Blues...

day 16 cranky baby

theodore was very cranky during the evening. we were all koed after a long day. the aunties took him for a ride on the freeway. the minutes he got in the car he slept.

day 16 l'orangerie

11am bowling time. papa, simone, annie, jp and i went to bowl. we played 3 games. i did really poorly the first game. the last game was my best game of the year tied with jp with 124! annie didn't do bad either for a novice. she said she closed her eyes when she tossed her ball and hit a strike. what a lucky strike!

day 15 flunch and pizza hut

okay we had to do this.

for lunch:
flunch is a chain cafeteria in france. i will never go back for sure, but i had to try it for the first time. jp said it used to be his family ritual to eat there once a month when they little.
i picked up a plate of cheese called 'chaource' cause i wanted to try as many kind of cheese as possible on this trip. the cheese has a white shell and the first layer is soft and gluey the inside is a bit flaky and chunky. it is salty on the cream side and a bit chalky in the inside. i also got a quiche made of goat cheese and tomatoes. i didn't like it much. my entree was 'hache de boeuf' it was a huge beef patty, but cooked really raw to my taste. i didn't like it much and i gave most of my lunch to jp. jp had a 'hache de beouf oignons' it was several meatballs. i didn't like the taste either because there was no taste to them compared to the swedish meatballs. papa ordered a 'filet poisson pane' it tasted like mc d filet o fish.
i like the perrier fluo cerise drink. i wished they have drinks like that back home.
(oasis - in different flavors like pommes poires)
for 3 people it was around 26 euro which was pretty expensive and without the discount it was almost 30 euro for the food and drink.

for dinner:
out of all places we ordered from pizza hut. they only had pan fried pizza so they were all greasy to the max. i only had 2 and 1/2 slices. it was an expensive dinner 50 euro for 2 large and 2 small pizzas plus a dessert.

day 14 day at home

me tou came to have lunch with us. she was happy to see me. as i was happy to see her. mama cooked up a storm again: tofu, duck, fish and scallops, papaya salad and (jp's favorite) fried rice. me tou didn't eat that much cause of her teeth. baby was up to have lunch together. jp was still sleeping away and he had lunch at around 3pm.

simone showed up with the leftover cakes. they were good. i had the chocolate mousse log.

3 aunties tried to take care of baby, but he was more than a handful. they gave him a bath. annie seemed to be really good at it too.

for dinner mama made her pho. it is a typical soup noodle with chicken soup and beef slices. i was so full after eating a huge bowl. we also had those blinis and mini sausages. baby ate really well too. it was his first time eating pho.

day 13 fireworks

it was a neighborly effort to put together a spectacular fireworks for the new year. here people can purchase fireworks and set them off in their backyard or on the street. fire crackers has been going off ever since during christmas till now in the neighborhood.
we bought several fire crackers and rocket launchers. 3 of the rocket launchers were duds, they exploded on the lawn and didn't fly. we were so scared when one exploded on the lawn. we ran for clearing after the first one.
the next door neighbor didn't seem to have any problems with their fireworks. we stood on the street area and watched them launch. we were able to see many more bigger ones in the backyard. it was getting too cold and some drizzles showed up so we went back to the house.

day 13 late dinner

we quickly got ready. i had to wake baby up cause he was snoring away so peacefully i hate to wake him up. papa drove and he missed a turn in the roundabout the second time. jp was complaining. simone called us as we were almost half way to her place.
we got to her place probably around 930ish or 10pm.

simone was still preparing the food. yves and her drank a whole bottle of champagne awhile waiting for us. she served us appetizers: imitation crab and spicy cocktail shrimps. yves mixed us some drinks one if orange juice and one coconut alcohol mix with pineapple (it was really good).

steamed potatoes, a variety of cheese: natural, smoked and mustard, cold cuts and vegetables made up a special dish raclette. raclette is usually good during cold weather. it is filling and one can keep warm after eating it. we all had a little pan that we filled with sliced cheese and added ham or vegetables: onions, mushrooms, etc on top of the cheese. then we placed it under a grilling pan and wait for it to sizzle. as we wait for the cheese to cook, we peel the potatoes and cut them into thick slices ready for the melted cheese et al to be poured on. there is raclette!
i had 5 small potatoes and 8 rounds of cheese and i was already full. and i even skipped lunch.

day 13 sleepy day

i slept first. then baby came and join me around 3ish or so and i woke up at 530pm, but fell back to sleep again. jp was sleeping too ... then it was 830pm in no time and we were suppose to be at simone's for the party!

day 13 new year's eve brunch

it was one of those days for a sunday brunch. we had left overs from yesterday's dinner all the different kind of sausages. mama used the grill in the kitchen and opened all the windows and grilled all the sausages.
i asked papa if they have any champagne not necessary the good one for mimosa! they never had that before. mama squeezed some fresh orange juice and we mixed some for everyone. the smoke from grilling woke everyone up and they all came down to see what was cooking. we had this full brunch going. even caroline who wanted just coffee had breakfast with us before she head out.
i had two flute of mimosa and i was out of it by 1pm. i skipped lunch all together.

day 13 a walk around the hood

papa and i took baby out for a walk around hautepierre. it has a lot stuff around the hood: a community church, police station, public housing with a pretty huge parking lot, daycare center and a small park or grassy area.
hautepierre is now a run down place, back when it started it was a community project and overtime it became similar to south central. papa and mama lived here for almost 25 years.

day 12 birthday party

happy birthday danielle!

when we came back home. we saw a beautiful table setting that annie had prepared. everything was red. it was suitable for the birthday girl.

baby and i went for a nap. i was super tired after bowling it was just a good nap before the party.

we are going to be grilling indoor. i was wondering how that would work with all the smoke, but i didn't ask. i didn't even know we will be grilling. jp and i were surprised. we had filet fish, scallops, shrimps, and a bunch of sausages even the strasbourg sausages showed up it is a thick white ones.
we also had appetizer before starting like my favorite l'escargots awhile waiting for yves and simone. they were late for the party. we waiting for some time. they were dropping of lucas with his mom. we also had some blue labeled whiskey on the rocks. only mama knows how to drink. everyone was mixed a fine good whiskey with coke out of all things. i had some

the whole house was smoking like crazy. jp said his parents has no clue what they were doing. so they had to open all the windows and closed all the doors to the bedrooms. we had to take baby upstair from all the fumes.