New Look for Halloween

The deal of the century was to be found at New Look studios...at least for a haircut.

As I haven't had my hair cut in about 3 months, I decided a new look was in order for Halloween. And I knew just the place where I needed to go. New Look!

Ok, so New Look is only the local barber shop down the street from our apartment, but their prices are on the cheaper side and since I don't believe in paying extra for a simple service, New Look was my kind of place. For 8 euros however, the service was excellent.

Apart from a small misunderstanding on how short I wanted my hair to be cut, the barber did an excellent job with the scissors before finishing off the job with a straight razor. This was the first time someone had ever used a straight razor on me and I must admit it was a unnerving to have a blade pressed against the back of your neck. In the end however, everything went well and I now have a my New Look for the next couple of months. Mindy was sad to see the curls in my hair disappear, but after a quick tear she recovered nicely by complementing my new style as she now refers to me as her "little cue ball".

A little shorter then expected, but the good thing about hair is that it does grow back.

Market in Neuilly

I was lucky enough to do an all day workshop at one of Chanel's buildings in Neuilly (west part of the greater Paris region) today on conversational english, which basically meant that I got paid to talk in english all day. It was very interesting and I feel like I learned almost as much as my students did.

Anyway during my lunch break I took a walk around Neuilly as I love to explore the neighbourhoods that I work in to see parts of Paris that the tourists miss. I came across a market where people buy their groceries fresh daily and was very impressed by the quality of goods being offered by the merchants. So I took a couple of pictures to share with everyone. Enjoy!

The fruits and vegetables looked impecable.

Fresh fish if it suits you.

Or a whole chicken, complete with the head!

There were other birds for sale as well, looking pretty fresh as they still had their feathers. Yes, that's Thumper on the right, fur and all. Thankfully his head was covered with foil so no children were traumatized.

And finally I saw this in the Metro on the way home. This picture is especially for Mark!!!

Letter to the readership

Hello loyal readership,

This past week has seen the decline in the number of posts to the blog from almost every day to once every three or four days. There are a couple of reasons for this.

The first is that I forgot my camera and thus could not properly document some key events over the past two weeks. Most notably was the trip to IKEA a couple weekends ago. So no pictures, no blog story.

The second is that life has started to take over for both Mindy and myself here in France. We have been quite a bit busier over the last couple of weeks with our teaching schedules and as a result we are away from the house and not available to update the blog as much. Each blog post I should mention takes between half an hour to two hours depending on what I am adding and how much editing needs to be done.

Thirdly we both have been a little sick with colds the past two weeks. I was first and of course, as Mindy always says "What's your's is mine and what's mine is mine". As a dutiful husband I was obligated to pass along the cold. So the past couple of Sundays have been spent watching movies and episodes of Prison Break.

Anyway, enough of all that. It's time to get back on the wagon. We are planning on getting back into the tourist rhythm this weekend and are currently pondering several destinations that demand our attendance.

So stayed tuned for more and exciting news from France!!!

David (and Mindy)

P.S. We enjoy reading all the comments so please continue to make them!!!

Regular Season Game #4

It was an up and down game for the team from Asnieres

This past weekend we played against one of our top rivals, the other team from the 92nd district, the Athlétic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt (ACBB). Unfortunatly for us, it was not one of our better efforts as we seemed to take a step back in our progress after two solid weeks of play. Our strengths became our weaknesses and the result was a 9-9 tie against a team that has not yet won a game. I have to give ACBB credit however as they came to play and capitalized on our mistakes.

It was a tough game despite the score as each team would score one or two goals followed by a couple of goals in responce from the other team. Andronik had another solid game with 4 goals and my defence partner with a cannon of a shot, Olivier Ducam, netted the hat trick. Of course, in a game where you score nine goals, offence is not the problem.

We took too many penalties again and our penalty killing was not as good as it has been. Tommi (our goalie) also struggled a little bit and probably gave up a couple of goals that he would have normally stopped. Anyway, it was a tough result for us to accept.

This week, we have the weekend off as there are no games this weekend in the league due to school holidays. So we are having a weeklong training camp where we are back to two-a-days consisting of both on and off-ice workouts. I think it will be good for us as we continue to grow and improve as a team.

Coming on the ice after a goal by ACBB. I think we scored about two minutes later.

As I said, the game was still tough as Olivier, Mika and I exchange plesantries with an ACBB forward with another already on the ground. Can you guess how he got there?

Regular Season Game #3

This past weekend we played at home against the Wasquehal Lions. We had a good week of practice before the game and really wanted to build off the win in Cherbourg the week before. In the end, the Lions proved to be rather toothless as we laid a beating on them by a score of 9-1.

The TSN turning point in the game actually came in the warm-up. The Lions are not a particularly strong team, however they one of the league's best goalies playing for them. During the warm-up however, one of their players caught him with a high shot and injured him somehow. This is why you either shoot low or for the glove of your starter in warm-up. If you feel compelled to blast a high hard one, wait for the back-up.

Their goalie started the game, but was clearly hurting. We made it 3-0 in about ten minutes and never really looked back from there. There starter came out of the game at that point. At the end of the first period it was 4-0. By the end of the second period it was 6-0.

A couple of highlights from the game were Andronik getting a hat-trick by scoring our second, fourth, and sixth goals. J-C Fornero also added a pair of goals and a pair of assists for a four point night. My line was pretty quite as we only contributed a pair of goals and really didn't play that well. It's nice to know that we have a little more balance in our scoring.

Anyway, no pictures or video this week, at least not yet. I'm waiting for the game tape to make a highlight video, which I'm hoping I will have in the next day or so.

David St.Cyr is Jason Bourne

Only for a brief minute, and I really wasn't Jason Bourne. I was Conklin, the guy that gets "taken care of" at the end of the Bourne Identity. And I really didn't play him that well either. We were on Pont Neuf in Paris and I had a little though about the part in the Bourne Identity where Bourne gives instructions to Conklin that go something like this:

"Enough. Today, Paris, 5pm, Pont Neuf. You go to the middle of the bridge, take off your jacket, face east. Come alone"

So anyway, there we were, on Pont Neuf, and I figured I could say I stood in the place where Conklin stood, and no, I didn't see Jason Bourne either.

A real French dinner...with a French twist this time!

In my last post about a French meal, I mentioned that Mr. Christophe Cuzin is the heart and soul of the Asnieres Hockey Club. If that is the case, then Marc and Jocelyn are definitely the smile. They were the first people I met when I arrived in France as they came out to the airport to pick me up and are great supporters of the team. They are also the ones who set up our dressing room food before every game (both home and away), so we all have our fruits, granola bars, juice, coffee and teas.

On Friday evening after practice, they hosted all of the current residents of the Frat House (Mika, Tommi, Andronik, Anne-Julie, Mindy and myself) as well as Robert Guimond and his wife Corinne. As meals go, this was one for the ages. Jocelyn started us out with a fantastic salad of vegetables, fruit, cheese and egg. A chicken curry dish was then served with rice (she used bananas in the curry sauce and it tasted incredible). Charlot (kind of like a terramiso cake) was served for dessert followed by cheeses and then chocolate. Plenty of baguette was also available, but that goes without saying now.

By the end of the evening, we couldn't adequately express our gratitude to our fantastic hosts. It was great to share a meal with such fantastic people.

Mika is ready to dive into the salad.

Mindy, myself, Corinne, Marc, and Jocelyn. Ready to begin a great meal.

Jocelyn prepares to serve Robert some exceptional chicken curry.

Tommi can't wait to dig in!

Four different cheeses to finish the meal. You have to eat them in a certain order as well, to warm up the pallet I'm told.

Anne-Julie and Andronik after an excellent meal. Can't you tell by the smiles on their faces?

Stade de France

Stade de France - Home to the French National Team

The French National team happened to be playing this past Tuesday at Stade de France in Paris against the Tunesian team in an international friendly. Mika asked if I was interested in going as the cheapest seats in the house were only 10 euros each. I thought it would be interesting to at least see the stadium and for 10 euros, why not. So Tommi, Mika, and I set off for a boys night out.

Little did I know that for 10 euros you get to sit in Row 16!!! Oh, and we were sitting right in the middle of the block of seats reserved for the Tunesian fans. They were just a little enthusiatic about seeing their team in action to say the least. Please see the video below for further details.

Once again, no football game is complete without flares being lit in the crowd.

The view from our seats. What a fantastic stadium.

The game was exciting and we really enjoyed the opportunity to watch some quality football as Thierry Henry was playing for the French side and he did not disappoint as he notched two goals. Stade de France is an exceptional venue to watch any event and it was a real treat to be one of 70,000 fans to watch a great game. Who knows...I may have to go again.

I asked the guys behind us to take our picture, which they gladly did...as long as we put their flags in the picture as well. We were hardly in a position to refuse.

Cherbourg Game Pictures

Just a couple pictures from the Cherbourg game of me in action. Wearing number 21 for this game. My jerseys should be in this week.

French Cuisine = Pizza Hut???

Nothing says french cooking like...Pizza Hut. Okay maybe not, but we wanted pizza.

So Friday night, someone had a craving for pizza, I think it was Mika, so plans were made and it was decided that on Sunday, Pizza Hut would be the provider of the main meal. Of course I thought we would probably just order in from the little Pizza Hut delivery place in Asnieres. Nope, Mika and Tommi wanted the whole experience of going in, sitting down, placing an order and relishing the famous Pizza Hut atmosphere.

On Sunday, after waking up with way too little sleep after our adventure to Cherbourg, it was time to go eat an afternoon meal. Mika, Tommi, Mindy and I set out for the Pizza Hut restaurant in the middle of Paris in the shopping district next to the Opera house. This was a fine dinning experience to be enjoyed!

The Opera. Maybe we might even make it inside before we leave.

Upon being seated and looking at the menus, Mika and Tommi decided that they wanted the full meal deal and set about ordering the unlimited salad bar, personal pizzas and refilable Pepsi's (this is very rare in France). Mindy and I went a little easier on the menu and split a medium pan pizza called a Queen (ham, double mushrooms, and mozarella). Not sure if Mindy was trying to make a statement or not with that order. Anyway, Mindy also went with the refilable Pepsi, while I stuck with water from the river, altough I snuck sips from her glass whenever the waitress wasn't looking.

Anyway, we all walked away satisfied with the meal and decided that a little post game...I mean post meal walk would do us some good. We checked out the Eglise de la Trinite (Church of the Holy Trinity) and again were impressed by outstanding arches and vaults. The neighbourhood however was not as nice (a nice homeless community), so we jumped on the Metro and headed back to the safety of Asnieres. It was a light day for French culture, but we enjoyed it all the same.

Four pretty happy imports enjoying the finer things in life, like Pizza!!!

Regular Season Game #2

A happy team after a great road win!

As I mentioned in my last post, the team travelled to Cherbourg this past weekend to play the Vikings in our second game of the season. According to Google Maps, Cherbourg is located on the northern coast of France about 350 kilometers from Asnieres. This distance will be significant later on.

We left at 11:30 am for the game and made two stops along the way. The first was a quick bathroom break for the driver, while the second was for about an hour for the team to consume a pre-game meal. We arrived in Cherbourg shortly after 5:00 pm which allowed us to take a quick around the harbour and the lower half of downtown before getting ready for the game.

After a half day of travel, we started out the first period a little cautious, but skating well. We eventually scored a short-handed goal midway through the period when Emilien Rouyer took advantage of a turnover and raced in on a breakaway. Top shelf on the blocker side and we were up 1-0.

Patrice Kerner (28) chases down a Cherbourg forward while David St.Cyr (21) follows behind.

In the second period, Cherbourg began to play undiciplined and we made them pay with a couple of power-play goals by Emilien Rouyer and Olivier Ducam. We were cruising and seemed to have a speed advantage over Cherbourg as we continued to presure them into taking penalties and for the most part played a good chunk of the period in their zone. Unfortunatly Mika got nailed from behind and cut his lip open pretty good. The cut later reopened and eventually the coach told him his night was over after the second period.

Franz Ehrhart (11) works the puck in the corner against two Cherbourg defenders.

Up 3-0 at the start of the third, outshooting them 47-17, we knew that it was our game to win. Although it seemed like we may have backed off a bit in the third, we still managed to score two more goals to put the game away. Unfortunatly we blew the shutout for Tommi with just over a minute left in the game. Chalk it up as a learning experience.

Christophe Rouyer (28) and David Machon (20) do an excellent job of checking a Cherbourg attacker in front of our goalie, Tommi Kuru (31).

As I mentioned yesterday, after the game we went to a braserie for a team meal. Why did we not just get some food for the road and head back to Asnieres you ask? Well in France there is a law that when you take a bus somewhere, with two drivers, you have to stay there for nine hours so the drivers can properly rest before making the four hour drive back. Since we arrived at 5:oo in the afternoon, we could not leave Cherbourg to come home until after 2:00 am!!! So instead of arriving home around 3:30 in the morning we arrived home at 6:45 am Sunday morning. Crazy fun!!! Anyway, at least we had a sleeper coach so we could all stretch out on the way back.

No video this week as there was a little bit of a technical issue involving a protective net and the camera. Mindy promises to have footage for next game.

Mika showing off the thread.

Cherbourg

The happy couple in front of the flags of Cherbourg harbour.

This past weekend the team travelled to Cherbourg, on the northern coast of France, to play the Vikings in our first away game of the season. We played an outstanding road game and walked away with a 5-1 victory. I'll post more on this tomorrow.

We arrived in Cherbourg a little over three hours before the game, so our coach decided that we could have some free time to take a walk for an hour or so before our pre-game meetings began. So Mindy and I set out to discover a little of Cherbourg in the time we had with Andronik and Anne-Julie before the game. We started off checking out the boats in Cherbourg harbour before walking through the marina park to the start of the downtown area where the Basilica of the Holy Trinity can be found. We explored the outside of the church before checking out the inside and I must say that every church I enter in France leaves me in absolute awe. Each one is so unique and beautifully decorated.

After checking out the basilica, we moved on to the downtown area before finally heading back to the rink for the game.

Mindy lounging in front of a statue of Napoleon in the marina park.

Mindy and Anne-Julie smile as they point out the boats they would like Andronik and I to buy for them in the Cherbourg harbour.

Back to being a tour guide, Mindy shows off some of the stone and woodwork at the Cherbour Basicilica.

After the game, we had the opportunity to enjoy some local cuisine in a small braserie (restaurant) not too far from the rink. Of course being a french meal, we were served a chef's salad to start, followed by a meal of ham, fries, and more salad. Dessert was apple pie. It was enjoyable meal and one of my teammates, David Machon, delighted Mindy and I with some history to the region's cuisine and french culture in general.

Some of the teamates at dinner after the game. Clockwise from left: Anne-Julie, Andro, Justin, Guiz, Arthur,Emilien, and Christophe.

Rue Des Petits Carreaux

One of the gems of Paris

One of the great advantages of working at ICB Europe is its proximity to Rue Des Petits Carreaux, a small cobblestone street filled with restaurants, bakeries, meat shops, and a host of other vendors. Motor vehicle traffic is severly limited due to the limited access routes a car could use to access the street, so for most people who frequent this gem of Paris, walking in the middle of the road is completly normal.

The entrance to Rue Des Petits Carreaux. Notice the Starbucks on the right hand side.

As Rue Des Petits Carreaux is only a block away from the office, Mindy and I will usually head over here to look for our lunch at least once a week as there is an incredible amount of variety offered by the numurous restaurants and vendors. Since the crowd is also mostly a local one, a filling meal can be had for a reasonable price as well. Mindy is also a huge fan of having a Starbucks located so close to the office, although their prices are quite steep so she limits herself a little more then she would at home. Still, it's not unreasonable to see her going for a Chocolat Viennois every once it a while.

Our favorite bakery

Also located on the street is one of our favorite bakeries, Paul. Although we usually pick up baguettes and pain au chocolate from our local baker in Asnieres, for other breads we have found that Paul offers a consistent quality that we haven't been able to find elsewhere. We typically stop in once or twice a week to pick up something to take back home.

Our favorite little lunch stop to date...of course we still need to continue the search for better, but this one tops the list for now.

Deux plats du jour sil vous plait. That is how we order the daily plate at this nice little restaurant on Rue Des Petits Carreaux. There are no seats inside the restaurant so we always eat on the sidewalk, which only enhances the meal. And believe me, the food does not need to be enhanced in anyway. For just under 7 euros each, Mindy and I usually dine on fantastic pastas, chicken done a variety of different ways, and pork that melts in your mouth. The daily plate is always something different, but to date we have never been less then satisfied. Of course the meal is also served with baguette, as any self respecting meal in France should be.

One of the many fruit vendors on the Rue Des Petits Carreaux.

Who knew I'd be a teacher?

45 Rue D'Aboukir...Home to ICB Europe

The entrance to ICB Europe.

It's not all hockey games, museums, and fabulous food for Mindy and I over here in Paris. Our visas from the French Consulate say "Working Holiday" on them and we are certainly working hard when we are not out having fun. Thanks to Corinne Beaton (the fabulous cook from my earlier post - A Real French Dinner...with a Canadian Twist), Mindy and I were able to be hired by a company called ICB Europe as formateurs d'anglais. In short, we teach english!!!

ICB Europe is a fantastic little company that caters to the english language needs of companies mostly in either the finance or high fashion industries in Paris. As a result, we have had the opportunity to work at companies like Societe Generale (one of France's largest banks) and Chanel (as in Coco Chanel) which has been quite an adventure. Needless to say, Mindy has been loving the work at Chanel and thinks that teaching the english words for lipstick, high heels, and fashion show is a fabulous way to spend time.

In all seriousness, teaching is a very demanding profession, but we have been enjoying the challenge. It has kept us busy and provided us with some unique opportunities to see different parts of Paris as we work all over the city. I have been teaching between 10 and 15 hours per week while Mindy has been working closer to 25 hours a week. This does not include prep time which usually takes up a few more hours for both of us each week. Our hours vary quite a bit from day to day as well and we have found the change from the regular 8 to 5 at the office job to be quite refreshing.

Some of the class rooms at ICB Europe

The space now occupied by the school used to be a theater before being renovated to its current condition. It is a great atmosphere to work in with staircases everwhere and lots of natural light.

Watching hockey in style.

I just thought I would post a little something for all the hockey parents in Canada who spend hours in small, freezing, uncomfortable rinks, watching their children skate around. Let me tell you this, the French have figured out how to build a comfortable rink with lots of light, comfortable seating, and plenty of space for all. Each town or center seems to have a rink, much like Canada, although in Canada, we probably have two or three rinks in every centre. Most of the rinks also have skylights to allow natural light which at first I found a bit distracting, but soon changed my mind. Anyway, here are a couple pictures from some of the rinks I have visited on the road during the first part of the season. And to think I was warned about playing in small, sub-standard barns before I came here.

The rink in Amiens. Probably one of the nicest arenas in France.

This was in Cholet. They also had windows for natural light, but closed them for the game.

The arena in La Roche.

This was the rink in Rouen. Notice the blue ice. Something else that the French like.

Tour Guide Video

The Louvre museum is one of the most impressive places to visit in the world due to the sheer number of pieces they have displayed and the floor space they dedicate to showing the amazing art and artifacts. Mindy decided that the Louvre would also be a great place to shoot some footage describing our tour of the museum. So Mika and got out the cameras and begin taking instructions from one of the greatest directors to move from Edmonton to Paris this past month.

So please sit back and enjoy our little video production as Mindy explains the true meaning behind some of the Louvre's great historical pieces. Also featured is a guest cameo by yours truly (how lucky was I to make the final cut!!!). Don't forget to stay tuned at the end for the special bonus features section available only on the DVD and Betamax copies.

Coupe de France Game #1

Still wearing #14 until my new jersey arrives!

This past weekend marked the beginning of the Coupe de France or French Cup, which kind of acts like a national tournament where games are played throughout the season to determine the French Cup Champion. We drew a team from the D1 league (Reims) but had the advantage of playing at home. We have been progressing as a team and had alot of confidence that we could be successful in the match.

We started out the first and immediatly got into penalty trouble as Reims was a very quick team and we got caught a few times standing still. Needless to say, they eventually scored on the power-play. That seemed to wake us up a bit and we took advantage of a power-play of our own to even the score. Olivier Ducam, my defence partner, wired it top shelf. Reims however were not done for the period and after a back and forth ten minutes, they netted their second at the 15:33 mark. End of the first and we were down by one.

In the second, we came out skating and it was Reims turn to be caught standing still and taking penalties. And we made them pay on a 5-on-3 power-play where Andronik won a faceoff back to me at the point, I slid the puck over to Olivier, who then one-timed it past their goalie. We didn't stop there however as we continued to press the advantage and were rewarded 10 seconds later with another goalie from the stick of Olivier who thought he had turned into Sheldon Souray for the night with the natural hat trick. Reims immediatly took a time out to settle down and it seemed to work wonders for them and proved disatrous for us as we started taking penalties once again. They took advantage and scored again on the power-play before adding another to finish out the period leadin us 4-3.

In the third, we simply didn't do enough to win. Reims took penalties, but we couldn't get the puck to the net. They added two more to seal the victory but we just never got it going after the timeout in the second.

I should note that Olivier Ducam, with the natural hat trick, also had a stellar defensive game. I am really enjoying playing with him as we communicate well and are both capable of handling the puck. Penalities and a lack of offence continue to be aspects that we struggle with, but the team is improving and I have no doubt that we are very close to turning the corner and having some success.

Sunday at the Louvre

Mika, Mindy, and David. The exploreres of the Louvre undergrounds.

After a disapointing result last night in our French Cup game (more on this in my next post), Mindy and I decided we needed a little culture and decided to take advantage of the free entrance to the Louvre offered on the first Sunday of every month. Mika decided that he was in need of a cultural experience as well, and thus we became three.

For those of you who have never been to the Louvre before, let me first explain how amazingly huge the place is. Nearly 35,000 pieces are displayed in about 15,000 acres of floor space. You could spend weeks in the place and still not be able to fully appreciate the tremendous amounts of art and artifacts that fill the hallways, not to mention the ceilings and moldings that only add to the atmosphere.

We arrived early as we knew that the crowds would only grow as the day wore on and made our way to the Louvre's most famous exhibit, Leonardo's Mona Lisa. It's hard to believe this is the most valuable piece of art in the world considering it's size and simplicity. Mindy believes that the lady in the Mona Lisa is actually much more beautiful when you see the painting in real-life as opposed to in a book, as it truly captures the essence of how much Da Vinci loved the woman that he painted. I was much more impressed with the painting that actually hangs opposite the Mona Lisa, Gericault's The Wedding Feast at Cana.

Mindy meets Mona.

After wandering the Denon wing of the museum and inspecting the french, italian, and spanish art, we made our way to the Sully wing where we toured the halls filled with Greek ceramics and ancient Egyptian artifacts. Some of the pieces were quite stunning and it was hard to imagine that they had been created more than 4,000 years ago.

This statue was made around 1300 BC and features the god Amon protecting King Tut.

By this time, it was approaching mid-morning and we had been walking for a couple of hours. Mindy decided that a Starbucks break was in order, and low and behold, the Louvre just happened to have a Starbucks. Chocolate chip frappaciunos have a way of invigorating the legs and mind when combined with some baguette and Nutella that I brought for us from home.

After our coffee break, it was time to check out some french sculptures and the Napoleon III Apartments in the Richelieu wing. This was probably the most impressive part of our tour as the sculptures featured in the Cours Marly are incredibly imposing and the grandness of the Napoleon Aprtments was a real treat to see. Don't worry, a video tour of the Louvre is being produced and will be available shortly for your viewing pleasure.

Stealing a kiss under an arch in the Richelieu wing.

After three and half hours of the Louvre we needed to eat, but as residents of Paris, there was no way we were going to subject ourselves to the tourist prices at the Louvre. So we headed to the Latin Quarter across Pont Neuf where Mika took us to a little greek kebab restaurant that serves huge portions for very few euros. As promised the food was fantastic and we left feeling slightly more than full, ready for the quick walk around the Notre Dame and the Rive Droit before the Metro ride home.

On our way to the Latin Quarter, we stopped for a photo outside the Louvre entrace.

Time for a well earned meal.