One of Paul's pals on his IP (Ideals of Proof) project is an American called John Mumma. As you can imagine, Paul's exhausted all possible puns from John's surname (it's Dutch, and should be pronounced 'Mooma', which is even funnier), none of which are worthy of THE BLOG. Anyway, John Mumma's mama was over from Philadelphia for a holiday last week and we were invited to join them for Thanksgiving. We had a great meal with the Mummas and another two American friends of John's - one of whom has Irish cousins who live close to Ballina! Thanksgiving's a great thing and I'd like to start celebrating it every year - November's such a dreich month in Scotland that we could all do with the excuse for a huge hearty meal together.
Max as the abominable snowman
After some delicious turkey with all the trimmings, there's always room for pumpkin pie!
On Friday night, Max decided not to go to bed as he sensed that other visitors were coming. He was still wide awake at half 9 when Granny B and Papa John arrived, slightly shaken from a typical Ryanair landing. We walked for miles on Saturday around the Left Bank and eventually found Rue de Bac where there's a wee chapel for Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal so mum enjoyed learning all about Catherine Laboure. We headed across to the Louvre and up the Champs Elysees to see the Christmas markets again.
The hat parade - it was cold, and the hat was only 3 euros!
On the Rue de Bac - smiles of relief as mum decides against staying for the 2-hour Mass in Ukrainian!
If I keep up this smiling caper, I'll get to stay up even later!
Max showing off after a good soak in the tub
Spot the antique! Dad enjoys some window shopping on the Rive Gauche
Another Saturday night at the Arc de Triomphe - Paul and I experience deja vu!
Mum and dad at the Arc de Triomphe
On Sunday we went to Mass in Notre Dame and then had croque-monsieurs at a cafe on the Ile de la Cite before mum and dad went to see the Sainte-Chapelle. We then strolled along the Ile St-Louis and walked all the way home. Mum and dad got to witness how exciting our weekend nights are in Paris without any English tv, as we amused ourselves with logic puzzles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_and_torch_problem) and argued over the four-colour theorem! Mum and dad spent their last morning in Montmartre, visiting the Sacre-Coeur and wandering around the art shops. That came to a quick end when dad didn't stop an artist from drawing his portrait, who refused to tell him the price while he drew. When he'd finished, he charged a ridiculous 60 euros and so dad tried to politely get rid of him by telling him he'd need to go to a bank. The artist then insisted on accompanying dad to a bank and so a ridiculous chase down Montmartre commenced as mum and dad tried to escape from the artist. They managed shake him off by ducking into a dodgy cafe in Pigalle. We ended the weekend with a nice meal out at Porte Maillot, but the service was really slow. Fortunately, we managed to scoff the lot before mum and dad's bus to Beauvais.
3 comments:
Nice hat but where's the berets? Good to see some more pictures of you galavanting around Paris! Max is looking so big and cheery, I can't wait to see him next week,
love,
Clare xxxxxx
Yes, I agree, lets celebrate thanksgiving from now on. The pics are great, really looking forward to you coming over next week, I should be able to pick you up from the airport in Polly Proton!
Having a ball here in Toronto. Martina and I went to see the sound of music last night, with the Canadian equivalent of Connie from the tv programme of how do you solve a problem like maria? It was fantastic! Been shopping today and its started to snow quite heavily now, so fingers crossed it lies!!!
See you soon love Veron xx
Your 3 euro hat is certainly more photogenic than mine!Then again maybe it's the face under the hat!We thoroughly enjoyed the Weekend and your hospitality.Look forward to Saturday.
love mum
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