Thanksgiving in Paris

Even over here, thanks to Greg, we got in on the holiday cheer. Greg invited Esther and I to a party at his house with a bunch of his UNESCO coworkers. The verdict: Delicious. I even had a bit of turkey. You know, for old times' sake. Still though, nothing will compare with being back in Michigan for Christmas. See you all soon!

Thanksgiving in Paris 2008

Photo of the Day

Zombie Hunters preparing for the Undead Invasion in front of Notre Dame

Makes Me Move

Whatever you do, wherever you go, never forget that the Beastie Boys will forever remain awesome:

The Face of a Nation

The Big Picture has a collection of the best pictures of Obama over the course of the campaign. Via kottke.

Election Night in Paris

Esther and I decided to go to the "official" (which we learned means 'expensive') election night party at CinéAqua, an aquarium/movie theater just across from the Eiffel tower. It wasn't worth the money, but it was a great night nonetheless.

Enjoy the pictures:

Obama Elected

Incredible

If this were a film, the plot would be difficult to believe. This is a victory of intellect over ignorance, truth over innuendo, hope over fear. It is a victory not only for Americans, but for the entire world.

The reaction in France is very positive. Many here thought that the United States would never do this. There was always a rather virulent skepticism about the possibility that we would elect a black man. We've surprised the world and have once again shown another face of American exceptionalism.

This is what pride in my country feels like. Pride not only it's founding principles, that has always been there, but true, deep pride in its current reality. It's a wonderful feeling.

Photo by flickr user alexandra.matzke used under Creative Commons license.

A King's Life

We've seen the luxurious side of life and we can report this: It's boring. The Pavillon Henri IV was indeed very nice, but definitely not the sort of thing that we would ever spend our own money on.* The room was nice, though the comfort of the Louis XIV era furniture left me wishing for our IKEA bead instead.

The highlight of the trip was the dinner. I had an appetizer of langoustine (mini-lobster) spring rolls followed by an excellent plate of sea bream in a wild mushroom foam. Dessert was figs roasted in a caramel sauce with cinnamon ice cream, all washed down with a delightful 2007 Brouilly.

Now that I've exposed myself as having completely converted to the ways of the cheese-eating surrender monkeys, I think that it's perhaps best to simply post the photos. I didn't take any pictures during the dinner; it was an awkward, whisper-only environment (as the 9 year-old next to us announced to everyone, before being shushed by his mother, "Ambiance: zéro!") and I don't think the other diners (average age: 67) would have appreciated it.

Pavillon Henri IV

*Interestingly, this is actually the mark of a good gift, something that we enjoyed but that we wouldn't have gotten for ourselves. Alex Tabarrok of Marginal Revolution puts it this way:

The bottom line? If you want to please the economist in me, send me cash. If you want to please my wild self (I know, not many of you, but you know who you are!) use your imagination.

Adventures in Luxury

After a successful defense in Paris against the Undead Invasion last night, Esther and I are off to the Pavillion Henri IV to finally use a gift certificate that we received over a year ago at our wedding.

The site is famous for being the birthplace of both King Louis XIV of France and Beranaise sauce. I hope they have the latter on tap.

Naturally, you can expect pictures of our brief escapade into luxury to be posted soon.