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Hannah visiting
This week we had Nat's best friend Hannah staying with us. Her little sister is also on exchange in Paris and so she and her parents were visiting (Just in case you haven't been paying attention every time we mention Iris). Hannah was originally supposed to come to Paris with Mark, as they had been here together just last year and he loved it. Even though tragedy had struck just a few weeks ago, Hannah bravely made the trip over the pond to see us. The trip was a bit different than originally planned of course, but it was really nice to have her in Paris with us and Iris. We spent most of our time with her at the house, but towards the end of the week she gathered a bit of energy and we went out for a few dinners together and with her parents.
Iris excited for Thanksgiving dinner (read: turkey schnitzel).
School time
So this week, Nat actually had to start school for real, including the dreaded… group work! Not to fear though - group work in France is much more fun than it is at home. For one class, she met her team at a café by the Pompidou and over the course of 3 hours and several coffees, she and the team hammered out and almost completed a team paper. Another meeting for a different class was held at someone's apartment, again over coffee and cookies (how civilized!). She's now actually thinking that she wants to become the quintessential French student living in the Latin Quarter doing all her work lounging on a café patio with an espresso!
Hanging with Parents
Nat's parents were also in town this week, but thankfully staying at their own little apartment not far from ours. While Nat's dad had been to Paris as a young twenty-something, her mom had never been to Paris but had learned all about in school in Czechoslovakia as a child and was really looking forward to it. I'm pretty sure that the limitless supply of pastries and beautiful views didn't disappoint her.
While they were in town, we spent a bit of time touristing around with them. Our first stop was the Institut du Monde Arabe, a tribute to her dad's heritage. This was actually the first time ever that the series of guide books called "Let's Go" let us down. This museum was listed as a "thumbs up", but really it was kind of boring - just a bunch of cups and random Persian carpets. The upside was that the architecture of the building was awesome, and the rooftop café was phenomenal, if a little bit cold and pricey!
Nat in front of the IMA.
Mechanical windows.
Behind the scenes (the windows don't work anymore).
Nat's parents on the rooftop patio.
Brrr.
I never tire of this building.
After a sandwich break, a walk down Saint Germain and another break while checking out the parental apartment, we headed up to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysées. It was a gorgeous day and we strolled down amid all the tourists. We also checked out Avenue de Montagne, which is where all the high end stores like Dior and Prada are.
Everyone wants to be a model?
You can see La Defense.
Concept car(?) in the Peugot store.
Excited for the massive Sephora store.
Hotel Athenee: Carrie stays here in the Sex and the City finale.
Site of Princess Diana's car crash.
French Fast Food?
After a quick break at the homestead, we rounded up the troops which included Iris, Hannah and the Serbanescus and headed out for a joint family dinner. To minimize arguments and the chance of people not liking what they ordered, we decided to go to a branch of a chain of restaurants called Relais de l'Entrecote. Essentially (and according to our trusty guidebook), this place is the French version of fast food. Basically they serve one thing: salad with walnuts, followed by steak and fries. When you sit down, all they ask is "how do you like your meat?" and "what kind of wine would you like?"
Ok, how do we get there?
Do we look related?
Everybody smile and say "steak."
And so the festivities began. I swear that in less than 3 minutes after we sat down, we had drinks and salads in front of us. After only a minor bit of squabbling over how we wanted our meat done, we were ready for the main course (FYI: the French like their meat VERY underdone. "Bien cuit" translates to medium here, when the literal translation is well-cooked). The waitress brings a giant platter of meat and fries to a little station next to your table and then dishes out individual plates, complete with the secret cause. Corey loved this place because they actually come around and serve you twice - talk about value! Even though the turnover was about 1h15 from start to finish and I kind of felt sick from eating so quickly, it really was an experience.
Corey getting picked up on the RER
Later that night we all took Hannah down to Iris's res so she could see the shoebox that Iris lives in at the Canada House. We took the RER (equivalent to the GO train) down and when we got off, we stopped off at a vending machine on the platform so that Iris could get some mix for a pre-drink session. We were all huddled around the vending machine trying to grab the right beverages when this totally random guy reaches his hand into our girly-plus-Corey huddle, hands Corey a note, says "this is for you" and then jumps on the RER as it's pulling away. We unfolded the note and it said something to the effect of "I would like to practice English with you. Please call me at this number and we can meet"... a.k.a. "I think you are really cute. Call me and we can hook up". :P I suppose it's a sign of flattery really - Corey's style appeals to everyone!
"I like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and learning to speak English."Un Vrai Dinner Party Francais!
While Nat's parents were in town, we had the pleasure of attending a real French dinner party at Nat's dad's cousin's house. We sat and talked with Tina and her husband Roger and their daughter Neda, along with their cat Socrates (a philosopher cat - how French!). Later on, Neda's boyfriend Olivier came over and we were finally blessed with meeting a true Frenchman: French for many, many generations. Not only is he in law school like Neda, but he's also an accomplished concert organist. I'm pretty sure with talents like that, the French must not watch any TV.
Our hostess, Nat's cousin Tina (with Socrates).
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Neda and Olivier.
Dinner started with drinks and some assorted nuts, and then followed with a delicious spread of salad, eggplant-tomato-fresh mozzarella, boeuf bourguignon and a chicken noodle casserole. After dinner, we were surprised with the illustrious French cheese course, not to be confused with dessert, which followed afterwards. And the finale was the French requisite: espresso! Thankfully at 11pm, it was available in decaf, also known as "déca".
Before.
After.
And then there were 5
On Saturday, Nat's friends Mary and Greg arrived and so the house was packed with 5 of us staying in all 460 square feet on the Saturday night. It was cozy but it worked. The arrangement only lasted for a day as Hannah left for Calgary the next morning.
After a slow start, including a giant brunch complete with fresh baguette, coffee, fruits and veggies, we were ready to tackle a day of touristing with Mary and Greg. We walked for about 5 hours and saw the Pantheon, Luxembourg Gardens, Notre Dame, the Pompidou Centre, Les Halles and the Louvre (don't worry, we didn't actually go IN any of these places except Notre Dame - it was sunny and gorgeous, so we just walked around outside). Of course this wasn't all in one go. With Mary and Greg arriving fresh from Italy, we were all well-versed in the art of enjoyment and thus we stopped for a few breaks including a café stop.
Been there, done that.
Luxembourg Gardens.
Consulting guidebooks and verb charts.
Café break.
Always discovering new views. Les Halles.
We have the same camera but Mary's is blue.
Only moments after I complained that people were abusing the artwork.
Protest!
Although we have read a lot about how much the French like protesting about everything and anything, in our two months in Paris, we had yet to actually see a protest in action. Until today that is. Yessiree, we saw a real, live protest complete with banners, megaphones and shut-down streets (in this case, St-Germain-des-Pres - one of the biggest streets on the Left Bank). This one seemed to be against the privatization of the school system (see pictures).
I guess Sundays in France really aren't the day of rest - they are a convenient day of protest. No one has to work and all the stores are closed anyways, so really, it's either go hang out at a park or join a protest somewhere.
Also, from what we read and observed, the protests seem like the people are rallying against the government and fighting "the man", but really, the protests are quite well-organized and supported by governments. Generally, the protest groups notify the police of the protest in advance, so the appropriate streets can be closed down and traffic can be monitored by the police. And that's exactly what we saw today. Fighting the man, yet 'the man' helps organize the protest: only in France.
Fondue pour bebes
And the final pieces of news for the week is really one of the best. We found the absolute best restaurant ever up near Montmartre. It's a tiny hole-in-the-wall fondue place that fits about 30 people crammed in so tight that you are sitting right next to your neighbours and the only way to get to the benches along the wall is to go OVER the table (with the helping hand of the restaurant owner).
Crammed in shoulder-to-shoulder with our neighbours (including people from Italy and Dufferin/Eglinton!), we had Sangria, little appetizers and then a giant pot each of meat and cheese fondue. Everything was delicious, and the best part was that all the drinks were served in baby bottles. It was wine, sangria, appies and fondue for 18E/pp. Something for everyone: Nat's favourite combo of cheese and bread, Corey's favourite score of a "value" meal, and Mary and Greg's favourite of cheap, cheap vino. It was so much fun and we got totally hammered. It was such an experience.
You really thought there wouldn't be any space invaders in this post?
You really can't spill the wine this way.
Mental note: it gets messy, wear dark clothing next time.
Getting in and out of the seats.
Some ponies from Toronto.
This toilet warranted a photo.
And quite drunk on the way home.
Week 8 photos on Flickr
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