Current Events - February 2013

Hallelujah
The sun is out. That is the first important event to share. After months and months of sad weather, I am so grateful for the blue skies and sunshine. I never realized how much the weather impacts people's moods. I realize this may not be blog-worthy news to most, but I just had to share my happiness!

I was so glad to see clear skies that I sent this photo (a long overdue sight from our front window) to Kyle while he was in Houston...

 Appreciating the lovely view on a stroll with Buckley

Adventures in Eating - Starring Julie Neis

Kyle, Julie and I continue our quest to savor everything there is to savor in Paris! Here are just a few of the interesting/unique things we've tasted lately.

At Chateaubriand- Teeny tiny whole crispy shrimp and seaweed on a meat dish

 Also at Chateaubriand- A whole egg yolk chilled in simple syrup and placed on top of a sweet, cookie-like treat. Sounds crazy, but it's one of the best, most memorable desserts I've ever had! 

 At Bones (a new MUST restaurant in Paris in my opinion)- A whole little piggy sitting on the bar (used to make the pork sandwiches)

Special Delivery

Buckley received a special package from my dad to celebrate a great Aggie football season! He could be a new mascot, yeah?

Cajun-Beer Brunch

When you come from Texas and you live in a land of little spices, you get pretty jazzed about the promise of an authentic Cajun meal. That's precisely what happened when we discovered there was an American chef living in Paris that was hosting a Sunday afternoon Mardi Gras celebration. That was enough to get us excited, but it surpassed our expectations.

Chef Phil Lamb (seen doing something apparently very funny over Julie's head) put together a three-course Cajun meal, each course paired with a great craft beer. It was delicious. Even better than the beers paired with the food was the great company paired with the Louisiana band! Such a fun afternoon. 

 Imagine our delight when Chef Lamb brought out a bag of contraband 

 See

 The chef and the singer took shots of Tabasco followed with a whisky back. Hardcore.

 Music and Cocktails for Valentines Day

Chinese New Year

Huge lunch feast in Chinatown.

 Chinese New Year Parade
See those hanging things with the pink bags at the bottom? Those are lines of firecrackers and there are tons of them lining the streets. They randomly light them and if you don't know what's happening, you could mistake it for the world ending.

French Singalong

On Sunday evenings, Le Cinquante, a modest little bar near Canal St Martin, hosts a singalong. It's awesome. It's just a man, a guitar, lyric books and a room PACKED with young locals singing their lungs out. The only catch is that it's all in French. Singing in French is hard. I'm terrible at it. No worries though, just sing whatever you want and you're drowned out by those that do know what they're saying. It's more about the atmosphere and the experience anyway - which are both wonderful.

As the only French person, Mathilde led the charge

 And we had drinks and shouted words that don't mean anything :)

Bisous!

Maygan