Marc's Public Blog - Family

Patrick brought a fun game:

I did so-so

not as good the 2nd time

Then we had seafood for lunch:

While there, I took a few more pictures:

just a few years back :)

and old minitel I used, back in the days

vintage wine

Nice weather in the yard:

some small wild parrots came to visit

We also found some old school notebooks from my dad, dating back to the 50's and 9th grade which was pretty advanced for thsoe days:

Glad to have been back, lovely visit.

I helped with a few minor things :)

New Year's Eve was able to start:

Happy Xmas Eve, I had one shirt per glass of champagne :)

The next day, Xmas, we had a nice buffet:

After too much food, we had time for games:

To survive the other days, I did basic shopping for bare essentials :)

Before long, it was new year's eve, we had a very nice NYE dinner at Villa 9 Trois

We then had a chill celebration at home to watch this year's really good show without dealing with terrible transport, traffic jams, and crowds:

And the day before leaving, my dad had more friends over, for another nice farewell dinner:

On saturday, we did a celebration with family at a nice seafood restaurant and then dessert at my dad's:

Back for dessert and champagne:

Anna even got lucky and got a magic trick :)

my best smile for the day :)

cool restaurant with tables in ski cabins

The second night we went to see a circus show inside of a play, interesting mix, with another nice dinner after:

Back at home, in the too much shit I carry when I get around, I got to use special bandaids and medical superglue to fix my dad's fairly well cut finger :)

And then it was time to get ready for Xmas Eve, which my dad gets ready for one day early due to the amount of cooking involved:

My brother and fmaily joined us for Xmas eve, they were amused by my fucking dog charger :)

The next morning we had more food for Xmas, along with more guests:

We had fun with a complex wooden puzzle:

I got stuck here, wasn't able to solve this puzzle

we had fun with another game, french cards against humanity

A few days later, my brother invited us for dinner:

After that my Anna arrived to visit Paris a few days:

This brings us to New Years Eve Dinner at Villa93, quite yummy:

Then afer a few days visiting Paris, it was time to go home:

We had a nice last dinner:

the queen won :)

A bit of shopping to get chocolate and yummy blood orange juice:

I emptied the store and took them all :)

And spent a bit of time with my dad the last evening:

nice to be able to eat outside

I couldn't help but take a few picturs of the kitchen :)

Then came the day of:

rain was not a problem, it was shielding from the sun

Great to see family again for this nice celebration

Our guests arrived, they were fine that day, but some ended up getting covid a few days later, which was a theme for that holiday season:

foie gras soup, yum

Then, we got ready for Xmas Eve and Xmas:

nice Xmas present

yum

nice dessert

The next morning we had a brunch for Xmas lunch:

Then time for games:

more games

more games

Nice breakfast the next day:

2 days later, we went to see "Chance", a nice musical in Paris. The performers joked that they weren't sure if they could keep performing for much longer (as in until one of them caught Omicron). It was a fun enjoyable musical:

nice tapas like middle eastern dinner after that

New Years Eve, we went to a nice buffet:

I suck at trivial pursuit, but they were nice and helped me a bit

The next day, we were invited by the francs for New Years lunch, very nice as always:

custom made foie gras again, yum

The crowd asked me for a tour of my scottevest jacket, and what on earth I had in the pockets for it to weigh that much. I was happy to oblige of course ;)

I had a nice model :)

everyone seemed happy with it :)

Another 2 days later, we were supposed to have dinner at my brother's place, but by then one of his children had caught covid, which my dad had to stay very clear of, and in my case I was trying hard not to catch it before my plane home, or it would have cancelled my flight home an caused clear issues.

So, I still went out a bit, but tried to lay low and wear my N99 mask as much as possible. I definitely had to worry about passing my covid tests, so that I could fly home, thankfully I did, and ended up catching a very mild covid a few days after getting home, which was perfectly fine :)

I wish I would have been able to better communicate with her in her last years, but that was not in the cards, so don't waste the time you do have with your own family. I know I could have done better with the time we did have, but at the same time, I also know that she did know I loved her in my own ways and I'm happy that she was able to come visit me in the US a few times before it became not possible for her to travel anymore (I also saw her every Xmas in France). I know she enjoyed the bike ride around Stevens Creek Trail the first time she came and last time she was able to bike, or the flights I gave her, including flying to Harris' Ranch for steak, and she probably still liked that ride I gave her in my F430 around skyline and that kind of caused her to throw up after a few turns too many (oops). But at the end of the day, she was also very happy reading in our yard, and looking at our birds.

my mom was a good cook, including bread

2000 was the first year she was able to come to my first house in sunnyvale, she help pick things and decorate a bit

I took her on the 49 mile drive around SF, including a few extra stops I added

dutch family embordery

each time I came for Xmas, she made sure I was well fed :)

yummy souflé

another year she came, we went to the Chinese and Japanese Gardens in Golden Gate Park

a picture she got with flowers I got sent to her for her BD

2013 birthday

nice french restaurant, I took her at for Xmas

tour of Google in 2007

I took her for a couple of flights, one to Harry's Ranch for steak and a bay tour to Monterey

Had lunch on Monterey

She came for my wedding and our cat was happy to make friends

Wedding day

as long as she was able to travel, we went to Holland every year for a family reunion

Our cat, five, was happy to see her again in 2011

We went for a tour of Stanford

After 2011, she wasn't able to travel anymore, so I only saw her in France for Xmas, including a yearly Xmas day lunch that my brother and Diane helped more and more with over time.

By 2017, she wasn't able to care for herself anymore, including getting up if she fell, so we had to move her to a retirement home. I flew to france last minute to help with her affairs, emptying her house, and helping getting it sold. She ended up staying there 3.5 years as her health and mind got worse over time, until her heart attack (by then she wasn't able to walk at all anymore, and gained a fair amount of weight):

Last Xmas, 2020, was challenging. Travelling was restricted between both countries, but since I was a citizen of one country, and resident of the other one, I was allowed to travel. It was not a fun 12H flight wearing an N100 mask the whole way, but I'm glad I made it. Her facility made us wear scrubs for covid, which felt a bit over the top, but whatever. Last time I saw her:

my last picture of her

We were allowed to see her 1h in a special room instead of the normal 30mn due to covid restrictions. I think she was happy to see us, although it was hard to tell. I could have gone to see her a second time before leaving Paris (2H trip for 30mn allowed visit), but I didn't really have it in me, especially with the covid restrictions added, the visit was difficult and bittersweet.
I tried to talk to her on the phone these last few weeks. the first time, she sounded confused, could only reply in Dutch, and it wasn't clear she understood that I was calling her. The 2nd time a week later, she barely managed to pick up the phone, dropped it and the line went dead.

She finally died of a heart attack during lunch about a week later. The staff tried to revive her, but did not succeed. She was 77.

It's a tough thing to say, but as far as I was concerned, she had very little quality of life left (although at least she wasn't physically suffering, but I'm reasonably sure she could tell she was losing her brain over time, and to me, that would be more painful than physical pain), and as hard as it is to say, I was conflicted about whether she was still able to enjoy life. I know it was painful for me to see her over time (the few times I was in france), so in some way I was kind of waiting for it to be over.
It would be easier if I could believe that she's in a better place, but I only get to believe that her time on earth ended and hope she got to enjoy most of it as much as possible.
Spend quality time with your loved ones as if it could be the last time, as you'll never know when it was, until after the fact.

More photos, courtesy of google photos auto face recognition and sorting: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cjBkLgzn4AV7UVAS7

Normally I'd be fighting with airports and how to get back to France (tricky since I'm snowboarding in Utah, don't have my passport, and need to fly in the wrong direction first to get it, plus covid tests, before finding some flights back towards Europe, the direct flights having gone from 3 per day to 2 per week at this time), but my mom opted to give her body to science, and given travel restrictions and the covid risks to the rest of the family, we won't have a ceremony at this time, but this page is my remembrance of her.

My brother and family came over for Xmas eve and Xmas. Lots of nice food, time together, and games:

After Xmas, we went to see my mom at our retirement home. We were only allowed to see her 1H and in a secluded room while wearing questionably useful surgical clothing

she seemed a bit happy, but also confused by what was going on

I used the opportunity to visit my brother's place a few minutes away, it had been a while since I last went:

my brother spent quite a bit of time working on low res LED projects, too

I used to have a rabbit, I miss him :)

We also had a small family gathering for NYE (4 out of the 6 allowed)

appetizers

yum

seared foie gras? yes please :)

buche et petits fours, yum

jean michel jarre concert for NYE countdown

we even got snow for New Year's

For New Year's, we were invited by the Francs, also our chance to see Tata who got special permission to come out of her retirement home (to be fair, she already had gotten CV19 without even getting sick, so she was kind of low risk). Nice to see the whole family.
As a joke, I came suitably dressed:

like james bond, I had a suit under my suit :)

nice foie gras, yum

Martine did a fantastic job, as always

this is literally all of Paris that I saw on this trip

Lots of nice meals:

choucroute

A few other pictures:

While I was there, my dad used me as child labor, to carry heavy loads and help him build custom cabinets:

why change bits, when you can just change tools?

I also helped him rebuild his video system so that all his devices go through his A/V receiver:

doesn't look much worse than ours at home :)

This was a slightly longer trip than usual, given that there was only one plane out of 6 (between UA and AF), both my flights there and back were cancelled, so I took other ones and ended up staying a bit longer. My dad didn't complain :)
The trip there and back was not fun, I didn't get to see anything at all in Paris this year, but it was still well worth it, glad I was able to go.

While we were there, we got a visit of part of our Dutch family who had driven to Paris to see my mom:

my dad, showing off his collection of 100 year old menus

Then, a nice hotpot restaurant in china, quite authentic (and spicy):

For NYE, we went back to a nice restaurant nearby, Villa 93:

The next day, for New Years, another party at my dad's:

piggy before

piggy after :)

the staff does their best to keep the guests entertained

hard at work :)

I found this as an appropriate gift :)

foie gras soup, yum

Happy BD!

oh, we don't have these nice birds at home

A bit of music:

even Diane's mom can still play plano

We then went to see poor Tata who fell in the street and got bleeding in her brain as a result. Sadly it did affect her mental capacities significantly. We're hoping that she may improve, but it may not happen:

A few pictures I found:

For New Years Eve, we went to a nice restaurant:

On New Year, we had Martine and François Franc:

Patrick build an arduino based matrix, lower res than mine, but nicer build

And that was it, thank you so much for my dad for all the nice lunches and dinners and it was a pleasure to see the rest of the family again

Patrick and Diane brought extra desert

That evening, the family met in a nearby japanese restaurant:

thankfully they served fries, a requirement for a dutch meal :)

The next morning, we had lunch together again:

And then it was time to go (for us flying to Barcelona). A few extra shots:

the Chapon was refusing to have its head come off, so it took a powertool :)

Random other picts:

For Xmas eve, we went to a seafood restaurant:

Then came New Year:

the famous saucisson richeulieu

And we ended the last day with a gallette des rois, and Jennifer won :)

We spent the night at de Kienstee as before, which was shrouded in heavy fog:

And we also got invited by my brother for yet another dinner :)

Their gardens and decors were very nice too:

After the egyptian museum, we went to Winchester Mystery House:

Another day, we drove to Healdsburg to do wine tasting and have a nice picnic:

We then went to downtown Healdsburg, saw a few art museums and tasting rooms:

And we had a great dinner at Madrona Manor

On another day, we went to San Francisco, we started with the Legion of Honor:

And then did Pier39 and its many shops:

beautiful local weather as always

On our last evening, we had a dinner with Fabien:

And then it was time to go home:

The cool thing was that smack as I was going to Vegas to attend EDC, my dad was also in Vegas for the week to see shows. We went to the Caesar's Palace Buffet, which at 14:30 still had a 1H line, but thankfully they had the express line we were able to use:

balanced lunch :)

After a bit of time to plan the coming days, we went to see Spoofical, the Musical, which was properly terrible:

Later, I took a bit of a rest in my room at the Casino Royale (no stupid resort fees) before heading out to see Armin at Omnia and spend the rest of the night at EDC:

the next "morning", I barely got up at 14:30 to meet my dad at Harrah's and see Mac King (whom we had both seen before but was fun to see again):

Next, we went to Bellagio to visit a bit and have dinner before seeing O, which neither of us had seen in a long time:

Right after O, which was quite good, I head out and went directly to EDC for the 2nd night.
The 3rd day, I slept as long as I could before having to check out my room, and went to burn a bit of time at the Venetian next door:

Next, I had to to the MGM to drop off my luggage so that I could pick it up directly on the way back from EDC to the airport, and stopped by the New York - New York before going to the Rio to meet my dad there for the Fish Buffet and Father's Day:

The next morning, after EDC, stumbled my way back to the airport to catch a 07:25 flight back to SJC. It's cool to see the heat concentrators on that flight (lots of mirrors redirecting the sun towards molten salts to make electricity):

we flew past Mt Whitney on the way back

Like every year, it was delicious and we had a great time, thank you.

So it was great to finally make it there and see my Dutch family again, even if it was after a 3 year delay:

Dutch and French Furbies, love at first sight :)

The next day, we had a quick look at the local town and went to see Harold and Rési before driving home:

that is a hefty and happy chat :)

I didn't know they had mésanges all the way up in holland. They are beautiful birds, I wish we had them in California

It's kind of a habbit which I did learn in Holland as a kid, when I see chicken, the chicken get it. They don't like being picked up, but once you have them, they're usually pretty docile:

And it was time to drive back, so long Holland:

I didn't get to take the cat though :)

My mom now has a hard time getting around, so she depends on her walker and needs help from the motorized chair to get up and down. For now, she able to enjoy watching TV:

Soon thereafter was Xmas Eve, and my brother and his family were invited, which gave my dad a chance to do a round of cooking for us:

On the 29th, we went out in Paris and had a good dinner at La Fermette Marboeuf and its very nice decors:

Soon later, for New Year's Eve, James and Lilian joined us, as well as Tata. Tata did her famous sweetbread

admiring wall art most of which were drawn by James

one of the many entrées

one of my dad's many nice plates :)

We had a british Xmas pudding in James' honor

On Jan 2nd, we went to see a musical "Irma La Douce", which was quite well acted with a few hints of today's changes into a story that's more than 50 years old:

On the way out, we had a nice dinner close to the theatre:

And just because we were a bit hungry still, on Jan 3rd, we went to Les Bouquinistes, they had a good tasting menu that was quite reasonably priced:

And after a day at Google on Jan 4th, which I also used to walk around Paris a bit while weather was good, it wsa time to go home and pack for reasonably early flight on the 5th. Great to see everyone again.