Paris Trip - Day 3: Great Food and Great Art

For breakfast on this day we found a place called “Pret a Manger”, which could be like their Tim Horton’s because we saw several around town already.  I got a croissant with bacon, tomato, and cheese, M1 got a slice of carrot cake, M2 got a chocolate croissant and an egg salad sandwich, and M3 got a lemon loaf cake.  I would say the bacon, tomato, cheese croissant was the best thing I ate so far in Paris – better than yesterday’s tart.

Our plan this morning was to attend a macaron-making class.  It was an activity we had pre-booked back in Markham already because one of M2’s favourite foods are macarons.  I find them extremely over-priced for something I can just inhale in one second.  So if we learn how to make them, we can save money in the long run.

The class was an hour and a half and the instructor was very nice.  It actually takes 5 hours to make macarons because you have to make the shells, let them sit for a while, bake them, and then make the cream for the centre.  So the shells were actually pre-made for us and we just made the cream centres.  She did show us the whole process but we didn’t bake the shells that we made in our class.  (Perhaps we were using shells from a prior class and our shells would get baked for the next class.)  The instructor demonstrated how to make the shells then each person would get a chance to try.  M1 and M2 did but M3 and I opted out.  At the end we got to take with us the 4 macarons for which we made the cream centres – we would chill them and have them for dessert at night.  They were very sweet, which was not surprising after seeing all the sugar we put into them.

There was another family where the kids were on their phone the entire time and not paying attention to the instructor.  When she asked for people to come up and try, the teenaged son was the first to jump up.  But when he got to the front of the class, he said, “What do I do?”  This infuriated M1, and she muttered, “Well, if you weren’t on your phone the whole time, you would friggin know!”  Then when another lady was going to have a turn and was having trouble getting her phone set up to take a video, the father of that family stepped forward and said, “Can I go first?”  This prompted M1 to silently ask, “How old are you?”  If you know M1, you’ll know she was complaining about this family the rest of the day.

Lunch was at a restaurant called Le Florentin where I got the famous duck confit, M1 got fish and chips, M2 only got a French onion soup (in Paris it’s just onion soup) since she had a big breakfast, and M3 got grilled chicken.  The duck confit was amazing and took the title of best food I had in Paris – it was a short-lived reign for that bacon, tomato, cheese croissant.

We got a pleasant surprise after lunch as we headed to the Louvre – the second attraction of our Paris City Pass.  The Bus Tour tickets from yesterday were good for 24 hours so we were able to get on before time expired and rode the tour bus to the Louvre instead of taking local transit.

When we got there, we made a beeline for the Mona Lisa.  This was the recommended course of action because everyone told us it would be so crowded, and it was.  We were able to squeeze our way to the front and take a selfie with the most famous painting in the world.  M2 wanted to know why we didn’t take our time and look at other exhibits on our way to the Mona Lisa.  She asked me if I’d rather see the Mona Lisa and nothing else or everything but the Mona Lisa.  I said we’d rather see the Mona Lisa and nothing else.  You can’t go to the Louvre and not see the Mona Lisa!  That’s like going to the Hockey Hall of Fame and skipping the Gretzky exhibit.  It’s not like we really know how to appreciate art anyway, we just want to say that we saw the Mona Lisa.  If no one told me it’s a famous painting, I would think it’s just an ordinary painting of some lady with an interesting smile.

The Louvre was about a 30-minute walk from our hotel so for dinner we went to a restaurant half way in between so that we could break up the walk into two parts.  We went to a Japanese restaurant called Lai Lai Ken (you may have heard of the affiliated restaurant - Truth Truth Barbie) on Rue St. Anne, a street known for good Japanese restaurants.  I had fried rice, M1 had an omelette on rice, M2 had ramen, and M3 got stir fry noodles.  None of us actually got traditional Japanese food but it was still very good.

Today was a packed day with several noteworthy achievements - the best breakfast item, the best food item overall, a free ride to the Louvre, seeing the most famous painting in the world.

Big Oh

Paris Trip - Day 2: Day of Tours

On this day, first thing in the morning, M1 had a 4-hour bike tour booked for us and before you start wondering if we can bike for 4 hours, there are two important details.  One, we were on e-bikes so we didn't need to pedal much.  Two, there were lots of stops and so there was probably only about 90 minutes of biking.  The tour guide would take us to various sites and then we would take a break while he told us the history of the sites.  We went to the Louvre, the Royal Palace, and a restaurant/bar where historical writers would meet to shoot the breeze - even Benjamin Franklin frequented this bar when he was in Paris.  The guide told us stories about Napoleon and Louis the XIV and I enjoyed that because I like to learn about the history and culture of places I visit.  The girls may not have been as interested as me but they also saw other places like where Emily in Paris is filmed and Pierre Herme - the best pastry shop in Paris.  We stopped there and got some macarons and a tart and the girls enjoyed that part.  And yes, the tart is likely the best I ever tasted.

The actual biking part of the tour was a bit difficult because we weren't used to the traffic signals.  There are different signals for cars, cyclists, and pedestrians.  Also, there are no stop signs in Paris.  The vehicle on the right has the right of way.  We had 12 in our group, including the guide and he said that is too many people to ride single file - we would get separated at traffic lights.  So during certain stretches we had to ride 2 by 2, which is dangerous because as I said before, the roads are quite narrow.  M2 was particularly annoyed with some Taiwanese lady who was in front of us and very slow, which caused us to get separated a few times.  (The lady was very pleasant when not on her bike, though.)  The guide said because we are riding on Sunday morning, it's actually the time with the least traffic and should be an easy ride.  Not for us though, as M2 got honked by a bus that came awfully close to her.

We all enjoyed the bike tour and M1 and M2 thought it was the most fun activity/attraction on our trip.  The tour guide was very knowledgeable and we got a kick out of how he kept trying to promote his own start-up tour company on the side.  He asked us not to mention that to his boss or in any reviews we would post.

We had a late lunch at an Italian restaurant called Zapi.  We got two pizzas and two pastas and I liked them because they were less oily than than in Toronto.  (At my age, too much oil can cause problems.)  I also found them less filling and I mean that in a good way.  Maybe it was the lower oil content, but I was able to eat more.  That could also be because we just finished a 4-hour bike tour and I was hungry.  M1 really enjoyed her burrata pesto pasta and said it was her favourite dish of the trip.

After lunch was another tour.  This was the bus tour, where we could hop on and off at 10 different sites.  This was also the first of the attractions on our Paris City Pass.  We only got off at two locations - Notre Dame and the Grand Palais.  That's because the other sites were ones we would visit ourselves later in the week - Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees.

The bus ride was relaxing and the weather was nice with a cool breeze.  So comfortable that M1 and M3 both fell asleep for portions of the tour.  We had earphones and the recording would give us a description and history of the sites we were passing.  For example, we passed by the tunnel where Lady Di's car accident occurred.  Then the recording played "Candle in the Wind".  I thought that was special.

When we got to Champs Elysees, there was a French song about Champs Elysees and that became M2's favourite song.  She found it on Spotify and kept singing it for the rest of the trip.  M1 and M3 got into it too.  Also, we passed by some store and M1 mentioned that the same store was in Yorkdale Mall.  Then the lady in front of us turned around and asked if we were from Toronto.  She was too and heard us talking about Yorkdale.

With two tours on this day, we were exhausted at night.  We just wanted to grab a quick bite and perhaps bring it back to the hotel.  There was a Vietnamese restaurant near the hotel and we planned to go there so M3 could get that banh mi sandwich she had been craving since being denied at Pearson Airport.  But it was closed.  In fact, most restaurants were closed on Sundays so the first one we found open, we just bought some takeout (which they call "take away" in Paris) and went back to the hotel.

This was a satisfying day.  The tours were like a preview of the sites we would visit the rest of the week. We saw many landmarks and although we only spent a short time at each, I was thinking that even if these two tours were the only activities we did, I would be content.

Big Oh

Paris Trip - Day 1: The Arrival

Our flight to Paris would leave at 8:40 PM (Toronto time) on Friday and arrive at 10:10 AM (Paris time) on Saturday, due to the 6-hour time difference.  With the Air Canada strike just over and the airline trying to book customers who had their flights cancelled, we thought it would be wise to get to the airport early.  Uncle Pepe drove us and the check-in process went quite smoothly.  We had over 2 hours to spare so we went to get a bite to eat.

There was a Vietnamese restaurant and M3 wanted Banh Mi.  There was also Pad Thai and Fried Rice on the menu which suited M2 and me.  When it was our turn to order, we found out they were sold out of Bahn Mi, Pad Thai, and Fried Rice!  So we just got steamed rice with chicken. M1 got a salad and I got a sandwich from another place and we all just shared.

It was a 7+ hour flight so there was dinner and breakfast on the flight.  The food was not great, as usual for airplane food.  We tried to sleep to get accustomed to the time change but we just dozed on and off.  I watched two movies - Enter the Dragon and Rumble in the Bronx.  I chose movies I had seen before so I could fall asleep.

After landing, we took an Uber to the hotel and at the front desk there were mini-croissants and mini-crepes.  The girls took some and they were delicious!  M1 chose this hotel because it was centrally located relative to the places we wanted to visit.  My first impression of the streets and buildings in Paris was that everything was quite narrow.  Our hotel was no exception.  From the outside, you could barely tell it was a hotel.  The staircase was spiral to save space and the elevator could only fit two people with luggage.

For lunch we wanted to check out the marketplace at the Printemps Shopping Centre.  There were several restaurants - kind of like an upscale food court.  The first restaurant we passed by, the owner stopped us and agressively showed us the food choices at his restaurant.  Before we knew what hit us, we had ordered pastas and sandwiches already.  This guy was good!

After lunch we went to the Metro station to try to and buy a transit pass for the week. But we couldn't get them loaded on our phones without a phone number.  We thought maybe we needed a Paris number so we used the hotel phone number but that didn't work either.  So we just left and decided we would buy the tickets as needed.

We passed by a bakery (called Paul's Bakery) and bought breakfast for tomorrow - croissants and a baguette.  Then we went back to the hotel to rest because we were tired from not being able to sleep on the plane.

For dinner, we went to a Japanese restaurant near the hotel.  The waiter/owner could only speak French and Mandarin but we somehow managed to order.  I got meat skewers with rice, M1 got a shrimp tempura roll, M2 got udon, and M3 got a breaded cutlet.  The taste is not much different than Markham/Toronto.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and decided to sleep early to get accustomed to the time difference.  I would say our first day was very pleasant and relaxing - no rush to do anything really, just unwind and look forward to the week of touring ahead.

Big Oh

Paris Trip - Planning and Preparation

Earlier in the year, or maybe even in 2024, we thought about visiting Italy because we like pasta.  But as I wrote in the blog about our trip to Prince Edward County, it was too difficult to get all my girls' and my schedules to line up nicely for a trip across the ocean.  Then in July, things changed.  M1's last day of work would be August 22, M2 got her summer school exam date and it was August 16, M3's volunteering would end a week earlier.  We thought this just might give us enough time to visit somewhere in Europe for a week - leave the evening of the 22nd after M1 finishes work and come back in time for school starting.

We were advised against going to Italy because there was some celebration going on and it would be very crowded.  Our next choice was Paris, because M2 likes baguettes and croissants.  You see, our vacation destinations are not chosen based on landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower or activities like riding a gondola along a canal, but based on food.

M1 and I started looking for flights and hotels and they were very expensive!  It was the second week of July and according to a travel agent, this was considered last minute travel to Europe.  There was still a lot of choice in terms of airlines, hotels, and Airbnb's but it was all these choices that got me stressed out.  They were expensive and I was afraid to make the wrong decision.  I waited a day and the flight tickets increased in price.  Then one hotel got fully booked.  What if I book an Airbnb and it's not as advertised?  You always hear horror stories about Airbnbs.  But then another guy booked one and got a really good deal.  All this uncertainty was driving me crazy!  When we finally booked our flights with Air Canada and hotel at Best Western, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

My super-organized co-worker, Marion, gave me a spreadsheet she uses to plan all her vacations.  It calculated what we would need to spend on flights, hotels, transportation, food, activities, etc.  It had a packing checklist and a to-do list - everything from passports and eSims to clearing phone storage for pictures and making sure perishable food is thrown out before leaving.  One of my good friends, Wilson, just went to Paris earlier in the summer and so did two other co-workers.  They had lots of suggestions of restaurants to try and places to visit.  But again, all this choice caused me stress.  I was googling all these places and trying to book them in advance and then M1 pointed out, "We don't have to go to every place that your friends recommend, you know."  That's when I realized I was going crazy again.

So we only booked a few restaurants and activities.  In particular, we got a Paris City Pass which allowed us to choose 2 "high tier" attactions and 3 "lower tier" attractions.  We ended up choosing a bus tour and the Louvre as the high tier attactions and the other 3 were a Seine boat tour, Arc de Triomphe, and a Chocolate Museum.  We will visit the Eiffel Tower on our own.

All this was done by the end of July and I thought I could relax a bit.  The girls started to get excited and began packing certain clothes for the trip.  M3 worked on transitions (I don't really know what this is) and a countdown video for the trip.  She filmed short clips of us each day and was going to put it together in one video.

Unfortunately, this countdown video is missing the last week because that's when the Air Canada strike took place.  This sent my blood pressure sky rocketing (and M3 was too scared to bother me with her videos).  Do I try to rebook with another airline?  My tickets are non-refundable so I would lose out on that.  Other airlines are now charging even higher prices.  They say Air Canada will pay for my tickets on another airline but I know that will be difficult to accomplish.  How long would I have to wait on the phone to get that to happen?  If Air Canada cancels, I get my money back.  Do I wait for that?  But then I need to cancel the hotel and some of the activities we booked before the deadline for penalties.  Maybe they'll give me a break because of the strike?  All these questions swirling in my head.

Well, yadda yadda yadda, the labour dispute was settled on Tuesday and we were able to fly out on the Friday as scheduled.  Many people say it's a lot of fun planning for a vacation but this time for me, it was extremely stressful.  I just hope we have a fun and relaxing time so it's all worthwhile.  (Spoiler alert: It was a great vacation ... stay tuned.)

Big Oh

Prince Edward County Day 2 - Galleries, Farms, the Beach, and Good Company

The second day of our journey to the east began with free breakfast at the Comfort Inn.  To be honest, that's why I chose to stay there.  And I got yelled at by the girls because the hotel looked "sketchy", according to them.  The wifi was down, the room was small, there was an old bar of soap in the shower stall, and there was no safe.  For M2, the most important thing about a hotel is that there has to be a safe, even though she doesn't use it.

After breakfast the plan was to go to a place called Caddy Shack mini golf.  M1 googled it and found out that it was closed on Wednesdays.  Again, I got in trouble because half the things I planned so far were closed.  We went to the next places on my list: a couple of art galleries.  The first was the Oeno Gallery which was indoor and outdoor.  There were pictures inside and sculptures outside.  The pictures were nice but I enjoyed the sculptures more because they were different from what I was expecting at an art gallery.  For example, there was a sculpture of a giant drain plug.  We didn't know what it was at first and it was M3 who solved the mystery.

The second gallery was the Andara Gallery - so named for the co-founders, Andrew and Tara.  Andrew paints with melted beeswax and Tara specializes in photography.  I didn't like the beeswax paintings as they seemed quite messy to me and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference from some kindergarten finger painting.  The photographs were very nice, though, and I bought a colourful photograph of flowers.  It was mounted on a glass frame such that when the sun shines on the back of it, the photograph appears to radiate the colours (kind of like a stained glass window).  They assured me that the photograph was chemically treated so that the colours would not fade from the sun's rays.  Let's see if that's true in a few years.

Next we went to Laundry Farm for strawberry picking and we got to ride in a tractor to get to the strawberry field.  There were only two seats so the girls rode in the back without seatbelts - it was like a pick-up truck.  It was our first time strawberry picking and I think the girls enjoyed it.  M2 took the longest to fill her basket because she said only the perfect strawberries make the cut.  We also bought a jar of strawberry jam and a jar of blueberry jam for Grandma, who likes to have that on her toast at breakfast.

Lunch was at a diner called Vic's Social.  M2 and M3 didn't think it was very good but M1 and I got the lobster roll, which was very good.  Afterwards, we headed to Sandbanks Provincial Park and specifically the Dunes Beach.  This was the main attraction for our trip.  But not being an outdoorsy person, the only things I brought were a blanket and a couple of frisbees.  In hindsight, maybe a raft or some kind of floatie thing would have been nice because the water was very clear.  It was also very cool and refreshing on this hot day.  We only waded in the water but there were many people swimming.  M2 commented, "Look at all those people getting bacterial infections."  See, we're not outdoor people.  M3 tried to build a sand castle, but with only frisbees as tools, you really had to use your imagination to see the castle.  We did end up throwing the frisbee around for a bit.  We spent two hours at the beach, which I thought was pretty good, for our family.

On the way home, we stopped by the Big Apple to pick up an apple pie, apple cider, and various types of apple snacks.  This was a very short trip, filled with activities we weren't sure we would enjoy - hiking, strawberry picking, trying to develop an appreciation for nature, art galleries, the beach.  While not all the activities were enjoyable, I feel my girls had a good time.  We got to spend time together, make jokes, and just relax without worrying about work or school.  So sometimes you don't need a really long and extravagant vacation to enjoy it, just good company.

Big Oh

Prince Edward County Trip Day 1 - Birdhouse City

This summer, M1 has a summer internship at Pepsi, M2 is taking a course in summer school to lighten her load during the regular year, and M3 has a couple of volunteer opportunities at the City of Markham and another camp.  This means it will be difficult to plan a long vacation.  So we decided to take a short trip out east to Prince Edward County.

Prior to going, I had googled the top places to visit in or near Prince Edward County.  M1 found a nice restaurant called The Inn at Lake on the Mountain.  I'm not sure if that was the name or just a description of the place.  Anyhow, we decided that would be our nice meal of the trip.  So I drafted an itinerary visiting places near that restaurant.

Another activity during the planning stage was the creation of a Spotify playlist for the 2.5 hour drive (one way).  I had commented to my girls that my English songs playlist is mostly songs from the 80s - Air Supply and Chicago.  After years of my girls dancing, I now know some new songs and it's probably time for a new playlist.  This thought was inspired by my current #1 song - Pink Pony Club.  So M2 started a "Road Tripping" playlist and the girls added 33 songs.  I added 57.  I got yelled at for trying to take over the playlist.

M3's last exam was on Tuesday, June 24 and we left shortly after she got home around noon.  We stopped in Oshawa for lunch at Baxter's Landing.  The food was just okay and the service was slow so that delayed our arrival time.

My first scheduled stop was the Picton Town Hall Farmers Market.  M1 googled it and found that it is only open on Sundays.  She wanted to pick strawberries so we stopped by the Hagerman Farms, which was a back up on my itinerary.  But they didn't have any strawberries for picking.  They did have pre-picked strawberries, though, so we bought a small box.

We then proceeded to the Macaulay Mountain Conservation.  I wanted my girls to experience the outdoors because we never did a lot of that as they were growing up.  We ventured along a hiking trail but it was extremely hot that day, 40 degrees with the humidex.  The terrain was uneven and there were lots of bugs.  We were all bitten by mosquitoes and M2 is particularly sensitive to bites so we turned around after 15 minutes and went back to the entrance.  (This is why we don't like the outdoors!)

There was a pleasant surprise at the entrance - a section called Birdhouse City.  There were about 50 birdhouses and they were constructed like buildings or landmarks, such as a castle, Parliament buildings, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  It was just strange to see so many birdhouses with such cool designs.

Next we went to the main street of Picton where I had selected several stores to visit, including an art gallery and an antiques shop.  But they close at 5:00!  We got there shortly after 5:00 so we just went to a Giant Tiger store to buy some bite cream for M2.  There was an ice cream store still open so we got a treat to help cool down from the heat.

For dinner, we went to The Inn I mentioned earlier, which was on top of a hill overlooking a body of water - not sure if it was big enough to be called a lake.  Many people were having dinner on the patio so that they could enjoy the view during their meal.  But we wanted to be inside, safe from the bugs and the heat.  I ordered the toutiere, M1 got rosti potatoes, M2 got braised beef ribs, and M3 got a pasta dish.  Every dish was delicious!  So the main attraction of the day was not a disappointment (unlike the hike in the conservation area and all the closed venues.)

After dinner, we checked in at the Comfort Inn in Belleville and took a much needed shower.  The girls called Grandma, as we always do when we are away.  We were tired and wanted to sleep early but M1 was woken by a Face-Time call from Grandma's iPad close to midnight.  She was trying to check her lottery numbers but ended up dialing M1 by accident.

Big Oh

Karaoke Surprise

Today is YC's and my 26-year wedding anniversary and I have another memory to share.  This one can be captioned with a quote from Optimus Prime in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  He said, "Our worlds have met before," referring to the fact that the Transformers had come to Earth long before the first movie.

YC and I started hanging out in the same group of friends in our first year of university and started dating in our second year.  Back in the day, high school was five years but YC fast-tracked and graduated in four.  So while I was one year older, we entered university the same year.  YC always thought that we had met during our university years but I told her we had met before...

You see, when I was in grade 12 and YC was in grade 11 (two years before university) we had gone to a Karaoke bar together with a group of friends.  It was in a private room with maybe 20+ people.  I think we got charged one rate for the room so we tried to jam as much people in there as possible.  YC and I even sang three songs together - all Cantonese songs.  They were chosen by her and I just grabbed the second mike because I happened to know the lyrics.

Of course YC had no recollection of this outing.  When we started dating, I mentioned this to her and she didn't remember me at all!  I started naming other friends who were there and she claimed she can't be sure if that event even occurred.  She suggested that perhaps I mis-remembered - maybe I was with another group of friends and she wasn't there.

The funny/weird thing is that one of my friends recorded various people singing that night, using his Walkman - remember those?  Then one day when I was cleaning my room, I found that tape!  So I played it for YC and sure enough, there was the evidence that we went to Karaoke together and sang together.  YC was very surprised and very amused - amused that 1) we actually did meet before, 2) we went to Karaoke together, 3) we actually sang together, 4) she has no memory of the event, 5) someone actually recorded us singing together, 6) I kept the tape.

So we talk about this every once in a while and have a good chuckle about it.  YC, my love, I hope you are laughing at this funny memory again today.  Happy Anniversary.

Big Oh