Our last couple of days was spent in slushy Parisian snow. It was pretty cold, wet, and dirty - oh wait - that was kind of normal. :)
On our 2nd to last day (I think...I'm not sure!), we went over to Kirsten's house for dinner. A last supper...*sniff*...but of less historical significance than THE LAST SUPPER.
Anyways, we helped Kirsten make those Hershey kisses cookies. Guess who LOVED unwrapping (and eating) those?
Ok, so ALL of us liked doing that.Anyways, I convinced Kirsten to come with me to the toy stores by her so I could pick up some last minute Christmas gifts for Michael (to send with the air shipment!). And because she's my very good friend, she came with me. And we wore the same colored hat:
And we dragged our boys with us in their matching coats:
And you BET they were happy about being dragged through the Parisian slush to go to a toy store with their moms. Don't you love the snow stains on Michael's pants?We had an awesome dinner of pork roast/caramelized fennel and enjoyed one of our last meals with a special family who made our stay in Paris feel like home. When you are away from the States, there is nothing better in the world than the "family" you make where you are.
That family decided to meet me for yet another suicide mission: Laduree on Champs Elysees in December. I should have known it was a madhouse. ALL OF IT. Laduree (with it's line out the door), Champs Elysees (with its Christmas market and ridiculous crowds), and all the subway stops which were all 15-20 rows of people deep.
But here's a family picture of Jonah and Michael with the Christmas lights of the Champs Elysees behind them:
And a very cool family picture of us (and a Parisian lady in a white coat) with the lights:
Thank you to them for forcing me to take this picture.
I am wearing my red coat because I got wet paint on the sleeve of my "Parisian" coat that I wore all the time. They were painting the interior of our stairwell and I brushed up against it.
So I ran immediately to the best Dry Cleaners in Paris: PRESSING DES GOBELINS. It is on Avenue des Gobelins, next to Jacadi, across the street from Monoprix. I have taken the following to them and they have removed all successfully:
1) Grease/oil stain on my silk dress
2) HUGE stain from my foam facial cleanser on Brian's very expensive suit (took them 3 tries but they got it out)
3) Paint on my wool jacket.
If that does not constitute a good dry cleaner's. I don't know what does. And no remarks about our obvious lack of keeping ourselves clean.
Also another funny memory for Brian - when we were on the metro platform (15-20 rows of people deep) - Brian was playing with Jonah/Michael - kind of picking them up and swinging them around. They were taking turns. Michael gets fed up with this and tells Jonah, "Jonah - YOUR dad is over there. THIS IS MY DADDY." HILARIOUS to Brian.
Somewhere in our last 2 nights, I had Picard's Blanquette de poulet for dinner. LOVE that. That's right, FROZEN food as one of my last meals in Paris. I like it that much. And then Brian invited himself over to another friend's house to say goodbye. THAT was a bit awkward to me...but fine.
And that was it. Morning of our flight, we get up at 6:15 am - ready to go out the door. Michael falls down, but he's wearing this puffy coat, so he can't catch himself - bangs his nose on the floor. BLOOD EVERYWHERE. We're supposed to leave in 5 minutes on the RER for our flight. Luckily, it stops.
Sorry this is such a ramble. This is for me because I can't believe I didn't blog about this and I want to remember.
Love,
p
