I is for "i like top 10 lists"

pierre loti by henri rousseau

this was a tough one: immigration? impressionisme? (knox says, "most of your photos are blurry... it could work!") idiotie? idéologie? nothing has spoken to me, so i've decided to go a different route with "I"...

knox and i still do not know where we will be living come august 1, and we've been a wee stressed of late (as many of you know, we are both hopeless over-planners, and this sort of uncertainty does NOT sit well.) so, in order to distract myself, i've come up with a list of my top 10 favorites for may 2009:

1. exotic literature in french, preferably about Indochinese pirates and con gáis
2. arugula with lemon and parmesan
3. tubs of spreadable goat cheese
4. dreaming about buying a new camera
5. vacation planning!
6. sunday night bike rides around paris
7. tina fey and '30 rock'
8. counting down the days till we get bob back
9. light, chilled red wine
10. stopping to visit with the medium schnauzer who lives at the record shop on rue daguerre

H is for huîtres

huîtres = oysters

technically, we were late for oyster season. the french prefer them in the months ending in "re" - octobre, novembre, décembre - but they're still good as long as it's cold outside. or so i understand. we went in march for a belated birthday outing and were very pleased. the guys at the huîterie régis, aside from being remarkably friendly, really know their stuff. coming from texas, i naturally assumed there would be cocktail sauce (quelle horreur!) but was assured by régis himself that they are best au naturel. he was right - even the lemon was overpowering.

and get a load of the floral arrangement... the whole experience was a study in simple beauty. two texan thumbs up!!

huîterie régis
3, rue montfaçon, in the 6th

a blurry mess of oysters and malagasy shrimp

a nice, minerally white, a pinch of red wine vinegar, and a lemon were fine complements

knox's sea urchin
i was determined not to like it, but it was buttery and ocean-y and marvelous!

knox and his beard (no, not me)

to help our newly-minted-phd get through the final stretch of dissertation writing, we decided to set up a two-part incentive program:

1. schedule party for the weekend after self-imposed deadline complete with mojitos, macaroons, and plenty of homemade apps
2. forbid him to shave

i'm still not sure what motivated him more... no pics from the party, but i diligently documented the hair growth. by the end, he could hold a pencil in it! impressive (though not as impressive as the dissertation itself)!!

january

february

march

april

may

artist's rendition
this is all that remains of the dissertation beard 2009 (unless you count the hair that i'm still sweeping off the bathroom floor and the little bit left on his face)

G is for graffiti

...and other street art.

the marais

bastille area

sidewalk, latin quarter

outside the fish guy, 14th

taken from the train to versailles

montmartre

st. germain

this is what i had in mind when i encouraged "the dissertation beard" (foto forthcoming!)

storefront, the fish guy

F is still for 'en famille'

mom and frank at versailles

she climbed to the top of the arc de triomphe (and begged us to leave her there), she read the story of jesus in the windows at sainte chapelle, she pictured herself playing the peasant girl at marie antoinette's english gardens, she groaned every time i took out my camera, she ate mayo with her fries at the falafel joint, she narrowly avoided ordering veal kidney for dinner, she mastered a cheerful "merci"... for her first trip to paris, my mom did it up right! while knox was busy cranking out the final pages of his dissertation, mom, frank, and i hit the town, soaking in as much of it as we could in the week they were here. by the time they left, my mom was rocking the messy french bun and tying her scarf like a local, and frank was perfecting his pronunciation à la parisienne (knox and i were so impressed with his french!!). i knew they'd dig it here.

a few highlights...

the newly renovated hall of mirrors

pigeons snacking and locals playing boule

sainte chapelle

la cimetière montparnasse

happy to see my momma!