Paris!

We got back from my sister-in-law's wedding in Paris last Friday night, extraordinarily jet-lagged and of course far behind in all holiday preparations. To the left is a picture of the beautiful now-newlyweds, at the dress shop before the civil ceremony. (It was fun to visit the shop where she bought her dress and watch the ladies fuss over her as she got ready for the day.) Not as many of our pictures turned out fabulously as I might have wished but I'll still try to hit the high points.

We spent almost a week in Paris before the wedding, so it's hard to know where to begin in blogging about the trip. One piece of advice: if you can avoid transatlantic travel with a two-year-old, do so. For the sake of your fellow passengers, for the sake of your child, and for your own sweet sanity. The bug howled for almost 2.5 hours of the 6.5 hour flight on the way over. No influx of cartoons, no snacks of any variety, no toys or games that we brought could assuage her deep, intense hatred of the seat belt. Our fellow passengers LOVED us, but they loved us even more when she finally wore out and they got relative peace for the last two hours of the flight. "As cranky as a two-year-old with jet lag" is definitely entering my vocabulary after that experience.

We stayed on a houseboat on the Seine with my in-laws, John and Pen. It was fantastic, if very quirky, and featured three bedrooms, an extensive contemporary art collection, an oversized chess set that fascinated the bug, and a toilet that "burped" every time a barge passed by. And they were frequent. Bathroom usage thus had to be very carefully timed to avoid damp consequences. Here's a picture of the barge.

We were just east of the islands at the heart of the city, which meant that we were very close to Notre Dame. The next picture was the view under the nearest bridge to the west, not too shabby:

Our neighborhood for the week, the fifth arrondissement, was a fabulous place to walk, shop, browse, and stop at any of the endless patisseries, boulangeries, fromageries, and other -ies with amazing foodstuffs. I am now addicted to pistachio macaroons and am busy searching for an appropriate recipe so that I can make them over the holidays. I do not think I have ever eaten so much fabulous bread of various kinds, and I definitely approve of the French skills with pastries and crepes. Matt and I even got out one night without the bug, thanks to volunteered grandparental supervision, and went to Les Bouquinistes, a classy French joint, to experience French cuisine. It was truly unforgettable.

I spoke a sort of Frenglish most of the trip, which is to say I speak just enough French to be polite and for people to notice I have an American accent and switch to English. I was a bit concerned before the trip given my ignorance of the language but everyone was warm and friendly and we really had very few communication issues. We spent most of the time in family-activities--dinner at Elizabeth and Omri's apartment with immediate family one night, a wine-and-cheese reception there on another night, and of course the wedding and reception the night before our return.

I did get out for a bit of shopping on Monday, and on Wednesday we took the bug to the Centre Pompidou (the modern art museum). We saw exhibits of Robert Rauschenberg and Yves Klein, and she really grooved on the museum's film exhibits. Her favorite was a large pink room installation with strobe lights across the floor, a huge high-heeled shoe, and silk sheets blowing in front of fans so they billowed along the walls. She thought that room was the coolest thing EVER and was having so much fun that other tourists were taking pictures of her. Here are the three of us in front of the Pompidou, courtesy of some teenage girls:

I could go on for quite awhile about the wedding, meeting Omri's family, and so on, but that will wait for a future post so that I can at least get a few pictures online for people who are looking forward to a little news. I've missed the blog and hearing from all of you over the past week even though we had a wonderful trip. It's good to be back in Colorado and in touch with everyone, preparing for Christmas and New Year's and so on. It feels like we were gone much longer than a week.

Proof we went to Omaha...

This is my side of the family. We all have our eyes open and are basically facing the camera, even if not all the small ones are smiling. We took several eleveral versions of this photo using two cameras and their "auto-timer" features. Those features took some of us a good chunk of time to figure out, and many blurry photos with sprinting husbands and grandparents ensued. Still, it's proof we all exist and are occasionally in the same room.

Today's light reading assignment

Finally: someone has an intelligent plan to end U.S. involvement in Iraq. Any future discussion of the war should be done in relation to this document.

Read the Iraq Study Group Report here.

While not all of the 79 recommendations will be implemented, I found it reassuring to know that meaningful dialogue was still possible on this subject. In their press conference this morning, Baker and Hamilton emphasized the political divide here in the U.S. caused by divisive approaches to the situation in Iraq. Here's hoping that the Study Group report leads to timely action by our nation's leaders and by the government of Iraq.

Christmas Meme

1.Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Both--Nog is better with adult-beverage additions, while I like my cocoa unadulterated. We get our nog from Longmont Dairy, and it is really, really good.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Wrap, unless they're unusually oddly shaped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? This year: multicolor lights outside, probably white inside if/when we get to it. If I ever get organized enough, we'll probably get single-color lights for outside, but that would require much more measuring and aforethought than I had time for this year.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope, though largely because I can only find the fake kind as opposed to having any aversion to mistletoe.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year, probably mid-December although I have a few things up/out now.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Mashed potatoes, followed closely by cranberry sauce that my husband makes. Mmmmm, carbs and sugar.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Opening presents the year Mom got us all matching flannel pajamas. The pictures from that year are really funny since we're all in various shades of plaid. Also, covering our schnauzer Heidi in bows from head to tail, and playing trash basketball with all the wrapping paper leftover in the family room after all the presents were opened.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember NOT knowing the truth about Santa, but we still get gifts from Santa every Christmas through my parents.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I open several because it's my birthday!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Ask me if we finally get around to getting one this year. :) I have lots of ornaments I've collected over the years that I usually find some way to display, but this will be the first Christmas we spend in our own house instead of with our folks, so we're just figuring out what traditions we want to have. A tree is on the "definitely maybe" list but I'm still waffling between real and fake.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it (except when I have to drive or fly long distances in it).

12. Can you ice skate? I can. I haven't done so in a long time but I am capable of it. No triple axels, though I could probably come up with a Lutz. That sounds like something an amateur could handle.

13. Favorite Holiday movie: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," specifically the old animated version narrated by Boris Karloff. I refuse to see the Jim Carrey version.

14. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Birthday dessert! I am not a big cake fan so this might be tiramisu, cheesecake, ice cream...depends on what I'm in the mood for. I'm pretty much burned out on Christmas cookies and we try something different every year in the realm of baked goods. My aunt used to get these fabulous chocolate-and-cherry-center cookies at her teachers' cookie exchange every year...I loved those, so maybe I'll look for a recipe for them this year.

15. What is a favorite holiday tradition? Stocking presents. Just started that "tradition" last year but we plan to do it again this year. Twice is a tradition, right? Also, driving around looking at Christmas lights is a fabulous way to calm cranky children on Christmas Eve (or any time in December really). Fave tradition I haven't started yet: an Advent calendar--I keep intending to make one every year and it's already the middle of the first week of Advent before I remember.

16. What tops your tree? We don't have a tree (yet). I will probably lean toward the star/colorful topper rather than an angel, as I've yet to find an angel that I would really like even after some time looking.

17. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Giving.

18. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I Wonder as I Wander...or Handel's Messiah, especially "For Unto Us a Child is Born" and the "Hallelujah Chorus" because I still know the alto parts by heart.

19. Candy Canes? Not big on them.