A new adventure

The adventure continues - I'm a dad!

Alice Evangeline May was born on 27 May 2010 at 9:18am, Paris-time. I'll keep her exact weight secret but, as I'm strangely proud of it, I'll say that it was less than 5kg (but not by much). Costeau, as they say.

Alice and B and both fine. B's recovering incredibly quickly, although I shouldn't be too surprised given her superhero status in our lives. She constantly amazes me and I often use her as a reference point in times of stress.
As for Alice, and at the risk of sounding like an awestruck father, she's seemingly perfect. She often looks a little grumpy (probably missing her previous warm, watery home) but is otherwise healthy and curious.

Who knows when I'll be able to update this again. After finally getting a full-time job after two years of searching (an occasion which slipped by unremarked because I'm clearly an intermittent poster at best), and after an introductory weekend to parenthood that involved more than twice our regular amount of washing and half our regular amount of sleep, it doesn't seem likely I'll be back here anytime soon. But who knows? Writing might become a meditative medium and I could retreat here with headphones and a cup of tea before the week is out.

In the meantime, welcome, Alice, to your very own Wonderland.

Les Halles in the 1960s

Les Halles in the 60s. Wow - nothing at all like what it is today!

End-of-2009 update

While I wait for the Frenchy to get back from a shopping expedition in the snow here's a quick recap of the end of 2009:

• We got married. It was wonderful. Not at all what I'd expected from years of singing at others' ceremonies but wonderful nonetheless. I missed having my Australian family and friends around me on the day but I've made a promise to have another wedding in Sydney in December 2010. Patience is a virtue, kids!
• We went to Carcassonne (and the SW region of France) for our honeymoon, which was fantastic. Great weather, beautiful countryside and loads of delicious food (Cassoulet, anyone?) Pics here.
• I went to Australia for two months to sort out yet another visa. Having received it and now being back in France I can freely say that, with one exception, the visa section of French consulate in Sydney is staffed by uncaring, stick-in-the-mud a*seholes. The one exception was the guy behind the counter who I finally got to meet with, who treated me like a human being - with understanding, compassion and a sense of humour.
  I can't tell you how relieved I am to be in the position of never having to deal with them again...or at least not for a long enough time for me to get over my ill-feelings toward them. Phew!
• I returned to France after seeing my much-loved family and friends and spending (almost) every second day on the Harbour using KT's OC1. Paris greeted me well - the Frenchy came to the airport, the sun was shining and the temperature wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It's since gotten cold and getting colder (yesterday got to -2...) but snow has fallen for the past three days so it's beautiful and helps me ignore the biting wind.
• I had a job interview last week that seemed to go quite well. No details on exactly what I'm being offered but I've been assured that things will become clearer over the next week or two. Fingers crossed!
• And, we're looking for a new apartment. Somewhere close to a park would be nice but the Parisian rental market is clearly NOT a renter's market - it's highly competitive and shockingly expensive. However, we remain optimistic and at least have the luxury of not having to move out of Mazarine urgently.
  

And that's about the sum of things. Of course, there are things afoot that I can't write about just yet (although I'm sure you'll be able to piece together a few of the things above to figure it out) but for now I'm looking forward to Christmas. It'll be my first European Christmas in many years, and the first I'll be spending as a married man with my family-in-law (which sounds horribly formal, particularly as they're so lovely). We'll be having dinner at B's mother's place on the 24th, B and I will have the 25th to ourselves (which I plan to spend admiring the tree...when it finally gets put up and decorated), and then we'll be having a Boxing Day/post-Christmas celebration at our place on the 26th, for which I'm cooking. Many, maaaany thanks to my mum for help in putting together the menu.
After the celebrations, B and I are heading to the north coast for a week and possibly for NYE, although that's a bit up in the air at the moment. Either way, lots of fun ahead.

7 amazing 1-take clips

Why is it that the time I'm busiest is the time I spend watching (admittedly awesome) stuff like this?
http://www.neatorama.com/2009/09/28/7-most-amazing-one-take-video-clips/

Update from Paris

One week to go!

And, here's a quick summary of what's been happening lately:

• We went to Bruges a few weeks ago. Aside from being much like I imagine Disneyland to be (e.g. devoid of people who actually live there, uber clean, tourist-focused, etc) it was still a lovely city. Very pretty. Lots of beer. Photos here.
• We got our third delivery from Gerard's POT company. Many of the same delicious things plus some new stuff. Funnily enough, each time we get a delivery we get another colour of beans. See what I mean?
• The Frenchy had her 3X birthday. Joyeaux anniversaire!
• Paris' weather began to turn cold and gloomy again (although it's actually been quite beautiful every second day or so, so it's a gradual decline).
• One of the Frenchy's friends helped create an indoor garden at Le Centqautre, which we visited and enjoyed a lot (not least because they had a bunny).
• And we gave up on the guy we'd originally asked to design our marriage rings. After weeks of emails and phone messages from my side, and complete silence from his side, we found another designer who seems to know what professionalism means. Yes, initially grrr, but now ahhh.

Oh - almost forgot. We've decided to go to Carcassonne for the honeymoon. Lots of castles, wine and cassoulet. Mmm!

The soupe de soissons she made last night?

It was delicious.

The recipe (taken from Lucy's Kitchen Notebook) is below. Note that we substituted confit de canard, which you can buy in a can in Sydney along with its fat, for the lamb, and fond de veau for the veal demi-glace. Seriously, who has THAT lying around?

Ingredients
200 grams broth cooked Haricots de Soissons (big white beans)
1 branch sage
1 clove garlic
1 European bay leaf or 1/3 to 1/2 of a California bay
water to cover
1 courgette
1 small onion
1 slice of leftover leg of lamb
2 tablespoons duck fat
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons veal demi-glace
the juice of ½ lemon
a drizzle of good olive oil

Directions
Make a bouquet with the sage and bay.
Put the beans, the bouquet, and the clove of garlic of which you have peeled and removed the germ in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and then turn the heat down to very low. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Cube the courgette and mince the onion.
Cut the slice of lamb into strips and heat the duck fat to very hot. Toss and turn the strips of lamb in the duck fat until they are browned and crisp. Remove the lamb from the pan, and add the courgettes and the onion.
Put two soup bowls in the oven to warm.
Turn the heat down on the courgettes and cook them slowly, stirring occasionally until soft, about 5 minutes.
Remove the bouquet from the beans, leaving a leaf or two of the sage.
Mix the beans and their liquor with the blender into a smooth puree.
Add the demi-glace, stir, season with salt and pepper, and brighten with lemon juice.
Taste and adjust seasoning.
Bring the hot bowls from the oven and mound a spoonful of courgettes into the center of the bowl. Cover with soup, and then pile the crisped lamb strips in the center. Drizzle with fruity olive oil and serve immediately with dense crusty bread.

From here...

...I can smell haricots de Soissons with garlic and a bouquet garni of bay and sage cooking alongside a confit de canard, and - despite being swamped with work - I can't help but procrastinate enough to consider that in less than two weeks I'll be a man married to the most wonderful, generous and (lets face it) gorgeous person on the planet. Did I mention she's the one doing the cooking? Oh, you figured that out for yourself? Fair enough.