Birthday Fun

Well Kevin covered the major points and the pictures tell most of the rest but I will fill in the details left out. Yes it will be a birthday I won't soon forget. It was so special to have an unexpected sister come here to celebrate with me as well as an expected sister-in-law, two nieces, a nephew and a daughter! I also felt like much of Oak Park was here with me since a package arrived that morning with a musical card and presents! The next day I received some of Oak Park in the form of leaves, acorns, and bark! Thanks to all of you who made me feel special as I crossed that quarter of a century mark! The dinner on the boat was very decadent. It was beautiful. I especially liked getting on it from the little island and not from a busy port. I also liked the way they gave us little samples of three or four appetizers and desserts. The kids were, for the most part, very brave at trying things. The lights of Paris were beautiful and the company enjoyable!

The most difficult part of these visits was that Kathleen had a major week of exams in all of her classes. The good part was that she had short days and even a day off. The bad part was they were all in French except the English Exam. She was also treated to two hours of concentrated French Lessons each day! She is being such a trooper. My favorite memory was riding the subway to Sacre Coeur and Kathleen was studying her study cards for her Histoire/Geographie exam.

We had done much sightseeing before visitors but their arrival prompted us to go further and higher than we had yet to go! Saturday, when all arrived, found us earth bound as we walked over to the Tracadero, the Eiffel Tower, and Napoleon's Tomb. Sunday morning some of us met again at the Eiffel Tower and this time we climbed 700 steps up to the second stage where we squished into an elevator (after a false alarm to evacuate the tower....kind of scary!) and rose to the top to view the sights. The Curry Family was still recovering from jet lag sleeping in at their hotel and did not make the climb for several days. Then while locating the major Paris sights Brooke asked "Where's the Eiffel Tower?" (she claimed to be having an "Amanda Moment")

Since climbing the Eiffel Tower was not enough for one day the group trucked over to Notre Dame and climbed to the tower there. Kathleen and I had remained at home to study Math! (in French!) Monday saw us scatter. Jeff and Sarah wanted to visit the Louvre but Dori wanted to painted so she stayed home with me and we drew and painted! Kathleen took her first test and came home and studied some more! Kerry and her crew also went to the Louvre and then onto the Arc de Triomphe and more steps! They were up at the top of the Arch and looked through this little camera at the people below. Guess who they saw? Jeff and Sarah!

Monday night we did a little bed swapping. Brooke and Sean stayed at our place and Megan and Sarah stayed at the Hilton with Amanda and Kerry. This made possible the late night partying by the youngsters who could get into bars in Paris. Fortunately, Kerry was chaperon. Unfortunately, they did not find a hopping town on Monday night but they did see some beautifully lit buildings and had fun just the same.

Tuesday found many at Sacre Coeur and Montmartre. Others finally made the climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Still others took tests and tried to study. Kathleen even took her study cards on the boat that night but I don't believe they saw the outside of her pocket! The boat ride was perfect. It was a pleasant walk over to the island where the boat would pick us up. The Eiffel tower was doing it's sparkly thing just as they were letting us on the boat. As Kevin mentioned I got the window seat and saw the lovely sights while enjoying a wonderful meal.

Jeff, Dori, and Sarah headed off to London the next day. The Curry family headed to Versailles and Kathleen took tests and studied! Thursday was Kathleen's free day so we went to Montmartre with the Currys. The goal was to get a portrait of the three children as a gift for their father. This was a wonderful experience. It was not very crowded which allowed us to wander around looking at the many artists available to do the portrait. Kathleen guided us to one who's work was very realistic. For the next two hours I watched this very French, very talented older artist (beard and beret included!)transfer each child to the canvas. It was amazing to watch. This artist sketched lightly the entire head and then proceeded to add the details first to the left eye, then nose, then mouth, hair (left side only)then he started the other side. As he worked the picture came alive. It was amazing how he captured Amanda's left eye! It was her! The kids were great as they sat still for the artist. Kathleen kept on remarking how talented he was! Kevin and I will go back and do a portrait before we leave. We ended this day with some shopping!

Friday the Currys went to Euro Disney but Kathleen took more tests and French class. Saturday we met the Currys before they left for a final bit of shopping (at Longchamps) and a final meal at a very nice restaurant. Now the Currys are back in Connecticut, the Wolfes are back in Vermont, and Kathleen is officially on vacation!
Tomorrow we are off to Spain. We will write when we get back! Au revoir!

Ain't it nifty --- Grace is fifty!

A fun birthday week started with a great surprise for Grace: Dori, Jeff & Sarah came to visit and help celebrate! They joined in with Kerry and her kids, Amanda, Sean, and Brooke, and - of course - Megan who just 'dropped by' from Ireland for a long weekend! I'm not sure how many times before this apartment hosted 11 for dinner, but we did it a couple of times, and had a blast doing so. A week filled with laughter, food, wine, touring, bridge, bridges (& boats) made for time to remember for all. Some pictures will do better than words at this point (yes, its late), so here's a new slide show to give you an idea.

Sorry! We just had to let Kevin glow in the light of the Giants win! Life does continue.... Since we last blogged we have done some touring, socializing, entertaining, walking, reading, and studying. It is different when you are here for 6 months compared to a two week vacation. We have enough time to see the sights slowly. We did take advantage of the first Sunday of each month being free admission to national museums and saw the Louvre (well some of it) on the third of February. We went early to try to avoid the biggest crowds. That was a good decision! We got off the subway and walked right in with very little wait for security. When you first arrive it is over whelming! There are three major directions that you can head. So far we have let Rick Steves be our tour guide in Paris (he writes a popular series of travel guides that like to show you the hidden parts of cities) so he said to start in the Denon Wing with the Antiquites Grecques (Greek Antiquities). This was where Kathleen got a detailed lesson on the male anatomy! There were many displays of beautiful greek bodies! Mostly male and rarely clad. Then there was one woman who seemed to have everyone's attention (no not Mona, she is a little later in our tour!) The Venus de Milo stood in the middle of a room and begged to be viewed slowly from every direction! This was accomplished relatively easily compared to the viewing of the other woman I mentioned earlier. I don't get it! You are walking through this incredible palace viewing these fabulous works of art and then you come to this room that is packed with people pushing forward with cameras held aloft attempting to get a snap shot, if not an actual glimpse of the the Mona Lisa. When I had last viewed the lovely lady I was with my mom and was impressed with the small size of the painting. I now realize how lucky we were to actually get up close and truly look at it. This time I actually backed out of the rush and just watched the crowds pushing forward for their glimpse. Kevin and Kathleen fought the crowd but Kevin refused to take a picture! Crazy! We saw many other works of art and left many more to be seen on our next visit!

After leaving the crowds behind and finding a little cafe to have lunch in we wandered back to the museum to enjoy a free side of the attraction... the Tuileries Garden. Fortunately, we will still be here in the spring because although it was impressive this time it will be beautiful when the garden is in bloom! It was a beautiful sunny yet crisp day and many Parisians were in the gardens enjoying the fresh air. My favoritepart was the first fountain we came to which had little sail boats in it. At first you think that they are motor controlled boats like I have seen in the States but they are simple sail boats with long ballasts to keep them upright. They go where the wind sends them. Then you notice several children skipping around the fountain with sticks about four feet long and tipped with rubber. They use these sticks to gently nudge the ships back into the fountain when they bump up against the sides. Cool! Kevin and Kathleen's favorite part of the garden was the birds that liked to perch upon the pates of the beautiful statues situated throughout the garden. Hopefully, Kevin will add some pictures to illustrate their fascination as I do not have the pictures on my laptop.

I mentioned that we entertained and it was our first California dinner guests this time. We had the pleasure of serving Kelsey Nolan and her friend Kate, also from UCSD, an American Sunday Dinner. Kelsey sounds like she is doing great and eager to start her regular classes at the University. Her house parent is an elderly French woman who does not speak English at all. This will help Kelsey adapt but it makes it really difficult to get things like the internet going in the apartment. She will figure it out but meanwhile will continue to check out the night scene for the twenty year old crowd. Kevin was taking notes (about bars) and I am not sure why? He said something about March Maddness and needing to watch basketball games. :)

We all agreed that it is possible to get by in Paris with out using much French by using key words and lots of pointing and s'il vous plaits! We decided that Kathleen is by far in the best position for actually learning and becoming somewhat fluent in the language. Even the college girls said that their classes have been taught in English. Kathleen gets French thrown at her during every class except English! It is challenging because she needs to be learning academic concepts as well as regular vocabulary. I have not worked with her on her homework like this since third or fourth grade! She is doing an awesome job! Next week they have "compos" which are like final exams. This would not normally be a problem for Kathleen except she wasn't here for half the lessons and IT'S ALL IN FRENCH!!!! Only her French teacher is not giving her (and three other students) the test. Instead she will meet with them for intensive French everyday for two hours!!!! In between all of that she will try to spend time with her cousins who arrive tomorrow. We are excited to welcome and entertain Kevin's sister, Kerry, and her three children for their winter break! After that Kathleen has her winter break and Danny comes to visit! Enough for now! Take care!

Amazin': G-men 17, Pats 14

Grace and I stayed up way into the wee hours to watch this drama unfold --- I had to keep from shouting several times so as to not wake up the whole building! Congratulations especially to the old-timers: Amani Toomer, Jeff Feagles, and Michael Strahan.

GIANTS WIN THE SUPERBOWL!


And, also of course to Eli and our newest hero, David Tyree.

Unbelievable!

XLII

Alright - I found it, on France 2:

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS/NEW YORK GIANTS - Football américain
Date : 04/02/2008 , Horaire : 00H25

Notice the hour --- it looks like not a lot of work will get done on Monday (by me anyway)! The color commentary on the French TV guide reads:

Qui succédera aux Colts d'Indianapolis, les tenants du titre, éliminés en finale de Division par les San Diego Chargers? Après un sans-faute lors de la saison régulière (16 victoires en 16 matches), les New England Patriots de Tom Brady sont les grands favoris de cette édition 2008.

Well --- it's a good thing that the games aren't played on paper - and besides, what do the French know about REAL FOOTBALL anyway?

So, here's hoping the Giants have one more upset in them. I would feel better if we had this guy suiting up, but I don't count this crew out - they seem to have a lot of heart.

Let's GO GIANTS.