THE PARIS LETTER: Sunday Afternoon Snack

Oh, Paris letter, how have I been writing you for so long without mentioning one of my favorite subjects, CHEESE? 

Those of you who have been following this letter for the last year know that in fact many of my culinary adventures in France have to do with finding NON-FRENCH food - I've looked for burritos and bagels, made traditional Thanksgiving dinner and served chocolate mole to dubious Parisians. What can I say? I like variety on my plate.  

However, there are a few areas where France just excels, period. One of these is bread. And the another is cheese. They are just consistently better here than in the US of A. Yes, we have some very good homegrown cheeses and you can get a great diversity of breads. But look at that picture, people! That's our Sunday afternoon snack! And we can get that kind of good-lookin' snack easily in our neighborhood, no trucking out to Murray's Cheese or Acme Bread. Yes, there's a huge variety when it comes to cheese and bread here, and you can get a super shitty baguette and some boring emmental just about anywhere here as well.

But again, I refer you to the picture above. Let's discuss....

THE PARIS LETTER: Tuileries and Chocolate

Hello there and welcome to the BLOG version of The Paris Letter -

Today I'm 38 weeks pregnant, officially full term - and, coincidentally, the 7 billionth person on the planet will be born this week, somewhere in the world. I mentioned this to Matt - since I'm full term, seems like we've got a shot here. Matt's first response was " Does it come with a cash prize?" 

Here is my response: 

So, yes! For the next two weeks, as we await the appearance of our kid, I'm trying to do just what I WANT to do, with my limited energy - so today, the Tuileries Garden and Angelina hot chocolate, after the jump:

THE PARIS LETTER: Nesting...

37 Weeks preggo, with toys

Happy Fall Sunday everyone -

Paris has finally been visited by those sunny, crisp fall days that just make you want to walk by the Seine and stop in at a cafe to share a hot chocolate or a bottle of wine. It is just beautiful out, and today Matt and I are hopefully going on another date of sorts, if I can come up with some good ideas - I have two drawbacks currently: I can't walk much farther than 10 blocks at a stretch, and I don't have a coat that covers my bump - BUT hey, if I plan things right neither of these should really be a problem. I just have to build in plenty of places for us to stop ...

Right now, Matt is at an Irish pub watching the Rugby World Cup final - New Zealand and France battle it out!  Neither of us had ever watched rugby before, which is - apparently - a big sport in the rest of the world ;). New Zealand beat Australia last week; these are usually the two best teams, and nobody can understand how France made it into the final -not even the French!  Parisians are not really the most team-spirited in any case, but their response still seems to be "I don't know how Les Bleus are in the final, they are not a very good team" - and now they're playing the New Zealand All Blacks, the best team in the world.

THE PARIS LETTER: Dating My Husband

Hello there folks -

Montmartre - Follow him!

It's a rainy Sunday here in Paris, and the Claire Lundberg-Matt Valley household is being really lazy as a result. In fact, Matt is still sleeping over there in the bed -though it's almost 2PM ! In fairness, we did have a nocturnal visit from two friends who had a twelve hour layover here in Paris on their way back to New York from Russia. Armen and his brother Grisha showed up last night around 11:30, and we hung out drinking the Belgian beer Matt brought back from Bruges a couple of weeks ago, and then Matt and the guys left to find fun and excitement (or more beer and food) before they had to head back to the airport at around 5:30AM. Matt discovered a 24-hour Belgian beer bar right on Place de Clichy - about 7 blocks from us! Matt said they had a great beer selection but that it was also full of about 5 or 6 bachelor parties all eyeing each other seeing if they'd have to fight later. I should mention that this part of our neighborhood is pretty close to the Moulin Rouge and Pigalle districts, so these dudes were probably either coming from or going to that area. All in all, a good find but one that resulted in him getting back home around 5AM.

THE PARIS LETTER: Medieval Villages, Architectural Deconstructivism, and Giant Babies

Hello Everyone!

Sorry to have been so out of touch again - My best friend Maya was visiting from the US for the last two weeks, and I ended up running around Paris with her - which was GREAT since I've been feeling so slowed down because of the pregnancy - and not getting around to writing the letter. But I'm back! And with special news from both Paris and Bruges, Belgium, where we spent last weekend drinking beer (Matt), eating Fries (me), and generally having one last get away before our daughter arrives.

Me in Bruges at 34 weeks

Speaking of - that arrival is really getting close! I'm 34 weeks now, although we found out this week that she might actually be OLDER than we thought initially. We had our third trimester sonogram, and afterwards, the doctor was looking at the results with us and said "Votre bebe est un peu...gros." - Yes, she's had a growth spurt, and all her measurements are now in the 85th percentile or higher for her age. The doc thought she looked more like she was 35 or 36 weeks, so it's possible she'll come a little early. I personally feel vindicated by this because I'd been slowing down so much and feeling so huge, with lots of back pain, yet it felt too early for that to happne - but now I know it's because I have Gargantua the Giant Baby living inside me. Oh yes, this has provided for some great nicknames. Matt is also calling her Gigantasaurus Rex. and Gargantuas Prime.

THE PARIS LETTER: Baby Supplies, False Labor, and a little 9/11 Reflection

Belleville

Hello everyone -
Well, I know you've heard me say it before, but I am really pregnant at this point - 31 weeks, and I just realized that bending over to tie my shoes is becoming increasingly difficult. Time to bust out the slip ons I guess. Sheesh.

I had some false labor this week - first time in this pregnancy I've ever had to call my midwife after-hours, so thank goodness for that I guess, but because everything with the baby has been so normal these actually-very-normal Braxton Hicks contractions freaked me out. I had also been having some pelvic pain (sorry to get graphic on you so early in this letter...) so I had this fear that I was dialating or the baby was descending early and they'd have to put me on bedrest for the next 6 to 8 weeks. That was really my fear, the bedrest. I already feel so much less mobile that I think I might go crazy if I had to stay in bed - But, I've known so many women that this has happened to that I have had it in the back of my mind since I hit the second trimester.

THE PARIS LETTER: The Princess Phase

Hello All:

Sacre Coeur

Hmmm, let's see - it's been a pretty slow week for me here, as I guess befits the end of summer. Matt's really the one who has lots to report - he's been in New York this week dealing with our apartment there, handling the move out of the old tenants and the move in of the new ones, and making sure some minor repairs get done - plus, of course, eating a lot of barbecue and drinking a lot of beer. He actually told me last night that he's done with beer and hamburgers for a little while - like me, he gorged himself on them while in the US and now needs a break. Well, at least from the hamburgers ;) I'm not convinced he'll need much of a break from the beer.