Oak Harbor Friends

We had so much fun meeting up with Julie and Evan Wilson, and their friends, Heidi Figgs and her kids, Andrew and Hilary.

Allison and Hilary are old classmates at OHHS and had actually met up the night before for drinks.

We had lunch with them all on Blvd St. Germaine...............

The kids had their own agenda, but Rick and I led (maybe dragged!) Julie and Heidi over to our neighborhood.................

And ended up at the apartment for a glass of champagne.............

After Julie and Heidi left, Rick and I had a quiet night and watched A Midnight in Paris on the iPad.

Montmarte!

It was so sunny when we left the apartment that Rick didn't even wear a jacket, or carry an umbrella.

We took the metro to Place Pigalle.  When we exited we were surrounded by the sex shops on Blvd de Clichy. We found the Moulin Rouge easily and made reservations to attend their dinner show next Monday.

We took the Petit Train (a little tour train) through the streets of Montmarte and up the hill to Sacre' Coeur (much easier than walking up the hill!).

We passed Van Gogh's home................

And Toulouse Lautrec's studio............

We admired the work of all of the portrait artists in Place du Tertre, the highest point in Paris.....

There was a wonderful mime and the most delicious mint tea.........................

And as we wandered over towards Sacre' Coeur, it started to pour .......

So we bought another umbrella! And noticed that the gargoyles were hard at work!

We walked down the Square Wilette, a series of descending terraces below Sacre' Coeur.....

When we got to the bottom, I looked back up at Sacre' Coeur and the sun had appeared again.....

We had to hurry home, because we were hosting dinner for our little group.............

And at the end of the night, we said good-bye to the "Benders" and Dana.

The First Day of 2012

New Years Day was VERY quiet in the neighborhood.

Surprisingly the street was all cleaned up by the time we got up.

And so was our kitchen (Rick finished the glasses when we got home).

We took a walk to get some much needed exercise. 

While the Bastille was very quiet, the Marais was quite lively...................

I loved this woman!  She must have been with the band, and she danced the entire time they played American music from the 1920's and 30's....

We ended up at Place Igor Stravinsky, just next to the Pompidou Center.

The square has the Stravinsky Fountain in the center.  It was created by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle to celebrate the music of Igor Stravinsky.  There are 16 moving, water-spraying sculptures in the fountain.  Each one represents one of Stravinsky's compositions, including The Firebird and The Rite of Spring.

Rick made his political resolution for 2012 at the square.

We met up with the kids at around 10:30 p.m. and I found out that.....................

Billy and Allison had followed the same route we had during our walk, but were about 20 minutes ahead of us.  They did get in the long line for the Pompidou Centre and got in free because of the holiday.

and

Mike and Amanda's last name isn't Bender.  That's his nickname!  How in the world would a nice boy from the University of Michigan get a nickname like "Bender"?  Since he was at Courtney and Chris' wedding with all of those other Michigan boys, I think I know!

Happy New Year!

New Years Eve

I met Allison and Billy at the Gare du Lyon on Thursday afternoon.  They took the shuttle in from the airport. Allison was toting a suitcase from her childhood ("It was the biggest one I had.") that didn't roll!  Alli and I took turns carrying it for a few metres each and then poor Billy ("We've got to get you a rolling suitcase, Babe.") carried it most of the way.  They're in a cute little studio apartment, which reminds me of lots of hotel rooms I've stayed in, with a bar kitchen. It's perfect for them, and just an 8 minute walk from my apartment.

While I met Alli and Billy, Dana got Courtney and Chris checked into their apartment.  It's between Allison and Billy's place and this apartment.  Courtney and Chris returned from Prague that night.

Rick got here on Saturday in the early afternoon.  No time to rest because we were hosting the celebration!

At midnight we went out onto the two terraces.  It looked like a demonstration on the Bastille, but it was just people revelling.

And in the distance, the Eiffel Tower.............



We toasted and cheered with the people on the terrace one floor below. And then came back in to dance.

Chris flicked the lights disco style!

And when we ran out of champagne, we went downstairs to The Bastille, a restaurant/bar right below the apartment.  I was sceptical that they would be able to seat nine, but apparently I was the only one of the group that had not already been in the restaurant sometime during the day and they led us straight upstairs to a large table.

Our very nice waitor brought us VERY expensive champagne and wigs!

The Waiter

&

The Wigs

And some hats appeared..............  We all shared.  And we sang and danced until the wee hours.

Mike and Amanda Bender (this is the first time I learned that "Bender" had a first name) arrived on Saturday morning.  He was the best man at Courtney and Chris's wedding, an old friend of Chris's from the University of Michigan. And they are lots of fun!

But even in Paris, all good parties must come to an end................

Bonne Annee Tout le Monde!