Snow!

It snowed in Paris last night!  It was beautiful.  Actually, they were huge flakes that were very wet and didn't stick on the ground, but I was still happy.  I went out at 10pm in my pajamas and took some pictures (which I'll upload later).

The other day I went out to lunch at a creperie in my neighborhood, and there were only two other groups there - one father with his three young kids and one couple.  The food was very good!  At some point, one of the boys (probably 8ish) cried out and yelled at his brother.  And the dad said stop yelling; we're in a restaurant.  And the boy protested basically saying but he hit me!  And the father said it's not appropriate to yell in a restaurant...you need to leave right now and go outside.  So the kid took his jacket, left and stood outside for a while.  The dad didn't raise his voice at all, but he reinforced that his son's behavior would not be tolerated (even though the other kid did hit him).  I don't think that would have happened in the U.S. 

Totally unrelated, but here's a cute video of a slow loris eating a rice ball.  I unsubscribed from an annoying site, and after I was done they said I was unsubscribed and included this link as an apology.  At first I was annoyed to be distracted with a link, but I was happy I clicked on it. He looks so innocent and sweet and adorable.  I want one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18-xvIjH8T4&feature=youtu.be

Champagne

I figured the title accurately covered most of this post.   Okay, not the first part, I didn't have champagne on the Ferris wheel…but it sounds like a good idea.

La grande roue!   I went to Place de la Concorde with some friends to ride the Ferris wheel in late December.  It wasn’t a very long ride, but it was still quite exciting.   And it was pretty because we went at night when all the Christmas markets were open on the Champs Elysees. 

The markets were fun to see, although I only bought an ornament (and a crepe or two) from them.   There were also lots of rides for kids, such as giant slides, trampolines, and carousels, but I had had my fill with the Ferris wheel though.   There was also a show where Santa happened to fly over the Champs Elysees around the same time each night!  I was a bit surprised because I would have thought he would've been pretty overwhelmed with all his work in December.

I went back home for Christmas, and it was wonderful to spend a lot of time with friends and family!  The vacation went by too quickly though (as it always does).  I came back to Paris on the 28^th, and my brother was already there with his wife, Kate, and two friends (Sharif and Kate).  They had all planned a vacation in Paris earlier in the year, and I was happy I could come back to spend more time with them.

We went to Reims to see the city and go to a champagne tasting (you know I wouldn't miss that).  We went on a Sunday, so it was a bit quiet, but luckily a champagne house was open.  We ended up buying 6 bottles.  We wanted to have a good New Year’s Eve!  We found a café that was open and had lunch in the city, and Kate ordered unlimited soup for lunch.  I didn't really know places do unlimited soup, but that was cool.  Sadly, she didn't take advantage of it.   And we also saw the church in Reims, which is very impressive and beautiful.  I don’t think the pictures do a good enough job of capturing it!

For New Year’s Eve, I walked around the Champs Elysees in the early evening to see all the action…but there wasn't any.  I was a few hours too early.  There were just tons of tourists and police setting up fences for the evening because supposedly the area gets pretty crazy at night.   Then I went over to my brother’s apartment with 20 euros worth of cheese, two baguettes, a bottle of wine, and champagne.  And they supplemented with 4 more baguettes, several more bottles of wine and champagne.  It was a good night!  We also went out to get crepes around 11pm, and they were delicious, of course.   Happy New Year!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26879303@N03/