What They're Saying Now: June 2013

Now that the twins are nearly four we're getting a bit more conversational. Lately they've had some interesting phrases.

The Beach
Like last year we plan to head to Pensacola Beach, FL in September and share a rented house with family. The twins are very excited about this trip and ask me almost every day if today is the day we're going to the beach. Connor has also turned this into some sort of punishment for anyone he thinks is "naughty." If I tell him "no" or raise my voice, he tells me, "your not going to the beach."

I've tried to explain to him that I'm the "decider" on who gets to go to the beach, but he doesn't buy it. What makes it even funnier is Chloe gets a little worried when Connor tells me I'm not going to the beach, she wants to be sure I'll hold her in the waves.

A Bit Dramatic
Connor can get a little dramatic in his use of phrases. Beyond not letting us go to the beach, if I've told him "no" another reply from him is, "you broke my heart." I feel bad for him and his broken heart, but I usually make him go back to bed or whatever it is anyway.

Also, instead of just asking for a blanket, he'll tell me his "teeth are chattering." He's not simply chilly or cold, his teeth are chattering.

Proper Kisses
You may remember Chloe has a very European way of kissing you on both cheeks. After she kisses you, you're allowed to also kiss her back on each cheek. However, she'll tell you "don't kiss my hair" if you don't do it right and brush her hair off her cheeks first. 

Diving In

This weekend we had a family get-together at the home of our cousins, Sherry and Buzz.

The kids were super excited about the "party" and even more so when they saw the awesome backyard with a pool. The second we arrived Connor wanted to put his swimsuit on and jump in the pool with everyone.

The twins love to swim and the pool at Buzz and Sherry's has something ours doesn't, a diving board.

Their approach to the diving board is a good example of how the twins are different. Connor is thoughtfully cautious while Chloe just jumps right in, literally. 

It was fun afternoon for the whole family!

Paris by Table

Since dinning out is one of my favorite pastimes, for my last post on Paris I thought I'd share all the wonderful places to eat.

I was lucky and had two wonderful resources. The first was Jake as our personal Paris concierge. The next resources we lucked upon when dining out one evening.

A month or so before we were headed to Paris we had a lovely dinner at Oak. It just so happened a former colleague was seated at the table next to us, Heath and Ken and as it turns out, they go every February (pretty amazing). I hit the jackpot of recommendations. Thank you Ken and Heath!

La Petit Pontoise
Our second night in Paris we tried a restaurant near our apartment recommended by Ken and Heath. It was small and packed when we arrived. Menus were on chalk boards around the walls. 

Carl ordered the sea bass and we were a little surprised when it came as the whole fish. Getting beyond that, it was delicious with a light vanilla sauce.

Chez La Vieille
Another recommendation from Ken and Heath, we tried Chez La Vieille the first night the Smiths were in town after our visit to the Lourve. 

Beautifully served palate cleansers

This was an amazing dinner and wonderful time in general. Jake ordered for us including a wonderful Rosé, then I continued ordering the Rosé each time the bottle ran out until it was time for dessert, cognac and Champagne. 

Amazing desserts

La BAL
After our crazy night out at Venus Noir (read post here) Carl, Heather and Chris headed out to a D-Day tour the next morning. I was able to sleep late and meet Jake for an awesome brunch.

La BAL was off a side street in Jake's neighborhood, near Montmartre, and across from a cute playground. I needed a hearty breakfast after the previous night's festivities so I ended up with a beautiful dish that was basically a chicken pot pie with huge chunks of bacon and a little salad. It was a perfect recovery dish although the bloody mary helped a bit too.

Le Comptoir
I spent the rest of a beautiful afternoon with Jake wandering, sightseeing, and stopping for a glass of wine whenever we needed to refuel.

One of my favorite stops was Le Comptoir  as we wondered St. Germain. We devoured a charcuterie plate and again had a Rosé.


Chez Janou
The last night the Smiths were in town we tried a local favorite recommended by Jake, Chez Janou.

We obviously had a fabulous time here. They serve a wonderful house chocolate mousse at the end of the meal. Since we were having such a good time (or had ordered and spent so much) they gave us two bottles of digestifs to enjoy as well.

Jake's Birthday
The last night we were in Paris was also Jake's birthday. We were so thrilled to be invited to a little soiree in his honor. His friends Preston and Julien hosted at their adorable Paris apartment. Preston   gives vineyard tours and wine tastings so he was responsible for all the wonderful wine. Preston's company is Paris by the Glass if you'd like to book a tour.

Carl, Shelley, and Jake

It was so great to meet all of Jake's Paris friends. I meet Georgina, another mother of twins but way cooler than me. I was also a little star-struck by his journalist friends Elaine Cobbe with CBS and Eleanor Beardsley with NPR.

Shelley, Ellie, Carl, Elaine

We hope Jake had as much fun at his birthday as we did.

Le Montebello
Our last morning in Paris we walked around souvenir shopping. We stopped at Le Montebello across from Notre Dame for a little break.

While we sat there a horse guard rode by.

Carl really enjoyed the people and puppy watching.

One unforgettable Paris vacation!

Paris by Night

Now that we're parents we don't really "party" anymore. It's just not practical when you have to get up every morning by 7am (at the latest). 

However, when you're on vacation without the kids (thanks again GiGi and JoJo!) you can sleep late and that's the first step in being able to stay out late.

One of our best nights was completely unexpected. The planned part of the evening was dinner at the Eiffel Tower. We went to 58 Tour Eiffel, which required a reservation over a month in advance for 6:30 pm (the earlier seating) and this isn't even the super fancy Jules Verne. 

We had a lovely dinner and champagne to be tipsy enough to start wandering around Paris.

At this point in the story my pictures start to get a little fuzzy but the memories are crystal clear. Our timing for leaving the tower was perfect for the evening light show.

Then without any real direction we started wandering the beautiful streets of Paris. While we were scouting out our next stop Chris randomly ran into our friend Jake. As we've done the entire trip we asked Jake to recommend a place and he pointed us a block over to La Vénus Noire. It was a little crowded when we walked in, but they were super nice, said they had more space downstairs, and made a table for us with an extra seat for Jake even though he hadn't joined us yet.

Keg seat for Jake

Downstairs the bar was really cool and cave-like, similar to a french wine cellar with a low, rounded ceiling. 

This band wasn't there when we were, but I pulled this picture off the Venus Noire site so you could see what it looked like downstairs.

As we were enjoying a beverage, a DJ set up and started playing. I don't know what got into us (probably too much champagne) but we all got up and danced. I'm not even sure you're suppose to dance in a bar like that, but we made a dance floor and went for it.

This picture of Heather is blurry because I'm a much better dancer than photographer.

It took awhile before Jake could join us. He said when he headed down the stairs to find us he heard the music, saw the lights and figured we would have left. Then he rounded the corner and saw all of us dancing, acting like we were holding up the ceiling and the walls.

It was a great evening! I slept late the next morning and enjoyed a late brunch with Jake (while the rest of the group hit a D-day tour)

Love vacation!

Paris by Plan

If you know me, you know I'm a planner. For past vacations I've planned out every day and usually in blocks of time for each day. For the European trips in the past we needed to plan well because we'd only have a few days in each city before hopping a train to our next destination. 

But for the trip we took early this May we did it differently. We stayed in Paris for eight days, so I didn't have to make such specific plans. Not only did we get to see the things we missed last time, but we could relax and linger over anything we enjoyed, which was usually a glass of wine at a café.

photo credit: Jake Cigainero

The very best thing about this trip to Paris was being with friends. One of the reasons we went was because our friend Jake is in Paris getting a double masters at Institut d'études politiques de Paris aka: Sciences Po. A highly selective university specializing  in social sciences. It's a real honor for Jake to study there, but he is working extremely hard. I'm glad we timed our trip so that he was able to spend some time with us. We drank at his favorite cafés and Jake made all of our reservations and joined us most nights for dinner. Those were my favorite parts of the trip.

Carl and Jake doing what you do on a rainy afternoon in Paris

In addition to Jake being our personal Paris concierge, we talked the Smiths into coming to Paris too. We've travelled with Chris and Heather Smith before, but we were a little surprised they agreed to go to Paris since it's a pretty big commitment. I'm so happy they did. It was awesome.

At the Louvre

I've gotten a little better at planning. In particular, what not to plan. So we'd spend a day or two together and then have days on our own meeting up for dinner if we felt like it. 

I was really excited about a planned bike excursion to Versailles. In my mind I thought we'd bike through the gardens, which you could never see simply on foot, have a picnic lunch, and then tour the chateau. 

It was not at all as I had imagined. Our guide was goofy and didn't share much more insight than we already knew, we didn't bike through the gardens at all, just around the perimeter of the grounds, and three out of the four of us got a flat tire. Me first.

If not for the Smiths being there it would have been a real disappointment. Instead Chris and Carl had a running comedy routine that had the entire tour group rolling. The group should have tipped Chris at the end instead of our guide.

This trip to Paris was wonderful. Having friends there made it even better.