Notre 9e Semaine: Just Another Week

31 photos that pretty much sum of the title of this one.

Go to Week 9 photos on Flickr

In retrospect this week was very unmemorable. I had to review these photos to discover how we spent our time. In brief: we spent some more time with Nat's family and her Aunt Dany from Switzerland; visited the Cite des sciences and de l'industrie; and took a stroll through Andre Citroen park.

The end.

Magical.

So without further ado...

Week 9 in 31 photos


Corey visits Trocadero.


Redefining "scafolding."


Pretty.


Palais de Tokyo modern art museum. Countdown to the end of the Sun above the door.


Hotel Everland 1-room hotel perched on top of Palais de Tokyo til the end of the year. Only 444E per night.


A building that reminded me of Gaudi.


I get to meet Nat's aunt Dany.


The ladies with kir and champagne.


Kir for the boys. We got the price/value option.


In the Metro on the way to dinner with Bernard's friends from kindergarten.


Ducks in Bercy park.


Bercy park, quaint.


A quick stroll through Bercy Village. Feels similar to Toronto's distillery district.


The Science Centre. Nat smiles because this experience hasn't underwhelmed her yet.


Part of the Citroen 2CV exhibit. Some guy harassed interviewed us for Swiss radio.


Entrance to the Epidemik game. This experience (below) was probably worth the student reduced-priced admission.


The interactive game is projected from above. Players travel around the arena trying to stay healthy.


Nat's flies solo at the command centre (after I ditch her) and saves Manhattan with her decision-making skills.


The interface that follows you around. Notice that I didn't lose any lives.


Optical illusion!


Although far more convincing to the naked eye vs. this camera.


Nat gets excited over the map of the human genome.


One of our neighbours dumps his dustpan into the common courtyard. Repeatedly. This is very French (not the littering, but us spying on him).


Welcome to Andre Citroen park. We were greeted by teenage boys shrieking as a rat ran by.


The sun dial is broken, please insert a new sun.


Nat chewing new Bubbalicious flavour: hot air balloon.


These fountains are probably lovely in the summer.


The guidebook mentioned sculptures but we never found any.


Waterfall A.


Across from Waterfall B.


Meticulous landscaping.

Week 9 photos on Flickr

Notre 8e Semaine: Hotel Jussieu

It seems as if everyone we know is visiting us this week. Nat's best friend Hannah stayed with us, and so did her friends Mary and Greg. Nat's parents are also in town for a week, and Hannah's parents were around for about 4 days too. Both sets of parents had their own places though - otherwise our little shoebox might have exploded.

Go to Week 8 photos on Flickr

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

Notre 7e Semaine: Full House

Week 7 continues with a 2-week-long stream of house guests and visitors from abroad. Writing the blog has become a bit of a chore so, again, I will be filling in for this episode; expect something short and sweet.

Go to Week 7 photos on Flickr

Wanderlust

(Yes Chen, I borrowed this word from your Facebook status but it so aptly describes my week)

Caroline and Graham ventured out each day to soak up as many museums as possible, and since my pea-sized attention-span isn't suited to these types of journeys, I ended up spending the beginning of the week alone. I took advantage of the nice weather and wandered around Paris's arrondisements that I hadn't been to yet. I walked around for 3 to 4 hours each day, with the only real motivation to return home being a full bladder. Note that although there are free public toilets around town, they really only exists in the areas concentrated with tourists, so when I stumbled upon one (in working order) I was very excited.


Found this deserted secret garden called the Swiss Valley thanks to an article my cousin Serena sent me.


Secret entrance: out of order.


Outside the Swiss Valley. There was a plague here that had something to do with the mayor of Montreal.

Secretly though, exploring the city was mostly motivated by discovering more Space Invaders. Nat says I look like a chicken when I walk around now because I am always craning my neck around every corner, on top of every awning, I must not miss a thing. I think I just look like a really lost tourist most of the time, perhaps trying to the find the sometimes poorly-placed street signs. Regardless my mosaic radar has improved and I was able to find I think about 20 new pieces of graffiti this week.


In the 5th not far from our apartment. So happy.

One day Nat and I were walking home, quite exhausted, but I made her stop and indicated that I could sense the presence of a mosaic. I turned around, and sure enough, high up on a wall was a little guy smiling at me. She was amused but also impressed.


The force is strong with this one.


I spotted this ruin of a mosaic from 50 yards and changed our path to confirm. That's the Pantheon in the back.

Though I think the Space Invaders search has become entirely obsessive. Previously I likened it to a video game but now it feels more like a drug addiction, or what I imagine that would feel like. I might be wandering around and see a mosaic, and get a quick thrill (although it's a much greater feeling of satisfaction if I feel compelled to follow a certain path and emerge victorious). But then if that isn't followed up by another discovery, say in the next 15 minutes, I get upset and things start to drag. I get genuinely disappointed and when I finally do find another one, the high isn't as great. They don't excite me in the same way as they first did.

I'm exaggerating, but not by much.


I just knew I would find something on this street.


Then I turned around and spotted this beast hiding in a gated courtyard.

I spent 4 hours wandering around the 8th and even into the 17th. And my initial purpose was to find a secret garden, which I did, and I even discovered another lovely park and several very interesting buildings but not a single Invader. The day genuinely felt incomplete.

See all the Space Invaders here.


RTL TV station.


Antique shop. The detail on the awning was great.


Roman ruins in Monceau Park.


Banque de France building with the most interesting little gargoyles.


Snazzy.


Hotel where I stayed when I was in Paris in 2001.


Cool sculpture on the wall of the passageway into the courtyard by the giant Doom mosaic.

A day with Care and Graham

On the one day we were all available we decide to check out the Les Invalides. Originally a home built for aging war veterans it is now mostly used as a war museum although the church still boasts the most magnificent golden dome in Paris.


Just your average church door.




This is where King Louis-Philippe prayed.


Nat getting an audio-guided tour by Napoleon's tomb.


He's actually inside 5 layers of coffins.


12 such reliefs surround the tomb and detail Napoleon's achievements.


This photo looks very holy.



Graham was quite amused by my whole Invaders obsession. He also enjoyed that I spoke about them as if they were really aliens from another planet. For example I might say, "No I don't think they would land in this area at all." He would laugh. But he caught the bug in a big way too and was genuinely upset that he couldn't find any. On his last night in Paris, we went to the grocery store and grabbed some warm beers and drank them on the street ("déclassé" according to Nat, but the group of police we walked by didn't seem to mind). We headed through the Ile St. Louis and then to the Bastille to skirt along the eastern border of the 4th in hopes of glimpsing some new Invaders. Sure enough the mission was a success.


Graham's first unassisted find.

And what is a trip to Paris without a stop at the Eiffel Tower? If you're keeping track, this is visit number 5 for us but we still haven't ascended. Although we did for the first time actually check to see what that will cost.


Je t'aime.




We need more (and better) jumping photos.




Investigating the club-like vibe at the Grand Palais. Turns out to be an Air France 75th celebration.


Part of the '100 years of French aerospace' exhibit that we never went to back to see.

Random Encounter

Nat and I were riding on a bus one day, a bus that was barely going in the direction of our apartment, when the woman sitting next to us struck up a conversation (in English). She was explaining this movie guide she was carrying with her, only 35 cents. Magical that! Only when Nat started talking about going to school at ESSEC she pricked up. She told us that her daughter did an apartment swap with a girl from California who also is doing her MBA at ESSEC, and her name is Johanna. Well of course we know Johanna so we all got pretty excited about the super-randomness (maybe not really a word) of the whole thing.


Bus lady.

This is as close we've come to bumping into someone we know on our journey so far. I can't recall if it was mentioned in this blog yet but Nat and I have a contest each time we travel: first person to bump into someone they know - whom they aren't expecting to see - wins. So far, nothing. And although Iris isn't part of the game, she gets an honourable mention for discovery an old high school pal sitting in one of her classes in Paris.

Bordeaux in Bordeaux

So after a week of having Caroline and Graham around; with Hannah arriving the very next day to stay with us; and with Nat's parents also coming to Paris the day after that; we decided we needed a mini-break. Of course this decision was made a month ago when the SNCF rail company was having a seat-sale promotion and we wanted to capitalize on it. Bordeaux, here we come!

The day started off magically when Nat spotted a Space Invader hiding in Gare Montparnasse. Yes, a good omen, but this also rocked my world and turn it upside-down. If a mosaic could be indoors at a train station, how many other were there like this across the city? And how would I find them? And no this is not the final mention of mosaics in this post, although I'm sure you're sick of this by now.


Indoors, mais c'est impossible! Kudos to Nat.

The train was pretty sexy and quite fast, which was nice since the last time I rode the TGV we arrived an hour late (grande vitesse my ass). Once we got to Bordeaux I asked Nat where the hell we were, mostly because it was really warm outside. We essentially traveled 600km and I realized I had no clue where in France this city was. Don't worry, we figured it out eventually.


Snazzy seats and LED reading lamps.

I also imagined Bordeaux would be of similar size to Niagara on the Lake. I only assumed this because both are wine regions. And yes I realize this makes no sense. It turns out that Bordeaux is actually quite the sprawling city with over a million people, rich with historical buildings and monuments (duh, this is France after all) but also with a snazzy new tram system and modern art. We spent Friday wandering the city to find our hotel, eating, and then taking a train (read: tractor meets bus meets train) tour around the city.


We made it.


Tram was built in 1995, no wonder it looks better than the TTC.


Why not?


The Mirroir D'eau in fog mode.


Boring mode.


We didn't seem to have time to read these free brochures much less do anything in them. Still not sure why Nat scooped up so many.


Old monument fitted for breast cancer awareness month.


I love city tours.


The 'train': please hang on for dear life.




There's something wrong with this adventure-travel company. Nat spotted this one.


That's the city logo.


Bordeaux's unique dessert made from leftover eggs yolks from the wine-filtering process.


They were underwhelming and expensive. This photo is pre-consumption so Nat is still smiling.


A genuine dollar store, well, sort of.


The washroom in our hotel room. That's Corey showering.

Halfway through the train ride I spotted something on a wall but I was too slow with my camera (but you all know what it was). At seeing the mosaic in Bordeaux I felt great validation. Mostly because I did my chicken-neck-dance the whole time we were there. Hopefully Nat didn't notice. I made sure we walked back to that spot on Saturday morning so I could get a good photo.


Bordeaux invasion determined to be failure by evidence of graffiti (on what is technically already graffiti).

Saturday we went on a bus tour of a couple of wineries. I suppose if you've been on one winery tour, you've been on them all. But this was more interesting because we got to watch members of the obnoxious (but small) French contingent of our tour waltz right up the vines, snatch a handful of grapes, and gobble them up. This infuriated Nat in the same way she sees a tourist uses their camera's flash inside a museum.


Catching some rays at the end of the line.


There was supposed to be a farmers' market.


Lunch would have been great if we had more than 45 minutes to eat.


Waitress was confused when we asked for dessert and the bill when the meal arrived.


They actually gave us these grapes to eat.




Nat inspects the barrel's aroma.






Starting at 50E a bottle... we didn't bring any home.


Boo(ya).






Nat decided she didn't like Bordeaux and that it's too manly.


It really does taste like leather and tobacco, but what the hell do we know?


We had time to hit up the carnival. It's called Barbe a Papa in France.


Nat would love to have this 1 gallon vat of Nutella in our apartment.



Nat on School Supplies

I have no clue how the French actually get through school in an organized manner that would promote learning. From browsing the school supplies sections of quite a few stores, I've concluded that the French don't seem to require binders (or at least not ones bigger than 1/8"). From my observations, they seem to get by with these big plastic
portfolios that they just shove their notes into in a disheveled fashion. Also annoying is that the majority of paper here is either graph paper or this ridiculous lined paper that has big lines every centimeter or so and thinner lines every millimeter - kind of like the paper you used to learn how to write with in school, except worse. On top of all the horizontal lines, there are vertical lines about every inch too. Honestly, with all those lines, how can you read anything?? Argh!

Needless to say, when Hannah arrived on Saturday, in her suitcase were 2 reams of paper, a 3-hole punch, several duotangs, and some hand soap from Bath & Body Works (the last item isn't exactly relevant but my hands smell so lemony-fresh now).

Stay tuned for next week: Hannah, Nat's parents, Hannah's and Iris's parents, and of course more Space Invaders!

Week 7 photos on Flickr

Notre 6e Semaine: F is for Froid!

We came back to Paris this week and were welcomed with: fall – as in cold, grey, blustery and occasionally rainy weather. Blahhh...

Go to Week 6 photos on Flickr

Negotiations: an intensive class

The day after we got back to Paris, Nat started class bright and early at 9am. T of course meant leaving the house at 7:45am to get to school on time. She survived the rush-hour throngs of sweaty business people and was able to make it to class every day, which in this case was Monday to Thursday. Class ran from 9am to 5:30pm and consisted of lectures, role-plays and debriefs with one of the most famous professors at ESSEC: Alain Lempreur. He is the director of the European Centre for Research in Negotiations, a Harvard prof, and has worked with the WHO, NATO, the European Commission, and the Hutsus and Tutsis in Burundi (Africa) (he also used to teach at France's prestigious ENA for those in the know!). The class was intense and left Nat exhausted and zombie-like everyday. It's evident that she learned something though: even in daily life negotiations, she's ramped up the skills. Watch out!

What Corey did all week while Nat was in school

Oh yes, I had many adventures during the daylight hours in Paris. But mostly I discovered my obsession, and knack - like a radar of sorts - for finding the graffiti mosaics hidden around the city.


My favourite one so far.

It is really akin to say a Tony Hawk video game where you have to travel around locating all the various secret elements in a level to score 100%. So technically speaking, if there are 704 mosaics in this city (and this is according to some info I found online although I don't really believe it) and I've found 21 - unassisted by any maps online mind you - then as of this posting, I've got a score of 3.4%. At least I've got something to do for the next 2.5 months, n'est pas?

Check out my mosaic collection here.

Anyway, here is what I did this week…


Sancha says it's a church therefor we must photograph it.


This monument was all smashed up and looked like it belonged in another country.


Smashed-up-ness. I think someone was living in there.


The Zodiac relief was cool and Sancha loved the door handle.


I finally painted something, Notre Dame from behind.


Paris's skinniest park with Iris. It's on a viaduct 40 feet above the city.


Cliché but fragrant.


Everything is pretty here.




Drinking some wine to escape the downpour.


A trip to the photo museum.




We were inspired to take some black and white shots.


The gang, in blue.


Smoking only looks good in photos.


An interesting building I noticed while Nat and I searched for the American Library in Paris.


Oooh, art.




Nat celebrates fall (or gravity).


Louis Vuitton flagship store on Champs Elysee.


Architectural juxtaposition.

Caroline and Graham visit Paris

Natalie's little sister Caroline and her boyfriend Graham came to visit us at the end of the week. Our cozy (read: tiny) apartment and the new foursome make for intimate living quarters!

Nuit Blanche

For all you Torontonians who thought Nuit Blanche was an awesome idea, guess what? You have the French to thank for it! Apparently Nuit Blanche originated in Paris 7 years ago and has since sparked similar movements across the world, all on the same day. We dragged Care and Graham to check it out.


Excited to go. Unaware of the crowds.

First stop: Tour Montparnasse (remember the ugly tower that resulted in the city of Paris creating a special business district outside of the borders?). There was a set of intense spotlights aimed at the sky: they were so strong, the beams of light reached the clouds. The exhibit was set up to show the interaction of light and sound - people could actually interact with the exhibit to produce different sounds. We joined the throngs of people in the line-up to participate. Of course, the French don't really DO line-ups, so it was just a massive crush of people all pushing to enter the exhibit. We mustered up all the Frenchness we could and eventually wrestled our way into the exhibit.


Tour Montparnasse with the light beams.


Light beams from crowd level.


Yay we finally made it into the exhibit.


From inside (obviously).

We also saw another exhibit which was images of computer screens arranged in a configuration of the world's continents and projected into a public swimming pool. The screens each showed what the sky looked like in various parts of the world. Interesting but not quite worth the hassle of removing our shoes and socks to enter the exhibit!


Pretty lame, but the facility did have washrooms and I needed to pee.

The last exhibit was in a totally different part of town. It was a new area to us and was actually really cool to discover since it's kind of like the Distillery District in Toronto. We thought we were going to see an exhibit of what looked like Pikachus performing an opera. In fact, that's what it was, but somehow I was expecting them to be big. Instead, they were about 5 inches high. With hundreds of people lining up to see the exhibit, we decided to call it a night.


The newest metro line has security gates.


It is also just one really long train.


Free Museum Day - part deux
or
Come all ye assholes!


So yet another first Sunday of the month came this week, and with it: Free Museum Day. Although Caroline and Graham came in just the day before, and we had been out late at Nuit Blanche, Corey set the alarm and was up at 10:30am marching around, barking orders to hurry up so we could capitalize on the free-ness. After a few mugs of coffee, the rest of us troops were ready to go. Out we set to see the Musee d'Orsay… along with half of the tourists in Paris apparently! The line-up was huge, yet remarkably orderly and organized - a dead giveaway that there were no locals present.

Inside was the usual tourist scene: people taking pictures with flash directly in front of signs specifically banning them from doing so; giant crowds in the rooms with famous artists (Van Gogh, Degas) and empty rooms containing works of less-than-famous others; and, just a general free-for-all that was enough to make any rational person want to run out of the building screaming. We soldiered through and were rewarded with the understanding of the origins of the famous Art Nouveau "Chat Noir" poster that is somewhat symbolic of Paris.


Full house at Musee d'Orsay.


No one wants to SEE the painting, they just want a picture of it.


More jerks in the Van Gogh room; impossible to enjoy the art with these circumstances.


The guy on the right is saying "Yeah let's get photo of these" (well maybe).


...But the metro never arrived.

Next up: the Musee de l'Orangerie which is located in the gardens across from the Louvre. After waiting in line in the drizzle and occasional duststorms, we made it inside. This is a smaller museum whose pride and glory is two oval rooms arranged as an ellipse, which contain full-size panoramas of Monet's world-famous Water Lillies. There was other stuff in the museum, and it was pretty impressive given that the bulk of the art there was the collection of just two guys. But by far and away, the Water Lillies were the best: they alone made it worth the wait.


This crowd seemed more civilized.


Corey ponders Monet (but only for the camera).


Really big paintings.


Where the wild things are?

And finally, a mad dash through the Louvre to see the famous Mona Lisa. Or really, to laugh at all the tourists in front of her!! She is now on her own wall in the middle of the room, and is of course surrounded by throngs (if you're not keeping count, this is actually the third time Nat has used the word "throng") of tourists who don't understand WHY she is beautiful or important, but just know that if they bring home pictures of her, their friends will be impressed. Ha!


Mona Lisa Chaos I, 2008.


Mona Lisa Chaos II, 2008.


Mona Lisa Chaos III, 2008.


Sure there are other paintings in this room (and huge!) but does anyone notice?


Graham's favourite painting.

Randomly, amongst the thousands of people there, we managed to run into Iris. See? Even in the biggest museum in Paris, it's really just a small world.

Week 6 photos on Flickr

Notre 5e Semaine: Pivo in Prague

Welcome to week 5. Our regularly scheduled author could not be with us today so I'm filling in to cover our adventures in Prague (which means fewer words and more photos).

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We left Calgary on Monday evening and flew back across the Atlantic to London and then directly to Prague (because it was much cheaper to not go back home to Paris even though we already had a flight booked to Prague for the next morning). So in less than a week we put about 16,000km of flying under our belt.

Handy tip: If you're flying Air Canada and the plane has their enRoute on-demand entertainment system, use the back of your plastic cutlery to press the touch-screen instead of your fat fingers.

English English

So we had a 7-hour stop in London which involved traveling from Heathrow Airport to Luton Airport. And since it took a hundred hours by subway to get into downtown, we had only had about 3 hours to spend in the city. Naturally we headed to the most important landmark first...


Technically it's in the wrong location, but kudos to the tourism department responsible for this.


Look at me, I'm Harry Potter!

After this, we traipsed around the train station looking for a pub only to realize that London sucks (or more specifically the area around the train station sucks) and that we genuinely missed Paris and all its obnoxious citizens. We did find a nice place for food and a pint.


What's London without fish 'n chips and a pint?





Let me suggest that if you can, at all costs, avoid Luton Airport. Home to all the budget airlines it is the crummiest airport. Even Buttonville airport with its french fry-making machine (broken) and random Mike Harris sighting (Daniel and Resnick; OntarioForce One) was nicer.


Prior to entering, we were in good spirits.

Everything was going smoothly until we approached security and were informed that it was a one-bag-per-person policy. After some arguing in various languages (and why can't they speak English in England!?) we cooled down and proceeded to stuff all our belongings into one bag each. This meant I was walking around with a half-zipped duffle that weighed about 40 lbs, certainly not fit as a carry-on. I even made it through security however a couple guards commented that my bag shouldn't be allowed on the plane, and my bag also trampled some girl's Guess sunglasses and snapped them in half, but it wasn't my fault. Naturally once through the gate, we ripped everything apart and walked on the plane with several carry-ons, just like everyone else. Stupid Luton.

Out and about in Prague

In Prague we stayed with Nat's Aunt Hella and Uncle Pavel. She told me that they didn't speak any English, which was fine since Nat speaks Czech and could translate. Except that Pavel would occasionally drop English words here and there until by the end of our stay I'm pretty sure he was constructing full sentences. This was a nice surprise.


Nat's Aunt Hella and Uncle Pavel.


Famous 500-year-old astronomical clock. Good luck reading this.


Street meat.


Old town square where a Coke commercial was filmed.


Starbucks.


Lunch with Nat's Bubbie Ruth.


'Doggy bag' dispensers. Complete with cardboard scoop.


Nat's original Lavalife profile picture was from this spot in the Metro.


Oh look, it's Prague Castle.


Nat's cousin Peter does the marketing for this fabric softener.


Every sidewalk is a work of art.

On our second day in Prague we met Nat's cousin Micha who gave us a guided tour of Prague Castle. Micha knew everything there was to know about the castle and he knowledge of history was truly impressive.






Micha explains the story on the doors.


Look at me, I'm a pony.

Micha's dad Ladja called and said we were all going for dinner. We ended up at a nice joint with no tourists and had an authentic Czech dinner experience: starting dinner (on an empty stomach) with a huge shot of Becherovka and followed by a pint of pivo ("pivo" is beer in Czech by the way).


The food hasn't arrived yet, let's keep drinking.

Oh the Czechs love their beer. And according to our Lonely Planet guidebook, they consume the most beer per capita in the world, coming in at 160L of pivo per person per year. But with pivnices and pivovars (pubs which brew their own beer) lining every street, and with beer costing around 30kc ($2 Cdn) a pint, it isn't hard to imagine.

We headed to a pivnice or pivovar (I still don't know the difference) for more beer even though I pleaded "staci" (enough!). Here we had topinki (toast) with cloves of garlic rubbed on top. At this point I was beginning to understand Nat's eating habits. The Czechs love garlic (cesnek) about as much as they love beer and feel it's the perfect cure for the flu.


The boys.



I'd also like to point out that at this point, Hella's fridge was filled with about 24 containers of yogurt and 8 kinds of cheese which also helped understand Nat's infatuation with dairy products.

We chowed down on garlic toast, or in Micha's case just plain garlic, more beer (and yes I was very drunk) and then ended the night with Ladja forcing me to drink a huge shot of Slivovice, 50% alcoholic plum brandy. And just so we're clear, this was a Thursday night; Ladja had an English exam the next morning; Micha had school the next morning; and Micha isn't of legal drinking age (although at 6'4" no one seems to care)! I was reeling and had to make a pit stop at a KFC on the to the Metro.


Begging for mercy.

We spent one of our days touring around the old Jewish Quarter or Prague, which used to be the largest Jewish settlement in Central Europe. The ancient synagogues are now museums and in one case a unique Holocaust memorial.


Old Jewish cemetery.


The cheapest kippa on earth.


I snuck this photo in the Holocaust memorial synagogue. Every wall is painted like this. The name Litvaova (which is really Litva) was the closest I could find, but then again, I'm pretty sure I have no Czech ancestry.

In the evening we went to see the Czech Philharmonic at the Ruldolfinium theatre. We were also smart enough to buy tickets at the box office instead of the English-speaking salespeople (read: scalpers) outside the theatre who sell tickets to naïve tourists at 3 times the price.


Champagne at intermission.


Don't worry, the concert had ended.


And then... more pivo!


They weren't serving food anymore and I was hungry.


So we found some street meat, or street cheese actually.


The most creative washroom I've ever been in.


Obecni Dum, the Municipal House. This is where Nat's parents first met.

Family fun time

We were also in Prague to spend time with Nat's family since she hadn't seen them in over 2 years. Plus the family recently grew when cousin Sasha had baby Philip (called Philipek) back in April. He is possibly the most well behaved baby I've ever met and since he's so cute we must have 100 pictures of him. The weekend was spent on various hikes in the forest north of the city core, family meals, and basically sitting around waiting for Philipek to start crawling (which I'm certain he did the day after we left).


Little Philipek.


Family hike.


Notice that this 'giraffe' has junk.


Hella absorbing cosmic energy at this stonehenge-like arrangement in the forest.


We forced Nat to do one of her token poses.


Peter and his nephew. He never put him down.


Nat and her other Bubbie.


Hanging out with Ladja, Bubbie, and cousin Christine.


Peter and Andrea. They also just moved in together.


Proof that Nat really does like babies (or at least happy ones).


Bubbie on Skype with Nat's mom.


Entire family gathering via Skype.


4 generations.


The girls on hiking day 2.




Let's have a man-to-man chat about why you aren't crawling yet.

Return to Paris

Even though we were returning to the land of the obnoxious (apparent from the chaos at the boarding 'line-up' on a predominantly French Prague-to-Paris flight) we were also happy to be back. But we also noted that, for some reason, Prague has a grand infatuation with Paris and there are several instances of this envy.


View from in front of the castle.

This tower is called the Petrínská rozhledna. We just referred to it as the Eiffel Tower, but we never actually got very close. According to Micha, the Eiffel Tower is based on some Czech designs that Mr. Eiffel had seen 10 years earlier – Wikipedia has no mention of this. The Petrínská rozhledna was constructed 2 years after the Eiffel Tower was completed.


Paris Street, home to all of the ultra-luxe shops.


This isn't on Paris Street and they don't serve French food.


And we're home.

Week 5 photos on Flickr

Notre 4e Semaine: Remembering Mark Oliver Lochli (1974 – 2008)

We dedicate this week of our blog to our dear friend Mark who died tragically on September 15th, 2008. Mark will be loved and deeply missed forever.



On the morning of September 15th, we received a harrowing phone call from Nat's best friend Hannah. Her husband Mark had been in an accident and was in the hospital in life-threatening condition. Nat stayed on the phone with Hannah throughout the day, getting updates of Mark's condition. Hannah's little sister Iris is also on exchange in Paris, and when Mark's condition worsened we called her over to the apartment right away. We were all stunned to hear around 6pm Paris time that Mark had died.

We immediately started booking flights to Calgary to be with Hannah - Iris left the very next morning, and Corey and I followed the day after. The week that followed was intense. Hannah and Mark had been married for just 5 weeks - we had just participated in and celebrated their wedding almost a month ago. Hannah's other friends Kerry, Letitzia, and Duane flew in to Calgary, and along with Nat and Iris, the girls formed a protective enclave around Hannah during the week, always making sure that one of us was by her side. We all stayed at Mark's parent's house, and the grief and sorrow was palpable. Mark was such a wonderful, giving and kind person - it seemed (and still seems) so unfair that his life was over when it was only just beginning.

Mark died on Monday, September 15th. A prayer session was held for him on Friday, September 19th - the 5-year anniversary that he and Hannah started officially dating. At the session, Hannah read aloud a beautiful card she wrote for her dear husband, best friend and partner in life, Mark. Nat held her hand at the altar while she read it, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Neither was there enough room at the church the next day for the funeral mass: Mark's last gathering was a sold-out affair with standing room only. He was laid to rest in a beautiful spot in Queen's Park cemetery, with the sun shining down on him and all of his friends who gathered to say goodbye one last time. We all got together at the Lochli's house afterwards for a party in honour of Mark. With all of his friends gathered together looking at old photos and telling stories about Mark, along with endless coolers of beer, Jaegger-bombs and many, many rounds of tequila shots, we celebrated Mark and his life. Judging by the number of empties the next day, I think we did him proud.

To view Mark's obituary and accompanying guestbook in the Calgary Herald, please click here.

The Story of Mark and Hannah

Mark and Hannah met on the beach in the Dominican Republic in April 2003. Her little sister Iris had dragged her along on one last family vacation there. Hannah and Iris were tanning and watching a group of guys play beach volleyball when Hannah leaned over and told Iris while pointing at a tall, dark, handsome guy, "THAT's the kind of guy I want to marry". Little did she know what role that guy would play in her life. Turns out that the guy was Mark, and he was part of a small group of friends that had already been at the resort for a week with a bigger group; the small group had opted to extend their stay for a second week, which coincided with the week Hannah was there After bonding on the volleyball court and stealing a few midnight kisses, the two of them knew they had found something special.

They stayed in touch over the summer, and Hannah even secretly re-jigged a pre-planned trip through Western Canada with a girlfriend to include a stop in Calgary (where Mark lived) so they could hang out. By September, they knew for sure that the connection they had was real and so on September 19th, 2003, they officially started dating.

By the Fall of 2004, Hannah made the big jump and moved to cow-town to be with Mark. While it was hard to be apart from her friends and family, being close to the man she loved was worth it. Mark taught her the ways of the west, including all about stampede, partying with friends and enjoying every minute of life.

Mark and Hannah were actually so well suited for each other in this respect. While Hannah is the more gregarious of the two, they both shared a zest for life and a level of generosity and caring that couldn't have been better-matched. Hannah always came up with these plans to go places and do things - usually involving squeezing every last possible hour of vacation time and dollars of the budget - and Mark was always more than happy to go along. It's like Hannah would say "Let's jump!" and Mark would say "Yeah!!! How high??".


BBQ with friends


Mark's Birthday (with a Deep 'n' Delicious cake - special!)


Teaching Hannah about the Flames


All dressed up for the EnCana Christmas party.


Supporting the cause at the "No BSTL" party (aka Julian's Birthday)


Gettin' coupley at Stampede!

Together, Hannah and Mark had many adventures, including countless trips to the Caribbean and Mexico with their friends, what seemed like monthly visits to Toronto and even a few jaunts further afield including a tour of Europe and partying in Vegas. Thanks to Hannah and her snap-happy ways, all of these trips were thoroughly documented, so here's just a few snapshots.

TRIP PICTURES


Getting cultural in Austria (Mark actually bought this outfit and took it home for Halloween)


Picnic in their apartment in Paris


At the Seine in Paris


Ice Bar in Copenhagen, Denmark


Checking out vineyards in Kelowna.


Working as a team at their favourite sport in Mexico.


Lovers in Hawaii

While Corey and I were on a trip to Calgary in 2007, at a friend's birthday bash, Mark secretly told us that he was going to surprise Hannah and propose to her in Toronto the following week. Imagine me laughing inside as I consoled a very drunk Hannah in the bathroom that night as she cried, saying that Mark was never going to propose! Together with Kerry and Samson, the five of us hatched a plan to get Mark and Hannah down to the beach volleyball courts in Toronto for the proposal. We carried out the plan almost flawlessly and being the schemers that we were, we actually photographed and videoed the whole thing for posterity!


Right after the proposal


The happy couple!


The schemers!


Still beaming - 5 hours later!

16 months, a zillion wedding update emails, phone calls and spreadsheets, and two rowdy bachelorette parties later, the wedding took place on a very blustery but sunny day at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. Those of us who were there remember that Mark and Hannah never looked happier - Mark had a permanent little-kid giddy smile on his face that day. The entire day went without a hitch (well almost - the reverend was an hour late and showed up James Bond-style via speedboat!). The ceremony was beautiful, the dinner was so tasty that everyone cleaned their plates, the speeches were great and you could really feel that the entire room was filled with love. We all partied long into the night until the yacht club kicked us all out at 2:30am. It went down as one of best weddings in history.


"Oh yeah, I'm getting married today!"


Mark reviewing his vows yet again (even though Hannah kept telling him they would be there on paper to read)


Getting excited!


Walking his soon-to-be mother-in-law down the aisle.


Mark awaiting his bride, trying to hold back the tears of joy


Not doing so well!


The handoff from dad (Sorin) to Mark.


The ceremony. Check out those smiles.


Awwww


And again! Awwwww


"And with this ring, I thee wed"


Sealed with a kiss.


Signing and making it official!


The new Mr. and Mrs. Lochli


Team Bridal


Posing for the people


Mark with the girls. As giddy as a kid in a candy store!


The beautiful couple


"We did it!!"


First Dance


Proving they were up for any challenge


The end of the night. No tie, no jacket, shirt open, drink in one hand, wife in the other: signs of a good time.

Our Goodbye to Mark

Mark was the kind of person that we all aspire to be. He was generous, caring, smart, athletic, handsome and easy-going. As a husband and partner to Hannah, he was the best. The love she told me about was the stuff of fairytales - confident, everlasting and reaffirmed every day. The day of their marriage - the day they professed that everlasting love to each other and all of their friends and family - was without a doubt, the happiest day of both of their lives.

It's so unfair that such a wonderful person was taken from this world at such a young age and at a point where his life was just beginning. We'll both miss Mark terribly and we'll always remember his permanent smile, nodding head and easy-going way of always saying "yeah, let's do that!".

Mark, you are forever in our hearts.