VISITORS :)

1 cousin + 2 sisters = INSANITY. I'd blog about it, but that would be breaking my tradition of barely blogging while visitors are here taking up all my time :)

I'm sure they'll be putting pictures on Facebook anyway ... Suffice it to say that anytime we take a picture all four of us have to be in agreement that it's a good one in order to move on to the next activity. Oh, and ditto coming up with activities ...

Some things never change.

Schubert/Weber, COUPs concert (May)

For our most recent concert (the 17th and 18th) we played Schubert's Mass in E flat Major, and accompanied my friend Nans in a Weber clarinet piece (he won the Young Soloist competition last June)! I loved the Schubert, and I recommend it -- you can find it online if you search Messe or Missa or Mass, depending upon which orchestra recorded it!

This was a picture from Tuesday night, because I promised Lettie's friends Pam and Fred that I'd take a picture ... This is 'backstage' for the Grand Amphithéâtre of the Sorbonne.

But then my friend Ulysse got a better action shot on Wednesday night. You may notice I'm holding my friend Emma's mallet's under my arm ... I'm not sporting the latest in cottonball haute couture!

Also, I was trying to tune ... I wish my pegs would quit SLIDING, but I'm so scared of putting too much peg dope on them that I'm waiting until I can have help. I suppose the fact that the room was 400°F probably wasn't helping.

It was a good concert, and it's always fun to go out with friends after -- We always go to a bar called L'Ecritoire in Place de la Sorbonne. By always I mean ... Well, they know us ;)

Saltines?

Ghetto Italian saltines? Taste the same ... AND they're Kosher?

United Tastes of Real America?

I've started using the rental bike service, Vélib' , a LOT. It's really fun to bike when there are trails and you don't have to worry about being in the bus lane (and even if it takes a bit longer it beats sitting in the métro for hours of your day)! For you nonbelievers, I biked all the way from Victor Hugo, to Malesherbes, and then home to Ourcq! Multiple times now. Ha HA!

When I got off near Jaurès the other day, I noticed the rainbow chimney tops. You probably need to make this picture bigger to get a better look.

Last weekend I decided to use up the beat bananas that were lying around on banana bread. Googled to confirm that I could use baking powder instead of baking soda (note: that does not work in the other direction). It came out perfectly, although I probably should have taken it out of the oven a little sooner.

Walked past this on Rue de l'Ourcq the other day, cracked me up. Get this ... It's a translation service.

Now, there's no need to tell me how much of a creeper I am for taking this picture, but I did it for nerds everywhere. Or perhaps, more accurately, geeks. This guys satchel-messenger bag thing is made out of old disks wired together. I couldn't get THAT good an angle without being really, REALLY obvious, but it looked really cool. Good thing he had headphones on, maybe he didn't hear the VERY audible click of the Blackberry camera ...

Finally, when we were running errands the other day, I got sidetracked by American stuff in the 'Foreign Foods' aisle. Still seems weird. I almost bought the cranberry sauce to see if it was any good, but has anyone an idea what "Real American" seafood sauce is? I'm thinking cocktail sauce, based on the look of it? I particularly was amused (still am, who am I kidding?) by the brand name ... 'United Tastes of America.'