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.

Fin juin ...

We took a short break from a lot of work - CALT (me), transcriptions (Odile) and apartment renovation related (both) - for a visit from Eliot (Sharon's son) and Matt from Telluride. They're in Paris for a few days before heading to the south of France for some surfing and then Italy for other adventures. They are both GREAT guys!

We had a very enjoyable lunch at a nearby Portuguese place called Os Minhotos. See video highlights here.

Le Grand Fooding d'Eté

If you happen to be in Paris today you can catch a superb "foodie" event called the "Le Grand Fooding d'Eté". This is a great opportunity at very modest cost (€5 to charity) to enjoy a giant communal picnic (from 6pm -10pm) with dishes prepared by celebrity French chefs (including from the Paris Ritz and Le Chateaubriand) and accompanied by the Cabernet d'Anjou wines of Domaine Leduc-Frouin amongst others. Le GrandFooding is to be held in the 4th Arondissement in Paris at Village Saint Paul - rue des Jardins Saint Paul, 75004 Paris.

I'm planning to go, so hope to see you there!

Fête de la Musique

For the (25th!) Fête de la Musique we took it easy and just hung out in our neighborhood - actually just down at the square, where we joined Isabelle and others friends for an outdoor picnic with, of course, some great and spontaneous music-making.

To see a video of the goings-on click here.

How did you celebrate this day (also the summer solstice)? Post your comment!

La Fête de la Page

All afternoon and until the early evening at the square Jacques Demy - music, interesting stands and neighbors galore.

Hot enough for ya?

Paris is going through a mini (I hope) heat wave (30°C) and tonight Odile has knocked herself out making an authentic Brazilian dinner (starring la grande dame: Carne de Charque - obrigado Adriana for the original recipe -and, as a featured player, Mr. Manioc).

We're joined byMeyre, Benjamin, Denis, Regina and the mountain boys, Alain and Hughes (thanks for the nice watermelon photo).

What's up, Doc?

Brunch at Odile's mother's place at Raspail with Marco & Corinne from Zürich. We're invited tonight to join them at Au Lapin Agile.

Boxing Day ...

Packing up all the books at Mouton (pre-refurb) to store in a nearby cave (merci, Virginie).

UPDATE: Thanks to Jean-Noël and Benjamin for helping us lug those 45 (heavy!) boxes down to the car and then into storage.

A wonderful lamb curry dinner chez Denis - he's invited us and also: Claudine (up from Toulouse for year-end exam-giving), Regina (the Orchestra do Fuba concert she organized yesterday at the New Morning went great) and Hélios - and his two friends from the Pyrenees - Alain and Hughes (he lives in a hamlet at 1,400 meters).

Muito bom

A nice Brazilian dinner with Odile for our first visit to "O Corcovado" in our neighborhood. Claudia, the owner/cook, and Sébastien, the server/barman, made us feel right at home. Very tasty food, if a bit pricey compared to others in the same category. Nonetheless the starters: the Pão de Queijo and the Casquinha de Siri are quite good.

The devil made me do it ...

At least three persons mentioned to me the ominious configuration of today's date:; 06-06-06. Actually, nothing really untoward happened. We'll all have to wait until July 7 of next year to see if we all get lucky (except her, of course).

A very nice Odilized dinner of tuna steaks with wakame sauce (at least that's what I'm calling it). Jean-Yves was back in town (sadly without Bébert who is off to Berlin). We were joined by Benj, AC and Florence.

Smile ...

On this day in 1070: The method for creating Roquefort cheese was discovered in Roquefort, France.

JYC @ Paris

Jean-Yves was at Mouton when I arrived from work. He's driven up from Uzès today - and with a wonderful surprise: he had Bébert with him!

Odile had put out some nice tapas, the guys had brought wine from the south and I had picked up some chouriço preto from Iberia Week at INSEAD.

We were joined by Benj then Anne for tortillas españolas ... and more wine. Bébert picked up the guitar and we all had a rollicking good time. To be continued ...

Immeubles en fête !

Come all ye "Moutons"!

Today from 7pm onwards in the courtyard of our building - we're celebrating the annual "neighbors' party" - so even if you're a past resident (or repeat visitor) feel free to come by (bring a little something to drink/nibble).

Hope to see you!