Shirley is 90!! Happy Birthday to Gamoo!

Hoolie was born today! (Well, a few yrs. back...)

Fremont Solstice Parade 2007 ~ I Heart Fremont!

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I miss Anhl!

Paris Day 5: Pompidou, l'Orangerie & Joel Robuchon (Jenn's 36th Birthday!)

Happy birthday to me! :) Today we slept in a bit - which was a lovely treat. I wanted breakfast out and we found this cool place featuring bread, pastries and their own line of amazing spreads (yes, it was a condiment buffet, and you who know me know how much I love'me some condiments!). It was tres yummy.

Our first stop after that was the Pompidou since we didn't make it last night, and, seeing that it's my favorite museum on the planet, it seemed fitting to do it on my birthday. That said, I made a slight planning error and didn't realize both the Pomp and the l'Orangerie, the only other museum on the to-do list, were both closed Tuesday - meaning we had to cram two into one day (something we both were trying to avoid; it's easy to get 'arted-out'). But, we were troopers! The Pomp was amazing and featured a ton of really cool modern and contemporary art. Included are a load of Matisse, Picasso and Chagall works (seeing Chagall paintings on my birthday: Priceless!!), along with a lot of lesser-known but noteworthy artists who impacted art during their time. It's a fascinating place, and though by the end of our visit we'd had visual overload, it was fantastic!

From there, we bee-lined to the l'Orangerie which reopened a few weeks after my visit last year. It was stunning to see the giant, curved, multi-panel Monet's (waterlillies) - two oval rooms each featured 4 of his works, and it gave me a new appreciation for him. Downstairs housed a private collection with Modigliani, Picasso, and others. The nicest thing was, when we were in line, we met a couple whom Jill offered a few of our Metro tickets to - figuring we wouldn't get through them all before we left. It came out that it was my birthday, and the guy bought our way in as a little birthday present. Again, the kindness of strangers is an amazing thing. Even though it was a tad rushed, we were both glad we made the effort to fit the l'Orangerie in!

After a brief re-grouping at our apartment, and change of clothes, we were off for my birthday dinner/present: Dinner at Joel Robuchon's l'Atelier. I ate here last year alone, and had a great experience - but was really excited to share it with Jill. I called to confirm and asked for an English-speaking server (which, of course, they all speak English....oh well). We got a good seat at the 42-person bar and ordered up.

(Foodie warning...skip if you're not into details...but oh-my-God read on if you are!)

During our visit back to the room, we'd reviewed the menu online so we'd be somewhat organized and prepared to order - and not totally clueless. We also took some of our server's recommendations. To start, we had two small plates: Prawn ravioli with a mushroom cream sauce and the house cured ham with champagne...already, we could've left happy. Next up was a stunning course of seared foie gras and 1/2 of a fresh-put-in-the-pan-living-two-minutes-ago lobster...again, we were both in awe. It was amazing!

For our main course, I had fresh Turbot (you can only get frozen in the U.S. since it's from Greenland; but here it's fresh!) and Jill had lamb chops...actually, we swapped each course 1/2 way through, so we both had everything. Except, of course, for the cheese, which I took care of on my own (lactose-challenged Jill sat this one out). For dessert, I got "le chocolat" and they made up a little dessert for Jill with basil sorbet atop fresh raspberries. Finally, they honored by birthday by singing Happy Birthday (in French) and bringing us a little plate of "encore desserts" - a group of 5 little tarts, a pink birthday candle, and "Joyeux Anniversaire Jenn" scrawled in chocolate on the plate. I loved it, and Jill was quite pleased with it too! We finished off we coffee (oh, and we'd managed two glasses of wine each in the mix too...we were done!).

We left expected a nice long walk home, but then it started to pour rain! After a few blocks of walking in a warm summer rain, we called it and hopped the metro home. It was a great birthday - amazing museums, gorgeous food, and being in Paris with my awesome girlfriend! What more could I ask for!?!? :)



















More art, more food...and a cat or two :)

36...35, 34: Continued Progress, I think!

Here's my official Birthday Post! I'm 36, and happy about it! Looking back to 35, and further to 34...life sure does change. Thankfully, for me at this point, I can say it's only getting better. Here's hoping for continued growth & improvement in the next year and beyond!






36: Paris
35: New York
34: Seattle

Paris Day 4: Lazy-ish Sunday...Market & Shopping

Today was gorgeous! We wanted to hit a market so we got up and headed to the Bastille market, held Thursdays and Sundays at Place de la Bastille. Whoa! It was huge!! Mostly food, with some junkie stuff as well as some practical stuff...no arts/crafts. We walked through the first half and then I deposited Jill in a park (with some puzzles...sudoku addict!) to wait while I braved the crowds to get food for dinner some night before we go.

Oh, the choices! Cheese, bread, fish, olives, cheese, did I say cheese?, cheese, meats, fruits, veggies...it was so overwhelming! Not to mention, it's hard to cook in a kitchen not stocked with anything, though, we did get some staples: Butter, oil, eggs, salt/pepper, garlic, onion. Still...so, I grabbed some frenchie-veggies (fennel, zucchini, eggplant, leeks, green beans) and some fish (oh, I wanted the fresh Turbot, but alas, it only came in 1/2 fish pieces, the smallest of which weighed in at a $30 price tag and would've fed 4+ people, so I had to pass :( ). Picked up some melon, italian cured ham, olives, cheese and a baguette. It was so much fun, and thanks to earlier in the trip introducing Jill to sudoku, she was cheerfully occupied on a shady park bench. Sadly, I did manage to either lose about 50 Euros, or got pick-pocketed. Bummer...but in the realm of life, what can you do? When I realized it, I'd just been rung up for my cheese and didn't have enough to pay, and a nice American couple around my age gave me 5 Euro to pay for the rest of the bill. It's amazing the kindness you find all around you (not to be a cheeseball, no pun intended...).

After, Jill took a siesta and we separated for the first time on our trip. I went off and shopped - didn't buy anything - but re-wandered through areas I'd been; found a few new ones and just soaked up the Sunday afternoon people-watching. We met up at the fountain outside the Pompideu with the intent of going in...but it was so nice out we aborted that plan and opted to gallery peruse around Place des Vosges and grab dinner on lively Rue de Lappe. We had a lovely late-night stroll home through the Bastille walkway which landed us at Place de Republique, just two blocks from home. Again, despite trying to have a light walking day, we keep finding ourselves putting in the mileage, and our hamstrings are letting us know it!











Market shots galore!!

Paris Day 3: Rodin, the Left Bank & French Food

Rodin is a favorite of us both..so today we were off to Rodin Museum where we got to see and appreciate a load of scrumptious sculpture, both inside the museum and outside in the gardens. We had a little teaser the day before in the Orsay, but this place is the true mother-load. Jill, who has been studying drawing for about a year, was awed by his mastery of the human body, which after just taking figure drawing, she had a deep appreciation for the complexity of his work. As usual, I just can't get over the detail and beauty his pieces.

We had a lovely lunch at the museum cafe and sat outside in the garden while we ate. To this point - don't as me how - but I hadn't had a single bit of cheese! And I'm in France, for the love of pete...so, I got a cheese-laden open-faced sandwich and let's just say there was no skimping on the cheese. Whoa! No complaints here either :)

Next, we went on a little walk of the Left Bank area, peeking in some of the smaller galleries and visiting some places of historical (social) interest, such as Cafe Procope - the oldest contiuously running coffeeshop in Paris, where the likes of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Ben Franklin met up to discuss the world during their various times (not all at once, of course :). It was lovely, we had some tasty gelato and then headed home.

Now, a couple nights back we happened into the wine shop on our street only to fnd the owner, Rick, is an American whose lived here for about 20 years. He was ever-so-kind in helping us pick a bottle to kick'it with at home here; but also, on one of my ventures out for something I asked him which of the restaurants on our street he recommended. Well, note that Amis Louis is just a block away - this is where Bill Clinton, movie stars and others eat. We won't be making it in there. However, the place across the way looked lovely and came highly recommended by Rick, so we decided to go tonight on the early end of the French dinner time (7:30...around here, 10 p.m. is a good time to eat on the weekends).

(Warning: Foodie paragraph to follow....you can skip to the pics if you don't care about food details...but if you do, read on!)

When we got there, it was empty and the chef took us right in and, having lived in New York for six years at one point, kindly reviewed the menu with us in English. We were grateful and ended up having a fantastic dinner. We took a few risks, and also had a few things we love. It started with a sardine-spread of some sort (amuse bouche); Jill had an amazingly well-done cold almond creme soup; I had (cold) foie gras. Yum! For the main course, Jill had roasted leg of lamb (cooked for seven hours (l'agneau sept heure)!) and I had the veal steak (oh-so-frenchie-rare). On the side we asked for an order of escargot. I'd only had it once before, and Jill had never. The chef was quite pleased that we wanted to have them, and made us a very generous portion as a side dish. They came to us steaming hot, first cooked in broth, then pulled from their shells and sauteed with butter, nutmeg and other spices. We would've finished them if it wasn't for the giant plates of meat we were already working on! Additionally, Rick, across the way, features wine from southern France. The chef recommended a mid-range bottle that we both really liked and...uh, finished...after having champagne to start. Oh, the headaches that to come the next morning...but wow, what a great meal!















Rodin, dinner, walking...and this cat and Jill sharing the same stare...