Free boat cruise on your birthday!

Just thought I would pass along this bon plan for anyone who will be in Paris on their birthday:

The bateaux mouches company Vedettes de Paris will give a free 1 hour cruise ticket + a glass of champagne (or a muffin+soft drink) to anyone on their birthday.  You just need to show up and provide proof that it actually is your birthday. 

This offer is valid on all 1 hour non-theme cruise all year long.  How cool is that?  Too bad I learned about it just after my birthday...but there's always next year!

The big reveal

I know some of you are wondering what the big birthday surprise was after all, so drum roll please.....

I thought it was going to be an evening at the Chateau de Versailles for their fireworks & fountain show, but it turned out to be an afternoon and then fancy dinner at the Château d'Esclimont, about 45 minutes outside of Paris. 

We started off with a spin around the moat in a row boat - it was so peaceful, just us and a few quacky ducks.

Then we strolled around the grounds and watched numerous bridal parties take pictures:

And then we were a bit thirsty, so we checked out the bar/lounge:

Until it was time for dinner:

Here are our fancy menu choices:

We also had fancy wine to go with each of our courses.  I got the Dulcey for dessert, and they stuck a nice little happy birthday message on there:

So basically I was all worried about the "surprise" for nothing. I think I'm just not a surprise kind of gal - I like planning too much to not know what's going on.  But still, I should have trusted that C knew me well enough to come up with something I'd enjoy.  Plus, it was nice to just spend a few hours relaxing and doing nothing amid all of this crazy travel.

Purty

Riddle me this

My birthday is coming up soon, and for about the past month, C has been taunting me with the birthday surprise he has planned for next weekend.  I have however managed to get a few clues out of him, and so I'm putting them out there to see if anyone can guess what it is.

Clue 1: I do not need to pack a suitcase.
Clue 2: I do need to be pretty dressed up.
Clue 3: But I also need to wear comfortable shoes.
Clue 4: It is not something uber expensive. 

So, let's hear your guesses. If someone manages to get it right, I'll see if I can find a fun treat to bring back from the US for the winner.

I believe the birthday curse may have been broken this year!

Ever since I moved to France, my birthdays have either been forgotten or had some kind of b-day drama. Last year my blackberry died, so I lost all of my contacts & couldn't get in touch with anyone, plus we had a flat tire and had to spend most of the day in a repair shop getting it fixed. And the year before that, a few people got into a kerfluffle early on in the night, which ended up making things awkward for everyone and the party died out before it had even started. And then of course when I was in Bretagne, Fab usually remembered my birthday, but "forgot" to get me a present. And even after seven years together, the MIL still refused to put my name on the family birthday calendar, so no one else ever remembered either, and it usually ended up being just another day.

Compare that to this year, where I got birthday emails and cards straightaway from C's mom, sister and brother. I asked C if he'd told them it was my birthday, and he said "No, I think they all just made a point to write it down last year". It was actually really touching. Not to mention that C himself made a big fuss of it being my birthday weekend. I came home from my work trip Friday night to a nice dinner and a bed covered in rose petals. Saturday, we had a nice leisurely breakfast with blueberry pancakes and then C did the large majority of cleaning for my b-day party Sunday. He also manned the BBQ outside in the heat, while the rest of us stayed (relatively) cool inside.

And we ended the night at the perfect place - at a pop-up bar down the street with an absolutely lovely view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower.
I couldn't have asked for a better birthday, and it was all thanks to C, who was willing to go the extra mile to make sure it all turned out well. Hopefully I'll be able to say the same in a few months for our wedding!