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.

The Saint & Sin Tour - Part 1

Mindy says "Hello from the streets of Montmatre. Are you ready for a climb?"

The plan this weekend was to wake up early on Sunday and visit the chateau at Versailles (need to beat the crowd to avoid a long lineup and wait). However after our night out at the Crocodile, Mindy needed to sleep in a little. So I accomodated her and woke up early to formulate a new plan for the day. It was time for a little Saint & Sin tour.

We jumped on the Metro and headed towards the north central region of Paris as we had not yet explored this area of the city. Montmatre is a district that is quite unique from the others as it is built on a hill and provides an outstanding view of the entire city. At the top of the hill is Sacre Coeur Basilica, a relatively new church as it was only completed in 1914. Even though it is of modern origin, it is still a very impressive building with phenomenal detail.

We spent almost half an hour sitting and marvelling at the detail on the inside of the church. The church seemed to be a place of peace, even with all the tourists streaming in and out, it was still possible to say a quiet prayer. We finally left and agreed that we will have to return again both the basilica and the area to further explore.

Mindy found a Pink House and instantly wanted one for herself.

At the top of Montmatre on the steps of the Sacre Coeur Basilica.

The front of Sacre Coeur.

Notice the knight on horseback guarding the entrance. It's easy to forget this church is only one hundred years old.

The main sanctuary of Sacre Coeur is highlighted by a beautiful rooftop painting of Christ.

Reporting live from Montmatre, the St.Cyr's are letting you know to stay tuned for the second part of our Saint & Sin tour in Paris.

Crocodile Rocks

A free Saturday night called for everyone to board the Crocodile!!!

This past weekend marked a rare occasion for the Castors of Asnieres. We had a free Saturday night with no hockey game! Not that we we don't love playing the games, but a free Saturday night has to be taken advantage of. The team's event organiser (and my defense partner), Olivier Ducam, had just the ticket for us as he booked a table at the Crocodile restaurant just down the road from Asnieres. Seating was a 9:30 pm and the deal included dinner, an all you can eat dessert tray and non-stop beverages. Yes, that included beer and wine.

Mindy is ready to dig in!

Thirteen of us congregated for the festivities and started the meal with pesto bread and drinks while we waited for dinner to be served. The restaurant provided a bottle of grenadine to flavour the beer and mix proved to be outstanding. Dinner for myself was porc ribs while Mindy tried a vegetarian dish baked in a flaky pie crust. Both were superb and the portions were huge. We ate slowly and enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant as well as the chance to socialize with the teammates away from the arena. Dessert was of course excllent as well as we had crepes, apple pie, fruit, cheese, and ice cream. Believe me when I say I was extremely full by the end of the meal.

J.C. provided us with a small cooking or should I say mixing demonstration as he made some strawberry flavoured beer which proved to be quite tasty.

After dinner we had a few more drinks with the group as we traded stories with everyone else at dinner. After many laughs and some great conversation, the managment decided that they had to close at 1:00 am and that we needed to finally disband for the night.

The gang at dinner. What a Saturday night!