Business and pleasure

I've been less faithtful about writing as our weekdays become more marked by the regularity of school and work. But, each day is still exciting and our weekends are packed with activity, so I'll try to fill in the past few days.

Wednesday was a day of ateliers for both Ella and me. Ella attended a great mosaic atelier at the Musee Carnavalet (since then, she has pointed out mosaics wherever we go). I had the first session of my pastry class, which looks like it will be terrific. The first class was mostly just going over the guidelines for the year (which center on coming on time and keeping the kitchen clean), and hearing what we will learn to make (all the best stuff).

Toward the end of the school week, Ella's highlight was getting to go to the "big kids' class" to do work there. Her class is composed of both "moyens" (4 year olds) and "grands" (5 year olds), so it seems they sometimes split them up to do different types of work. Also, her regular teacher will be coming back soon from her family leave, so she is spending some time with the kids to ease the transition. Anyway, Ella was very proud of the sophisitcated work she did and the big kid setting in which she did it. She said, "You can tell it is a big kids' classroom, because big kids do very serious work, so they have the supplies they need for that work... like glitter." Abe attended a watercolor atelier on Thursday, where the teacher was so impressed by Abe's work that she asked him if she could exhibit it in a students' exhibit at the museum.

Jonah had a day off from school on Friday to go to a doctor's appointment. He has been coughing a bit, and we wanted to get it checked out. According to the doctor, the cough is just his asthma, nothing worse.

Our weekend was non-stop entertainment. Friday, our babysitter came over while we had a night out on the town. A relaxing walk in the rain, dinner at the Bistro du 7e, and a view of the Eiffel Tower sparkling. Abe was excited to find the office of the Group VII photojournalists (located, naturally, in the 7th arrondisement), a team of some of the most well-known photographers in the business.

Saturday, was a city wide event called the Cuisines en Fete (celebration of cooking). We visited a terrific studio called le Carre d'Artistes, which was exhibiting work by 2 dozen artists along a food theme. We also checked out several cooking type stores which were hosting various demonstrations. Finally, as a family, we went to a pastry making atelier (so all the pastry making responsibilities in the family shouldn't fall on my shoulders!) . We all learned how to make pate a choux, which is the pastry you use for eclairs, chouquettes (little sugar coasted pastries), and gougeres (cheese filled appetizers). Yum.

In the never-ending list of events that is Paris, Saturday evening was la Nuit Blanche - where the city stays open all night. The metro runs , the museums stay open, and special events are scheduled all night long. We took the batobus (a bus/boat) along the Seine and checked out several of the special events. A couple of highlights were the plaza in front of Notre Dame, where a huge image of Jesus was projected onto the facade and where we watched fire jugglers perform (Ella kept worrying, "that one is really going to hurt himself"), and the plaza in front of the Hotel de Ville where a giant screen projected a interactive video, controlled by the movements of the people on the plaza. As we walked home around 11:00 (with 2 very sleepy children) the streets were still packed with people just heading out to take advantage of the event.

Because we are die-hard sightseers, Sunday brought one more interesting outing. We went to visit Vaux le Vicomte. This chateaux (about 1/2 hour outside Paris) was built by Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's finance minister. In an incredible story of deception and jealousy, Louis XIV was convinced by another advisor (Colbert) that Fouquet was a threat to the monarchy. Upon seeing the splendour of Vaux at a chateau warming party, Louis XIV became insanely jealous. The king had Fouquet arrested on trumped up charges, had him imprisoned for life (some speculate that he was the infamous "Man in the Iron Mask"), and took his architect (Le Vau), painter (Le Brun), and landscaper (Le Notre) to design and build Versailles. He even confiscated most of Fouquet's furniture to decorate his own palace. The chateau is gorgeous, and presented very well. Visitors can see the bedrooms, the state rooms, the kitchens, the wine cellar, the stables, and the gardens, all of which have been well restored, and rival (or outshine) the beauty of Versailles. The dining room is speculated to be one of the first in France (prior to that, dining rooms were not a regular feature of homes). There was a great exhibit on the gardens of Le Notre, and a fall festival of local produce and products going on - the kids enjoyed seeing the animals, tasting some of the local apples and cheeses, and watching demonstrations of local crafts.