A cloud inside the house

With the thousands of photos we have, plus 15 wifi users and more... we have being looking for a solution to back up our data for a while. Finally, after much wavering, we bought our own little cloud, a Synology DS213+. Since November it's been sitting in its box waiting for me to stop procrastinating and install it.  I was a little hesitant, as some work colleagues said I wouldn't find it easy, even just the installation!

Like most NAS's, this one came without any hard disks, so we bought two Western Digital NAS 1To red.

Eight screws later, and two trays slotted into place and I was ready to go. 

The rest was just child's play, after linking it to our Livebox, and typing some like //find Synology, our NAS was located. Formatting the disks took a little bit longer then10 minutes, and then the welcome page popped up.  

Above, there's the DSM (Disk Station Manager 4.1), which has a user-friendly interface and seems really intuitive to use (so far). I have created some shared folders and now my next task is to transfer all of our photos which are currently on my MB pro onto the NAS.  Also we have to give this little cloud a name.

So far, so good, why did I listen to those guys in the first place...

Catching up with Christmas 2012

For the first time ever, I worked on Christmas Eve.  I was the only one through at work and things were really quiet, so I finished early.  When I arrived home, the children had already written out  menus for everyone

All the cooking was done by Alain, Gaby, Alexis and MK.  Oliver stayed far away from any work, while Charlotte was with her boyfriend.  Alexis is really starting to like helping out in the kitchen.  Above he's preparing salmon canapés.

The girls made lots, including Devils on Horsebacks.

After many tasty aperitifs 

The table was laid

and this year we ate duck, a recipe inspired from a one of MK's cook books. Our  "Magret de Canard en Croûte de Noël" main course was yummy, served with parsnip and carrot chips.

To finish, we had a boulangerie bought Christmas Log.

To finish off, we were treated to a amazing harmonica concert by Alexis.

He's been learning harmonica since the beginning of this school year and he's really good, really, and it was a perfect ending, listening to our nearly 11 year old son, on Christmas Eve.

Charlotte's 17th Birthday

Charlotte turned 17 on the 26th December.  This year has had many ups and even more downs when it comes to Charlotte, but things are settling. 
She requested a cheese cake for her birthday, she's crazy for cheese, even for breakfast. The smeller the cheese the better, however, this cake called for soft cream cheese and it really was delicious.  

After much waiting, we got to meet Charlotte's boyfriend, he's on the photo, well a part of him.  His name is Julien and he's really nice and so very tall too!  We immediately liked him and hope he'll stay around a long time, because as I said at the beginning of this post, things are settling and boy it's about time.

Sewing with MK

Busy weekend before Christmas, still last minute presents to buy, and lots of cooking ahead. We managed to get the sewing machine out and this afternoon MK is going to make some clothes for her doll that's sitting read and waiting.

This is our first floor landing, we kept Mr H's table (was in kitchen at the beginning)  It is a good space for sewing and other activities with a nice view of the garden.

Art at La Defense

I went t visit one last office last Friday, so now we have a wide choice to choose from.
We are going to make a decision the second week in January.
For now, here's a picture of a sculpture of giant thumb that I'd never noticed before at La Defense.

Shang Palace, Paris

We left the office around 11.45 to travel the 7 km to the Shang Palace. It took over 45 minutes to get there, as the traffic was thick and made worst by the pouring rain.

Parking places are hard to find in this area so we used the hotel's valet service which turned out to be free if you are a diner. 

J & N (two of my colleagues) arrived before us, and were still taking in the opulent surroundings and enjoying an apéritif.

I had booked a private room and it was quite something.  The photo above is of the lighting above our table.

The photo is not good, but this is of our salon area in our room.  Only J & N got to sit here as they arrived earlier than us.

Our director asked if we minded if he ordered all of the food and of course we weren't going to say no.  From this point onwards, I only took a couple of photos as we were all too busy eating and talking, but especially  eating.  One of the dishes we shared was a Vegetarian Pagoda (above), this was very refreshing and delicate.
We all had soup, I chose Bouddha Jumping Over the Wall.  I was curious to try this one, mainly because of it's title.  It was excellent, but I'm not sure it was worth 55 Euros!! (I was not aware of the price until today, Sunday)

We shared Roasted Peking duck with Pancakes in two services, this was good, but weird to have one service with the meat with lettuce leaves and the other with just the skin and pancakes...I would have liked just some meat still to be attached to the skin and this was expensive too, 200 euros for based on five people eating it.
The Shang Palace Rice cooked in a Lotus Leaf was ok, but at this point we were all becoming rather full* and I much preferred the Fried rice Chef style that even when full I managed a couple more chop sticks full. 

We were service great tea throughout the whole meal and myself and M (anther colleague) enjoyed a few glasses of some excellent Meursault.  Culinary wise, I just love the Fried rice Chef style and the Barbecued Meat Combination (with meat and skin this time) and a special mention has to be made for the "plum sauce" . The wine was excellent, would have enjoyed another...and this was the first time I drank tea with a meal and I just loved it.

Some of the dishes  were a little fade, including the Deep Fried Cod and the Crispy Bean curd Rolls and the seasoned celery with dried shrimps and fired garlic which lacked garlic and taste.
Our waiter was amazing though, really professional and main some great suggestions that improved the overall experience greatly.

I would go back again, however not with colleagues, but with my family, and we'd go with the set lunch menu.


*Even in a one star restaurant you can ask to take your left-overs home...I wouldn't, and I didn't, but my boss did.

Company Christmas Lunch in Paris Shang Palace

Today I'm eating out with my boss and colleagues at the Shang Palace in Paris.
This restaurant looks great and it has just been awarded a Michelin star this year.
I'm looking forward to the experience.   I'll try and take a couple of photos.