Teasers

Believe me when I say that Brian has an amazing eye for landscape photography. That's Mont St. Michel to the right, the dark figure:

Mont St. Michel

I prefer the pictures with people in them. Brian and Michael at Omaha Beach, France:


So you see...pnb photography - is just phuong nguyen besancon photography right now. But I hope one day, it will be Phuong and Brian Photography too.

Arrival

Brian's parents have arrived! And we haven't seen Michael since. Well, when he gets a bump or bruise, he still looks for mom. But other than that, my purpose has been served!

The parents arrived on Thursday and they unpacked and played with Michael. Michael and Grandpa took a nap. Grammy and Mommy went shopping until we came home and took a nap. Then, we went to the Eiffel Tower for a picnic! What a 1st day!

On Friday, The Parents took Michael to catch the Tour de France roll through. So Brian and I have been here ALL alone in the City of Light. I was by myself the WHOLE day yesterday.

What Phuong Gets Done in A Whole Day With No Michael
Got some bloodwork done
Went to the cinema at Chatelet to get tickets for tonight's movie of Harry Potter
Went shopping a bit for myself - bought 2 things
Went shopping for a friend who had a baby - bought 1 thing
Grabbed some takeout for lunch
Had lunch, watched Mamma Mia (don't do it...).
Took a nap.
Cleaned up the kitchen, washed dishes
Did a load of laundry
Tidied up the living room
Called 2 medical institutions to deal with insurance/credit issues in the USA
Bought a map for our trip to Normandy and stationary to make some cards
Picked up my bloodwork results
Read a little more of my D-Day book
Missed Michael, surprisingly!

That gets us to 6:15pm when Brian came home!


What Phuong Gets Done in a Day WITH Michael
Feeds Michael breakfast
Park time
Bought food for dinner at the grocery store
Lunch
Nap
More Park time
Maybe pick up dry cleaning
Start cooking dinner and picking up the house

Brian gets home around 7pm.

What a difference!

But BOY do I miss my Little Buddy! Paris is not Paris without my Little Buddy. It was SO lonely! I have no one to point out to me all the motorcycles, or to tell me that bus 83 just went by, or to ask me for ice cream. The metro is quiet now without Michael running through the hall yelling, "FAAAST CHOO CHOO!" I never realized how much I associated Paris with Michael. And how weird it is to not have him here with us! This is our nuclear family's home!

Brian, on the other hand, is just fine. He is happy for the alone time. I am too, but I miss my little boy who is having pizza and apple juice with his grandparents and making happy memories of his own!

Love,
P

Parc des Buttes Chaumont et 14 juillet!

Guess what? Brian had another holiday this weekend! Bastille Day gave us an opportunity to "fait le pont" and make a long weekend by taking Monday off as well!

Yesterday, we took the opportunity to sleep in, watch Wall-E, and explore another small park in Paris, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont.

Would have never guessed that pirates of the 19th century served Japanese, Italian, and French cuisine all at once did you? Well fear not, you can get it at Parc des Buttes-Chaumont:

A more standard park picture. Here is the gazebo at the top of the park:

It provided some nice views of Sacre Coeur, but that was about it. It was windy up there so we stopped to cool down, explore the gazebo and eat our lunch of beef jerky, Tyrell's chips, fruit compote, and cookies. I wasn't super prepared. Michael eating and playing in the dirt ring:

And picture of Mommy and Michael at the pond in the park:

They also had a waterfall, but it's barely something I would mention in this blog. But I did, so there.

All in all, an interesting venture to the 19th and the metro stop called "Ourcq." Doesn't that just sound like a place where you pop out of the metro stairs and find yourselves staring at an army from Lord of the Rings? Luckily, it was just the 19th and not Saruman and his forces.

On Sunday, I did a photoshoot at the Luxembourg Gardens and Brian and Michael met me afterwards! I know it is a touristy place, but I love this place. I love it. I've loved it since I first saw it and couldn't tell you why. It's just my place. And on Sunday afternoon, it was hot, sunny, and beautiful:

Michael rented his first boat Sunday! He picked out a boat with a fish on the sail:

He loved pushing it around the pond, but he was more impressed with getting to hold a gigantic stick: Then, my little photogenic son sat down to pose for a picture. Do NOT ask me why I did not pull my reflector out for this one. Would have helped a ton. I love it anyways:
And Michael took this picture. I love sharing a hobby with him!

I Can't Live...With or Without You. ~U2~

SO we celebrated our anniversary officially this weekend!

Short Version

• Friday - Had an amazing meal at Au Petit Marguery. Ate steak, lobster, and had an amazing dessert that was like creme brulee but with berries inside. It was like warm melted ice cream with berries inside and a caramelized crust.
  
  
• Saturday - Saw U2 live in concert at Stade de France. Freakin' amazing. Played everything we wanted to hear...except Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses. Really awesome to see so many people (50000+) singing the same songs from all different generations.
  

LONG (VERY LONG) Version

On Friday, we went to our local Michelin rated restaurant, Au Petit Marguery, and dined like kings. It was honestly, one of the best meals I've ever had. This place just keeps topping itself every time I go, and its combinations are so delicious. It's a bit old fashioned with stuffy waiters and the such, but has been in business since 1900 so you can't really complain.

We both started with a baby green spinach salad, topped with girolle mushrooms and sliced fresh truffles. Gorgeous. I loved it, Brian thought it had too many vegetables. Uhhh...it SAID it had spinach in it on the menu.

Then, Brian got a nice beef steak smothered in a sauce reminiscent of boeuf bourgignon. I decided to forgo the before dinner aperitif, dessert, and post dinner coffee for the extra money to get the lobster.

It is a decision that I am glad I made. My lobster was from Brittany and flambeed in cognac. Served with a tarragon cream sauce (which actually had a nice seafood broth base) and fresh steamed vegetables. It was surprisingly light and AWESOME. They brought me 5 utensils to eat with it.

• A 3 fat pronged fork. A claw cracker. A spoon with a dent in it. What looked like a long handle with a very itty bitty tiny little 2 prong fork at the end of it. And a knife.

The guy brought me my lobster first and halfway through it, I realized I didn't have my cream sauce and vegetables. So when he brought that out, I had already eaten half of my lobster.

Since I have never had lobster before, we had a conversation with our waiter:

US: What do we eat?
Waiter: Everything
US: Everything? Eyes too?
Waiter: Yes. Everything?
US: The shell too then, right?
Waiter: OH no! Not the shell.

Then he saw the look on my face and realized I was joking. After this little discussion, he was no longer a stuffy waiter and was very friendly with us. When he brought out my little lemon water dish to clean my fingers, he made sure to tell me, "It's not for drinking." Then, he gave Brian an extra cup of Cognac after dinner. When we walked to the door, he noticed us from the back of the restaurant and ran up front saying, "Oh! I want to make sure I say good night to le monsieur et madame." He walked us to the door making sure to give us a big smile and many wishes of goodnight. I hope we made his night as much as he made ours!

On Saturday, we saw U2. Now, we know it was just like any other big concert venu, but we've never been to a concert where everyone was just SO PUMPED about the music! At one point, you could hear the lyrics totally clearly and on pitch from the ENTIRE Stade de France, which is about the size of Kyle Field all the way around. It was amazing.

They played everything we wanted to hear except Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses. But that's ok. They're old and probably needed to go to bed.

Some interesting points:

** They had some strange space theme going on. They had video feed from the people on the International space station and interviewed them. The Edge asked them what kind of food they ate. And the Drummer asked them if listening to music in space was different than on earth.

** They sang to a Burmese woman who was elected president in 1990 but was under house arrest now. So she wasn't there. But they sang to her anyways. Then they had people walk out on the stage holding a popsicle stick with a cutout of her face placed over theirs. Like a mask. THAT was weird.

** The light show and effects were awesome.

** At one point, Bono showed people a number they could text that would offer money for one of his charities. So lots of people opened up their cell phones and the stadium was dark with all these small illuminated specks of light from people's phones, like stars. It was pretty cool and then they sang, "One."

** Interesting mix of people. The very young people (25 and under) knew all the words and songs to their 2-3 most recent albums. The old people (like us) were excited about the older songs. So it was interesting to see who was super pumped about what.

** I think I am using the word "Pumped" a little too much in this post.

** We were super lucky with our seats. We had a great view and were not too high up. Our seats were right near the exit to our section. Our section was right near the exit to the stadium. And our exit was the closest to the RER train station. Why does this matter? Because we did not want to be waiting 30 minutes to get on a train in a line about 10000 people deep.

** While their newer songs were just fine, they saved all their awesome older songs until the end. Tells you something!


Best part too? We had friends sit for us both nights!! So we had free sitters and peace of mind to know that Michael was with people he knows and with moms who knew what to do in case of emergency!

This has been our best anniversary yet.

Love,
P

Seven Years...TODAY!

Bah Humbug on Valentine's Day! We never celebrate that, but instead celebrate how much we love/adore each other on our ANNIVERSARY!

Today, marks 7 years. How do you post about all that happens in 7 years? I won't even try. I just know that after 7 years, I know I married my best friend, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I am SO glad Brian called me back after getting a door slammed in his face instead of a kiss goodnight at the end of our first date.

Instead of posting old wedding pictures, which I am sappy enough to do. I am going to post pictures instead of us on our honeymoon, IN PARIS. We started our marriage in Paris so it is not wonder our family began in Paris as well.

Brian and I on top of something. I think it's Arc de Triomphe. I, personally, am quite entertained by Brian's hair.
Me with Tour Eiffel back there:

Brian gazing lovingly at a picnic we bought for ourselves on Rue Cler:

Brian on a gutter at the hotel we stayed at on our honeymoon, Hotel des Grandes Ecoles. It's about a 15 minute walk from our current apartment and I go by from time to time just to peek inside:

Me, at my most favorite place in Paris: The Luxembourg Gardens:

Us, in Versailles! An awesome Asian couple took this picture for us where the wife kept yelling at the man to make sure he framed it right with the landscaping etc. Well, he sure did:

So Voila! Not much has changed between us except that our love has gotten much deeper and we now have much more face fat.

Love you, Brian!

Phuong

Summer in Paris

As many of you know, I am ready to come home. But I am NOT ready to come home before another glorious summer in Paris! The Parisians leave, and we are left with a calm and quiet city. Bliss. It is awesome right now. SO calm.

After the standard 2-3 unbelievably hot weeks of 85+ degree temperatures, the weather calms down and we get lovely highs in the upper 70's. And sun. Glorious sun!

We take advantage of it! After 2 years of living here, I have discovered these small paddling pools in the Luxembourg Gardens near their sandboxes. I am so sad it took me until NOW to find them!

So Michael and I did that on last Friday and TODAY (in the morning before it becomes a MUD pool of sand at the end of the day):

*Please ignore the quality of the pictures. They were taken with my 6 year old Canon Point and Shoot*

Michael LOVES it and it's not too deep so I don't have to worry much! Here is his delight at threatening to splash me:

Luckily, the boy did not follow through.

So we piddled around there today and wandered to the 2nd paddling pool, where Michael met another American: Lucien and his mom Mindy:

Lucien is 3.5 years old and his family is from Seattle. Arrived about 6 months ago and are living in Paris for 2.5 years total. Hmmm...sounds familiar! I am happy to make a new friend, even if I am leaving soon.

Anyways, time to pack up and go home for lunch...but on the way out, we hear a marching band playing. Gotta check that out at the pavillion!

Michael LOVES bands so we watched their whole concert. It was a group from Arkansas! Being a band nerd, it made me very nostalgic to watch it all. Yes, I realize being in band was (is) super dorky, but I really enjoyed it when I was young.

So we watched them play everything (even a rendition of Stars and Stripes), and headed home for lunch. Which I then realized we don't really have anything for lunch. So Michael and I ate lunch at our local cafe where he had a hotdog/french fries/orange juice/ice cream. And I had rack of lamb, green beans, and salad. Yup, that's right. RACK OF LAMB at my local cafe just 4 doors down from my place. I sure am going to miss the food in Paris. A LOT.

I think you will start to see a very wistful nature to my posts as I realize I am about to leave a pretty fabulous life to embark on another fabulous life! :o)

I love my life.

Karstyn and Empathy

Michael has a new friend. She's got curly blond hair, is great at talking, and is a Virgo! Well, I think...she was born in September.

We had our playgroup on Thursday afternoon at Andrea/Paul's place. She's got a balcony (IN THE SHADE!) that the kids can play on! So we had ice cream and played with buckets of water and their small plastic outdoor slide.

Karstyn's the only girl in our 6 boy playgroup so it is SO interesting to see the difference. Karstyn plays with water buckets calmly and keeps the water INSIDE the biggest bucket. Oliver's throwing water out, and Michael is pouring the water as fast as he can, which makes huge splashes everywhere.

Karstyn watches and says, "You guys are making a mess. We should be neater."

What a difference a girl makes.

Before leaving, Michael runs and gets Karstyn and says, "Karstyn, you ready to go?" Karstyn says yes and the 2 start to jump up and down excitedly screaming. It is awesome.

Then, while we are walking down the cobblestoned street, they hold hands and laugh together. It is absolutely precious to watch as a mom.

Then, Karstyn and Oliver came over on Friday for our 4th of July craft. And Karstyn plays with Michael's shopping cart because really...who can pass up a good shopping cart? SO I leave Michael's room and leave the kids to have fun.

3 minutes later, I hear screaming...go into Michael's room...and find Michael holding the cart possesively while Karstyn is on the floor screaming.

I can kind of guess what happened in the middle there.

Karstyn is wailing and on the floor upset. And this is when Michael realizes the ramifications of his actions. He watches her and starts to look upset and he asks me, "What happened?"

"Well, this is what happens when you grab toys that other people are already using. It makes them very upset and is not a good way to share your toys. Especially when you are hosting playgroup. I think you should tell Karstyn you are sorry."

So Michael...with very much worry in his eyes...takes the cart over to Karstyn and says, "I'm sorry Karstyn. I am sorry. Here is the cart."

It was very sweet, even if I told him to do it. But he meant it because he looked her in the face and tried to give her the cart (which I did not tell him to do). My little boy with a big heart that he's just learning how to use.

And then 5 minutes later...we had another explosion. This time about a lawnmower.

DID WE JUST NOT GO OVER THIS MICHAEL?!?!!

Yahtzee

I rolled two sixes with my first roll.

Then with my second roll I threw a 3, 4, 5 making a small straight.

But I took it off the board.

Then whilst Phuong was saying, "what are you doing ..." I rolled out 3 sixes "...retard?!".

That's right the best Yahtzee you can get. The in yo face Yahtzee.

That just happened 30 seconds ago.

--Brian

Michael has had 3 bonafide phone conversations today, without much prompting from me.

First up: With Kirsten, Jonah's mommy:

Kirsten: HI Michael. Are you having fun at the park?
Michael: Eh
Kirsten: Are you playing in the sand?
Michael: Eh. Up high, sky, birds
Kirsten: Ok. Are you having fun?
Michael: Eh.

Second up: Jonah, Michael's friend

Jonah: Hi Michael
Michael: Hi Jonah
Jonah: I am having coconut flavored yogurt.
Michael: I want lunch.
Jonah: I am having coconut flavored yogurt.
Michael: I want ham.
Jonah: I am having coconut flavored yogurt:
Michael: Bye Jonah
Jonah: Bye Michael.

Third up: Daddy

Brian: Did you go to the park today?
Michael: Square Scipion
Brian: Did you play in the sand? Get wet?
Michael: Eh.
Brian: Are you going to eat lunch with Mommy?
Michael: Michael watch too much TV
Brian: Do you want to play blocks with Daddy? We can build a castle.
Michael: Eh
Brian: Tell Mommy to get the wood blocks out and we can build some when I get home.

Exciting times at The Besancon household. It's only 1:00pm. Who knows what the rest of this hot day (high at 30 degrees C) will bring.