Maman was here

My mother arrived from Colombia last week and today, a week after her arrival, we said goodbye to her. She's on her way to Spain. As they say here, we wish her bonne continuation.

Everyone enjoyed her company and we're really grateful she came to see us. The kids wasted not time and on her first day here hit her up for toys at the local joueterie.

Maman kept us busy, and we will especially remember the nice outing on the left bank in which we trust we did not make her walk too much. Over the weekend we were also graced with my niece Laura's presence and all of us enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Le Soufflé (but next time let's let the taxi driver decide the best way to get there), a very nice violin concert at the Sainte Chapelle—the beautiful medieval royal chapel built in the mid-1200s by Louis IX of France (Saint Louis) as part of the Palais de la Cité (now the Conciergerie)—famous for its stunning stained glass windows, and our farewell lunch at the great brasserie near the apartment.

I'm sure she won't forget the day at the Jardin d'Acclimation, which used to be a zoo that opened in Paris in 1860 as the Jardin Zoologique d'Acclimatation. During the Siege of Paris (1870-1871), many of the animals in the zoo were eaten. Today the Jardin is an old-fashioned children's amusement park and small zoo, a couple of small roller coasters, a puppet theater, and more. But it was especially noisy that day, and it ended up being a bit too much for my mother.

And I will never forget the “delicious” Pot au Feu en Salade I ordered at the Chez Clément nearby (note to self: do not return to Chez Clément), which I did not expect to consist of a cold, thick, stiff piece of beef and celery, leek, carrot, pickles, white onion, half a hard boiled egg and who knows what else. Pot au Feu is a French stew, but I failed to read on the menu that it was served as a salad... a right-out-of-the-freezer salad. Even in France food can sometimes go wrong.