O.K. another birthday has come and gone. Well, this one was for Marianne, Liz’s sister. The four of us went to this lovely place in Astoria 
Marianne, the birthday gal, did the picking.
L’Artiste Restaurant is a French Cuisine Restaurant.
They have a brunch menu, the brunch cost – $12.oo. WOW!..now that was a deal. So off we went to L’Artiste.
The restaurant was small, but quaint. We all liked the feel of the place, and loved the French atmosphere.
The food was good for the price, but one minor complaint. The Bloody Mary, that we tried to order was nixed, see they did not have tomato juice to make one. WHAT!!
Oh, we forgot this is a French Cuisine…we were told that they could conjure up Martini’s, but no Bloody Mary’s. OK, skip the alcohol we’ll stick to coffee. You know when in France, or is that Rome, whatever, but last I looked we were in Astoria, NY.
After we all had our brunch we ordered dessert.
I can only say that it was OOH LA LA!!
After fattening up on the desserts and having about 4 cups of coffee each, you know like the French do, we decided to take a stroll in Astoria Park.
The stroll ended up to be a stroll down memory lane.
How many hot summer nights did we spend in this park, on a blanket by the water. Our children would run, ride bikes, they even went to pre-school in the park, and let’s not forget Astoria Pool.
Liz and I would take the kids every summer, early in the morning, and stay until lunch time.
We loved the Park, I heard that Astoria Pool was rated one of the best pools in the city. 
I almost forgot, the Fourth of July fireworks in the park was always an event.
Now we have Miss Penny strolling with us in the park. Miss Penny, as you know is Liz’s dog. Miss Penny was not easy to handle, all she wanted to do was attack all the other dogs in the park…Miss Penny just thought she was the top dog in the park.
Juice was part of the brunch deal, so Liz and I ordered cranberry juice and made our birthday toast…well it was brunch.
mb