A Most Relaxing Weekend

It's Sunday night, time for a quick post.  We had perhaps the most relaxed weekend we've had since we've been in Paris, thanks mostly to the fact that the boys have found a new friend to hang out with, a boy in Andrew's class named Kory.  They spent the night at Kory's house on Friday night, which gave me and Suzie an entire afternoon and evening alone together, which we took advantage of by lazing around the house and then going out to a bistro for a late dinner (Suzie, scallops and eggplant in a wonderful sauce, me, chicken and wild rice in an equally wonderful sauce, with a dish made of goose to start off [Suzie called it "pulled meat," it was goose meat plus some other ingredients that ended up soft, almost like a poor man's pate, absolutely delicious] and, to finish, the most rich, delicious, dark, sweet, moist-runny chocolate cake I've ever had -- a huge portion that was almost too big for the two of us.  We decided to walk home through the pleasant Paris evening, with a three-quarter moon overhead.  Just wonderful.  As evidence of how relaxed I was, I slept until 10 the next morning, which is something I almost never do.

Saturday morning Suzie and I lazed around for about an hour reading the paper, then we motivated ourselves to go out for a run through the neighborhood and through Parc Montsouris, which felt really, really good (I have not been getting enough exercise lately, I realized after this weekend).  After having a small lunch and showering, we went to the Luxembourg Gardens to meet Suzie's friend Sophie.  Suzie met Sophie through Craigslist Paris (of all places), where Sophie had posted an ad for an English conversation partner.  Suzie and I took the Metro to Saint-Placide, then walked to the gardens.  Saturday was an almost perfect fall day ... sunny, cool, clear, crisp.  In the past week, the pace of the trees turning yellow and brown and dropping their leaves has greatly accelerated; in a week or so, I expect most of them will be bare.  Here's a couple of pictures of the Luxembourg Gardens; you can see for yourself that fall is definitely here in Paris.





We had a great time with Sophie, us helping her with her English, and she helping us with our French. We were there over two hours, sitting in the sun next to the pond. Very, very civilized. After returning home I did the weekly grocery shopping and then Suzie whipped up a delicious quick dinner (pizza and salad and bread). Suzie was fighting of a cold so we went to bed early.

The next day was also beautiful. Suzie wanted to go to the gym, so I walked part way with her, then grabbed a Velib and went on a long, long, long ride, from our apartment to Notre Dame, then over to the Etoile, then back to our apartment, which took about two hours. Here's a picture from the Velib (stopped).



I also made a little video along the Seine to show that after all this time in Paris and after all the French classes, I can actually speak a little bit of French, but after looking at it I realized I had made multiple mistakes, plus I looked like a dork, so I expect that it will hit the recycle bin on the computer soon.

After returning home, we did our weekend chores. The kids' friend Kory came over and they all went to a movie, leaving Suzie and I free once again. We took the tram west, then walked over the Seine to the 16th, and then walked all around it, through some beautiful neighborhoods, including some surprising and interesting buildings, like the Algerian Embassy:



After walking for about an hour and a half, we found a cafe and had a coffee and watched the people go by and talked about various and sundry things, before taking the metro home. It's now about 10 p.m. and I'm ready to call it a day, so I am.