Pajama Day Ascension

By Cass

Friday, May 14, 2010

It’s not just another gray day in Paris, but one in a four-day-weekend string across the Ascension holiday.  There is a baffling assortment of national holidays here that, luckily, my team reminds me of to make sure I don’t show up at work wondering where everyone is. 

Instead of Ascension, I celebrated Pajama Day yesterday by sleeping in ‘til an unheard of 10 a.m., and remaining in my pj’s until relegating them to the hamper this morning just as they were about to ascend all by themselves.  Sid discovered that we inexplicably have additional channels in English, so it was a marathon movie day, from the wildly raucous indy film “Radio Rock” to the somber “Rachel Getting Married.” Movies, popcorn and wine without moving from my recliner.  Glorious!

Having regained consciousness this morning, I helped Sid e-pay bills in the U.S. and go get groceries. After lunch, we took the guys to see Ironman 2 at our neighborhood movie house, the Majestic Passy (pas-SEE).  The movie was awesome!  As good as the first Ironman.  The theater was…different.  After waiting in line in the lobby, they led us up three flights of stairs into a room that, in real estate parlance, was “cozy.”  My sister’s basement family room is more spacious.  French movie crowds are also more restrained. We were stifling whoops and “yeah babies” after noticing the occasional appreciative chortles.  How anyone sat still with a soundtrack featuring AC/DC is beyond me. 

Instead of hitting McDonald’s in a classic American dinner-and-movie play, we took Kian and Niall to Aero, a nearby bistro.  We sat outside under the awning and its welcome heaters as the rain poured around us.  The guys tried croque monsieurs: sophisticated grilled ham-and-cheese-sandwiches that I discovered last summer when my friend and colleague Holly Coghill’s girls ordered them when visiting here.  The cheese is on the OUTside.  Yum!

All in all, it was a great day to celebrate Kian’s and Niall’s successful mid-term success. They both have “A” averages in this first class with Strayer University online.  Perhaps my pajamas aren’t the only thing to ascend around here.