Day 15

This morning, there was no fire alarm alarm clock, which was quite pleasant. Also a pleasant surprise was some home-baked bread in the kitchen, and a jar of strawberry jam that the mother's mother made. Talk about a delicious breakfast!

After my late, light breakfast, the Canadian came by the apartment b/c she left some coats here before she moved out, and afterward, we went to have lunch at a cafe around the corner. Now, the Canadian is gluten intolerant, so she wound up ordering a good looking salad, while I ordered roasted lamb with a mix of roasted tomatoes & eggplant that was wonderful. I've got to find more adjectives to use to describe what I'm eating...there's only so many ways to say something tastes really good, though.

After lunch, the Canadian & I wandered towards my favorite Parisian gelato shop, Amorino. I first discovered this place on my study abroad two years ago, and today it was warm enough to merit a stop so that I could pick up my favorite flavor combination- raspberry, chocolate, & coffee. My gelato disappeared quickly, and soon, this is all that was left:

Mmm...so delicious.

After our ice cream stop, the Canadian & I wandered into the nearby H & M, which just happens to be one of my favorite stores in Atlanta, and it's no different here. Somehow, my shopping buddy walked out without buying anything, though I bought a shawl-necked long sleeve sweater that ties at the waist. My words can't do justice to how cute it is.

The Canadian had to head back to her place, so I wandered back to the apartment, when I noticed this detail on a building I pass every time I head to the metro:

It's hard to tell, but I think it's a man riding either the wind or a wave. I still don't know.

Also along the way, I've passed by a plaque on the outside of a building several times, so I finally took the time to read it, and was pleasantly surprised.

Basically, it says that Gertrude Stein lived there with her brother, Leo Stein, and hosted other writers & artists from 1903-1938.

I got back to the apartment with enough time to actually take a nap, so I seized the opportunity, since there are few times when this apartment is really, truly quiet. I woke up, received the kids from their father, and then we went to the Garden.

I had seated myself, and the kids had gone off to play. Not five minutes after we had gotten there, an old French lady with her granddaughters walked by, and tried to say that the scooter that Eldest had brought with him actually belonged to her granddaughter. Now, my spoken French is still not good, but at that moment, Eldest happened to walk up, and answered the old lady's question about how he got the scooter (as it turns out, it was a birthday present). Up until he answered that question, she was not about to let me keep the scooter that I was in charge of keeping track of. It was all very weird, and confrontation just isn't my thing, so I was a little unsettled, but I was fine after 5 minutes of being weirded out by the situation.

After returning to the apartment, the kids & I played a few rounds of hide & seek (though they call it cache cache), and then I set about making dinner. Tonight, it was sauteed zucchini & tomato with 4 cheese ravioli. There was a small incident when I put Eldest's plate in the microwave & started it before he was out of his seat. He cried, then just stared at his plate for a good 10 minutes, letting everything get cold again. Finally, he started eating, and then the rest of the evening went smoothly. It's funny what makes kids tick, isn't it?

Just for the road, here's one more shot, on the unintentional theme of this post: looking upwards. The stairs going up to the apartment door have this amazing plant life going on...take a look!

Cool, isn't it?