Matsuri

On Saturday we went to an awesome Japanese restaurant named Matsuri.  What was so cool about it was that all the food came around on this little conveyer-belt on little saucer sized plates. We got all sorts of food- salmon sake, tempura, chicken yakitori, and lots of other yummy things. Another cool thing was that you didn't order the food, instead you just took what you want off of the conveyer-belt.  At the end of the meal they counted up the plates and you pay a price per plate.  It was the best Japanese food I've had in my life.  My favorite was the salmon sake, although the tempura was very good, too. 

--Malcolm

The Bird Market

On Sunday we went to the Bird Market on an island in the middle of the Seine River called Ile de la Cité!!!!!  We saw birds and rabbits and a couple of other animals, it was so cool!!!!!  Malcolm and I loved the rabbits.  They were really, really cute!!!!!  There was one really cool table where the birds and some rabbits were out of their cages.  We got to pet the bunnies!  That was my favorite thing we did yesterday.  I want to go back!  I wish I could have a bunny or a bird!!  My favorites were the blue parakeets and bunnies.  Since I can't, I try to give the city's pigeons lots of "hugs" but they don't seem to want any!  

by Dinon

Napoleon: his armor, weapons, tomb and monument

We have had an intensive course on Napoleon this past week.  The boys and I visited the Hotel des Invalides, the 17th century military hospital and veterans home built by Louis XIV.   The Musée de l'Armée is housed there and has roomfuls of armor, even boy-sized sets for the little princes!  We were all amazed at the collection of weaponry:  swords, shields, spears, daggers, pistols, rifles and cannons in every shape, style and size - some quite grotesque!  Napoleon's tomb is housed at Invalides as well, an impressive space and building yet my boys wanted a more gruesome, underground "tomb".

We also visited the Arc de Triomphe, which was completed in 1836.  Napoleon promised his soldiers a triumphal arch in their honor after a great victory.  We climbed to the top and had a fabulous view of the city from there: The Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides, the Champs Elysée, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Sacré-Coeur, etc.  The boys got quite a lesson on French military history, and who Napoleon was, the good the bad and the ugly!

--Gabi

Allez Obama!

We celebrated the Obama inauguration last night by having an "American" party with the boys: hamburgers, Orangina (okay, not so American), and potato chips. It was great fun.

The inauguration was front page news on every European newspaper at the newstand today. The Guardian (UK) had the headline: Let the Rebuilding of America Begin. Le Figaro (France) ran with a quote from Obama, "Rebatisson l'Amerique" (We will rebuild America). All the news channels, and many of the network channels, carried the inauguration live.

Overall, there is a huge amount of support for Obama in Europe. He is enormously popular, and there was a real "buzz" in the air today as people talked about the inauguration.

A little global goodwill towards Americans is certainly a welcome thing!

-- Trevor

Allez Paris!

Hello again... I am finally writing a blog entry after two busy weeks of travel.

We got back from Brussels mid-day on Sunday, and pretty quickly turned around to go out to our first soccer game in Paris. Paris Saint Germaine, the local team, was playing Sochaux. PSG is a well-known team in soccer circles -- they were the first major club for lots of famous players (including Ronaldinho). The fans were pretty lively -- lots of songs and banners and (ahem!) gestures to the opposing team.

PSG won in the end, 2-1. We all had a blast...

(photo by Dinon, our budding photog)

-- Trevor

Belgian waffles

The very first thing we did in Brussels was try their famous Belgian waffles! The first one we had was a regular waffle coated with caramelized sugar on the outside. It was DELICIOUS!! Then, the next day for breakfast I had a Belgian waffle with whipped cream, bananas and chocolate sauce!! It was the best breakfast I've had in my life! I wished we could have stayed there longer than two days.

--By Malcolm

Manneken Pis

We went to Brussels, Belgium for two days. In Brussels we saw a famous statue / fountain called the Manneken Pis. It is a bronze statue of a naked boy peeing. There are many stories about him but one of the most famous is of a little boy who put out a fire in the city hall with his pee. He saved the King and Queen so they put up a statue in his honor. The people of Brussels dress him up in over 100 different outfits! We saw him one day in shepherd's clothing and one day he was naked! I thought it was a very funny story and he looked very funny!

--by Dinon

Opéra de Paris Garnier

The boys and I were amazed by the size and scope of the Paris Opera House. Designed by Charles Garnier for Napoleon III it took 13 years to complete and opened in 1875. The Grand Staircase is awe inspiring on it's own with it's many colors of marble. (Dinon particularly liked the metal sculpted lizard climbing up the stair railing!) The Grand Foyer is covered in amazing mosaics and gilded chandeliers and the auditorium is many tiers of red velvet with a "newly renovated" (1964) ceiling painted by Marc Chagall!! The boys learned the meaning of opulence with this visit!

--Gabi

The Louvre

The Louvre is awesome! It is a huge palace that was turned into an art museum which now has the world's largest collection of art. I thought the Louvre was really cool. I saw around 1000 pictures and that's a small part of the museum! We went on a "Food and Drink Treasure Hunt" with some friends. The #1 most famous thing we saw was the Mona Lisa! We saw an ancient Egyptian tomb, the Sphinx, and a lot of other really, really cool stuff. Some paintings were about as long as a double decker bus! My favorite painting on our treasure hunt was "Les Noces de Cana" by Paolo Caliari, painted in 1562. There were lots of cute dogs hiding in this painting!

--by Dinon

Ladurée

 Dad took us to a famous café / bakery, called Ladurée.  It first opened in 1862.  For lunch I ordered their club sandwich, it had chicken, bacon, greens, and mayonnaise, and it came with french fries and a salad.  Dinon ordered an egg and cheese omelette.  For dessert we could order any pastry from their patiserie.  I ordered a chocolate cream filled cream puff and Dinon had a piece of deluxe chocolate cake!  It was the best lunch and dessert that I've had in Paris!  Very fancy!!

--by Malcolm