TGIF

Thank goodness it's Friday! I say this for Matthew; while Jeanne, Juliet, Tom and I have no concept of what day it is, Matthew has been working long, stressful hours on a project that's due at the end of next week. We're all hopeful that he won't have to go in to work this weekend, and we can enjoy some family time together, as well as give him a much-deserved rest. He is exhausted, and Jeanne is exhausted from dealing with a new baby, and Juliet is probably exhausted because she's growing and changing every day. One exhausted family!!

To give them a little time alone, Tom and I went out to dinner at a wonderful bistro, Cafe des Musees (Cafe of the Museums). Recommended by Matt and Jeanne, it has a lovely relaxed atmosphere, funky wall decorations (dead tree branches with Christmas lights, silverware and small glass jars hanging from them--sounds bizarre, is bizarre, but also eye-catching and light-catching), a very friendly wait staff and great food. We had mushrooms stuffed with escargots and a terrine to start, then Tom had a steak and frites, and I had Parmentier style pintade, which is some kind of bird (quail? pigeon? I have no idea) under a mashed potato crust under a phyllo crust, baked in the oven. The darling waitress who explained it to me said I would love it, it's "very French".

Also very French was the bathroom; there were two doors, one marked for women and one for men. There was a small entry area with a sink, forced air hand dryer and a urinal. While I was washing my hands, a man came in and used the urinal. Now the urinal was just opposite the sink, and next to the dryer. Well, I decided if it didn't bother him, it didn't bother me, so I just dried my hands while looking straight at the wall. We French, pah! We are not in the habit of noticing other people's naked body parts!

The weekend promises to be lots of fun as we will get to spend some time with Matthew, Jeanne and Juliet as a family. The French authorities don't like the bastardization of their language , but as we say here in France, "Bon Weekend!"