Matthew's Bar Mitzvah

We were honored to be invited to Matthew Altman's Bar Mitzvah in Chappaqua. I managed to schedule it with a business trip to New York. It was a huge shame we were not able to all go. It was an amazing occasion. I have never been to a Bar Mitzvah before. It was a wonderful mix of traditional  - cutting bread, lighting candles, speeches, raising family members aloof on a chair - and modern - the karaoke style of the entire room singing along to 'living on a pray' and some of the more 'urban' dressing up, as demonstrated below, provided a rather intoxicating mix.

But the highlights were when the family came to the fore: the grand entrances (below Steve and Lydia), 

the speeches from Matthew, Steve and David, and of course, moments like this:

It was a special night. 

Charlie and Daddy go to Paris

On 20/21st Feb Charlie and I took a trip to Paris. I had taken the other boys away on their own when they were young and my previous trip with Charlie was a bit 50:50 (we went to Norfolk, Charlie was ill), so I was hoping for better this time. Charlie was very keen to go on Eurostar, and fortunately I had lots of 'points' from all my trips to Brussels. Charlie was very excited. Here he is in the business lounge at St. Pancreas (I have a card that gets me in):

We got on the train:

And stood by the front of the train at Gare du Nord:

We had a decent room in the hotel opposite la Gare. Here is a view of the station from our bedroom window: 

After a little rest, at Woosie's request, brought on by all the excitement of the train, we headed off towards the Eiffel Tower.

We went via the Tuiliers: 

And got our first glimpse of the Tower: 

We headed towards it: 

And then up it:

After all this activity we needed sustenance. We walked across the Seine and up towards the Trocadero. We found an excellent restaurant and tucked in. 

The Wooz had Le Menu Enfant, which included some ice cream, but he was desperate for a chocolate crepe, so he got both! 

We put the ice cream in the coke bottle so The Wooz could eat his crepe. After dinner, we checked out the lights on the Eiffel Tower.  

We got the metro back to the hotel and went to bed. Charlie could not go to sleep so he read a book. 

Next day we walked to the Sacre Ceour: 

And Montmartre:

We walked back to La Gare du Nord, where The Wooz took some photos of Eurostar, TGV and double decker trains.

We then made the return journey back on the train. Here is Charlie on the moving walkway at St. Pancreas:

We had a fantastic time, Charlie loved Paris - good chap - and walked like a trooper. And I got to spend some quality time with my beautiful third son. 

Charlie Joins The Table

Following this post, about boys birthdays, I found this charming shot of Charlie.

It may not look like it, but he is sitting at the table with George and George's pals on George's birthday. He clearly wanted to join in, but felt a little nervous so sat a little away from the table, but it was clear that he had his part of the table which was his: even from long range!