuming, the house is clean. The computer's backed up. The kids are safely tucked away in their beds. And I've started my little "trip" pile. So what's left?

1. Remember Jennifer's birthday tomorrow.
2. We're off to the Green Living Show for a few hours.
3. Vacuum.
4. Pick up Dad from the train station.
5. Meeting at René and Danielle's for pizza to a) celebrate JF's B-day and b) introduce them to Dad.
6. On Sunday, gotta do groceries.
7. Would love a run, but this might be optional; I will be walking a lot next week.
8. Pack.
9. Head to the airport.

Winding Down

Soft-Focus Pampas Grass … captured on April 11, 2009 - 5D

As le départ approaches, I'm getting things done. Client meetings, a brochure, a cheque for our accountant (refunds…yay!), more notes for Dad. Yes, it's all getting wrapped up. And the funny is—whenever I'm crazy-busy like this—it's also the time when I find more leisure time. There was the movie the other night and yesterday, a Toronto FC game with René. It was cold, windy and wet, but an enjoyable time nonetheless. The Lads won the match and the crowd was rowdy, except for poor René who had just started a cold.

The kids have been taking these last couple of weeks in stride. They're excited to see Grandpapa on Saturday and have, in theory at least, agreed to be on their best behaviour. I've given Matthew the Man of the House talk and he seems up to the task, ready to help out and be there for his little sister should she need it. Marina, for her part, will help out too…because she's FIVE. That leaves Grandpapa. Jennifer is putting the finishing touches on her…novel? No, not quite. Novelette perhaps? Whatever you call it, it should keep him informed and provide a chuckle or two at the very least.

What's left? Cleaning up the house, for one. I don't want my father to know what slobs we are, so we've got to do our best to hide the fact. I'd love to replace the kitchen cabinets and repaint the whole house* but that's not gonna happen. Oh, and then I guess we need to pack. And prepare for a certain somebody's birthday.

* We haven't really painted since we moved here, almost 9 years ago! Since then, the house has shifted and with all that construction last year, there are TONS of cracks all over the place. I think we'll have to hire someone to do the house while we're away.

Tweet This

Long Legged … captured on April 12, 2009 - 5D

We're in 5th gear now. Work at the office has picked up a bit and projects at the Revue have practically doubled, most of this fueled by next week's absence. Setting up a web meeting, developing a sponsorship plan for a Polish film festival, creating 2010 versions of membership and ReelFEST cards, onscreen slide show, DVD presentations,... Not to mention preparation for the trip itself. So it was nice to take a break last night and do two things: 1) we watched Arsenal draw Liverpool 4-4 in one of the best matches ever and 2) I made my way to The Revue to catch Slumdog Millionnaire which was a rough, but very enjoyable movie. 

On a personal note, I've set up my own Twitter account. If you're interested in following, you'll find me here. I grew fond of twittering doing it for The Revue over the last month. If you're not sure what twittering is, it's similar to a status update in Facebook, except you only have 140 characters to tweet what it is you're doing or thinking. It's pretty fun and a great way to sharpen your writing skills.

Anyhow, I guess I should get back to work. There's a lot to do over the next few days.

Pottery Farm

Skinned Knees … captured on April 15, 2009 - LX3

So today Jennifer took half a day off to help out with other Mums; whether she was accepted into their stay-at-home circle is doubtful. Still, it was a fun affair. She and another mum helped a table of eight kindergarten kids (one of which, our own little Mina) create their own clay fish profiles. Marina decided to add a 2nd eye and a happy face. When she offered to add a heart, Jennifer suggested that perhaps it was a little too much.

By 2:00, Jennifer was able to leave. She headed home, had some lunch, put on a load of laundry and started getting dinner ready. By 3:15, she was back at school to pick up Marina. Then both girls made their way outside to wait for Matthew, braving the cold, the wet and the wind. The Lad had been quite adamant, and specific, that they had to pick him up where the other Mums pick up their kids. He's particular that way.

Partied Out

Everyone Painting … captured on April 19, 2009 - LX3

Our Wee-Mina was quite busy being social this weekend. Yesterday featured a birthday party for one of her classmates and today we finally got around to giving her her own birthday party. But let's start with yesterday's affair. Poor Matthew; he'd gone along in tow with Marina and Jennifer while I took part in a meeting at the Revue. He and Jennifer was supposed to leave, but the Wee-One was shy and wouldn't let Mummy go. I finally got around to picking Matthew up, but not before he'd spent the bulk of the "girly" party playing on Mummy's iPod Touch. Yes, I say girly because it seems that Ariel herself—she of The Little Mermaid fame—made an appearance. Marina could not get enough of this and went on about it for the rest of the day. Oh, not to mention that she got to put on lipstick, some blush and sparkly pixie dust.

Today we had a small get together at Earthstones; a very nice, creative clay art centre. Marina had invited Claire, Adele and Nisha whom you can see here. Conrad was also invited, but he spent most of his time with Matthew which kept the Lad busy. I'd like to say Conrad wanted to play with the older kids but really, Matthew probably came closer to their level for the duration. At least he had a good time. We fed the kids lunch and here we realized just how lucky we are with our own children. Considering Marina and her friends had had pizza the day before, we thought it best not to have pizza again so we brought a variety of food including pita bread with hummus, spinach dip and a roasted red pepper dip. Also on the menu was cheese, gerkins, broccoli, carrots and celery sticks. Fearing we'd need more food, I'd made a trip to a nearby store to pick up some Ms Vicky's chips and a mixed-bag of Sun chips, Doritos, pretzels and cheesies. Good thing too, because ours were the only ones digging into the dips and pita bread. For dessert we finished off with a mixed fruit tray and this went over a bit better although a couple of them didn't touch dessert until the cupcakes came out. Like I said, we're pretty lucky with our kids' eating habits.

After lunch the girls got down to painting their ceramic tiles while the two boys made some ruckus in 2-story play area fashioned after a house. It wasn't long before all the kids were either upstairs in a play room or downstairs in a pretty large pretend kitchen. All in all, the party was a great success. We spent the rest of the day cleaning up the house in preparation for our big trip abroad. Later, the kids and I watched a Garfield movie and we managed to relax a bit before the next week starts. Tomorrow, Jennifer is taking a half day off to help Marina's class with a some pottery lessons. I'll keep you posted.

Envious

Suddenly Asleep … captured on April 12, 2009

Looking at Mr Binkley, I can't help but feel a bit envious. I could really use a nap.

Scattered

Sensory Overload … illustrated by the imaginative Marina

This is how I've felt lately. All over the place. Work, the Revue, bills, school, soccer, the kids, the wife, the cat, Paris,…our holidays can't come soon enough. Then Jennifer tells me we're leaving next week. NEXT WEEK?!? Already?

The flight still looks good on the way there. The way back however, looks pretty dodgy. The flight is oversold but there's always the no-show factor at play. We can also try for Montreal, then fly to Toronto, but it too looks full. The loads look better on Saturday and I'm pretty sure Dad won't mind the extra half day, but I really don't want to leave him in the lurch; plus, we won't have a room at our hotel; they're all booked up on May 1st. Sigh.

I will certainly miss the benefits of flying cheaply but I have to say, I'm not going to miss the whole standby thing. That's something for younger folks with fewer responsibilities. While it's exciting to travel all loosey-goosey when you don't have kids, it's quite a drag when there are other people depending on you. Oh well, we'll keep you posted, as always.

Memories

Exploded Cattails … captured on April 11, 2009 - LX3

Some people have better memories than others; I'm pleased to say that the kids seem to be on track with the former lot. For example, Jennifer couldn't find her iPod touch, which I gave her on Valentine's Day. I asked her to retrace her steps but despite this and the fact that she'd checked her purse, the junk basket and the van, she could not find it. She did remember that Marina had been playing with it, so we called her down. "Do you remember playing with Mummy's iPod?"

"Yes. But I finished and then gave it to Matthew."

"Alright. Matthew!!"

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, THUMP! (we have 13 steps).

"Yeah?"

"Did you play with Mummy's iPod."

"Um, yeah, but you asked for it so I gave it back to you. Then you asked for, um, the case so I went downstairs to get it, then gave it back to you upstairs in the hallway."

"Ah…okay."

Jennifer went back through her travel bag and found it. All's well that ends well. 

Questions and Answers

Soft and Hard … captured on April 11, 2009 - 5D

Seeing as Matthew had already interviewed his mother, I came up as the second choice. Always the bridesmaid…

Q: What traditions do you think are important for me to learn and teach my children?

A: Going for holiday together as a family. For example, our annual trip to P.E.I.

Q: We eat turkey evry crismas. Did you do this when you were a child?

A: We did have turkey but the traditional dish was tourtière.

Q: Where were your grandparets from? What do we do that is from that country?

A: Two of my grandparents were French Canadian and we sometimes listen to French music and eat French food. My maternal grandmother was from Ireland so we eat potatoes.*

Q: When you were a kid, what was your favourite tradition?

A: Going to my grandparents' to celebrate Christmas.

* You have to trust me when I tell you how difficult it was for me not to make a reference regarding my weekend lunch Guinnesses.

The Typical Sister

Self-Braided … captured on April 5, 2009 - 5D

Sorry there was no update yesterday. It turned out to be a much busier day than anticipated. We left Westport bright and early and managed to get home shortly after noon. Following a quick lunch, I headed off to do groceries while Jennifer put away our belongings. I then set off to the gym for a much-needed run (too much food this weekend) and then got to work preparing for an evening board of directors meeting for The Revue. I got home around 10:00 and was too tired to do anything but watched a PVRed episode of The Amazing Race.

As a peace offering for missing a day (just kidding), here's a cute shot of the Wee-One who braided her own hair and a story I've been holding on to for over a week…

During a bout of Spring cleaning at the office, Jennifer brought home some scarves, a wooly pullover and a Roots sports watch which we gave to Matthew. The Lad has been wearing it proudly since I helped put it on his wrist. At lunch, one Saturday, Jennifer and I were asking him to figure out how long he had before his dental appointment. After calculating that there was a little over an hour to go, he beamed: "I like my watch! It makes me look older."

From across the table the Wee-One looked up, confused:

"You look like an ogre?!"