Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Old Friends

On Sunday we had the good fortune to meet up with an old high school friend of mine, John McCarthy, and his family.  He was in town for a long weekend. Funny how small the world is now that we have social networking.  He knew we were in Paris because of Facebook, sent me a message, we exchanged phone numbers and, viola, we are meeting under the Eiffel Tower.  We got to visit for 30-45 minutes and split ways again.  It's probably been 7-10 years since we last saw each other.  I hope it doesn't take that long for the next meeting.  

I can't remember if I wrote about it or if Jill did, but we had a similar encounter with Kevin Kenyon and his wife.  Kevin and I played baseball and worked at McDonalds together.  We haven't seen each other since 1979 or 1980.  The funny thing was that Kevin grew up in the same neighborhood as Jill's cousins, so they were able to reminisce about cousins, friends, aunts and uncles.  Dad, not sure if you're reading this, but Kevin played first base for the Yankees (Babe Ruth league, not the real deal).  He remembered you and Milt Brown as coaches, remembered that you smoked cigars.  We had a couple of dinners together.  It was great fun to share stories from "back in the day".

While I'm on the subject of Facebook, I had another exciting connection occur.  One day I received a friend request from an individual who I could not place.  I racked my brain for a few days and finally remembered it was the sister (we called her Pid) of my Navy buddy, Earnie.  When Jill and I were first married Earnie, JM (and Lori) and Tom all hung out together.  Earnie helped us setup our first Christmas tree (Jill has a whole story on that).  We haven't seen nor heard from him since 1986 when I left the George Washington Carver.  We often wondered about him.  Any way, I "friended" Pid and got his phone number.  I decided to call him and we had a 10-15 minute chat, just like old times.  Of course I was excited to have talked to him, so I called JM, but he was golfing.  However I did have a nice visit with Lori.

And of course I would be remiss if I didn't mention my regular Skype chats with my lifelong buddy, Larry.  Technology can be amazing...

Which brings me to my point for this entry, reconnecting with old friends is richly rewarding.  Just a reminder to all who read this, we are getting older.  Take the time to find an old friend and give them a call or arrange a short get together for coffee or a beer.  You'll be glad you did.  You never know, maybe it will bring you to Paris.

I highly recommend it.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Well... Today Kaitlyn arrived to visit us. It was so exciting to see her. Jill and I left for the airport around 9:45 AM. This would put us at the airport right on time. Unfortunatly, Her flight had been changed to a later flight (and different airline). After the initial anxiety we recovered and locked in the flight. We were at the gate waiting for her.

She arrived an hour late, but we knew there would be a delay from Flightstats.com. We got there, had an expesso and watched the board for her plane to land. Not a bad way to await her arrival. We catted and waited for her. We were in the first row waiting for her arrival. There was a door that blocked our abilty to see the people coming in. Periodically we would see people waiting to get through passport control. There were automatic doors in front of us, so we anxiously waited to see her. During one of the door openings, we saw her. How exciting! A few minutes later she came to the door. Yeah!!! I dont know why, I realized she didn't have her suitcase. After a quick exchange and welcome, she went back through the doors to get her bag.

After another 15 minutes, she arrived... Kaitlyn is now with us in Paris and I am so happy.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

More ramblings - a post by Jill

Steak tartar is a very common french food and is found on the finest french menus and brasseries alike.  From what I have observed, steak tartar is a totally raw ground steak patty that comes with or without a raw egg on top!  It is also served with ketchup, hot sauce, chopped raw onion, chopped fresh parsley and probably a few other things.  Now if you were to mix all these ingredients together, form into a loaf and bake it would make a perfectly delicious meatloaf!!!  But I have watched many eat this dish totally raw!  It fascinates me and I can't help but observe them eating and tasting this raw ground meat!  I wonder about the texture and taste and how we americans are nervous to eat pink hamburger for fear of getting seriously sick with e-coli!  Don't the french worry about e-coli?  Why don't they?  Do they have a better, cleaner way of butchering and storing their meat?  From what I see at the open markets the better, cleaner way of butchering and storing meats is a little hard for me to believe...Why are we so fearful?  Remember how I said I was more adventerous in trying new foods in Paris...not adventerous enough to try steak tartar!
 
A leaky faucet or plumbing repair can usually be fixed by calling the plumber and within 24 hours the plumber is at your service~at least in the good old USA!  In France, you have to call and "take an appointment."  If you are lucky, the appointment will be sometime in the next 2 months...really, this is the truth!  It took two months to get our kitchen faucet replaced and now we have a leaky radiator!  We showed the plommier when he was here replacing the faucet and he said we have to "take an appointment!"  We are not sure when we will see the plommier again, so in the meantime we have to have the valve turned off on the radiator so we don't ruin the hardwood floors and of course, this means no heat in the sitting room!  Good thing summer is coming...
 
Our days are getting longer!!  It is daylight around 6:50am in the morning and the sunsets after 7pm in the evening.  It is nice having the longer days and we have been fortunate enough to have plenty of sunshine!!  We have seen a couple of 50 degree days and looks like more to come...perfect spring days!!  How lovely...
 
Do you remember in one of my first blogs about apartment living, I mentioned being able to hear the man upstairs peeing into the toilet?  Well, come to find out in many apartment buildings it is a rule that men have to urinate sitting down after 10pm so as not to disturb their neighbors!  How funny is that...gotta love the french!!!  But again, dog poop doesn't seem to bother them.  I would rather listen to men peeing in a toilet then have to worry about stepping in dog doo all the time!  But that's just me:)
 
I must applaud Paris and perhaps all of Europe for what seems to be a very green environmental practice.  Paris is known to be the "city of lights", yet the use of lighting seems to be very deliberate.  The street lights come on right at dusk and turn off right at dawn.  There are not as many lights in use and many streets are somewhat dark with dim lighting.  When you enter your apartment building it is dark until you hit the light switch that automatically goes off in a couple of minutes~you have just enough time to get to your apartment, unlock your door and get inside before the light goes out!!!  If you enter the apartment building and the light is on it means someone has just come in before you.  It is wise to repress the light switch so the light doesn't go out half-way up the stairs~been there, done that and the stairway is REALLY dark!!  The appliances and electrical equipment do not all have clocks and flashing lights and because of this I never know what time it is(ha-ha)!  Anyway, there doesn't seem to be a lot of electical waste, at least to me!
 
My last rambling for this blog is about canned tuna... One day Mark and I decided to purchase canned filets de thon au naturel(filet of tuna in water).  I was a little nervous because it comes in a can much like canned sardines~a rectangle shapped can with a pull off top.  I was a little nervous about what I was going to see when I opened the can, but all was good...in fact, the thon was delicious!  It is two small tuna filets that break apart nicely to make tuna salad or just eat as is...it is much better tasting than the white albacore I eat all the time at home!  Sometimes taking a risk works out for the better...
 
Au revoir!  A bientot, mon amies!!!
 

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Jill's Flowers



Some thoughts and ramblings on Paris: A blog by Jill

I forgot to mention in my last blog...after arriving in Charles DeGaulle airport from Italy, we found much of the airport closed off by many, many police.  There did not seem to be any stress or anxiety among the police officers, so I assume they were awaiting the arrival of someone important...an actor/actress or political figure.  We still don't know what transpired, but we couldn't get to our usual taxi stand.  We found another taxi and headed home.  After a long ride in which the taxi driver seemed to/did take us out of our way and 10 euros more than usual to get home, Mark frustrated and feeling a little taken advantage of, got out of the taxi and promptly stepped in dog poop...welcome home, honey!!!
 
...much to my surprise, sushi has become one of my go to comfort foods!  In the states it wasn't anything I really cared to eat.  I would try it occasionally, but was never impressed.  We have a restaurant appropriately named Sushi Passy(la cuisine japonaise a deguster sur place ou a emporter) just around the corner from our apartment.  It always has a crowd, so Mark took Matt there when he was here in January...Mark knew I would need to have someone scope it out before I tried it.  Anyway, they enjoyed it, so being of a much more adventurous nature in Paris than home, I agreed to try it!  Of course, I played it safe the first time...california rolls, brochettes(meat on a stick) and rice.  All meals come with a mushroom broth soup and a cabbage styled salad with black sesame seeds~yummo!!!  It was sooooooo good!  I finally learned how to use chopsticks...I even ate the rice with them!  It takes much concentration, constant finger readjustment and a few cramps, but it is fun and I enjoy it!!!  Again, the second time we went, I played it safe...same meal as before.  But the third time I tried sushi(rice with raw saumon/salmon, dourade/white fish and thon/tuna).  It was yummo...really good!!!  I am trying to work up the courage to try sashimi!  I'll let you know how that goes....
 
My flowers on our window ledge are doing beautifully!  The bushes with the cheerful yellow flowers are getting tres grandes!  And our gorgeous camelias are blooming.  The great part is we can see them from inside the apartment too!  The most amazing of all is that our orchid is still doing great!  Orchids are everywhere in Paris, so we bought one for the apartment.  Il est tres jolie!!!  However, the azalea Mark bought before I came back to Paris is on its deathbed, I think.  We have two azaleas at home that aren't growing so well either...maybe we/I just can't grow azaleas:(  Right now I have two huge vases full of purple tulips!  They are so pretty and spring-like!!  Having so many flowers in he house is very nice:)!
 
Mark's friend from high school and his wife are coming to Paris for vacation/work and we are planning to get together for drinks on Saturday and dinner later in the week.  I am looking forward to this even though I don't know them.  I know him by name and I think he lived next door to my cousins when we were little!  I don't know why I believe this or even if its true but that is what my brain is telling me!   Anyway...
 
Mark leaves for an overnight trip to Algeria on sunday morning!  I will spend two days and a night by myself in Paris...not sure how this is going to go, but I believe I will manage okay if we find an english bookstore~have heard of one on rue de Rivoli...going this weekend!  We are also in search of an air mattress.  We heard we might find one in BVH, a hardware type store, which is also on rue de Rivoli.  We shall see...
 
Looks like we may be going back to Spain in April!!!  We will be going to Madrid this time for Mark's monthly meeting...we will leave friday afternoon and spend the weekend before the meeting on monday and tuesday!!!  I might be able to enjoy that!!
 
Kate will be arriving soon!  I can't wait!!!  I look forward to spending an entire week with her...she has no where else to go or anyone else to do anything with...just me and her daddy!  I should be careful with what I say~Kate may change her mind and not come to visit(ha-ha)!  We will be celebrating her 19th birthday with her on March 17th~what fun!!!  Have I mentioned that the drinking age is 16 if you are with your parents and at 18 you are legally able to purchase alcohol...the good news is she doesn't have any money so she won't be purchasing anything!!!
 
Guess that's all...a toute a l'heure!