Spent Saturday night celebrating Bonnie's bday. Gretchen had assured me that I shouldn't miss the event "It will be a good party, those euros are lots of fun" and she was more than right.
Actually totally over the top, I was impressed. Ole and Garo really outdid themselves, pulling out all the stops to host a buoyant evening of dinner, dance, and friends. I especially liked Garo's selection of Champagne. He prefers Laurent-Perrier, and had a nice array to taste, from the Cuvee Rose Brut to the Brut L-P and I think a Grand Siecle (I wasn't paying attention early on). They were all refreshingly light and wonderful. Apparently the dosage (a yeast/sugar mixture added just before corking) determines the final sugar content of the wine, with Brut being defined as less than 15 grams of sugar per litre.
When i arrived the kitchen was awash with activity, and the fridge full of champagne. I offered to help and was handed a glass and a bottle. so we chatted while Tanya's husband made pasta from scratch and Ole and Garo barbecued. The cake looked gorgeous, but we never tasted it. To quote someone, "You know its a good party when you don't get to the cake"
While the men cooked the women lounged. Gretchen and I validated that we are uni-glots in a land of poly-glots. Sometimes you just feel stupid when you ask, I think Tanya speaks four languages, And Bonnie is going to take french for fun. I told Gretchen she had to get Pascal to teach her french.
We don't need no stinking birthday cake.... Instead Garo and Ole served up a nice magnum of cabernet. I for one never imagined we would finish it, but I clearly don't understand proportions. Its like my inability to convert gallons to litres when pumping gas, just fill it up. The morning-after crew confirmed that we are all indeed alcoholics, or at least studying hard. On average each guest consumed well over 2 bottles of wine or champagne. Quite a feat, especially considering I wasn't hung over in the morning. just a little more than sleep deprived.
Here's Garo showing off his manly side, chopping firewood while smoking a cigarette. I was already impressed with Garo's hospitality, but when he poured an entire bottle of Remy on the fire to get it started I knew I was in the company of greatness.
Testament to the euro allure, the party upstairs soon joined us around the fire.
at some point the men got the stereo working and proceeded through a series of lush tracks that got the whole party dancing.
I think it was at this point in the evening that conversation turned to what hour it was (2am) and how we should all be going home to our beds. We sang Bonnie one last happy birthday and Garo announced the end of the party and we were out.
Little did we know that the birthday girl would drag us out for a final dance at where else but the endup. I think Lawrence had more than a little to do with the location, Gretchen and I were just along for the ride.
The scene was interesting to say the least. a melting pot of the animated from every party and bar in the city. a little gangster, a little gay, a little confused. I think the last time I was here was with Gretchen's old high school friends 15 years ago.
We danced to deep base and techno mixes until 5 and then called it a night. Cabbed it back to Noe before the sun came up, but only barely.
After rolling fitfully on Gretchen's guest air bed for a couple hours I finally conceded to the morning light at 8:30 and quietly snuck out of her apartment and back to the peninsula where my kids were bright and shiny.
Bonnie claims to have suffered no ill effects from her late night. I think its her viking blood, or the fact that she's barely 30 (that's 23 in Bonnie years).
Comments [0]