A Rendez-vous with Remy (from Ratatouille) at Rosa Bonheur

Last week, while the weather was still warm, we spent some time at a great café/bar within the Parc des Buttes Chaumont called "Rosa Bonheur," after the painter. (You know it's great because it was recently reviewed by the NYT.)

Gladis and Becky got super-rich hot chocolate, while Maggie and I shared a relatively cheep beer. We all marveled at the design-conscious interior (including a fairy tale-esque beanstalk centerpiece) and enjoyed some quality people-watching.


They also serve muffins and rotisserie and have this cool beer garden just outside and - hold on a second, what is that.

Oh, yeah. Apparently they have a mouse problem. Not inside, of course - this little guy only seemed interested in rooting around in the dumpsters behind the beer garden area. Given that you're outside, you really can't help if there's a single mouse running around. We minded so little that instead of trying to let everyone know that there was a mouse (which seemed to be Panda's strategy), we distracted ourselves by talking about Ratatouille and the amazing food we were going to eat that night at Mon Oncle le Vigneron. Really, no big deal.

The park administration disagrees. Later on during our walk, we passed a few signs announcing an anti-rat campaign and urging parents to keep a close watch on their children, lest they ingest rat poison or something. 

Poor Remy.

Couchsurfing Strikes Again

Our last night in Munich, we got dinner at a restaurant called Steinheil 16. There, we enjoyed the biggest portion of Wienerschnitzel we'd ever seen - and Maggie had the Goulasch, which was a lot like carbonade. (I capitalize German nouns on purpose.)

This was so big, we took half of it home and it was enough for both of us for lunch the next day (we made Wienerschnitzel sandwiches!).

But even more delicious than the Wienerschnitzel or Goulasch was the excuse dinner provided to see some old friends. Well, not that old. I first met Sandra in Munich in July, 2007, when she became my very first couchsurfing host. Sandra introduced me to her friends Karl and Alex, who happened to be leaving that week for a trip to the states. It turned out they were going to Boston and needed a place to stay. I wasn't going to be home, but asked if Joey could host them in my absence, and he agreed. They ended up going out for dinner with Joey, Maggie, and Becky, and seem to have had a nice time in Boston.

Fast forward to May, 2008, when Maggie and I traveled to Munich for the first leg of a two-week trip. This time, we stayed with Karl and Alex - and had dinner one night at Sandra's.

Finally, as we were preparing to leave for Paris last summer, Sandra's boyfriend's sister contacted me through couchsurfing.org, looking for a place to stay and someone to show her around Boston in the few free days she had before starting a master's program at Wheaton College, just outside of Boston. Unfortunately we were too busy with preparations to be good hosts, but Becky and Sheila agreed to host Julia and her friend, and I met them briefly at Toad.

So thanks to couchsurfing, we have all these crazy links with Sandra, her boyfriend Sebastien, Karl, and Alex. And we got to see all of them at dinner!

Sebastien, Sandra, and Karl vs. Wienerschnitzel: who will win??

Alex, Rebecca, and Moritz. And lots and lots of beer. Oh, Germany.

Couchsurfing Wins!

A taste of things to come

We're back from Flanders!! (When I said we were going to Belgium, I really meant Flanders, since Lille is technically in France, but Lille, Bruges, and Brussels are all historical centers of Flemish culture.) We'll be posting about our experiences traveling this weekend in batches over the next week, so as not to overwhelm anyone (especially ourselves). For now, consider this picture our e-postcard to all of you - hello from Bruges!

Every good Belgian beer has its own glass and its own bottle, each idiosyncratically shaped. If your server places your glass and/or bottle without the beer's name facing you, you should immediately leave the establishment.