Salon des Arts 2006

The annual 14th arrondissement art show (exclusively of artists living in the 14th) and, once again, Myriam has a painting in the show .

Vernissage tonight around 7pm for those who'd like to meet us there. Always interesting and the mayor throws in a cocktail party!

Afterwards (probably) at la Comedia.

Monsoon evening ...

After an apéro visit (vive le vin rosé !) at Bruce & Barbara's Tiquetonne apartment (here is a shot of an interesting place just across the street) we went to Vieng Siam, a nice Thai restaurant just down the street.

During dinner an enormous rainstorm broke (lasting for quite a while ... with thunder galore) giving us the wonderful feeling of actually being in Thailand!

If any of you dear readers have Thai tips (other restos to try, recipes - our new kitchen will soon be finished, merci Philippe) just let me know via comments or e-mail.

Oh, my (our) aching back(s) ...

Going on 8pm and we're just finishing the "big move" back into our refurbished apartment. Boxes galore and furniture to move back down ... plus, as usual, last-minute items to be finished (shelving, closets). Overall it is a BIG change and we're happy the "process" is over (almost). Generally happy with the results - I'll hope to put some links on this blog in the next few days so you can see what the results are.

MANY THANKS to the crew of good friends who came to help out (and will sit down to dinner with us now): merci Meyre, Florence, Denis, Mikael, Benjamin, Jacques and Dominque, Myriam and Paula. We couldn't have done it without you!

Spectacular Chateau ...

Les Fêtes de Nuit de Versailles : Les Noces de l’Enfant Roi

Superb dance piece. Excellent music by Rita Mitsouko. Very nice cultural evening. (And a big merci to our friend Michel, master of stage scenery, for the freebie tickets!)

The storyline is fascinating - recounting the marriage of 11 year-old Louis XV with his child bride, 4 year-old Marie Anne - daughter of King Felipe V of Spain. The dancing is spirited, inventive, and lyrical. And there are even fireworks! Impeccably timed and chosen (and right close!). Even the location is magical - the stage is actually set over the water of the Neptune Basin in the gardens of the spectacular (even more so at night) chateau of Versailles.

(click the image for more information - en français)

The August castle tour continues...

Dinner tonight at Läckö Castle (a medieval castle, located on an island in the lake Vänern in Sweden).

A highly enjoyable (and informative) performance, with music and singing and declamation, by Leif Olson and his troupe.

Trip to Sweden

I'm off to Lidköping this afternoon for four days of what promises to be very interesting work. You can get a quick overview of the town and see some pictures here.

le Château Tenant

UPCOMING NEWS: Arrival at le Château Ternant, high up in the hills of the wine-famous town of Nuits-Saint-Georges. Gorgeous! Click on the title above for more pix.

mini-mini-vacation...

Off to Montigny-sur-Loing to sleep over tonight before continuing the route to tomorrow's start of a 3 day hiatus at the Castle T.

Château near Dalida's bust

Roland, our philatelist friend, had us over to Château des Brouillards, a marvelous 17th century home up in Montmartre. We went with our neighbor Anne and were joined by Roland's son, Charles for an extended and very enjoyable apéro.

We ended up discussing everything from the real story of Carlos Gardel's origins to modern philosophy (Charles' area of study) to the relative merits of Uruguayan vs Spanish vs French wines.

Polished off the night with a few snifters of Roland's excellent homemade vodka infused with genièvre (juniper).

Peace...

Nice time at Al Sage, our favorite neighborhood Lebanese restaurant( and the ever-warm welcome of M. Boutrous), for a quiet tête-à-tête dinner; followed by a little TV dessert, Criminal Minds.

Climb a mountain if I had to ...

Wonderful dinner with Winkie (here for a year's sabatical) & Jöel and also Domi & Jacques (St. Petersbourg-bound tomorrow) and François. Background music by Tracy Chapman, among others.

Anne stopped by for a drink afterwards!

Shower heads ...

After a quick vist to BHV for a look at items for the "new" (in 3 weeks) apartment , Odile and I met Alain at La Comedia where we were sereptitiously joined by Isabelle. We all headed off for dinner at the Mauritius where Florence joined us for coffee. I headed home somewhat after midnight but the others closed the place down around 2:30am!

New mapping project: I've started a small project of "family" loactions using web-based mapping software. You can see samples for Puerto Rico and France. Let me know what you think!

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!

Mother's Day in France

All the best to Myriam today (and always)! We're celebrating at the Rosebud.

Still Ascending...

Stopping over in the 17th this afternoon to pick up some t-shirts and decorations for the annual "Immuebles en Fête" party on next Tuesday. The idea (started five years ago and now grown to 4.5 participants throughout Europe) is simple: a fun and festive get-together among neighbors, in the same building, to get to know each other better and to continue to create links (and drinks).

Finally got our scheduling together with Jutta & François, neighbors we often run into at la Comedia, and had an excellent dinner with them, and Florence, at Mouton. I took a risk and made a new dish - turned out not too bad.

Viva Gérard !

Off to a vernissage for our artist friend, Gérard Omez, at the nearby Villa Adrienne tonight. Earlier today Odile and I had a nice break at la Comedia with Benjamin and Florence (who agrees to help me use her genealogy research and database to try out some ideas I have on improved vizualization of connections/linkages between individuals - whether family, friends or workmates). Later we ran into Vesna (on the hunt for more strawberries for her kids!) - she still runs her art photo biz - take a look, if you haven't already, here.

Yasou!

After a full day of meetings I took the subway with colleagues to the Monastiraki railway station where we parted paths. From here, on the northeastern side of the Acropolis, I walked back to my hotel. A very enjoyable way to get to know the city (on this, my first ever visit).

We were taken out by our Greek colleagues to dinner at To Ouzadiko in the Kolonaki neighborhood of Athens.Very tasty mezedes (including fluffy keftedes), followed by a twelve-hour, oven-roasted pork dish that was truly succulent. All washed down by excellent ouzo.

Afrewards, a nitecap (Mythos) at the café Perros. Yasou!

Baron Buddies

Meeting the "gang" at the Baron Rouge for a pre-Armistice Day drink. That will help take my mind off the fact that I'll not have water back on until after the plumber's visit tomorrow!

Brazilian Paradise ...

I reached Odile by phone tonight (well, technically tomorrow since it's post-midnight) at Vila Abraão – Ilha Grande (run by Yayoi and Nilson) - a paradise (as you can see by the picture at left) that I plan to visit in the not too distant future with Madame O. - maybe for her bday (Shsss, don't tell!).

Check out the link above for more info: Y&N are both charming and multi-lingual ... just in case you're thinking of a trip to Brazil - on the coast, not all that far from Rio de Janeiro.

Myself, I took a well-deserved break tonight with some Pietra at le Baron Rouge and a small, but tasty Korean dinner.

Flea, Fight and Fun

First thing today, around noon, I stopped by the vide-greniers at the marketplace at the end of our street. Saw Françoise (and some of the other usual suspects) and got a nice deal on the shirt you see in front of her.

PLANNED: La Maison de la Corse holds its Consulta today at the 5th arrondissement mairie. Afterwards, this evening, music with Manis (chanteur charismatique et anti-conformiste) at le Entrepot and then up to the 20th: forro/dancing .

Chargé comme programme, non ?!

After a nice lunch nearby with Sylvie, we went to see Myriam at the Visarte expo. Afterwards we walked over to Sylvie's, where I finished (finally! a tough tech challenge) getting her Internet connection reworing on her laptop. I suggested she go "wireless" so she can take advantage of her small garden out front.

Returned to Mouton and chanced upon ... and actually watched (for the nth time) "Blazing Saddles" ... what a weird sense of humor, that Mel Brooks!

Golden nuts <--click for informative video!

Went over to Sylvie's place in the 5th to help get her Internet (noos) connection working on her laptop. She invited me over to the nearby The Long Hop pub for a refreshing beer on the sidewalk sun-splashed terrace. I sprung for the amusingly named Nobby's Nuts (no serious beer-drinker, like myself, would normally indulge - especially when having a Beamish - in plebian fare such as nuts, but we were both sort of bushwacked by the high alcohol content and the strong sun).

Later Denis showed up and we walked over towards Ile Saint-Louis where we sat ourselves down on the bridge and listened to two excellent street musicians belt out some righteous jazzy tunes. I called Catherine P. from there (with a bossa nova background track) to wish her a happy birthday (donc, Joyeaux Anniversaire, Catherine!).

Back to Sylvie's (still in MAJOR renovation mode) where Rob joined us for some wine, it being apéro-time (natch).

First picnic of 2006

Heading over to Max's place in Nanterre for a BBQ. It's a lot cooler (12°C) than yesterday, but I'm sure Max has plenty of "anti-freeze" left. Mo' later.

Kant complain ...

Wonderful dinner tonight (I finally did the topinambour recipe - superb!) with Claudia, Fanchette (congratulations on stopping smoking - more or less), Denis and Anne. High-brow discussions on topics such as: farts vs. burps (video clip here), dressing for a wedding, etc.

On this day in 1724: German philosopher Immanuel Kant was born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).

Spring-like ... finally. Time to TANGO.

Wonderfully sunny and warm today so a bunch of us (Odile, Benj, Rob, Jean-Nöel, Florence) had coffee at la Comedia after the market.

Tonight: Juan Carlos Rossi plays & sings @ "Chez Mary" (140 rue Saint Maur 75011) from 21h00. Come one, come all - see you there!

UPDATE: JC was too good - listened to his music until almost midnight then, realizing we were fairly hungry, ran out to a nearby Mexican restaurant (too late to dine - this is Paris after all, not New York!) so we (Odile, Rob, Denis, me) ended up at l'Ile de Gorée, a fine Senegalese restaurant, for a very convivial (if late - 1am!) dinner (merci Rob). ETA home 3am!

Rue Montgallet Day

Well, not actually the entire day; this famed "street of the amazing Chinese computer deals", with literally tens of different outlets, jammed side to side, always seems to me roisterous and fatiguing at the same time. After a couple of hours I left with my various USB cables and assorted goodies - tired but satisfied I'd gotten the best prices.

More recovery

Dinner at home with Rob (staying over), Anne and Benjamin.

Jerusalem artichoke and Swiss art/wine

Market day at Mouton this morning so I picked up some topinambour to try a new recipe (stay tuned for results).

Beautifully sunny day so HAD TO stop at a sidewalk café afterwards (work promises to pick up in May so I'm kind of planning ahead - "play while you can" system).

Tonight the Swiss artists association, Visarte, has their vernissage at the mairie in the 6th arrondissement. If I haven't already invited you please consider yourself so invited ... and come (early - around 6:30pm - the Embassy's goodies may not hold out for long!). Hope to see many of you there.

UPDATE: A wonderful time at the vernissage (see a short video here). Afterwards a short dozen (11, to be exact) of us went to dinner at le Paradis. Then post-paradisical drinks at the Rosebud (just the dirty half-dozen). Closing at 2am ...

Easter Monday - holiday

We stayed overnight at Vosves and after lunch (more duck!) we headed back to Paris this afternoon (dropped off Anna) and had lunch at the funky Mexi & Co.

Dinner tonight at Jacques and Dominque's with Odile, Denis and Rob (the indefatigable) for a very nice evening of pâté de pâques and some stormy discussions (see a short video clip here).

Joyeuses Pâques!

Best wishes to you all (even those who don't celebrate Easter). Today, after a quick stop at Montigny, we're at Vosves, where Odile's godmother made a superb lunch (duck). I'm in recovery (or resurrection?) again!

Recovery day ... Puerto Rican comfort food

Got in around 5am yesterday .... so today is a lazy, take-it-easy day.

To help us recover, Odile made some killer tostones for dinner (a dish both comforting and heavy). The late evening was TV time with an awfully syrupy telefilm about Sartre & de Beauvoir. Luckily it was followed by our addictive series (CSI offspring).

Rob's back in town ...

Heading up to Montmartre, chez Denis (at the far end of the street), where we're to meet up with our dear friend Rob from Denver - who's finally back in town after a TOO long absence . Planning to be joined by: Jacques, Domi, Claudia.

Ars longa ...

I spent most of the day at the 6th arrondissement mairie helping Myriam and Walter (an artist friend - seen her copping a feel of the mega-Marianne at the town hall) to begin setting up for the opening next Tuesday (18/04) of the visarte (Swiss artists in Paris) exposition . Contact me for details/invites.

One of the other artists allowed me to visit her nearby atelier, which originally belonged to Man Ray (and where he died) ... quite the "art day" for me!

Vernissage tonight of works by our Argentine friend, Luis Pasina, at le Duc d’Enghien (20 rue d’Hauteville 75010). Ran into Juan-Carlos, who also played his guitar and sang.

Afterwards, Odile, Denis and I walked over to a new place (for me) called Dilan for a quite excellent Kurdish dinner. The street has other interesting looking restos/bar - I plan to "work" the area over the near future, yum!

Mid-week pause

Kiki le Mouton came by, after walking his dog Max, for a drink and stayed for dinner. Talk of the islands of Greece (where he and Eva have a house at Andros ... must visit), taxes, auto repairs, Tatanka (I put on the music from "Dances with Wolves"), and other mundane stuff you'd discuss with your upstairs neighbor.

Also a furious discussion of how best to market images via the Internet ("Kiki" heads up Studio Bastille) - do you have some ideas? Your comments appreciated!

No manif ... so art today.

Met Odile mid-afternoon at the main Paris city hall - stood on line 45 minutes - for their expo "Paris au Cinéma". Quite well laid out and plenty of clips showing Paris throughout film history - from various perspectives: the women of Paris, the rooftops, bistros, etc.

Afterwards walked over to the nearby BHV department store where we ran into Denis & Eleane - so we all stopped for some java at the Café Bricolo in the basement hardware area.

Tonight a fine shrimp dinner and The Mackintosh Man (en VF) with Paul Newman.

A closing thought for our friend, Bunny ... RIP (ten years already).

An excellent dinner with our sixth-floor neighbor, Jean-Marie, made by his sister, Titi. Also at the forks: Odile, Helène and Carlos.

Flaneries de dimanche

Heading off to Myriam's for a café then the near-suburbs (Bagnolet) to meet Hélios and Regina at her nephew's home for a Brazilian hoedown. More details tonight.

Lieu bis

The lieu noir with pears/rochefort sauce makes a return at tonight's Mouton dinner with our friends: Geneviève & Bernard, Anne, Pascale & Jean-Pierre. Odile's handling the starter - I'm
covering everything else (so I'm off to get cooking - update/s later).

HB Félix

Happy birthday, Félix!

Art, artchitecture and vino

We're off shortly to meet Regina and Hélios at a vernissage for Sergio, our Cuban film-maker friend, at 42 rue de Vertbois over in the 3rd (near the Picasso museum). Afterwards over to le Entrepôt for a jazzy farewell party for Gregorio, our Brazilian/Italian architect friend - he's moving back to Milano after working with Renzo Piano here in Paris.

Coño ... se fueron !

All good things come to an end ... heck, even GREAT things come to an end. Manny and Olga flew back today to NY ... we are très triste. Plans are underway to meet soon in USA or Italy!

¡Gracias por una tremenda visita, amigos!

Marais madness ...

Manny at la manif (again!) near the Paris city hall.

Le Baron Rouge

Les amis (Manny, Jaimie, Olga) @ the "oysterthon" at le Baron Rouge.

Puerto Rico à Paris

Forthcoming post on PR dinner (by Olga).





Eiffel Tower opened to public

1889: The 984-foot (300-metre) Eiffel Tower, a wrought iron technological masterpiece created by Gustave Eiffel to commemorate the French Revolution, was opened to the public at the Centennial Exposition in Paris this day in 1889.

Tourisime MO1

After our de rigeur ascension of the Eiffel Tower, I visited Napolean's tomb, at les Invalides, thanks to Manny & Olga, which, even after a dozen years of living in Paris impressed me greatly. If you go be sure to take the free audio tour - it's quite informative. Also don't try to lead any demonstations/marches as Manny is doing in this photo (Olga and I decided to hang back - given the vociferous crowd).

Our walk up the Champs-Elysées was marred somewhat by the rainy weather, but we had a nice time anyway.

Wonderful shrimp, piperade, rice (can we ever get enoough?) dinner by Odile. We were joined by Fanchette, in fine fettle pre-smoking arrêt.

D-Day: Anti-CPE protest march

Odile and I are meeting Denis around 3:00pm at the demonstration start point: Place d'Italie.

It's rainy and cool, so that may affect turnout, but at least we, diehards, will be there! YOU coming?

UPDATE: Let's split the difference and call it 2 million people who demonstrated throughout France today. What will that change? Stay tuned ...

With Denis we walked all the way up to the Bastille where we met Janine - we all stopped for a drink nearby and then met again, post-manif, for dinner at Le Bistro de Beaubourg. Good food (as usual - and at really reasonable prices), good post-march conversation and plans for an Indian dinner this Saturday at Janine's in the 19th.

Strum und Drang?

In expectation (1) of tomorrow's nationwide strike and demonstrations (and perhaps De Villepin's Götterdämmerung) we are off to the theater tonight: Marie's daughter Félice is part of the cast in "Sainte Jeanne des abattoirs" by Bertolt Brecht. I'm looking forward to seeing the play. What seems clear is that France has reached an impasse regarding the CPE. Which way out?

UPDATE: Brecht's play, "Saint Joan of the Stockyards" (in part about labor strife in Chicago), written in 1929, holds up surprisingly well 77 years later - especially the capitalism/religion connection. This version, although a bit longish and sluggish at times, has a number of clever staging ideas (mmm, smell that grilled steak) and, overall, very good acting. If you're in town drop by the Théâtre du Nord-Ouest (13 rue du Faubourg-Montmartre - Paris IXe) to see it.

(1)
"Je vécus parmi les hommes au temps de la révolte. Et je m'insurgeai avec eux."
"Dialectiser, c'est extraire la dimension politique de toute chose."
- Bertolt Brecht

Daylight Savings Time

We got invited by Hélios and Regina to dinner ... but at Denis' rather than their apartment (still being remodeled).

A really excellent dinner. Plus good talk, plenty of dancing (Odile was a regular Terpsichore) and we were all up until 4am (actually 5am with the advancing of clocks by one hour).

I met (re-met) Eliane ( kindergarten teacher) and heard about Béatrice's plans for guiding groups on trips to Vietnam, China and Turkey (she'll have a website soon - if you're interested in guided trips just return here as I'll post a link). Sylvie was there also - and in fine form.

Magia ...

Harry Houdini, born today in 1874, adopted his last name based on French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin.

That gives me pause to think that it'll take some kind of magic for us in France to get out of the pickle (1) we're in (not just related to the anti-CPE demonstrations this week ... and next). I'm still planning on participating in the nationwide strike/march on Tuesday (although Odile is getting cold feet), but I will be prepared to scoot should violence break out (as in the most recent events in Paris).

Hopefully Dominique de Villepin will pull a magic card out of his sleeve ... and things will calm down ... but I doubt it.

On the home front - a productive day (of banging away to get the new laptop in line) and a nice, quiet dinner with our neighbor, Anne. Simple grub, red wine,honest and warm conversation on a rainy Parisian night - that's the real magic.

(1) not definition #4!

Despair?

After two full days of beating my head against my new laptop computer I finally have my mail (a half-decade's worth) transferred from my old (and ailing) PC to this gleaming, over-clocked XPed monster. So you all can write now ... I'll actually get your mails!

I plan to get ruthlessly effective in e-mailing (friends, especially) more often in 2006 (since I have no metrics on this blog I don't even know how many people visit it). There remains tons of stuff to copy over but luckily (Saint) Benj told me yesterday that he "happens" to have a nifty Ethernet USB-ish cable that will plug the two beasties together for some kind of unholy mass-transfer! Vive l'informatique !

Hasta luego, amigos ...

Today is the last full day that Lara and Daniel are spending in Paris ... such a short but FRUITFUL visit for us ... always great to make new friends.

The four of us went to have dinner at Le Paradis near the Montparnasse tower for a fine, fun time. Of course everyone had escargots for a starter (well, except Odile - naturally the one French person passed on the snails).

Afterwards we stopped at the Rosebud for a post-prandial drink, then (around 2am) walked together to say adieu near their hotel. Luckily the Falstaff pub was still open so we stopped in for a wee doch-an-dorris before parting ways (until a near future, I hope). Mucha ginga!

Anti-CPE protest march

All over France today we're in the streets to protest the CPE (a new law that allows employees under the age of 26 to be fired without cause until they have held their job for two years). I took this photo near the Observatoire.

In Paris the sendoff for the march was from nearby Denfert-Rochereau. Odile and I went with Denis, met Milène and other friends along the way. If there is no appropriate reply from the government there is now talk of a nationwide strike in the coming days.

Feliz San Patricio

"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh."

Friedrich Nietzsche (I didn't know he had it in him)

Anyway, we're going out tonight with Lara (Puerto Rico) and Daniel (Brazil) to La Parrilla (21ter rue Voltaire - 75011) for a Latin American dinner ... with dancing and laughing included. Juan Carlos Rossi will be playing his guitar and singing ... so come join us!

Fork on the right...

Wonderful dinner tonight at La Forchette Adroite over on rue Château. Jean-Marie invited Odile and me (for PC services rendered) and we were joined by Kinette and her husband, Arnaud (our doctor running buddy from Saint Malo).

I'll add the details of a fine meal over on the "dining blog", but suffice it to say that someone would have to PROVE to me that I'd have as many gastronomic choices before I'd move anywhere else than Paris!

The Ides of March

Please ... no knives today.

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science." - Albert Einstein (127 years old today)

I wish you all even more mystery in your lives.

Studio 54 (bis)

Lucky's big S54 party tonight ... and I don't know what to wear, eek!

"I’m gonna live out my dreams even if they kill me in the end"

Thank you to Vonda Shepard for that line, above, from her song "Cross To Bear" - it's 2am in Paris and the lyrics really resound in me tonight. Later, amigos.

Placeholder question for today

The Foreign Legion, whose unofficial motto is “Legio patria nostra” (“The legion is our fatherland”), was founded this day in 1831... have YOU ever thought of joining (assume it were open to both males and females)?

IWD

To celebrate International Women's Day we (me and 3 ladies: Odile, Myriam and Brigitte) are off to dinner at the just-opened Japanese restaurant Sushi Itchi.

Cooking up a storm

A very nice dinner tonight , made by yours truly, with Odile, Benjamin, Anne, Fanchette and, as a surprise last-minute guest, Sylvie.

I was inspired to make some bortsch (using Flora Mikula's great, if not totally authentic, recipe) followed by the main dish (see my "dining blog" for a pic) of lieu noir (called either Boston bluefish or Pollock in English). Then salad, cheese ... but we unanimously passed on dessert.

Still @ Vosves

Returning to Paris late this afternoon (after great encounters and superb meals here at Vosves).

Helen and her Corsican Guy

Down at Vosves for lunch at Geneviève's (Odile's godmother) where, amonst others, we met Hélène and Guy - both, like me, have Corsican ancestors. Also here: Anna (starting at RFO soon), Pearl (look for her website soon) and Edouard. Besides the usual suspects.

http://www.fermedevosves.com/

Home day

Dinner tonight upstairs at the Bony's - Eva and Christian. She's originally from Greece and we should be in for some great dishes. Eva is also a gifted artist working in various media. You can see some of her work at: http://www.bony-tourtoglou.net/. I especially like her scupltures for their purity and inventiveness - the piece you see here is entitled "Déplacement" - one of my favorites. Christian runs Studio Bastille, an image bank (if you're looking for downloadable quality images).

Finding Mickey ...

Dinner (with Odile, Myriam and Françoise) at Le Select (frequented in former days by Picasso, Modigliani, Henry Miller, Hemminway, etc.) invited by Babs, who is in town on one of her twice-annual fashion shows rafle and buying (for her boutique in Berlin). Had an interesting conversation about what it takes to succeed in your own business.

Expo tonight at the Cherche Midi location of l'Ecole de Communication Visuelle (where both Fanchette & Odile used to work years ago).

Even the turtles are called Nguyen!

Our dear friend and film-maker, Marie-Christine, has invited us to a private showing tonight at the Scam of her documentary "Même les tortues s'appellent Nguyen !" - a documentary she filmed in Vietnam last year. It relates the voyage of nine-year-old Ophélie and her adoptive parents, Odile & Yves, back in Vietnam for the first time since she was a baby. Funny, touching and thought-provoking.

Afterwards there was a cocktail party where we were able to see some of the drawings and painting thet Yves did during this trip. There was also an interesting (and troubling) expo of photgraphs called "Nothing Special" by Martin Kollar.