We left immediately from school, didn't stop at the house. It's 500km from here. We did hit traffic leaving Strasbourg at 4:30pm but then it was clear and we made good time. We arrived a little after 9pm. Luckily the video was working. This worked like a charm on the kids. They stayed nicely in their seats the whole way. We didn't have to stop at all!
This was our hotel;
...but this is the part where we stayed;
Here's the website;
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1104
The pool was great. The service was less so.
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/features/index.html?propertyID=1104
The next day we went to the actual Bar Mitvah. Ronnie and Daniel went earlier and I kind of put it off. I didn't relish the idea of bringing a 3 and 5 year old to a religious service where I don't know anyone and where the girls wouldn't understand, nor have much to do (me either).
We walked around the neighborhood, stopping for hot chocolate since it was -4C. We did eventually arrive just for the end. It's a beautiful synagogue, especially inside. This is all I could find on the net;
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Images_de_Versailles
We then had lunch with Daniel's cousin Florence, her husband Olivier and their 16 month old daughter Raphaelle. I don't have any photos because it was Shabbat and would have been rude to have taken any. They're very religious. They only live about 20 minutes from Versailles.
The husband had all sorts of books in English on Judaism. It was a goldmine! He even had a book "Yiddish for Idiots" which was hysterical. I told him how Yiddish expressions are a part of American slang. You tell a black American that he's a Schmuck and he wont be happy. You tell an Irish America to not give you a speile, he'll know exactly what you mean but once arriving in England, it was a different story. "What is this German you're saying??" they'd ask confoundedly. The one exception was when I was around a British Jewish person, who without fail, would correct my pronunciation (being that I was only vaguely aware of the fact I was using any Yiddish in the first place, since it's so a part of the lexicon back home...)
We also got to hear all the Horror Stories of the Strike. Florence was even putting away a table setting for someone who couldn't make it. They are much more affected in Paris since their entire transport is also messed up. Traffic in Paris is already a nightmare. A huge three week strike happened about a month before I moved to France in 1995 which crippled the city.
The food and drink were good. The only small incident was that Talia had thrown up right as we were arriving. Why didn't she do that on our long drive? Because I had drugged her! Seriously, I had bought some pills for the cruise I never needed. I gave some to Daniel's aunt who suffers terribly. They worked like magic on her return to Paris after the first wedding. She also took them down to Biarrtz and back. I decided to try the children's version on Talia with success. It was Bonine, which apparently is available here too.
That evening, Sophie and Dith came over with their daughters. Lassamie is a little older than Ronnie and Arouny is two months older than Davina. They also live in the area. Lassamie brought her suit and the kids went swimming in the hotel pool. Arouny stayed out since she had been sick the day before. We then went for Tex Mex. The men are hiding in these photos. They're in the front.
The next day was the party for the Bar Mitvah in the Bois de Bourgogne. It was hysterical as we passed at least two other Bar Mitvahs being held in the area and Daniel's sister was attending yet another the same day. Tis the season! Actually, it is since the new years' festivities are past and in western countries, it's easier to avoid the Xmas rush.
The food was good. It was a smaller group than events like this held in the past. They had a DJ and these dancers for entertainment. It was easier than Nicholas' Bar Mitvah in that we could walk around and mingle. At that one, everyone had to sit the whole time and watch the entertainment in the dark (even though it was a beautiful day). This was not a pretty day so staying inside didn't bother me a bit!
By the way, the red eye on my camera doesn't work.
They did a great redition of Fiddler on the Roof complete with the Bottle Dance. I was happily singing along but the French didn't know it! One woman liked the music so much, she had me write it down. Most French Jews are actually from North Africa or maybe Poland, especially those in Paris. Very few Russian Jews. The musical also, is in English.
I got Davina dancing but forgot that I can't film sideways. Oops!
We did make it to the end. Here is the big dessert display that always ends these events;
Then we hit the road. We ran into a huge traffic jam on the way back. We had to snake around Paris but the other road wasn't better. We saw that one leaving and we were in the west, and were headed east so we really didn't have a choice.
What was good was that we went straight past Trocadero with its famous view of the Eiffle Tower. It was sunset and the Eiffle Tower was all lit up. The kids gasped and begged to go up it sometime. I was secretly pleased. This had been our first trip to Paris when we didn't see either his uncle or sister, partly because we were staying on the other side and were only there for the weekend. Our trips in the past have been sister/uncle/sister/uncle/sister... Daniel, quite frankly, can skip the rest. I'm the one who has actually lived in the capital, not him so I'm happy to hear that the kids want to see more than just visit with Daniel's uncle and sister all the time! With the TGV, IF there isn't a strike, it's now possible...
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