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blog #3 -- mars 2007 |
March, oh-là-là what a month! A couple of people have asked, "Where is the March blog?" and my response was simply - "March is OVER already?" This has led me to a key customer improvement called the "Countdown to the next le blog" on the home page, which will give loyal readers the heads up on when the next monthly update will come. We're listening to you!!
How do I sum up March? More attempts at living la vie française, memorable moments with visitors, and getting to know Londres (London) even better. But let's get started with the weather. Who knew that winter does not seem to exist in Paris? March brought lots of sun and, when there is sun, our entire quartier finds themselves at Jardin Luxembourg... Nothing says spring like fountain-gazing: 
Little ones rent classy toy boats and push them around (but beware of the pirate ship captured above, arrrrr):  Older ones play chess- this poor chap is not confident in his next move. 
Heck, even I got into the Spring spirit. Here we are at the local flower stand (Skagit valley, we miss you, too!). 
| This is one of my favorite Sunday afternoon traditions in Paris – shutting down the major streets of the city to allow hundreds (if not thousands) of roller skaters to pass through. I will be joining this tradition if it's the last thing I do! Shannon probably not so much... 
| Rainer Großerichter, a lifelong Johnson Family friend from Bavaria, paid us a second Paris visit! It's always humbling when your guests have better language skills, and more local restaurant recommendations than you do. But we love it! Here we are at one of Rainer's favorite Paris restaurants, Au Bon Coin… 
| Now another moment you have all been waiting for - our next visitors were none other than Demetri Heliotis and Ann Miller! Shannon was probably a little tired of me saying, "D is coming, D is coming!" since the day they booked their tickets in December. I was quite excited to show them this gem of a city, and let's be honest - the visit was well worth the anticipation. The weather for touring the city was "pas mal" (not bad)! First stops - the gardens. 
What jet lag? These guys are instant locals, hanging out with Parisian friends on the bank of the Seine.
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But this trip wasn't all about the sights, it was also about experiencing our favorite Parisian traditions, like Pita Grec takeout! It is true that the owner likes us so much that he offered to take a picture of the whole clan. 
Another favorite tradition is enjoying one of the most epic culinary experiences of Paris - the Macaron. These are heavenly little cookies that melt in your mouth, featuring the most exquisite selection of flavors and colors. Two of the most notorious macaron makers are in our very own 6ème, featured below - Ladurée and Pierre Herme. It is always a close competition when put to a blind taste test, due to their unique spirit. Ladurée is considered the gold standard (think Four Seasons) and has been around for years, but Pierre is a more modern, hip competitor (think W Hotel). These little monsters will be the achillees heel of my French Fitness program, but always well worth it...
A familiar pose for a familiar duo... 
| Day Trip! There are many options for day trips accessible by regional trains, and together with our guests we nominated the Champagne region and Epernay, a town that is surrounded by 45,000 acres of vineyards, and underground cellars that house 200 million bottles of champagne. At french prices in Euros, we were lucky to leave with one of those...
Here are D and Ann relaxing on the train to our Champagne Day!
We toured the well known Möet & Chandon…a place where you risk your life if you ever get separated from the pack on the underground portion of the tour. This is us in the cellars, and below you can see a short segment of the 18 miles of underground caves (yikes!)
Here you see some of the champagne bottles during their fermentation. That number 18304 represents the number of bottles they have stacked in that one little section - so you can see how it adds up! The bottles sit for 3-5 years and are rotated constantly, many times by hand…NOT a job worth getting a French work permit for in my opinion...
After all of that hard touring work - at long last we could relax and taste the final product: 
| Later in the month I went back to London to work with those wacky Brits - and with a planned weekend of festivities, Shannon decided to join me!
With airport security and the general discomfort of flying these days, we go to London on the Eurostar train – a class act establishment co-owned and developed by UK and France. It is high-speed rail at its best, making the trip in about 2 hours 45, via the “chunnel” (tunnel under the English channel…). Picture of the train itself: 
No doubt about it - that's London all right....
Friday night was a bitter-sweet event - a going away party for one of my favorite Microsoft colleagues, Lisa. The good news was that she was so appreciated on the team that we had a week full of lavish celebrations!! The bad news is that she is now consulting at Virgin Media instead of Microsoft :( Here she is with my manager Beheshteh....
Who knew the Marriott could look this good?! Our hotel was in a fancy old building with a classy inside courtyard (Bentleys not pictured, but observed)…
We went to a "Black and White" theme birthday party on Saturday night in London. The birthday girl, Suzy, was my first project manager at Accenture and now is living the Euro-dream in London. We're practically neighbors! Here she is (naturally, in black and white).
As native Seattle-ites, we weren't exactly prepared for this type of fancy attire - but we did our best ("we" meaning Shannon, I had to hunt for cufflinks last minute, but what else is new?)
| Finally for the closing "self-portrait" - when guests leave we do our best! See you on le blog of avril!
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