Chloe's birthday. (07-07) I went to the patisserie but it didn't open until 7:15 and it was only 7, so I walked to Rue Monge and bought both a baguette and a little chocolate meringue to serve as a cake. I d put the gifts with the cake on the table. Chloe wanted to open one, so she did before I left.
Sally Fincher was the opening keynote. Went to a couple of sessions and then lunch in the cafeteria. I had fish. Coffee on the patio which overlooks the Seine. Went to some talks and a panel then back to rest before the cruise.
Gwyneth and the girls came back from a busy day including the Le Jardin d'Acclimatation in Bois de Bologne and we had a quick little birthday party.
The buses arrived at the cruise area about 8:30 pm and we stood around until almost 10 before they even let us on the boat.
Food was good, and the views spectacular. The cruise finished about midnight and by the time I got back to the apartment via the Metro it was after 1 am. See all pictures here
I was up early for the conference but Gwyneth got both girls up as well so they could get ready to go to Euro Disney which opens at 10 am. I got to my conference at about 8 after returning to the apartment about three times -- forgot my whatever including the umbrella since it was raining when I got outside.
The conference opening was in a room ill prepared for it being bright outside. The keynote was about a new take on Bloom's taxonomy and how the speaker used his own version of syllabus analysis to "prove" that computer science was at a higher level of cognitive processing than natural sciences and huge about higher than math. Hmmm.
Eric Roberts decided he wanted his interview now, so he came to the apartment and I interviewed him. I managed to record 2 hours and 20 minutes! An additional benefit of Eric's coming was that between us we figure out the trick to opening the three-way window in either direction.
Then we went to his hotel and got his wife Lauren to come along for lunch. We found a little Egyptian restaurant where we got falafel, a bean dish, hummus and tahini with salad and pita. It was quite good. We were the only customers in a restaurant complete with hookas.
Back to the conference for the last speakers of the day. I hurried out through the Jardin des Plantes to the store to get necessary supplies and dropped them off at the apartment before returning for the buffet reception of cold cuts and veggies. I left as the cheese course came out.
I got up at sunrise (around 6 am) and the light was lovely. I processed pictures and email while I waited for the troops to arise. I went off to the ITiCSE venue and it was good to see there were no problems today but the entrance was weird because it was Sunday and the university was officially closed. Three entrances, three days, not bad!
Finally at about 11:30 we set off for a Camille day. She wanted to go to the coliseum and then the catacombs. The coliseum was a success -- taking us to a subway station quite close that we didn't know about plus its concomitant shopping and a wonderful pedestrian market on Rue Mouffard.
We took the metro -- two trains to Denfert-Rochambeau and found a lovely creperie for lunch. The place was a bit funky and the toilet seat was red with a polka dotted lid! Chloe didn't like the chevre on hers but everyone else was quite happy.
When we went to the catacombs entrance the lne was forever long and didn't move. After about 20 minutes we gave up and went back to the apartment for naps. I began to plan in earnest the walking tour I on the spur of the moment agreed to conduct for the conference attendees. Gwyneth the girls and I headed for the zoo across the street. I worked on my tour details and the others went around the zoo and came back for me. I did get to see the cape buffalo and a very interesting civet like animal, the binturong. The kids posed on the hippopotamus statue. They ftinished the zoo while I went off to lead my tour.
About 10+ people went. I showed them the Arenes du Lutece (the coliseum), the school from where the Jewish children were sent to the extermination camps, the place where Descartes lived, the Rue Mouffard shopping street, the burial place of Pascal at St. Etienne-du-Mont, the Pantheon, Luxembourg Gardens, Sorbonne, Cluny, Notre Dame (where I once again broke a Nikon camera beyond redemption), Hotel de Ville, Pascal's Tower, the Centre Pompidou (but the Stravinsky Fountain was in horrible repair, what a disappointment).
We all split up and I went back to the apartment where I made snacks, including the strawberry tarte I picked up at the patisserie I passed on the way home. Gwyneth and the kids watched TV while they prepared to go to Euro Disney tomorrow and I to my conference.
I went to the venue to check on the procurement of printers for the working groups. With their addition and a few power strips, the folks were much happier.
I met my friends Harriet and Boots for a bit of geocaching and a visit to the newly remodeled L'Orangerie. Gwyneth and the girls had gone to La Viellete for serious playground time, and we met up with them for lunch in the Tuilieres at an Italian restaurant.
After lunch Gwyneth, the girls and I walked (forever) to the Eiffel Tower and then took the RER back to first a grocery store and then the apartment. WE were going to go out to Versailles for fireworks, but we were relieved to find the tickets sold out. We were too tired to go.
After a snack, Camille and I headed back to the grocery to get birthday gifts for Chloe who is quick to tell you that her birthday is in three days! I cooked a pizza. It was after midnight when we went to bed.
I went out to a boulangerie and got a baguette for breakfast. Then I went to find the conference venue and see what problems there might be -- and there were quite a few!
On my return Gwyneth, the girls and I headed out by train (and bus) to France Miniature. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We walked through all the regions of France in three hours!
Quite a whirlwind. In the middle of the walk we stopped for the girls to enjoy some of the park's amusement rides. See the video of Chloe and Camille on the zip line and bumper car rides
We took trams from near La Defense on the west side of Paris to Porte d'Italie where we met Gwyneth's co-worker, Kathleen. We proceeded to a Tuscan restaurant that we had frequented on previous trips where they all ate. I left them and joined my SIGCSE colleagues, John and Reyyan. We walked for seemingly hours until we agreed on a restaurant. Began the meal with a kir and had a lovely veal dish. See more pictures.
My plane was an hour late taking off from Chicago. This gave me a good bit of time to work on the oral history project. I had a good seat -- exit row aisle, so plenty of room and I could sleep. I got a free glass of wine (French Bordeaux) gratis because American Airlines was apologizing.
I didn't meet up with Gwyneth and the girls until 10:30 am when I was supposed have landed at 8:30. They landed at 7 am so they had quite a wait. Gwyneth had already purchased our tickets for the RER and Metro, so that was lovely. However, I managed to have two crises. When I was getting on the train at Charles DeGaulle Aeroport, I lost the $15 strap that I bought in Chicago to connect my bags. Then when I exited the turnstile to go to the Metro, I jammed my toenail on the bag, and my toe bled like crazy. I took off my sandal, wrapped my toe in tissue and put on socks and my Crocs. Thankfully Gwyneth was strong enough to carry both her bag and mine up the steps at the various train stations.
Our apartment is on the 5th floor -- there was an elevator (but no air conditioner). It is very hot (88 degrees). I was able to hook up my computer to the ethernet, but Gwyneth's MacAir can't use it and there doesn't seem to be wireless. She and the kids are ostensibly watching news on TV but they are all asleep.
The apartment really does overlook the Jardin des Plantes. In fact, the natural history museum is literally across the street.
View a slide show.
I tried to nap, but there was a lot of commotion outside -- a multitude of people from Comores were going to the mosque across the street from the apartment building. There was a memorial service for the people killed in an airplane crash. Gwyneth and the girls and I went out to see -- and ended up being swept up in the crowd and seeing Sarkozy's motorcade when he came to address the gathering.
We got some bread, cheese, wine and milk and had a snack before venturing out along the Seine where there were a lot of end of term parties.
We met no one on the 3.3 mile loop with a 300 foot altitude gain. We crossed the creek several times. There were lovely hemlocks and rushing water sounds as the trail followed the creek. The cache was near the Gennett Poplar, said to be the second largest tree in North Georgia, over 18 feet around and 100 feet tall. Local history according to the sign says that the landholders, the Gennett brothers saved the tree from logging during the Great Depression. Phil is totally dwarfed by the tree.
When the trail turned away from the creek, it went up to an old road bed in which these blue flowers were growing in the center and on the sides of the tire tracks.
For Phil, the only bad part of the trek was the final crossing of the creek to the car -- we had to take off our shoes.
