Birthday Parties in Southern France

Marseilles isn't my favorite city by a long shot, but the view off this monument there is spectacular.  If you stand in the right place, you can almost believe you're standing in the 1800's, because there's nothing to suggest otherwise.  Most of the architecture seems untouched.  

One thing that I love about Edith is that she shares my passion for impractical pleasures.  We were in a hurry to get somewhere while in Marseilles, but Edith had a serious sweets craving.

When Edith wants a sloppy Belgian waffle covered in liquid Nutella, she doesn't like a silly thing like having to drive stop her.  This picture was followed by twenty minutes of crazy driving through the city and phrases like, "Ah!  Hold my waffle for a minute!" and "Oh noooooo!  There is chocolate on my clotheses!"  One habit I haven't yet been able to break Edith of is adding an extra syllable onto the word "clothes."  It's a common error among many French people, I've noticed.  They just can't wrap their minds around the fact that "clothes" is already plural for some reason.  

Today was Nico's birthday, so we set up a banquet table in the living room and set places for twenty guests.

Looks like a wedding reception, doesn't it?  The French know how to dress a table in a hurry, and they do it often.  I think it's kind of funny that on Thanksgiving, whoever is hosting dinner is usually super stressed, but here they have four course dinners for 12+ people regularly, and the general attitude among hosts is always, "No big deal."  

Dinner was lovely, and there were these during appetizers:

France's answer to the pig in a blanket.

Joyeux Anniversaire, Nico!