Holiday Photos #32 - Paris

Last Holiday Photo post we were leaving England and here's where we ended up - recognize that metal structure peeking out behind William?

I've been impatient to share our Paris photos but was determined to work my way methodically and chronologically through each day of our trip, so I'm only now, on the brink of a return trip, getting to them. Never in a million years would I have anticipated this twist in things. I thought I would have time to finish up the rest of the photos from our (Willliam and mine's) trip but then I got sick and I jumped into the countdown series so, hmmmm, unlikely.
Perhaps I'll be a bit less thorough with how many photos I share (with the expectation of taking so many new photos soon!), but I'll just keep muddling through even if I don't finish up until after we get back from this next visit. After all, I'm one of those people who can never get enough of other people's travel trips. And although a few people probably think it's time to "move on", I know quite a few readers still look forward to my these holiday pictures in particular.

I took this photo from atop the Eiffel Tower of course. I took quite a few photos up there but I wanted to share this one because it showed a couple of things - it is a city of white. Coming from the UK, where the buildings, depending on which part of the island we were in, were red or yellow or deep charcoal grey, I was struck by the whiteness of the buildings of Paris. I didn't know this until I visited. It reminds me a lot of San Francisco. No wonder they are considered sister cities by so many people, including myself. Also, look at all the green as well. I just recently read that Paris has more trees within the city limits than any other city.


William and I wandered around and stumbled upon a lot of interesting or famous places without deliberately seeking them out - like this organic building. I've seen other photos of it online since I took these photos - but I still don't know the name or purpose of the building.

William's checking it out - yep, those are living plants.

You probably recognize that building in the background too. Notre Dame. I like this photo because it doesn't focus on just one thing but gives more the sense of being surrounded by the many things. It's the swirling of it all that creates the many energies and moods that is Paris. I particularly liked the two people sitting quietly on the empty walkway along the river. (If you click to enlarge, you'll see there are two birds keeping the two people company. And no, I didn't notice the people OR the birds when I took the photo. I only discovered that I had captured them after the fact.) Do you recognize that walkway from the movie An American in Paris? I saw that movie first as a young girl and it was one of the first scenes that I watched and thought "So romantic!"


Here I am halfway across a bridge. I don't know which one, I think this one was just off of Notre Dame. This is one of my favorite photos from the entire trip. You can see I'd already realized I was illegal - walking around sans scarf, and I had purchased this long, green, cotton beauty. I wore scarves quite frequently before this but primarily the fuzzy knit or woven wool winter variety. I had a pretty large bandana scarf collection as well and wore them on my head almost constantly in my late teens and early twenties. In the years just prior to this trip I'd also discovered the ease and pleasure of the oversized sarong/shawl sized scarf. But I guess you could say this scarf was the beginning of my scarf collection as it was the scarf where I realized I actually collected them, that I had more scarves than your average woman (well, maybe average American woman). It was the link in styles that sealed my fate as a year round scarf wearer.

Of course, you know what happens when you finally figure out you are collecting something, right? Yep, you collect more! I'm not planning on bringing any scarves with me on our new visit (well, maybe ONE) - I'd rather have the fun of finding some new scarves while I'm traveling and then they'll be not only beautiful but also a beautiful memento.



One more photo of me hanging out with some tough looking chicks. I don't know but I assume these might be Amazons? If you click to open this photo you should be able to make out that my companions are barebreasted. It was a bit chilly for me to follow suit. Too, I thought the other people wandering about in front of the Musee D'Orsay might object to my more well worn pair.

Yawwwwn, time to take to my bed. It's late (early?) and very cold. Did you know it SNOWED here today!? Sheesh! But hey, better it snow here than what it's been doing in the last week, which is snowing over in Europe. I'm planning a SPRING vacation folks!

I'll try to get more photos up tomorrow.

Oh, I almost forgot! There's more. Over at Laume's Studio you'll find photos from inside the Louvre. Obviously, had to put the art photos up on my art blog - classy it up a bit.

Quack, Quack, Quack! (Warning - This post contains excessive use of exclamation points!)

I mentioned about a week ago that there were plans afoot and ducks being rounded up and put in a row, yes? Well, there's still a lot of feather grooming to be done but those ducks finally lined up nicely and here's where they're headed -

Paris!!!!!!

(Imagine I've screamed that at you in a high pitched voice that make your ears bleed and that only dogs can completely hear) (and yes, the sky was really that color.) But wait, that's not all! We also will have a little time in.....

London!!!!!!

"Have a little time" - get it? Little time? Big Ben? I know, I'm just too funny for words!

We were only planning to go to Paris but it turns out, for reasons known only to air flight planners, that it's much cheaper to fly to London. So much cheaper that it absorbs the cost of the Eurostar to Paris and still saves us money!

And that's not even all the good news! For the first week, my son Sam and his girlfriend will be joining us for a mad cap couple of days first in London followed by another two days racing through the sights in Paris! Then they, being resourceful young adults, will find their way back across the channel and fly home while hubby and I will spend another much more relaxing, cafe sitting, museum browsing, street wandering week, just the two of us, in the City of Love, Lights, Chocolate, Coffee, Frenchiness, and all manner of OLD THINGS!

I could go on and on, and I'm sure I will, until you're tired of hearing about it. We leave in just eight weeks, so that's eight weeks of me blathering enthusiastically and annoyingly about things like what sort of luggage to use and what kind of shoes to buy, what color scheme to wear and whether to stay in the Latin Quarter or Montmartre. I'll try to pace myself. And I'm open to any and all suggestions for hole in the wall restaurants, best patissieries, must see streets or gardens, etc.

Okay, this time I'll be kind and give you a chance to get your hands over your ears first. Ready?.....

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!

Awards and Lingering Birthday

Over the course of the last month, three lovely bloggers - Miss Laurence of Be Crafty Be Happy, Brittany of Adeline's Shabby Cottage (Hmmmm, so why isn't it Brittany's Shabby Cottage?), and Deb of Red Shoe Ramblings all awarded me a "You make my day Award".



Awwww, shucks. And thank you. It's nice to know I'm not just filling up web space with my babbling. I know how much I depend on and appreciate all the inspiring, thoughtful, and amusing posts that other bloggers spend time to share, it's lovely to know that I'm giving a little bit back again.

So, that brings me to the question, which lovely bloggers do I pass this award on to in return? Really, if I read your blog, then you surely deserve it. But maybe I'll mention a few bloggers that aren't quite a visible. Those that are tucked away in little side streets of the blogging community. My daughter-in-law's blog, Creative Slave gets an award. I adore access to the little everyday stories and faces of those I love. Let's see........

hmmmmm....

....oh, this is too hard! I just want to give it to you all. There are those of you who always have photos of your beautiful children to brighten my day. Some of you help me get my Francophile fix, or my book fix, or my art fix, or my wierdness fix. You ALL make my day. Sigh. I fail as an award giver, don't I. I'm sorry. It's like being asked to pick my favorite child. Can't do it.

So. Moving on.

I posted last week that it was my birthday and then I didn't mention it again. But it's worth mentioning that I had a lovely birthday. All my kids called to wish me a Happy Birthday. Friends sent surprise boxes and treated me to dinner. Hubby showered me with presents and flowers and took me out to eat at the restaurant of my choice. Actually two. We went to our weekly tea room date on my actual birthday and we went out to one of the nicer restaurants in town (in Susanville, this really means putting on a clean shirt and your nice boots, but still) where it turned out the owner, who is also my son's English teacher this year, was celebrating her birthday too. Small towns are all about intertwined relationships. It's nice that way.

It was a toss up between going to this restaurant or the new French restaurant in town. I wanted to go to this particular restaurant because I wanted to order their creme brulee, something I've never tried before. So I did. Try it. And I'm already looking forward to enough time passing so I can say "Hey, let's go out and order creme brulee again!" Cracking the sugar "glass". The creamy decadence of it all. Let's not discuss calories. Let's plug our ears and go nanananananana and pretend that it can't possibly have any of those. YUM.

Then late yesterday afternoon I decided there was no harm in slipping into the French restaurant for a late lunch. I'd had a birthday tea and a birthday dinner and a birthday dessert but I hadn't had a birthday LUNCH yet. I had a nice fat notebook and a good book to keep me company but instead I bumped into the owners of the tea room, such a nice couple, and they invited me to join them. Since they are also restaurant owners, I guess it was sort of a professional courtesy thing, we were all treated to dessert afterwards. I selected the chocolate mousse and expected a light whipped parfait glass of mousse. Instead what I got was a baseball sized ball of the richest, darkest, creamiest, CHOCOLATIEST mousse I've ever seen/tasted! I worked on it best I could and brought the rest home. It's so rich I've managed to stretch it out into four helpings. Again, I'm sure it contains no......calories.... shhh. I didn't hear that.

I've managed to stretch my birthday on and on and on.... I was still finding reasons to celebrate today. Another birthday card, from my sister, was waiting for me in my mailbox. I've got all sorts of lovely boxes and cards laying about opened and perused but waiting for me to enjoy again when I finally get around to unpacking them and putting them away, displaying them, using them, reading them, or eating them, as the case may be.

I've also used the birthday justification to catch up on some book and video buying. My latest finds:



I'm on an old movie kick and I love Audrey Hepburn. The first one is a five movie collection which I found at a real bargain price locally. The second, Charade, is one of my favorite movies of all and I managed to win it on eBay for half the cost of new. I've got a lot of movie watching piling up - not only these but also an entire season of both Doctor Who and Blood Ties, which I coudn't manage to keep up with in live time. Once I get caught up, I'm also on the lookout for:




Yeah, I know that last one isn't an old movie. But I so want to buy it when I can find a used copy. When they come out on video, I also want to own Enchanted and The Golden Compass. Going through my old VHS movies, I was able to clean out practically half the tapes we had stored but it also gave me the bug to find and replace all those t.v. taped poor quality favorites with DVD versions. Maybe I'll do a entire post on my DVD wish list some time in the future.

But one last movie mention - we bought a used copy almost a month ago and just a few nights ago finally found the time to all watch it together:



I knew I needed to see this one but wasn't sure if it would be as entertaining as I hoped. Well, it was. It's a keeper. Hubby loved it too. Even the teen boy enjoyed it although it probably helped that this particular teen boy had been to Paris and so had some personal interest in the theme. If you haven't heard of this movie, and it's likely since it's not a mainstream blockbuster, it's a collection of five minute love stories, each set in a different arrondissement of Paris, each done by a different well known director. Yep, you heard me right - each story is only five minutes long. Go find it.

Back to my birthday, my mom's card hasn't arrived yet. She's the woman that taught me that when giving gifts or sending cards, it's important for the gift or card to arrive on the date of or at least in the same year as the event one is celebrating. Yep. No hurry. When it arrives, she tells me there will be a check included. That will be perfect for funding my new DVD collecting. Lucky, lucky me. Hey, with any luck I'll be able to stretch this birthday thing out for weeks, maybe months, to come!