Paris Restaurant Review: Sept'n

   Before we talk about Paris: I've been horrible about posting lately, and it's unfortunately not likely to get better any time soon. Any and all free time that I have is mostly going to be spent preparing for the written driving exam I have to take here. And then, assuming I pass that, the practical driving exam. Great Britain doesn't take into account the fact that I've been driving for 16 YEARS without incident, just that I don't have a license from one of the qualifying countries. I wouldn't have a problem with this rule, seeing as I was used to driving on the right side of the road, except for the fact that not all of the qualifying countries drive on the left! Canadians are allowed to simply turn in their licenses for a UK license (British English: licence), but Americans are not. Frustrating! So stay tuned and if you're lucky you can see my AWFUL new driver's license photo in a few months. Until then, I'll try to post as much as I can.
  On to Paris! First off, a restaurant review. Because what is Paris without amazing food.
 When we arrived at our hotel, it was getting close to dinner-time and we were all tired from traveling. Not wanting to venture back onto the Metro to get to a good meal, we asked the concierge to recommend something nearby. He suggested Sept'n, which happened to be directly across the street! We would've gone there anyway at that point, but when he mentioned that the chef was Japanese, we were definitely sold. It was so good that we went back there for lunch on our final day, too! Think French food with a bit of Japanese flair to it. Amazing fish, and their version of shrimp tempura was superb. Service was great, too. The chef's son and daugther are staff at Sept'n, very lovely family. The chef spoke French and Japanese, while the son and daughter spoke French, English, and some basic Japanese. Menus are only in French or Japanese, but they're more than happy to translate if you need it. Everyone was very attentive and kind, plus having Keila in there was no problem (although they don't have a high chair unfortunately). Only bit of the meal that wasn't insanely great was dessert. It wasn't bad of course, but it wasn't outright amazing, either.
 I honestly don't know why this restaurant isn't reviewed more, other than perhaps the fact that they're close to the Republique metro station....which only seems to have some chain restaurants and hotels around it. So perhaps not many tourists happen to wander by. Whatever the case, if you're in Paris, forget the sightseeing for a bit and GO eat at Sept'n! I know there are a lot of good restaurants in the city, but trust me, you won't regret it!

Restaurant Sept'n
6, rue Rampon
75011 PARIS
n° tel: 01-43-55-62-32
http://www.septn.com/


                                The shrimp tempura on a bed of salad

                 I can't remember, but this might have been one of the daily specials? Fish in a sort of puff pasty, wonderful!

                           Salmon with assorted vegetables, including Japanese daikon. Highly recommended!

Keila Is 19 Months Old!

To celebrate Keila's 19 month mark today, I bought her a lawn mower. She found a toy one at the home improvement store and went nuts over it. Luckily I had a coupon, as I don't think she was going to take 'no' for an answer. Plus, she was pretty cute running it up and down the aisles while we were shopping (no doubt annoying other customers a bit, I'm sure).
  Here's Keila's progress report for the past month:
 1. Still coming up with new words and sounds all the time. She's starting to talk a bit more in public, but it depends on her mood. She's got too many words to list now, and she's doing a relatively decent job of understanding Japanese too, considering how much Daddy is NOT around due to his insane workload. Keila has also started combining a few words, I think she said 'Car go' the other day or something of that sort. Animal noises are also major fun still--sheep go 'BAAA', cows  go 'MOOO', kitties go 'Mee mee', and the list continues.
 2. Last month's chewing habit must've been a false alarm, as so far no new teeth have made an appearance.
 3. Drumroll, please!!!!! Keila is.....for the most part....sleeping through the night! Every once in a while she'll wake up around 3 or 5, but by far she's started sleeping until about 6 am. I almost prefer the 5 am wake-ups, because she'll go back to bed until around 7 then, but if she sleeps through then she's up for good at 6. Go Keila!
 4. Keila is still running all over and still doesn't mind her leash. She had a GREAT time in Paris over the weekend chasing the pigeons in the park. Paris pigeons are great for the simple fact that they're either too fat, stupid, or used to people to fly away when a toddler gets close. So we had some really great chases, with Keila trotting after fat waddling birds.
 5. Food. Keila will eat or at least try most foods now, although vegetables are still a big favorite. She's really liking fish (especially smoked fish) in the past few weeks, too. And she finally tried some French bread when she saw me feeding it to the birds in Paris. So I think she may be open to eating bread as well as her usual rice now.
 6. New actions. We are REALLY interested in the potty. So much so that we make our dolls and teddy bears go potty on the potty chair, complete with poo poo grunting noises and toilet paper to wipe their bottoms. I'm hoping that potty training for Keila herself will soon follow! Other new actions...Keila loves wrestling with Wasabi, going 'shopping' with her empty shopping bags, and now that she has a lawn mower, mowing the lawn (with lawn mower noises). Busy girl!
 7. Again, I have no idea about Keila's height or weight at the moment. Will try to measure her soon.
 Until next month!
  Posts on Paris should follow shortly...hopefully!