An American Halloween in Paris

Halloween is a sacred holiday in the Stelmach Blundell clan. It marks the eve when, after two previous unremarkable run-ins, Colin and I fell for each other completely and irrevocably. All it took was some face paint, fake blood, and an extremely frizzy wig. Really!

Now that we've got a little one, we (meaning, Colin) are looking forward to candy-filled celebrations of that fateful night. Although Jake is still a bit young for Halloween this year, and although we didn't get to go trick-or-treating (can you imagine knocking on a Parisian's door and begging for sweets? Sacré bleu!), we did honor the day by getting...Breakfast in America.


That image probably does not look all that special to all you folks over in the U.S. of A but for us? after all the cheese and crusty bread and meats cooked in rich sauces? it's like manna from heaven. The guy who thought to open up an authentic American diner in Paris was a genius. Genius. And for us, what better way to pay tribute to Halloween, that most American of contrived American holidays, than to eat pancakes and drink filter coffee?

There was even a jack-o-lantern!


Jake slept through brunch, giving his mom the opportunity to savor her hash browns. Unfortunately, that meant that you could see only the tiniest bit of his costume.


Luckily there's our trusty Bjorn chair back at home to put him in and snap a pic.


Love the feet.

We also took the opportunity to take his October photo. Who knew penguins were oenovores?


He's getting bigger and bigger than that baguette!

Walking around the Jardin du Luxembourg we came across some Parisians getting into the spirit of things.



We didn't know where or why they were running. Maybe they came across this creepy creature?


A close-up of the canine fantom-zombie-vampire-werewolf:


Needless to say, Merlin was not amused.

So that was our Halloween! American goodies, an adorable penguin, and very scary beasties.