A Rainy Day

Being the brave souls (Parisian souls?) that we are, we got out the umbrellas and carried on with our plan of walking around. We visited the memorial to murdered European Jews, a maze of rectangular concrete blocks of varying heights. Walking into the memorial, you quickly become disoriented in the forest of stark grey columns. We continued walking past the memorial to the famous Brandenburg Gates. We continued on, becoming wetter by the second, admiring the architecture around Pariser Platz, and in the area of Unter den Linden behind the gates.

By this point our feet (ok, my feet) were so cold and wet I could hardly feel them. We decided it was time for some indoors culture, and got on the subway to go back to Potsdamer Platz to visit the Nue National Gallerie, which houses a collection of 20th century European artists. And that’s when things started to go wrong. The Nue Gallerie is part of what is called the Kulturforum, an area consisting of three or four galleries that you can access with one ticket. Once we bought our tickets, we encountered the first problem: how to get into the gallery? We wandered around the main building before finally finding the entrance. Once we got into the gallery, we couldn’t find the paintings we were hoping to see. We were in a football field sized space housing an impressive collection of 15th century art, not exactly what we had been hoping for, and not exactly what we were in the mood for. We realize the gallery we want is in another building, and set off across the street only to discover that the permanent collection of the Nue Gallerie is closed for renovation. Ok, the guide book said there was a design exhibit back at the Kulturforum that sounded interesting, so back we go, only to discover that due to the delicate nature of the mainly pencil on paper collection, it isn’t on permanent display, and is therefore also closed.

We decided that we were clearly not destined to become cultured souls that afternoon, and settled ourselves comfortably in a brewery for lunch. Once we had warmed up, we set off for Tacheles. Tacheles is a vacant building completely covered in graffiti that has been taken over by artists. It is a building that I would never have entered normally, but I guess we were feeling particularly brave that afternoon, and we walked in and made it up the third floor to visit the artist’s studios (luckily we weren’t the only tourists there!). It was an interesting place, and the surrounding neighbourhood was really neat. We stopped into a bar carrying 100 different kinds of beer (don’t worry, we only tried two) before going back downtown.

Our next stop was the Philharmonie, where we got tickets for that evening’s concert. The cheapest tickets were actually on the stage, right behind the orchestra, and it was really neat to have a close up view of the musicians while they were playing, as well as being able to see the conductor’s face. It was an impressive show (concert?), the highlight being an amazing violin solo. Dinner afterwards was back at another location of Lutter & Wegner, this time I had sauerbraten, and Erik black pudding with apple strudel for dessert.

It was a great weekend, and we were sorry to say goodbye to Berlin the next day.

Touring Berlin

Our second day in Berlin started off with a great breakfast. The Germans really know how to start the day properly. A buffet consisting of fresh rolls, sliced meats and cheeses, a selection of muesli, yogurts, jams, fruit got the day off to a satisfying start.

Our fist stop of the day was the Winterfeldt market, probably not the best place to be when you’re still full from breakfast, but we had a good time looking through the stalls and drooling at all the displays of cheeses, meats, and pastries.

From there we headed up to the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie (museum chronicling the history of the wall). It was a bit hectic, with lots of information about the many ways that people escaped from East Berlin. It went on, and on, and on, and eventually our stomachs told us that it was time to find a place for lunch.

We chose a random café just down the street, Café Persil. The waitress didn’t speak English, but helpfully gave us the English menu that listed everything except the specials. After trying to decipher some of the specials, we decided to cross our fingers and hope for the best, ordering specials #2 and 5. We were lucky, because they were great! I had spaetzle with a creamy sauce and crispy fried onions with a side salad, and Erik had fried ham chop, fried potatoes and salad. A satisfying meal, and only 20€ including beer.

We continued on foot to the Judisches Museum, a beautifully designed building housing the history of the Jewish Culture. This museum was excellent, well organized, very interactive, and very interesting. The museum contains the Holocaust Memorial tower, an unheated space, completely enclosed save for a small opening near the top that lets in a sliver of light. It was a very powerful.

After all that, we were ready for a break, and went back to the hotel to change and get organized for dinner. Our dinner reservations were at Oderquelle, a restaurant that was quite different from our previous night’s dinner. It was a cozy space, more relaxed, and perhaps more authentic. Other diners seemed to be mostly German, which is always a good sign. Erik started with lentil soup, and I had some dry and unexciting ‘Swabian Ravioli.’ Main courses included fried duck breast with gnocchi and cabbage, and roast veal chop with parsnips and roast potatoes. All of it was lovely, although both the cabbage and the veal chop had a very strong cheese on them, which was a bit odd (especially on the meat?). We finished the meal with warm apple crumble with a Calvados crème fraiche. Very tasty.



After the meal, we walked through the neighbourhood, and chose a busy café for one last drink. On the train ride home, we were entertained by all the people that were drinking (we were two of the few people in our car without bottles in our hands). We prolonged the evening by stopping again at a café across from the hotel, before settling ourselves on the couches at our hotel bar.

Berlin baby, yeah!

Erik decided that his vacation would begin the minute he had his first German beer. After many Heinekens both at the airport and on the airplane, he was finally able to relax with a delicious German beer Friday night before dinner. You can imagine his priorities, when the first thing he checked at the hotel was the bar menu.

We landed at Berlin’s Tegel airport on Friday evening, and made it easily into the centre of the city. Our Holiday Inn Express was conveniently located close to Potsdamer Platz, and was another Hotwire find—three stars, and at $55 US a night, it was practically free. We dropped of our luggage, and headed straight out to wander around and have a drink before dinner.

We were a little surprised at the snow. I guess we live in a bit of a bubble here in Paris. We had checked the weather, but neither of us were really expecting there to be snow, and ice, actually ON the ground. When the weather says that it’s going to snow here in Paris, it actually means white coloured rain, and temperatures usually above zero.

We wandered around the Gendarmenmarkt, and found an outdoor patio, complete with heaters and blankets. We settled in to enjoy the atmosphere as our appetites got ready for dinner.

Dinner was at a restaurant called Lutter & Wegner. A restaurant we realized later was a chain, but would never have guessed based on the atmosphere, and most importantly, the food. We were given a nice table by the window, and started the meal with their strawberry punch, an odd combination of strawberries and sparkling wine, sort of like sangria, but not as nice. After fishing the final strawberries from our glasses, our entrees arrived, apple and lentil salad with sauerbraten for me, and Berlin style potato soup for Erik. My salad was delicious, a nice combination of textures and flavours, both salty, sweet and sour. Erik’s soup was the perfect thing for a cold night, great flavour, with big chunks of sausage.

I had weiner schnitzel with warm potato and cucumber salad for my main course. The schnitzel was huge, and perfectly fried with a nice crispy crust. The salad was also quite good, and the cucumbers were a surprisingly welcome ingredient. Erik enjoyed bratwurst with horseradish mashed potatoes, definitely the star of the meal. Incredibly flavourful sausages complimented by equally delicious potatoes.

For dessert we settled on a fried cake thing, whose name I can’t remember, served with vanilla ice cream and conserved plums. We had to wait twenty minutes for it to be prepared, but it was worth the wait. It was a not too sweet, and slightly crunchy, very satisfying way to end a wonderful meal.

After dinner we wandered happily past Checkpoint Charlie on the way back to the hotel, busily planning our agenda for the following day.

Walking Home

Name that bridge! Bonus points if you can also name the two buildings in the background.

Guess Where Erik Went

Sunday Photos

This is what greeted me when I got home from the gym this morning:

This eventually became a handle bar mustache before it finally disappeared.


The seven lemons that Erik used to make limoncello. Now we have seven skinless lemons living in our fridge. Any ideas of what we could do with them?

We had Erik's colleague Hiroshi and his family over for dinner last night. Erik got a good shoulder workout playing 'Spiderman' with the two kids.

Jeudi noir and another long week...

I don't know what it is, but I feel like I've been dragging my feet since we got back from Canada. I'm always tired, and I've been looking forward to the February holidays pretty much since our plane landed at Charles de Gaulle on January 4th. Maybe it's the unseasonably cold weather, combined with the seasonably grey and damp weather, maybe I'm getting too old to shake off jet-lag as easily as I used to.

Add a country wide fonctionnaire strike into the mix, and all I really want to do is stay in bed. Thursday was supposed to be another one of those strike days that bring the city to a standstill. However, now that I have a couple of those under my belt, I know that 'standstill' usually means that instead of waiting two minutes for a train, you might wait eight minutes. Or have to take a different combination of lines to get to your destination. Everyone tries to scare you with stories of stations not even being open, terrible gridlock, and people fighting over Ve'libs, but I (knock on wood) haven't ever been really stuck. And so I checked the RATP website on Wednesday night and found that my trains were predicted to be running 1 out of 2, and 3 out of 4, so I left the house a good forty minutes early just to be safe and arrived at school, oh, a good 35 minutes early. No delays. No one on the trains. All that the stupid strike on Thursday did stress me out and make me early for everything I had to be on time for. And then it made me late for the one thing I actually wanted to be on time for. Fajita night. Have I told you that Erik makes the best fajitas? It's the perfect way to end a marathon day.

Oh, and the fonctionnaire of the house worked from home, because his line of RER was actually not running. And for some reason he didn't make it to the manifestation.

Anyway, I guess this has been a long winded way of saying that it's been a long week, and now I'm sick and have spent most of today in bed. I'm not looking forward to going back to school on Tuesday, and I hope that the next two weeks fly by. I need some time off!

A New Toy

We bought a video camera. For professional purposes. Really. I'm planning on using it at the gym, but that didn't stop me from filming this little gem* about two seconds after I got the thing out of the box.

*This little gem will be embedded in this post just as soon as my computer dries off from the cup of tea that I dumped on it. Assuming that all is well once it dries off. If you can't wait, check it out here.

I don't even want to know when I last blogged. I just know it's been a long time. We've been busy, you know, traveling to Canada, celebrating Christmas and New Years, meeting friends' babies, then getting over jet lag and dealing with snow and life here in Paris.

I can't remember how I ever had time to blog more regularly.

And since we've been so busy since we got back, busy doing things that aren't particularly interesting (anyone want to hear about the fun that was my two-day BodyStep training last weekend? It started at 8am on Sunday. Good times), I'll thought I'd share with you two pictures of what we seem to do best. Or at least consistently.

Eat.


Oyako-don (Chicken and egg on rice)

This is a Japanese dish that we always enjoy in Japan, and that I tried to make very unsuccessfully once at home. Luckily Erik has a Japanese colleague at the lab, and he and his wife made a video for us on how to make this simple dish, complete with a shot of the all important timer that tells you just how long to let the egg cook before it's time to eat.

It was so oishii that we made it twice that week, and is now one of Erik's specialties. (A list that also includes risotto and fajitas so delicious they rival Sneaky Dees).


A hero sized sandwich

Next up is the sandwich Erik made for breakfast/lunch today. This kind of sandwich is his weekend specialty, best enjoyed after a weekend workout. Today's sandwich featured three kinds of meat--leftover roast chicken, sausage and duck pate. Plus cheese and condiments. And it was enjoyed while watching the Wire, a show that my brother got us hooked on, and anyone who hasn't seen it should absolutely check it out. It's great.

Other exciting things that have happened to us involve the purchase of a new tv stand/buffet, that we carried home ourselves from Ikea. The fun part about going to that store is trying to decide if what you're buying is worth spending 50euros on delivery for. Bed, yes. Tv stand, we didn't think so. Lets just say that manoevering 50lbs of Ikea cabinetry on a bus, train and then finally metro is a feat that makes 50euros seem like a steal.

So there you go. Life here in Paris is as glamorous as ever, the snow has melted and we are now dealing with a typical Parisian winter involving rain and gloom. Epiphany was celebrated in a shower of galettes, and my lucky husband found the feve in all three pies that he sampled. People are fleeing the city for ski holidays, and we're counting down the weeks (3) until our next holiday weekend in Berlin.

Bits and Bobs

And we thought the weather here in Paris was bad!!

Weren't we surprised to step off the plane last Sunday and have it be so cold here in France that it actually snowed! Erik got up to go to work on Monday, and I didn't believe him when he said there was snow on the ground. But there was, and a fair amount of the stuff. Weather across Europe has been unseasonably cold, with snow all the way down to the south of France, and even in Spain! Unfortunately there were no snow days, and business went on almost as usual, save for some weather related problems with the trains. Luckily Canada prepared us well, and Erik has been getting good use out of his boots, and me out of my down coat. I definitely miss central heating!



We've come a long way, baby!

Or have we? I thought it would be fun to try on my wedding dress while we were in Ottawa. Might have helped if I'd actually been wearing real clothes before hand, but here you go, morning hair, glasses and all. And Erik's shirt says: Clothes Make the Man, which is obviously not true, in his case. :)

Straight from the mouth of a four year old:

(in the middle of me reading a story that she obviously didn't find very interesting)

"Torie, you have a lot of hair!! I don't know how you sleep."

I told her it was like having a pillow attached to my head, but she wasn't buying it. Too funny.

This is too good to not blog about....

We're a bit worried about the cold.


Just out of Erik's mouth:
"It took me 26 years to find you, and 32 years to find this vest."

I'm such a lucky girl. And he's going to be so warm in Ottawa!

Fur Kid

Nothing keeps the cold at bay like a fur coat.

When you're four.

At school.

Also

it snowed today.

I looked out of the window in the middle of one of my classes this morning and there was white stuff falling from the sky. Yuck. It didn't last long, and eventually turned into cold, wet, rain.

Welcome to winter in Paris.

Le Grand Tasting and Enjoying Paris

Yesterday was the Grand Tasting, a wine tasting event at the Carrousel du Louvre. Being the wine connoisseurs, or perhaps just appreciators, that we are, we of course got tickets to check out the big event with our friends Alex and Marie and Julia and Thomas.

We've been to many wine shows in the past, but this one was different in a couple of important ways. First of all, we actually had to pay to get in. Usually producers just send out free invitations, but this was a slightly 'higher class' event, so there was an entry fee, and it was fairly high (20€). Luckily we found reasonably priced passes online. Secondly, you had to pay a deposit for your glass. Which meant that you got a real wine glass (yay!) but that we couldn't take the glasses home (boo!). Thirdly, this wine show was all about tasting, with very few of the booths actually selling bottles on the premises. It was nice to taste and not feel pressured to buy anything afterwards, and not being able to buy right away forces you to take notes on the wines you really like so that you can remember why you like them, and where you can actually find them.

We really enjoyed our afternoon, and discovered some interesting wines that we will definitely be seeking out, including a great Spanish wine, along with a recommendation for a tapas restaurant, that conveniently serves this wine. We were feeling quite festive, and took the 'scenic' route back to Alex and Marie's afterwards.

And so, without further ado, here are the obligatory pictures:

Group shot, near the end of the afternoon


Alex and Marie get serious about wine


Does this picture require a caption?


Marie and I after she sweet talked Piper Heidsick into serving us the 150€ bottle that they were hiding under the counter. We were actually trying to capture the wine glass chandelier in the background.


For some reason we decided to do a photo shoot in the Carrousel du Louvre after leaving the show. I'll spare you the rest of the many, many more cheesy shots we took there.


Who likes ferris wheels? We do!


Waiting to board, trying to convince the guy to let us into the VIP car.


Inside our little 'gondola'


Alex bought marrons chaudes afterwards, and we all happily caught the metro back to Alex and Marie's to watch the France-Australia rugby match before dancing to 80s tunes and then heading home.

We love Paris.

Happy France-iversary to Us!

Saturday marked our three year anniversary of living in France. I guess I should maybe be writing this in French, huh?

I can still remember how foreign everything seemed when we first arrived here three years ago. The novelty of buying fresh bread, buying wine for under five euros at the grocery store, and the minuscule elevator that we had in our first building. All things that seem so normal now that I literally have a hard time imagining life without bakeries on every street corner and good wine practically flowing out of the taps. And I actually did a double take when I got in a 'real' elevator at the Gap a while back.

Where we once had difficulty carrying on a conversation with a French person, we now we both speak French more than well enough to get by. Erik often cracks jokes in this crazy language, and has even spent the better part of the weekend reading the beshcerelle. I often find thoughts floating through my head in French, and there are certainly things that I find easier to communicate in French. Funny how our brains work. That being said, I also find myself throwing English words into the middle of sentences unknowingly, simply because they came up faster than the French version.

So far, we haven't done anything special to mark the occasion. I worked at the gym, and Erik spent the day preparing for some courses that he is teaching this week. Pretty exciting. We did go out salsa dancing last night, although it was for a friend's birthday. I'm happy to report that I still have all ten toenails, despite dancing with my lovely husband :).

Today we both worked again (perhaps not the glamorous life you were imagining for two foreigners in Paris) and napped for most of the afternoon. Very productive.

We have some more interesting things lined up for next weekend, I'll be sure to bring the camera and report back.

Dinner's ready, so I should go!
A bientot :)

Erik's Pot

Before I get into this, please note that 'pot' is pronounced 'po'.

On Wednesday afternoon, Erik threw his much anticipated pot in celebration of the start of his CNRS position.


One pot to go: 8 bottles of Champagne, 4 bottles of white wine, 12 bottles of red, one bottle of rye, 12 Canadian beers, assorted pop and juice, chips, veggies and dips, sliced ham, four kinds of cheese (gorgonzola and mascarpone, goat cheese, comte, brie de meaux), red pepper and goat cheese tarts, rice krispie squares, cheesecake brownies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, grapes and ten baguettes.

Tatiana came and picked us up around noon on Wednesday to transport us and all our goodies out to the ecole. We spent the next couple of hours finding ice, and transforming a conference room into party central.





Around 4:00, the entire lab, about 70 people, showed up to enjoy the celebration. Erik gave a little speech, then the bottles of champagne were popped and the party began.








Pavel graciously brought some smoked pig fat studded with garlic.


The rye whisky was quite popular. All that was left at the end was the purple bag.


The aftermath


The verdict: best pot ever!

The Cave

Ever wonder what all these beautiful Parisian apartments are like down below?

We finally got keys to our landlady's cave (pronounced with a short a, please), and thought you might appreciate seeing just what it's like.


Come on down, and check it out!


It's pretty much as unfinished as you can get.


One long hallway to each side leading to the storage spaces.


The lovely dirt floor.


Did I mention that our cave doesn't have a light? Today we brought down the flashlight, and I got to check it out for the first time.

It's kind of musty smelling, but I have to say, about a thousand times less scary than the basement that we had on Augusta in Toronto. Now that was a disgusting basement! I kind of wish I hadn't thought about it, I'll probably have nightmares now.

The Canned Food Aisle Just Got a Lot More Interesting....

Can you believe that this (minus the veggies):

Confit de canard, cassoulet (white beans, sausage and duck cooked in duck fat) and roasted vegetables.

came from this:


Well, maybe you can, but we were pretty impressed. Sure beats Chef Boyardee! We may have both consumed our yearly recommended intake of duck fat in one meal. The can of confit de canard even recommended that we save all the delicious fat that the duck was conserved in to use when making omelette's, or on toast. Don't worry, we didn't.

And next time, we might restrict ourselves to one duck delight per meal instead of three. Our arteries would probably appreciate it.