Antiques and Ham

This morning Emily and I headed for Chatou to attend the 83rd annual "Foire National aux Antiquités et aux Jambons". It was a massive antique fair, also featuring (as a good French event always does,) HAM. We had a great time shopping and exploring both treasures old and modern.

Huh??

One of the most fun aspects of the show was seeing all of the vendors taking a lunch break. Tables and chairs came out, along with the baguettes and bottles of wine, and each section sat down to homemade, leisurely lunches, right in the middle of the fair. 

 And what about us? Well, no need to worry. There was plenty of food available for the shoppers, too!

Brioche is a sweet bread, often sold from massive loaves at fairs.

Cochon de lait, a.k.a. roasted suckling pig

We enjoyed galettes for lunch (savory buckwheat crepes), but shared a piece of Kouign Amann for dessert. It's a sticky, sugary slice of butter-heaven. I would have taken a better photo, but we dug in a little too quickly.

Oktoberfest 2011

The day after we arrived back in Paris after our 3 weeks in the US, we were lucky enough to have our friends Mark and Suzanne come to visit! The best part was, they were here just in time for Munich's annual Oktoberfest! We spent a few days hanging out in Paris, and especially enjoyed getting to know Mark's parents, who came to Paris as well!

At our all-time favorite, L'As du Falafel with Mark's mom

A picture is worth a thousand words.

On Thursday night we said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Ranta, and we packed our bags for Munich! After a 7 am flight, we threw our suitcases at our hotel, and immediately headed to the famous Oktoberfest party!

Inside the Paulaner tent

The famous Hippodrom tent

Traditional hats made us feel like locals!

 Each tent had its own personality and its own food and beer. This tent had a very traditional feel and had group sing-alongs and even a "Beauty Pageant" which included having three young German women do special tasks like beat a rug, make dumplings and hold beer and cabbage as a strength contest!

My first literstein (yes, a liter of beer!)

Our friends, Park and Emily, joined us, too!

 We all had a great time, but of course knew our limits. Some people didn't.

We don't know this guy.

Of course, we had to try lots of local cuisine!

Spatzle

Sausages and saukraut

My favorite, radishes with butter and chives on bread.

Weinerschnitzel

 We even had time for sightseeing! We spent an afternoon walking through the older part of Munich, which was festive and lively!

City Hall, complete with a cuckoo-clock show every hour!

Hey, wha' happened?!

We know, we know! We've been MIA and we apologize to all 3 of you who noticed the blog hasn't been updated in a month! We are back in Paris and ready for action.

Wondering where we've been all month.....?

Well, once we returned from our EPIC road trip through Europe, we spent one day in Paris before flying back to the USA to finish the summer with friends and family. Our first stop was to Washington, D.C. to see Peter's brother and his wife and our new niece! Haley Catherine Gale was born on July 1st and this was our first chance to meet her. She was beautiful and sweet and we can't wait to see her again!

Our trip to D.C. also included eating this massive pile of fresh Maryland crabs!

Next stop was a bus ride back to Greenwich to see the Robbins clan and our friends! The day after we arrived (which happened to be the day after Hurricane Irene ripped through the East Coast), we hopped in the car and drove to Silver Birch Lodge, our family's house on Piseco Lake in New York's Adirondack park.

The weather was great and while we worked hard building wood piles and chopping logs from all of the fallen trees from the storm, there was plenty of time for eating! Piseco Lake classics included "Beer-Butt Chicken" and a new favorite, grilled ravioli!

 The next adventure was the 3 weddings we would attend in a row! Each one was so unique and all were amazingly fun!

Wedding 1: Sean and Lauren

Clearly there was no shortage of Bucknellians at this wedding!

 Wedding 2: Nikhil and Kyra

A combination Hindu and Jewish ceremony, and a rockin' party!

 Wedding 3: Kevin and Brooks

A beautiful traditional New England wedding

A beautiful tent and even better hors d'oeurves!

 We said a quick "Happy 24th Birthday!" to my brother, Nick, and were on our way back to France.

We had an amazing time seeing our nearest and dearest, but we're happy to be back in our little Parisian home, and are ready to enjoy a beautiful autumn here.