Happy Birthday Allie

My best friend Allison "Allie" Bucy passed away at the ripe young age of 23. Today would be her 28th birthday. I had a dream about her last night. We had gone to California for some purpose, including seeing her dad. Our first arrival was to some sort of clothing store/library. Her dad picked us up there and we walked a couple doors down in the strip mall to a sports bar to watch a Pats/Giants game, but walked into a library instead where Flynn mysterioulsy morphed into Cole, Allie's brother, and Allie and Cole checked debate tournament updates. Oh and I successfully pilfered a white Chanel bag from the store/library and Allie caught me and just told me not to act so guilty ;) Allie and I were supposed to debate the next day and didn't have so much as an affirmative much less any evidence. Oh yea, and some celebrity (not George Clooney) had become president and that factored into some sort of politics disad. God, after all of these years, I'm still a giant nerd.

It's strange how your subconscious is so tuned into your deep feelings. I suppose they are really one in the same. I thought a couple times over the past week that Friday was Allie's birthday, but it wasn't foremost on my mind when I went to bed last night. I had been reading a book and texting my husband. Anyways, I wanted to write this one down, because I don't always have the sharpest memories of dreams.

Paris, December 27th

The boulangerie was closed on Mondays. Booooo. We planned on seeing the France 1500 exhibit at the Grand Palais, so we walked over to the right bank and went to the first restaurant we saw near the Louvre. It was crappy craperton... also my cappucino was literally 9.5 euros... they said it was the best cappucino in Paris... reminded me of the movie Elf... also it was not the best cappucino in Paris. It was utterly forgettable. As we made our way towards the Grand Palais, we noticed that the line for the Ferris Wheel was not very long. Despite wife's objections to Ferris Wheels (I hate the ones where the seats rock), we bought two tickets. "Do you want to switch sides of the car?" husband asks midway through t

he ride, as he stares at the paralyzed with fear wife.... "um... no, you can look over your shoulder at the other side.

After the Ferris Wheel we headed to Laduree for some macaroons and champagne. God I love Paris.

The France 1500 exhibit was interesting. It was all artwork (mostly religious) from various parts of France that was produced around... you guessed it.... 1500. Tons of illuminated manuscripts, bibles, prayer books, etc. I have to say, I wasn't all that blown away by the exhibit. Not shockingly, everything produced in or around 1500 was religious and theme and, as it turns out, there isn't exactly a vast body of "events" to choose from to depict in artwork. I'd say that 95% of the exhibit was Annunciations, Baptism of Jesuses, Nativities, Crucifixions and Manifestations. They are pretty, no doubt, but it gets a wee redundant. There was an interesting Nativity where the cardinal of the day had himself painted into it as though he was there... that was a stretch of the time-space continuum, amongst other things.

For dinner we headed to Le Comptoir, recommended to us by Tony Bourdain. There are NO RESERVATIONS so we sat outside under badass heat lamps and shared a bottle of wine before they seated us inside. Oh, I know what you are thinking - how romantic... sitting french style outside an adorable bistro in Paris drinking wine...... YET... the French still smoke. Like Marlboro reds and like chain-smoke style. The couple sitting next to us had two cigarettes before their appetizer and another two in between the appetizer and entree and then another one before coffee showed up. Seriously people, smoking is bad for you... really bad for you. Stop already! Dinner, however, was pure awesomeness. We shared a plate of thin sliced Iberian ham for an appetizer and then husband had beef and I had the most amazing pork I've ever tasted.

Paris, December 26th

We landed in Paris after an uneventful flight where I watched the utterly forgettable "Eat, Pray, Love." The book might be more compelling, but the movie did not inspire any sympathy in me towards the character. "Oh my God! I'm so brave! I gained 10 pounds and am now only slightly underweight!!!!" "Oh my terrible problems, I'm glad I'm so wealthy I can take off a year of work with no fear and join my wealthy fellow Americans at exclusive ashrams in India!" Anyways... I'm probably being a bit harsh, but this was all that was available to watch on a long flight.

We were luckily able to immediately check into our hotel, the beautiful Hotel Pont Royal, beautifully situated 4 blocks from the Seine and 2 blocks from Eric Kayser, the boulangerie where I had croissant #1 out of 1000 of our seven day trip. We walked along the Seine near the Louvre and saw Notre Dame and St. Chapelle. We went for a crepe (sucre for me, nutella for husband) and went back to the hotel to nap. We arose from a very deep sleep for dinner at Chez Fernand, a second location (turns out the owner owns 8 restaurants in Paris). I had a phenomenal veloute of broccoli, the husband had terrine of pate, and we shared boeuf bourguinon for dinner. It was incredible! We mopped up every last drop of the sauce with bread. Then we had a gateaux du chocolat, which was also awesome and decadent, but my tummy was telling me (shouting, really) "STOP" Back to the hotel and fell asleep, only to wake wide awake around 2:30am. 4 hours of Harry Potter later, I fell back asleep and husband and I woke up around 11am.

Part 2: Paris, Texas

The rest of the time in Texas went something like this:

Saturday: Arrive Waco
Sunday: Depart Waco for Austin
Monday: Depart Austin for Waco, by way of Salado, dinner at Ninfa's with the Eastlands
Tuesday: Dr. Pepper Museum, shopping with Courtney
Wednesday: Tour unexplored areas of Waco (for husband)
Thursday: Uncle Dans for lunch, Ninfa's for dinner
Friday: Hardest workout ever, courtesy of JRM, cook like a fiend, Christmas Eve Dinner
Saturday: Christmas Breakfast, Depart Waco for Paris!

Highlights: Austin was great as usual, and Chris and Caroline are amazing hosts. After a devastating Giants loss to the Eagles, the gals headed to the Domain, this awesome outdoor mall in Austin (it was like 80 degrees that day) and the boys played some pool. We had dinner at Peche, a french restaurant downtown with pre-prohibition style cocktails (think no vodka, and absinthe). They were heavy on the gin, so yours truly was happy. The boys decided they decidedly did NOT like absinthe. Perhaps they didn't believe the girls when we said it "tastes like black licorice" as when they took their first sips, they each exclaimed "gross, it tastes like black licorice." It also looks like a margarita that's been left out overnight. Not really my cup of tea. Blood sausage and sweetbreads on the other hand? I'm your gal. Needless to say, we had a great night.

I was born and raised in Waco, Texas, am 27 years old, and until December 2010, I had never stepped foot in the Dr. Pepper Museum. It was interesting enough, especially from the perspective of the history of the bottling industry. Husband loved learning that the bottle deposit used to be 2 cents (on a 5 cent bottle), whereas now, it's like 5 cents on a $1.99 bottle - people had a much greater motivation to return them then! Below is a picture of "Dr. Schnee", the version of Dr. Pepper sold in St. Louis that husband drank growing up!

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun. We had a dinner of beef tenderloin, cheddar mashed potatoes, black beans and rice, jalepeno-cheddar cornbread, southwestern corn, roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and dessert of brownies, flan, cookies and pie. We were all stuffed, especially since I ate half of the cheese before putting into the potatoes AND we had to go out for one last lunch of Chik fil A before leaving Texas. Seriously Chik Fil A, open in the East. You'll make a killing. Off husband and I alone. I slaved away joyously in the kitchen most of the day (oh Texas and your big houses with two ovens and tons of counter space!). Husband hand-mashed the potatoes into the most silky smooth perfection you've ever seen. It was truly a work of art. We then enaged in my mother's fascist gift-exchange program, which lasts at least 6 hours, regardless of the number of people in attendance and number of gifts. Each person is given one gift at a time and we all have to watch that person open his/her gift and ooo and ahhh over it before anyone can dare touch another present. I'm not bitter. The finale was an etching we all bought my mother by an artist of some notoriety up East. Copyrigh laws, alas, prevent me from posting it here. You can view it here though, http:www.helenfrank.com/#179898/A-Glass-of-Guinness. The fella on the left is a spitting image of her father, my late grandfather.

Christmas Day we had brunch at my aunt and uncle's house and then headed to the Waco airport (2 hours ahead of flight, oh dear husband). We got through security and waited the 1 hr, 45 minutes until our flight to Houston. There were 6 people on our plane. Incidentally, ALL of our bags were searched. I mean ALL 6 of us. They didn't find anything. I think security at the Waco airport is just bored. Wouldn't you be? Also, news to me! You know board planes in Waco via a Jetway! Really moving up in the world :)

Part 1: Paris, Texas.... as in Paris & Texas, not to be confused with Paris, Texas.

On December 16th, the husband and I made our way (back home) to the Lone Star State. First stop, NorthPark mall where we ate P.F. Changs, my husband judged me for drinking a beer at noon (hello, we're on vacation thank you!) and we finally sorry Harry Potter 7, part un.

Random side story. Husband, until around December 10, 2010, had never seen a Harry Potter movie or read a Harry Potter book. "Trix are for kids" seemed to be his motto. Well, hesnapped out of THAT quickly. We watched a marathon of Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and the Goblet of Fire on a Sunday. Man was HOOKED. By Tuesday, he didn't even wait for me to get home from work to watch Half Blood Prince, as he just "assumed because I saw it recently, I didn't need to see it again." Translation? I am hooked to the kids' movies and I can't wait two hours to watch it with you. I even got the following emails at work "When are Ron and Hermione going to realize they are in love?????", followed by "Wait, Snape is EVIL?" Anyhoo, to my great pleasure husband was chomping at the bit to see HP7p1 and now I have a fellow obsessive devotee to stand in line with me for the midnight showing on July 11, 2011. Oh, and now husband declares we have to see it in Imax too.

So anyways, after the movie we headed up to see Sarah and Matt. We saw their giganticapartment, played with a very riled-up Riley Cat and headed to Uncle Julio's to satisfy wifey's "fix" of mexican food. There are serious withdrawal symptoms when I'm away from this stuff my friends...... The next day husband and I traveled to Dealey Plaza and went to the museum in the book depository. We then toured homes in Highland Park, where husband is trying his best to convince wife we should live. STAT.

That night the "dance moms" and daughters got together for dinner and the Nutcracker at Bass Hall in Forth Worth. We had such a good time at Fondue we didn't realize what time it was and basically had to stuff the dessert fondue in our purses as we fled the restaurant for the theater. Seeing the Nutcracker brought back such happy memories of our childhood/teenage years. It's so wonderful that all of the mommies and daughters are still friends after 20 years :)

Sunday morning, husband met the mommies and daughters for breakfast and Sarah, husband and I began the trip down to Wacko. Oh Wacko.......

Next time on Paris, Texas: Austin, Texas, the Dr. Pepper Museum, and more Mexican food.

Zurich, Day 2

Maggie goes off to work and I go into downtown Zurich again. Maggie graciously agreed to bring my suitcase for Paris with her to work so I wouldn't have to walk around Zurich with it all day. She leaves and 15 minutes later, naturally, I discover I've forgotten my bra. Genius. Good thing there is an H&M right near the train station downtown. Also temporarily forget that, although I've become a "light packer" traveler (two weeks of honeymoon? ONE carry-on suitcase people), my second carry-on bag, always jam packed with books to read, travel books, etc. is NEVER light. I'll never be able to carry this bag around all day long. God bless H&M once again. Go to pay for said bra and bag. Salesperson definitely speaks not one word of English. Her hand gestures suggest my credit card was not accepted. I tell her to swipe again. I feel less like an idiot when her superior comes over and shows her how to manually enter the credit card number. I feel even less like an idiot, simultaneously learning that she's just a moron, when I watch her entering the numbers I know not a single one of them to be numbers of my credit card. I look at the card in her hand and NO JOKE, she's reading them upside down. Numbers are universal my friends..... what did she THINK she was reading? There are 7's and 5's in my card number..... I grab it out of her hand and turn it around and show her. Voila! Card accepted. Half ton bag on each shoulder instead of one ton bag on one, and the girls are in place. Great success!

Lunch at a cute little coffee shop, where I get basically a super thin crust pizza. The name slips my mind now, but it was very good. Bill comes and I fork over the credit card. No no! Credit cards only about 50 francs! Do my ears deceive me? The franc and dollar exchange basically 1 for 1. Can you imagine a $50 limit at a coffee shop in the U.S.? Neither could I. PLUS my bill was $24.90, so there was no way I could order more coffee enough to bring it up to $50. Worse, I had EXACTLY $23.90 left in francs AND this was my last day in Switzerland. In steps Mr. Euro. Not, not some handsome Swiss German man that offered to cover my bill. The currency. The accept both. I pay for my coffee in Euros and my pizza in Francs. Crisis averted.

I visit Zurich's two big churches. The first, the Fraumunster, is a benedictine abbey. There are 5 beautiful very primary-colored, stained glass windows by Marc Chagall in the choir of the abbey. The second church is the Grossmunster, a protestant church, with very modern stained glass windows. As Forrest Gump famously said, "that's all I have to say about that." I didn't take pictures of the church, but this is a cute square downtown.
After a glass of champagne in a caviar bar, I met Maggie after work for the train to Paris. Just like she warned me, the train left promptly at 4:27. 4.5 hours, one croque monsieur, a broken door (which just about put Maggie over the edge ;)) and one little bottle of cold pinot noir later, we arrived in Paris at the Gare d'Est. The taxi drive took us right by the pyramid and the Louvre, and we could see Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower as we crossed the Seine. We arrived at the hotel and headed out to Le Petit Sommelier for dinner. You better choose quick, they warned, because the kitchen was closing. We ordered a nice bottle of wine however, that the "sommelier" clearly approved of, and all of a sudden, they were in no rush to see us out the door. They even let us stay for dessert (how polite!). We made a toast to the Paris vacation that was finally taking place. C'est arrive!

Zurich

There's a back story. Maggie and I were roommates at BC our sophomore year where we quickly learned that while good friends, we can never ever ever ever ever again live together! That year we were supposed to go to Paris over Spring Break, but Mags got super sick (like hospital stay sick) the day before we were supposed to go. Jump ahead seven or so years to 2010 where Mags tells me that she will be in Zurich working for a number of months. "Come to Europe!" she says, "We can go anywhere you want on the weekend." The word "Europe" generally translates in my little mind to "Tuscany" or "Paris." Given the history, I thought it was time to finally take our sojourn to my favorite city on Earth, Paris! Besides, I thought, there will be know glorified hostels and budget meals this time around. God Bless being a working adult ;)

The plan is for me to fly to Zurich, meet Maggie, and train with her to Paris to spend the weekend.

March 2. Arrive EWR. Security a BREEZE. The airport is EMPTY. Glorious. Even more glorious? There's a legit wine bar in EWR's Terminal C now. Like lots by the glass, flights, and non-disgusting sounding food options. I order a glass of bubbly and begin reading "My Life in France" by Julia Child (appropriate choice, eh?)

Aside...... but Rachel, you say, you gave up weekday drinking for Lent! Bubbly counts, no? Yes, it counts. Yes, that's what I gave up. But I'm on vacation. And I'm a bad Catholic anyways. I figure I'll be visiting no fewer than five churches in Paris (and there are two famous ones in Zurich), so God will maybe look this over.

I next order a nice glass of Burgundy. I almost forget I'm in an airport. I glide to gate 10 minutes after scheduled boarding time to find no line and also no buildup at the entrance to the plane. The Swiss are efficient, I think to myself. Watch the Blind Side, pop an Ambien, arrive in Zurich. Follow Mags' instructions to downtown and walk around. Manage to get slightly lost in a city that (1) isn't' small and (2) has a river running through the center of it as a guide post. Woops! Find my way around and explore. At about 2:30pm, I can barely keep my eyes open. Head back to hotel for 5 hour nap. Wake up just in time for Maggie to arrive from work. Head to fondue place (invented by the Swiss - a lovely people). Fondue is GOOD. MMMMM cheese. Better yet... MMMM Gruyere cheese melted with wine.


Arrive back at the hotel and crash. Afraid when I awake at 2:30am. Feel wide awake, but magically fall back to sleep and wake up when Maggie's alarm clock goes off. Day two in Zurich next!