All work and no play...

Very intense 2 days in preparation for an important project review tomorrow ... but a short respite this evening.

Had an excellent, inventive dinner (out in the garden) at EatCetera in central Brussels.
(Red tuna roll with vegetables, wasabi and soya sauce; Brochette of prawns flavoured with sesame seeds, served with a fresh mango salad and balsamico vinegar ice cream).

Up to Belgium ...

In Brussels for the next few days ... I'll plan to stop by the "wall of beer bottle labels" like the good pilgrim I am.

¡Que gane el mejor!

With barely 7 hours left before the World Cup kickoff the tension and excitement is mounting and mounting. On near-by rue Liancourt the flag-waving mania has, as you can see in the photo, reached a max.

With a million people expected at the Champs-Elysées (regardless or whether France wins or loses) we're all expecting a long and noisy night!

Allez les Bleus !

UPDATE (22h50): Ouch!

Happy Birthday to JMB

We (family and quasi-family) have gotten together for dinner and (pictured at left) a wonderful cake au 6ème to celebrate Jean-Marie's (always magic, i.e. 07/07) birthday.

Felicidades, amigo!

El cuatro de Julio ... & Marivaux

<-- There it is! Enjoy the day ... and let's plan ahead for the 14th.

UPDATE: We're off to see Marie's daughter,Félicie, who plays Lisette in tonight's performance of Marivaux's "Le Legs" at the Théâtre 13. There's another performance tomorrow for you non-football fans!

First Monday in July Picnic

We had a very nice picnic (fourth annual organized by Geneviève & Bernard, merci!) at the Parc de Sceaux on the lawn near le Pavillon de l'Aurore (seen at left). Very relaxing (especially after a torrid summer day), fun and everyone brought a tasty dish to share (and champagne).

Parisian Treasure Hunt

I took part in this year's (fourth annual) Chasse aux Trésors in various arrondissements of Paris - we did only the 14th actually.

Our team of three (Marie-Thérèse, a very spritely 79 year-old, joined us) did pretty well - got all the clues and figured out the enigma, but were just a tad slower than the winning teams - in any case, it was a lot of fun and a way to learn more about our quartier.

I'll add some of the highlights of the day later on this same post.