2012 had been an incredibly memorable year for us; leaving Malaysia was a big step. The trip around the world will of course always mark the year. 2013 though, has its own promises. So we started off the year with old, and new, friends and lots of cheer. And lots of style. Gangnam style... (I decided to leave out the photos of JB and Richard doing the gangnam style so that you can keep the image you have of them being all suave and cool).
Parisians don't know when it first started. A pair of lovestruck tourists decided to leave a padlock on the metal railing of one of the many bridges across the Seine River, and threw the keys in the water. A symbol of their everlasting love. Apparently one night a few years ago, an irked Parisian perhaps, cut through the wires and removed all the locks. But they reappeared like mushrooms, in all shapes and colours. Some kiasu ones even use big bicycle locks.
15 minutes from where we live is the Jardin de Plantes. Founded in the 1600s, the grounds includes four galleries: the Grande Galerie d'Evolution, the Mineralogy Museum, the Paleontology Museum and the Entomology Museum. There is also a small zoo and a botanical school. The girls and I spent a whole day there before they went back to school after the Christmas break. We needed a distraction as we were all missing our friends who left after what was really a magical Christmas together. There was a special exhibition on dinosaurs at the Grande Galerie d'Evolution and the girls took part in an archaelogical workshop, excavating fossils. You could visit the museums just for the architecture.
January babies have to contend with post-festive blues since everyone is still suffering from the new year's eve hangover and foie gras overdose. So for JB, cake and tea (and red eggs of course) was all I could manage. I admit I didn't even make the cake. In France, the galette de rois is traditionally eaten on the Epiphany (though its now available throughout January). Made with puff pastry and frangipane, the cake has a feve (ceramic trinket) hidden in it. The youngest family member goes under the table to randomly designate the pieces of cake. The lucky person who gets the trinket is king/queen for the day and wears the crown that is sold with the cake. He/she then chooses his/her queen/king.
We've eaten the galette de rois so many times this year; everyone has had a chance to be king/queen. We're a right royal family now.
No comments:
Post a Comment