I had a really nice time in MN despite the reason for the trip. Will took me to Angouleme on Sunday and I got the train to Paris. Lewis and Pary let me stay in their flat again, which I really like. It’s in a great location in a quiet neighbourhood, even more quiet than usually being mid-August. I ate at a nearby Italian-run pizza place and was most impressed with their fare. I flew out of Orly airport the next afternoon on a full flight which took off late and had just enough time to make the next flight in Reykjavik. I had an aisle seat with no one next to me, and the flight went quickly.
Mike picked me up and brought me to Mom’s where we had dinner with the family. This was Bud, Barb, Zoe, Mimi, Steve and Kathy, most of whom had arrived the previous week. They were very productive over the weekend and had already cleaned out Grammy’s apartment. Cousins Jim and Mary Lou also arrived on Monday and joined us for the meal, which was deli meats and salads. We all got caught up and reminisced for awhile before everyone went their separate ways. I stayed in that night and was up at 4:15 due to jet lag, typical of my first morning there.
The funeral was the next morning, and we met at the synagogue for the service. The rabbi gave an excellent eulogy, incorporating stories and comments from all of us. The synagogue has a live-stream for those that can’t attend, so Will got to watch too. After the service, we drove out the cemetery in St Paul where she was buried next to Papa in the family plot. We returned to the synagogue for lunch with the extended family. Ben and Suzy came back to Mom’s afterwards, and it was nice spend a bit of time with just the four of us. We returned to the synagogue in the evening for Shiva, which is the Jewish version of a wake that includes a short service. This was preceded by a light meal, and attended by some people that couldn’t make it to the funeral including Mike. Afterwards, he and I stopped by Ron’s for a catch-up.
I slept a bit later that morning, and then went to see the eye doctor. I still hadn’t managed to sort the problem with my new computer glasses, not being certain of what the exact problem was. So a bonus of the trip back was that I would be able to finally deal with this nagging annoyance. The eye doc confirmed that the prescription was fine, and came up with a list of adjustments for the opticians to make. He called them and explained the issue, and I went right there after the appointment and ordered another new set of lenses. I picked up the new glasses on Friday and although they’re better than the last pair, they’re still not right so I’m only slightly better off now. They also adjusted the other pair I purchased back in April, and at least those are now usable, which is a slight silver lining. I will probably get the lenses made again (for the fourth time!) here since I have more confidence in the prescription than before.
I met up with Bud, Barb, Zoe and Mimi and we drove out to Lake Minnetonka for some lunch. The weather was hot and humid until the last day of the trip, and we sat outside on a the large lakeside deck. I had a Cobb salad and iced tea, two things I don’t get to have very often. We returned to our respective lodgings, and then the whole family met up at Mom’s for dinner before that night’s Shiva. This was prepared by members of Mom’s book club, and they put on a great spread of salmon, salads and dessert. The service that night was at Knowlwood Place, where Grammy had lived for 17 years until moving to the assisted living facility late last year. It was another nice service, led by a man who knew Grammy well and he gave a beautiful eulogy. He leads a study group there, and Grammy was a regular participant right up until the end. I stopped by Mike’s for a bit afterwards.
The next day, Mom and I met Bud, Barb, Zoe and Mimi at their hotel for breakfast. Then we drove out to Stillwater, a touristy town on the St Croix river that forms the Minnesota / Wisconsin border. We had a stroll along the riverside where this entry’s photo was taken and then had lunch outside at a place Grammy enjoyed. We returned home and then chilled out before dinner that evening at the Mill Valley Kitchen, another of Grammy’s favourites. The six of us were joined by Ben, Suzy and Addison and we had a very leisurely meal that included cocktails, flatbread, salads and mains, dessert and wine. I had a few culinary firsts this trip including a kale salad that I enjoyed. I got their signature dish of miso-glazed sea bass and although it was good, it didn’t live up to my incredibly high French standards. I went directly to Mike’s after the meal and we stayed up playing cards till after midnight.
I had breakfast with Chuck at Perkins on Friday morning. He’s adjusting well to his new place, and may have even found a lift to his bridge club. He’s cut it back to once a week since he doesn’t like paying for rides, so hopefully, this will mean he can go more more often. I picked up my glasses and did my Target shopping afterwards. The relatives were all clearing off that afternoon, so we had leftovers at Mom’s for lunch. It was great spending an extended period of time with everyone, even if it was for a sad occasion. In recent years, everyone has come to Mpls to celebrate Grammy’s birthday, and we decided to continue getting together once a year. Next year will likely be in Mpls again for the unveiling of Grammy’s headstone, but we’ll aim to try other places in years to come. After lunch, mom and I did a bit of shopping where I found a passable pair of shorts and then she dropped me at Mike’s where I stayed for the rest of the visit. We decided to have a few days apart since she would be arriving in France the day after me.
Mike had the day off and Keli had returned from her parent’s place so we had a few drinks in the afternoon before heading out for Mexican food at El Loro that evening. I got a burrito and a margarita, both of which were passable but not exceptional. Mike was overseeing a software release that was taking place later that evening, so we played cards while he worked. He also had to get up at 4am and check things and again at 7:30 the next morning, so he was rather tired the next day. He’s now working at Best Buy, a large electronics retailer so doesn’t have to travel any more. The downside is that he has to go into work at their offices every day, and must be on call during these upgrades, which happily, don’t happen very often. I adjusted very quickly to the time zone this time and had a decent lie-in. The three of us went out to breakfast that morning at a cafe in Mpls’ first sky scraper (32 stories) where I had a decent eggs benedict and bloody mary (at Keli’s insistence).
In the afternoon, Mike and I headed to Suzy and Steve’s. All of us including the girls and a neighbour family went to a food-truck festival in downtown St Paul. These are a relatively new phenomenon but hugely popular, so the festival was a great opportunity to sample lots of different cuisine. It was held in a square, with a band in the centre playing some interesting covers including Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and some club classics from the 90’s. They also sold a variety of local craft beers and we sampled a few of those while checking out the offerings of the 40 or so trucks. We all got different things including tacos, empanadas (Mexican pastie), bbq sandwiches, fish and chips, plus ice cream and other desserts. Another recent craze that I’d not yet tried is poutine, a French-Canadian dish of fries coated in cheese curds and gravy. I remedied this and was happy to have tried it, although I don’t feel like I’ve been missing anything. The truck with the biggest queue was the “Mighty Tot”, where they sell numerous varieties of Tater Tots. For the non-Americans, these are small barrel shaped potatoes, like small hash browns. They were a staple of school dinners, and have made a recent comeback. We left after a few hours and headed back to Suzy and Steve’s where we sat out on their deck, played cards and drank.
It was out to breakfast again the next day where Mike and I met his parents at the Good Day Cafe. I had eggs benedict again, this time with crab cakes instead of bacon and it surpassed the previous day’s version. His mom is doing really well, still keeping busy volunteering and travelling. His dad is slowing down quite a bit, has trouble hearing and walking, and is generally a bit down in the dumps. Their daughter Leslie has been battling cancer for a number of years, and isn’t doing too well at the moment. It was great to see them and catch-up. We did a bit of shopping later that day, first at the computer store and then Target. I was considering getting some sort of tablet / laptop for when I travel so we did some research. I also found another pair of shorts that I’m very pleased with, at last.
We had a few drinks at Mike and Keli’s along with their friend Sam and then went out for burgers. Mpls hasn’t made tons of contributions to world cuisine, but I got try one of them, a burger called the Juicy Lucy. It originated at a local dive bar, and is two hamburger patties with melted cheese in the centre. Many versions are now served all over town and we went to a place called the Blue Room where I had the bacon cheddar Bluecy. The cheese itself was bacon flavoured for that extra touch. I also got mine with a side of tots, ticking that one off the list too. We went back to their place and played cards.
My flight wasn’t until 7pm, so we had most of the day to chill out. We met Mom for lunch at a Latin-fusion cafe not far from Mike’s. We started with delicious guac that was chunks of avocado, tomatoes and onions instead of the blended version that we’re used to. I had chicken enchiladas in a mole sauce in honour of Will, who loves it. We had a relaxing afternoon before Mike took me to the airport. Although the flight was near-full, I changed to an aisle seat with no one else in the row. I figured the seats would eventually be taken but was pleasantly surprised to find them empty, so had a couple of hours sleep on the plane. The flight back to Paris was also crowded, but the seat next to me was empty for most of the flight, so overall, I did well between the four flights. I had a few hours to wait at the airport for the train, and it wasn’t too crowded, although typically for me, it was 20 minutes late arriving in Angouleme. Will met me there and we had a swift journey home being evening time.
Andrew had arrived that day, and the two of them had a busy afternoon. First they went to the house and unloaded the furniture Andrew had made and brought from England, then back here to sort out our kitchen. We got a new fridge and decided to knock down the little wall that created the kitchen doorway. It served very little purpose and just took up space, so Andrew kindly got rid of it for us and the and Will installed the new fridge in it’s place. This creates a decent sized gap between the fridge and the cooker, so Andrew will be making us a cabinet / counter to go there. More kitchen space – hurrah!