The Perfect (Birth) Day!!!

I can honestly say that I love having my birthday, I don't care about getting older one bit, I just embrace the fact that it is just another day to celebrate my life! For one day of the year the world revolves around me and for that reason I try to set up the "Perfect Day." This will vary depending on your surroundings, sometimes it repeats year after year and other years it is just off the charts. I would say from age 7 to my 13th birthday, my parents would rent the gym at the Optimist Community Centre on Ypres, not far from our home and we would play floor hockey. Weeks leading up to that great day, I would put together of list of invitees, based primarily on their skill level and some consideration for their "intangibles" as Mike Kelly, former General Manager of the Windsor Spitfires so well put it when telling me my role on the team. Mainly this meant their attitude and leadership. I would be so detailed in this list of everyone to be invited, you would think I were an NHL scout preparing my final list for the upcoming draft. My homework usually paid off and my late round picks would prove to be the backbone of our floor hockey team, also providing great presents too.

Food was also very important into setting up the perfect day. If it wasn't my mom making me pancakes, it was heading downtown to the T.B.Q. for french toast. In high school it was a standard cake with the family and one year my girlfriend at the time photocopied a picture of me from my first year of hockey and plastered it all over the school. When I went off to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, the focus shifted to drinking and partying at the Pit Pub on campus, jumping off the 10 meter diving board in the outdoor pool, then eventually puking at Gage Towers, under the watchful eye of teammate/bad influence Jarrett Winn. Floor hockey seemed like such a distant memory.

Now in France though, neither is really an option. Hockey is my job and I have to be ready to play my best everyday, practice or game. So those IIHF breaks that come up every few months are marked down on my calender and trips are being planned to let loose for a few days in a different country and have a good time. So my "Perfect Day" this year was a bit different. It started off by waking up at 8:30am, I had a bowl of instant oatmeal that my parents brought over here for me along a "pain au chocolat" which is my go to! Then I hit the gym for a good workout on our day off, stopping at the Boulangerie for a "croissant au chocolat." When I got home, all the guys were still sleeping in the house after declining the morning workout. The next stop was "Les Thermes" in "Plombiers Les Bains." This is a small little spa town with these ancient Roman Baths from 2000 years ago. They obviously have modern ones in there now but it is an amazing place to relax with steam rooms, jacuzzi, swimming pool, etc. When you arrive they give you a towel, and a big bath robe. We spent about 2.5 hours there and I have been drained every since.

Story goes, this is the same place Napoleon used to take his armies before heading into battle!


For dinner we ate a "Raclette." This is set up with a special "Raclette Grill" in the center of the table, accompanied by different sliced meats, potatoes and white wines! Everyone has their own tray to grill their cheese and it proves to be a very social yet formal meal. Last year on my birthday we ate a Cheese Fondue, so I thought it was time to step it up a bit. Unsure on how much people would eat, I bought 4kg of the cheese, and with the potatoes, meats and wine my total came to 75 euro. It was worth it and we still have so much cheese left, so if anyone reading is interested in having a Raclette, invite me and I'll bring the cheese!

Just waiting for the Potatoes to boil, as the meats and cheese await patiently


Here is everyone enjoying the Raclette, except for me taking the picture!


This stuff is amazing!!!


Pauly loving that bottle of wine, while the cheese is just dripping down onto my plate!



Though it was more of a mellow day, with no floor hockey, no drinking games, I can confidently say that for my setting here in Epinal, France I had the Perfect Day!