La philosophie et les gateaux - Philosophy and cakes!

Paul considers whether Max could pass as another philosopher at the Sorbonne...

Paul gave a presentation on Monday at the Sorbonne to around 20 philosophers and was then taken out for dinner afterwards.  I'd wanted to try and sneak in at the back with Max to cheer him on, but Paul didn't think that'd be very professional!  It seemed to go down quite well though without us.  Meanwhile, Max was getting another set of jags at the doctor's and hardly even flinched, big brave soldier!  He's settled well back into his routine and has taken another growth spurt, outgrowing clothes that I just got for him at Christmas time!

Maryann's pal, Marianne Caldwell (now Fisher) was in Paris for work for a few days (she works at the IBM) and I met her for a few drinks on Wednesday at the Louvre.  She then treated me to a great Chinese meal which was very kind of her.  It was so nice to go out sans bebe!  On Thursday we all went for lunch to my friend Rachel's house.  Her husband, Fabien, is a musician and part-time teacher, so Paul enjoyed the company of non-philosophers for a change.  Max is now beginning to play with his wee pal Oscar (or at least grabbing any toy that Oscar is playing with).  It was a lovely afternoon - it's nice to be able to socialise over here with Max in a relaxed environment.

Saturday was Queenie's special birthday - happy birthday granny!  We celebrated it over here with a few vins!  On Saturday night I cooked a big curry and we had Paul's pal John and Paul's cousin, Neil, over for dinner.  Robbie Edmonstone was also in town again for work so he came too along with his pal Doug.  It wasn't long before the guitar and mandolin were out for a sing-song.  Unbelievably, Max slept through the racket that ensued.  They all went out at midnight to some pubs and clubs.  They were slightly delayed as (somehow) Neil's specs ended up on the metro line at Chatelet!  Fortunately, they didn't smash and a station assistant climbed down onto the line to retrieve them.  

Paul on the mandolin, John clapping, Robbie on guitar and Neil improvises with the coffee for percussion.  I wish I'd made a sound recording for the blog!

Doug adds some 'brush' sounds to Neil's percussion.

The feast of the Epiphany is celebrated here with a big cake!  The cake's called the galette des Rois (cake of the Kings).  It's a pastry cake with almonds and you have to be careful when you bite into your slice as there's a figurine of a king hidden within the cake.  If you find the king in your piece, you get to wear a paper crown and you're 'king' for the day.  We went to a Galette des Rois party here at the Recollets where I met a few other mums who've recently moved here with babies.  We also went to another Galette party at Rachel's which was slightly anglicised with some tasty mulled wine and mince pies.

Rachel (centre) and Fabien (cutting the Galette)

The galette des Rois - Paul worries that he might choke on a king

Again, it's another tradition that I think I'll adopt - January needs a few wee parties!  The health drive can commence this week!