I know that a posting is long overdue, so I apologize. I am still in the process of recovering not from the Icelandic Volcano, but from the Steve and Ann Knapp volcano. We had such an amazing time with my parents and it was so great to have them here and expose them to our lives in London. They were our first visitors as well, and they absolutely loved our flat and our neighborhood. The four of us had so much fun. Since Ann and I had to continue working, they were left to fend for themselves during the weekdays, and they provided us with some entertaining stories from their adventures, especially their Tube and over ground train experiences. They took day trips to Windsor and Stratford Upon Avon(Birthplace of Shakespeare). They spent time here in London and we also spent last weekend in Paris as you can see from the updated photos. Overall, we uncovered some amazing restaurants in London(Gordon Ramsey’s Foxtrot Oscar in Chelsea, and Kitchen W8 in Kensington) and Paris(Qui Plume La Lune and Chez Marie et Louise), we ate far too much food, including ridiculous amounts of desserts, and I believe that wine production has increased in Europe this week after the deficit that we caused last week. I do have to comment about the dessert experience one night. Last Thursday, we ate at Gordon Ramsey’s Foxtrot Oscar. The menu consisted of quite simple ingredients and dishes, but the explosion of flavors was immense. Anyway, dessert this night was certainly a highlight. If you know Ann Berenz Knapp, you will know that she has a weakness for great desserts. Well, we had a caramelized banana panacotta, a chocolate tart, and most significantly, a sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream. Ann most definitely had a “When Harry Met Sally” moment over the clotted cream. Needless to say, that joke took a few laps around the track the rest of the weekend!!
The time that we had in Paris was amazing as well. We travelled from London to Paris via the Eurostar, the high-speed train that travels under the English Channel. It is a fun experience. Ann and I have been in Paris more recently, but it was my dad’s first time to Paris, and my mom had not been there since high school. Paris is a city that one could never grow tired of. We were fortunate to have fantastic weather as well. We spent time at Notre Dame, we had champagne atop the Eiffel Tower, we took in the Arc de Triomphe, we strolled down the Champs Elysees, and we hired rickshaws to take us from the Champs Elysees to the Louvre. The views of Paris and the sights and historical significance are breathtaking. The other incredible thing in Paris is the sidewalk café culture. It is so fun to sit outside with a bottle of wine and take in the people everywhere. We randomly discovered 2 great restaurants. There was certainly a highlight from last Saturday night as well. We were in this quaint restaurant called Chez Marie et Louise in the Marais neighborhood in Paris. First, the food was delicious. I had veal kidney that was beyond description. Anyway, as usual, we were enjoying ourselves and if you have spent any time with any of us in that environment, we tend to get a little loud. Oh yes, we were not only shooshed by the table of 4 French Women next to us, but also told that we were ruining their dinner. Well, Ann 1 and Ann 2’s subtle reaction to this was a lot like when bulls’ testicles are squeezed right before they are ushered into the ring. They were firing on all cylinders. Amazingly, my dad and I through sheer determination and less than gentle nudging were able to keep them in check long enough to finish dinner. The icing on the cake was that my dad and I decided to buy the ladies a carafe of wine to apologise, and this only fired up the "Anns" more. As we were waiting for the bill, we sent them outside to wait for us to avoid any further confrontations, and we arrived outside to learn that they had moved on and were now peering into peoples’ windows!!!! The whole experience was incredibly funny.
Anyway, that was that. My parents flew back to the US on Wednesday morning. I am currently going through food and wine detox. Thanks mom and dad for making it an incredible week.
On Wednesday evening, I was so lucky to get to see my good friend from Clemson, Alan, and his wife Marianna. They are over here in Europe travelling and they spent a couple of days in London this week. Ann unfortunately could not make dinner with us because she had to work, but the three of us had a great time. I wish that we had a chance to have more time, but I will certainly take the night that we had.
Well, I should probably wrap this posting up. We are getting ready for our first trip back to the States. Ann flies back tomorrow. She has meetings in Dallas next week, so she is spending this weekend with her fam at the Cottage for Memorial Day and then she is off to Dallas on Tuesday. She flies back to Wisconsin on Thursday and then I fly from London to Wisconsin next Saturday. We had planned this trip home around her friend Anna’s wedding, which we are incredibly excited about, and we get to spend some much needed time with the Berenz Fam!!! We will be there until Sunday the 12th. We are so excited to just relax and have some good home-cooked meals. I am excited for a big fat American Steak, Sportscenter, and hopefully a televised Cardinals game.
We hope that everyone is well. It is crazy that next week is June. We hope that you have a great Memorial day with friends and family. As always, we miss you all.
Love
Kevin and Ann
