Roadtrip to the West Coast

Romain, Sly, & Andro settle in for the trip to the west coast.

In Canada, many of us who are not from the lower mainland of British Columbia often refer to the west coast as the "wet coast", due to the perpetual amount of rain and cloud that one can view during the winter months if you so happen to visit the region. Well in France they have the same sense of humour as I found out this past weekend when we went on our west coast road trip to Brest.

Even though France is a relatively small country land-mass wise, it is still a fair size and takes a reasonable amount of time to drive from the central part to the western tip. So we loaded the bus at 06h00 (everyone knows what the "0" stands for right?!?) on Saturday morning and departed for Brest. Fortunately, the Asnieres Hockey Club sees that we travel in style and arranged for a sleeper bus for the team. It's basically a bus with two long rows of bunk beds and is surprisingly comfortable.

After ten hours of travel, we finally arrived in Brest, or as my teammate Romain "Mr.Nike" Sauvage put it; "The closest you can get to Canada while in France". Andro and I waved across the Atlantic but the Newfies weren't paying attention. Awaiting us as we entered the city however were some of France's finest Boys in Blue...along with their trusty radar gun. Of course our bus driver was speeding (71km/h in a 50km/h zone) and of course we were pulled over. After handing over a ticket and directions to the hockey rink, we were on our way to get ready for the game.

The town of Brest sent the police to greet our entrance to the town.

After being welcomed by the cops, we finally arrived at the rink or "Rinkla" as it is known in Brest. The game started at 6 pm and ended about three hours later. I'll spare you the details for now, but we were playing the top team in the league with only three lines and four defensemen while missing one of our imports and our top scoring french player due to injury and one of our top four defensemen due to work. We took a pretty harsh thumping and limped away with a 13-3 thrashing around our necks. Details will follow at a later date.

The arena in Brest. By far the best ice I have played on in France.

The best part about a road trip is the team bonding that occurs during the post game meal and subsequent trip back home. After the game, we went to a nice little restaurant where I had the pleasure of having my first steak since being in France. As previously explained after our trip to Cherbourg, the French have a law that requires the bus drivers (yes, there are two of them) to rest for nine hours before we can make the return trip. Since our game ended at 9 pm, we eat at 10 pm, and then had the pleasure of visiting amonst ourselves for the next couple of hours.

Nothing like a post-game steak with the boys.

At 01h00, Sunday morning, we finally loaded up the bus for the return journey to Asnieres. After a fine little tune sung by the entire team (Oh Champs Elysees), we settled in for the night on our luxurious sleeper coach. Eight hours later, we arrived back home in Asnieres...and so ended the wet coast...I mean west coast roadtrip.

Christmas Window

Christmas windows in Paris just don't have the same feel as New York.

About a year ago, Mindy and I had the opportunity to go to New York while I was in Newark, New Jersey on business. While in New York, we made sure we stopped by the Macy's store in Herald Square to check out the Christmas windows. While strolling near Gallerie Lafayette in Paris, we came across the Paris equivalent at Printemps, another high end french department store.

The Christmas windows at Printemps are designed by some of the world's most renowned fashion minds, and thus have a different feel to them. Although they also have a mechanical component that moves the puppets around, and therefore attracts little kids, they don't really scream Christmas. The one pictured above was done by Karl Lagerfeld, who in his spare time is the haute couture designer for Chanel. I'm not sure how the above window celebrates the holiday season, but Merry Christmas anyway!!!

Frat House Update

All eight residents of the Frat House. The ladies in front from left to right - Mindy, Anne-Julie, Joana, and Annika. The boys in the back - David, Tommi, Andronik, and Mika.

This past weekend marked quite possibly the last time that all eight residents of the Frat House would be living under the same roof as Joana (Tommi's girlfriend) headed back to Finland on monday to continue her studies. In true Karen St.Cyr fashion (I guess I am my mother's son), I realized that a photo needed to be taken to commenmorate the day. It was going to be the last time I could get all of us in the same picture anyway. So we posed for a picture, with the ladies all thanking me for taking the picture after they had washed off their makeup and changed for bed.

Living in a four bedroom apartment, no matter how big it is, can be a challenge at times. Mindy and I have totally been thrilled with the experience however as we have been able to share meals, laughs and experiences with our roomies that have only added to our time here in France. We are never bored and Mindy has enjoyed the company of the other ladies while I am off at hockey.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Mindy is ready to shop at Les Quatre Temps shopping center.

Okay, so it's not really starting to look a lot like Christmas here, but we are seeing small signs that the festive season is just around the corner. Nothing like back in Canada where houses are decorated with lights and public walkways have Christmas decorations all over, but small discreet signs. This past Sunday, Scotland imported their weather to Paris as it was cold, windy, with lots of rain. In an effort to stay warm and dry (Mindy's favourite condition), we headed to La Defence and Les Quatre Temps shopping center. Of course, this being France, all the shops were closed. That didn't stop us from doing a little window shopping, stopping in at Starbucks, and finding the one store that was open (Castorama - French version of Canadian Tire). A low key day, but enjoyable day none the less.

Of course the Chanel hand bag was on full display as we checked out the Christmas decorations.

A large Chritmas market is being setup at La Defence with vendors coming from all over France to spread the Christmas specialties of their region. Picture taken on Monday...after the rain had stopped.

As Mindy savours her Starbucks, she contemplated what it would be like to take a bite out of the giant gingerbread man below.

La Defence

La Grande Arche at La Defence is an imposing and unique building.

The city of Paris, to preserve the feeling of being in Paris, has a zoning law that restricts the height of any new building. As a result, the city skyline is still dominated by the Eiffel Tower and you can still enjoy panoramic views from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Big business however demands huge office buildings where France's largest companies can house a great percentage of its workers under one roof. And thus, La Defence was created in the western suburbs of Paris in an area called Puteaux.

The buildings of La Defence are not simply office towers however, this is Paris, and fashion extends even to its buildings. The structures at La Defence are all unique and each has a very different profile from the rest. The shapes are all different with arcs, cylinders, crescents, and squares all mingled together. The result is a visually stimulating environment that would inspire any architectural student.

The shopping center at La Defence houses more then 230 stores.

Every Monday afternoon, I make the trip to La Defence to teach at Societe Generale, France's second largest bank. Mindy makes the same trip every Thursday morning. Of course, Tours SG (The Societe Generale Towers) are equally imposing compared to any of their brethren at La Defence. Just a little bit different then downtown Edmonton.

Tours SG is actually three towers joined together at the base.

Regular Season Game #7

It was time to step up and prove we were an elite club in our division. This past weekend we welcomed the Meudon Hockey Club to Asnieres in what promised to be a very interesting match. Meudon has been incredibly inconsistent this year to date as they have beaten some very tough teams, but come up short against some others. Since they took a heavy loss last weekend, we knew that they would be ready to play us.

Right off the bat the game had trouble written all over it for us as we gave up a goal in the first five minutes on what can best be described as a fanned one-timer. Tommi over-committed on the shot as it rolled right past him on the ice. We seemed to pick up the tempo after the goal however and scored a couple of goals before the end of the period to take a 2-1 lead into the dressing room. We finished the period on a roll as we clearly established that we were the faster and more skilled team.

In the second we continued to roll as we outshot them 16 to 7 in the period. The goal scoring however told a different story as we ended up trading goals with Meudon and finished the period up 4-3. We really worked hard, but one bad goal and one terrible breakdown let Meudon stay in the game.

When I used to coach, we used to lecture our teams all the time about letting teams hang around in games. Someone should have given us the lecture. Meudon tied up the game early in the third. We continued to play well as we really pressed for the win, but in the end we gave up a another bad goal as we managed to score on ourselves with under ten minutes left in the game. Meudon added an insurance marker a couple of minuted later and the game was over for us.

I thought we deserved a better fate, but we had our chances to put the game away and simply failed to capitalize. We really needed the win, but we need to move forward and focus for our next game. In injury news, we also lost two of our better forwards as Mika Snellman (shoulder) and Emilien Rouyer (wrist) went down during the game.

A small note for the video, watch for the third clip in where I catch a guy from behind and put him down hard.

Travel Canada

Yoga beside a mountain lake? Why not do it in Canada!!!

During my daily travels on the Metro and RER, I have come across a few more Travel Canada advertisements. The billboards always make me laugh as they depict Canada as a land of leisure activities, outdoor pursuits, and classic evenings. I guess for the French tourist, it is a pretty good draw as Paris, although a beautiful and enchanting city, is still a city of more then 10 million people living in the greater metropolitan area combined with an annual 30 million visitors. Believe me, it can get a little crowded. The wide open spaces and natural settings of Canada represent an escape to nature.

Anyway, although I can see the Canadian in the pictures, it is definetly not the Canada I know, especially at this time of year. So if you see someone in your town looking lost like a tourist and speaking french, maybe they are looking for the yoga spot in the mountains or that sail boat to lounge on...after all, this is what Travel Canada is selling.

It's all about the sailboat.

Regular Season Game #6

This past weekend, the Castors from Asnieres travelled to the less then spectacular arena in Champigny to face the Elans (Elks). The rink was a little on the small side, with not a stitch of plexiglass to be found. The end boards had netting and the puck was considered to be live if it touched the netting and stayed in play. Needless to say, the elements set the stage for a very interesting game.

Our team has been progressing quite well of late as we are starting to play like a team and developing our style which is based on lots of flow and quick tape-to-tape passes. It's all about puck possesion. In a small rink like in Champigny, against a small, quick, and agressive team, that strategy needs to be modified somewhat as we quickly found out. The first period was a mix of broken plays as we tried to control the play in a rink where there really was not enough space to do it. We still managed to score a couple of goals by going hard to the net and finishing plays.

In the second period, we continued to play the systematic road game. Nothing fancy, just shoot the puck and go to the net. We had a couple of big penalty kills in the second and the momentum from those seemed to keep us going. All the shots eventually paid off as we notched two more goals before the end of the frame. Twenty minutes to go and it was Asnieres 4, Champigny 0.

With a 4-0 lead going into the third, we made the mistake of taking our foot off of the accelerator and tried to cruise out game. Wrong move. Champigny may not be the most talented team, but they do have pride and they were not going away without a fight. They scored their first goal midway through the period and then grabbed another with five minutes to go. They made it interesting by scoring one more with a minute left in the game. In the end however, we shut it down and walked away with a win and a few lessons on closing a team out.

The team is really starting to play well together and the results of our hard work are showing as we currently sit in third place in our division out of ten teams with a third of the season completed. Hopefully we can keep on rolling.

CHANEL

During the course of our teaching, Mindy has had the good fortune of teaching more then a few students from the House of Chanel. Mindy's sparkling personality has won her the affections of many of her pupils, which has resulted in her being on the receiving end of more then a few Chanel branded gifts and memorabilia. She has received everything from make-up to perfume, purses and sunglasses, shoes and wallets, as well as a few collectors DVDs and press kits (created by Karl Lagerfeld himself). She has also become good friends with some of her students as they seem to be more interested in talking about fashion and fun then her hockey-playing husband. It's not uncommon for Mindy to let me know that between lessons at Place Vendome and Rue Cambon, she is meeting Elodie (one of her students) for lunch.

The collection she has amassed in the past two months is pictured below, and at the current rate, I'm starting to think a new Chanel hockey bag to ship this stuff home in might be in order (they make those right!?!?). Anyway, the opportunity to work with clients from the world leader in fashion has been an amazing experience for both of us, and for Mindy an unexpected blessing as she has seen more of this company then I'm sure some of its own employees have (I only teach at Chanel on a limited basis, Mindy gets quite a few hours).

While teaching, Mindy has been to the factory where the perfume and make-up is developed, to the main headquarters in Neuilly, the offices at Place Vendome, and finally to Rue Cambon. Rue Cambon is the original building bought by Coco Chanel in 1910 and currently houses the haute couture store as well as the workshops where the originals are made, and Karl Lagerfeld's studio. It's been a real thrill.

The Goods

Mindy's new shoes.

The new handbag

Yes...Mindy has gone glamorous!!!

Place Vendome - Tour Guide Video

While waiting for one of her Chanel clients at Place Vendome, Mindy looked in her purse and discovered that she had our digital camera. She rushed to the nearest phone booth and in true Clark Kent fashion, morphed into her alter ego. Time for a little more of the Paris Tour Guide!!!

Of course, this video should be taken with a small grain of salt as it includes not only a tour of Place Vendome, but some original commentary from our favorite Tour Guide. Oh...and for all the guys, if you like your wallet to stay full when you come to Paris, this is one of the stops you need to avoid.

A Beautiful Week

This past week saw a little respite from the daily rain we have been experiencing the past two weeks. It was a short work week for most as Remembrance Day was observed on Tuesday. This meant that most people took advantage of the opportunity to make a four day weekend. As a result, Mindy and I had a little more free time on our hands. Although we didn't do anything exciting or new, we still had a pretty good time walking the Champs Elysees, exploring Rue Cambon and Place Vendome (couture shopping areas) and generally enjoying the fact that we are in Paris.

The happy couple at Place du Concorde. Please note the Starbucks in Mindy's hand.

Mindy at the top of the Champs Elysees.

Place Vendome. Home to some of the most expensive jewellery retailers in the world. Stay tuned for Mindy's tour guide video.

This past week also saw a few visitors to the Frat House. Mika's father, Jussi Snellman, stopped by for the weekend and took in our game against Evry. We were also graced with a visit from Andronik's parents from Quebec. We traded stories about Canadian winters on the prairies with Jussi, as he spent some time in Regina and Calgary last year watching his youngest son play for the Regina Pats of the WHL. Marcel and Carole Bourret were graceful enough to complement both Mindy and myself on our french as we had a few nice conversations with them. It was nice to have a few visitors.

Andronik, Marcel, Carole, and Anne-Julie having dinner before the Bourrets head back to Canada in the morning.

Billboard Advertising

Advertising in North America is usually pretty straight forward and always politically correct. If the advertisement does not fit into both of these categories, we are either shocked, appalled, or both. The French however seem to have a bit of a different standard and after a couple of months of passing such curiousities on my way to both work and the rink, I decided to share a few that really caught my attention.

Who doesn't feel like a she-wolf in the morning without their espresso?

Who hasn't curled up with their best buddy? Now this is the way to sell a comfy mattress!

And now for the politically correct and straight forward advertisement. What's it for? Travel Canada of course!!!

Evry Game Pictures

Here are some pictures from the game this past weekend against Evry.

Off to the races.

Taking the hit to make the play.

Strong defense.

Holding the blueline.

Grip it...

and rip it!!!

Andronik and I combine to stop the Evry attack.

Regular Season Game #5

The puck drops on Hockey Night in France.

It was a battle for third place in the division this past Saturday as the Peaux Rouge from Evry came hunting the Castors of Asnieres. Luckily these beavers bite back. It was a physical match between two good teams.

We took the lead in the first period when Andronik Bourret walked into the slot and sent a low shot towards the net. The goalie for Evry probably should have stopped it, but the puck slid past his legs and into the net. The first period had some good flow, but the real action started in the second and third periods. After one, Asnieres 1, Evry 0.

In the second, Evry started to take some penalties and we capitalized on the powerplay (highlight is in the video below). J.C. Fornero moved the puck up the wall to me at the point. As I started to move towards the middle of the ice, two Evry players converged. A neat little pass to my partner on the play, Guillaume Pfeiffer, and he was wide open for the shot. The goalie made a good save, but Mika Snellman was there for the rebound. Evry did manage a goal after that when we has two men in the penalty box so the second period ended with Asnieres 2, Evry 1.

The third period was intense as both teams wanted the win. Evry tied the game up early in the third on a neat little 2-on-1 when we had a defenseman pinch with no back-up. Each team tried hard to press for what would surely be the game winning goal. With only three minutes to play, Arthur Cuzin, one of the young rookies on the team, grabbed the puck in the neutral zone and forced his way into the offensive zone. Protecting the puck on his backhand, he drove to the net where he roofed it top-shelf as he was falling over. Highlight reel material. Oliver Ducam added an empty netter with thirty seconds left in the game to seal the deal.

It was an exciting win as we had our best crowd of the season. It was noisy and the fans were involved in the game. I must also mention that the Evry goalie played exceptionally well as we easily out chanced them and he really kept them in the game. Our goalie, Tommi Kuru, however was also clutch and made a few big saves of his own. My #13 jerseys with nameplates have finally arrived as well.

Le Marais

Lost in the streets of the quartier de Marais.

After a slow start to the day, due in large part to a 4-2 win last night (more on this tommorow) coupled with a trip to the Great Canadian Pub, Mindy and I set off to explore another part of this grand city called Paris. Today, on the advice of one of our students, we explored Le Marais, which is a fantastic little shopping area with small streets and an amazing collection of museums. We pretty much just wandered aimlessly for the better part of the afternoon, visiting shops that looked either interesting, expensive, or both.

A free museum on the history of Paris...Magnifique!

We came across a museum that seemed interesting and decided to take a look. Upon seeing that the Hotel Carnavalet was free, we decided that it was worth a few moments of our time. The history of Paris is the focus of this museum, and I still find it amazing that people have been living here for thousands of years while Edmonton (my home city) is barely 100 years old.

Mindy and one of the King Louis'.

I decided the courtyard garden looked to be a very restful place.

After Le Marais, we headed across the Seine to the Latin Quarter as it is fast becoming one of our favorite places to go due in large part to the abundance of delicious and cheap food. Before eating, we decided to further explore the district and stopped off at Place Saint Michel.

The happy couple at Place Saint Michel.

From there we moved on to Eglise Saint Severin. I know I am repeating myself, but every single church I enter here in France is beautiful in its own unique way, and Saint Severin is no different. It is one of the oldest churches in Paris with construction starting in the 11th century and wrapping up almost 400 years later in the 15th century. My solatary picture below does not do the place justice.

The sanctuary of Saint Severin.

After visiting the church, we made our way down the Rue St-Severin and picked a restaurant for dinner with a decent looking menu. The Flagrant Delice did not disappoint as we started with appetizers of vegetable pottage and cheese crepes, followed by main entrees of roasted turkey breast for Mindy and a serving of pork for myself. Dessert was tart au pomme and creme caramel. Delicious!!!

One of many quaint little restaurants in the Latin Quarter.

Mindy is ready for a fine french meal.

Paris, British Columbia

On my way to work this morning. Clouds and rain.

As most people reading this blog know, my brother lived in Vancouver for the past eight years before finally packing up and moving to London, Ontario for law school this past summer. He used to always complain about the rain in Vancouver and how everyday brought more clouds and rain.

Welcome to Paris, British Columbia. For the past week we have had rain everyday. Not all day, just everyday. In chatting with my students, this is pretty typical for Paris in November. The sun is also constantly hidden by clouds. Although the temperatures have been fairly nice with highs of 13 to 15 degrees most days and lows between 7 and 9 degrees at night, the constant cloud and rain almost make me yearn for a good cold, clear, Alberta winter day...almost.

Anyway, I can't really complain that much as for the most part it is really nice here, but the rain could let up anytime.

On my way home, the clouds parted and we got a few minutes of sunshine.

BatTank by Renault

Pretty sleek if you ask me

While working at La Defence this week, I passed an exhibition for the french car manufacturing company Renault. They were showing off their newest concept car and I immediatly thought of one person back in Canada who might appreciate these pictures. Gary O. , this post is for you.

The car had a very smooth finish and had huge tires. I'm convinced it is the retail version of the BatTank as I could easily see this beast of a car ruling the streets of Paris. Of course, all other cars in Paris are tiny little compacts, but it still looked quite impressive.

I checked for the car on the Renault website and couldn't find it anywhere. Maybe it actually is the BatTank...only in disguise.

The Saint & Sin Tour - Part 2

Mindy was thinking about applying to be a dancer, but decided that teaching is a more noble profession.

In between going to Sacre Coeur, Mindy and I decided to check out some of the less divine sights of Paris. We started in Clichy, which is one of the most densely populated municipalities in all of Europe and the home of The Moulin Rouge and Paris' red-light district. The Moulin Rouge looks like a french version of the Rockettes (although Mindy and I think the Rockettes are probably a little better - slight bias as our friend Kristin is a Rockette). We took a look in the souvenir shop and decided that we will definetly have to take in a show before we go back to Canada. At 300 euros for the both of us to attend the dinner show, the budget will have to be worked over a little before we actually attend.

After exiting the Moulin Rouge, we decided to stroll the neighbourhood of Clichy. A few nightclubs here and adults only shops there with a museum thrown in for good measure, and we were ready to move on.

We did poke our heads into this museum, but decided it was a little over the top for our taste.

After Clichy, we headed to the Sacre Coeur (please see Part 1 for the details and pictures). By the time we finished there, we were starting to get hungry but we first had to make a stop for some very important tickets. My name is Bond, James Bond. Being the Metro experts that we have become, we went to the movie theater near the Opera House before jumping on the train to the Latin Quarter for a little dinner. A quick and tasty kebab later, followed by a stop at a candy vendor and we were on our way back to the theater. Hey...Dinner & a Movie...Paris style.

I won't spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it, but will say that the violence quota was filled admirably. After the movie we headed home and commented about how much fun we had that day. Just another day in Paris-dice.

Maison du Gyros was randomly chosen and did not disappoint.

How to make Mindy happy? Combine a pita shell with sweet sauce, kebab meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and french fries. Wrap all together and serve warm. Delicious.

After digging in, the Princess needed to wipe her face. Such table manners.

Upon exiting the theater, I noticed this picture of Mindy and myself advertising the movie we had just seen. Coincidence...I think not.