Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go was a very well structured story, and Ishiguro's signature controlled emotions and careful construction. The sci-fi futuristic aspect not my cup of tea, but the writing was beautiful.

The Time Traveller's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler's Wife was a very original story, fast moving, interesting concept. The book probably could have been successful with a 100 pages less (it got a bit repetitive) but I enjoyed it. Ending not as strong as the beginnning, but with a highly original concept thats not surprising.

Compulsion, Johnathan Kellerman

Compulsion, by Johnathan Kellerman is not my genre of books, but I needed something light and page-turning. It fit the bill, but I hesitate for the second star. Luckily it was a VERY quick read but really left me feeling empty afterwards. Makes me wonder why people read books like this when there are so many really good books out there...

 

Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout

I read Olive Kitteridge in the days before the hospital & just after the surgery.  Series of linked stories that I really liked.

Loved the linked stories in this book, they were far less gimmicky than I usually find that structure to be. The writing was subtle and insightful without being obtrusive or in-your-face intellectual. It's been a long time since I've read a story where you had so much abivalence for the main character - you don't exactly like her, but you do appreciate her - very well done.

Le Dôme - fish brasserie

After the theatre we went to a fish restaurant that was VERY good.  Le Dôme is in the Montparnasse area, and everything we ate was really top quality. 

I had mussels with a cream sauce (with a dash of curry & fleur d'oranger), E started with oysters. Then we both had a fabulous lobster salad.  Main dishes of lotte and sole meunière were excellent.  Desset of millefeuille which they are famous for was amazing, and we are fans of millefeuille at Boulangerie Monge (and we'd had it for brunch!) but this blew it away.  A few bites of caramel & chocolate Berthillion ice creams didn't hurt either....

Yum.  Instantly became a place I'll put into regular rotation, even if it's a bit spendy...

Abraham - Michel Jonasz

We went to see a French one man show, Abraham,  by singer Michel Jonasz. 

It was a sad, touching one act play, which was really very well played and the text was very good.  I wasnt crazy about the songs but I am never a big fan of musical theatre. 

La Bohème, Paris Opera

We went to see our first opera of the season, La Bohème (actually it was supposed to be the second, but the first was rescheduled due to a strike...).

I was not crazy about the music - probably not helped by the fact that the singer playing Mimi wasn't the greatest, and I found the orchestra too loud vs the vocals, but I actually think the music just isn't as good as the other operas I've been to. Being a novice to opera maybe that's unfair, but it was my gut feeling.

The sets were beautiful, and in particular act 2 was amazing - probably 80 people onstage.

After the opera, we went to eat dinner at Bofinger, a classic French brasserie, which was quite good.  A really nice evening!